Definition of a Heavy Vehicle on Adelaide's SE Freeway

[prodigyrf]

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/furious-ute-drivers-are-slapped-with-massive-fines-and-18-year-licence-suspensions-in-new-speeding-crackdown-but-they-say-they-did-nothing-wrong/ar-AAHDEEq

I don't have much sympathy for slow learners but I guess a tradey with a regular DC ute and trailer wouldn't want a nasty shock and many camper and cara owners could weigh more than them so where's their definitive ruling on that?

[alnjan]

Sounds like there could be some interesting court cases coming up. 

[MrHorsepower]

This needs more clarification and education by Government Body... I have a Canter 4x4 which is 4495kg GVM and therefore NOT classified as Heavy Vehicle.

I actually rang Motor Reg to clarify when I bought this vehicle as I travel this road most days.

I think old mate in the story with the F350 should have known better as a quick google search shows lowest standard GVM for a newish F350 is 5216 kg (assuming no GVM downgrade) Regardless of whether his vehicle is under the Heavy Vehicle classification weight limit if it is registered as over 4495 kg GVM it IS a heavy vehicle. He also should have a minimum LR licence to drive such a vehicle.

An article in a paper/online publication would have been an ideal situation to clarify this but this was not done..You have to  wonder if this is just a cash grab not doing so....

[avotrol]

It does not matter what you think your vehicle is called / named, its what the registered GVM is. ANYTHING 4500kg and over is a Heavy Vehicle, end of argument. You can't legally drive a HV without the suitable HV licence.

If the utes have a registered GVM of 4500kg or more, then these ute drivers have no leg to stand on, as ignorance is no defense.

It's great to have the big carrying and towing capacity of the American (pick up truck) ute, but along with that comes a different set of rules too!

Moral of the story is: know what you are driving, it's limits and the responsibilities and liabilities that come with it. A hard lesson for the fined drivers to have learned.

[Paddler Ed]

Similar vein for NSW, if I stop in a loading bay in 80 series I could get a ticket (*should), but I can stop in the same loading bay with HJ45 ute, or a Falcon wagon...

https://rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/business-industry/examiners/vehicle-shape-codes-guide.pdf

Some slightly wrong images attached to the words, but useful none the less.

In the UK, dual cab utes can be subject to different speed limits and tolls depending on the a whole load of different things:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-derived-vans-and-dual-purpose-vehicles/car-derived-vans-and-dual-purpose-vehicles#dual-purpose-vehicles

However, they are also quite cut and dried, and encourage you to err on the side of caution.

[DandyD]

This kind of thing catches people out in the UK too. The speed limits for commercial vehicles (vans and pickups) are 10mph less than cars on ordinary roads and dual carriageways. Small car derived vans and, bizarrely, 4x4s are exempt.

There is a fad here for tarting up VW T4/T5 vans and their owners often don't realise that they have to drive more slowly. There was a bloke moaning about it in the pub the other day. He'd just got three points on his licence.

[gronk]

I drive a small pantech type truck ( in NSW ) which is 4.4T..GVM.
So, I'm allowed to do 110k/ph on the freeway.......but the grey area is when going down a steep hill sign posted 40 k/ph for "trucks" ??
Technically I'm not a truck, but I look like a truck, and I can't find any reference to the 40 k/ph rule as far as what actually is a truck ??

[Hairs]

I drive a small pantech type truck ( in NSW ) which is 4.4T..GVM.
So, I'm allowed to do 110k/ph on the freeway.......but the grey area is when going down a steep hill sign posted 40 k/ph for "trucks" ??
Technically I'm not a truck, but I look like a truck, and I can't find any reference to the 40 k/ph rule as far as what actually is a truck ??

This is where there is from state to state a fundamental fark up.
 

Sent from my SM-P585Y using Tapatalk

[plusnq]

Perfect example why transport laws should be national

[callmejoe]

Any thing over a 4.5t GVM, NOT 4.5 GCM is class as a truck, If you look like 1 or not. If you are driving anything over 4.5t you'll need a heavy vehicle lic orf sorts..
Your rego plate will be tell the authorize what it has been registered as.
ALL state recognize this..

[#jonesy]

I drive a small pantech type truck ( in NSW ) which is 4.4T..GVM.
So, I'm allowed to do 110k/ph on the freeway.......but the grey area is when going down a steep hill sign posted 40 k/ph for "trucks" ??
Technically I'm not a truck, but I look like a truck, and I can't find any reference to the 40 k/ph rule as far as what actually is a truck ??

