Heavy vehicle safety

The Department of Transport administers heavy vehicle legislation in Western Australia and manages driver and vehicle licensing.

When heavy vehicles or single-trailer combinations are operated within the standards for dimensions and mass prescribed by the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Regulations 2014, the vehicle licence issued by the Department of Transport's Driver and Vehicle Services, allows general (as of right) access to Western Australia's state road network.

Main Roads Western Australia (WA) is responsible for managing heavy vehicle access to the State's road network.

If your heavy vehicles or combinations do not meet these prescribed standards, plus all combinations with more than one trailer, they are called Restricted Access Vehicles (RAVs). In addition to the vehicle licence, your vehicles will require a permit from Main Roads Western Australia, which grants access to certain parts of the Western Australia road network under specific operating conditions.

When your vehicles are operating under a permit, a copy of the current permit must always be carried in the vehicle.

Visit the Main Roads WA website for the following information:

• Accreditation.
• Compliance and enforcement.
• Forms.
• Heavy vehicle operator updates and information for new truck owners.
• Performance based standards.
• Permits.
• Pilots.
• Policies.
• RAV classes.
• Road curfews.

The rules and regulations established under the Heavy Vehicle National Law in each participating jurisdiction are administered by an independent body known as the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR).

The range of services offered by the NHVR expands as the Heavy Vehicle National Law becomes established in participating states and territories. Ultimately, the NHVR is intended to become a one-stop-shop across Australia (except WA) for all heavy vehicle road transport business with government.

Compliance with heavy vehicle regulations is assessed by roadside inspections that are carried out by the Main Roads Heavy Vehicle Road Transport Compliance Unit and the WA Police Service.

Vehicles that are not roadworthy are issued with a defect notice, and the vehicle must be submitted for inspection at an Authorised Inspection Station.

For more information refer to our web page on defect notices

Information on heavy vehicle modifications is provided in the modify and construct vehicles section of this website.

Go to Modify a heavy vehicle.

You must inform the Department of Transport (DoT) of the configuration in which you intend to use the vehicle by choosing a Nominated Heavy Vehicle Category (NHVC).

You or your representative may change the NHVC of the vehicle as often as you wish. Changes to the NHVC are valid from the date (and time) recorded for notification of each new nomination.

Where advising of an increase in NHVC for a portion of a day, the whole of the nominated day will be charged at the higher rate.

A NHVC can be changed through your DoTDirect account or via the Change in heavy vehicle use (Form VL184).

DoTDirect online

Heavy vehicle use can be changed quickly and easily through your DoTDirect account.

Note: Heavy vehicle use for vehicles with a body type code of 'MULTI' cannot be updated using the DoTDirect self-service facility.

Change in heavy vehicle use (Form VL184)

You may also complete the Change in heavy vehicle use (Form VL184) below. The NHVC must be changed prior to the journey. Penalties will apply if a heavy vehicle uses more trailers than the towing vehicle is registered to haul.

Certificate of variation

Every time a change in NHVC has been actioned by DoT, a certificate of variation is sent to the licence holder.

All vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) over 12,000 kg and trailers with a gross trailer mass (GTM) over 10,000 kg, must be fitted with retro-reflective rear marking plates.

Buses fitted with hand grips or similar equipment for standing passengers to hold are exempt from these requirements.

More information is available in the following Commonwealth Vehicle Standards Bulletin:

• VSB 12 - Rear marking plates

You can download the Vehicle Standards Bulletin from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts website.

The bulletin explains all the different types of marking plates and how to install them.

The Department, in conjunction with Main Roads WA, has agreed to allow the conditional licensing and use of long semi-trailers in Western Australia, subject to several conditions. Read the industry circular below for information on:

• General operating conditions.
• Nationally accepted dimensions for prime movers and trailers.
• Mass limits.
• Total mass and load distribution.

The proper restraint of loads is a vital aspect of heavy vehicle operations. Load restraining devices must be capable of withstanding a multiple of the mass load specific to a direction.

For example, the restraints must be able to withstand 0.8 times the mass of the load in the forward direction and you are free to use any type of restraining system that meets this restraining load specification.

The Load Restraint Guide (available on the National Transport Commission's website) provides basic safety principles which should be followed for the safe carriage of loads on road vehicles.

You can find information about speed limiting for heavy vehicles in the following Commonwealth Vehicle Standards Bulletin (VSB):

• VSB 2 - Maximum road speed limiting for heavy trucks and buses.

You can download the Vehicle Standards Bulletin from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts website.

This bulletin covers:

• General information about speed limiting for heavy vehicles.
• Details about speed limiting by gearing and road speed governors.
• Maximum road speed capability.
• Testing and alternative standards.

Following a number of serious crashes involving tilt tray vehicles, a range of regulations are now in place for tilt trays to address the need for greater awareness by road users of the chisel point at the rear of tilt trays.

This has been achieved by requiring the rear of a tilt tray vehicle to be made more conspicuous and by providing measures to reduce the risk of serious injury should a collision occur.

You can find out more about the rules and regulations regarding tilt trays in the industry circular below, which includes details about under run protection bars, wheel lifts and making your tilt tray more conspicuous.

For many years both heavy vehicle operators and drivers have raised concerns about the performance of heavily loaded, air suspended long combination vehicles. These concerns have included problems with vehicle handling and in some extreme cases, vehicle roll-overs.

A project was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the undesirable behaviours of certain road train combinations to provide practical solutions to either reduce or eliminate the cause of these behaviours.

The reports from the project are provided below to further advance knowledge of the performance of heavily laden, high centre of gravity Multi Combination vehicles.