Monitoring results of two PBS demonstration vehicles in the forestry industry in South Africa

Abstract

As part of a Performance-Based Standards (PBS) research programme for heavy vehicles in South Africa, a need was identified to design, manufacture and operate a number of PBS demonstration vehicles in order to gain practical experience in the PBS approach and to quantify and evaluate the potential infrastructure preservation, safety and productivity enefits for road freight transport. To this end, two PBS demonstration projects were implemented in the forestry industry; the vehicles were designed and manufactured to comply with the Level 2 safety standards of the Australian PBS system. This paper presents a summary of the monitoring data compiled during the first nine months of operation of the two PBS demonstration vehicles, which were commissioned in November and December 2007. Initial results indicate a number of improvements in performance of both PBS vehicles compared with the baseline vehicles. This has resulted in the approval of 30 additional permits for PBS demonstration vehicles in the forestry industry, some of which will incorporate additional modifications in order to further improve safety and productivity performance.