The VFF takes road transport regulation frustrations to the Productivity Commission

VFF president David Jochinke has written to the Productivity Commission highlighting the role local government plays in heavy vehicle regulation.

Operators apply for permits through the National Heavy Vehicle Register (NHVR) portal.

The NHVR then seeks consent from road managers, who are responsible for granting approvals for roads outside the existing B-double network, within 28 days.

"As the managers of local roads, (councils) are now responsible for approximately 85 per cent of Victoria's total road network," Mr Jochinke said.

He said while sections of the road network were capable of carrying High Productivity Freight Vehicles, conditions imposed by road managers compromised their use.

Even B-Double access varied significantly between councils.

"There are countless cases in regional Victoria of B-Double gazetted roads stopping at shire boundaries,"

He said this highlighted the arbitrary manner, which characterised heavy vehicle access.

"It's clear that many rural local governments lack the resources and expertise to sufficiently evaluate the impact of access decisions on the supply chain," Mr Jochinke said.

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The VFF requested centralised resources be made available to local governments, to ensure a more consistent approach to heavy vehicle access.

He said the VFF also wanted a greater onus to be placed on local councils to provide evidence as to why heavy vehicle access had been denied.

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Several farmers said there had been long delays in receiving appropriate council permits,when using local roads.

Alistair Gabb, Beaufort, who has a mixed cropping and livestock operation, said he'd had to wait for 12 months for a permit, to use his own truck on local roads.

Mr Gabb recently urged his local shire, Pyrenees, to allocate funding to review B-Double access to local roads.

"A B-Double is an everyday truck now; it's nothing special," Mr Gabb said.

While the shire's promise of further funding for road upgrading was welcome, more must be done on the permit system, to ensure heavy vehicles access to the local road network.

"This is a highly inefficient system which is inhibiting the productivity of the region," Mr Gabb said.

He said using a single semi 28-tonne net payload would result in 177 truck movements, but a B-Double would reduce that to 107 trips.

"I would encourage the Pyrenees shire to consider these figures," Mr Gabb said.

"B-Doubles are proven safe trucks and granting access across the Pyrenees shire would be a win-win for both the shire and farmers."

The shire would see fewer heavy vehicles on the road, reducing damage, and farmers would notice a boost in productivity.

Mr Gabb said local councils could put up signs, prohibiting trucks using certain roads, to override NHVR approval.

"I'm allowed into my place, but I only have to go 2 to 2.5 kilometres to the west, and I run into trouble," Mr Gabb said.

"It's taken me more than 12 months to get a permit to go west, along my very own road, and that's with a truck and a dog," Mr Gabb said.

"It's a four-axle truck and dog, with a gross tonnage of 50 tonnes, that wasn't running under mass management specifications."

He said he used the truck to carry canola and grain to Westmere and bring lime back from Allansford.

A significant amount of grain, oilseeds and lambs were being produced in the area and Mr Gabb said that could present problems for transporters, seeking permits at short notice.

"When I turn off lambs, I have about a B-Double's worth," he said.

"I don't know who is going to pick them up, but for that truck driver to get access to my property, he needs a permit.

"I ring the stock agent on Sunday, the truck is organised on the Monday, and the sheep are at the yards on Tuesday."

Wickliffe's Andrew Byron was another grower who said he had to wait for months for a permit.

"I wanted a higher mass limit on a single trailer, and it took me eight months," Mr Byron said.

"In that time, I could have made 100 movements, easily."

He said he wanted to increase the load he could carry by 10pc, through increasing the weight by 1.5tonnes per group.

"We weren't asking for much; it was so we could cart on local roads, between our properties."

He said he wanted to cart grain to a receival depot and fertiliser between his properties.

There was a distance of 20 kilometres, between his three properties.

He said the NHVR was "on time with everything," but when it came to applying for a permit from Ararat Rural City Council, he ran into problems.

It appeared the council had a lack of knowledge of its own assets, such as roads, bridges and culverts.

Using higher mass vehicles would reduce the number of trucks on the road.

"That's the whole point of using them," Mr Byron said.

"I can get permits for crossing over rail lines easily, that can be done over the phone.

"In 24 hours you can get a permit by email, so there is no excuse for councils not to do the same thing."

"I know, for a fact, a lot of other operators don't apply for permits, because it just takes too long."

Stewart Hamilton, Inverleigh, is in Golden Plains shire and said he hadn't had too many issues with the granting of permits.

But the roads he needed to gain access to, between the Hamilton Highway and the Rokewood to Skipton Road, were not gazetted for B-Doubles and also had restricted use.

"The roads were built for eight to ten-ton Bedford trucks," Mr Hamilton said.

"Most of the farmers are running 45-tonne trucks, some of them are running 68-tonne trucks, as are most of the carriers."

Mr Hamilton said he understood there were old bridges that had to have strict load limits, imposed on them.

"But it makes logistics hard, when all the machinery has doubled, or tripled, in size in the last 30 years."

"I suppose if we are organised, it doesn't have much impact, apart from another lot of paperwork.

"We do apply for permits and get granted what we ask for, but we have got to keep on top of our game.

"Then you realise there's another day in the office, just to have access to your own farm, which is a bit of a frustration to say the least."

An NHVR spokesperson said it worked with operators and road managers, councils and state road agencies, to process permits in a timely manner.

"A Class 2 B-double permit is required for travel on roads that are not included in the approved B-double network," the spokesperson said.

"NHVR Stakeholder and Engagement team work with all parties through the process, helping to resolve delays, assisting operators with alternatives and supporting road managers in their decision making."

Pyrenees Shire chief executive Jim Nolan said council had two local roads gazetted for B-Double use and was hopeful of upgrading more.

"Pyrenees Shire Council spends close to 50 per cent of its annual budget on road renewal, upgrade and maintenance," Mr Nolan said.

"Council recognises the need to improve local road and bridge infrastructure to meet changing needs of the transport industry and local businesses, within the financial constraints that impose limitations on what can be achieved within a small rural council."

Mr Nolan said bridge structures on many local roads were built before B-Doubles were in use, and therefore could not be certified to carry such loads.

Four bridge structures were currently being replaced and would be upgraded to B-Double standard.

Mr Nolan said council had always complied with its 28-day timeframe to provide a response to an application.

Ararat Rural City Council chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said Mr Byron's application was lodged with the NHVR in late May, 2019 and approved well before the due date, in August.

"The permit application included three VicRoads' managed roads and 49 Council roads," Mr Harrison said.

"The council rejected two dirt tracks on the application, only because they are not suitable for a heavy vehicle, and the council is of the understanding that this was accepted by the applicant as they were not challenged."

Dr Harrison said the NHVR approved the permit with conditions on July 16, 2018 and closed the case.

"Council officers have fulfilled their obligations in relation to this permit application and approved the permit in July 2018," he said.

"The system works in such a way that even if council had not approved the permit, it should have been automatically approved by the NHVR after 28 days in the system."