Yankalilla Council decided to take a proactive response to driver safety by being the first council to sign up to the TruckSafe Program.
TruckSafe is an industry incentive based on four key standards: management, maintenance, workplace and driver health, and training, which a trucking organisation should meet to be safe and responsible operation.
Yankalilla Council Manager of Operations Warren Kaeding told PWPro that the council’s motivation to join the scheme was the safety of its drivers.
The area had experienced a number of heavy vehicle accidents in recent times that had resulted in fatalities – although none of these were council related – so driver safety was top of mind.
“We are in one of the most beautiful places in the Australia and it’s a big destination for tourists,” Kaeding said. “They are driving down the road looking at amazing terrain. Little do they realize there’s a 45 tonne truck approaching from the other direction.”
He noted that one of the accreditation requirements was the health of its drivers, which is an important part of the accreditation in his opinion.
“Most of our drivers across the council are over 45 years of age,” he said. “Within the compliance audit for Trucksafe, there’s a real focus that those drivers are health screened.”
Yankalilla Council is working with the Australian Driver Training Association of SA to build an approved driver training route.
The council has also introduced GPS into its vehicles to give it the ability to monitor their location and speed – drivers are alerted if the vehicle exceeds 100kph.
This may sounds a tad big brother, but drivers have responded positively to the program said Kaeding, as it gives the council the ability to accurately respond to any public complaints regarding its truck drivers.
“We are now able to confirm or deny if our truck was even there – let alone going too fast,” said Kaeding.
Defensive driving has the potential to save councils money in vehicle repair, but this is not the main motivation behind joining the TruckSafe Program, according to Kaeding.
“We get no benefit from the scheme except that we all sleep at night and do the best for our people and community.”