National heavy vehicle number plates

From 1 October 2018, a National Heavy Vehicle (NHV) plate will be the general issue plate for heavy vehicles and heavy trailers garaged in Victoria.

The new plate will reduce administrative burden on operators by allowing heavy vehicles to retain their national heavy vehicle number plates if the registered operator moves to another jurisdiction.

The NHV plate will be issued when:

• a new or second-hand heavy vehicle is registered
• a lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen general issue number plate is replaced
• a vehicle is transitioned from the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme to Victorian registration.

Please note that a trailer plate is treated as a set. Visit number plate fees for more details.

Options

Existing heavy vehicle plates (standard general issue, primary producer, semi-trailers etc) will not need to be changed to the national heavy vehicle plate unless the operator needs or wishes to do this. 

Heavy vehicle operators will be able to use custom or personalised plates on their heavy vehicle.

Exclusions

NHV plates cannot be customised or personalised. 

NHV plates will not be issued to:

• buses on Transport Safety Victoria’s bus accreditation scheme
• tow trucks on the accident towing allocation scheme
• club permit scheme vehicles heavier than 4.5 tonnes
• vehicles eligible for State Government vehicle plates.