A trend may be emerging of trucks bringing unsafe loads through the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, with six fines handed out this year.

Another trucking company was fined last week for unsafe transportation of dangerous goods, Godfrey Haulage becoming one of six trucking firms that have been fined a total of $50,000 this year. It is the result of a joint Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) and Wheatbelt Traffic Police operation targeting unsafe haulage.

Godfrey was fined $6500 in the Northam Magistrates’ Court for incorrect separation of dangerous goods and failing to have the required safety equipment. Earlier this year, BRL Holdings was issued an infringement of $14,000 for inadequate safety equipment. JMP Haulage was fined too, paying $9000 for failing to carry the required documents, incorrect placarding, using a vehicle without an emergency procedure document holder and not having the required safety equipment. Similar fines were levied against Shaw’s Darwin Transport and G & V Vithoulkas, both have been charged $7500 for breaches. Hichem Paint Technologies was issued with a $6000 infringement for its inadequate documentation.

DMP Principal Dangerous Goods officer Peter Xanthis said he was concerned at the number of large fines being imposed on transport companies, saying; “These are significant fines which should send a strong message to transportation companies that if you don’t abide by the law, there are serious consequences... while most companies and drivers do the right thing and we have seen a marked decrease in the number of infringements, there are still some who put themselves and others at risk on WA roads.”