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ARTICLE · 03 DECEMBER 2023

Massive $1.2 million fine for fatigue breaches by transport drivers

Holding Redlich
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The business had a 'moral and legal' obligation to properly manage its transport activities, which it failed to do.

AustraliaTransport
Nathan Cecil
Nathan Cecil
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A Brisbane-based civil engineering and contracting business has been fined $1.2 million after eight of its drivers committed 193 fatigue breaches in a 36 day period from 1 July 2020 to 6 August 2020.

The investigation and prosecution was conducted by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR). We understand that this was a significant investigation and took around 12 months for DTMR to obtain and work through the evidence, identify the breaches, draw up the offence charges and prepare the brief of evidence for the prosecution. With the massive fine obtained, DTMR will be considering this time spent.

What lead to the investigation?

On 6 August 2020, one of the business' trucks rolled due to a driver error. When conducting an investigation into the incident and its cause, DTMR identified potential problems with the business' fatigue management practices.

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