Road transport operators the victims in Wastney fiasco

Road transport operators the victims in Wastney fiasco

Road Transport Forum Chief Executive Ken Shirley is sympathising with road transport operators caught up in the Peter Wastney Engineering fiasco.

RTF accepts NZTA’s decision to revoke certification for the drawbeams and drawbars originally certified by Peter Wastney Engineering Ltd.

“There are simply too many unknowns concerning the quality of the fabrications and certification analysis to have any level of confidence that a failure of the components in-service would not occur,” says Shirley. “The risk to the drivers of the vehicles and the public are just far too high and it goes without saying that safety must be the primary consideration in these situations.”

“Through no fault of their own operators are having to take vehicles off the road. This will bring with it a substantial loss of earnings and may make it very difficult for some companies to maintain operations.”

“It must be acknowledged that NZTA are doing all they can to assist operators with replacement and recertification as quickly as possible and will compensate operators for those costs.”

“However, the industry is disappointed that NZTA’s auditing and accreditation processes did not pick up the problems with Wastney’s certifications much earlier. The sheer number of vehicles affected shows a significant lack of regulatory oversight.”

“Road transport operators are the victims here and while I encourage them to pursue lost business costs from Peter Wastney and his insurers, NZTA must take some responsibility for this and make sure they get on top of their regulatory failings,” says Shirley.

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