Heavy Vehicle Mass and Loading Offences SA: Overloading, Oversize and Load Restraint
Mass, dimension and loading offences in South Australia
An overloading, oversize or load restraint charge can reach the driver, the operator and anyone who permitted the vehicle onto the road. Talon Legal defends heavy vehicle mass and loading offences across South Australia, from a minor risk infringement to a severe risk breach headed for court. Every hour matters: book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021 now.
Mass, dimension and loading snapshot
| Issue | Position in South Australia |
|---|---|
| Governing law | Chapter 4 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, applied in South Australia by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (South Australia) Act 2013 (SA), with the limits themselves set by the national regulations. |
| Who is liable | A person who drives a heavy vehicle, or permits another person to drive it, must make sure the vehicle, its components and its load comply, unless the person has a reasonable excuse (sections 96, 102 and 111). |
| Mass categories | Minor, substantial or severe. A severe risk breach starts at 120 per cent of the maximum mass permitted (sections 97 and 100). |
| Dimension categories | A severe risk breach starts at 600 mm over length, 80 mm over width, 300 mm over height or 80 mm over the permitted load projection; a substantial breach at 350, 40, 150 and 40 mm (section 104). |
| Loading categories | Set by whether the load was lost or shifted, and whether that involved an appreciable safety risk or risk to road infrastructure or public amenity (sections 112 to 114). |
| Penalty range | From a $423 infringement for a minor loading breach to $14,120 for a severe breach, plus up to $28,230 more for a severe mass breach. |
| Formal warning | Not available for a substantial or severe mass, dimension or loading breach (section 590(3)(a)). |
| Other orders | On a severe risk breach the court may cancel or suspend the registration of a vehicle of which the offender is the registered operator (section 598), and may order compensation for damage to road infrastructure (section 611). |
| Time limit to prosecute | Within 2 years after the offence, or within 1 year after it comes to the complainant's knowledge but within 3 years after the offence (section 707A). |
| First step | Same-day free 30-minute consultation. Call (08) 7094 2021. |
Charged with a mass, dimension or loading offence in South Australia?
Heavy vehicle mass and loading offences in South Australia are prosecuted under Chapter 4 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (the Law). The Law grades every breach of a mass, dimension or loading requirement by risk, and the grade sets the penalty, the infringement option and whether a warning is possible. This page states the Law as it stands after the amendments of 1 August 2026.
This guide is part of our heavy vehicle offences practice. Related guides cover fatigue and work diary offences, chain of responsibility, heavy vehicle speeding and truck driver licence appeals.
Free Consultation. Talk to a lawyer before you pay an infringement notice or accept the category alleged. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.
On this page
- Who can be charged with a mass, dimension or loading offence?
- How do mass offences work?
- How do dimension offences work?
- How do loading and load restraint offences work?
- What about exemptions and permits?
- What are the penalties?
- What else can the court do?
- How similar matters tend to play out
- How we defend a mass, dimension or loading charge
- Case law
- Frequently asked questions
Who can be charged with a mass, dimension or loading offence?
Heavy vehicle mass and loading offences, and dimension offences, are each framed as a duty on a person who drives a heavy vehicle on a road, or permits another person to drive it. That person must make sure the vehicle, the vehicle’s components and its load comply with the requirements that apply to the vehicle, unless the person has a reasonable excuse (section 96 for mass, section 102 for dimension and section 111 for loading). A heavy vehicle is one with a gross vehicle mass or aggregate trailer mass over 4.5 tonnes (section 6).
The wider chain can be liable too. Loaders, packers, consignors, loading managers and schedulers are parties in the chain of responsibility (section 5), each with the primary duty in section 26C to make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, of the safety of their transport activities. An overloaded or badly restrained load often leads to questions about who loaded it and on whose instructions. Our chain of responsibility guide covers those duties.
How do mass offences work?
A mass offence is a failure to make sure the vehicle complies with the mass requirements that apply to it (section 96(1)). The category depends on how far over the limit the vehicle was. A breach is severe if the mass is 120 per cent or more of the maximum mass permitted under the requirement, rounded up to the nearest 0.1 tonne (sections 97 and 100). Below that it is substantial or minor, depending on whether it reaches the substantial risk breach lower limit in section 97 (sections 98 and 99).
The severe category has an extra penalty. On top of the maximum for a severe breach, the court can impose an additional amount for every further 1 per cent over a 120 per cent overload, capped (section 96(1)(c)). For 1 August 2026 to 30 June 2027 that is $710 for each further 1 per cent, up to an extra $28,230.
