The problem of truck rollovers has gotten quite bad in Melbourne, resulting in the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) calling for industry and government to work together to prevent similar incidents in the future. Sadly truck rollovers are a problem affecting not only the trucking industry but everyone on the road in Melbourne because truck rollovers seldom affect just the truckie. They usually claim innocent road users’ lives and cause massive traffic backlogs on Melbourne’s busiest road ways. According to reports truck rollovers make up 28 per cent of the nearly 325 heavy vehicle incidents which have occurred between February 2012 and June this year. Now the VTA and it’s CEO Neil Chambers have called for more to be done to combat this growing problem on our roads following 3 truck rollovers occurring in the past 24 hours. Chambers expressed his concern and frustration that these incidents keep happening and so close together. According to a post on Fullyloaded.com.au he went on to state: “We have the technology and the information on how to avoid these situations, so we all have to ask ourselves what more we need to do to eliminate these incidents,” Chambers says. “We need to continue to work diligently to make truck rollovers a thing of the past. This includes transport operators, equipment suppliers, governments and indeed drivers themselves.” Chambers has put particular focus on driver behaviour, saying it can be a key measure to preventing rollovers. “Know your vehicle, know the dynamics of your load and drive to the prevailing conditions – these are messages we must reinforce,” he says. Chambers has cited the significant cost of truck rollovers, from the loss of life to damage to vehicles, property and goods. “Not to mention the cost on business and the community when the incidents cause roads to be blocked off and closed for hours, resulting in detours and congestion,” he says. Read more at: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1307/industry-must-make-rollovers-a-thing-of-the-past-vta. The VTA and VicRoads joined forces to implement a program called The Heavy Vehicle Rollover Prevention Program, which aims to provide organisations with information to successfully run their own training and awareness campaigns including presentations for staff. This program incorporates a code of behaviour for companies and drivers as well as information for road builders and designers to help with making transport infrastructure less conducive to truck rollovers. This issue is particularly relevant as we approach Freight Week in September. According to Chambers this is the perfect opportunity to address the issues relating to truck rollovers in Melbourne as well as discuss roll stability systems (RSS) – systems designed to monitor a truck’s stability when it comes close to the conditions that may result in a rollover. At The Freight Week, operators will be able to view a roll stability stimulator on show and consider implementing it in their vehicles. Chambers went on to explain: “I strongly urge any companies who have questions about safety and preventing rollovers to register to attend Freight Week,” Chambers says. “Come and find out how some companies have reduced their rollover incidence to near zero through the use of RSS systems and coordinated education campaigns.” Read more: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1307/industry-must-make-rollovers-a-thing-of-the-past-vta.