The Transport Workers’ Union must immediately provide the police with the details of the industry clients it says are pressuring drivers to speed or drive while fatigued, the manager of ATA NSW, Jill Lewis, said.
ATA NSW is the member association for NSW trucking operators.
Ms Lewis was responding to a TWU survey showing that 27 per cent of truck drivers felt they had to drive too fast and nearly 40 per cent felt pressured to drive longer than legally allowed, with many saying the pressure came directly or indirectly from the client.
Ms Lewis said these clients were breaking the law, regardless of whether the pressure on drivers was direct or indirect.
“Under what is called the chain of responsibility, it is illegal for trucking operators or customers to pressure drivers to speed or drive while fatigued,” Ms Lewis said.
“In New South Wales, the maximum penalty for breaching these laws is $22,000 for every single time it occurs.
“The TWU claims the solution to this client pressure is for the government to set up an independent tribunal to set pay rates in the trucking industry.
“But there are already independent tribunals that do this: Fair Work Australia and the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission.
“The solution to this problem is for the police and enforcement agencies to prosecute the industry customers who act illegally.
“As a first step, the TWU must immediately provide the police with the details of the clients it says are pressuring drivers to speed or drive while fatigued.
“If the TWU fails to do this, it will confirm the TWU’s campaign is simply a bid for a pay rise under the guise of improving safety.”
Ms Lewis said the trucking industry had dramatically improved its safety.
“Despite the TWU’s claim the industry is in crisis, authoritative research from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research at the University of Adelaide shows the fatal accident rate for articulated vehicles has fallen 63 per cent since 1982.
“And police statistics show that most accidents between trucks and cars are caused by car drivers.
“Even one death on the roads is too many, and governments and the trucking industry must continue to push the accident rate down, including by enforcing the chain of responsibility laws.
“Instead of calling for more industrial relations red tape as if it’s a solution, the TWU needs to get behind the existing chain of responsibility laws,” Ms Lewis said.