Operation Logan was recently conducted by police and RMS in New South Wales and once again the issue of drugs in the trucking industry has reared its’ ugly head. Police reported seizing used syringes and a drug suspected to be amphetamine during their inspection of a truck and its driver during the operation in the state’s north on Tuesday last week. The incident which happened during Operation Logan, was part of a 3 day heavy vehicle compliance operation in regional NSW by state police as well as RMS. The operation was conducted on major highways in northern NSW and around 7:45pm on Tuesday 1 April, a truck driver was stopped and his vehicle inspected at Glencoe. Police discovered that 46 year old male driver was negative for alcohol but a drug test revealed a positive result. Following the positive result from the drug test, police searched the vehicle and found a number of used syringes. Upon searching the man’s belongings police found resealable bags of a drug, believed to be amphetamine in the driver’s wallet. He was immediately issued with a notice prohibiting him from driving for the following 24 hours. The driver is expected to be charged following the analysis of the drugs found. He has also been issued with a defect notice because of faulty vehicle brakes. In addition to these charges, the man was also charged for not being in possession of a mandatory work diary. During Operation Logan a number of breathalyser and drug tests have been issued and what has become clear is that truckies seem to be using illicit drugs more than alcohol. This may be as a means of stimulating  themselves to stay awake and fight fatigue so that they can drive longer distances without rest and break fatigue laws, whereas alcohol is a relaxant which would have the opposite effect. According to Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith, the operation revealed the issues that are particularly concerning for police,

“Despite recent efforts by the Joint Heavy Vehicle Taskforce, trucks continue to be identified for speed tampering,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Smith said.“With speed being the major contributing factor in fatal crashes in NSW, this is irresponsible behaviour by those drivers.” “We will now work with Roads and Maritime Services in auditing the fleets involved, to see if speeding is an issue for those companies, whereupon their fleets may be further inspected or even grounded.” “In the event of a crash, Chain of Responsibility laws in NSW cover all aspects of the logistics chain, and all parties become responsible,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Smith said. Source: https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/

RMS also reiterated its commitment to stamping out dangerous and irresponsible practices on our roads. Although most operators are doing the right thing when it comes to chain of responsibility compliance, there are some who are still engaging in dangerous practices and these operators will be caught and dealt with.