A Nelson heavy vehicle engineer whose unsafe work sparked a huge recall of trucks and trailers has been sanctioned for acting negligently.
Peter Wastney's work first came to the attention of the TA when a trailer broke off a truck on a highway in 2017. Photo: 123RF
The Transport Agency was alerted to the problem with Peter Wastney's work when a trailer broke off a truck on a highway in 2017.
Ensuing investigations exposed the agency's controls over truck certifying engineers nationwide as inadequate.
Peter Wastney is no longer a chartered engineer. He has now been be censured by Engineering New Zealand and fined $8000.
It found his breach of standards was "at the higher end of the scale".
The failure in 2017 occurred due to metal fatigue because the design and construction of the towing connections was "deficient".
The drawbeams and drawbars "should not have been certified".
The Transport Agency incurred millions of dollars in costs paying to have truckies' rigs recertified, and at least two other heavy vehicle engineers were stopped from operating, too.