Australian Heavy Vehicle Repairers Association calls for changes in laws regarding “Write Offs”

The AHVRA division of MTA NSW has for several years been leading the charge for a written off vehicle register (WOVR) for “Heavy Vehicles”. The original WOVR that was established in 2010 excluded heavy vehicles to the dismay of the AHVRA.

For seven years now, Richard Nathan, Chairman of the AHVRA, along with all other members has been spearheading the campaign for a WOVR for heavy vehicles to protect drivers from unknowingly operating vehicles with unknown and possible catastrophic problems.

“When a truck has been involved in a major incident, vital components of the vehicle need to undergo extensive testing to ensure there is no fracturing (Crack Testing). Without crack testing vehicles are possibly being put back on the road in unroadworthy conditions which could lead to failure causing deadly situations to arise”, he said.

The AHVRA are just about to launch a very public social media campaign to highlight to the public the actual state of affairs of what possibly could be following them down the freeway.

Many repairers have seen “hideous” previous repairs which should have rendered the vehicle written off previously. This may have been the case. However without a WOVR or any sort of record of previous history, these vehicles go off to auction where they are bought by unscrupulous buyers who think they can make a “quick buck” by repairing the vehicle with sub-standard repairs and sell them off to unsuspecting owners, who have no idea of the actual state of the vehicle.

Heavy vehicles are constantly pulled up on the side of the road and in weigh bridges and undergo inspections by authorised officers from the various state authorities. These checks are predominately visual inspections and quite often will not divulge the true state or history of the vehicle.

Above: Jaw Lock Pins, which hold the trailer to the prime mover cracked

Under the current WOVR, you can see the history on passenger cars like a Toyota Corolla, however nothing appears on any heavy vehicle.
A delegation from AHVRA (Richard Nathan and Darren Wales) and MTA NSW (Stavros Yallouridis, CEO and Brenton Daniel, Senior Divisional Manager) met with NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, the Hon. Melinda Pavey MP in May to discuss this vitally important issue.

This meeting was timely as it was on the eve of the most recent Transport and Infrastructure Council meeting. At this meeting it was agreed by the Council that jurisdictions, industry stakeholders and the NHVR establish a heavy vehicle Written off Vehicle Register as a priority and that NSW will lead the working group to progress this work.

The AHVRA and MTA NSW has welcomed the outcome from the Transport and Infrastructure Council and look forward to working with the authorities in progressing this vitally important issue to the end when we have a WOVR for Heavy Vehicles. MTA NSW and AHVRA wish to thank the Hon. Melinda Pavey MP for her understanding and commitment on this issue.

For further information, please contact Brenton Daniel, Senior Manager - Divisional Services at MTA NSW via email brenton.daniel@mtansw.com.au
or call 0419 171 212.