Freight
- Publication no: AP-R725-25
- ISBN: 978-1-922994-58-5
- Published: 4 February 2025
- PDF (free) Download
This report compares local (Australia and New Zealand) and selected international (Europe and North America) approaches to pavement design, heavy vehicle mass limits and supporting decarbonisation of the heavy vehicle fleet.
This report complements the main report for project NEF6392 Future Freight Vehicles and Buses – Implications for Road Managers, which seeks to inform decision‑making, planning, and policy advice for road managers seeking to accommodate the increased steer and drive axle masses of future freight vehicles and buses.
The main project report will be published at a later date and provide advice to support the following objectives for the broader project:
- Assist and inform planning by Austroads member agencies for zero emission freight and buses.
- Provide an evidence base to inform policy advice, considerations, and decisions on accommodating increased steer and drive axle masses on freight vehicles and buses.
- Identify opportunities to mitigate pavement and structure impacts through changes to vehicle or vehicle operation characteristics.
Join us for a webinar on the report, presented by Harriet Farminer, Andrew Somers and Michael Bushby.
There will be question and answer opportunities during the session. No charge but registration is essential. Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.
- Summary
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Purpose
- 1.2 Scope
- 1.3 Methodology
- 2. Australian and New Zealand Context
- 2.1 Geography and climate
- 2.2 Population density and economic development
- 2.3 Freight task and axle group mass limits changes over time
- 3. Australia and New Zealand Pavement Assets
- 3.1 Pavement assets
- 3.1.1 Sealed
- 3.1.2 Unsealed
- 3.1 Pavement assets
- 4. Australia and New Zealand Axle Group Mass Limits
- 4.1 Current heavy vehicle access arrangements in Australia and New Zealand
- 4.1.1 Vehicle axle characteristics and mass
- 4.2 Axle group mass limits in Australia and New Zealand
- 4.2.1 Australia
- 4.2.2 New Zealand
- 4.2.3 Axle group mass limits
- 4.1 Current heavy vehicle access arrangements in Australia and New Zealand
- 5. International Comparison
- 5.1 Context
- 5.1.1 United Kingdom
- 5.1.2 USA
- 5.1.3 Sweden
- 5.1.4 South Africa
- 5.2 Pavement design approaches
- 5.2.1 Comparison
- 5.3 Axle group mass limits
- 5.4 International pavement comparison
- 5.4.1 Pavement assets influence on axle mass limit decision making
- 5.4.2 Other factors influencing axle mass limit decision making
- 5.1 Context
- 6. International Experience, Policy Direction, and Assessed Impact
- 6.1 International experience and policy direction
- 6.2 Assessed impacts
- 7. What Does this Mean for Australia and New Zealand?
- 7.1 Key considerations
- 7.2 Policy direction options
- 7.3 Policy decision model
- 8. Conclusions
- References
- Appendix A Pavement Profile Examples