Queensland gets green light. 

The Queensland Department of Transport & Main Roads has early this year clarified rulings regarding the ability of a motor grader to tow. There had previously been a widely held belief that a conditionally registered vehicle could not tow a roller. This has been rejected by the authority, who site that Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) restrictions in section 18 of the Heavy Vehicles National Regulation do not apply.

As it turns out a conditionally registered heavy vehicle can tow plant or machinery, and when doing so is considered a single unit for registration purposes – you simply affix the registration plate from the rear of the grader to the rear of the roller and hey presto, you have a Class 3 combination!

The flexibility this will give road maintenance teams will be revolutionary in the Sunshine State. All other states can use graders to tow a smooth steel drum multi-tyre compaction roller for highly effective maintenance grading. One tank of fuel and one operator can rip, grade and compact a road with a single piece of plant. This new ruling will open the door for similarly efficient gravel road works in Queensland.