Sharing his views: Wong speaking during the seminar in Kuala Lumpur. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: With accidents involving trucks continuing to make headlines in recent weeks, a logistics industry leader is urging the government to expand access to an e-vetting system that will allow employers to screen potential lorry drivers for criminal or drug-related offences.
Malaysia Trucking Federation (MTF) president Datuk Ng Koong Sinn said that currently, only lorry drivers operating at ports are subject to e-vetting, leaving other sectors, such as companies transporting sand or stone, unable to properly vet their drivers before hiring them.
“They should consider expanding e-vetting for all lorry services and provide us access to the system so we can better screen for possible bad apples before hiring,” he said before an MTF seminar on current logistics industry challenges yesterday.
He encouraged all MTF members and other industry players to consider conducting regular drug and urine tests on their drivers as a preventive measure.
Meanwhile, Association of Logistics Entrepreneurs Malaysia president Puvaneaish Subramaniam highlighted the issue of substandard lorry spare parts in the market.
She said the widespread availability of cheap, low-quality parts is compromising road safety, especially among smaller operators struggling to survive in a highly competitive, low-margin industry.
“These parts should not even be allowed into the country in the first place, which is why the government needs to crack down and regulate the market to protect competitiveness and overall road safety,” she said.
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon said industry players need to integrate road safety into their occupational health and safety business management systems.
“Adopting long-trusted safety management systems such as ISO 39001 or ISO 45001 would help embed road safety responsibility across their entire value chain.
“This would not only increase road transport safety awareness among the implementing company and its stakeholders but also allow for consistent measurement of the company’s road safety performance,” Wong said in his speech at the seminar.
