Episodes
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Changes to the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Australia’s Transport Ministers have agreed in-principle to an improved, nationally‑consistent approach to the training and licence progression of heavy vehicle drivers, that improves road safety and productivity.
The in-principle changes were approved by infrastructure and transport ministers in December 2023 through the agreement by the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers Meeting (ITMM) to endorse the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Decision RIS).
The changes are designed to increase the safety and job‑readiness of heavy vehicle drivers.
Austroads will develop best-practice standards and training material to support consistent delivery of the enhanced heavy vehicle competencies and assessments.
Austroads will work with each state and territory government and the different industries to fully scope the implementation program, identify policy, service and stakeholder issues and options, and seek to collaboratively develop a coordinated plan to deliver the anticipated safety and productivity benefits of the reform.
In this webinar, Paul Davies, Austroads General Manager Programs, explains the changes in detail.
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Australian 3G Network Shutdown
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Between December 2023 and September 2024, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will close their 3G networks to make room for new, faster services. The 3G network shutdown will affect vital equipment and services across the road transport sector.
Devices that rely on 3G will no longer function and need to be upgraded or replaced to continue operating. Commonly affected devices include:
- telematics and vehicle/asset tracking devices installed in heavy and light vehicles, as well as general assets such as trailers, generators, etc.
- traffic management signs used in school zones, intersections and freeways
- weather systems and stations
- alarms/building entry
- devices that incorporate gateway or mesh backhaul
- personal Emergency Response (PER) systems
- phones and tablets.
Businesses, government, and industry are being urged to commence their transition immediately to avoid lapses in vital equipment and services across the road transport sector. Early transition and planning are vital given the large number of devices affected by the shutdown. The migration process can take months, and timing is dependent on the number of affected devices and the availability of installers.
New Zealand is also shutting down their 3G network. The country will close their services between August next year and the end of 2025.
This webinar, organised by Austroads and Transport Certification Australia (TCA), provides high-level information on the impacts of the Australian 3G shutdown and what local government and transport industry need to do to prepare for the transition.
Presenters are David McIntosh, Telstra’s National Telematics Domain Lead, Michael Reynolds, Head of Network Products, Programs and Services at Optus, Mark Joselin, Followmont Transport Compliance Manager, Adam Ritzinger, Chief Technical Officer at Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia, and John Gordon, Manager Strategic Development at TCA.
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
NSW’s Transition to Smart On-Board Mass for PBS Mass Monitoring
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is transitioning from Interim On-Board Mass (OBM) management to Smart OBM. All Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicle operators with mass monitoring as a condition of access will need to transition to the more advanced telematics technology by 1 June 2024.
Smart OBM systems capture axle mass measurements as digital records and share the data with relevant road managers in a secure and standardised way.
The changes aim to harmonise the use of Smart OBM systems for mass monitoring of heavy vehicles in New South Wales with other states.
The changes will require the operators of eligible PBS vehicles to have Smart OBM systems fitted to their vehicles. Additionally, those vehicles must be enrolled in an applicable scheme of the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA), and their Smart OBM systems paired with an Application Service Provider (ASP) certified by Transport Certification Australia (TCA).
This webinar provides an overview of the upcoming changes and how they will affect PBS drivers travelling to and within the state.
Webinar attendees are taken through the steps required for signing up to Smart OBM or transitioning from Interim OBM to Smart OBM.
Presenters also talk about the importance of Smart OBM for the road network and how mass data from Smart OBM is being used by road managers.
The session is beneficial to PBS operators who operate their fleet in NSW or travel across the border, ASPs seeking information to update their customers and road authorities looking to better understand the use of Smart OBM data.
The webinar is presented by Gavin Hill, General Manager of Strategy and Delivery at TCA, and Brett Graham, Senior Manager for Road Access at TfNSW.
Thursday May 25, 2023
Austroads Project Pipeline 2023-24
Thursday May 25, 2023
Thursday May 25, 2023
This webinar is beneficial to consultants who may be interested in tendering for Austroads projects. The session covers new Austroads projects lined up for the 2023-24 financial year, Austroads process around research data collection and what is required to become a successful tenderer.
