Following the unfortunate scrap metal incident just over a week ago, the driver of the truck involved is about to get back on the road, returning to his usual run.
The incident occurred on Friday May 2, scattering around 800kg of scrap metal along a 25km route southbound on the M1, between Palmdale and the Mooney Mooney Bridge.
It caused tyre damage to hundreds of vehicles and closed the M1.
The truck involved belongs to NJ Ashton, which immediately took responsibility – apologising to all who were impacted and sending every qualified mechanic it had to assist authorities and help get drivers back on the road.
The trucking community has largely rallied behind the company and the driver, and praised their actions in trying to help rectify the situation.
A truckie of over 20 years, the driver of the truck has been with NJ Ashton for over 12 months.
Speaking with Big Rigs this morning, General Manager of NJ Ashton Daniel Falconer said the driver will hopefully be back in the truck as early as tomorrow.
His truck had been parked for the last week, while he worked in the yard.
“The driver involved initially took it quite hard. He wasn’t keen to be driving again for the first few days after this happened, but he’s good now, and ready to get back into it,” Daniel said.
“He’s been doing this sort of thing for over 20 years.”
Daniel added that he’s had many truckies reach out to show their support too. “We’ve heard from truckies who’ve said it was an accident, we’ve all had them, we know how you feel.
“Car drivers are on the road maybe 10 hours a week, truck drivers can be on the road for up to 60 hours a week, so that’s a huge difference.”
Last Friday (May 9), NJ Ashton also hosted a free barbeque as a way to apologise face to face to anyone impacted, and as a step towards trying to make things right.
The free event was very well attended. As Daniel revealed, “There were 10 of us there from the company. The driver was there and able to chat to a few people. The police were there – about eight of them throughout the day – and someone from the insurance company was there too.
“We handed out sausages, soft drinks, coffees and flowers for Mother’s Day.”
As Daniel continued, “We definitely appreciate all the support we’ve received, including from the media, which has been great. We owned it from the start and for what was a really bad day, we’ve had a reasonable result. The support we’ve received really has been above and beyond.”