Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot
Roads and Maritime Services | June 2019
+3Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 1
Introduction
Roads and Maritime Services aims to improve
road safety for the heavy vehicle industry and the
broader community through effective regulatory
programs and high-quality compliance,
enforcement and adjudication programs and
systems.
This update summaries key statistics and trends
of the heavy vehicle compliance programs based
on intercepts and notices issued by Roads and
Maritime compliance officers as part of
enforcement programs.
The 2019 data included in this update is for
Quarter 2 April to June 2019.
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 2
Key Findings – Quarter 2, 2019
This quarter experienced the highest compliance rate in the last five quarters (88.5%) with 88,421 vehicles inspected,
excluding inspections and notices issued through the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme.
Vehicle units inspected
88,421
Notices to vehicle units
10,136
Compliance rate
88.5%
Note: These figures exclude inspections and notices issued through the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS).
This report summaries key statistics and trends of heavy vehicle compliance programs based on intercepts and
notices issued by RMS enforcement officers as part of enforcement programs.
46,954 vehicle combinations were intercepted through Special Operations (14,743), On Road Enforcement
(6,364) and Heavy Vehicle Safety Stations (25,847).
88,421 vehicle units inspected issuing a total of 12,749 notices to 10,136 vehicle units, excluding inspections
and notices issued through the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS).
8,003 defect notices issued during enforcement programs including Heavy Vehicle Safety Stations, On-Road
Enforcement and Special Operations:
o 5,460 (68.2%) minor defect
o 1,558 (19.5%) formal warning defect
o 936 (11.7%) major defect
o 49 (0.6%) major grounded defects
11,368 defect notices were issued through the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme:
o 8,641 (76.0%) minor defect
o 1,738 (15.3%) formal warning defect
o 965 (8.5%) major defect
o 24 (0.2%) major grounded defects
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 3
Intercepts Roads and Maritime Enforcement Operations inspectors perform random and targeted, intercepts and
inspections as part of on-road enforcement action, Heavy Vehicle Safety Station (HVSS) inspections,
targeted special operations.
The numbers of vehicle combinations intercepted by enforcement program.
Note: intercepts are unscheduled inspections of a vehicle at Heavy Vehicle Safety Station, On-Road Enforcement or Special Operation.
Compliance performance The percentage of vehicles issued one or more notices (defects, breaches, directions, warnings and
penalty infringement notices) across the enforcement programs is an indicator of overall compliance
performance. This excludes notices issued under the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme as part of the
registration process.
The heavy vehicle compliance rate of 88.5 per cent in 2019 Quarter 2 has the highest quarterly compliance
rate over the last 5 quarters.
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Vehicle units Inspected 104,774 99,490 89,665 83,659 88,421
Notice to vehicle units 14,675 12,941 11,699 10,624 10,136
Total notices 18,748 16,365 14,706 13,233 12,749
Compliance Rate 86.0% 87.0% 87.0% 87.3% 88.5%
Q1: January to March, Q2: April to June, Q3: July to September, Q4: October to December
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Special Operation 12,816 20,612 17,832 15,363 14,743
On Road Enforcement 11,934 8,332 7,874 6,772 6,364
Heavy Vehicle Safety Station 32,022 25,171 22,658 23,458 25,847
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
No
. In
terc
ep
ts
Intercepts by Enforcement Program
86.0% 87.0% 87.0% 87.3% 88.5%
70.0%
75.0%
80.0%
85.0%
90.0%
95.0%
100.0%
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Heavy Vehicle compliance rate
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 4
Compliance by enforcement program Enforcement Operations provide several frontline services delivered by Enforcement Operations
Inspectors:
Heavy vehicle inspection scheme (HVIS):
Detailed inspections of heavy vehicles for roadworthiness and vehicle standards for registration
renewal.
Enforcement Programs (excluding HVIS):
Monitoring fatigue management.
Checking for valid registration and driver licences, outstanding defects, permit compliance and
overloading of vehicles.
Checking to ensure relevant load restraint guidelines have been followed.
Performing detailed mechanical, steering and suspension inspections.
The compliance rate of vehicles inspected at Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS) is lower compared
to other enforcement programs because the vehicle inspection for roadworthiness and registration is more
comprehensive than inspection at a Heavy Vehicle Safety Station. The 2019 Q2 compliance rate (88.5%)
has improved by 1.2 per cent over the previous quarter 2019 Q1 compliance rate (87.3%).
