Truckies heed call to go slow
The number of breakneck truckies scorning speed limits to make their runs on time and putting lives at risk on Hutt Valley roads is dropping.
More than 1680 speeding offences by truckies have been logged since 2010.
Figures released to Upper Hutt Leader by NZ Police under the Official Information Act showed annual figures were falling, from 573 in 2010 to 382 in 2013.
Trucking industry representatives point to better driver-monitoring technology, company health and safety policies, and the introduction of the New Zealand Transport Authority’s Operator Rating System in 2010.
Road Transport Forum chief executive officer Ken Shirley was pleased by the figures, particularly as the number of trucks on the roads was increasing.
‘‘We’re doing a lot of work to keep driving that down.
‘‘But we can’t be complacent. It’s the sort of thing we’ve got to constantly pay attention to.’’
The OPS had provided a strong incentive for companies to follow the rules when it came to driver-speed, maximum loads and driving hours.
Under the system, the NZTA collected relevant safety information to collate an overall rating.
The information is collected from three types of safety-related events over a 24-month period including certificate of fitness inspections, roadside inspections, and relevant traffic offences and infringements.
Police and the NZTA used it to identify potentially higher- risk operators for further investigation and assistance to improve their safety practices, and used for auditing and targeting purposes.
Trucks are over-represented in the country’s fatal crash statistics, though their drivers are only responsible for about 30 per cent of the crashes they are involved in, Shirley said.
Some of this can be put down to long hours on the road and straight physics: a half-tonne car might not come out best after colliding with a 50-tonne truck, he said.
Crashes caused by truckers are usually due to driver fatigue and inattention, not mechanics.
Transport manager Craig Harris, from Wingate-based trucking company LG Anderson, said his personal view was that companies were placing stronger emphasis on health and safety policies, which contributed to the dropping figures with ORS.
Policies included safer driver training for reducing fuel burn through correct driving techniques and correct driving speeds; driver incentive rewards schemes based around speed reports among others; and companies wanting to promote professional driver attitudes amongst the general public.
Companies had access to improved technology such as speed alerts and tracking via GPS to managers, incab cameras, and engine technology limiting vehicles to the maximum highway speed of 90 kmph.