Until 3 May 2021, all-terrain mobile cranes with 4 or more axles as well as mobile cranes that exceed 14.0 tonnes on a twin-steer axle group, were required to participate in the Intelligence Access Program (IAP) to operate on public roads in Victoria.
IAP involves the tracking of a vehicle’s location and speed to monitor compliance against conditions of access. An in-vehicle unit is supplied and operated by an IAP service provider which uses satellite tracking to monitor the vehicle.
In Victoria, if the vehicle is detected breaching one of the conditions of access (such as using a road that is not approved for access), the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is notified. The NHVR is responsible for compliance and enforcement of heavy vehicles (including mobile cranes) in Victoria. An important aspect of IAP is that the NHVR only gets notified when a vehicle is detected to be violating one of its access conditions. It should receive no information while the vehicle is complying with these conditions.
As of 3 May 2021, mobile crane operators now have the option to participate in the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA) in lieu of IAP. Although similar to IAP, TMA differs in a number of aspects. If participating in TMA, a vehicle will still have an in-vehicle unit that uses satellite tracking to monitor the vehicle. However, in contrast to IAP, complete location data will be accessible by the NHVR for vehicles participating in TMA, not just instances where conditions of access are breached.
The rules that Service Providers must follow for vehicles participating in TMA is different to IAP and this could influence the cost. CICA recommends discussing both options with your chosen provider to determine what is the best fit for you.
The Department of Transport (VicRoads) has introduced TMA as an option as they would like to use the data it provides to better understand how the road network is being utilised and use this information to initiate improvement works.
The data that the Department of Transport and other road managers such as Local Councils will be able to view will be de-identified. This means that they will be able to see where vehicles are travelling on the network but the vehicles will be anonymous and have no registration data attached to them. Only the NHVR compliance and enforcement department will be able to view registration data associated with the vehicles.
So in summary, now all-terrain mobile cranes with 4 or more axles as well as mobile cranes that exceed 14.0 tonnes on a twin-steer axle group are required to participate in the Intelligence Access Program (IAP) OR the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA). The choice between the two is up to the vehicle owner.
The announcement by the Victorian Government regarding this can be located here.
Please note that the On-Board Mass (OBM) information detailed in this link is not relevant for mobile cranes.
