In May, Stuff ran a story about truck drivers illegally working up to 120 hours a week. The three anonymous drivers said they were being put in an impossible situation by their employers.

Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett says the industry must stand up for measures that maximise and improve safety for its workers and for all road users, and the RTF supports the introduction of electronic logbooks, over time.

“We want all drivers to return home safely at the end of their work day, and we believe the gradual introduction of electronic logbooks with GPS will eliminate opportunities for logbook discrepancies of drivers’ hours.

“The technology already exists to ensure drivers don’t exceed their legal work time. Drivers working longer than they should compromise their safety, as well as the safety of other road users.

“The RTF promotes an industry that enforces high safety standards. We do not condone nor defend truck operators and drivers who are deliberately or negligently non-compliant with transport and safety laws,” says Leggett.

“The industry must protect the work hours currently allowed by law and a big part of that is ensuring ongoing compliance with them.”

In New Zealand, work-time includes all time spent working, regardless of whether it is time spent driving or doing other work such as loading and unloading, maintenance, or cleaning of vehicles. The rules apply to everyone tasked with managing driving hours, including both drivers and transport operators, and allows for very few exemptions.

In any work day, a driver can work a maximum of 13 hours and then must take a continuous break of at least 10 hours, as well as the standard 30-minute breaks every 5.5 hours. A driver can work a maximum of 70 hours’ work time, known as a “cumulative work period,” before having to take a continuous break of at least 24 hours. 

The RTF recognises that it will take a number of years to implement full use of the appropriate tracking technology and that dispensations would have to be considered for some rarely-used commercial vehicles. 

“The time has come to begin the rollout and freight businesses who don’t already use e-logbooks should be planning to do so,” says Leggett.

“We understand the growing concern about the customer and supply chain pressures that drivers face,” he adds. 

“We believe this is linked to many of the instances of non-compliance and that is why we have raised with the Minister of Transport the need for an industry accord. We need to consider all the major challenges in the industry and create a safer operating environment.”