NSW warns execs about 'unrealistic' truckie deadlines

08/06/2012 - The NSW government has warned corporate Australia it plans to crack-down on executives who set unrealistic deadlines for truck drivers.

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There were 262 crashes caused by speeding trucks in NSW in 2010, including 11 fatalities and 179 injuries.

The 2011/12 figures are yet to be finalised but are said to be just as grim.

Drivers and their immediate employers were to blame for some of the crashes - with growing evidence of speed limiters being tampered with so trucks can be driven faster.

But NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay said boardroom executives who set unrealistic delivery targets also bore responsibility.

"We're going up the supply chain," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"So if you're sitting in your boardroom and you're setting these sort of schedules that put lives in danger, think again.

"We'll be coming after you just as much as the bloke behind the wheel."

Gay was speaking at a trucking industry forum convened to address speeding.

Police Minister Mike Gallacher, a former highway patrol officer, likened the problem of speed limiter tampering to drink-driving.

"What is needed is a change in culture so that speed limiter tampering becomes totally unacceptable," he told the forum.

"Drink-driving is now seen as socially unacceptable by the majority of the NSW community.

"But there was a time when that was not the case. We want to achieve the same change in attitude with speed limiter tampering and heavy vehicle speeding."

Assistant Police Commissioner John Hartley said 4100 people are injured in speed-related crashes every year in NSW.

A disproportionate number were caused by trucks or heavy vehicles, he added.

Source: AAP

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