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The NSW Government launched a Written-Off Heavy Vehicles Register to improve road safety, reduce the incidence of heavy vehicle theft, re-birthing and related crime late last year. Now all of the details of how the register will work have been announced. 

At a recent meeting of the Industry Government Monitoring Group held on 13 February, it was reported that the system was working well and over seventy heavy vehicles had already been registered on the WOHVR.

It was agreed that further revisions and improvements will be introduced as  soon  as possible, advice will be forwarded as soon as these revisions come into effect.

 The Register currently will apply to heavy vehicles that are more than 4.5 tonnes including trucks, prime movers, trailers and buses, and will be maintained by the Roads & Maritime Services NSW.

Heavy vehicles that are written off will now have their registration cancelled and will be placed on the register. 

A damage assessment criteria is then applied and based on that, these vehicles will be classified as either a Statutory write off - which can never be repaired or re-registered, and can only be used for spare parts or scrap. Or a Repairable write off - a total loss that has sustained less damage than a statutory write-off and can be successfully repaired to manufacturer or industry standards, then certified and re-registered.

This legislation represents a win for all road users says the Australian Heavy Vehicle Repairers Association (AHVRA), as it eliminates the loophole that existed where these write-offs could be purchased at auction and repaired by unlicensed, unskilled and ill equipped persons and returned to the road.

Many of these vehicles were then on sold to unsuspecting operators without critical safety checks having been being carried out – the cost of what would have contributed to the vehicle being a write off in the first place.

Purchasers of these vehicles were often unable to establish what repairs had been carried out or indeed if the vehicle had been a write off at all.

"It was shocking to contemplate that trucks involved in major collisions were not subjected to critical safety checks and tests, despite these being mandatory under the Industry Code of Conduct," said AHVRA Chairman Richard Nathan

Some necessary critical safety tests include

  • Steering Box checks
  • Front Axle check including Crack Testing
  • King Pin Checks
  • Steering and Pitman Arms check
  • Turntables Etc

This WOHVR (Written Off Heavy Vehicles Register) legislation has been the focus of the AHVRA who for many years worked hard in informing key stakeholders of the issues and presenting the need for change to government.

The AHVRA says much of the credit must go to the NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey, who, when presented with the situation that existed, acted within 24 hrs and met with the Transport and Infrastructure committee and procured an agreement for the introduction of the Written off register for heavy vehicles.

 Under the Minister's direction, Transport NSW did an excellent job putting together an industry reference group who worked diligently on a Damage Assessment Criteria for the classification of Heavy Vehicle Repairable and Statutory Write-offs. The Criteria was finalised and produced by Austroads and the National Theft Reduction Council.

Further the introduction of laws including Chain of responsibility & The Heavy Vehicle National Law requiring that Heavy Vehicle Smash and Body Repairers comply with the requirement to ensure they have the capability, facility and equipment to carry out repairs to Heavy Vehicles to Industry Standards, and that these repairs can be only conducted by Licensed / Accredited Heavy Vehicle Smash Repairers.

In addition to keeping Statutory write-off’s off the road, Repairable write-off’s will be required to be Guaranteed by the Repairer by a Certificate of Compliance, showing a record of all repairs, parts and sublet items used in the repair process. 

There are strict penalties in place for Non-Compliance with the above.

"Transport operators can now purchase heavy vehicles with confidence and knowledge that repairs have been carried out to industry standards and that heavily damaged poorly repaired and unsafe vehicles will not be returned to the road.

"The above will save lives and trauma,reduce theft, save money with the added bonus of creating genuine sales of parts, materials  and jobs while protecting the environment with responsible work practices," Nathan said. 

For more details click here.

 

 

 

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