Improving the safety of heavy vehicles in South Africa through a performance-based standards (PBS)
approach to vehicle design
Dr Paul NordengenSmart Truck National Steering CommitteeHeavy Vehicle Transport Technology Africa
RTMS workshop25 May 2021
CONTENTS
▪ PBS approach to vehicle design
▪ PBS pilot project in South Africa
▪ Pilot project monitoring results
Key Elements in Road Freight
Transport
• Road infrastructure: roads,
bridges, roadside furniture, signs,
road markings, eToll gantries
• Vehicles: design, maintenance &
operation
• Drivers: skill, health, fatigue
4
PBS Pilot Project Objectives
Investigate the Performance-Based Standards
approach to heavy vehicles design and operations as
researched and implemented specifically in Australia,
Canada and New Zealand with a view to improving
heavy vehicles operations in South Africa through:
• Reduced road wear (per tonne.km)
• Reduced vehicle trips i.e.
• Reduced congestion
• Reduced safety exposure risk
• Improved safety performance
• Improved transport productivity
• Reduced emissions (per tonne.km)
5
PBS Developments
• EU Study
– Development of an optimised multimodal freight transport system (CEDR
Technical Report 2019-01)
• OECD Research
– Moving freight with Better Trucks (2011)
– High Capacity Transport: Towards Efficient, Safe & Sustainable Road
Freight (2019)
– Policies to Extend the Life of Road Assets (2019)
6
INFRASTRUCTURESAFETY
Ensuring safety and infrastructure protection
Prescriptive Legislation
7
INFRASTRUCTURESAFETY
Ensuring safety and infrastructure protection
PrescriptiveLegislation
8
Problem statement
9
Problem statement
10
Problem statement
11
Problem statement
12
Performance-Based Standards
Prescriptive Standards Performance-Based Standards
What the vehicle looks like What the vehicle can do
Governs mass and dimensions Governs actual on-road performance
Constrains productivity Allows heavier and/or larger vehicles
Constrains innovation Promotes innovation
Prescriptive Standards Performance-Based Standards
Images courtesy of the Australian National Transport Commission
13
Australian Performance Standards for heavy vehicles
14
Performance-Based Standards: Safety
Manoeuvre/Test Performance Standard
Low-speed 90° turn (5 km/h)
Low-speed swept pathTail swingFrontal swingSteer-tyre friction demand
High-speed lane-change (80 km/h)Rearward amplificationHigh-speed transient offtracking
Rollover Static rollover threshold
High-speed pulse steer (80 km/h) Yaw damping coefficient
High-speed on uneven road (90 km/h) Tracking ability on a straight path
Various (driveability standards)
StartabilityGradeability AGradeability BAcceleration Capability
15
Low-Speed Offtracking
16
Low-Speed Offtracking
17
High Speed Transient Offtracking
PBS Lane Change Manoeuvre (SAE J2179)
18
High Speed Transient Offtracking
baseline PBS
19
Rollover stability: Baseline (legal) vs PBS
20
Performance-Based Standards: Infrastructure
Pavement Vertical LoadingPavement Horizontal LoadingTyre Contact Pressure Distribution
Roads Bridges
Infrastructure
Bridge Loading
21
Road Wear Performance Standard
22
Structures Performance Standard
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Ben
din
g M
om
ent
Load
Rat
io
Span Length (m)
2 Span Bridge: Max Negative Bending Moment Load Ratio (10% Baseline Overload)
Timber Logistics Services Baseline Vehicle with10% overload
Worst Performing Single Tandem Trailer Vehicle10%
Worst Performing Single Tridem Trailer Vehicle10%
Worst Performing B-Double Vehicle 10%
TLS PBS Vehicle
NBC PBS Vehicle
Unitrans Fuel Quad
SAB PBS Vehicle
23
Structures Performance Standard
24
ENVIRONMENT
INFRASTRUCTURESAFETY
Performance Based Standards
Heavy Vehicle Performance “Envelope”
Slide # 25
Road
Safety
Fair Competition
between modes &
operators
Infrastructure
Protection
OVERLOAD CONTROL
National Overload Control Strategy
Implemented by National, Provincial and Local
Authorities
Infrastructure & Equipment
• Main routes (major facilities)
