Heavy Vehicle Drivers
The term 'heavy vehicle' applies to any vehicle over 4.5 tonnes. This includes rigid trucks, semi-trailers, buses, b-doubles, mobile cranes, low loaders and road trains. It may also include agricultural machinery, livestock transporters, tankers, grain and delivery trucks and other long and, possibly, slow-moving vehicles.
The South Australian Government and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator shares the responsibility of regulating heavy vehicle safety.
Safe driving tips and sharing the roads
The mass and rigidity of heavy vehicles contribute to the severity of crashes, especially in collisions with other vehicles. Even at very low speeds, crashes between pedestrians, bicycle riders and heavy vehicles can be very serious.
Other road users may not know:
- the distance that heavy vehicles need to slow down, stop or change lanes
- how to safely overtake heavy vehicles, especially larger ones, such as restricted access vehicles and over dimensional loads.
To help keep you and other road users safe, read the safe driving tips on sharing the road.
South Eastern Freeway
The South Eastern Freeway forms part of the Adelaide to Melbourne road corridor. It is an important strategic freight route for South Australia. On the approach to Adelaide, it ends with a 7-kilometre, continuous, steep and downhill descent before arriving at a major intersection.
Trucks and buses can descend safely if:
- the right safety techniques are used from the start of the descent at Crafers
- drivers follow signs and traffic controls.
Visit the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to learn about driving a truck or bus safely on the South Eastern Freeway.
Safe-T-Cam camera network
Safe-T-Cam is a network of cameras that monitor heavy vehicle movement on South Australian roads. The cameras are on major arterial roads where they record, verify and store information about heavy vehicles, day and night.
The cameras help to detect drivers who:
- drive a vehicle that is unregistered and uninsured
- fail to take required rest breaks specified by heavy vehicle driving hours (fatigue) regulations
- travel between any two or more Safe-T-Cam sites in less than the allowable time under speed and fatigue laws
- attempt to avoid detection at camera sites.
In South Australia, fatigue related offences detected by Safe-T-Cam cameras are processed by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
Learn more about driving heavy vehicles safely and the Safe-T-Cam.
Rest areas
Heavy vehicle drivers need a safe place to rest. Rest areas are available 24 hours a day all year round and are clearly signposted. You can also stop at service centres and roadhouses in country towns to take a break from driving. There are many informal rest areas for heavy vehicle drivers to stop, rest, manage fatigue and check their loads.
Green reflectors have been installed on roadside guideposts on regional heavy vehicle routes. The reflectors provide drivers advanced notice that they are approaching an informal heavy vehicle rest area. They increase the visibility of informal heavy vehicle rest areas, especially at night, and make it easier to find a safe place to stop.
Before a rest area, drivers will see three green reflectors mounted on a guidepost. As they get closer, drivers will see two reflectors, then a single green reflector on the last guidepost right before or near the entry to the informal rest area.
These informal rest areas supplement formal parking. However, they are not all-weather facilities and may not be suitable for use during or after prolonged rain. They are also not exclusive rest area sites and may be used for other purposes, such as storage of road maintenance material stockpiles. If the driver is unable to safely park their vehicle at the site, they should safely progress to the next available site.
Heavy vehicles over 12 tonnes must carry at least three portable reflective warning triangles.
Find informal rest areas with the Location SA Viewer. Look for ‘Truck Informal Parking’ after selecting the dataset: Infrastructure and Utilities > Transport > State Maintained Rest Areas.