The trial will be looking at and testing technologies that gather data from in-road Weigh-in-Motion devices and use it to:
- Identify where to target compliance operations on the network; and
- Identify and target trucks transiting a particular location for enforcement action.
It will also look at the design of weight enforcement sites to determine what is important to secure quality detection and enforcement results.
Trial outcomes will be used to support the establishment of a network of improved weight enforcement sites across the country.
The current set of sites is limited. Information from the sites we do have, combined with Police enforcement information suggests about 10 percent of freight trips are illegally overloaded, and currently the risk of being caught is lower than desirable.
To increase incentives to comply with loading requirements, we want to increase our monitoring and enforcing presence, as well as maximise the effectiveness of enforcement activities.
For example, to increase both the incentive to comply and the effectiveness of a site, we want to be able to identify and target enforcement stops at just illegally overloaded vehicles, while letting compliant vehicles continue on their way uninterrupted.
We are targeting illegal overloading because it increases road safety risk, results in uneven market competition, and causes infrastructure damage that is not offset by increased road user charges.
If you want to know more about the trial, contact Matthew Hunt, who is Project Manager for the trial.