Transport - Chain of Responsibility
(Compliance & Enforcement legislation)

The chain of responsibility means that anybody, not just the driver, who has control of a transport operation can be held responsible for breaches of road laws and may be made legally liable. Chain of Responsibility legislation recognises the responsibility of "off the road" parties in the supply chain.

Any of the following may be held responsible for breaches of the road laws:

• Consignor - a person or company commissioning the carrying of goods
• Packer - placing goods into packages, containers or pallets
• Loader -placing or restraining the load on a vehicle.
• Driver - the physical act of driving a heavy vehicle
• Operator - conducting a business which controls the use of a heavy vehicle
• Consignee - paying for the goods or taking possession of the load

In addition:

• All parties have an obligation not to coerce, induce or encourage a breach of the road transport laws.
• All parties must take reasonable steps to make sure that they do not pass on to others any false or misleading information about the vehicle or its load
• An employee or contractor who raises a concern about actual or possible breaches of road transport laws cannot be victimised.

Acumen is able to assist all parties in the chain of responsibility meet their obligations under the legislation. This includes:

• Developing management system that meet the legal requirements, eg Driver Fatigue Management Plans, manuals etc
• Conducting "due diligence" audits of transport contractors
• Auditing consignee/consignors/carriers to assess the level of compliance against legislation