Enforcement of notices and permits - RTA - NSW Government

Enforcement of notices and
permits
FACT SHEET AUGUST 2012
Important enforcement information for all heavy vehicle transport
drivers and operators using NSW roads.
Heavy vehicle access in NSW
Under the national mass and loading
arrangements heavy vehicles are separated into
two categories when determining road access in
NSW.
‘General access’ vehicles are permitted
unrestricted access on all public roads in NSW
provided the vehicle or combination:
– Does not exceed the overall dimensions as
defined in the Road Transport (Vehicle
Registration) Regulation 2007.
– Is registered with the relevant authority under
the correct configuration code;
and
– Does not exceed the mass limit applicable to
the vehicle type and axle spacing.
Transport operators, accredited under the mass
management module of the National Heavy
Vehicle Accreditation Scheme, and operating
under the Class 3 Concessional Mass Limits
Notice 2010 may also operate on all roads, except
where prohibited by a load limit specified for a
road, bridge or causeway by a sign or notice.
‘Restricted access’ vehicles are those vehicles
that exceed the overall dimensions of vehicles as
defined in the Regulation and/or vehicles that
together with their load exceed the applicable
mass or dimension limits.
Restricted access vehicles include:
– Special Purpose Vehicles (including
agricultural machinery and mobile cranes) that
exceed general access limits.
– Combinations longer than 19 metres.
– Vehicles higher than 4.3 metres.
– Combinations carrying indivisible oversize
loads.
– Vehicles operating at Higher Mass Limits.
– Performance Based Standards approved
combinations.
Mass, dimension, load restraint
and access concessions
Restricted access vehicles are usually required to
operate under a notice or permit.
Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) regularly
publishes notices allowing specified kinds of heavy
vehicles or combinations access to specified
routes. These notices are published in the NSW
Government Gazette. A notice is of general
application and any operator who meets the
conditions of the notice may operate under it.
A notice may be issued subject to conditions and a
person operating under the notice must comply
with those conditions.
RMS also issues permits. Permits are issued to
individual operators allowing access to specified
routes or exempting the operator from mass and/
or dimension limits. A permit is specific to an
operator.
A permit may be issued subject to conditions and
a person operating under the permit must comply
with those conditions.
Notices and permits of this kind are known as
mass, dimension, load restraint or access
concessions. As stated earlier, a person operating
under a concession must comply with the
conditions of the concession.
Level 15, 101, Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
Locked Bag 928 North Sydney 2060 DX10516 Sydney Aug 12
www.rms.nsw.gov.au | 13 22 13 RMS. 12.260

Copies of notices issued by RMS are available on
the RMS website at:
www.rta.nsw.gov./heavyvehicle/downloads/permit
notices/permit_notices_dl1.html?hvlid=permits
Breaching a condition of a
concession
The following information is a reminder to the
heavy vehicle transport industry about how
enforcement action is undertaken by authorised
officers. It is not discretionary, nor new, as the law
is definitive on this matter.
All permits and notices issued by RMS set mass,
dimension, load restraint and access limits for
specific combinations.
Heavy vehicle drivers and operators must comply
with the conditions set by the particular notice or
permit under which they are operating.
Section 78 of the Road Transport General Act
2005, provides that if an operator engages in
conduct that contravenes the condition of mass,
dimension, load restraint or access concession;
– The concession does not, while the
contravention continues, operate in the
persons favour;
and
– Accordingly the concession is to be
disregarded in determining whether there has
been a breach of mass, dimension, load
restraint or access requirement and in
determining the risk category to which a
breach belongs.
What does this mean?
This means that when breaches of operating
conditions specified in the special permit or
gazette notice are detected, the concession will
no longer apply.
Offences of mass, dimension and load restraint
have been placed into one of three risk based
categories: minor; substantial; and severe.
When calculating the risk category of an offence,
enforcement officers will assess the offence
against the statutory limit for the vehicle.
This may have serious consequences for the
operation of the combination. Dependent on the
category of breach detected, your vehicle may be
grounded and you will be directed to reduce the
mass/dimension of the load or rectify the load
restraint before you can continue your journey.
You do not have the benefit of a concession while
the breach of a condition of the notice or permit is
continuing.
Provided the permit or notice the vehicle is
operating under has not expired, you will be
permitted to continue to operate once the breach
has been rectified. This means, for example, that
you will only be required to reduce the
mass/dimension of the load to the concessional
limit provided in the notice or permit.
It is important to pre-plan your journey to ensure
your load is safe, complies with the law and the
concessions under which you are travelling. If in
doubt please check.
Chain of Responsibility
Under chain of responsibility laws, all parties in
the transport supply chain must take positive steps
to prevent a breach of the road transport mass,
dimension and load restraint laws.
More information
Customers seeking more information about heavy
vehicle mass and dimension limits and breach
categories (minor/substantial/severe) and chain of
responsibility are encouraged to read the following
fact sheets:
Mass- limits and break points.
www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/200
6_01_ce_mass_web.pdf
Dimensions – breaches and break points
www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/cor/
cor_dimensions-breaches-breakpoints_112011.pdf
Chain of Responsibility
www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/hv_
ce_factsheets_dl1.html
For more information about operating under a
notice or permit on NSW roads please call:
132213
or go to our web site at:
www.rms.nsw.gov.au
ENFORCEMENT OF NOTICES AND PERMITS 2