The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has obtained two Commercial Benefits orders following two companies who attempted to profit by cutting corners on safety.
Commercial Benefits orders can be sought by the NHVR under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) to ensure industry is doing the right thing.
Any profit obtained through a breach of the HVNL can be recovered through this order in an amount up to three times greater than the profit received from the breach.
Types of offences that can result in the NHVR obtaining a commercial benefits order include breaches of mass or dimension requirements.
One of the two orders applied for by the NHVR involved a heavy vehicle that was intercepted and weighed at 120.6 per cent of the vehicles permissible mass.
The defendant was charged with one count of permitting a heavy vehicle to be driven while over mass – a severe risk breach.
NHVR Director of Prosecutions Belinda Hughes said that Commercial Benefits orders have been crucial in holding those companies to account who are profiting from breaking the law.
“We’ve been asked what we’re doing for companies that are profiting from offending or jeopardising safety to get ahead financially.” said Hughes.
“Commercial Benefits orders are one way for us to address those concerns. No longer can a company benefit financially from offending. These orders calculate how much profit was made through breaking the law and then recovers that amount,” she said.
“This means there is no financial benefit to offending – it’s not worth taking the risk.”
The NHVR said it was significantly maturing in its bid to become a modern and intelligence-led regulator that focuses regulatory action towards those who pose the greatest risks to road users.
Risks can be addressed and encourage safer practices, it said, using orders such as these.
In other news a Victorian-based transport operator has been fined $75,000 in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.