What Is Chain of Responsibility 2.0? HVNL Duties, 2026 SMS Changes

The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) governs heavy vehicle operations across Australia. Passed in 2012 and implemented progressively across states, it created a single national framework for transport safety.

The law applies to vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) over 4.5 tonnes, including trucks, prime movers, truck and trailer combinations, and buses. The HVNL introduced Chain of Responsibility as its core safety mechanism, recognising that many different parties influence the safety of a heavy vehicle on a road — not just the driver.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) administers the HVNL, providing guidance, developing codes of practice, and enforcing compliance across the supply chain.

Key HVNL compliance areas

• Fatigue management — rules governing work and rest hours for drivers, with accurate recording through written work diaries or Electronic Work Diaries (EWD).
• Mass and dimension — legal limits for vehicle weight and size; exceeding these creates serious safety risks and attracts substantial penalties.
• Load restraint — standards ensuring freight is secured properly so loads do not shift during transport and cause instability.
• Vehicle standards — roadworthiness, maintenance schedules, and equipment requirements; vehicles must meet minimum safety standards before entering service.
• Speed compliance — obligations extend beyond drivers to parties who influence speed decisions, including schedulers who set unrealistic delivery timeframes.

For practical support addressing these areas, explore CoR consulting from MAEZ.

CoR does not apply to just one role. It reaches across the entire transport supply chain to anyone who can influence safety outcomes. The HVNL identifies ten specific party functions, each representing a role that can influence transport safety through decisions or actions.

The ten CoR party functions

• Employer — employs or engages drivers; hiring drivers, setting employment terms, providing training.
• Prime contractor — engages another party to transport goods; contracting transport operators, managing subcontractors.
• Operator — holds responsibility for vehicle operation; fleet management, vehicle maintenance, operational decisions.
• Scheduler — controls or influences driver work and rest times; setting delivery schedules, allocating jobs, planning routes.
• Consignor — consigns goods for transport; preparing freight, arranging transport, packaging goods.
• Consignee — receives transported goods; accepting deliveries, unloading requirements, booking appointments.
• Packer — packs goods into containers or onto vehicles; packing containers, securing cargo inside packages.
• Loading manager — supervises or controls loading; directing loading operations, managing loading areas.
• Loader — loads goods onto vehicle; physical loading, weight distribution, securing loads.
• Unloader — unloads goods from vehicle; physical unloading, managing unloading procedures.

Most businesses hold multiple party functions simultaneously. A manufacturer might be a consignor, scheduler, and loading manager all at once.

The control or influence test

CoR applies based on control or influence, not job titles. The law looks at what you actually do, not what your business card says. You are a CoR party if your decisions or actions affect transport safety outcomes — including indirect influence through policies, procedures, or commercial arrangements.

A scheduler who sets tight delivery timeframes exercises control over driver fatigue risks. A consignor who specifies loading methods influences load restraint outcomes. Even parties without direct operational involvement can be caught: finance departments that set payment terms encouraging speeding, or procurement teams that select the cheapest and potentially non-compliant carriers.

The test is simple: can your decisions or actions affect whether a driver complies with the HVNL? If yes, you are a CoR party.

The phrase "reasonably practicable" appears throughout the HVNL. Understanding this concept is critical to compliance. Reasonably practicable means what is feasible in your circumstances, considering all relevant matters. It is not about perfection — it is about doing what is reasonable given your situation.

The law requires you to balance five key factors when determining what measures are reasonably practicable for your business.

The five factors

• Likelihood — How often could this risk occur? Frequent risks demand more robust controls than unlikely scenarios. Document with incident records, near-miss reports, and industry data.
• Severity — What harm could result? Risks that could cause serious injury or death require stronger preventive measures. Document with risk assessments, safety studies, and injury records.
• Knowledge of the risk — What should you know about this hazard? Industry knowledge and available information set the baseline. Document with industry guidelines, codes of practice, and training records.
• Available controls — What measures could eliminate or reduce the risk? Available control measures and industry practices matter. Document with control options analysis, expert advice, and best practice research.
• Cost versus risk — Is the cost of available control measures grossly disproportionate to the risk? You must consider whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk being addressed.

Each factor requires supporting documentation. Together, these records demonstrate that you have thought through your obligations systematically and acted on what is reasonably practicable for your operation.

For role-specific guidance, see Chain of Responsibilities: what Australian HVNL duty holders need to understand. To discuss your specific situation, contact MAEZ.