Compliance and enforcement program inspections by year
Program 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Enforcement Programs (excluding HVIS)
Intercepts 57,022 54,411 48,600 45,785 47,121
Vehicle units Inspected 104,774 99,490 89,665 83,659 88,421
Notice to vehicle units 14,675 12,941 11,699 10,624 10,136
Total notices 18,748 16,365 14,706 13,233 12,749
Compliance Rate 86.0% 87.0% 87.0% 87.3% 88.5%
Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS)
Intercepts 24,246 28,452 23,017 25,082 24,237
Vehicle units Inspected 24,437 28,584 23,111 25,148 24,387
Notice to vehicle units 10,830 12,431 10,340 10,608 10,953
Total notices 11,236 12,887 10,747 11,003 11,419
Compliance Rate 55.7% 56.5% 55.3% 57.8% 55.1%
88.5%
55.1%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
HVIS vs Other programs
Enforcement Programs (excluding HVIS) Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS)
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 5
Compliance by the state registration (Heavy Vehicle Safety Station - HVSS)
The heavy vehicle compliance by the state of registration for five quarters. NSW register heavy vehicles
have a consistent compliance rate over the last 5 quarters. Queensland registered vehicles have seen the
highest compliance rate this quarter at 91%.
Compliance by State Registration - HVSS
State 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
NSW
Vehicle units Inspected 38,609 30,790 28,361 29,594 32,132
Notice to vehicle units 4,388 3,069 3,119 3,013 3,107
Major & Major Grounded Defects Notice 346 250 271 281 275
Vehicle Compliance rate (Major & Major Grounded Defects)
99.1% 99.2% 99.0% 99.1% 99.1%
Compliance Rate 88.6% 90.0% 89.0% 89.8% 90.3%
VIC
Vehicle units Inspected 10,963 6,559 5,857 5,998 7,149
Notice to vehicle units 1,427 767 796 729 840
Major & Major Grounded Defects Notice 101 67 73 68 79
Vehicle Compliance rate (Major & Major Grounded Defects)
99.1% 99.0% 98.8% 98.9% 98.9%
Compliance Rate 87.0% 88.3% 86.4% 87.8% 88.3%
QLD
Vehicle units Inspected 9,834 7,577 5,857 6,121 7,141
Notice to vehicle units 1,000 701 598 623 643
Major & Major Grounded Defects Notice 127 67 84 76 91
Vehicle Compliance rate (Major & Major Grounded Defects)
98.7% 99.1% 98.6% 98.8% 98.7%
Compliance Rate 89.8% 90.7% 89.8% 89.8% 91.0%
Other
Vehicle units Inspected 2,337 1,504 1,487 1,444 1,615
Notice to vehicle units 261 179 185 155 201
Major & Major Grounded Defects Notice 24 10 22 15 25
Vehicle Compliance rate (Major & Major Grounded Defects)
99.0% 99.3% 98.5% 99.0% 98.5%
Compliance Rate 88.8% 88.1% 87.6% 89.3% 87.6%
Other State includes - ACT, NT, SA, WA, TAS & Commonwealth plates.
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 6
Roadworthiness
Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS):
Roads and Maritime Services routinely inspect certain heavy vehicles as part of the NSW registration
process. Over 99 per cent of the notices falls under notice category ‘defects’.
HVIS Major
Grounded Major
Formal Warning
Minor
2019 Q2 24 965 1,738 8,641
5 year average 28 925 868 9,143
Enforcement programs (HVSS, ORE, Ops):
Unscheduled intercepts are conducted as part of enforcement programs consisting of Heavy Vehicle Safety
Stations (HVSS), On Road Enforcement (ORE) and Special Operations (Ops).
HVSS, ORE, Ops Major
Grounded Major
Formal Warning
Minor
2019 Q2 49 936 1,558 5,460
5 year average 70 1,214 993 8,398
Five year average: from July 2014 to June 2019 2019 Q2: from April 2019 to June 2019
Adding percentage or average results may give a rounding error of ±0.1% or ±1 on the total.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Major Grounded
Major
Formal Warning
Minor
MajorGrounded
MajorFormal
WarningMinor
2019 Q2 0.2% 8.5% 15.3% 76.0%
5 year average 0.3% 8.4% 7.9% 83.4%
Defect Notices by Notice Type - HVIS
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Major Grounded
Major
Formal Warning
Minor
MajorGrounded
MajorFormal
WarningMinor
2019 Q2 0.6% 11.7% 19.5% 68.2%
5 year average 0.7% 11.4% 9.3% 78.7%
Defect Notices by Notice Type - HVSS, ORE, Ops
Heavy Vehicle Inspection
Scheme:
In the year 2019 Quarter 2, total
defect notices through HVIS are
3.6 per cent (404) more than the
five-year average.
The proportion of defect notices
have reduced by 7.4 per cent
and 0.1 per cent respectively for
minor and major grounded
defects in 2019 quarter 2
compare to the previous five-
year average.
The proportion of defects that are
formal warnings is 7.4 per cent
greater.
