The Manufacturers Council met on the 8th July at the CVIAQ office at Darra. CVIAQ Life Member, Mr Kit Bleakly, chaired the meeting and welcomed Council members who turned out in large numbers due to the importance of the agenda items.

The agenda items were:
  Movement of unregistered vehicles
  Review of the National Heavy Vehicle Braking Strategy
  Report on the Technical Liaison Group (TLG) Meeting

Mr John Samson reported to the meeting on the movement of unregistered vehicles and the changes to the CVIAQ proposal submitted following the meeting with Queensland Transport. Mr Samson advised that he was hopeful of a speedy resolution to this issue but this was dependant on Queensland Transport.

The Chair introduced the National Heavy Vehicle Braking Strategy to the meeting and lead discussion on the individual issues in the document. Examining the “New VSS Proposal June 2009” timeline the Council made comment on a large number of points, some of which were:

  The Industry preferred position for best practice with trailer braking for air suspension equipped trailers was to mandate the fitment of both ABS and Load Proportioning. The meeting supported the use of either method to meet the requirements for trailers to meet unloaded limits.

  The Industry preferred position for best practice with trailer braking for steel spring suspension equipped trailers was to mandate the fitment of ABS only. Load proportioning on these vehicles was seen as difficult to fit as well as being very susceptible to accidental damage and requiring excessive maintenance.

  The suggestion to “allow ABS for trucks and trailers as an alternative to meeting unloaded limits, if variable proportioning is fitted” was discussed at length. The meeting considered that an either or both policy, rather than a policy requiring both was appropriate with the fitment of both ABS and variable proportioning being best practice in most cases.

  The mandatory fitment of ABS to trucks was discussed with the only difficulty being a recognised issue on 4 X 4 trucks operating in rough terrain having a history of wheel sensor damage.

The meeting then examined Table 2 in the VSS proposal and made comment on the items listed, some of which were:

  Trucks fitted with a tow coupling to provide an ABS connector
Supported

  Trucks and trailers to have automatic brake adjusters if fitted with ABS
Supported, but exemptions may be required for low loaders and some multi tyre vehicles.

  Trailer test masses to be declared where UNECE approvals are used for compatibility tests
 Supported

 

Mr Samson then provided a report on the recent Technical Liaison Group (TLG) Meeting held in Melbourne.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 12.00pm.

For a more detailed report of the meeting, members can contact the CVIAQ office to request a copy of the meeting minutes.