Earlier this year, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) released the newest version of its route planner and after a trial period has decided it’s time for the new planning system to go ahead and close off the previous iteration.
The system is used to map and display approved routes by heavy vehicles), and is known as the Next Generation Route Planner (NGRP). It provides more real time data updates which ensures improved reliability, quality, and completeness of data for industry when planning journeys.
It supports the delivery of the NHVR’s new single national enforceable network map which will allow industry for the first time to plan and manage journeys across borders and is designed for heavy vehicle travel, rather than light vehicles.
The single national enforceable network map will start rolling out to industry for South Australia, Victoria and ACT in the next couple of months, with Queensland and New South Wales maps expected to be made available by the end of 2023.
Click on the video below to see how it works:
What does it mean for me?
1.New and amended permit applications:
Since the release of NGRP in April 2022, industry has been transitioning from using the legacy route planner as the routing engine for permit applications to using the NGRP.
NHVR’s most recent permit application data shows that more than 90 per cent of new and amended permit applications are being submitted using the NGRP. Based on this data, NHVR believes it is an appropriate time to retire the legacy route planner and move forward with the NGRP.
This means that from 17 July 2023, the legacy route planner will be removed from the NHVR Portal, and all new and amended permit applications will need to be submitted using the NGRP. The NHVR does not anticipate any impact for operators using the NGRP. We continue to reach out to operators who are using the legacy route planner to assist with the transition to the NGRP.
2.Permit renewals:
The NHVR has been working with road managers to ensure the NGRP maps are as accurate as possible. This includes making sure that all road managers have the right ownership of roads so that access permit consent is sought from the correct road manager.
This means if the NGRP recognises a road owner change, it will trigger an amendment to a permit application, rather than a renewal.
To help manage this change and reduce any impact to operators, the NHVR has established a specialised team that are working through all renewals ahead of permit renewal dates to ensure they are assigned to the correct road owner.
If you have any questions, contact the NHVR team on 13NHVR (13 64 87) or info@nhvr.gov.au
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