TRUCKIES SAY DRUG USE RIFE

Interstate truck drivers were forced to take drugs to stay awake and
regularly drove for up to 24 hours without a break, a court heard yesterday.

In a Victorian legal first, interstate transport company Don Watson
Transport and its operational manager, Pierce Phillip Gage, 41, of Bacchus
Marsh, face nine charges, including forcing onerous schedules on drivers and
failing to supervise and train them in safety. The charges stem from an
accident involving a company driver in which Karen Hartmann, 28, was killed
and another man, Gregory Brown, was critically injured. Melbourne
Magistrates' Court heard Shayne David Hodge, 30, of Bacchus Marsh, faces
culpable driving charges over the September 1994 accident in which the truck
he was driving hit a tree in Wallan Rd, Upper Plenty.

Prosecutor Don Just, for WorkCover, said Mr Hodge was driving up to 17 hours
a day, six days a week in the month before the accident.

Evidence would reveal Mr Hodge had significant levels of stimulants in his
blood at the time. A former Watson employee who gave evidence yesterday said
it was generally accepted by the company that drivers took pills to help
them get through the long hauls.

He said when it got hard to get pills some drivers turned to "speed"
(amphetamines), but they were told by the company that if they were found
with "powder" they would be instantly dismissed.

"It got very hard to get pills and we had to use powder as a result of that
and that's when the company put their foot down," said the driver, who
cannot be identified. The driver said he sometimes worked a 24-hour day then
an 18-hour day after that.

"There were days when you went all day without sleep at all," he said in a
statement tendered to court.

"If I ever complained to Pierce about being tired, Pierce would call me a
weak bastard and tell me to get a couple in me and get going."

He was always tired and often felt "doughy", which he described as "driving
all over the road".

Mr Just said Mr Gage admitted there was no monitoring of drivers for
exceeding the prescribed limit of 12 hours a day.

"Well, obviously the drivers were looking after themselves," Mr Gage
allegedly said in an interview with investigators.

Mr Just said Mr Gage admitted drivers worked excessive hours during August
and September 1994 and said it was impossible to complete a standard company
run within legal hours.

"Once they start to get up to 14 hours, 16 hours a day, there's too much
danger ... for everybody involved," Mr Gage told WorkCover inspectors.

Another former Watson driver, who cannot be identified, told the court he
falsified his log book even though he worked 80-100 hours a week.

"You plan your day to get the work done and then alter the log book to
suit," he said.

The committal hearing before Magistrate Ronald Eggleston continues.