Agency says compliance education preferred to prosecution
The New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) has provided an overview of its chain of responsibility (COR) investigations, revealing it conducted 121 probes in the 12 months to May 2019.
ATN’s request to RMS for information follows the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR’s) own recent insight into its investigation efforts.
NHVR does not have full enforcement jurisdiction in NSW yet, however, with the transition underway but not expected before June 30, 2020.
Read the NHVR’s commentary on its enforcement effort, here
“In addition to on-road enforcement including prosecuting operators where drivers breach rules, the Roads and Maritime Services Chain of Responsibility Investigation Team carried out 121 chain of responsibility investigations in the 12 months to May 2019,” an RMS spokesperson tells ATN.
“There were 94 related to fatigue, 12 for load restraint, two for dimension offences and 13 for speeding offences.”
While RMS stops short of detailing its lines of inquiry along the supply chain, the spokesperson adds: “Roads and Maritime Services’ Chain of Responsibility Investigation Team examines all relevant parties when considering alleged chain of responsibility offences.
“This can include the consignor, consignee, packer, loader and scheduler, drivers, owner-drivers and operators as well as directors, partners and managers.”
A recent high-profile case saw a company and its director receive a significant penalty for COR breaches after an RMS probe.
“In the first instance, Roads and Maritime prefers to educate parties in complying with the law,” the spokesperson says.
“This can include various means such as site visits, co-operative implementation of compliance strategies, and improvement notices but prosecutions are pursued where the severity of the incident warrants it.”