1 May 2023
DoT reneges on GCM commitment
Members may remember this article in the last Engine Room applauding new leadership in the Department of Transport (DoT) for a written promise to challenge the status quo and “reconsider on its merits” one of the many applications for an upgrade to the Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of an in-service vehicle DoT has arbitrarily rejected over the last 4+ years.
Regrettably, that leader has since reneged on their commitment to immediately fix a process that a Parliamentary Committee found to be, “haphazard, arbitrary and is perceived by applicants to be capricious and lacking in procedural fairness.”
This lack of ability to confront and overturn nonsensical internal dogma is deeply disappointing and will prolong the confusion, frustration and safety concerns WA motorists and industry have endured since 2018.
Notwithstanding, the MTA WA advocacy and policy team will continue its work until this specific policy is fixed and given the broader issues now apparent, develop a plan to address them as well.
Brief explanation of GCM
For those who don’t know, GCM is the maximum allowed combined mass of a loaded vehicle and any caravan/trailer it is towing. The GCM of a vehicle is nominated by the manufacturer at the time of first registration. In almost every Australian state other than WA, government regulators have a process to allow vehicle owners to make engineered modifications to a vehicle, that increases the maximum allowable combined mass. Despite Western Australian legislation providing a pathway for DoT to consider GCM applications, the Department has rejected the notion of an increase since December 2018.
