TEST drives of dealer-owned vehicles by prospective buyers and purchases of used vehicles by consumers are being affected by changes to the NSW government toll fee payment system that now places the onus fully on the dealer as the registered vehicle owner to pay outstanding changes.

From July 1, NSW Motorways have made the registered vehicle owner – that is, the dealer – responsible for the initial payment of all unpaid toll charges and associated fees, regardless of who was driving the vehicle at the time.

The AADA said that “for dealerships, this means toll notices on dealer owned trading stock, demonstrator vehicles, service loan cars and test-drive vehicles will become payable directly by the dealer to the tollway operator”.“The dealer will need to pursue the driver of the vehicle for reimbursement,” it said in a statement to members.

NSW Motorways said the previous transfer of the toll liability through the nomination of another driver via provision of a statutory declaration “was no longer an option for NSW dealers”.

It has sparked concern by NSW dealers who have taken it up with the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) for consultation with NSW Motorways and the NSW government.

AADA director of industry and state affairs Michael McKenna told GoAutoNews Premium that it was a key issue for the AADA-NSW State Advisory Group (SDAG) which is now working with the NSW transport department “on a range of issues on behalf of our dealer members in NSW”.

He said dealers have been very exposed to the toll fine system and that one dealer had reported 180 fines in one day and another had said the business’ toll bill was around $500,000 a year.

Mr McKenna said that the NSW government has been receptive.

Michael McKenna

“We have good dialogue with the NSW government taking place with AADA,” he said.

“They know the gravity of the station for dealers. The financial impacts can be prevented if consultation takes place before implementation.”

He said that it took 14 days for a purchaser of a used car from a dealer to get their name into the transport administration system “created an administrative and financial nightmare for NSW dealers in this regard”.

“The government noted this and will confer with AADA-NSW in the very near future.”

One solution could be a tracking system developed by WA-based Fleetware.

The Fleetware toll road management solution, which was designed inhouse, uses data from the car’s tracking hardware that tracks the vehicle’s trip, where it goes, when it stops, and so on.

Fleetware’s Brendan Fowler told GoAutoNews Premium that it uses a standard telematics device except that Fleetware has integrated it with a software platform which records and monitors all trips on toll roads.

“Not just in Sydney, but also Brisbane and Melbourne,” he said.

“It uses our GPS data and integrates that with a third-party software company’s up to date toll data. When the vehicle comes back to the dealership, Fleetware’s tracking platform automatically sends a call to the toll data to pull it all down, and then it gives the dealer a summary of all the tolls that were accrued while the vehicle was not in the dealership.

Brendan Fowler

“When the loan car arrives back at the dealership, the service advisor or who is responsible, gets all the details about the toll fees. The dealership can then charge the customer on the spot, so the dealer is not out of pocket.”

Fleetware has interest from a number of large dealership groups in NSW. It has also shown it to the AADA which is receptive to the concept.

Mr Fowler said dealers could recoup their investment in the device within three months.

“Dealers could be paying up to $60 a day per car in toll fees,” he said.“Our solution costs $1.50 a day.”

He said that dealers have to include a line in their ‘terms and conditions’ form, signed by a customer to acknowledge that the driver is aware of the tracking device in the vehicle – “because under privacy law you have to advise the driver” – and that any tolls accrued will be charged when bringing the vehicle back.

Mr Fowler said Fleetware has undertaken a successful trial in Brisbane and is also talking to dealerships in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

“Melbourne dealers still have issues with toll payments, but it’s not as prevalent as Sydney because Victoria doesn’t have the same government-imposed requirements,” he said.

“But they still have issues recovering funds and knowing who’s got the vehicle and speeding fines, so the solution will still work very well in other states.”

The AADA put out a statement to members last week, saying “that if the NSW government’s objective is to improve toll recovery, the focus should remain on ensuring timely registration transfers by new owners and improving information-sharing processes between Transport for NSW and toll operators.”

“This will be a reform measure that the AADA-NSW SDAG will pursue,” it said.