Essential Chain of Responsibility Checklist for 2023

Chain of Responsibility under the HVNL creates shared legal obligations across the transport supply chain. Consignors, packers, loaders, schedulers, carriers, and receivers all hold duties when they influence transport activities.

The HVNL's principle of shared responsibility means each party must discharge their duty to the extent they have capacity to influence and control the transport activity. A duty under the HVNL may not be transferred to another person — an agreement purporting to remove that capacity does not remove the obligation.

CoR was strengthened in October 2018 with amendments introducing a primary duty for safety in transport activities. This primary duty requires parties to eliminate or minimise public risks arising from their transport activities, so far as is reasonably practicable.

The law also prohibits asking, directing, or requiring a driver or another party to do something that breaches the HVNL. Executive officers face specific due diligence obligations — company directors must ensure their organisation implements systems to manage CoR duties, including providing resources, verifying that compliance systems work, and maintaining current knowledge of HVNL requirements.

You hold CoR duties if you control or influence any transport activity aspect. Multiple parties often share duties for a single transport task. A retailer scheduling deliveries holds scheduler duties, their warehouse supervisor loading trucks holds loader duties, and the transport company operating the vehicle holds carrier duties — all three must manage their respective obligations. For a deeper look, see Chain of Responsibilities: What Australian HVNL Duty Holders Need to Understand.

Mass compliance starts before loading begins. You need current weight limits for the vehicle configuration, route restrictions, and accurate product weights.

Accredited vehicles use certified weighing systems. Non-accredited vehicles require public weighbridge verification or approved portable weighing equipment.

Pre-loading mass checks

• Verify vehicle tare weight before loading. Compare the weighbridge docket or load cell reading against vehicle registration documents. Discrepancies indicate potential compliance issues or documentation errors.
• Calculate available payload capacity. Subtract tare weight and fuel weight from the gross vehicle mass limit. Add axle group limits and bridge formula calculations for multi-axle configurations.
• Confirm product weights match documentation. Physical package labels, supplier declarations, and warehouse management system data should align. A 2% variance triggers re-verification requirements under most CoR frameworks.

Dimension requirements

Standard dimension limits are 2.5 metres wide, 4.3 metres high, and 19 metres long for rigid trucks. B-double combinations extend to 26 metres. Your route and vehicle configuration determine applicable limits.

Measure load overhang at the rear. Projections beyond 1.2 metres require warning devices. Projections beyond 3.7 metres require pilot vehicles and notice to road managers.

What to verify and how often

• Gross Vehicle Mass — Weighbridge or certified load cells — every loaded departure.
• Axle Group Weights — Individual axle weighing or distribution calculation — every loaded departure.
• Product Weight Accuracy — Sample weighing, supplier declaration verification — new products and quarterly audits.
• Height Clearance — Physical measurement, bridge height databases — route planning and load configuration changes.
• Width Compliance — Physical measurement at widest point — load configuration changes and non-standard cargo.

Fatigue management under the HVNL requires work and rest hour compliance. Drivers use work diaries or electronic work diary (EWD) systems to record work, rest, and driving time.

Key fatigue thresholds

• Maximum work time — 12 hours in 24 hours.
• Minimum rest break — 7 continuous hours in 24 hours.
• Maximum driving time — 5.5 hours without a break.
• Rest break requirement — 15 minutes stationary every 5.5 hours of driving.

Standard hours allow 12 hours work in 24 hours, with mandatory rest breaks. Solo drivers need 7 continuous hours rest in each 24-hour period. Two-up operations have different requirements when both drivers are present.

Scheduler fatigue obligations

Your schedules must allow drivers to comply with work and rest requirements. Build in buffer time for traffic, delays, and unexpected events. Tight schedules that force speeding or skipped rest breaks create CoR breaches.

Review actual journey times against scheduled times monthly. Consistent over-runs indicate unrealistic scheduling. Verify driver work diary compliance before assigning additional work — a driver who just completed a 12-hour shift cannot legally start another shift without required rest. Schedulers who assign work knowing rest requirements are not met breach CoR duties.

Work diary and EWD verification

• Check work diary completion daily. Drivers must record work and rest times within required timeframes. Missing entries, unclear entries, or obvious errors need immediate correction.
• Electronic work diary systems automate much of this tracking. The system links to vehicle telematics, recording driving time automatically. Manual entries still occur for non-driving work time.
• Maintain work diary records for three years. NHVR audits request historical records. Electronic storage systems simplify this requirement compared to paper diary retention.