Yours is not a truck.
The dictionary of NSW Road Rules
truck means a motor vehicle with a GVM over 4.5 tonnes, except a bus, tram or tractor.

Perfect example why transport laws should be national

They pretty much are when it comes to licence categories.

An article in a paper/online publication would have been an ideal situation to clarify this but this was not done..You have to  wonder if this is just a cash grab not doing so....

The definition of "trucks" hasn't changed in years.
The people who got caught out don't know what they are driving, and possibly unlicensed
The article is flawed as it shows a Dual Cab ute, which is NOT a truck. 
The speed limit is to make it safer for all road users.  If they don't enforce the rule it is useless. 
There are lots of truck lane signs, no truck signs all over Australia.   Do they have to put an article in every time they put up a new sign somewhere?

I also like it when a law gets enforced it is a "cash grab".

[#jonesy]

I might be wrong but it looks like you don't lose your licence in SA until 45 over the limit. So the ones bitching about losing their licence in a truck/ute (60 limit)were going over the 90 limit anyway at 105.

http://www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/offences-and-penalties#summaryofoffences

[gronk]

Yours is not a truck.
The dictionary of NSW Road Rules
truck means a motor vehicle with a GVM over 4.5 tonnes, except a bus, tram or tractor.
.

Drives like a truck !!   

What is it then ??

[#jonesy]

Drives like a truck !!   

What is it then ??

It's not a "truck" as far as the Road Rules and licences are concerned.
Budget car and truck rentals advertise
"Moving vans" which are 4.5 tonne and can be driven on a car licence. (Also have a fairly small payload of about 1500 kgs).

Not sure what you would call it , Baby truck?😉

[Bird]

What is it then ??

a road block

[DandyD]

Not sure what you would call it , Baby truck?😉

It would be a Light Commercial Vehicle here. 3500kg top weight though. Anything over is a heavy commercial vehicle (or heavy goods vehicle) and cannot be driven on car licence. The threshold used to be 7500kg and, if you are an old git like me, you can still drive up to that limit on a car licence.

Any trailer over 750kg needs another class added to your licence and a special trailer test. Again, if you are an old git like me, you can tow up to 3500kg on a car licence.

[Brij]

Perfect example why transport laws should be national

They are.........well almost.

https://www.nhvr.gov.au



And what a shamozzle that is😠

[dogbox]

They are.........well almost.

https://www.nhvr.gov.au



And what a shamozzle that is😠

each state still does the enforcement (of their rules) as the nhvr still has no teeth

[Brij]

each state still does the enforcement (of their rules) as the nhvr still has no teeth

Not quite. Each state enforces the NHVL.

An overweight truck in Victoria is an offence against the NHVL, not Victorian Law as such, enforced by who ever does enforcement in the particular state.

NHVR have taken on enforcement role in SA and Tassie already.
.
Vicroads TSS have already started their transition to becoming NHVR Enforcement Officers. They'll be wearing their new uniform in a few weeks. The Vicroads transition includes ACT where the handfull of ACT Heavy Vehicle Enforcement Officers will now be working under a Victorian based (Eastern Region) manager.

The NHVR enforcement officers will also enforce state based road rules such as the travel conditions on this SE Freeway in Adelaide

[Paddler Ed]

I'm starting to see a fair few trucks around with the new Heavy Vehicle plates - this will help clear up the ambiguity that surrounds some vehicles.



https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/registration/national-heavy-vehicle-plates

As it says, they'll be issued:

National heavy vehicle plates will be issued in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and, on a voluntary basis, in the Northern Territory whenever:

    a new heavy vehicle is registered
    an unregistered heavy vehicle is re-registered
    a state or territory registration is transferred to a jurisdiction other than WA
    a lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen number plate is replaced.

[Brij]

I'm starting to see a fair few trucks around with the new Heavy Vehicle plates - this will help clear up the ambiguity that surrounds some vehicles

https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/registration/national-heavy-vehicle-plates

As it says, they'll be issued:

Ironically heavy vehicle registration is still handled by the individual states, but they issue NHVR plates instead of state plates, except if you have personalised or custom plates, which remain as they were.

Registration charges are still state specific, so different charges dependant on which state the vehicle is registered in.

The NHVR has a portal that you can access your vehicles registration details, but is 2 to 3 weeks behind the actual data. Was a bit of a panic when it looked like our entire fleet was unregistered according to NHVR portal. A check of the state based rego check webpage showed they were actually registered.