A police crackdown on the trucking industry in Southern NSW has yielded some unacceptable results with a high number of defect notices, traffic infringement notices and charges being issued. The police in NSW embarked on a 3 day operation targeting trucks in Southern NSW last week, concentrating on vehicle roadworthiness and driver behaviour – 2 major contributors to vehicle crashes in the state. The operation was run as part of the annual Austrans campaign, which targets heavy vehicle compliance and will run throughout the months of May and June. Each year police agencies and transport departments across Oz and New Zealand embark on the operation which first started in 1989. During the operation over 2500 vehicles were stopped and checked and resulted in 178 defect notices being issued. It is alarming to think that this many trucks are defective on our roads, and this was just a small percentage caught, the actual numbers are probably much higher. What is even more frightening is that these defects related to problems with the trucks’ brakes, which could have resulted in any number of crashes. The other issue which police found disturbing was the number of truckies caught speeding. Truck drivers continue to fail to take adequate breaks and continue speeding to meet deadlines. The police also expressed concern for the number of fatigued drivers caught. Another problem still being experienced is the number of truck drivers still drug driving. During the operation, police conducted 1,078 drug tests, and 13 drivers returned a positive result for drugs, most commonly methamphetamine. Read what the post on Fullyloaded.com.au reported on the 3 day sting:

Police in New South Wales have highlighted vehicle roadworthiness and driver behaviour as key concerns following the conclusion of a three-day operation targeting heavy vehicles. NSW Police and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) officers stopped 2,563 heavy vehicles as part of Operation South, which focused on the southern region of the State last week. Police and the RMS issued 178 defect notices, 250 traffic infringement notices, and laid 97 charges, which included fatigue offences. Out of 284 engine control module downloads, 52 were found to be non-compliant, which equates to 18 percent of all tested. “The biggest issues we came across involved the roadworthiness of vehicles. Brakes, as well as body and chassis issues, and issues with speed limiting engine control modules were among the most concerning,” NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Assistant Commissioner John Hartley says. “It was also disappointing to still see so many truck drivers speeding and failing to take adequate fatigue breaks. It’s a recipe for disaster and police will continue to target this dangerous behaviour on roads where it has been found to be particularly prevalent, such as the Newell Highway.” Hartley says more needs to be done by drivers and operators to improve general compliance with driver behaviour and vehicle maintenance. Read more: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1305/authorities-get-tough-on-trucking-in-southern-nsw

NSW Police have vowed to continue their quest to root out problems on our roads such as speeding, fatigue, drink and drug driving and load restraint offences during the on-going Operation Austrans.