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Chain of Responsibility – Are You in the Crosshairs? Nathan Cecil, Partner Roads and Maritime Services, the authority responsible for enforcing the ‘chain of responsibility’ heavy vehicle laws in NSW, has recently announced that it is actively targeting participants up and down the chain – including consignors, consignees and others responsible for and/or handling shipping containers. Freight forwarders, logistics providers, 3PL terminal and warehouse operators, exporters and importers, amongst others, are now firmly in the crosshairs for chain of responsibility prosecution. The Chain of Responsibility The chain of responsibility laws impose duties on each participant in the logistics chain to take steps to avoid the breach of any of mass (overloading), dimension (oversize) and load restraint (unsecure packing and load shifting) road transport laws. Each party in the logistics chain, including the consignor, consignee, packer, loader, employer, operator, scheduler, loading manager, unloader and prime contractor, must take all reasonable steps to ensure that breaches do not occur. This may include obligations on one party in the chain to monitor the chain of responsibility policies and compliance of other contracting parties in the chain. In this way, each party in the logistics chain becomes a deputy sheriff for policing compliance by its agents and service providers. Compliance and Enforcement to Target Non-Operators In NSW, the ultimate sheriff is Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), which is the investigative and prosecuting authority for chain of responsibility breaches. We recently attended an annual chain of responsibility conference in Sydney at which the RMS Director of Compliance spoke. Historically, RMS has targeted operators of heavy vehicles for chain of responsibility breaches. A table showing the breakdown of the 3,209 company and 242 individual prosecution charges laid to June 2012 is attached. However, due to an apprehension that those further removed up and down the chain may be unaware of or ignoring their independent obligations, RMS indicated a firm policy of spreading awareness to those up and down the chain through enforcement. What to Expect Consignors, consignees, packers and loaders/unloaders can expect increased scrutiny and enforcement action. Frequently, freight forwarders and logistics providers are named as ‘consignors’ and ‘consignees’ on shipping transport documentation. 3PL terminal and warehouse operators are often responsible for packing and/or breaking down FCL cargo and repacking it for transport by road and may fall within the definition of ‘packer’ under the chain of responsibility. Retail exporters and importers are often responsible for loading or unloading shipping containers and providing container weight information to other parties in the chain and may fall within the definition of ‘loader’ or ‘unloader’. By virtue of the above, freight forwarders, logistics providers, 3PL terminal and warehouse operators and retail exporters and importers may fall within the chain of responsibility and potentially be held liable for any cargo mass (overloading), dimension (oversize) and load restraint (unsecure packing and load shifting) offence committed in relation to cargo, including where committed by another party in the chain. Prosecution and Penalties Maximum penalties for breaches range from $825.00 to $11,000.00 for individuals and $4,125.00 to $55,000.00 for corporations, per offence. In addition, where a corporation commits a chain of responsibility offence, each director and each person concerned in the management of the corporation is automatically deemed to have committed the same offence and is punishable personally, with maximum penalties ranging from $825.00 to $11,000.00, per offence. Similarly, where an employee commits an offence, the employer is automatically deemed to have committed the same offence and is punishable accordingly. Further, parties found guilty will likely be ordered to pay RMS’ legal costs of any such prosecution, which can be considerable and could even outweigh the fines imposed. Recommendations With RMS actively targeting freight forwarders, logistics providers, 3PL terminal and warehouse operators, exporters and importers, all parties who transport, handle or are responsible for the transport of goods by road in Australia should seek advice in relation to their chain of responsibility compliance in order to avoid potentially costly prosecutions.
If you have any queries or require further information, please contact: Contact |
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Nathan Cecil |
Robert Wilson |
Claire Morgan |
Charles Street |
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Partner |
Partner |
Foreign Registered Solicitor |
Solicitor |
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T: +61 2 9230 9450 |
T: +61 2 9230 9475 |
T: +61 2 9230 9412 |
T: +61 2 9230 9444 |
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Table showing the breakdown of the 3,209 company and 242 individual prosecution charges laid to June 2012
NSW Transport, Roads and Maritime Services, Heavy Vehicles, Chain of Responsibility, Enforcement Statistics
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Disclaimer: This newsflash is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice
© Norton White 2012