High productivity vehicles and pavement economic impacts: network level assessment approach

The composition of the Australian heavy vehicle fleet has changed over time and no doubt will continue to change in response to pressures to achieve maximum economic benefits. Considering the predicted doubling in the road freight task by 2020, the introduction of high productivity vehicles (HPV), there is a need for developing improved analytical tools and approaches to quantify the likely impacts of these changes on pavement wear and associated economics. The development of improved tools will also assist road agencies in supporting Council Of Australian Governments reforms relating to route access/asset utilisation and full implementation of High Mass Limit. This report describes an approach/method for assessing and quantifying the economic impacts (costs and benefits) of changes in heavy vehicle fleet on road pavements at network level. The application of the approach is demonstrated by an example simulating the impacts of migration to HPV. The economic and functional impacts of HPV were quantified at national composite network level using a life cycle costing approach. The assessment involved comparative analysis of the changes in agency and user costs associated with a scenario relative to a base case. The base case included the current fleet, operating under GML and related pavement loading. The scenario included a combination of HPV and their associated pavement loading. In developing the scenario, it was assumed that the new fleet will perform the same transport task as the current fleet it is replacing. Growth in the freight task was applied for the base case and the scenario. Considering the fleet scenario tested and the assumptions made, the assessment results at network level indicate that migration to HPV has a net benefit due to the productivity gains. This scenario is associated with savings in both agency and user costs due to the reduction in the number of heavy vehicles and pavement wear. The reduction in the number of vehicles required to perform the freight task would also have social, environmental and economic benefits, which were not quantified.