Opportunity for comment iii

Request for advice iv

Overview 1

Road freight productivity growth has stalled 2

Deploying new technologies can re-start growth 4

The PC is examining five heavy vehicle reform areas 4

Road access settings need to better balance costs and benefits 5

Regulation has not caught up with electric vehicles 7

Current reforms will improve driver capability 9

Draft recommendations, findings and information requests 10

Context for heavy vehicle reform 10

Access for high productivity and heavy zero emissions vehicles 10

Accelerating a National Automated Access System 13

Administrative and regulatory barriers to charging infrastructure 14

Heavy vehicle curfews 15

The National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework 16

1. Context for heavy vehicle reform 19

1.1 What have we been asked to do? 19

1.2 Conduct of the study and consultation 19

1.3 Heavy vehicles and the freight task 20

1.4 Expected distributional impacts of the proposed reforms 24

2. Access for high productivity and heavy zero emissions vehicles 25

2.1 How do access arrangements currently work? 26

2.2 Opportunities to deliver productivity gains and improved environmental

outcomes 28

2.3 Reforms to access for high productivity vehicles and HZEVs 36

3. Accelerating a National Automated Access System 47

3.1 The existing heavy vehicle access system is not fit for purpose 48

3.2 About the NAAS 50

Impacts of heavy vehicle reform Interim report

viii

3.3 Getting the most out of the NAAS 52

3.4 Ensuring the NAAS is delivered in a timely way 56

4. Administrative and regulatory barriers to charging infrastructure 59

4.1 HZEV charging infrastructure 61

4.2 Grid connections are challenging but largely not for administrative or

regulatory reasons 63

4.3 Providing better information to guide investment 64

4.4 Updating land use regulation to meet the needs of HZEV charging 69

4.5 Heavy vehicle rest areas may warrant special attention 72

5. Heavy vehicle curfews 73

5.1 Curfews apply unevenly across Australia 73

5.2 Some curfews may not be fit for purpose in light of new technology 78

5.3 Quantifying the benefits of reform 85

Attachment 5.1 86

6. The National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework 87

6.1 Current arrangements differ across jurisdictions 88

6.2 Reforms to the NHVDCF are progressing 90

6.3 Impact of the NHVDCF reforms 94

6.4 Future reform directions 97

Appendices

A. Public engagement 99

B. About the economy-wide modelling 103

Approach to assessing the economy-wide effects 103

What economy-wide modelling does and does not do 105

Interim simulations and results 107

Annex – Products and industries in PC National 110

Abbreviations 113

References 115