Card surcharges are banned nationwide from 1 October 2026 — including on NHVR infringement payments and on B2B invoices — the NHVR has pressed harvest season compliance in VIC and SA, and the QTA welcomed a federal backflip on disaster recovery funding. What changed and what to do.
What changed with card surcharges on 1 October 2026?
Businesses across Australia can no longer add a surcharge when a customer pays by card. The rule change took effect on 1 October 2026 and covers eftpos, Mastercard and Visa (credit, debit and prepaid) — with American Express, UnionPay and PayPal following suit voluntarily.
For heavy vehicle operators, the NHVR confirmed the change directly: credit card surcharges no longer apply to infringement and penalty notice payments from 1 October 2026. The NHVR is updating its notice templates, so some notices may still show old wording — if you were charged a surcharge after 1 October, use the contact details on the notice (for example, Revenue NSW or the Queensland Revenue Office) to query it.
The bigger picture is the Reserve Bank's payments reform. The RBA has removed its prohibition on 'no-surcharge' rules and lowered interchange fee caps (personal credit cards fall from 0.8% to 0.3%). The changes also apply to business-to-business payments — so if your transport business adds a card surcharge to customer invoices through Xero, MYOB, Square or pay-by-link, that needs to be switched off. Weekend or public holiday surcharges and genuine service fees are unaffected.
What this means for you: audit every way you take card payments — terminals, online checkout, invoice links — and confirm no surcharge is still being added. Then ask your payment provider, in writing, what your new merchant fees are; with interchange caps cut, a cost-plus plan should now be cheaper. If you lose margin you were recovering via surcharges, look at pricing overall rather than adding it back as a 'service fee'. [Sources: NHVR news, 1 October 2026; Reserve Bank of Australia conclusions paper FAQs, 2026]
What does harvest season mean for operators this month?
The NHVR is pressing two messages as grain harvest ramps up: in Victoria, it has urged grain growers to keep compliance top of mind this harvest season, and in South Australia, a bumper grain harvest has put road safety in the spotlight.
Both messages landed on 7 October 2026. Harvest season means more slow-moving agricultural vehicles on regional roads, heavier truck movements between paddock and silo, and longer days for drivers — a combination that raises the stakes on mass limits, load restraint, fatigue and patience from other road users.
What this means for you: if you run grain or support grain harvests, double-check mass and loading compliance before the first load, refresh drivers on the season's traffic conditions, and expect tighter roadside attention on harvest corridors in VIC and SA. [Sources: NHVR news, 7 October 2026]
Why is the QTA welcoming a disaster funding backflip?
The federal government has reversed proposed changes to disaster recovery funding — a backflip the Queensland Trucking Association welcomed on 11 October 2026, after warning the changes threatened vital freight connections.
Details in the public reporting are thin, but the QTA's position is clear: the proposed changes would have put freight links at risk in disaster-hit areas, and the reversal preserves them. For an industry that keeps regional Queensland supplied through floods and cyclones, that's a practical win ahead of the wet season.
What this means for you: disaster funding settings flow through to which roads and connections get restored quickly after events — if you run into regional QLD, this is a good outcome. Watch the QTA for any further detail on what was preserved. [Source: Big Rigs, 11 October 2026]
How did the Bathurst 1000 and highway works hit freight?
Freight operators were warned ahead of the weekend to prepare for increased traffic during the Bathurst 1000, with more motorists and the ongoing Great Western Highway repairs likely to compound congestion and disruption along the Victoria Pass detour.
The warning came on 8 October 2026 and played out over the race weekend. While the race traffic has now passed, the underlying problem has not: the Great Western Highway repairs continue, and the Victoria Pass detour remains the pressure point for freight crossing the Blue Mountains.
What this means for you: treat major events at Bathurst, combined with the ongoing repairs, as scheduled congestion — pad ETAs, brief drivers on the detour, and keep pressure on through Road Freight NSW for clear repair timelines. [Source: Big Rigs, 8 October 2026]
What else moved this week?
Beyond the headline items, six smaller things worth knowing:
- A national action plan for the truck driver shortage proposes better training support, clearer apprenticeship pathways and practical measures to stop driving truckies out of the industry. [Source: Big Rigs, 7 October 2026]
- $12 million Newell Highway rest area upgrades are complete — the Tycannah rest areas now have more truck parking, flushable toilets and safer access. [Source: Big Rigs, 9 October 2026]
- Lindsay Australia is rolling out supermarket freight services across North Queensland, deploying a new fleet and recruiting drivers and operational staff. [Source: Big Rigs, 9 October 2026]
- Hawkins Transport copped a $60,000 fine as the Far North Queensland operator works to rebuild after its fleet was grounded in August — and says it now wants closer ties with the NHVR. [Source: Big Rigs, 9 October 2026]
- The WA Transport Industry Association appointed Jan Cooper as General Manager. [Source: Big Rigs, 11 October 2026]
- The refreshed Green Triangle Freight Action Plan, jointly released by the VIC and SA governments, has been criticised by the Australian Logistics Council for lacking key details. [Source: Big Rigs, 9 October 2026]
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