high productivity vehicles why has the take up been so slow? damien hense freight industry liaison...

High Productivity Vehicles

Why has the take up been so slow?

Damien HenseFreight Industry Liaison Manager

ARRB Group

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ARRB Group - Owners

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Vehicle testing & instrumentation

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Route assessment / asset management

• Create computer 3D environment of road geometry

• determine safe speeds for tight bends

• reduce truck rollovers and stability related crashes

• graphical identification of high risk areas

• Network survey (NSV)

• Simulate travel along the road network

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Vehicle assessment (simulation)

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We have heard this before ….

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Growth in freight carried by B Doubles 1999 – 2007

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Performance Based Standards (PBS)

• PBS initiated in 2007 to provide more flexibility in heavy vehicle design

– Encourages innovation in heavy vehicle design, aimed at greater productivity

– PBS governs what a vehicle can do, not what it should look like.

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PBS Levels of accessV

eh

icle

Perf

orm

an

ce

Access to the road network

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

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The ARRB Industry Round Table• 11th December 09, PBS round

table

• Why has the take up of HPFV’s been so slow?

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The members of the Round Table

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Focus & Key Findings• Discussions covered four industry

perspectives

– state, territory and federal governments

– freight customers

– freight transport suppliers

– local government

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State, territory and federal government

• Lack of champions to advocate the benefits of PBS

• Technical opposition to some aspects of PBS

• Doubts about accuracy of some PBS assessments

• Concerns about exposing governments to risk of accelerated damage to public road infrastructure

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The freight customer perspective

• PBS-approved network is inadequate

• Insufficient sites available for breaking up vehicles

• Physical roadway constraints and local community resistance often restrict HV access

• Local governments are ill-equipped to assess routes for PBS-based HPFV operations

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Freight transport operators’ perspective:• Urban planning and development has often

ignored the need for efficient HV access

• Asset owners often adopt the most conservative approach to access

• There is little incentive for regulators to accept PBS vehicles

• The public perceives PBS benefits as flowing mainly to industry, rather than the community

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Local government perspectives

• LG is concerned about: – Ability of LG networks to cope with larger

vehicles– accelerated deterioration of pavements– safety issues– community concerns– location and intensity of freight operations– PBS in general

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Overall Round Table conclusions:

• Local governments are critical to PBS ‘success’

• An ‘industry champion’ is required

• Improved community understanding and involvement is essential

• The PBS application process requires streamlining

• An enhanced ‘public information’ process for PBS and HPFV issues is required– in financial, economic and environmental

terms

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Improving the uptake of PBS and HPFVs

• Potential improvements lie mainly in the following broad areas

– Further PBS policy development

– Partnerships with Local Government / Community

– Regulatory enhancements and harmonisation

– Capacity building for PBS processes

– Need greater government/industry collaboration on PBS technical case work and research

– Industry PBS / HPFV advocacy and communication

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The outlook beyond the Round Table

• Initiation of a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) presents a major opportunity

• The new NHVR may even be able to take on the ‘industry champion’ role

• However sustained improvement in the HPFV uptake is likely to also require parallel measures

• Development of processes / tools to assist Local Government with HV route classification

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National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

• Potentially a welcome development for HPFV’s

• However some issues are not yet clear such as;

– How will the NHVR process be different to current approaches?

– How will certainty of access improve for industry?– What does this mean for LG?– Will there be an appeals process?– How will infrastructure upgrades be handled?

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Questions?

What we don’t want to see!