The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) continues to evolve, with a strong focus on strengthening Chain of Responsibility (CoR) obligations and ensuring all parties in the transport supply chain actively manage heavy vehicle safety risks.
The key changes to the HVNL include: a new Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme, introduction of ‘unfit to drive’ duty, simplified work diary record-keeping, and changes to mass, dimension and loading provisions.
What Cm3 is doing
As part of our commitment to help clients and contractors build safer, more compliant supply chains Cm3 is reviewing our heavy vehicle and transport-related criteria to incorporate HVNL expectations into our assessment framework, to support business in demonstrating due diligence, meeting legal obligations and reducing the risk of transport-related incidents.
Importantly, our existing assessment criteria already place a strong emphasis on driver fitness, risk management, training, mass, dimension and loading procedures and due diligence. As a result, we do not anticipate significant changes in our criteria, rather, our review is focused on ensuring our criteria continue to reflect current regulatory terminology, expectations and recognised industry best practice.
Supporting Contractors Through the Transition
As an evidence-based prequalification system, Cm3 recognises that contractors may need to review processes that demonstrates alignment with new HVNL requirements. The revised Cm3 criteria are anticipated to be introduced over the coming months to allow time for contractors to gather supporting evidence of HVNL compliance.
What contractors should do
Contractors who undertake heavy vehicle activities, or who influence transport operations, should review their existing systems and ensure they remain aligned with current HVNL requirements and industry best practice. Organisations should also confirm that relevant policies, procedures, training records and risk controls are current and available for assessment. The NHVR have been very active in adverting the changes to the HVNL, please contact them if you need more information.
We Want Your Feedback
As we review our HVNL-related assessment criteria, we invite clients to share their feedback. While we expect only minor refinements given the strength of our existing framework, your input will help ensure Cm3 continues to deliver assessments that are relevant, effective and aligned with industry needs. Please contact your Accounts Manager or complete the feedback form here.