High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFV) which include PBS vehicles with a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) in excess of 68.5t and quad-axle semi-trailers in excess of 46.0t GCM will require Smart On-Board Mass (OBM) to operate in Victoria by 30 June 2023. 

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Other jurisdictions will be mandating Smart OBM with Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA) tracking in the near future.

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What is Smart OBM?

Smart OBM systems generate mass data from vehicles in a standardised format which is collected by an Application Service Provider (ASP). ASPs are certified to supply these services through the National Telematics Framework, a government- endorsed digital business platform.

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In simple terms readings from airbag scales on the axle groups of the combination (along with location and other data) are sent by a certified telematics device to an approved telematics service provider who then shares this data with Transport Certification Australia (TCA). 

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TCA then makes the data available to road managers such as local councils and state road authorities via mapping and other software. 

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Can we use the same technology in other applications?

Unavin is able to work with the data from approved and not approved Smart OBM systems and automate National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) Concessional Mass Limits (CML) management processes and quarterly compliance statements as well as other reporting requirements.

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The data can also be used to meet the TMA HML Declaration requirements in NSW (vehicle configuration changes) and QLD (vehicle configuration and mass changes).

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 Is it reasonable to monitor mass / location in real time?

From the NHVR regulatory advice:

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CoR parties and their executives may be failing to meet their primary duty obligations if they are aware of, or ought to reasonably be aware of, a safety technology that is available and suitable to eliminate or mitigate a risk associated with their transport activities but fail to implement this measure. 

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If CoR parties install the safety technology but fail to use the telematics data appropriately, because they are unwilling to develop a system to process, monitor, and interpret the data, this is unlikely to meet the threshold of reasonably practicable.

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Sometimes the devil is in the details and not all scale data or scale systems are accurate or reliable which is why pairing it with compliance / analytics software (Unavin) makes so much sense to automatically remove the noise from the data and generate information that the business can rely on and act on.

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New scales on the market claim to be more robust, accurate and less expensive than previous models and if you can access the data you need to at least work with it to demonstrate compliance. Automation makes this so much simpler.

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