Police warn trucking industry to secure loads ahead of a targeted compliance campaign next month
By Ruza Zivkusic | March 28, 2011
Truck drivers in Melbourne’s western suburbs are being urged to secure their loads ahead a police operation to crack down on unsecure freight.
Those caught driving with items rolling in the back of their truck will be fined, Sergeant Rod Stein says.
Brimbank Police is conducting an operation next month, targeting heavy vehicle drivers who operate in the industrial and surrounding areas.
Too many unsecured vehicles are the cause of serious collisions last year, where 58 people were killed in heavy vehicle accidents, Stein
says.
The figure is up by 23 fatalities from the year before.
“We conducted an operation late last year and found some surprising results. There was an unusual number of trucks involved in serious collisions so we’re looking at the trucks to see if there’s anything that we need to address to try and reduce the number of trucks that are involved in the collisions,”
Stein says.
Interstate drivers will also be targeted with the police inspecting work diaries and fatigue management, he adds.
There were 122 trucks intercepted during last year’s operation, with 30 drivers prosecuted for unsecure load.
“Truck drivers need to remember that they’re driving a very large and heavy vehicle. It has the capacity to cause a large amount of damage involved in accidents, they have to make sure that they drive accordingly,”
Stein says.