High Productivity Vehicles

Why has the take up been so slow?

Damien HenseFreight Industry Liaison Manager

ARRB Group

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ARRB Group - Owners

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Vehicle testing & instrumentation

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Route assessment / asset management

• Create computer 3D environment of road geometry

• determine safe speeds for tight bends

• reduce truck rollovers and stability related crashes

• graphical identification of high risk areas

• Network survey (NSV)

• Simulate travel along the road network

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Vehicle assessment (simulation)

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We have heard this before ….

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Growth in freight carried by B Doubles 1999 – 2007

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Performance Based Standards (PBS)

• PBS initiated in 2007 to provide more flexibility in heavy vehicle design

– Encourages innovation in heavy vehicle design, aimed at greater productivity

– PBS governs what a vehicle can do, not what it should look like.

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PBS Levels of accessV

eh

icle

Perf

orm

an

ce

Access to the road network

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

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The ARRB Industry Round Table• 11th December 09, PBS round

table

• Why has the take up of HPFV’s been so slow?

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The members of the Round Table

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Focus & Key Findings• Discussions covered four industry

perspectives

– state, territory and federal governments

– freight customers

– freight transport suppliers

– local government

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State, territory and federal government

• Lack of champions to advocate the benefits of PBS

• Technical opposition to some aspects of PBS

• Doubts about accuracy of some PBS assessments

• Concerns about exposing governments to risk of accelerated damage to public road infrastructure

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The freight customer perspective

• PBS-approved network is inadequate

• Insufficient sites available for breaking up vehicles

• Physical roadway constraints and local community resistance often restrict HV access

• Local governments are ill-equipped to assess routes for PBS-based HPFV operations

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Freight transport operators’ perspective:• Urban planning and development has often

ignored the need for efficient HV access

• Asset owners often adopt the most conservative approach to access

• There is little incentive for regulators to accept PBS vehicles

• The public perceives PBS benefits as flowing mainly to industry, rather than the community

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Local government perspectives

• LG is concerned about: – Ability of LG networks to cope with larger

vehicles– accelerated deterioration of pavements– safety issues– community concerns– location and intensity of freight operations– PBS in general

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Overall Round Table conclusions:

• Local governments are critical to PBS ‘success’

• An ‘industry champion’ is required

• Improved community understanding and involvement is essential

• The PBS application process requires streamlining

• An enhanced ‘public information’ process for PBS and HPFV issues is required– in financial, economic and environmental

terms

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Improving the uptake of PBS and HPFVs

• Potential improvements lie mainly in the following broad areas

– Further PBS policy development

– Partnerships with Local Government / Community

– Regulatory enhancements and harmonisation

– Capacity building for PBS processes

– Need greater government/industry collaboration on PBS technical case work and research

– Industry PBS / HPFV advocacy and communication

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The outlook beyond the Round Table

• Initiation of a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) presents a major opportunity

• The new NHVR may even be able to take on the ‘industry champion’ role

• However sustained improvement in the HPFV uptake is likely to also require parallel measures

• Development of processes / tools to assist Local Government with HV route classification

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National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

• Potentially a welcome development for HPFV’s

• However some issues are not yet clear such as;

– How will the NHVR process be different to current approaches?

– How will certainty of access improve for industry?– What does this mean for LG?– Will there be an appeals process?– How will infrastructure upgrades be handled?

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Questions?

What we don’t want to see!