Gerry Westerveld, 25, of Kyabram, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to making false or misleading entries in a work record.
Westerveld’s breaches of Heavy Vehicle National Laws came in October and November last year in Victoria and South Australia, and were discovered when his work logbook was checked at a weighbridge at Broadford on November 5.
The court heard they included multiple breaches where Westerveld said he was driving for part of the time he had recorded in his logbook that he was on rest breaks.
A critical risk breach occurred on November 3, 2024, when he worked 14.25 hours in a 24-hour period – where the maximum allowable driving time is 12 hours and this must include a seven-hour rest break.
A safety inspection also found his prime mover had an unsafe tyre, with a significant amount of tread damage and metal exposed.
Westerveld’s solicitor Ibrahim Abdalla told the court his client had started driving trucks when he was 21 years old, but that “for the most part” his trips for the first two years were within 100km from his base, which did not require logbooks to be filled in.
However, when he bought his own truck and started doing work between Victoria and South Australia, he had not had any training on how to correctly fill in a logbook, Mr Abdalla said.
The court heard Westerveld had received a diversion in court on November 30 last year for five misleading entries in his work logbook, but there were no critical breaches at that time.
Mr Abdalla pointed out that this court appearance was for matters that pre-dated these ones he was currently in court for, and said his client had done training on how to correctly fill in a logbook as part of the conditions of that diversion.
He said Westerveld had been pulled over by authorities on a number of occasions since then, where there were no problems with his logbook.
Magistrate Amina Bhai fined Westerveld $2000 but did not record a conviction.
“These laws are put in place to protect other road users,” Ms Bhai said.
“They are put in place to prevent significant tragedies.
“I need to impose a sentence that will deter others.”
16°C