Urgent need for trucking inquiry reinforced

More reports out today about dangerous practices in the trucking industry reinforce the urgent need for a select committee inquiry, says Labour’s Transport Safety spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway.

“Earlier in the week we heard about drug use amongst some truck drivers, while today we have been told that overloaded livestock trucks are rolling over with shocking regularity, maiming animals and endangering people’s lives.

“At the centre of unsafe trucking is the pressure placed on drivers to meet incredibly tight deadlines and to load their vehicles beyond their maximum capacity.

“That pressure comes from low wages and cut-price contracts. Drivers have to push themselves and their vehicles to the limit just to get by,” Iain Lees-Galloway said.

“Two years ago, Labour proposed an inquiry into unsafe trucking but that was blocked by National. The Government has taken no action since then to improve conditions for drivers and all the dangers that existed then remain today. National needs to pull its head out of the sand.

“Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges’ comments that there is nothing wrong with truck safety in New Zealand show just how out of touch this Government is.

“New Zealand drivers need safe rates of pay and better contracting methodology.”

“Labour will propose that the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee carries out a wide ranging inquiry into heavy vehicle safety and makes robust, tangible recommendations to the Government about how to improve safety for truck drivers and all road users,” Iain Lees-Galloway said.