Notices by Defect notice
types:
In 2019 Quarter 2, the total
defect notices from enforcement
programs are 33.4 per cent
(2,672) less than the 5 year
average.
The proportion of defect notices
have reduced by 10.5 per cent
and 0.1 per cent respectively for
minor and major grounded
defects in 2019 Q2 compare to
the previous 5 year average.
The proportion of defects that are
formal warnings is 10.2 per cent
greater.
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 7
Industry load type
During intercepts and when a notice is issued, the heavy vehicle load is recorded. Load type is an indicator
for the industry the heavy vehicle is engaged with.
Notice issued by load type includes enforcement programs Heavy Vehicle Safety Stations (HVSS), On
Road Enforcement (ORE) and Special Operations (Ops).
Based on load type recorded during intercepts in 2019 Q2, heavy vehicles carrying aggregate/soil are
attracting the most notices in terms of load, closely followed by building materials/supplies, machinery and
Primary Produce.
34
43
101
149
151
154
199
227
275
279
410
499
533
627
677
825
1,099
2,099
4,228
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Mining
Passengers
Fertilisers
Livestock
Other-Load type
Dangerous/Hazardous goods
Liquid (Non-dangerous/Hazardous…
Timber
Car carrier
Freight Container
Garbage/Waste
Steel/Metal
Groceries
Primary Produce
Machinery
Building materials/Supplies
Aggregate/Soil
Unladen
General
Notices issued by load type
Heavy Vehicle Safety Station On Road Enforcement Special Operation
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 8
Defect fault types Analysis of defect fault types identified during inspections and intercepts indicates that brakes continue to
be the most common defect type.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Exhaust & Noise
Other
Steering
Tow Couplings
Wheels & Tyres
Oil & Fuel Leaks
Suspension
Body & Chassis
Ancillary Equipment
Brakes
Exhaust& Noise
Other SteeringTow
Couplings
Wheels& Tyres
Oil &Fuel
Leaks
Suspension
Body &Chassis
AncillaryEquipm
entBrakes
Minor Defects(Minor & FormalWarning)
1.4% 2.5% 2.9% 3.0% 7.1% 8.0% 9.7% 14.0% 19.0% 19.4%
Major Defects(Major & MajorGrounded)
0.3% 0.5% 0.6% 0.5% 1.1% 1.2% 1.5% 1.4% 2.1% 3.9%
Defect Fault Types - Apr 2019 to Jun 2019
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 9
Notices by offence category The below three notice category types account for an average of over 17% per cent of all notices issued
over the last five quarters from April 2018 to June 2019 excluding Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme
(HVIS).
160 notices were issued for a load restraint breach, constituting 1.3 per cent of the total 12,792 Offence /defect notices issued in 2019 Q2. The number of load restraint offence notices has decreased gradually over the last five quarters from 399 in 2018 quarter 2 to 160 in 2019 quarter 2. 1,174 notices were issued for weight breaches, constituting 9.2 per cent of the total 12,792 Offence /defect notices issued in 2019 Q2. The number of weight breach offence notices has decreased gradually over the last five quarters from 1,821 in quarter 2, 2018 to 1,174 in quarter 2, 2019. 872 notices were issued for Fatigue/Work Diary breaches, constituting 6.8 per cent of the total 12,792 Offence /defect notices issued in 2019 Q2. The number of fatigue/work diary offence notices has decreased gradually over the last five quarters from 1,235 in quarter 2 2018 to 872 in quarter 2, 2019.
Note: One notice can be issued with multiple offence categories (e.g. breach, load restraint and fatigue) meaning that the notices by offence/defect
category (12,792) exceeds total notices issued (12,749) in 2019 Q2.
2019 Q2: data includes from April 2019 to June 2019.
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 10
Offence category by severity Total weight breach and load restraint offence notices have decreased respectively by 8 per cent, and 7 per
cent in 2019 quarter 2 compared to the previous quarter.
However, total fatigue notices in 2019 quarter 2 increased by 7 per cent compared to the previous quarter.
Severity 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Critical 247 210 181 129 152
Severe 83 70 41 53 58
Substantial 134 162 96 108 95
Minor 320 290 311 215 245
Undefined 497 424 474 337 352
Severity 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Severe 93 80 80 69 51
Substantial 722 684 556 509 455
Minor 1,161 1,045 871 807 762
Undefined 108 105 91 74 68
Severity 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Severe 10 13 11 4 6
Substantial 50 39 26 19 14
Minor 202 174 114 90 80
Undefined 137 85 62 59 60
*Note: an offence category can be issued with more than one severity, e.g. critical, severe or minor.
