AN INTERVIEW WITH THE
QUAD
FATHER
LES BRUZSA IS THE CHIEF ENGINEER AT AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL HEAVY VEHICLE REGULATOR (NHVR) AND PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN THE ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE-BASED STANDARDS (PBS) SCHEME.
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n 2006 the National Transport Commission (NTC) estimated that PerformanceBased Standards would account for 12,000 vehicles by 2030. At the end of September 2021 the PBS fleet had reached 13,262 combinations, which is significantly more than those early projections. In terms of exponential growth, Les said the industry is recognising the safety and productivity benefits of PBS combinations. “At the same time, we’re working with stakeholders to resolve access issues, and that means there is even greater demand for PBS vehicles,” he said. “We had consistent growth over the years and when Covid-19 started we expected it was going to slow down but it hasn’t. The industry is very active and by end of September this year we had approved 1,634 combinations. 2019 was a fantastic year for the industry with a record breaking 1,750 approvals. Encouragingly, in the first ten months of this year, we’ve already surpassed that number.” In addition to productivity, there are other benefits to PBS. “From the NHVR’s perspective that’s extremely important,” Les said. “The National Transport Insurance report earlier this year demonstrated that PBS vehicles have 60 per cent fewer crashes. B-doubles were recognised over the years as a very safe combinations, but if we look at the safety performance of PBS A-doubles, their crash rate is around half of the B-doubles. So, we have a new PBS combination which is a little bit longer and probably a little bit heavier, but it delivers all those safety benefits.” To lock step with industry trends and advances in technology, Les said it is important that PBS is reviewed and updated to current standards. “Industry is moving extremely quickly and new technologies are being developed all the time,” he said. “We now have an opportunity to look at some of the current technologies and how they improve performance and consider them in the PBS assessment and approval process, and it is why we are putting so much emphasis on the review of the standards. The NHVR is running a number of projects where we are trying to establish how much performance improvement these new and different technologies can deliver to heavy vehicle combinations.
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National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Chief Engineer, Les Bruzsa.
Road managers and authorities can sell the concepts of different vehicles to the public more easily if they can demonstrate that these vehicles are safer and fitted with the latest technologies. That’s a critical selling point about the technologies these vehicles will have which would mitigate the risk of crashes with pedestrians and other vulnerable road-users. PBS is continuously evolving and we are always looking at ways we can tailor the scheme and include all the technological enhancements.” Of the most popular semi-trailer types, truck and dog, Les said, still represent the biggest group in terms of the PBS facility but other