• Alternative routes (minor facilities/screening)
• Monitoring (HS-WIM)
• Alternative weighing equipment
• Private weighbridges
Information sharing &
Public Awareness
• Overload website
• Overload information booklet
Operations
• Human Resources
• PPP
• Training
• Guideline document
for law enforcement
Self-regulation
• Road Transport
Management System
(RTMS)
• Performance-Based
Standards (PBS)
Legislation
• Consignors/Consignees
• 5% Tolerance
• User charges
• Habitual Overloaders
• Public Prosecutors
• Alternative weighing equipment
• AARTO
Co-operation
• Provinces
• Local authorities
• Department of Justice
• Private sector
26
PBS Pilot Project in South Africa
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PBS Pilot Project in South Africa
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Buhle Betfu Rigid drawbar
29
Timber Logistics Services Rigid drawbar
30
Mining side-tipper
31
SG Coal B-double
Unitrans
BAB Quad
33
Unitrans B-Triple vs BAB Quad
34
Rearward Amplification
Mining Road Train InvestigationsBaseline Vehicle PBS Vehicle
Dynamic simulation of a high payload vehicle in used on a private road (mining environment) • Simulations found this design to be unsafe
Demonstration of PBS and simulation software to find a safe solution
35
Unitrans A-double (Namibia)
36
Unitrans Fuel Quad
37
Fuel Quad Case Study
38
PBS Bi-articulated Bus
39
Car Carriers
40
Tail swing
Low-speed swept path
Frontal swing
Tail swing
LSSP
XY
DoM
FS
MoD
TS
Front corner (tractor)
Front corner (semitrailer)
Rear corner (semitrailer)
Inner edge (semitrailer)
Prescribed path
Rear overhang12.5 m
41
Tail swing
Vehicle type
Rear Overhang Tail Swing
Australia
ADR 43/04
South Africa
NRTR
Australia
PBS Level 1
South Africa
NRTR
Rigid truck 3.7 m 5.01 m 0.30 m 0.60 m
Semitrailer 3.7 m 6.32 m 0.30 m 0.87 m
Tag-trailer 3.7 m 7.00 m 0.30 m 1.25 m
• Existing car-carriers were shown to exhibit poor tail swing performance due to excessive rear overhangs.
• Tail swing of up to 710 mm was calculated (limit = 300 mm).
• This was shown to be a result of lenient rear overhang legislation.
De Saxe, C.C., Kienhöfer, F. & Nordengen, P.A., 2012. Tail swing performance of the South African car-carrier fleet. In 12th International Symposium on Heavy Vehicle Transport Technology. Stockholm.
42
SA Breweries PBS combination
43
Coca Cola PBS A-double
• Moving from the current baseline fleet to the 44 pallet PBS fleet will
result in a significant reduction in transport activity, with a direct
impact on reducing road congestion, improving road safety as well as
reducing environmental impact.
• First two PBS vehicles have started operating – FS & NC – Intensive
Management & Reporting
• Why PBS vehicles?
• Costs: Reduce Primary Distribution Costs
• Safety: PBS trailers have better turning angles, safety and road
wear performance than the current PD trailers
• Environmental: Reduced Carbon Emissions due to reduced
number of vehicles
• PBS vehicles will carry 44 pallets with a total length of 30 metres
44
Coca Cola A-double
45
Smart Truck Pilot Project: Impact
46
• PBS Benefits/Metrics Australia (2008 to
2019)
2.46 Mtof CO2 saved(2008-2019)
415 Mtruck km saved
in 2019
843 ML of fuel saved
(2008-2019)
10 385 PBS combinations
2 907combination
“saved”
0.6 Mt of CO2
savedin 20191.6 bn
truck km saved (2008-2019)
46% less major crashes per km
travelled
20% of new units were
PBS approved in
2019
Reduced number of trips
can lead to reduced road maintenance
Case Study - Australia
Brisbane Port, Australia
47
Smart Truck Pilot Project: Baseline vs PBS vehicles
13%
85%
2% 13%
28%
3%
56%
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Fail
PBS Baseline
48
Smart Truck Pilot Project: Baseline vehicles
73%
18%
9%
1 Failure 2 Failures 3 Failures
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Static RolloverThreshold
RearwardAmplification
Yaw DampingCoefficient
Performance Standards
Number of PBS Failures Percentage of Baseline Vehicles Failing PBS assessment
Thank you