• Heavy Vehicle Permit Changes
• NHVR Management Process
• Transitional Permit Arrangements
• Mass, Dimension & Loading
• More Information

Heavy Vehicle Permit Changes

Changes to heavy vehicle permits follow as a result of the commencement of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) on the 10th of February, 2014. The NHVR is an independent authority, established to administer a uniform set of laws to minimise compliance burden, duplication and inconsistencies across the various state and territory borders. Being founded by the Australian Government through the Intergovernmental Agreement as part of the Heavy Vehicle Regulatory Reform,  the NHVR, under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (PDF, 2.0MB), is the only authority responsible for the issue of permits for all heavy vehicles over a gross vehicle mass of 4.5T.  

Council is the Local Road Manager and must give consent to the NHVR on behalf of an applicant should the operator/company wish to travel on any Council controlled roads.

NHVR Management Process

The NHVR coordinate applications from the time of lodgement up to completion of the permit, all the while liaising directly with road managers (i.e. both state and territory road authorities and local governments) to manage incoming applications.

It is important to note however that whilst NHVR has full authority over the issue of permits, it is not a road owner, and as such all road funding and maintenance responsibilities remain as currently existing with the respective state, territory and local governments bodies (i.e. Councils, Main Roads).

Lodgement of new or the renewal of existing permits is to be done on the NHVR's  Applications and forms page. Use NHVR's step-by-step guide to choose the right form and submit your application to the NHVR. 

Tools, such as the NHVR Route Planner, is an advantageous mapping tool that assists to identify unknown roads, various localities, currently approved/denied routes as of the time of lodgement.

All existing permits issued prior to the 10th of February 2014, will continue to be valid until either their date of expiry or on the 10th of February 2017 should no expiry date be stated (i.e. permit is valid for the current life of the registered vehicle).

Transitional Permit Arrangements

The longer than average permits processing delays during the initial establishment phase of the NHVR led to the introduction of temporary transitional arrangements to speed up the permit approval process.

The currently existing temporary transitional arrangements nominate the Department of Transport and Main Road (TMR) to issue permits on behalf of the NHVR. TMR has been processing all new Class 1 – Oversize, Overmass (OSOM) and special purpose vehicle (SPV) access applications for travel within Queensland.

Visit the TMR website at www.tmr.qld.gov.au/nhvr to obtain the appropriate application form and apply to TMR.

For more information on the existing transitional arrange, navigate to the link below:  

https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/access-management/applications

Consents issued by the Banana Shire Council are valid for 12 months. Should Council roads or infrastructure suffer damage as a direct result of the travel, the operator will be subject to comply with the respective fines.    

Council has application forms to apply for consent to operate heavy vehicles within the Banana Shire road network, the consents are valid for a 12month period and it is the responsibility the heavy vehicle operator's responsibility to ensure compliance with current conditions of the road before each trip. An operator may be subject to fines being imposed due to damage caused to Council roads by their heavy vehicle.

Application for consent to operate heavy vehicles within the Banana Shire Council road network.

It is advised that the operator fill out all sections to the best of their ability to minimise time delays in the processing of the application. Currently there is a timeframe of about 8-10 working days to process an application.

Council does not permit shire wide blanket consents and requires all routes to be explicitly listed in the application. 

Mass, Dimension and Loading

Information about mass, dimension and loading can be found on:

https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/mass-dimension-and-loading

More Information

If you have any queries relating to Heavy Vehicle consent or would like to provide us with further comment, please contact Banana Shire Council's Technical Services Section on (07) 4992 9500 or email Council at enquiries@banana.qld.gov.au or write to:

Banana Shire Council
PO Box 412
BILOELA QLD 4715

If you have any questions regarding the Heavy Vehicle legislation, regulations or application process call the NHVR on: 1300 MYNHVR (1300 696 487) or email: info@nhvr.gov.au or write to:

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
PO Box 492
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006