THE National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has announced it will freeze fee increases on all NHVR-provided services until January next year.
NHVR chair Duncan Gay said helping the industry through this difficult period had been a priority, with the fee freeze the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at helping operators.
“We recognise this has been a tough period for many operators and now more than ever we want to encourage heavy vehicle businesses to focus on their safety and that of other road users,” Mr Gay said.
“This fee freeze is a small way the NHVR can help in providing financial relief to more than 20,000 heavy vehicle businesses using NHVR’s services.”
The freeze is to apply to all National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme module and nominated vehicle fees.
The NHVAS provides flexibility in managing fatigue and concessions for mass and maintenance.
There are currently about 7,500 heavy vehicle operators accredited across 12,300 modules.
The maintenance module applies to more than 115,000 heavy vehicle units, while the Mass module applies to more than 43,000 heavy vehicles.
The fee freeze will also apply to permit applications where the NHVR coordinates more than 70,000 heavy vehicle access permits a year, liaising with state, territory and local governments.
The NHVR has made several recent changes to assist operators during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including protocols and maps for driver facilities, waiving amenity restriction on curfew permits and extending supplementary work diary time limits.
