Truckers putting safety first

ROAD SAFETY: Vehicle specialist Jeff Fleury in Gisborne earlier today. Picture by Paul Rickard

GISBOsborne trucking operations ground to a halt this morning as more than 200 truckies turned out to demonstrate their commitment to safety by attending a three-hour safety workshop.

Aimed at raising awareness of truck rollover and safety issues, as well as pointing out that trucks were not always in the wrong, the three-hour workshop and presentation organised by Eastland Wood Council, NZTA, the Road Transport Forum and Safer Journeys, was expected to attract about 120 people — but about 220 drivers from nine trucking and logging companies attended.

New Zealand Transport Agency vehicle specialist Jeff Fleury said the most important message for drivers to take away was that they were professionals, and had to act like it.

“That’s critical because they interact with people who are not professional or good drivers, but are in the same space. So they need to be professional and get home safety.

“They are out there all day and the number of hours worked puts them at risk.”

The combination of kilometres travelled and hours on the road meant they were statistically more likely to have an accident — but that did not mean they were bad drivers or that they were to blame for accidents.

The presentation included a focus on the relationship between speed and stopping distances. It also addressed the need for company managers to set realistic delivery times that took changeable road conditions into consideration, along with the importance of drivers wearing seat belts.

It was pointed out that depending on the cargo, a fully-loaded truck could still roll on a bend – even within a legal speed limit – depending on speed-to- weight cornering dynamics.

The workshop also heard that the quantity of logs going to Eastland Port was expected to almost double to 4 million tonnes a year by 2020, and that would equate to about 157,000 loads a year.

Mr Fleury was pleased with the “huge” turnout”.

“All local carriers are here and that shows the commitment from those carriers. There is a lot of money not being earned here this morning.

“Trucks are very important in the community and for the economy. Without trucks out doing what they do, we wouldn’t survive.”