Advancing PBS Accessibility: Advantia's Initiative on Vehicle Specification Envelopes

As one of the grantees for the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) round 8, Advantia has begun the development of Vehicle Specification Envelopes (VSEs) for three common Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles. This initiative not only aims to streamline the entry of safer, more efficient vehicles into the market but aims to tackle some of the barriers hindering entry into the PBS space including the costs and time requirements to get started. By following a similar process to that used in the development of the 20m 3-axle Truck and 4-axle Dog trailer notice from 2022, this project aims to take learnings from this notice and make PBS accessibility a reality for more operators.

Three vehicle types have been selected for this project including:

• 6×4 Prime mover and semi-trailer (Flat deck, Van and Drop deck body types)
• 6×4 Truck and 5-axle dog trailer (Tipper body type)
• 6×4 Truck and 6-axle dog trailer (Tipper body type)

 

 

These vehicle types have been selected due to their popularity and high performance under the PBS scheme, making them ideal candidates for developing flexible VSEs. 

Vehicles complying with the VSEs would be expected to maintain the same on-road safety performance as their PBS equivalent combinations. These targets being Level 1 for the prime mover and semi-trailer and Level 2 for both truck and dog combinations.

Currently these VSEs are in the development stage (and early-stage drafts can be seen above), with a preliminary set of dimensions and expected restrictions for each combination. It can be expected that to maintain compliance, there will be some additional restrictions placed on these combinations including dimension combination limits, payload height limitations, tyre restrictions and minimum tare mass limitations. 

Industry consultation and feedback

During March 2024, industry was consulted and feedback on the draft VSEs was received by relevant equipment suppliers. Industry consultation sessions were also held with HVIA members and VSE feedback options provided via an online form. The outcomes of the consultation and industry feedback will now be used during the heavy vehicle simulation phase of the project to confirm final VSEs over the next 12-weeks.’

 

Download: Official media release 

This project is funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, supported by the Australian Government.