NHVR announces heavy vehicle weighing pilot in NSW

In a new trial starting this month, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) will pilot opening two Heavy Vehicle Safety Stations (HVSS) in New South Wales for industry use.

The stations will allow drivers to check their vehicle mass outside of operating hours.

NHVR COO, Paul Salvati, said the pilot is being launched in response to industry feedback and will ultimately assist road safety and bolster self-compliance within the heavy vehicle industry.

“Effective from the beginning of April, two weighbridges will be open outside of operational hours on key transportation routes in NSW, allowing drivers to check the weight of their vehicle and ensure their movements are safe and efficient,” he said.

The first location is the Halfway Creek HVSS on the Pacific Highway, 32 kilometres south of Grafton, and the second location is the Daroobalgie HVSS near Parkes.

“These sites are being offered on a trial basis to complement existing public weighing facilities and we will be closely monitoring this pilot, to evaluate its effectiveness,” Salvati said.

With the weighbridges being open while unstaffed, the NHVR is reminding drivers to utilise these sites in a safe and productive manner.

“Throughout this pilot, we want to see these sites remain free from vandalism and damage – in the past, incidents like these resulted in many weighbridges being gated across NSW,” Salvati said.

While leaving the sites open isn’t a simple task, Salvati said the NHVR doesn’t hesitate to act when an opportunity presents itself to increase safety and compliance.

“When it comes to creating a safer industry, and safer roads, the NHVR listens,” he said.

“Whilst the NHVR reminds all drivers to conduct a pre-departure inspection of their vehicle, ensuring it’s roadworthy, the load is retrained correctly and compliant with mass limits, we also recognise that sometimes drivers would benefit from seeing their vehicle mass to support ongoing compliance.

“We want to encourage heavy vehicle drivers and operators to utilise these designated weighbridge facilities to assist in their compliance.”

In other news, the Northern Territory Government has awarded a $350,000 contract to GHD to design flood immunity improvements on an eight-kilometre stretch of the Stuart Highway near Daly Waters, south of Katherine.