At a glance:
- How route planning makes heavy haulage safe and reliable
- How route planning works
Transportation of heavy equipment in Australia for road, rail, aviation and mining industries is undertaken by heavy haulage companies such as ODLS. Logistics firms of this nature are always on the lookout for more productive and cost-effective ways of shifting heavy equipment. Given the many factors influencing cost, such as third party involvement, as well as the rising cost of fuel and labour in Australia, heavy haulage costs in Australia are increasing. Careful planning and execution are necessary to carry out a heavy haulage project in the safest and most cost efficient way.
Planning plays a crucial role in any kind of business model. In the absence of proper planning, businesses can incur huge downfall in revenue and brand worth; built over a long course of operation. Route planning is paramount within Heavy and Superload haulage as this can substantially reduce the need for third party involvement, reduce incident risk and improve the financial performance of the project.
Over the past few years, the Road Regulators have become more sophisticated – Australia now only has two Regulators, with the introduction of NHVR for heavy trucks and trailers and the existing WAHVR remaining. They are regularly changing the guidelines to decrease individual notifications, pre-approve various routes and reduce risk to the road managers by increasing visibility of Heavy Haulage movements. While keeping up with these changes is challenging, it has created a network of pre-approved Transport Routes throughout Australia, reducing the need for individual trip permits.
In addition to the Road Regulators, customer requirements have also changed drastically, with sites increasingly demanding high level compliance for both staff and equipment. In the old days, customers were happy to simply receive safe and undamaged delivery of heavy equipment, but their demands have now shifted to employing a haulage business with Safety Policies, Systems and Procedures in place.
From a Project Management point of view, careful route planning by experienced operators is critical to make heavy haulage transport as safe and effective as possible.
Route planning for Oversized Transport is not just about determining the shortest route to be taken – consideration is given to the physical dimension and layout of the roadways as well as the capacities of the road structures. The route is also surveyed near to the time of the delivery, to ensures that drivers are working based on the most recent conditions rather than using historical data. Factors such as weather, road condition, and traffic are taken into consideration.
In addition, ODLS uses high quality Aerial Imagery contained in Nearmaps and Google Maps, to assist route planning for heavy haulage transport in Australia.
Reduces Transportation Risk
The absence of a thorough route survey and plan could lead to an Oversized vehicle in a difficult or dangerous situation. This could increase haulage time as well as the risk of incident damage. In both cases, a loss for all stakeholders.
Insures Drivers Safety
Safety is a major concern in heavy haulage. Every year human casualties are recorded on the road involving heavy haulage in Australia. A proper route plan ensures the safest path, and heavy haulage companies can tackle losses of human resources as well as finance occurring from an accident.
Gets the Job Done!
Armed with proper route planning, logistics companies can future-proof their operations and operational costs. When haulage is completed on schedule, it instils customer confidence in your services. This establishes your business as a trusted heavy haulage company, more reliably getting the job done!