What is the primary duty under the HVNL?

Each party in the chain of responsibility must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of its transport activities relating to a heavy vehicle. It applies to employers, operators, schedulers, consignors, consignees, loading managers and others, not only drivers.

What is the Unfit to Drive duty?

It's a duty introduced with the amended HVNL on 1 August 2026. Drivers of heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes must not drive while unfit for any reason, including fatigue, illness, injury, alcohol or drugs. Parties in the chain must make sure their business practices don't cause or encourage a driver to drive while unfit.

What do executives of a transport business have to do?

Executives must exercise due diligence to make sure the business complies with its safety duties. That includes keeping up to date on safe transport practice, understanding the business's hazards and risks, making sure resources and processes are in place and used, and verifying that they work.

Does a transport business need accreditation?

Not to operate. Accreditation is voluntary, but operators that want alternative arrangements, such as their own fatigue hours under ACA-Fatigue, need it. Under the new Heavy Vehicle Accreditation scheme, General Safety Accreditation comes first.

How does Logmaster help a business show it's compliant?

It creates time-stamped records of driver hours, fitness declarations, checks, incidents and expiries as the work happens, and reports on them. Those records are the evidence of reasonable steps that regulators and auditors look for.

Compliance for Australian Transport Businesses

Running a transport business means meeting duties that reach well past the driver's seat. Logmaster gives you the fatigue records, checks and alerts that show those duties are being met. Its electronic work diary is NHVR approved and runs on Android and Apple devices.

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The Amended HVNL Asks More of the Business

Since 1 August 2026, the amended Heavy Vehicle National Law has leaned further towards proactive risk management. Every party in the chain still carries a primary duty to ensure the safety of its transport activities so far as is reasonably practicable, and a new Unfit to Drive duty now covers drivers of heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes. Businesses have to be able to show what they did, not only what their policies say.

Logmaster: The Records Behind Your Compliance

Logmaster is a fatigue and compliance platform for heavy vehicle operators. Its NHVR approved Electronic Work Diary (EWD) records drivers' work and rest, and the web portal turns those records into alerts and reports. Around the diary sit fitness declarations, customisable checklists, incident and hazard reports, and expiry alerts for licences, registrations, medicals, training and inductions. With Mass Compliance, drivers report the mass loaded per trip, and trips recorded as over mass limits raise an alert.

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Fatigue Managed as It Happens

Drivers get break alerts, the office sees hours as they're logged, and potential breaches are flagged while there's still time to act.

Fitness Confirmed Before the Shift

A digital fitness declaration at the start of each shift gives drivers a clear place to confirm they're fit, which fits naturally into your approach to the Unfit to Drive duty.

Hazards and Incidents Reported

Drivers report hazards and incidents from the cab, and form answers can trigger responsibilities for the right person to follow up.

Expiries Caught Early

Licences, registrations, medicals, training and inductions all have expiry alerts, so lapses are spotted before they become a problem.

Mass Recorded for Every Trip

Each trip's loaded mass is entered in the app, and the office hears about any trip logged over the limit.

Reports for Audits and Reviews

Simplified and compliance reports can be scheduled weekly or monthly, and API connectivity lets the data flow into other systems.

Heavy Vehicle Drivers

Drivers handle their part from one app: work and rest, fitness declarations, pre-starts and incident reports, with reminders that keep them inside their hours.

Fleet Managers and Record Keepers

Managers act on alerts as they arrive, follow up defects and incidents, and keep work diary records for the three years the law requires.

Transport Business Owners

Owners and executives get the information they need to verify that safety resources and processes are actually being used, which is part of the executive due diligence duty.

Trusted by More Than 1,200 Transport Businesses

Logmaster serves more than 1,200 transport businesses and over 10,000 drivers, including Greyhound Australia and PFD Food Services. The platform is ISO 27001 certified, and its EWD holds NHVR approval.

Logmaster digital forms on a mobile phone

Logmaster dashboard on a mobile phone and tablet

Talk to the Logmaster team about your operation, or create an account at logmaster.com.au.

Set up checklists, declarations and expiry alerts in the portal to match your procedures.

Drivers install the app or use supplied tablets, and complete their first fitness declaration.

Work, rest, checks and reports flow into the portal as drivers complete them.

Scheduled reports give management a regular view of how compliance is tracking.

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Compliance for Australian Transport Businesses

The Amended HVNL Asks More of the Business

Logmaster: The Records Behind Your Compliance