The driver who overturned a truck transporting scrap metal on Main Road in Aureus earlier this week may face disciplinary action.
But, the manager of the scrap metal company has denied the truck was overloaded as many witnesses claim.
According to Lindrie Hopkins, manager of Rietchard Scrap Metals, the vehicle was not overloaded.
“We are adamant that we adhere to Road Traffic Act and we weigh each vehicle. The truck in question is a truck with a loading capacity of 27 tons. The truck is a six axle combination rig with a combined weight capacity of 47 tons. The vehicle in question was recorded as weighing 23.330 tons (Total weight of the truck) and when leaving the premises was 44.260 tons. It further needs to be recorded that the vehicle was in good condition and roadworthy at the time,” she explained.
According to Hopkins, from pre-luminary investigation it appears that the driver may have caused the incident.
“The vehicle was there for not ‘a disaster waiting to happen’ as reported by witnesses.
“We are in the process of initiating a disciplinary investigation against the driver to ascertain the real course of events. We generally experience miscalculation of the weight loads on the trucks due to the nature of the material. The freight usually appears bigger and heavier than actual weight as the material is not always compressed,” she said.
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