Sometimes there is some good news for trucking in NSW. This week it is a clarification on a part of the law where operators were not quite sure where they stood. Under NSW transport law road trains were not only subject to a 90 km/h speed limit but required to be speed limited to 90 km/h.
This gave operators little flexibility within the fleet when the prime mover is used elsewhere in a fleet, i.e. not pulling a road train. However, a recent enquiry to the powers that be in NSW by the Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association has received a reply which has cleared up the issue.
When NSW transport law was superseded by the National Heavy Vehicle Law the requirement to limit the trucks to 90 km/h no longer applied. Now a fleet can limit all of their trucks to 100 km/h but ensure they don’t exceed 90 km/h when hauling a road train, like in the rest of the country.
According to the RMS the relevant rule is in clause 7 of the National Road Train Notice which states: “A road train operating in New South Wales must not exceed a speed of 90km/h or any lower speed limit specified for a route in the “condition” column in Appendix 1 (a), (b)or (c)to this Schedule, that applies to the vehicle.” Is that clear enough?