Accreditations

Mass Management Accreditation encourages heavy vehicle fleet operators to take greater responsibility for the loading of their trucks correctly and ensuring that their vehicles are compliant. This assists business operators in ensuring that their business is managed more efficiently. Initially, by having clear procedures in place to ensure that your vehicles are compliant and achieving legal masses and also reducing the risk of mass breaches. Improved Mass Management procedures will also lead to improved road safety. 

The benefits to operators may include:

• Productivity and efficiency improvements
• Complying with the requirements of Concessional Mass Limits (CML) and Higher Mass Limits (HML)
• Complying to Level 2 GML mass limits and network access
• Increased customer confidence with the better loading of vehicles
• Better driver morale
• Reduced impact of enforcement
• Better relationships with enforcement agencies

Benefits to the community include better and more consistent compliance with road safety standards.

As an accredited operator under Mass Management, you are required to know what your trucks weigh when they are loaded to ensure that they do not exceed the relevant mass limits. Accurate records of your mass procedures are required to be created and maintained as evidence that correct loading of your vehicles is taking place. How you create these records and monitor these records as evidence are at your individual business discretion. For example, you could use a weighbridge, use on-board scales, estimate the weight from the volume of the load, or a combination of these methods. It is necessary to document the system or systems you intend to follow and explain how it works. This will be your Mass Management System.

You are required to have documents of vehicle weights that prove your procedures and methods are effective and that your vehicles are not overloaded to maintain accreditation. Essentially, this means that your vehicle weight records are current and retained and you must support this by demonstrating that you have followed your written procedures.

Your Mass Management System must comply with the performance standards outlined in the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme: Business Rules and Standards. As an accredited operator, enrolled in Mass Management, you will be audited periodically by an independent auditor to ensure that you are continuing to meet the standards of the scheme. Upon the successful outcome of your audit, your accreditation will be renewed. Alternatively, you may be asked to improve your system before the renewal of your accreditation can take place.

You may be audited at any time with your vehicles subject to on-road checks to ensure conformance to the performance standards. Mass Management Accreditation will ensure that vehicle mass and loading is proactively managed within your business, especially when subject to an on-road check by enforcement agencies, identified by an Accreditation Sticker displayed on your vehicles.

Basic Fatigue Management Accreditation or Advanced Fatigue Management Accreditation encourages heavy vehicle operators to take a greater responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of drivers, the community and other road users. The Fatigue Management modules also provide added flexibility for operators who implement auditable accredited systems to manage driver fatigue, less driver fatigue is a proactive approach by the operator and demonstrates to the community this level of compliance is an initiative to assist with road safety.

As an accredited operator, you must know what your drivers' schedules, trips and rosters are to ensure that they do not exceed the approved work and rest hour times. this needs to be documented and monitored on an ongoing basis. the methods that a business can adopt are of a wide range of which most suits your business and operation, it must be documented and the methods and procedures detailed. This makes up the framework of your Fatigue Management System.

A business is required to have documents to provide evidence that the selected methods are effective and your drivers keep within the specified time frames to maintain accreditation. Essentially, this means keeping records of schedules, rosters, work diaries, and trip information. You must also be able to prove that you consistently follow your documented business practices.

Your Fatigue Management System must comply with the performance standards outlined in the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme: Business Rules and Standards. As an accredited operator, enrolled in Fatigue Management, you will be audited periodically by an independent auditor to ensure that you are continuing to meet the standards of the scheme. Upon the successful outcome of your audit, your accreditation will be renewed. Alternatively, you may be asked to improve your system before the renewal of your accreditation can take place.

Maintenance Management Accreditation encourages heavy vehicle operators to take greater responsibility for maintaining their vehicles correctly to ensure they maintain the vehicles to the manufacturer’s specifications and recommendations or better. This will also assist you to manage your business assets more efficiently. Having clear procedures in place to ensure that your vehicles and trailers are periodically maintained and also reducing the risk of penalties for unroadworthy equipment. Improved maintenance means fewer delays caused by breakdowns and will also lead to improved road safety. 

The benefits to operators include:

• Productivity and efficiency improvements due to fewer breakdowns or mechanical faults
• Correct maintenance of your vehicles at all times with consequent savings minimising the likelihood of major repairs.
• Prolonged vehicle life
• Increased customer confidence with better maintained vehicles
• Better driver confidence
• Reduced impact of enforcement
• Better relationships with enforcement agencies

Benefits to the community include better and more consistent compliance with road safety standards.

As an accredited operator under Maintenance Management, you are required to know that your vehicles are maintained in good working mechanical order at all times with faults being noted, diagnosed and fixed as and when they occur. Accurate records of your maintenance procedures are required to be created and maintained as evidence that the correct maintenance of your vehicles is taking place. How you create and monitor these records as evidence are at your individual business discretion. For example, you could use a service record book in each vehicle signed by the service dealer or your own workshop records combined with dated stickers of last service/inspection details attached to the vehicle’ windscreens. It is necessary to document the system you intend to follow and explain how it works. This will be your Maintenance Management System.

You are required to have documents that prove your procedures are effective and your vehicles are properly maintained with faults observed, recorded and repaired as necessary to maintain accreditation. Essentially, this means that your vehicle servicing and repair records are current and retained and you must support this by demonstrating that you have followed all your written procedures.

Your Maintenance Management System must comply with the performance standards outlined in the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme: Business Rules and Standards. As an accredited operator, enrolled in Maintenance Management, you will be audited periodically by an independent auditor to ensure that you are continuing to meet the standards of the scheme. Upon the successful outcome of your audit, your accreditation will be renewed. Alternatively, you may be asked to improve your system before the renewal of your accreditation can take place.

Accreditation does not exempt you from the law. You can be audited at any time with your vehicles subject to on-road checks to ensure conformance to the performance standards. Maintenance Management Accreditation will ensure that vehicle maintenance and standards are managed within your business, especially when subject to an on-road check by enforcement agencies, identified by an Accreditation Sticker displayed on your vehicles.