Sector guide · Transport & logistics
Before you run the fleet through the auctions
When transport owners decide to get out, the path of least resistance is the one the industry hands you: run the trucks and trailers through the auctions, wind the company down, and walk away.
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When transport owners decide to get out, the path of least resistance is the one the industry hands you: run the trucks and trailers through the auctions, wind the company down, and walk away. The auction companies will make that path feel easy, because selling your assets is their product, and they are very good at it. But be clear about what is happening in that conversation: nobody in it is paid to ask whether your business is worth more than your fleet. I know, because I spent years on that side of the fence.
Here is what goes to zero the day the fleet is sold off: your freight contracts, your customer relationships, your driver roster, your accreditation, your lanes and your name in the market, and the earnings stream all of it produces. Every one of those is exactly what acquirers in this industry are hunting for right now, and the auction route pays you for none of them. You get market value for the metal, less commission, your drivers get scattered across your competitors, and everything else you built simply stops existing.
Selling the business as a going concern means a buyer pays for the fleet and the enterprise around it: the contracted freight, the drivers, the customers, the accreditation, the future earnings. When the business genuinely has those things, the total walks away from what an asset sell off returns, sometimes by a margin that changes a retirement. The structure of the exit can also land very differently for tax, which is a conversation to have with your accountant before committing to either path.
The honest caveat, because you deserve straight talk: sometimes the asset sale is the right answer. If the freight is all spot, the drivers will not stay and the business really is you plus trucks, the metal may genuinely be where the value ends, and I will tell you that to your face rather than waste your time. But make that call knowing both numbers, not because an auction rep got to you first. Before you book the auction, get the appraisal. It costs nothing, and the difference between the two paths can be the largest single financial decision of your working life.
Accreditation modules and tiers, and what happens to each on a change of ownership
| Module, tier or event | What it covers, and what happens when the business is sold |
|---|---|
| Mass Management (NHVAS module) | Operators with mass management accreditation can operate at concessional mass limits. It requires systems controlling axle and gross mass, trip records, and mass verification twice yearly. It does not transfer to a different legal entity. |
| Maintenance Management (NHVAS module) | Operators with maintenance management accreditation have systems in place to ensure their vehicles are safe at all times, with daily safety checks and annual inspections by qualified personnel. It does not transfer to a different legal entity, and the Queensland Certificate of Inspection exemption goes with it. |
| Basic Fatigue Management, BFM (NHVAS module) | Operators with BFM accreditation can operate under more flexible work and rest hours, allowing for example a total of up to 14 hours work in a 24-hour period. It does not transfer to a different legal entity. |
| Advanced Fatigue Management, AFM (NHVAS module) | AFM brings a genuine risk management approach to managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue, offering greater flexibility in exchange for demonstrated accountability. It does not transfer to a different legal entity. |
| General Safety Accreditation, GSA (HVA tier) | Establishes the minimum safety capability required for an operator to enter the HVA scheme. Entry is based on a whole-of-business Safety Management System audit, not a module audit. |
| GSA Maintenance Assurance Program, GSA-MAP (HVA tier) | Assurance on vehicle maintenance and mechanical safety. The NHVR states the benefit is exemption from annual vehicle inspections in New South Wales and Queensland. |
| Alternative Compliance Accreditation Fatigue, ACA-Fatigue (HVA tier) | A genuine risk management approach to managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue, with tailored work and rest hours, a maximum of 15.5 hours work and a minimum of 7 hours rest per 24-hour period. |
| Alternative Compliance Accreditation Mass, ACA-Mass (HVA tier) | Assurance that mass, loading and operation responsibilities are managed. The NHVR lists access to Higher Mass Limits, Performance Based Standards and permit schemes as the benefit. |
| The transfer rule itself | NHVAS Business Rules and Standards, section 4(3): an accreditation cannot be transferred between individuals or legal entities. Accreditation attaches to the accredited legal entity, not to the business, the fleet or the vehicles. |
| Share sale or unit sale | The accredited legal entity is unchanged, so the accreditation survives the transaction. Notification obligations still apply, and the buyer takes the entity with its regulatory history attached. |
| Asset sale, buyer already accredited | Where the new owner already participates in the Mass or Maintenance modules, the NHVAS Business Rules provide for the new owner’s accreditation to be amended to include the acquired vehicles, citing section 466 of the HVNL. |
| Asset sale, buyer not accredited | The purchaser must seek accreditation in its own right, which means an audit. Until it is granted, the mass, maintenance and fatigue concessions do not run on the acquired fleet. |
| Notification, 14 days | Participants must notify the NHVR in the approved form of any changes to the nominated vehicle, such as plate changes, or to accreditation details, within 14 days of the changes taking place. |
| Notification under the HVA guidelines | You must notify the NHVR when vehicles are added to or removed from an accredited fleet, transferred between scheme members, sold, or when key details change. You must also notify within 14 days of any change relating to your accreditation that would affect fees payable. |
| Queensland Certificate of Inspection | Vehicles in the maintenance module are eligible for a COI exemption. The Queensland Government states that if you sell the vehicle a COI becomes required, unless the buyer is also part of the scheme and adds the vehicle to their maintenance module. |
| Transition options for existing NHVAS holders | Four options, with both schemes running concurrently: maintain current NHVAS accreditation for up to 2 years if it expires before year end; apply for an NHVAS extension of up to 1 year; transition immediately to HVA; or exit the scheme. Existing accredited operators have up to three years to transition. |
The NHVAS modules and the transfer rule are quoted from the NHVAS fact sheet and the NHVAS Business Rules and Standards. The HVA tiers are from the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme Operator Guidelines 2026, published July 2026, for the scheme that commenced with the amended HVNL on 1 August 2026. Three cautions. First, the express non-transferability rule is an NHVAS rule. The HVA Operator Guidelines do not address transfer of accreditation on a sale of business or a change of legal entity. The HVA position stated here is drawn from the same vehicle-level notification mechanism rather than from a quoted rule. Second, whether section 466 retains that number and effect after 1 August 2026 has not been checked against the new reprint. Third, the 2024 Queensland Higher Mass Limits Declaration Operator’s Guide contains no accreditation prerequisite for Higher Mass Limits access, while the July 2026 HVA guidelines list that access as an ACA-Mass benefit. Resolve the apparent conflict with the NHVR for your own fleet. Current as at August 2026.
Ask what it is worth
Free, in writing, and nobody finds out you asked. Tell me the trade and the suburb and I will do the rest.
Nobody finds out you are selling. This goes to me only, into my own database in Sydney. I will not contact your accountant, your landlord, your bank or your staff, ever, unless you ask me to.
If you would rather not put anything in writing yet, ring 0431 124 128. Prefer to pick a time yourself? Book a time in my diary.
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