HVNL compliance checklist
The amended Heavy Vehicle National Law is now in effect. Use this practical checklist to assess your safety systems, driver fitness processes, fatigue management and operational evidence.
Key insights
• Under the new Present, Suitable, Operating and Effective (PSOE) audit standards, operators must prove their safety policies work in practice.
• The new Unfit to Drive duty applies to drivers of all heavy vehicles more than 4.5t and expands the focus beyond fatigue to broader health and fitness.
• Basic Fatigue Management and Advanced Fatigue Management are being replaced within the new accreditation framework by Alternative Compliance Accreditation – Fatigue and Alternative Compliance Hours.
Australia’s amended Heavy Vehicle National Law is now in effect. For fleet operators, the key question is whether safety processes are being applied in everyday operations. Use this checklist to identify potential gaps following the August 1 HVNL changes.
1. Review your safety management system and accreditation requirements
What changed?
The National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) is being replaced by the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation (HVA) framework. Operators seeking accreditation must first obtain General Safety Accreditation (GSA) and have a Safety Management System that complies with the Safety Management System Standard 2026. They can then progress to other pathways, including Alternative Compliance Accreditation for fatigue or mass. Operators must demonstrate that safety systems are documented, actively implemented and effective.
Your checklist
• Establish audit-ready verification: Can you readily produce safety records across vehicle maintenance, driver fatigue and daily operations for a PSOE entry or compliance audit?
• Check systems operate in practice: Are documented safety policies actively implemented across maintenance, scheduling, driver management and operations?
• Build proactive risk assessment loops: Can you identify recurring issues, such as vehicle faults or driver safety exceptions, and track corrective actions?
• Maintain evidence of corrective action: Can you retrieve records showing how risks or non-conformances were reviewed, addressed and followed up?
How fleet technology can help
• The Digital Evidence Locker: Geotab brings vehicle and driver behaviour data together, helping maintain accessible digital records.
• Continuous SMS Assurance: Real-time exception reporting for events such as speeding and critical vehicle faults can help operators identify, review and document safety risks.
2. Expand fitness-to-drive processes beyond fatigue
What changed?
The amended HVNL introduces an Unfit to Drive duty for drivers of all heavy vehicles more than 4.5t. The duty extends beyond fatigue to physical or mental health conditions, temporary illness or injury, and the effects of alcohol or other drugs.
Drivers must assess their fitness before work, monitor it throughout their shift and stop driving if they become unfit. If a driver reports being unfit, employers must respond appropriately and not require them to continue driving where this conflicts with safety duties.
Your checklist
• Review pre-start declarations: Do they consider illness, injury, medication and mental health as well as fatigue?
• Check vehicle coverage: Do your processes account for all heavy vehicles more than 4.5t?
• Review reporting: Can drivers report fitness concerns without inappropriate scheduling or operational pressure?
• Check your response: Do dispatch and scheduling teams have clear procedures, with retrievable records of declarations, concerns and actions?
How fleet technology can help
Digitise pre-start declarations: Geotab Drive supports customisable digital pre-start and Fit for Duty forms, creating consistent, accessible records.
Respond quickly: Digital workflows can make fitness concerns available to appropriate teams, supporting timely responses and reducing conflicting operational pressure.
3. Review fatigue management and work diary processes
What changed?
Alternative Compliance Accreditation Fatigue (ACA-Fatigue) builds on GSA requirements. Operators must first have a compliant Safety Management System and demonstrate it works effectively. They must also show appropriate processes to manage risks, meet legal obligations and continually improve safety performance.
Your checklist
• Review work diaries: Are drivers relying on paper Written Work Diaries (WWDs), where manual entries or calculations could create errors or gaps?
• Assess fatigue requirements: Have you reviewed Alternative Compliance Hours (ACH) requirements?
• Incorporate Advanced Fatigue and Distraction Detection (FDDT): Is your fleet aligned with the NHVR Master Code of Practice, which lists FDDT hardware as a recognised and defensible safety control for ACH qualification?
• Check data visibility: Can managers access FDDT and other safety events alongside vehicle and driver information to identify trends and risks?
How fleet technology can help
•Integrate with NHVR-approved EWDs: Geotab integrates with NHVR-approved Electronic Work Diary solutions, helping digitise work and rest records.
• Bring safety data together: Geotab can integrate with compatible FDDT, including AI-enabled driver-facing cameras, allowing fatigue and distraction events to be viewed alongside telematics data.
4. Review mass, dimensions and road-access controls
What changed?
General Mass Limits have increased to align with previous Concessional Mass Limits in applicable circumstances. The amendments also increase the general access length limit from 19 – 20m for certain vehicle combinations, subject to specified vehicle and braking requirements. The HVA framework also introduces Alternative Compliance Accreditation – Mass (ACA-Mass) for eligible operators.
Your checklist
• Verify mass and axle limits: Are axle weights and Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) verified and logged before vehicles leave the loading bay?
• Review combination access: For B-Doubles and Road Trains, do vehicle configurations and planned journeys meet designated Restricted Access Vehicle (RAV) network rules?
• Monitor route adherence: Can you track route deviations in real time and retrieve historical location data for compliance reviews?
How fleet technology can help
Automated geofencing and route auditing: My Geotab mapping tools enable operators to build virtual zones and automated route rules. This generates real-time notifications for route exceptions or unapproved network entries, giving you the digital audit trail required to prove proactive risk management.
