The ARTSA Institute, formed in 2020 has evolved from being the Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association to being a road transport industry think tank (www.artsa.com.au/institute ). Chaired by global thought leader, Martin Toomey, its main aim is to conduct think tank research and provide quantitative evidence that will benefit the road transport industry and the community at large. In particular ARTSA Institute wants to contribute to the discussion that will lead to improvements in safety, productivity and environmental policy decisions affecting the road transport industry. The Institute is already conducting high quality research into key issues that will improve the efficiency, safety and productivity of the road transport industry. These projects include: • Heavy vehicle braking calculator project to verify Australian Design Rule (ADR) compliance for multi combination vehicles • Heavy vehicle truck fire causation and prevention strategies • Heavy vehicle replacement parts guidance manual Each of these projects has been funded through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) safety initiative. ARTSA-i has co-authored reports on Performance Based Standards (PBS) with both the NHVR and Transport Certification Australia (TCA) to demonstrate the uptake of PBS and the task that PBS vehicles perform.
