SE National Transport has been quick to leap to the defence of its driver caught on tape performing a U-turn on Brisbane’s Story Bridge.
The B-double can be seen in the short TikTok video from @spiderxwomant below inching back and forth while traffic piles up and a voice comments “you can’t park there mate”.
In a statement to customers that was also sent to Big Rigs, SE National Transport Managing Director Anthony Sfetcopoulos said the driver “stopped cautiously” and made a manoeuvre to avoid a potential situation.
“Making a judgement call not to proceed under the bridge due to perceived height clearance concerns,” Sfetcopoulos said.
“While the location of the turn wasn’t ideal, there was no accident or damage. This isolated event does not reflect the standards or practices of SE National Transport.
“We have addressed the matter internally and reinforced our strict safety and compliance procedures across our fleet.”
Sfetcopoulos said SE National Transport takes pride in its strong record of safety, reliability, and professionalism.
@spiderxwomanyt #brisbane #storybridge #fyp #22 Oct #50 years exp
The incident triggered an outpouring of social media comments when first published online this week.
Sunshine Coast truckie Niell Graham said the truck height wasn’t the issue.
“I’ve taken semis over it plenty of times,” he wrote. “What is an issue is it’s a long way from a B-double route.”
Truckies’ advocate Wes Walker told Big Rigs thought it was skilfull driving on the truckie’s part to extricate himself from such a tight spot.
“The poor bloke was just confused about what he had to do and where he was supposed to be,” Walker said.