HEAVY VEHICLE NATIONAL LAW

New South Wales Class 1 Load Carrying Vehicle Exemption Notice 2019 (No.1)

1         Purpose

(1)    The purpose of this Notice is to exempt vehicles to which this Notice applies from the mass and dimension requirements prescribed in Schedule 1 and Schedule 6 to the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Regulation (the Regulation), subject to the conditions set out in the this Notice and the accompanying Operator’s Guide.

Note: This notice replaces the Class 1 Load Carrying Vehicle Notice 2014 (NSW) previously published by the New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services.

 Vehicles operating under this notice must now comply with relevant conditions from Schedule 8 of the Regulation, rather than the operating conditions that applied under the previous Notice.

2         Authorising Provision

(2)    This Notice is made under section 117 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

3         Title

(1)    This Notice may be cited as the New South Wales Class 1 Load Carrying Vehicle Exemption Notice 2019.

4         Commencement

(1)    This Notice commences on 7 February 2019.

5         Expiry

(1)    This Notice expires on 6 February 2024.

6         Definitions

(1)    Unless otherwise stated, words and expressions used in this Notice have the same meanings as those defined in the HVNL.

(2)    In this Notice:-

Operators Guide means the New South Wales Class 1 Load Carrying Vehicle Operator’s Guide.

7         Application

(1)    This Notice applies to a heavy vehicle or heavy combination, and;

(a)    is designed for the transportation of a large indivisible item, or is carrying a large indivisible item; and

(b)    together with any load exceeds a dimension or a mass limit as prescribed in Schedule 1 or Schedule 6 of the Regulation .

(2)    To be clear, this Notice does not apply to:

(a)    a special purpose vehicle.

(b)    agricultural machines, agricultural implements or agricultural combinations.

(c)     a vehicle or combination:

1. that is a road train or B-double, or
2. that is carrying a loaded or empty freight container designed for multi-modal transport.

(3)    A vehicle to which this Notice applies under this section is an eligible vehicle.

8         Exemption – Dimension

(1)    This Notice exempts an eligible vehicle from the following dimension requirements specified in Schedule 6 of the Regulation:

(a)    section 3(1)(a) – Length- general; and

(b)    section 4(2) – Length – trailers; and

(c)     section 5(1)(a) and (b) – Length – rear overhang; and

(d)    section 7(1) – Width; and

(e)    section 8(d) – Height; and

(f)     sections 13(a)(ii) and 13(b)(ii) – Front and side projection of load

Note: Sections 13(a)(ii) and 13(b)(ii) only refer to the side projection load (for a truck, and a combination, respectively).

9         Exemption - Mass

(1)    This Notice exempts an eligible vehicle from the following mass  requirements specified in Schedule 1 of the Regulation:

(a)            section 2(1)(a)(iv) and (v) – Mass  limits for a single vehicle or combination; and

(b)            Section 4 as it relates to the mass limits specified in, Table 1 (Axle mass limits table) of Part 2, for the following axle groups –

(ii)    A tandem axle group fitted with dual tyres on all axles (16.5t);and

(iii)   a tri-axle group fitted with dual tyres on all axles (20.0t);

(iv)   a quad axle group fitted with dual tyres on all axles (20.0t);and

(c)            section 5(1) – Mass limits relating to axle spacing generally.

10     Conditions - Stated routes and areas

(1)    An eligible vehicle operating under this Notice may operate on routes and in accordance with any conditions specified in the following document:

“New South Wales Class 1 Load Carrying Vehicle Operator’s Guide”

Note: This document is maintained by RMS and may be found on the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator website.

11     Conditions – Conditional Masses (Axles and Axle Groups)

(1)    Notwithstanding the mass limits set out in this Part;

(a)          the total mass of a vehicle and any load must not exceed the vehicle’s GVM; and

(b)the axle load must not exceed the limit set by its manufacturer.

(2)    The mass on a single axle or axle group described in Table 1 must not exceed the mass limit specified opposite its description in the Table if it is a combination consisting of a tandem drive prime mover towing:

(a) a low loader, or

(b) a low loader dolly and a low loader, or

(c) a jinker, or

(d) a low loader dolly and a jinker

Table 1:  Single axle and axle group masses

(3)    When laden, if a low loader dolly is included in the combination the drive axle group must be at least 14 tonne.

(4)    The sum of the mass on each of the combination’s single axles and axle groups must not exceed the sum of the mass limits specified for each of them in Table 1.

(5)    In addition, the total mass of the combination and any load must not exceed:

(a)            49.5 tonnes if the distance between the centre-line of the rearmost axle of the towing vehicle and the centre-line of the foremost axle of the combination’s rear axle group is 6 m or more, or

(b)            49.5 tonnes decreased by 1 tonne for every 0.3m by which the distance referred to in paragraph (a) is less than 6 m.

(6)    The mass on an axle group or single axle must not exceed the relevant limit set by Schedule 1 to the Regulation if it is:

(a)            not described in Table 1; or

(b)            on a load-carrying vehicle or combination except one described in clause (2) above.

12     Conditions – Conditional Masses (Tyre Widths)

(1)    In order to travel at the mass limits identified in Table 2, the applicable tyre width limits in Table 2 and Table 3 must be met.

(2)    Notwithstanding axle mass limits set out in Table 2 and Table 3, the steer axle mass must not exceed the steer axle mass set out in Table 1.

(3)    The mass on an axle fitted with tyres of a number and width described in Table 2 must not exceed the mass limit specified in the Table for that axle in relation to the narrowest tyre on the axle.

Table 2: Conditional mass limits for tyre width on an axle

(4)    The mass on an axle group fitted with tyres of a number and width described in Table 3 must not exceed the mass limit specified in the Table for that axle group in relation to the narrowest tyre in the group.

Table 3: Conditional mass limits for tyre width in a group

13     Conditions – Conditional Dimensions

(1)    Subject to network conditions set out in the Operator’s Guide, an eligible vehicle operating under this Notice must not exceed the dimension limits specified in Table 4 of this Notice.

(2)    The centre lines of adjacent axles in an axle group on an overmass vehicle or combination must be at least 1.2 m apart.

Table 4: Maximum dimension limits

Note:  If a load can be safely loaded in more than one way, it must be loaded in a way that minimises the width of the vehicle or combination and its load.

(3)    An unladen low loader, low loader dolly or jinker, with 4 tyres on each axle, must not be wider than 2.5 m.

(4)    An unladen low loader, low loader dolly or jinker, with 8 tyres on each axle, must not be wider than 2.7 m.

14     Exemption – Vehicle Standards

1)      A heavy vehicle operating under this Notice that is subject to the dimension exemption in s8 above, is exempt from s34(1) of Schedule 2 of the Heavy Vehicle (Vehicle Standards) National Regulation, to the same extent as the exemption from the dimension requirement.

15     Disapplication of Schedule 8 of the MDL Regulation

(5)    The following provisions of Schedule 8 of the MDL regulation are dis-applied for eligible vehicles operation under this Notice:

a)      Section 7 – Travel restrictions at night

Note: the Guideline may specify requirements relating to night time travel for particular routes or areas relating to travel at night.

Peter Caprioli

Executive Director (Access Management)

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator