The industry is being called on to participate in a survey of the use of braking systems on trucks in Australia. The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development is currently going through a review of the National Heavy Vehicle Braking Strategy (NHVBS)
The Heavy Vehicle Braking Systems—Survey of Reliability and Effectiveness is studying the effectiveness of advanced braking systems. The NHVBS is part of the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-20, which aims to reduce the annual number of deaths and serious injuries on Australian Roads by at least 30 percent.
The survey seeks feedback from heavy vehicle operators, on the effectiveness of heavy vehicle braking systems which may (or may not) include advanced braking systems, such as Brake Load Proportioning (BLPV), Antilock Braking Systems (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). ESC is often included as part of Electronic Braking Systems (EBS).
The survey is being undertaken by the government department with support from several Australian trucking industry bodies representing operators, heavy vehicle manufacturers, importers and maintenance service providers.
The survey is seeking feedback from heavy vehicle operators and maintenance providers of all sizes, fleet composition and location, irrespective if they have advanced braking systems or not.
The survey is reckoned to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete and will require information regarding fleet size, basic operating environment, and an indication of the number of brake faults recorded over the last 12 months.
Anyone willing to participate in the survey, click on the link to the Heavy Vehicle Braking—Braking System Effectiveness Survey.
The department said filling in the survey will help ensure direct operational experience is taken into consideration by the industry groups and government agencies involved in the NHVBS activities. The survey will be open until the end of June 2015.