You may need an access permit before operating a heavy vehicle that exceeds standard mass or dimension requirements prescribed under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) on the road network.
Restricted Access Vehicles (RAVs) will need an access permit to operate on the road network unless otherwise authorised by a national or state based notice. General Access Vehicles (GAVs) will not unless it is operating on a road that is signposted otherwise.
Heavy vehicles are vehicles with a gross vehicle or aggregate trailer mass of more than 4.5 tonnes. They are classified as GAVs if they are below HVNL mass and dimension requirements, or RAVs if they exceed them. RAVs include:
- class one - special purpose, agricultural and Oversize Overmass heavy vehicles
- class two - B-doubles, road trains, performance based standard vehicles and controlled access buses
- class three - miscellaneous heavy vehicles, tow trucks, heavy vehicles covered by specified commodity schemes and mining trailers.
