South Australian police recently set up on the Sturt Highway in Daveyston to conduct an operation to test for heavy vehicle roadworthiness.
They were helped by vehicle inspectors from the Department for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure and Barossa Local Service Area police and inspected 106 heavy vehicles that were selected randomly to take part in the vehicle safety inspections.
During the operation the police and the vehicle inspectors used the ROSAT which is an on the road safety audit trailer that is also known as “Shaker.”
ROSAT or Shaker is supported by most of the truck drivers on the road because it offers a high standard of checking suspension, brakes and steering of heavy vehicles, which in fact equals that of a vehicle inspection station that is well equipped for the task.
Barossa Local Service Area police representative Brevet Sergeant Bryan Dicker said that the majority of drivers that were stopped gave their full cooperation.
He said that some faults can be tough for the drivers and operators to locate and the ROSAT Shaker gives them the opportunity of having a free and professional inspection of all the key safety aspects of their vehicle.
Brevet Sergeant Bryan Dicker said that out of the 106 inspections that were carried out on the heavy vehicles a total of 32 failed the safety inspection and were given major defect notices that can only be cleared at a Vehicle Inspection Station.
Most of the defects that were identified were related to brakes and possible failure though with one vehicle the steering wheel case actually fell apart when it was examined.
In all one vehicle was grounded and the driver needed to have it towed from the area.
Police said that they were concerned about the number of defects that were found during the operation but mentioned that they have seen areas of improvement especially with the security of loads.
There will be a number of operations conducted in this area throughout the year.
Peter Cutforth is a Director at Urban E-Learning, a global elearning and web strategy firm based in George St Brisbane. Peter's interests extend to training, safety and compliance, online marketing, and Mobile Apps.
