Transport law, news & explainers
Transport law, news & explainers
Independent Australian transport journalism, special reports and plain-English reference guides built from primary sources.
Analysis · Mass & Dimensions
The extra metre and the shift from concessional to general mass limits can remove a costly compromise. But the winner between prescriptive 20 metres, higher mass and PBS depends on what the freight task is paying for.
August 22, 2026
Analysis · Fatigue & Fitness
Since 1 August 2026, the HVNL’s unfit-to-drive duty has applied to drivers of all heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes—not only fatigue-regulated vehicles—and Chain of…
August 21, 2026
Feature · Law & Duties
The Heavy Vehicle Industry Master Code is not legislation and creates no new duty. But it can help a court assess what was reasonably…
August 21, 2026
Analysis · Law & Duties
The revised Heavy Vehicle Industry Master Code creates no new legal duties, but its expanded, activity-based guidance could shape how courts assess whether transport…
August 21, 2026
Investigation · Ports & Charges
The charge is legal. The market discipline is missing.
August 17, 2026
Explainers and journalism together
19 items
Duties, enforcement, liability and the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
8 items
Networks, notices, route access and permit decisions.
7 items
Vehicle limits, combinations, loading and measurement.
9 items
Work, rest, medical fitness and operational responsibility.
6 items
Accreditation, safety systems, records and assurance.
5 items
Roadworthiness, modifications and technical requirements.
1 item
Contracts, customers, depots and chain-wide impacts.
2 items
Port access, landside operations, fees and commercial pressure.
6 items
Policy change, reform programs and practical productivity.
Drivers must obey applicable speed limits, and businesses must ensure their transport activities, requests and contracts do not cause or encourage a heavy-vehicle driver to speed.
A heavy-vehicle defect notice is an enforcement notice identifying a vehicle defect and the restrictions, repair and clearance steps required before unrestricted use can resume.
A heavy vehicle used on a road must comply with applicable vehicle standards and must not be unsafe, while each Chain of Responsibility party must control the maintenance and roadworthiness risks within its influence.
A road manager is the public authority responsible for a road, and its consent is generally required before the NHVR can add restricted-access authority for that road to a notice or permit.
A pilot or escort is required only when the applicable notice, permit or jurisdictional condition requires it for the vehicle’s dimensions, route, travel time or other circumstances.
An oversize or overmass movement exceeds an applicable dimension or mass requirement and needs a lawful exemption, route and conditions before the vehicle can travel on a road.
The HVNL access classes describe why a heavy vehicle needs restricted access: Class 1 covers specified special-purpose, agricultural and large-indivisible-load vehicles, Class 2 covers prescribed configurations, and Class 3 captures other mass or dimension exceptions.
A restricted-access vehicle is a heavy vehicle that cannot rely on ordinary general access and may use a road only under the notice, permit, network and conditions that authorise its exact vehicle or category.
An axle group is a legally defined set of closely spaced axles, and a heavy vehicle must comply with both the limit for each axle or group and the separate gross-mass limit produced by its axle spacings.
GVM, GCM, ATM and GTM are maximum manufacturer or registration mass ratings for a vehicle, combination or trailer; they are ceilings, not the vehicle’s actual scale weight or an automatic legal loading entitlement.
An Electronic Work Diary is an NHVR-approved electronic system that a driver can choose to use instead of a written work diary to record required work and rest information.
The HVNL Primary Duty and work health and safety laws operate alongside each other: one focuses on public risk from heavy-vehicle transport activities and the other on health and safety at work.