According to the RMS, the Route Assessment Guidelines were last revised in 2002 and provide RMS, local councils and industry members with procedures and technical strategies to determine access to new freight routes.
Changing conditions on the roads, including additional new heavy vehicle combinations as well as vehicles operating at higher mass limits, have led to the development of these new guidelines.
A number of other changes aimed at increasing efficiency, including streamlining the procedure for assessing routes for RMS and local councils, have been incorporated.
NSW roads carry around 67 billion tonne kilometres of freight each year, around one third of freight nationally and the greatest productivity for the industry is achieved when the same vehicle can carry a load from the source to the destination.
RMS is encouraging all stakeholders to provide feedback Monday 26 March, 2012 by mail to RAV Guidelines, RMS Freight Branch, Locked Bag 928, North Sydney or by email: ravguidelines@rms.nsw.gov.au
The proposed guidelines are available at www.rms.nsw.gov.au
Source: New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services