Griffith-based trucking company formerly known as Territory Transport fined over on-the-job death of driver Gregory Edwards

Gregory Edwards, a truck driver with more than two decades of experience, was employed by the company formerly known as Territory Transport Pty Ltd when he was killed as he prepared to unload in Sydney in 2019.

A SafeWork investigation led to the company being charged with failing to comply with health and safety, exposing Mr Edwards to a risk of death or serious injury.

Raymond Monteleone - the sole director of Territory Transport, which operated interstate freight with a depot in Hanwood - pleaded guilty on behalf of the company in July, telling the authority it had ceased trading and he is no longer running a business in the transport industry.

In other days

Mr Monteleone did not appear at sentencing proceedings in the Downing Centre District Court this week, citing an inability "to relive this horrible tragedy".

In the days leading up to his death, Mr Edwards drove a prime mover towing a trailer from Darwin to Adelaide, and then to the Hanwood depot, arriving on the morning of November 5, 2019. His partner travelled with Mr Edwards on the journey.

Two vehicles were loaded onto a different truck and trailer at the depot before Mr Edwards departed in it.

Upon arrival at Ingleburn, Mr Edwards released a safety chain from the passenger side ramp as he readied to unload the truck. The ramp then fell as he walked underneath it, fatally pinning him.

His partner and a tow truck driver, who was there to collect the cars, tried in vain to lift the heavy ramp, but Mr Edwards died at the scene.

Examinations later revealed an oil leak in the hydraulic hoses servicing the driver's side ramp, with an expert police officer concluding the system had been leaking for some time and eventually led to its failure.

SafeWork found no visual inspection or testing of the hydraulics was carried out when the cars were loaded, nor did the company have a documented system requiring drivers to do daily checks.

In sentencing, District Court judge Andrew Scotting said "a simple visual check of the trailer" would have identified the leak.

"The steps that could have been taken were relatively simple and inexpensive," he said.

In a letter to the court, Mr Monteleone described Mr Edwards as not only an employee but also "a very close friend".

"His accident was something I will need to live with for the rest of my life, not a day goes by that I don't think of him," he said.

After a discount afforded by an early guilty plea, Territory Transport was fined $360,000 plus prosecution costs of $65,000.

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