Oversize loads of baled agricultural commodities

By: "Farm Tender" News
Sheep & Wool News
Oct 04, 2017
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In NSW vehicles carrying loads of baled hay, straw, wool and cotton may exceed the statutory width limit of 2.5 metres to a maximum of 2.7 metres.

This initiative was introduced to facilitate the transportation of these loads by allowing for some irregularity in the size of the bales, which tend to expand once loaded onto a vehicle and also during travel. The exemption was developed in close consultation with the Australian fodder, wool, cotton and farming industries.

On this page

Types of loads

Types of vehicles

Maximum dimensions

Travel conditions

Loads exceeding 2.6 metres in width

Types of Loads

The New South Wales Class 3 Baled Commodities Dimension Exemption Notice 2017 applies to vehicles transporting rectangular cotton bales produced at a cotton gin, baled or rolled hay or straw and baled wool.

It does not apply to round cotton bales and modules.

Types of vehicles

The Notice only applies to vehicles with a gross vehicle mass that exceeds 4.5 tonnes.

Rigid vehicles, prime mover and semi-trailer and B-doubles combinations may have a load width up to 2.7 metres.

Truck and dog trailer, truck and pig trailer and road train combinations may have a load width up to 2.6 metres. AB and B-triples are not eligible to operate under the Notice.

Maximum dimensions

The constructed width of the vehicle must not exceed 2.5 metres.

The load may exceed 4.3 metres, but not more than 4.6 metres in height. The maximum load width is 2.7 metres wide.

The load on a truck and dog trailer, truck and pig or road train must not exceed 2.6 metres in width.

The load on the vehicle must not project more than 100mm from the outermost part of either side of the vehicle.

The load on a vehicle or trailer must not be placed in a way that makes the vehicle unstable or unsafe. The load must be secured so that it is unlikely to fall or be dislodged from the vehicle, and an appropriate method to restrain the load to the vehicle must be used.

The recommended performance standards are set out in Load Restraint Guide: Guidelines and performance standards for the safe carriage of loads on road vehicles, Second Edition, as published by the National Transport Commission in April 2004.

Travel conditions

Vehicles with a load width up to 2.6 metres may continue to operate on the networks that they currently operate on.

A vehicle with a load exceeding 4.3 metres, but not more than 4.6 metres in height must only operate on an approved 4.6 metre high route as set out in the current 4.6 Metre High Vehicle Notice or the current National Class 3 Heavy Vehicle 4.6m High By Construction Semitrailer Dimension Exemption (Notice).

A B-double exceeding 19 metres in length may only operate on an approved route as set out in the current National Class 2 Heavy Vehicle B-Double Authorisation (Notice).

A road train may only operate on an approved route as set out in the current National Class 2 Heavy Vehicle Road Train Authorisation (Notice).

Truck and dog and truck and pig trailer combinations are only permitted to operate:

Outside the NSW Urban Zone (as defined in the Operators Guide accompanying the New South Wales Class 3 Baled Commodities Dimension Exemption Notice 2017)

Only when travelling directly between the location where the agricultural commodity is produced and where it is stored, and any other location incidental to the production of the agricultural commodity.

Loads exceeding 2.6 metres in width

A vehicle with a load that exceeds 2.6 metres up to 2.7 metres in width may only be operated on the roads and areas that have been approved.

Any applicable travel restriction that applies to a prescribed route, area or Limited Access Location must be observed.

These approved areas and roads, travel restrictions and Limited Access Locations are set out in Appendix 3 in the Operators Guide accompanying the New South Wales Class 3 Baled Commodities Dimension Exemption Notice 2017. Safety and warning device conditions for vehicles exceeding 2.6 metres wide are outlined in Appendix 4 of the Operators Guide accompanying the New South Wales Class 3 Baled Commodities Dimension Exemption Notice 2017.