DETAILS OF HEAVY VEHICLE CATEGORIES
GOODS VEHICLES
A motor vehicle constructed primarily for the carriage of goods and having at least 4 wheels; or 3 wheels and a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ exceeding 1.0 tonne.
A vehicle constructed for both the carriage of persons and the carriage of goods shall be considered to be primarily for the carriage of goods if the number of seating positions times 68 kg is less than 50 percent of the difference between the ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ and the ‘Unladen Mass‘. The equipment and installations carried on certain special-purpose vehicles not designed for the carriage of passengers (crane vehicles, workshop vehicles, publicity vehicles, etc.) are regarded as being equivalent to goods for the purposes of this definition. A goods vehicle comprising 2 or more non-separable but articulated units shall be considered as a single vehicle.
LIGHT GOODS VEHICLE (NA)
A goods vehicle with a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.
MEDIUM GOODS VEHICLE (NB)
A goods vehicle with a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12.0 tonnes.
HEAVY GOODS VEHICLE (NC)
A goods vehicle with a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ exceeding 12.0 tonnes.
TRAILERS
A vehicle without motive power constructed to be drawn behind a motor vehicle.
VERY LIGHT TRAILER (TA)
A single-axle trailer with a ‘Gross Trailer Mass‘ not exceeding 0.75 tonne.
LIGHT TRAILER (TB)
A trailer with a ‘Gross Trailer Mass‘ not exceeding 3.5 tonnes, other than a trailer of Category TA.
MEDIUM TRAILER (TC)
A trailer with a ‘Gross Trailer Mass‘ exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 10 tonnes.
HEAVY TRAILER (TD)
A trailer with a ‘Gross Trailer Mass‘ exceeding 10 tonnes.
Appendix 2: The heavy commercial vehicle assembly and wholesaling industry in australia Background
The heavy commercial vehicle assembly and wholesaling segment of the motor vehicle manufacturing industry in Australia comprises of three sub segments: the first being heavy commercial vehicle assemblers, the second category comprising of importers, the third category comprises of suppliers of engines, transmissions, braking systems, trailers and suspension assemblies that are used in the assembly of a heavy commercial vehicle. Industry revenue for 2003-04 was $14.94 billion.
The size of the trailer market for freight trailers is estimated at $2 billion annually with numerous small businesses operating in the market.
Locally built heavy commercial vehicles accounted for an estimated 15.5 per cent of the total number retailed in 2003 with the remainder 84.5 per cent imported mainly from Japan and Europe. All local assemblers and wholesalers are foreign owned and vehicles are sourced from all over the world. As such, the industry displays a high level of globalization.
Annual Sales Volume
The heavy commercial vehicle market in terms of annual sales is very small compared to other OECD countries and many developing economies. Sales for 2002 and 2003 is shown in Table 14.
Table 14 : Annual sales for heavy commercial vehicles exceeding 7 tonnes GVM
Heavy commercial vehicle type
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
Rigid commercial vehicle,
|
8721
|
10,010
|
12,507
|
N/A
|
Prime mover
|
1620
|
2041
|
2556
|
|
Trailer
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Source: VFACTS
A number of vehicles are supplied from the plants of European, North American and Japanese manufacturers. Table 15 shows the sales distribution for 2003 based on country of
manufacture and demonstrates that the European Union is a key supplier of prime movers along with Australian made trucks such as Kenworth, Mack and International.
Table 15: Number of new heavy commercial vehicles sold during 2003
Country of manufacture
|
Rigid commercial vehicles
|
Prime movers
|
Trailers
|
Total
Rigid + Prime movers
|
Australia
|
1377
|
2800
|
N/A
|
4177
|
European Union
|
1552
|
1866
|
Nil*
|
3418
|
Japan
|
8900
|
240
|
Nil*
|
9140
|
USA
|
300
|
1044
|
Nil*
|
1344
|
Total
|
12,129
|
5950
|
|
18,079
|
Source: VFACTS
*Trailers from Japan, Europe and the USA are rarely supplied to the Australian market.
Types of Vehicles
Rigid heavy commercial vehicles offer a load carrying area and may be equipped with a tow bar or other coupling on the rear of the vehicle. Articulated heavy commercial vehicles consist of a prime mover (towing vehicle) which has no significant load carrying area but linked with a turntable device to a semi-trailer. In all thirteen types of vehicles are normally registered across Australian states and territories.
The various types of heavy commercial vehicles operating in Australia are detailed below. In summary, there are five main operating classes of heavy commercial vehicles. These are:
Rigid commercial vehicles
Rigid commercial vehicles with trailers
Semi-trailers
B-Doubles
Road trains
A B-Double combination consists of a prime mover towing two semi-trailers. The first trailer includes a turntable, which links to the second trailer, rather than using a dolly to link the trailers as in road train configurations. A road train comprises of a prime mover hauling two or more trailers and employing a dolly or a rigid heavy commercial vehicle hauling two or more trailers. Such a classification of the heavy commercial vehicle market is useful for costing heavy commercial vehicle UP devices.
Articulated heavy trucks
Three Axle Semi-Trailer
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 24 (no increase permitted)
Annual Charge ($) 1,763
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=19m
Five Axle Semi-Trailer
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 39.0 (40.0)
Annual Charge ($) 4,406
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=19m
Six Axle Semi-Trailer
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 42.5 (45.5)
Annual Charge ($) 4,737
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=19m
Seven Axle B-Double
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 55.5 (57)
Annual Charge ($) 6,830
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=25m
Eight Axle B-Double
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 59.0 (62.5)
Annual Charge ($) 7,161
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=25m
Nine Axle B-Double
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 62.5 (68)
Annual Charge ($) 7,492
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=25m
Double Road Train
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 79.0 (85.7)
Annual Charge ($) 8,154
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=36.5m
Vehicle: Triple Road Train
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes) 115.5 (125.2)
Annual Charge ($) 9,809
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=53.5m
Rigid Trucks
Two Axle Rigid Commercial vehicle
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes): 15 (no increase permitted)
Annual Charge ($);
Up to 12t: $331
Up to 15t: $551
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=12.5m
Three Axle Rigid Commercial vehicle
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes): 22.5 (23)
Annual Charge ($);
Up to 16.5t: $661
Up to 22.5t: $881
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=12.5m
Four Axle Twin-Steer Rigid Commercial vehicle
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes): 26.5* (27)
Annual Charge ($);
Up to 20t: $ 992
Up to 26.5t: $2,203
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=12.5m
* If load-sharing twin-steer, mass is 27.5t (28)
Two Axle Rigid Commercial vehicle with Two Axle Dog Trailer
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes): 30.0 (no increase permitted)
Annual Charge ($) 1,268
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=19m
Three Axle Rigid Commercial vehicle with Three Axle Dog Trailer
Maximum Mass Limit (tonnes): 42.5* (no increase permitted)
Annual Charge ($);
Up to 42.5t: $3,196
Over 42.5t: $5,178
Width=2.5m
Height=4.3m
Length=19m
Source: National Transport Commission, Melbourne
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