Plain definitions of the Australian fleet and compliance terms nobody explains, one page per term.
Chain of Responsibility (CoR): Chain of Responsibility is the principle in the Heavy Vehicle National Law that everyone with influence over a transport task, not just the driver, shares legal responsibility for its safety.
Electronic work diary (EWD): An electronic work diary is an NHVR-approved electronic system that records a heavy vehicle driver's work and rest times as a voluntary alternative to the written work diary.
Fatigue management (Standard, BFM and AFM): Fatigue management under the Heavy Vehicle National Law sets maximum work and minimum rest times for drivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles, with three levels: Standard hours, Basic Fatigue Management and Advanced Fatigue Management.
Fleet utilisation: Fleet utilisation is the share of a vehicle's available time, or capacity, that is actually used for work, and it is the single number that reveals how many vehicles a fleet really needs.
Fringe benefits tax (FBT): Fringe benefits tax is the tax an employer pays when a work car is available for an employee's private use, calculated on the car's value or its running costs and paid by the employer, not the driver.
Fuel tax credits (FTC): Fuel tax credits refund part of the fuel excise built into the price of fuel used for business, claimed on the BAS, with the rate depending on the fuel, the vehicle, how the fuel was used and when it was bought.
Geofencing: Geofencing is drawing a virtual boundary on a map so vehicles entering, leaving or dwelling in that area can create activity logs, alerts or automated actions.
Green Vehicle Guide: The Green Vehicle Guide is the Australian Government website publishing official fuel consumption, energy use, CO2 emissions and electric range figures for vehicles sold in Australia.
Grey fleet: Grey fleet is every privately owned vehicle used for work purposes, from an employee driving their own car to a site visit to a contractor's ute on your job.
Gross combination mass (GCM): Gross combination mass is the maximum combined weight of a vehicle plus everything it tows, including the trailers and their loads, as rated by the manufacturer.
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): Gross vehicle mass is the maximum a vehicle is allowed to weigh fully loaded, set by the manufacturer, and it is the number that decides whether a vehicle is legally light or heavy in Australia.
Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL): The Heavy Vehicle National Law is the single rulebook governing vehicles over 4.5 tonnes in every Australian state and territory except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
In-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS): An in-vehicle monitoring system is the telematics setup, common on mine and resources sites, that records vehicle location and driver behaviour such as speeding, seatbelt use and harsh driving.
Intelligent Access Program (IAP): The Intelligent Access Program is a national scheme that grants heavy vehicles extra road access, such as higher mass limits on certain routes, in exchange for continuous telematics monitoring by a certified provider.
Logbook method (operating cost method): The logbook method, formally the operating cost method, works out the FBT taxable value of a car from its actual running costs multiplied by the private-use percentage established by a twelve-week logbook.
Luxury car tax (LCT): Luxury car tax is a 33 percent tax on the portion of a car's price above the LCT threshold, with a higher threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles that also acts as the price cap for the electric car FBT exemption.
Mass management: Mass management is the discipline of keeping heavy vehicles within their legal mass limits and being able to prove it, from general mass limits up to accredited concessional and higher mass schemes.
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR): The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator is the national body that administers the Heavy Vehicle National Law, including accreditation, access permits, fatigue rules and Chain of Responsibility enforcement.
Novated lease: A novated lease is a three-way agreement where an employee leases a car, the employer takes over the payments from pre-tax salary, and the car becomes a fringe benefit the employer accounts for.
Pool vehicle: A pool vehicle is a shared work vehicle available for any authorised staff member to book and drive, rather than being assigned to one person.
Pre-start check: A pre-start check is the short inspection a driver completes before operating a vehicle or plant, confirming it is safe and roadworthy and recording any defects found.
Reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA): The reportable fringe benefits amount is the grossed-up value of an employee's fringe benefits that appears on their income statement when it exceeds 2,000 dollars, affecting income-tested obligations even though it is not taxed as income.
Road Infrastructure Management (RIM): Road Infrastructure Management is a TCA application that collects telematics data from heavy vehicles so road managers can understand how their networks are used, typically as a condition of access schemes.
Road User Charge (RUC): The Road User Charge is the portion of fuel excise heavy vehicles pay towards road funding, and it is subtracted from the fuel tax credit rate for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads.
Statutory formula method: The statutory formula method works out the FBT taxable value of a car as a flat 20 percent of its base value, scaled by the days it was available for private use, regardless of how far it was actually driven.
Telematics: Telematics is the combination of GPS positioning and vehicle data transmitted over mobile networks that lets a fleet see where its vehicles are, how they are being driven and what condition they are in.
Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA): The Telematics Monitoring Application is a TCA-administered scheme that uses approved telematics to monitor heavy vehicle activity for regulatory purposes, with lighter requirements than the Intelligent Access Program.
Transport Certification Australia (TCA): Transport Certification Australia is the national body that certifies telematics providers and administers the National Telematics Framework, including the IAP, TMA and RIM schemes.
Whole-of-life cost (total cost of ownership): Whole-of-life cost is everything a vehicle costs from purchase to disposal, including depreciation, fuel, maintenance, registration, insurance, tax and financing, expressed as a total, a yearly figure or cents per kilometre.
Work diary: A work diary is the record of work and rest times that drivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles must keep under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, on paper in the written work diary or electronically in an approved EWD.
IntelliTrac provides fleet, telematics and field-operations software in Australia. Call 1300 767 492.