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Queensland trucking company has been fined $60,000 after pleading guilty to two charges of breaching their primary duty of ensuring safety under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
NHVR Executive Director Statutory Compliance Ray Hassall said the fine was issued following an investigation and prosecution by Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads.
“This was a very serious breach of the duty to ensure safety and is the first prosecution in Queensland under the changed Chain of Responsibility legislation introduced in late 2018,” Mr Hassall said.
“The charges stem from a call to the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Confidential Reporting Line, which resulted in an investigation.
“The investigation found that two drivers had been employed by the company to undertake interstate driving between Queensland and New South Wales.
“During the period they were employed, the drivers breached their fatigue hours 22 times and 14 times respectively in trucks that were fitted with GPS tracking equipment.
“It was clear that the company failed to do everything reasonably practicable to prevent these breaches.
“Steps they failed to take included not scheduling journeys to ensure that they could comply with the fatigue regulations of the HVNL, and not monitoring the GPS data from the trucks to ensure the drivers were complying with their fatigue requirements.”
The two drivers were also convicted and fined $14,000 and $6,000 respectively for the fatigue breaches.
Mr Hassall said drivers can’t perform their jobs safely and to the best of their ability when they’re fatigued.
“Heavy vehicle safety is everyone’s responsibility. Whether you’re a depot manager, a driver, working in a distribution centres, scheduling or a managing director, you have an obligation to do your best to keep our roads safe,” he said.
“If you are asked to do something you know is not safe, you can make a free confidential report to the Heavy Vehicle Confidential Reporting Line on 1800 931 785.”