HEAVY VEHICLE NATIONAL LAW
New South Wales and Victoria Class 3 Long Livestock Semitrailer Deck Length Exemption Notice 2024 (No.1)
- Purpose
This notice grants exemptions from dimension requirements for a class 3 heavy vehicle that includes a semi-trailer used to transport livestock.
2. Authorising provision
1) This notice is made under the following provision of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL):
a) section 117 – Regulator’s power to exempt category of class 1 or 3 heavy vehicles from compliance with mass or dimension requirement.
b) section 23 of Schedule 1 – Regulator’s power to amend or repeal instrument.
3. Title
This exemption notice may be cited as the New South Wales and Victoria Class 3 Long Livestock Semitrailer Deck Length Exemption Notice 2024 (No.1).
4. Commencement date
This notice commences on 10 February 2024.
5. Expiry date
This notice expires on 9 February 2029.
6. Definitions
1) Unless otherwise stated, words and expressions used in this Notice have the same meanings as those in the HVNL and its regulations.
2) In this notice:
Guide means the New South Wales and Victoria Class 3 Long Livestock Semitrailer Deck Length Operator’s Guide published by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, and as amended from time to time.
7. Application
1) This exemption notice applies to a class 3 heavy vehicle consisting of a prime mover and a semitrailer, where the semitrailer is used for carrying cattle, pigs, sheep or goats.
2) This notice applies in the following participating jurisdictions:
a) New South Wales; and
b) Victoria.
3) A heavy vehicle to which this section applies and that complies with the conditions of this notice is an eligible vehicle.
8. Exemption – Prescribed dimension requirements
1) An eligible vehicle is exempt from the following dimension requirements under Schedule 6 of the Heavy Vehicle (Mass Dimension and Loading) National Regulation (MDL Regulation):
a) section 4(6) – Length of trailers
b) section 4(10)(c) – Requirement to otherwise comply dimensionally
9. Condition – Dimension (Trailer deck length)
The length of the deck of a semitrailer on an eligible vehicle must not exceed 14.6m.
10. Conditions – Decks
1) The semitrailer must not have more than two decks.
2) The semitrailer must not carry cattle on more than one deck.
3) The lower deck of the semitrailer must be fully loaded before the upper deck is used.
11. Conditions – Areas and routes
1) An eligible vehicle complying with the conditions of this Notice is authorised to operate on all roads in a participating jurisdiction, subject to any stated area or route conditions set out in the guide.
2) For the purposes of section 119(1)(a) of the HVNL, an area or route specified in 1) is a stated area or route to which this Notice applies.
12. Conditions – New South Wales
1) The conditions in this section apply only in New South Wales.
2) The distance from the lowest deck of the semitrailer to the top of the semitrailer must not exceed 2.1m.
3) An eligible vehicle operating in New South Wales must not exceed 4.3m in height.
13. Conditions – Victoria
1) The conditions in this section apply only in Victoria.
2) An eligible vehicle must not exceed 3.9m in height.
3) The prime mover of an eligible vehicle must have three axles.
4) The semitrailer must have a tri-axle group.
Peter Austin
Director, Policy Implementation
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator