The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) chose Canberra as the venue for the NSW Regional meeting in Canberra and Tadano hosted the CICA Sydney meeting in May. Both provided an opportunity for comprehensive road updates.
The NSW regional was as informative as ever, with representatives from the Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRACA), Transport for NSW (TfNSW), and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator providing updates to members as part of the meeting. Damien Hense, CICA’s Road Policy Advisor then provided updates to the CICA Sydney meeting.
Graeme Evans (DITRACA) provided the latest updates on the ROVER system. This new system requires crane manufacturers and importers to demonstrate compliance with Australian Design Rules (ADRs.) This change brings SPVs into line with all other imported vehicles, including trucks across the Australian road network. As of July 1, 2023, all cranes (domestic and international) are required to demonstrate compliance with ADRs related to brakes, lights and mirrors. The second phase of the project involves demonstrating compliance to all relevant ADRs – which will be required as of July 1, 2024. CICA has been working closely with all manufacturers to ensure that the market is ready for the changes, with many manufacturers having already demonstrated compliance, allowing for the smooth and timely movement of vehicles off the docks and into crane yards across the country.
TfNSW provided an update on the program of work which is primarily focused on improved access for cranes in both regional and metropolitan NSW. CICA and its members received an update on the new State Government Ministers following the recent election in NSW. CICA congratulates the new Ministers and is looking forward to improving road access across NSW with their assistance. The relevant ministers include:
• Jo Haylen – Minister for Transport
• John Graham – Minister for Roads
• Jenny Aitchison – Minister for Regional Transport and Roads
CICA was also updated on the flood recovery efforts, following the extensive damage experienced across NSW as part of the significant rain events of 2022. Many parts of the affected network are well on the way to being put back into service, while resilience measures are being implemented to lessen the impact of future events. Work continues on the clarification of pilot and escort vehicles for crane and dolly configurations, as well as the implementation of increased tolerances for six axle cranes to allow them to operate under the notice. Crane owners in both the cities and the regions are still experiencing issues with access to third party structures (mainly rail infrastructure) remaining a challenge in some places. CICA has been working with TfNSW to streamline the relevant access requests and has asked for these structures to be assessed and added to the maps in line with other State based road assets. TfNSW also confirmed its plan to roll out the Heavy Vehicle Access Management System (HVAMS) for PBS vehicles in December 2023. The HVAMS system is a source of great excitement for the crane industry as the system delivers instantaneous and certain road access outcomes for crane owners. The system allows crane owners to run alternate configurations of the same crane, depending on the job requirements. The SPV component of the NSW HVAMS system will be made available to the crane industry sometime in 2024.
It is important to note that the required telematics solution will change across NSW as part of the HVAMS rollout. The move from IAP to TMA will allow road managers to have increased levels of confidence that any conditions imposed on road access will be met by industry. As seen in Tasmania and Victoria, the lower cost TMA platform also allows for in-cabin navigation to ensure that crane drivers always know the required route to be taken to site, as well as any speed or time of day conditions that may apply as a condition of access from the road manager.
The NHVR presented to NSW members on the Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Program (SLGAAP), providing some insights into how it intends to assist local government in better understanding the condition of structural assets. The program recently received additional funding as part of the recent Federal budget and is being made available to Local Governments across the country. CICA still has some concerns on how the SLGAAP program will integrate with the HVAMS system and will continue to work with both the NHVR and the relevant state-based road managers to ensure that an ‘end to end’ access system – which includes both first and last mile considerations – is made available to industry.
Regarding the wider industry update, CICA has contributed to the Construction Logistics and Community Safety – Australia initiative. (CLOCS-A) is a national best practice approach for managing the risks and impacts on community road safety brought about by the on-road transport and logistics activities associated with construction projects. It was developed to provide a consistent framework for industry to achieve a reduction in road trauma associated with construction logistics. CICA’s primary motivation for participation was to ensure that safe and efficient road access for cranes is considered at the project design phase. All too often crane owners have been burdened with the task of arranging access to government projects in locations where safe and appropriate road access could have been arranged well ahead of time.
The final NSW road update was related to the national road pricing trial. The National Heavy Vehicle Charging Pilot (NHVCP) is exploring fairer ways to fund Australia’s roads in the future, with a series of on-road trials. The NHVCP aims to test alternative ways to charge heavy vehicles for their road usage, based on the weight of the vehicle and distance travelled. Current charges are based on an annual registration fee and a fuel excise. The National Pilot is exploring two methods of Road User charges—one is a manual system using hub odometers and mock permits, the second system is an automated system using telematics and
mock invoices.
The Government is co-designing the on-road trials with industry. This will provide a platform for industry to inform and shape future policy. It is important to note that no decisions have been made to change the way heavy vehicle road user charges are collected. Any decisions made by governments to move to a new way to charge heavy vehicles would be informed by the results of the trials and would be undertaken in consultation with industry. This is why it is essential that crane owners participate in the trial. CICA has been speaking to members across the country, emphasising the importance of this reform as it is likely that a mass / distance / location style of road pricing will be introduced across Australia in the
coming years.
Participation is simple to arrange contact with the Department via email – National.Pilot@infrastructure.gov.au or via the sign up page https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/form/sign-me-up