A SERIOUSLY-DEFECTED truck carrying a load of live barramundi was pulled over at Holbrook this week as part of a three-day heavy-vehicle operation.
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Operation Siritis - run by the Joint Heavy Vehicle Taskforce - targeted heavy vehicles not complying with road-transport legislation, along with unsafe and illegal driver behaviour.
Between 6am on Tuesday and 10pm Thursday, police and Roads and Maritime Service officers inspected 771 trucks and trailers at sites in Marulan, Holbrook and West Wyalong.
At Holbrook on Wednesday, police pulled over a refrigerated truck and questioned the driver, who told them he was carrying a load of live barramundi.
The fish, which were contained in six tanks in the back of the truck, were bound for restaurants in Sydney.
It is not known how many fish were in the truck.
“Upon closer inspection, officers found the trailer to have significant rust throughout, which could have given way at any time - causing danger not only to the driver of the truck, but also to other road users following nearby,” NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said.
“Trucks carrying significant loads that are not securely restrained is a serious issue for the industry overall.
“Joint Heavy Vehicle Taskforce officers shouldn't have to be the ones who are securing loads on trucks that have left major distribution centres throughout Australia."
The truck driver, a 42-year-old Bossley Park man, was issued with two traffic infringement notices for the offences of allow liquid to fall to roadway and use unsafe/unserviceable vehicle.
He also received a defect notice.
Over the course of the operation, 227 defect notices were written for various vehicle faults.
Of these, 205 were for minor defects; 18 for major defects; and four trucks were grounded.
Equipment deemed to be defective during the inspections included brakes, suspension, tyres, lights and oil/fuel lines.
Drivers were also given a total of 378 infringements and 239 field court attendance notices for issues relating to load restraint, fatigue, work diary, licence and registration.
Despite more than 700 trucks and trailers being inspected during the operations, many more drivers were stopped for random drug and alcohol testing.
Police conducted 1036 random drug tests across the three days, resulting in 16 positive results.
Of the 1733 random breath tests, there were no positive results.
Assistant Commissioner Hartley said a major issue identified by Operation Siritis was non-compliant speed limiters.
Of the 211 devices tested, 29 were found to have been tampered with to allow the vehicles to travel at speeds higher than the legal limit of 100km/h.
“It’s extremely concerning that there is continued tampering with speed limiters – a practice that is both dangerous and illegal," he said.
“In one case detected during this operation, a driver was not only in a truck with a non-compliant speed limiter, he also tested positive to driving under the influence of drugs,” he said.
ROADS and Maritime Services director of safety and compliance, Peter Wells, said non-compliant operators would be further assessed to determine if bulk inspections of national fleets were required and to ensure off road parties are meeting their responsibilities under the chain of responsibility.
“Having one truck on the road risking the safety of innocent road users is unacceptable but if we find ongoing issues the companies involved will be targeted,” Mr Wells said.
“The rogue 10 per cent of heavy vehicle drivers and operators who ignore the law continue to give the wider industry a bad name and this will not be tolerated.
“The Joint Heavy Vehicle Task force is calling for operators to commit to their legal responsibility to ensure fleets are safe, compliant and no risk to other road users.
“We will continue to take trucks off the road and penalise drivers."