Vehicle overloaded

Odd subject for a blog. Kevin

Hi Richard, I've just spent many hours going through this issue. GVM is the maximum allowed by the manufacturer, and legal upper limit (and recognised by insurers). It is the maximum mass (ie Tare plus payload). Payload includes fuel, water, people, luggage etc. It can be increased by approval from the relevant State transport authority. Many vehicles already have after market systems of upgrade that are approved in a number of states. Anecdotally, I have been told (not proven) that insurers assess the "potential" GVM (including empty water or fuel tanks) when deciding the compliance of a claimant. The tanks may have been full - they leaked after the accident - the vehicle was over the GVM - no payment. Gross Vehicle Mass is a measure of capability as decided by the manufacturer - what your vehicle weighs is it's actual mass at any given time - as you suggest, you are either over or under, but it should not be exceeded.

I agree with the above. GVM is either fixed by the factory or by a certified engineer if you have upgraded the suspension capabilities (ARB, Lovels, etc). Once certified, that's it - the GVM is what is on the certificate. If you load the car with a gross weight above its GVM, you are doing something that is illegal. Sure as you use fuel or drop off the kids the gross weight reduces and it may come down below the GVM. Once this happens, you are once more doing what is legal. I have recently added OME shockers and ARB springs to my LC. While I can get an engineer to certify that the car now has a 3500 kg GVM (up from the factory 3250 kg), until I have the certificate I can only load it to 3250kg. Hope this helps. Cheers John

I'd have to agree with thinking Gross = Gross at the time of weighing. I suspect that whilst there has been much debate about ethics of the number of illegal vehicles on our roads the real problem is when something goes wrong whilst overloaded. For example your insurance is at risk if found to be overloaded and you also fall foul of transport laws. I've not directly heard of anyone getting pinged for this but there has been plenty of third hand examples to suggest that some of the State Transport Deps have targeted overloaded non commercial vehicles. Kind regards

Hi Richard, I see your a member since 2010. Do you read this forum much? Can't figure out what your getting at. If your rig is over it's gvm prior to departure on the road your illegal, if your gvm drops to below vehicles gvm while on the road your legal.