Green vehicle guide

By choosing a greener vehicle, you can make a real difference. The Green Vehicle Guide helps by rating vehicles (manufactured from 2004) based on their greenhouse and air pollution emissions.
The rating is calculated using data provided by manufacturers who test the vehicle against Australian standards. The Green Vehicle Guide also provides information on the fuel economy of new vehicles available on the Australian market.

Visit The Green Vehicle Guide website for additional information.

Truck buyers guide

To make buying a small or medium sized truck or commercial vehicle less complicated, the Truck Buyers Guide can help you consider the things you should look for when choosing a truck to suit your needs and provide the best fuel economy.

The guide can be used by anyone operating a commercial vehicle; however it has been designed mainly for:

• Larger businesses operating small rigid trucks (i.e. gross vehicle mass of 3.5 - 12 tonnes)
• Small businesses using trucks as a part of their business operations (e.g. builders, food wholesalers, furniture removal companies, local councils)

The Truck Buyers Guide is a joint Victorian, New South Wales and Australian Government initiative to promote the understanding and uptake of low emission small trucks. 

Fuel consumption guide

If you intend to purchase a used car, the Fuel Consumption Guide Database provides comparative data on the fuel consumption of many vehicles sold in Australia between 1986 and 2003. The database includes passenger cars, four-wheel drives and light commercial vehicles up to 2.7 tonnes gross vehicle mass.

Clean fleet program

Clean Fleet is an audited maintenance program designed to improve air quality by reducing diesel vehicle emissions. This initiative has been developed by Roads and Maritime as part of a continuing commitment to the environment.

The program is open to fleet owners and operators wanting to contribute to improving air quality. They commit to maintaining their vehicles in a way which minimises emissions. By becoming a Clean Fleet participant your organisation can promote itself as being environmentally aware and responsible and could save you money.

A serious issue

Emissions from diesel exhausts are a major source of fine particle pollution and impact on the environment.

Diesel vehicles contribute 60 per cent of all particulate emissions from road transport, even though they only account for 8 percent of the total of all vehicles on our roads (Office of Environment and Heritage Environmental Protection Authority, 2014).

Have you thought about becoming a participant?

The Clean Fleet Program is nationally accredited and participants who operate heavy vehicles that are more than 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass (GVM) may be eligible to apply for a fuel tax credit through the Australian Taxation Office.

What is required from Clean Fleet participants?

Clean Fleet participants need to comply with four emission management standards:

Standard 1 - Clean fuel. Fuel used by your diesel vehicles must be free of contamination and meet national fuel quality standards.

Standard 2 - Engine settings. Engines and emission control systems on your diesel vehicles must be set to the manufacturer's specifications, particularly fuel pumps and injection timing.

Standard 3 - Maintenance schedules and methods. Vehicles need to be maintained and serviced at the intervals recommended by the manufacturer, or to equivalent standards.

Standard 4 - Fault identification and repair. A method for identifying, recording, assessing and acting on reported faults must be in place.

Being clean saves money

Being clean is not only good for the environment, it's good for business.

Benefits include:

• Less maintenance
• Fewer breakdowns
• Better fuel consumption
• Improved vehicle performance
• Improved vehicle reliability
• Improved vehicle resale value
• Less chance of a smoky vehicle fine.

For more information on how to join the Clean Fleet Program see the documents below or phone 1300 364 847.