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Almost one in five trucks stopped as part of a police operation in Northland was found to be unfit to drive.
In the first three days of the operation, 96 of the 534 stopped trucks failed their inspections, roughly 18 percent of all trucks.
The operation, conducted in partnership with Worksafe, was in response to more than 800 container trucks transporting Christmas cargo to Auckland after a container ship was unloaded at Northport to avoid waiting weeks to enter Auckland’s congested ports.
Denise Piper / Things
Up to 800 container trucks have headed to Auckland after a container ship docked in Northport to avoid delays in the city.
Sergeant Major Mike Flatt, leader of the commercial vehicle safety team, said police were disappointed by the results of the vehicle searches.
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“Most concerning is that 11 trucks were found to have serious failures and were deemed non-operational and had to be removed from the road,” Flatt said.
“These vehicles posed a considerable risk to other motorists and should never have been allowed on the road.”
The biggest problem police found was related to light failures, but Flatt said there were also a large number of tire and brake related failures, which was cause for concern.
Flatt said police were warning trucking companies and drivers of the importance of checking that their vehicles were up to par.
“Trucking companies have a duty of responsibility to all drivers to ensure their vehicles are safe and do not put their drivers or other members of the public at risk.”
As a result of the first three days of the operation, 81 infringement notices were issued and 21 written warnings were issued.
The road safety operation would continue through the weeks as more containers are transported.
“We will continue to conduct these inspections and take action when trucks are deemed unsafe on our roads.”
