Melbourne and Sydney Road Infrastructure to Blame for Truck Incidents, Advocate Warns

Truck driver advocate Brian Turpie said the response to the recent M5 truck crashes by NSW authorities is masking the real problem – poor infrastructure.

Mr Turpie, president of the Long Haul Drivers Association (LHDA) said the industry’s name was being tarnished by the trucking company raids that followed recent crashes which happened when trucks collided with the safety barrier on the route.

Recently a container-hauling semi-trailer collided with a barrier at Kingsgrove and burst into flames, leading to 18 hours of traffic chaos.

Mr Turpie had a long list of critiques of the conditions in major city roads including in Sydney and Melbourne. He said the road network became gridlocked within an hour and took more than 10 hours to alleviate after the recent M5 chaos – something he says was avoidable.

He went on to state that the truck crash was the second in 6 weeks at the same spot and with the same cause, however the fact that road works had caused the accidents was not acknowledged by authorities. He said the road works on the M5 was poorly managed by the contractor.

Is the road freight industry being unfairly vilified?Read the full story at https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1809/turpie-call-to-rms-on-reasons-behind-m5-truck-crashes