A vehicle with a performance based standards approval is treated differently. Where its approval authorises a higher mass limit than would otherwise apply, the authorised limit is the applicable limit, and the vehicle complies if it stays within it (section 96(4)).
How do dimension offences work?
A dimension offence is a failure to make sure the vehicle, its components and its load comply with the dimension requirements that apply (section 102(1)). The duty covers the load as well as the vehicle. Section 104 sets the bands that decide the category:
| Dimension | Substantial risk breach starts at | Severe risk breach starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 350 mm over the maximum | 600 mm over the maximum |
| Width | 40 mm over the maximum | 80 mm over the maximum |
| Height | 150 mm over the maximum | 300 mm over the maximum |
| Load projection | 40 mm over the maximum | 80 mm over the maximum |
A breach below the substantial band is minor, and a breach of a ground clearance requirement is always minor (section 105). Some breaches are severe for other reasons set out in section 107. A load that projects in a way that is dangerous to people or property is taken to contravene a dimension requirement even if every dimension and warning requirement is met (section 108).
The penalty for a dimension offence also depends on whether the vehicle had goods or passengers in it. Without them the maximum is a single amount; with them the maximum rises with the category (section 102(1)). The base amounts rose on 1 August 2026, from $3,000, $5,000 and $10,000 to $4,000, $6,000 and $10,000.
How do loading and load restraint offences work?
A loading offence is a failure to make sure the vehicle, its components and its load comply with the loading requirements, which include how the load is placed, secured and restrained (section 111(1)). The category turns on what happened to the load rather than a measurement:
| Category | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Minor risk breach | No loss or shifting of the load, and a loss or shift would not have been likely to involve an appreciable safety risk or appreciable risk to road infrastructure or public amenity (section 112) |
| Substantial risk breach | A loss or shifting of the load that did not involve an appreciable safety risk or those other appreciable risks (section 113) |
| Severe risk breach | A loss or shifting of the load that involved an appreciable safety risk, or an appreciable risk of damage to road infrastructure or of an adverse effect on public amenity (section 114) |
Proof does not always need an incident. Evidence that the load was not placed, secured or restrained in a way that met a loading performance standard is evidence of a contravention (section 115). That makes the restraint method, the equipment used and any guidance relied on central to the defence.
What about exemptions and permits?
Some vehicles cannot comply with the standard limits by their nature. A class 1 heavy vehicle is one that does not comply with a prescribed mass or dimension requirement and is, for example, a special purpose vehicle, an agricultural vehicle, or a vehicle carrying a large indivisible item (section 116). The Regulator may exempt a category of class 1 or class 3 heavy vehicles from a prescribed mass or dimension requirement by notice in the Commonwealth Gazette for up to 5 years (section 117).
An exemption protects only what it covers. In Busbridge v Police the driver relied on a code of practice for agricultural machinery as his exemption ([9]). The Supreme Court accepted that the code still operated, by force of a transitional provision ([31]), but held that it did not cover tyres that could be separated from the machine without great difficulty, expense or risk of damage ([72], [73]). The tyres had to be carried within the 2.5 metre width limit, and loading them side by side beyond it was a breach ([74], [80]). The appeal against conviction for a severe risk breach was dismissed ([11], [100]).
Breaching the conditions of an exemption is itself an offence. The Regulator’s schedule lists contravening a condition of a mass or dimension exemption (section 129) at $8,480, and failing to keep the relevant document while driving under a mass or dimension exemption notice (section 132(2)) at $4,230.
What are the penalties?
Heavy vehicle mass and loading offences carry the amounts below, which are the Regulator’s published maximums for 1 August 2026 to 30 June 2027, indexed under section 737. This page is current to 24 October 2026. Infringement amounts are one tenth of the court maximum, and the Regulator’s schedule lists none for severe breaches of these requirements.
| Offence | Minor | Substantial | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass, section 96(1) | $5,630 (infringement $563) | $8,480 (infringement $848) | $14,120 plus $710 for each further 1 per cent over 120 per cent, the extra capped at $28,230 |
| Dimension, section 102(1), with goods or passengers | $5,630 (infringement $563) | $8,480 (infringement $848) | $14,120 |
| Dimension, section 102(1), without goods or passengers | $5,630 (infringement $563) for any category | ||
| Loading, section 111(1) | $4,230 (infringement $423) | $7,060 (infringement $706) | $14,120 |
| Contravening a condition of a mass or dimension exemption, section 129 | $8,480 (infringement $848) |
These are maximums, not going rates. The amounts are for an individual: because these provisions state only one maximum, a body corporate can be fined up to five times that amount (section 596). Mass, dimension and loading offences carry no demerit points under Schedule 4 of the Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 (SA), which lists the heavy vehicle offences that do.
