Thread: Police target truckies in Australia wide blitz

Originally Posted by Wraithe

I would not believe a word of that article... The statistics are all over the place...

how about news from the police themselves?

https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-poli...s#.Wh5DS0qWZag

During a nationwide blitz on the heavy transport industry, South Australia Police pulled over hundreds of truck drivers yesterday (Monday 27 November) to conduct random screenings and checks.

Of the 527 drivers who were required to undergo drug screening tests, 17 returned positive readings – 15 of which were positive for Methylamphetamine. One of those drivers also tested positive for THC (cannabis), while two others tested positive for THC alone.
“These are professional drivers who not only have a responsibility to themselves and their families, but to their employer, other road users and the community in general to do the right thing,” Inspector Ben Spencer, from the SAPOL Traffic Support Branch, said.
“They are certainly all old enough to know better with a dozen of them aged 40 or older – old enough to have children using the same roads they are driving on.
“Drugs have an impairing impact on physical and cognitive functioning, therefore impairing their ability behind the wheel, the awareness of their surroundings and influencing decision making and risk taking.
“There has been a lot of positive work done in the industry to reduce drug driving and the majority of heavy vehicle operators are doing the right thing.
“However, there are still rogue companies that are doing little to change this – and this must change.
“Heavy vehicle drivers who use drugs to combat fatigue threaten the safety of all other road users.”
Yesterday’s blitz, which is part of Operation Austrans, also saw police issue 70 expiations notices, 42 defect notices and report 10 drivers for a range of offences.
Operation Austrans, which is a compliance and enforcement operation, is a nationally co-ordinated road safety strategy focused on heavy vehicles. It has been conducted annually since 1989.
For the first time this year’s operation has been conducted in two phases, with a total of 4449 vehicles pulled over in the first two weeks (from March 20 to April 1).
From those, 34 drivers returned a positive drug swab, two were detected drink driving and nearly 2000 were arrested, reported or issued with an expiation notice for a range of offences.
SA Police also issued 774 cautions for a range of offences ranging from insufficient load restraint to diary or defect issues.
“Through targeted policing we aim to improve safety in the heavy vehicle industry and reduce opportunities for illegal activity,” said Inspector Spencer.
“We use a wide range of police resources to target major arterial routes across the state, as well as working with partner agencies such as the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) and Safe Work SA.
“Driver fatigue in the heavy vehicle industry is a major road safety concern.
“While most heavy vehicle operators are doing the right thing, a number of operators aren’t and it is those operators that Operation Austrans targets.”

Originally Posted by Eevo

sounds just like WA

ha, i actually drive a fire truck and we were talking today about that. in the last 4-6 weeks we've had 2 or 3 vehicles taken off duty due to rust in the chassis.

Considering the amount of water mixed with chems to assist with fire control, then a little rust in the chassis is not abnormal...

Any vehicle with double or triple rails will have rust between the rails after working... These rails have to have give, thus steel rubbing against steel will allow moisture and air to promote corrosion...

But remember, just because there is rust, it dont mean it has weakened in any way... I have yet to find a vehicle with multiple rails, that has enough rust to stop it working... In fact the ones I have split and repaint had more problems in wear and tear plus cracks around the rivets, which was the main reason for splitting them...

If chassis rails have that much rust that they are weakened, then you will probably find they are either paddock trucks or museum pieces, sitting around rusting away...

As for fire trucks, you would have to have some pretty old gear to have enough corrosion in the chassis to make it unsafe to use...

Most things I find wrong with my vehicles, the police would never spot... If I find a problem that is a safety risk, I wont drive the vehicle until I have repaired it... 1 clearance light with a broken globe is the biggest load of bull used to put a unroadworthy sticker on.(to be honest, you could have double the lights on a vehicle, all working and you will still have some mug run into you and say "I didnt see the truck".. Thats what was told to me by an idiot that over 6 vehicles(including police car) and ran into my trailer, cop called my truck a christmas tree on wheels).. If a light isnt working, then give someone time to fix it.. Most of the time, they break when driving and you dont see them..