Victoria Police’s heavy vehicle unit was stationed in Warracknabeal last week doing roadworthy checks on trucks.

Victorian Farmers Federation president and Murra Warra farmer David Jochinke said while it was good to see trucks being picked up for major issues such as brakes, tyres and windows, drivers were also being pinged for minor issues.

He said police were issuing defect notices to trucks that had hardly anything wrong, besides the speedometer being out a few decimal places. 

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said farmers felt like they were being unfairly targeted by the blitz and drivers had received defect notices for small tears in seats and chipped windscreens.

Mr Jochinke said drivers had to then take their trucks to Melbourne or Bordertown to be repaired. 

He said the blitz was affecting harvest and growers’ mental health and there was poor communication about the operation.

“We would have  liked to see more communication around this policing – we could have had a pre-harvest rundown with authorities to increase community involvement,” he said.

“Authorities should have worked with us to make sure we were aware of any rule changes.”

Mr Jochinke said the timing of the blitz was an issue. 

“Having trucks off the road hinders harvest and repair shops are being inundated with requests,” he said.

“I understand the urgency if there are genuine issues but not all of the issues are.

“We have just come out of two droughts and we are trying to balance our mental wellbeing.

“Then the authorities put the wind up us, with no respect for the mental health of farmers.

“They are nitpicking on things like the computer being out – you can’t tell me that’s the biggest issue we have going on.”

Mr Jochinke said roads in the region also needed to be better for trucks. 

“If the authorities want highway standard trucks, we need highway standard roads,” he said.

Mr Jochinke spoke to Police Minister Lisa Neville about the issue.

“I agree that trucks need to be safe, but we are trying to get police to understand that we are now into harvest and there has been no communication,” he said.

“I’ve had 35 to 40 phone calls from members asking how they are meant to do their job this harvest.”

Ms Kealy said the operation was unfairly targeting farmers and harvest contractors to raise revenue for the state government.

She said the blitz had now moved to the Murtoa area.

“Farmers are aware of increased police and VicRoads presence on our roads each harvest season, however this year they are making reports of feeling targeted by an over the top vehicle road blitz,” she said.

“I have received an overwhelming number of complaints from people who feel they are being unfairly targeted, with reports that drivers have been pulled over four times for the same vehicle check process.”

Police Media acting Sergeant Julie-Ann Newman said the operation targeted fatigue, mass and work diary offences. 

She said 111 defect notices were issued during the five-day operation, along with seven penalty notices and 45 written warnings. 

“On many occasions drivers with minor faults were not issued with a defect notice and were given the opportunity to get certain defects fixed,” she said.

“In our experience these seasonally registered vehicles might be in need of repair as they spend most of the year on farms.

“They are looked at during harvest because of issues we have identified in the past, such as no seat belts, structural rust and or broken suspensions to name a few, which render the vehicles hazardous when they are on the roads.”

Police Minister Lisa Neville said she had ask Victoria Police to meet with Victorian Farmers Federation representatives so these operations could work better to support community and farm safety, and the productivity of farmers.