What else can the court do?
The court must weigh what the category means. Section 594 requires it to consider, in setting the penalty, that a minor breach involves an appreciable risk of accelerated road wear or unfair commercial advantage, that a substantial breach involves risks such as damage to road infrastructure or congestion, and that a severe breach involves risks such as harm to public safety or the environment. Evidence about those matters is not required (section 594(5)).
A court can also move the category down. If it is satisfied there was a contravention but not that it reached the substantial or severe category alleged, it may treat it as a lower category (section 595). Measurement evidence, rounding and the limit applied therefore matter.
Further orders are available. On a conviction for a severe risk breach the court may cancel or suspend the registration of a heavy vehicle of which the offender is the registered operator, and disqualify the offender from applying for its registration (section 598). It may order compensation to a road manager for damage to road infrastructure caused by the offence (section 611), and a commercial benefits penalty order of up to three times the gross commercial benefit (section 597).
Before court, an authorised officer cannot give a formal warning for a substantial or severe mass, dimension or loading breach (section 590(3)(a)). An enforceable undertaking can be accepted for these offences (section 590A).
How similar matters tend to play out
Three illustrations of how the Law and the cases combine on ordinary facts. They are not predictions. Outcome depends on the facts, the record, the plea and the court.
Lower range. A tipper is weighed slightly over its axle group limit, below the substantial band, a minor risk mass breach. The infringement is $563 with no demerit points, and a formal warning is possible for a minor breach. The weighing method, the limit applied and the rounding are worth checking before paying, because a small error can take the reading back under the limit.
Middle range. A curtain-sider is intercepted with part of its load shifted against the curtain but nothing lost from the vehicle. The Regulator alleges a substantial risk loading breach under section 111, with a maximum of $7,060. The defence looks at the restraint method against the loading performance standards (section 115), whether the shift involved an appreciable safety risk, and who loaded and secured the goods.
Upper range. A combination is weighed at more than 130 per cent of its gross limit after a loader’s error. The driver faces a severe risk breach with a maximum of $14,120 plus $710 for every 1 per cent over 120 per cent, the court may act on the registration under section 598, and the operator and loader face questions under section 26C. The measurement, the limit, any permit and the reasonable excuse defence become the case.
How do we defend a mass, dimension or loading charge?
Heavy vehicle mass and loading offences rest on measurement. We test how the vehicle was weighed or measured, which limit was applied, whether an exemption or permit covered the load, and whether the category alleged is the one the evidence proves.
| Stage | What happens | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Intercept and measurement | The vehicle is weighed, measured or inspected and the load examined. | Obtain the weighing or measurement records, calibration details and photographs. |
| Notice or charge | An infringement notice issues for minor and substantial breaches, or a charge for severe breaches. | Advise before the due date whether to pay the notice or elect to be prosecuted. |
| Category and limit | The prosecution alleges a category under sections 97 to 114. | Recalculate against the right limit and bands, and seek a lower category under section 595 where the evidence falls short. |
| Defences and exemptions | Reasonable excuse, permits and exemption notices may answer the charge. | Gather the permit, notice, loading instructions and evidence of the steps taken. |
| Plea, trial and sentence | The charge is contested or pleaded, and the court applies section 594. | Put the actual risk, the circumstances and the business consequences before the court. |
We cannot promise an outcome, and no lawyer can. We can make sure the number and the category are right before anyone pleads to them.
Every hour matters. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation, or call (08) 7094 2021 now.
