NHVR Load Restraint Guide
Proper load restraint is one of the most fundamental yet critical aspects of heavy vehicle operations, sitting at the intersection of safety, compliance, and professional responsibility. Every load that moves on Australian roads presents potential risks—not just to the driver transporting it, but to every road user sharing the highway. The Load Restraint Guide represents the industry’s comprehensive resource for understanding and implementing best practice load restraint systems, translating complex engineering principles into practical, actionable guidance for operators and drivers. Recently updated in 2025 with refreshed imagery and improved formatting, this essential resource provides detailed technical information, worked examples, and clear diagrams to help industry meet loading requirements and performance standards across diverse cargo types and loading scenarios. Whether securing construction materials, agricultural products, or general freight, the principles and methods outlined in this guide form the foundation for safe, compliant heavy vehicle operations.
This Load Restraint Guide provides best practice load restraint systems to meet loading requirements and loading performance standards. It includes technical information, detailed diagrams and worked examples to help you determine the restraint required for your heavy vehicle load.
Downloadable: Load Restraint Guide 2025 (PDF, 45MB)
You can Purchase a hard copy of the Load Restraint Guide 2025 through Canprint Information Services in either an A4 or a convenient glovebox A5 size.
This Load Restraint Guide provides helpful insights into:
- the process to follow when loading a vehicle and designing load restraint systems for common loading scenarios
- appropriate load restraint methods for different load types
- the engineering principles found in load restraint systems written using plain language.
The Load Restraint Guide is an information guide only. It reflects best practice load restraint systems to meet loading requirements and loading performance standards and is not a legal document.
2025 update
The Load Restraint Guide has recently gone through a re-brand where images have been refreshed, including reformatting the guide to make it more user friendly.
The Load Restraint Guide 2025 FAQs (PDF, 388KB) and Load Restraint Guide – Edition 4 amendment summary (PDF, 178KB) are available to help industry understand the changes that have been made.
Please note: the changes made are relatively minor, the 2018 version of the guide still remains current and valid for use.
Load restraint for light vehicles
The National Transport Commission manages the Load Restraint Guide for Light Vehicles.
A light vehicle is any car, ute, van, truck or trailer (including a combination, e.g. a ute and trailer) that has a gross vehicle mass up to 4.5 tonnes.
The Load Restraint Guide serves as an indispensable tool for anyone involved in loading and transporting goods via heavy vehicles, offering comprehensive guidance that bridges regulatory requirements with practical application. While positioned as an information guide rather than a legal document, its best practice recommendations represent the industry standard for achieving compliance with loading performance standards and protecting road safety. The recent 2025 update demonstrates the NHVR’s commitment to keeping this resource accessible and user-friendly, though the continued validity of the 2018 version ensures existing industry practices remain supported. Available in both digital format and convenient hard copy sizes through Canprint Information Services, the guide accommodates different working environments and preferences. Ultimately, proper load restraint isn’t merely about regulatory compliance—it’s about the fundamental professional duty to ensure every load reaches its destination safely, protecting drivers, other road users, and the broader community from the preventable risks of inadequately secured cargo.
Information shared from https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/loading/load-restraint-guide
