Les Bruzsa is highly regarded both nationally and internationally for his contributions to the transport engineering industry in the areas of heavy vehicle dynamics, Performance-Based Standards (PBS), computer simulation and heavy vehicle technology.
In his current position as Chief Engineer at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), Les is leading the continuous improvement of heavy vehicle regulations and standards while overseeing a broad variety of engineering and technical activities within the regulation.
Les has been at the forefront of advocating for PBS since the early 2000s, taking a leading role in pushing the boundaries of innovation necessary to make heavy vehicles safer and to manage the increasing freight task.
Trailer: Are there any emerging trends in PBS that you can discuss?
Les Bruzsa: In terms of the current trends, I think there are a few things that we have to mention. What’s interesting is we’ve currently got more than 24,400 PBS-approved combinations in our books. You might not think that it’s a big number, but if you consider the size of the fleets where there is a PBS combination available, that’s roughly around 110,000 combinations – so that would include truck and dogs, prime mover semis, road trains and B-doubles – and PBS combinations would represent more than 20 per cent of that fleet. We’re going to have 25,000 combinations by the end of the year, so it’s not a niche market anymore.
In the last few years there has been a huge increase in the growth of PBS combination numbers. In 2021 and 2022 we approved around 2,100 to 2,200 PBS combinations. Last year we approved more than 3,800 and as of October this year we have approved more than 4,300 combinations. What this shows is that the industry is turning more towards PBS combinations and that industries are recognising their importance in terms of the benefits they deliver when switched to.
T: Do the NHVR’s statistics reveal anything else particularly interesting?
LB: The crash statistics show that PBS vehicles are the safest in the heavy vehicle fleet. They’re more than 50 per cent safer than ‘prescriptive’ combinations. If you look at Australia’s PBS fleet by the level, roughly 90 per cent of it is still PBS Level 1 and Level 2 combinations. So, while there was originally an expectation that PBS would lead to more larger combinations, we can see that 90 per cent of Australia’s fleet would be Level 1 and Level 2. And if you look at length, that’s roughly the same. More than 92 per cent of the national PBS fleet would be below 30 metres. Those are the levels where the more popular PBS combinations are.
T: What are your reflections on PBS over the past 12 months?
LB: It’s obvious that PBS access is still probably the biggest issue in the PBS scheme. Over the last couple of years and especially in the last 12 months, Victoria and New South Wales have opened up significant networks for PBS Level 2B vehicles and that resulted in a huge increase in the numbers of the entire PBS Level 2B class. So, I think what was demonstrated was that if we can resolve the access issues the industry will have more confidence, and it will be able to introduce a range of different combinations which have more benefits.
T: What would you say has been the biggest change in PBS in recent times?
LB: The PBS 30-metre A-double is now the new workhorse of the of the Australian heavy vehicle fleet, and we can see that in the increasing numbers. Up until recently, it was mainly the different truck and dog combinations which represented the biggest proportion of the national fleet. In the last couple of years, we’ve also seen that the A-double numbers are going up. So, looking at the numbers in our books, we’ve got around 10,000 truck and dogs, more than 5,000 A-double combinations, around 3,600 prime mover semis and around 3,000 B-doubles. So, Australia’s fleet has changed significantly in the last couple of years and A-doubles are extremely important now.
T: Have there been any noticeable changes with how industry is taking up PBS equipment?
LB: We’ve seen a wider range of new combinations since the introduction of PBS. We’ve currently got more than 110 different PBS combinations on our register which are all different types if you consider the extra axle configurations as well. We have also seen the introduction of semi-trailers with two axle groups which is a completely new idea for increasing payloads.
PBS has opened up opportunities for the industry to develop specialised, tailored units for its freight task which I think is great. It’s also increased opportunities for different vehicle design features – for example, we now have an increased amount of innovative ideas and designs such as rigid drawbars, steerable axles, different axle configurations and the application of super singles.
T: You mentioned that access for PBS vehicles has been a fairly big issue as of late. Have there been any updates to route access that you would like to discuss?
LB: The interesting thing about our access certainty is that we, the NHVR, can now analyse the performance of the PBS fleets operating in different jurisdictions, even though there are freight tasks which are going through a number of states or jurisdictions. I mentioned earlier that Victoria and New South Wales have increased their PBS networks significantly, and that’s beneficial in terms of the productivity and safety. So, one thing we will be trying to do in the near future is showing information about the safety and productivity benefits of a PBS fleet to decision makers. We have to deal with more than 530 local governments when we are talking about access, and so if we can demonstrate all these benefits that a PBS fleet can deliver – not just safety but productivity and the environmental advantages – then hopefully the result is that better networks are opened up for the operation of these combinations.
T: PBS 2.0 – do you have any insight that you can share on how it’s progressing?
LB: We are working on a number of things to better the current scheme. One key element of PBS 2.0 is reviewing the standards to check if those PBS levels are still appropriate with what we currently have. The other question is do we need any new standards? Do we find that some of the standards are not relevant anymore? We have to understand that technology has changed in the last 15 to 20 years. For instance, there is a standard in PBS called ‘Directional Stability Under Braking’. This existing PBS requirement is still calling up the very old braking standards for trailers and trucks in the scheme and currently doesn’t recognise improvements in heavy vehicle technology. So, one of our reforms is to move away from the traditional load proportioning valve system in terms of the braking requirements for PBS vehicles. This standard is planned to be introduced in the very near future. We’re aiming to update the braking requirements and line it up with the current Australian Design Rules (ADR). PBS vehicles will have to comply with those standards, and that means they will have all the stability systems which are currently not there as a requirement as well. PBS also doesn’t currently consider the benefits of roll stability systems in PBS assessments, so the other important element of this review is how we can modernise the PBS standards and how we can have consideration for technology such as roll stability systems or electronically steered axles.
The other focus is about changing the legislative framework around PBS. The NHVR is still very constrained in terms of how we maintain the PBS Standards and Vehicle Assessment Rules. The legislative process could be slow, so as part of the current review of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), we are hoping that that there will be some reforms so that we can have better opportunities or abilities to change the regulatory framework around PBS and make it more adaptive for all the technological changes. So, that’s what our plans in terms of PBS 2.0 are. At the same time, we are doing lots of work in terms of working with road managers and providing them with engineering and technical advice in connection with the performance of PBS vehicles, and I hope that would help with improved PBS access.
T: Is there an update on when PBS 2.0 will arrive?
LB: We hope to have some elements ready early next year. We have already started the consultation process with jurisdictions and we’ve got a number of discussion papers around for consultation. So, we have the Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan which is mainly about how we can improve productivity in the road transport sector and a document which identifies the current regulatory roadblocks that we want to change in terms of improving the scheme.
T: Congratulations on all of your work and success with PBS. Is there anything else you would like to mention?
LB: They are calling me ‘The Quadfather’ and sometimes ‘The father of PBS’. I care about PBS because I’ve been there from day one in the early 2000s, and for me, it’s just amazing to see how it has grown. It’s a fantastic scheme and it’s very unique. There’s no other country around the world which has such a comprehensive performance-based scheme for the management of vehicles, so what we have achieved here in Australia is amazing. Obviously, there are still issues and difficulties, but I think the scheme is going well and it’s delivering all the things that we expected it to 15 years ago.
I was driving back from Toowoomba to Brisbane last week and I counted 28 PBS A-doubles and a large number of other PBS combinations in one hour. I remember how difficult it was to put the first PBS A-double on the road back in 2011, and now they are running everywhere. So for me, that’s, that’s the big achievement – to see these vehicles on the road.