Mass, dimension and loading case law
Busbridge is the South Australian decision on how a dimension exemption is applied. The other decisions concern search powers and how courts treat a trifling argument for heavy vehicle offences; none of them concerned an overloaded or badly restrained vehicle.
| Case | Court | Principle | Pinpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Busbridge v Police [2015] SASC 201 | Supreme Court | An exemption covers only what its terms cover; a divided load must be carried within the limits | [9], [11], [31], [37], [38], [72] to [74], [80], [100] |
| R v Carter [2020] SADC 27 | District Court | Entry and search of a heavy vehicle on a reasonable belief | [34], [38], [39], [49] |
| National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull [2021] SASC 37 | Supreme Court | On a trifling argument the conduct is the primary consideration (a fatigue case) | [39], [41], [42] |
Case notes
Busbridge v Police [2015] SASC 201
A driver carrying an air seeder and its detached tyres was charged with a severe risk breach of a dimension requirement, the load exceeding the width limit by 80 mm or more ([1], [11]). He produced a code of practice and gazette notice for agricultural vehicles as his exemption ([9]). Parker J accepted that the code continued to operate by force of the transitional provisions ([31]), and noted that a driver who exceeds a dimension requirement breaches the Law unless an exemption applies ([37], [38]). The code covered machinery that could not readily be divided; tyres that could be separated without great difficulty, expense or risk of damage were outside it and had to be carried within 2.5 metres ([72] to [74], [80]). The appeal was dismissed ([100]). The offence was then worded as a prohibition on driving a non-compliant vehicle; section 102(1) is now a duty on a person who drives or permits driving, with a reasonable excuse defence.
R v Carter [2020] SADC 27
An officer of the police Heavy Vehicle Enforcement Section stopped a prime mover with the power to enter a vehicle for investigation purposes in mind ([34]). Judge Durrant found that the officer held a reasonable belief that offences against the Law had been committed and intended only to search under the Law ([38]), so the entry was lawful ([39]), and the application to exclude the evidence was refused ([49]).
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull [2021] SASC 37
A fatigue case, not a mass case. Blue J said that in deciding whether an offence is trifling the primary consideration is the conduct comprising the offence, and only limited weight can be given to the explanation ([39]). The magistrate’s finding that the offences were trifling was set aside and the appeals allowed ([41], [42]). The case concerned section 250, whose purpose the Court compared with a road safety offence.
Frequently asked questions
What is the penalty for an overloaded truck in SA?
Overloading is a breach of the mass requirements under section 96. From 1 August 2026 to 30 June 2027 the maximums are $5,630 for a minor breach, $8,480 for a substantial breach and $14,120 for a severe breach, plus $710 for every further 1 per cent over a 120 per cent overload, capped at an extra $28,230.
When is an overload a severe risk breach?
When the mass is 120 per cent or more of the maximum mass permitted under the requirement, rounded up to the nearest 0.1 tonne (sections 97 and 100). Severe breaches have no infringement option in the Regulator’s schedule and are dealt with in court.
Who is responsible for an overloaded truck?
The driver and anyone who permitted the driver to drive the vehicle, under section 96, subject to a reasonable excuse. Parties in the chain of responsibility, such as loaders, consignors and schedulers, also owe the primary duty in section 26C for the safety of their transport activities.
How far over width is a severe dimension breach?
For width, a severe risk breach starts at 80 mm over the maximum width permitted, and a substantial breach at 40 mm (section 104). For length the bands are 350 mm and 600 mm, and for height 150 mm and 300 mm.
What counts as a load restraint breach?
A failure to make sure the load complies with the loading requirements, including how it is placed, secured and restrained (section 111). The category depends on whether the load was lost or shifted and whether that involved an appreciable safety risk (sections 112 to 114). Evidence that the restraint did not meet a loading performance standard is evidence of a breach (section 115).
Can a formal warning be given for a load or mass breach?
Only for a minor breach. A formal warning cannot be given for a substantial or severe mass, dimension or loading breach (section 590(3)(a)).
Do mass and loading offences carry demerit points?
No. Schedule 4 of the Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 lists the heavy vehicle offences that carry demerit points, such as fatigue and work and rest hours breaches, and mass, dimension and loading offences are not among them.
Can the court reduce the category of breach?
Yes. If the court is satisfied there was a contravention but not that it reached the category alleged, it may treat it as a lower category (section 595). That makes the measurement and the limit applied worth testing.
Can the court cancel my truck's registration?
On a conviction for a severe risk mass, dimension or loading breach, the court may cancel or suspend the registration of a heavy vehicle of which the offender is the registered operator, and disqualify the offender from applying for its registration for a stated period (section 598).
Do I need a lawyer for an overloading charge?
For a minor infringement, often not. Heavy vehicle mass and loading offences at the substantial or severe level are different. For a substantial or severe breach, a registration order or a charge that reaches the business, the measurement and the category are worth testing first. A free 30-minute consultation will tell you where you stand.
South Australian courts we attend for heavy vehicle matters
We appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court and in the regional courts on the freight routes, and in the higher courts for matters that go there.
Courts we attend
Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.