‘Undefined’ includes offences where the severity is uncategorised
2019 Q2: includes data from Apr 2019 to Jun 2019.
152
58
95
0
75
150
225
300
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Fatigue/Work Diary
Critical Severe Substantial
51
455
0
250
500
750
1,000
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Weight Breach
Severe Substantial
6
14
0
15
30
45
60
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Load Restraint
Severe Substantial
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 11
Vehicle units inspected and Notices by Sector Rolling average of Vehicle Units Inspected and notices issued by sector for the last five quarters from April
2018 to June 2019.
Number of vehicle units and notices are consistent over the past five quarters. However, notice to vehicle
unit inspection rate for Sydney sector is 42 per cent with 21,076 vehicle units inspected and 8,854 notices
issued as at 2019 Quarter (Q) 2.
44,892
27,748
21,076
35,314
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Vehicle units inspected per quarter
Northern Sector Southern Sector Sydney Sector Western Sector
6,447
7,757
8,854
5,251
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Total notices issued per quarter
Northern Sector Southern Sector Sydney Sector Western Sector
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 12
Defect notices issued by Enforcement Operations Sector
The majority of the defect notices are issued within the Sydney sector. Over 59 per cent of defect notices
are issued in Sydney and Southern sectors.
Notice Type Western Sector Northern Sector Southern Sector Sydney Sector
Minor Defect 2,489 3,047 3,364 5,283
Formal Warning Defect 676 553 998 1,082
Major Defect 354 524 471 564
Major Grounded Defect 9 30 18 29
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Western Sector
Northern Sector
Southern Sector
Sydney Sector
Western Sector Northern Sector Southern Sector Sydney Sector
Minor Defect 12.77% 15.63% 17.26% 27.10%
Formal Warning Defect 3.47% 2.84% 5.12% 5.55%
Major Defect 1.82% 2.69% 2.42% 2.89%
Major Grounded Defect 0.05% 0.15% 0.09% 0.15%
Defect Notice type by sector - Apr 2019 to Jun 2019
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 13
Number of driver directions by year Driver direction relates to fatigue offences where drivers are directed to take a mandatory rest break.
Driver direction notices are issued through the RMS enforcement compliance programs - Heavy Vehicle
Safety Stations, On-Road Enforcement and Special Operations.
The proportion of Driver direction notices for Heavy Vehicle Safety Station reduced by 19.5 per cent and for
Special Operation increased by 19 per cent in quarter 2, 2019 compared to the same time in previous year
quarter 2, 2018.
Program 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Heavy Vehicle Safety Station 77 58 52 36 44
Special Operation 30 64 56 43 44
On Road Enforcement 15 10 10 9 13
Note: 2019 Q2 data includes from April 2019 to June 2019
2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q2
Heavy Vehicle Safety Station 63.1% 43.9% 44.1% 40.9% 43.6%
Special Operation 24.6% 48.5% 47.5% 48.9% 43.6%
On Road Enforcement 12.3% 7.6% 8.5% 10.2% 12.9%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Driver Direction
Heavy Vehicle Compliance Snapshot, Quarter 2 2019 Page 14
Notes: Quarter 2 (Q2) 2019 includes data from 1st April 2019 to 30 th June 2019.
Adding percentage results may give a rounding error of ±0.1% on the total.
Adding average results may give a rounding error of ±1 on the total.
Intercepts: refers to the number of vehicle combinations intercepted and can have multiple vehicle
units.
Vehicle unit inspected: Refers to an individually registered vehicle unit.
Notice to vehicle unit: the number of vehicle units that are issued one or more notices.
Total notices: are total notices issued to vehicle units, noting that one vehicle unit can be issued
more than one notice.
Compliance rate: percentage of vehicle units inspected that are compliant.
Formal Warning defects are also known as Self Clearing defects.
One vehicle combination can have multiple vehicle units, and a heavy vehicle unit can be issued
with multiple defect notices during an intercept, i.e. a major defect notice & a minor defect notice.
A defect notice can be issued for multiple defect fault types requiring attention/repairs, i.e. Brakes,
Wheels/Tyres and Oil/Fuel Leaks.
One notice can be issued for multiple offence categories, i.e. breach, load restraint or fatigue.
An offence category can be issued for more than one severity, i.e. critical, severe or minor.
Other State includes - ACT, NT, SA, WA, and TAS.
This analysis is based on data retrieved from the Vehicle Regulation Operation (VROP) database
on 05 July 2019.
The data included in this report may differ to front-end system reporting due to extraction time.
VROP query date range from 01/07/2014 to 30/06/2019.
The Mass/Weight breach severity applying to heavy vehicles:
1. Severe: a mass equalling 120% of the maximum mass permitted
2. Substantial: a mass equalling 105% of the maximum mass permitted or 0.5 tons higher than the
maximum mass permitted
3. Minor: a mass less than the substantial risk breach lower limit.