Police warn industry another coordinated blitz will be on the cards if more rogue trucking operations are detected
By Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | February 23, 2012
The ongoing police investigation into Lennons Transport Services should act as a wake-up call for the transport industry, NSW Police Inspector Phillip Brooks says.
He says companies need to learn from Lennon’s case, adding that police and the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) will assist in educating the industry in addressing such problems.
“Our investigations are centring on the events at hand and certainly if other incidents occur or if there is other evidence suggesting similar practices, the police and the RMS investigators will get together in a coordinated response to such events in the future,” Brooks says.
Police claim the speed limiters on six of Lennons’ 35 trucks have been tampered with, while inspectors also claim to have uncovered falsified log book entries.
Vehicles on the road have also been stopped and checked over, along with trucks which have been abandoned in NSW and Victoria.
The driver who fled the truck in Victoria threw his work diary in a bin. Police have seized the document as evidence. The driver has no come forward to assist the police investigation.
Brooks says Lennons Managing Director Tony Lennon has assisted the police with their inquiries.
“The Roads and Maritime Services spoke to him about a range of matters yesterday and no doubt they’ll be talking to him in the future,” he says.
“This is a unique partnership between the RMS and the police – should there be similar events in the future a similar coordinated effort will be engaged and employed accordingly,” he says.
“The transport industry is probably well aware of what the police and RMS’s capabilities are. On this occasion we have certainly exercised our powers under the road transport legislation in conjunction with the triple-fatality investigation.”
Lennons driver Vincent George, 33, has been charged over the crash, which occurred on the Hume Highway at Menangle.
Victoria Police transport liaison officer Neville Taylor says the investigation is a start of a broader chain of responsibility investigation.
“It demonstrates the whole aspect of chain of responsibility investigation. If there is intelligence around breaches of offences by companies then certainly the message is there that the enforcement agencies will investigate those and then take appropriate action if necessary,” Taylor says.