Collaborative effort addresses critical safety concerns for heavy vehicles

A coordinated operation conducted last month by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), South Australia (SA) Police, the Australian Border Force (ABF), and SafeWork SA identified numerous serious safety issues, including malfunctioning brakes, steering difficulties, and the mistreatment of migrant workers.

Paul Salvati, the Chief Operations Officer of NHVR, said over 50% of heavy vehicles inspected during Operation Vigilant were deemed non-compliant, with offences that included both minor self-clearing defects and serious violations.

“NHVR Safety and Compliance Officers (SCOs) conducted 75 targeted intercepts over the course of the two days, checking for compliance with the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), including mass and dimension, load restraint and driver fatigue,” Mr Salvati said.

“Unfortunately, there were 38 defect notices issued throughout the operation, three of which were classified as major, with the most prevalent offences being mechanical defects such as faulty brakes, and issues with steering and suspension, and wheels, tyres and hubs.”

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