Labour MP Will Act On Trucking Horror

Labour’s Transport Safety spokesperson Darien Fenton says she will be taking action over the horrific revelations in the Sunday Star Times today that truck drivers routinely fall asleep behind the wheel, drive up to 100 hours a week, don’t take any breaks and scrimp on maintenance.

“I’ve met with drivers and have heard these stories for some time now, and become increasingly concerned,” says Ms Fenton.

“Economic factors and the type of dependent contracting in the intensively competitive trucking industry create an incentive for truck drivers to drive fast, work long hours and scrimp on truck maintenance because of low rates of pay.

Darien Fenton says that accidents and injuries involving trucks are around one fifth of all road accidents in NZ and there is one death a week from crashes involving trucks. She says that drivers of trucks and other road users continue to be at risk, despite a raft of changes to safety requirements and chain of responsibility legislation.

“In addition, the majority of NZ truckers are owner-drivers (dependent contractors), and under New Zealand laws, they have no bargaining power against the large players in the supply chain. They are not covered by employment law, and in any dispute have to spend thousands of dollars in court defending their contracts.

Ms Fenton says she will this week ask the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee to conduct an enquiry into whether there is a link between safety in the road freight industry and rates of pay. She will also be developing a members’ bill to give owner-drivers more rights.

“In Australia, research has shown that for every 10% more that drivers earn in pay is associated with an 18.7% lower probability of crash, and for every 10% more paid days off the probability of driver crashes declines 6.3%”

“New Zealand’s truck drivers work hard. But they shouldn’t have to put their lives and those of other road users on the line to make a living,” she says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media