A 44-year-old truckie has received $17,500 in fines with $900 in costs after a Goulburn magistrate found him guilty of making five false or misleading entries in his work diary.
Roads and Maritime Services Director Compliance Roger Weeks said the driver, who holds a West Australian licence but lives in Victoria, was randomly stopped by Roads and Maritime Services heavy vehicle inspectors at the Marulan heavy vehicle safety station in January.
“He was in control of a 63 tonne B-double combination which he was moving from Port Kembla to Dandenong in Victoria,” Mr Weeks said.
“As part of our basic driver fatigue inspection process we carried out a work diary check and found in the previous few days he had made five false entries in his work diary, saying he had stopped and rested, as required for the safety of all road users.
“These times and dates did not match up with the real time images we were able to cross reference his vehicle with from our Safe-T-Cam network.
“In NSW drivers of regulated heavy vehicles are required to carry and complete a work diary.
“A breach report was issued to the driver as well as a direction for the driver to rest immediately.”
Mr Weeks said the driver’s employer also had a responsibility under chain of responsibility laws to keep records of the driver activities, including monitoring work and rest times.
“Operators, schedulers, consignors and consignees involved in road transport have responsibilities to ensure rosters and schedules do not require drivers to exceed driving hours regulations,” he said.
“Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), everyone in the supply chain has an obligation to ensure breaches of road transport laws do not occur. If a party’s actions, inactions or demands cause or contribute to an offence, they can be held legally accountable.”