More than 2,500 trucks were inspected across Australia’s busiest ports during a national safety operation led by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), with mechanical and mass non-compliance flagged as the top concerns.
Operation Quay ran from July 21 to August 17 at key port precincts including Port Botany, the Port of Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Bell Bay. The month-long effort was designed to ensure vehicles moving freight in and out of container terminals met all obligations under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
NHVR Chief Operations Officer Paul Salvati says the findings highlight the importance of maintaining safety standards in high-pressure port environments.
“Over the course of the month-long operation, our Safety and Compliance Officers inspected 2,566 heavy vehicles, issuing 905 notices as a result,” Salvati says.
“Unfortunately, this is 905 times where some form of non-compliance was found during an intercept – each representing a preventable issue, and a potential risk to the safety of the driver and the wider community.”
Mechanical issues were the most common defect, with hundreds of notices issued for faulty lights, reflectors or brakes. Of these, 43 were classified as major breaches and 662 as minor. Mass compliance was another significant concern, with 65 breaches detected, including 18 considered severe or substantial.
“Non-compliance with mass limits has the potential to result in the damage of critical infrastructure and compromise a vehicle’s braking ability, meaning these breaches could have ended in disaster had our SCOs not intervened,” Salvati says.
The operation also confirmed that vehicles transporting shipping containers face greater risks than general freight carriers. Salvati says the NHVR will continue to work closely with police to maintain vigilance.
“Ports are high-pressure environments where safety simply cannot take a back seat – the consequences can be severe, and the last thing we want to see are more families, friends and loved ones impacted by road trauma,” Salvati says.
“The majority of drivers and operators do the right thing, and we thank them for their commitment to safety, but for those who aren’t, we’ll continue to take action – because no load is worth a life.”