Industry downplays NZTA alert

The New Zealand Transport Agency has written to the owners of 1800 heavy vehicles requiring their towing connections to be assessed by a specialist so new certifications can be issued.

The action follows safety alerts issued by the government agency after three incidents of cracking in truck trailers or trailer connections.

But the freight industry appears to be downplaying the problem, possibly because many trucks are owned by drivers who work for the large firms.

One of the country’s biggest freight firms, Freightways, would not comment, although Road Transport Association chief executive Dennis Robertson said the likely cost could be an issue.

The safety alert was the first step in identifying and re-certifying all potentially affected vehicles that have had towing connections certified by Nelson-based Peter Wastney Engineering over the past 10 years.

Independent engineering reviews had established that drawbeams and drawbars identified with cracks and other issues were not adequately designed for the loads to which they had been certified.

The safety alert requires all drawbeams, towbars or drawbars certified by Peter Wastney Engineering to urgently be inspected for signs of failure.

In one incident in Nelson-Marlborough last August, a trailer completely disconnected from the truck towing it. ‘‘The trailer failed,’’ NZTA spokesman Craig Basher told Radio New Zealand. ‘‘It travelled alongside the road. It crashed into a bank and stopped.’’

Any incident had the potential to kill someone, he said.