As we all know, we are supposed to cover or secure our loads when going to the waste management facility but it would appear that many of us are failing to do the right thing when it comes to transportation of goods. This is a problem particularly when in NSW, especially at the moment, Police are cracking down on tradies.
Having spent time travelling around whilst working in our Brisbane office that tradies all have tarps or nets covering their loads, so must be policed heavily in Queensland for some time.
In the last few weeks several pest managers have informed us that when they were pulled over for a random breath test, their ute trays were checked and they were issued with fines for any item that was not secured.
One customer was fined for a bucket of dust which was sitting between toolboxes and behind the spray rig set up. The bucket of dust, while it would not have slid out of the tray, the police officer said it could bounce out if a large bump was hit or if the vehicle was involved in an accident.
After talking to other tradies who use utes, it would appear to be that this has become a common fine being issued.
A visit to the local police station to ask if tradies were being targeted for unsecured loads, this is what the police officer had to say ‘there is no directive to target anybody in regards to unsecured loads but did state that an officer may enforce the law regarding unsecured loads by issuing a fine or a warning.
With winter generally being a quieter time in our industry, now would be a great time to look at our vehicle set ups and see what we can do to secure our load and avoid being the next pest manager to be fined for this.