Heavy vehicle compliance is rarely the most visible part of fleet management, but for organisations operating trucks, specialist plant and high-risk equipment, it is one of the most important.
The three finalists in the 2026 Fleet News Group Fleet of the Year Award — Blacktown City Council, Ausgrid and Parkes Shire Council — all manage substantial heavy vehicle and plant operations.
Each has developed a different approach to maintenance, compliance and driver safety, reflecting the size of the fleet, the work being performed and the risks involved.
For Blacktown, the focus is on frequent inspections and proactive maintenance. Ausgrid has built a strong compliance framework around digital maintenance and controlled procedures. Parkes combines scheduled compliance work with telematics, driver scorecards and specialist technical capability.
Industry voting is now open, giving fleet and automotive professionals the opportunity to decide which organisation they believe is doing the best job.
Blacktown City Council: preventing defects before trucks leave the depot
Blacktown City Council manages around 600 heavy vehicles within a fleet of approximately 2,000 registered assets.
The council is a self-accredited maintenance provider under the heavy vehicle regulatory framework and operates a structured 13-week maintenance cycle.
Rather than relying entirely on internal servicing, Blacktown uses a hybrid model. Three maintenance events may be completed internally, with another external inspection undertaken annually to provide an additional level of scrutiny.
The council has also introduced regular mechanical pre-start inspections for its hardest-working heavy vehicles, separate from the normal driver pre-start.
This is particularly important for waste and street-cleaning trucks, some of which operate for 16 or 17 hours a day.
Blacktown says the move towards proactive inspection has substantially reduced its daily defect workload. Defect lists that previously ran to around 17 pages had fallen to approximately six or seven individual items at the time of the finalist interview.
Heavy vehicle compliance is supported by documented policies covering areas including heavy vehicles, driver fatigue and chain of responsibility.
Telematics is also used to identify speeding and other driver behaviour. Where a work vehicle is involved, the fleet team can respond quickly and provide management with information to address the behaviour.
For Blacktown, the safety objective is straightforward: identify faults and risky behaviour before they interrupt an essential council service.
Ausgrid: compliance built into the maintenance system
Ausgrid operates approximately 1,600 vehicles and another 700 items of plant and equipment.
The fleet includes heavy and medium rigid trucks, elevated work platforms, pole borers, prime movers, cable-handling equipment and other specialist assets supporting electricity network operations.
Ausgrid subscribes to the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme and uses a formal maintenance framework for its heavy vehicle fleet.
Plant and specialist equipment are also maintained in accordance with relevant Australian Standards.
A major strength of the Ausgrid approach is the use of digital maintenance information.
Heavy vehicle servicing is captured through the BlueWorks platform, with information feeding into SAP.
When a new safety issue or maintenance requirement is identified, the digital service documentation can be updated quickly. The next technician opening the service sheet receives the revised information.
This is particularly important where a safety learning comes from another electricity network operator or from an incident involving similar equipment.
Ausgrid also has documented safe operating procedures covering specialist fleet assets and processes, supported by a controlled-document framework governing review and approval.
Using driver data before an incident happens
Ausgrid is also moving beyond traditional incident reporting by using in-vehicle monitoring data to identify driver risk.
Speeding, harsh braking and other behaviours contribute to driver scores, with dashboards available to employees and reporting provided to supervisors.
Employees recording the highest-risk results may receive a letter signed by the CEO highlighting the need to improve.
The fleet team is also developing a more targeted training model.
Instead of providing the same driver training to everyone, Ausgrid is considering defensive driving and driver re-education for employees identified as presenting higher risk.
This approach connects telematics data with intervention before an incident occurs.
Parkes Shire Council: compliance scheduled like maintenance
Parkes Shire Council manages around 550 major assets across approximately 5,000 square kilometres.
Its heavy fleet and plant support rural roadworks, construction, maintenance and other council services, often operating considerable distances from the main workshop.
Compliance activities are built into the council’s asset maintenance system.
Work orders are automatically generated when inspections or compliance activities become due, with requirements attached directly to the relevant asset.
This can include contractor inspections for specialist equipment such as cranes as well as work performed by the council’s own technicians.
Service schedules are tailored to the asset rather than applying one interval across every vehicle or machine.
Technicians receive electronic work orders on tablets containing specific test points, safety steps and other requirements. They can attach photographs and comments and schedule additional work immediately if a problem is identified.
Turning telematics into driver intervention
Parkes is also using telematics to monitor speeding, harsh acceleration, harsh braking and out-of-hours vehicle activity.
Driver scorecards are automatically distributed to managers each Monday.
Where a behaviour problem is identified, the first response can be a conversation with the driver, followed by a staged positive-behaviour process if the issue continues.
The council provided one striking example during its finalist interview.
An employee was generating approximately 750 seatbelt-related events per week. After the issue was raised, that reportedly fell to around 15 events.
Parkes also uses vehicle data to identify operating risks that may otherwise remain hidden.
Electronic braking systems on trailers can provide information about ABS activity and other events. This gives the fleet team an opportunity to identify a driving or equipment issue and consider additional training before a serious incident occurs.
Investing in heavy vehicle safety technology
Parkes has also developed in-house expertise in electronic braking systems.
Its technicians received specialist training and diagnostic capability that allowed the council to retrofit an electronic braking system to an existing tri-axle plant trailer.
Rather than waiting until the trailer reached replacement age, the council improved the safety of the asset already in service.
Near-miss reporting is also influencing the physical environment.
Parkes has used incident and near-miss information to review traffic movements through its depot and redesign vehicle flow to remove a pinch point.
Reverse-in parking is also being considered as another way to reduce vehicle interaction risks.
Three approaches to the same responsibility
The three Fleet of the Year finalists demonstrate different ways of managing heavy vehicle compliance and safety.
Blacktown City Council has focused heavily on frequent mechanical inspections, proactive maintenance and reducing defects before vehicles enter service.
Ausgrid has built compliance into a structured digital maintenance environment, supported by controlled procedures, specialist standards and increasingly targeted driver intervention.
Parkes Shire Council combines scheduled compliance work, detailed electronic maintenance records, telematics and specialist heavy vehicle safety capability.
None of these approaches relies on a single system or policy.
The common theme is that compliance is being treated as an ongoing management process involving maintenance, data, drivers, procedures and continuous improvement.
Have your say
Blacktown City Council, Ausgrid and Parkes Shire Council are finalists in the Fleet of the Year category in the 2026 Fleet News Group Awards.
Each organisation has demonstrated a different approach to managing the safety and compliance risks that come with heavy vehicles and specialist plant.
Now it is up to the fleet industry to decide which organisation is doing the best job.
Vote for the organisation you think deserves to be named Fleet of the Year.
The winners will be announced in Sydney on 14 October 2026. Fleet and automotive industry professionals can also register their interest to attend the Fleet News Group Awards Night.