To find information about Austroads' current tenders, visit the tenders webpage. On that page, you can also subscribe to our Tenders newsletter to receive alerts when a new project is advertised.
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Victorian Government’s Enrolment of Smart OBM
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
The Department of Transport and Planning Victoria has announced 30 June 2023 as the final deadline to have smart on-board mass (OBM) systems fitted to certain high productivity freight vehicles (HPFVs).
Beyond this date, the mass limits of the below classes of vehicles will be restricted if not fitted with Smart OBM:
- vehicles more than 26m in length, with a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) in excess of 68.5 tonnes
- quad-axle semi-trailers with a GCM in excess of 46.0 tonnes
This webinar, presented by Gavin Hill and Ian Mond, covers:
- the changes and how they will affect transport operators traveling in/to Victoria
- the steps required for signing up to Smart OBM
- the importance of Smart OBM for the Victorian road network
- the ways mass data from Smart OBM is being used by road managers.
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Queensland’s Transition from IAP to TMA
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads has announced upcoming changes which will harmonise the use of National Telematics Framework applications for heavy vehicles in Queensland with other jurisdictions.
These changes will include transitioning the subject vehicles from the:
- Intelligent Access Program (IAP) to the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA)
- Interim On-Board Mass (OBM) Solution to Smart On-Board Mass (Smart OBM)
This webinar, presented by Gavin Hill from TCA and Mark Mitchell from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, provides an overview of the changes covering:
- the use of the National Telematics Framework to improve road outcomes
- the differences between IAP and TMA
- what’s behind the change
- what you need to know about the 18-month transition
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
The proposed National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles is a principles-based strategic policy document which highlights the role of state and local government road managers in managing heavy vehicles access on the road network. It is also proposed to establish a national Access Working Group to deliver a targeted national Access Work Program based on the Framework's principles.
In this session, presenters – Pascal Felix, Stuart Maxwell and Sanjiv Sathiah, talk about the elements of the framework and how they will potentially benefit state and local road managers and industry.
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Austroads Project Pipeline 2022-23
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
This webinar introduces Austroads new projects lined up for the 2022-23 financial year.
The session is most beneficial to consultants who may be interested in tendering for Austroads projects.
Upcoming projects focus on road network resilience, pavement design, movement and place, cycling and micromobility, future freight vehicles, road design, driver licensing, climate change risk assessment, automated and electric vehicle data exchange and provision.
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
The National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy sets the agenda for coordinated and well-planned government and industry action to 2040 and beyond, with a national vision for freight systems and supply chains to contribute to a strong and prosperous Australia.
The Strategy commits to action in four key areas:
- Smarter and targeted infrastructure,
- Enable improved supply chain efficiency,
- Better planning, coordination and regulation; and
- Better freight location and performance data.
This webinar, presented by Georgia O’Cianain, Andrew Higgins and Deb Fearns, provides an overview of the following action items under the Strategy:
- National Freight Data Hub, a federated data-sharing network to provide open access to government data, help industry share data together, and collectively answer the big questions about Australia’s freight performance and how we can improve it.
- Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard, a web-based data visualisation tool that provides detailed and interactive modelling of Australian transport and logistics supply chains across road and rail. A total of 150 commodities are available with a variety of capabilities including enhanced geographic filtering.
- National Urban Freight Planning Principles, seven high-level principles endorsed by Australian, state and territory governments that provide guidance for land use decision-making across all levels of government to improve planning for freight in Australia’s metropolitan areas.
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Investigation of Pavement Assessment Methodologies for PBS Access
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
We rely on road freight transport to keep Australia’s economy moving. Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles, that are typically longer and heavier, do this work more efficiently but how much road damage do they cause in the process?
This webinar, presented by Anthony Germanchev, Georgia O’Connor and Angus Draheim, explores the methods used by road managers to answer this question. It proposes a framework to support consistent approaches to understanding and comparing the pavement impacts of PBS vehicles. Some of the key steps government agencies are taking to support road managers in assessing PBS vehicles for network access are also outlined.