High praise for The Good Soil after authorities inspect fleet after tunnel strike.
Trucks belonging to a landscape supplier involved in a tunnel bridge strike in Sydney earlier this year passed inspection with an almost perfect record and returned to work immediately.
New South Wales Police and the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) scrutinised The Good Soil’s fleet after one of its tippers hit the roof of the Eastern Distributor tunnel on January 30.
Despite authorities indicating major issues relating to brakes, steering and transmission were detected in the company’s fleet, only minor faults made up the 12 penalty notices The Good Soil received.
The faults included a frayed seatbelt, a pinhole in an airline, a poorly lit light on a numberplate, a damaged bumper, a leak in a transmission seal and a missing mudflap.
“The RMS made comment to us it was one of the best fleets they ever inspected,” The Good Soil Business Development Manager Anthony Penna says, adding that the company did not receive any fines.
“None of the trucks were grounded, they all went back to work straight from the inspection station and any of the minor defects were fixed that night.”
The truck involved in the tunnel incident was grounded due to the damage it sustained.
Penna says The Good Soil volunteered its fleet for inspection a day after the accident and cooperated fully with the RMS and NSW Police, even telling both agencies they were welcome to inspect the company’s records if they wished.
“At the end of the day, we worked very closely with them. Whatever information anybody wanted, whoever wanted it could have it. We wanted to show we were not here to hide anything,” Penna says.
The Good Soil also reached out to the media to explain what was happening, a move Penna believes may have helped gain public support.
“One thing I will say is we have had a lot of support from suppliers, a lot of support from customers. More importantly we have had a lot of support from the general public that don’t even buy off us,” he says.
Some of the company’s drivers received fines after the fleet was inspected, including one driver who was fined $109 for a numberplate light not being bright enough. Penna says the Good Soil paid the fines on the behalf of the drivers.
The Good Soil has not received formal notification that the RMS and NSW Police have finished investigating the company, but Penna considers the matter is over.
“There were no major defects at all, the company didn’t get fined at all, nothing was grounded,” he says.
“The Good Soil trucks have a clean bill of health.”