Newsletter No. 26
JANUARY 2005
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NSW law takes some pressure off truckies The New South Wales government is passing a law to make trucking companies responsible if their drivers are caught speeding. Point to point cameras will figure if drivers have made legally impossible times and automatically deliver fines. Trucks doing more than 115km/hour will be deemed to have faulty speed limiters and the new law will hold the truck owner responsible. Transport Minister Scully, announcing the new law, said “People who put pressure on those drivers to do the wrong thing must bear the consequences of their actions.” The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) welcomed the move, but said it did not go far enough. It failed to target customers, who demanded unachievable delivery times (‘Owners to be liable for speeding trucks’ SMH 26.10.04). Owner operators are also vulnerable, as customers can directly pressure them and they will still be fully liable for their actions. The TWU has campaigned to get NSW roads recognized as a workplace for the 60,000 transport workers who use them, so accidents and fatalities involving transport workers can be treated as a work matter, as much as a matter of road and traffic conditions. The TWU wants Workcover to investigate transport worker fatalities. Tony Sheldon, NSW TWU state secretary claims transport workers have never worked harder, been under more pressure or faced so many impossible demands from operators and clients (in many cases large corporations). Drivers, forced to work unreasonable hours, take drugs to complete their work and suffer from chronic fatigue through the continual demands put on them (Truck Fatality: Clients Must be Investigated http://www.twu.com.au/ 2.9.04). The TWU wants Workcover to investigate the commercial pressures from transport industry clients who “force drivers over the edge” with their demands to move freight in impossible deadlines at the cheapest possible price. TWU wants the NSW government to implement chain of responsibility provisions to make clients accountable (TWU Walk On Workcover http://www.twu.com.au/ 9.9.04) |