ATA hosts police at Mt Cotton

The ATA’s Heavy Vehicle Industry Safety Collaboration Seminar involving Police and the trucking industry coincided with the Brisbane Truck Show and was held at the Mt Cotton Training Facility on May 14

The concept of the ATA’s Safety Collaboration Seminar involved an actual face-to-face and vehicle-to-vehicle meeting between police and road transport industry representatives.

The NSW and Queensland police vehicles ‘outgunned’ the truckies, with four police pursuit cars on hand, compared with just two semi-trailer combinations.

Following a welcome from ATA Chief Executive Officer, Ben Maguire and endorsement for the seminar from visiting Chief Inspector Phillip Brooks, from the NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, ATA’s Justin Fleming made a request for more trucking operators to join the ATA’s Trucksafe program.

Queensland Police Southern Region’s Assistant Commissioner, Mike Condon, reported that, sadly, his region had among the highest road fatality rates in Queensland and, while trucks were involved in only 18 per cent of fatalities and judged responsible for only seven per cent of those, any fatality is one too many.

“We have a particular problem with grey nomads towing caravans, misjudging when attempting to overtake roadtrains,” said Mike Condon.

“They sometimes embark on this unfamiliar overtaking manoeuvre and, when they back off and try to get behind the trailers, clip one of them and roll the tow vehicle and caravan.”

Assistant Commissioner Condon praised the ATA’s Trucksafe program and thanked the ATA for its efforts to integrate the road safety efforts of the industry and police forces.

Australian Trucking Association's Ben Maguire

He echoed the sentiments expressed by the NSW Commissioner that the expanding the ‘Coffee with a Cop’ programs around Australia were also having a very positive effect in changing the public’s view of policing.

ATA CEO Ben Maguire told trucksales that by bringing police and industry together, the ATA aimed to build effective co-operation and trust and events like the Mt Cotton Seminar were key in achieving this.

On track

The mutual sharing of role appreciation was soon evident as police officers climbed aboard the ATA’s Volvo FH540 prime mover, for a run around the Heavy Vehicle Manoeuvring Area and the Mt Cotton track.

One senior police officer recalled his former life as truckie, back in the bad old days of impossible deadlines and 16-hour driving stints. He thought the refined and electronically assisted progress of the big Volvo was a huge improvement over the trucks of yesteryear.

At the smaller end of the weight scale, but the upper end of the performance scale there was a line-up of truck people, anxious for some ‘hot lap’ experience in the pursuit cars.

Mike Condon was somewhat apologetic about his force’s Kia Stinger pursuit cars, in the face of NSW’s BMW, but a consensus of passenger opinions gave the performance nod to the Stingers.

However, most truck people reckoned the Chrysler 300 6.4 Hemi unmarked car’s classic V8 exhaust note was much better than the subdued howls of the smaller turbo engines.

After a quick lap in one of the police Stingers, a mature truckie told trucksales: “I’ve never gone that fast in my life!”

Between drives and passenger experiences groups of police and truck people discussed mutual road safety issues, while Ben Maguire smiled approvingly.

“That’s what functions like this one are all about,” he told trucksales. “And that’s why we’ll be doing more of them.”

ATA hosts police at Mt Cotton

On track

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