Examples of court orders made in respect of HVNL offences.
South Australia
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14 November 2018 Port Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Company/owner |
An Adelaide based trucking company was prosecuted for two offences against s 229 of the HVNL (pre 1 October 2018 offending). An investigation into the company was commenced after one of its drivers was involved in a collision. The trucks operated by the company were fitted with GPS and GPS data was readily available to the company. The company failed to access the GPS data or cross-check GPS records with drivers’ work diaries. Had the company accessed the GPS data it would have been alerted to indications that two drivers were committing extreme breaches of the fatigue regulations of the HVNL. Section 229 does not require proof that a driver was in fact driving fatigued – it is simply a failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that a person does not drive on the road while impaired by fatigue. Thus in failing to cross-check GPS with work diaries for these two drivers – which would have been a reasonable step – the company committed two offences against s 229 of the HVNL. As the defendant was a company, the operation of s 596 meant that the maximum penalty for each of the two offences was $55,000 dollars (5 times the $11,000 maximum penalty for an s 229 offence). The Magistrate reduced the proposed a fine of $36,000 by 40% in recognition of the pleas of guilty on the first occasion the matter was in Court. This resulted in a global fine of $21,600 plus victims of crime levies and prosecutors fees. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Conviction recorded |
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4 September 2018 Ceduna Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
A solo heavy vehicle driver was charged with one count of driving while fatigued. He had been observed driving on the wrong side of the road at various times over about a 10 minute period. His licence was disqualified as he posed a significant public risk. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Licence disqualified for 3 months. |
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3 December 2018 Ceduna Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
A solo driver operating under standard hours breached work and rest hours requirements by driving for 13 hours in a 24 hour period (substantial risk) and for resting only for 4.50 hours in a 24 hour period. (critical risk) When being previously convicted of similar offences he had been warned that further offending would result in licence disqualification. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Licence disqualified for 9 months. |
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30 January 2019 Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
A NSW licensed driver made false entries in his work diary, stating that he had been resting at a time when in fact he had been driving, loading or refuelling a vehicle. The driver had one prior similar offence from 2017 when he was fined $900. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Conviction recorded |
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30 January 2019 Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Operator |
The company arranged for a drop deck trailer to be attached to its prime mover and gave instructions about how to load the trailer. There were no weighing devices on the trailer and the load exceeded the legal limit – of 20 tonnes – by almost 6 tonnes. The company had no prior relevant convictions. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Conviction recorded |
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5 March 2019 Port Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
The Defendant was an employee driver with four previous convictions for critical breaches of work and rest hours. He committed Counts 1 to 3 in a two month period and committed Count 4 shortly afterwards. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Conviction recorded for all counts |
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5 March 2019 Port Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
The solo driver of a prime mover operating under BFM hours rested for less than the minimum 7 hours of continuous rest time in a 24 hr period. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Convictions recorded |
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5 March 2019 Port Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
The solo driver of a prime mover rested for less than the minimum 7 hours of continuous rest time in a 24 hr period and worked for more than the maximum period of 12 hours stated in the standard hours in a 24 hour period.
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Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Convictions recorded for all counts |
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5 March 2019 Adelaide Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
In a 7 day period, a solo driver had not taken the required 24 hr continuous rest break, but had only taken 21 hrs and 45 minutes. In a 24 hr period, the driver had exceeded the permitted maximum of 12 hours, working for 13 hours and 45 minutes. The driver had previously been convicted of a loading offence but not of any fatigue offences. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Convictions recorded |
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27 May 2019 Port Pirie Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Company |
An SA based company was transporting a tractor excavator combination on the back of a low loader trailer in a manner that did not comply with the Load Restraint Guide. The load was observed shifting and moving forward on the deck of the low loader as the vehicle braked. The company was charged with a permit offence in accordance with s 111 HVNL and it was a severe risk breach in accordance with s 114. The company pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity and was given a 40% discount for their early guilty plea. The company was fined $10,000.00 plus fees and levy. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Conviction recorded |
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29 January 2020 Berri Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
The defendant was charged with 3 counts of making a false or misleading statement as to work and rest hours in a National Work Diary over a period of 3 weeks. The defendant had 3 prior convictions for similar offending in 2016 and early 2017. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
Other Orders: Convictions recorded on all counts |
Victoria
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19th September 2019 Horsham Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Company |
A company on 2 occasions was observed travelling as a class 1 heavy vehicle along the highway, routine inspection of the combinations indicated that the vehicles, after checking with their mass and dimension exemption permit, were operating outside the conditions of their mass and dimension exemption permit. It was also found that the class 1 heavy vehicles were over length (on both occasions) and over height. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
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19th September 2019 Horsham Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
Driver intercepted in a heavy vehicle with observation that the vehicle may be overloaded and also observed no load restraint covering the load of soil, which was loaded over the waterline. Heavy vehicle was weighed on portable weighing devices and found to be loaded at 121% of it mass, thus a severe risk mass breach. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
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Queensland
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13 May 2019 Southport Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Director |
The steer axle of a heavy vehicle was loaded at 120% of the applicable mass limit and the drive axle was loaded at 118% of the limit. The director of the company was not aware of the mass limits that applied to the vehicle. The loading machinery used by the company had no weighing equipment attached. There was no formal training or induction process for new drivers. The company was charged and convicted under (repealed) extended liability provisions. |
Section/Act:
(Pre 01/10/2018 offences) Fine:
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26 April 2019 Townsville Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
A prime mover was towing a trailer carrying a Hitachi wheel loader, empty pallets and tyres. A tyre fell from the trailer and crossed the road in front of an oncoming passenger bus. The prime mover had a tyre missing from the front axle and a split tyre on another axle. The vehicle’s windscreen was cracked, the rocker box and leaf springs needed maintenance, hydraulic fluid was leaking and there were worn brakes on the trailer. The mass on the tri-axle group was 26.7t which was 133% of the permitted mass limit (a severe risk breach). The vehicle did not have an “Oversize” sign. Inspection of the driver’s work diary revealed several occasions where the driver had exceeded maximum work hours or did not rest for the required minimum rest period as well as numerous instances where information was required to be recorded but had been omitted. |
Section/Act:
Fine:
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15 April 2019 Cleveland Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Driver |
When inspected, the driver’s work diary showed that the driver had worked for 17½ hrs in a 24 hr period which is 5½ hrs more than the maximum (a critical risk breach). In the same period, the driver had only had 4¼hrs of continuous stationary rest, not the required period of 7 hrs (a critical risk breach). |
Section/Act:
Fine:
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13 December 2018 Toowoomba Magistrates Court Party in CoR: Company |
A heavy vehicle combination transporting a scraper was the subject of a permit however the mass limit of the permit was breached and the vehicle was assessed at general mass limits. The mass on the quad axle group (dual tyres) of the trailer was 205% of the maximum mass limit (a severe risk breach). The mass on the tandem axle group of the trailer (dual tyres) was 114% of the maximum permitted mass (a substantial risk breach). |
Section/Act:
(Pre 01/10/2018 offence) October 18) Fine:
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