Permits and Access

The operation of Restricted Access Heavy Vehicles, such as B-Doubles and A-Doubles, in South Australia is governed by the Gazette and Permit system managed by Transport SA. Transport SA has been revising the Gazette and Permit system since the mid 1990s and is endeavouring to maximise the routes included within the Gazette system so as to do away with the need for Permits, other than the genuine one-off cases. GAZETTES: Failure to comply with the current Gazette that relates to the class of vehicle being operated is an offence and can attract serious penalties. One trap that many transport operators fall into is to fail to keep their Gazettes up to date. Even if the routes and conditions under which you are operating have not been changed in a new edition of a particular Gazette, you will be committing an offence if the Gazette in your vehicle is out of date. This technical breach can attract a fine of $144 and it can also result in the vehicle being treated as if it were operating completely illegally. So a B-Double under Higher Mass Limits would be treated as an over-length and over-mass semitrailer; thus massively increasing the potential fines well into the thousands of dollars. The best way to avoid this problem is to ensure that your Gazettes are all current by regularly checking the Transport SA website at www.transport.sa.gov.au. For some Gazettes and Notices you can even enrol in a Transport SA email listing for automatic advice of changes to the Gazettes. Call Transport SA on 1300 882 249. Of course members of the South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) are advised by SARTA each Friday of any changes to Gazettes, following notification from Transport SA. PERMITS and How We Can Help: The only legal way to operate a Restricted Access Vehicle outside of the Gazette Conditions is to arrange a Permit through Transport SA. This will generally also involve getting the approval of the relevant Council(s) in whose areas the vehicle will operate. This can be a frustrating and complex process and more often than not it’s actually about politics rather than vehicle operational safety issues. Of course SARTA members can avail themselves of the support available from SARTA, in dealing with the issues at the Transport SA, Local Government and even at the Ministerial level where necessary. Whilst positive results can not be guaranteed, we do have an excellent track record in resolving most Permit issues. In some more complex cases that go beyond the level of SARTA membership benefits, SARTA's management consultants SAMS, may need to charge a SARTA member for this work but this would only be at the 20% discounted SARTA-member rate.