Whistleblower Roxanne Mysko reported systematic safety violations at the trucking company where she worked – amid a rise in deaths involving large trucks across Australia – only to have her life turned upside down. Andrew Gardiner reports. 

Trucking industry whistleblower Roxanne Mysko walked free from South Australia’s Supreme Court earlier this month, after surrendering to sheriffs at the Adelaide court house and fully expecting to be carted off to prison. To say it was a load off her mind would be an understatement for Roxanne, who faced a warrant for her arrest. 

“I’d been told to expect some jail time when I turned up to court,” Roxanne told MWM . “But it seems the Chief Justice, Chris Kourakis, saw there was a lot more to the situation than me breaching a court order (Contempt of Court).” 

“Now, to some extent, I can get on with my life.” 

It appears from documents independently sighted by MWM that there was, to borrow Roxanne’s phrase, a lot “more to the situation” at Port Adelaide-based Express Cargo Services (ECS) which terminated her in 2020 after she raised serious breaches of Chain of Responsibility (CoR) and safety protocols. It comes amid a  rise in deaths involving large trucks (as a proportion of all road fatalities) which many involved in the industry say should by now have made trucking safety a major issue for Australians.

Documents and statements regarding ECS and other trucking companies, independently verified by MWM, appear to confirm:   

• Fatigue among company drivers and subcontractors, who are alleged to have worked up to 26 days straight (the relevant law states drivers must have a 24-hour break every seventh day);
• No safety audits of 70 subcontractors from 2007 to 2020, many in violation of CoR requirements which began in 2014;
• No licence checks on 70 subcontractors;
• No vehicle maintenance audits over an extended period;
• Speeding by trucks supposedly limited to 90 km/h;
• No documentation for all CoR safety procedures for any truck or freight movement anywhere in Australia.

If proven, such breaches of safety law can lead to millions of dollars in fines. 

“Why are they there?” Trucking regulators fail Australian truckies as death toll rises

In earlier interviews with MWM, Roxanne said the “culture of corner cutting” in the trucking industry “should be a “national scandal.” Instead, those raising the alarm remain a small, sometimes-persecuted minority often largely ignored by regulators like the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR). 

Previously, Roxanne told MWM her post-dismissal whistle-blowing led to the bullying of her and her family, a police raid and a series of court actions that almost saw her jailed and may yet see her bankrupt. “I owe ECS $350,000 in legal fees awarded against me in an earlier court case, and I frankly don’t have that kind of money,” she told MWM in June. 

Among other things, the 2023 court order against Roxanne gagged her from contact with “ineligible recipients” not covered by whistleblower protections, which she’d previously emailed as part of her attempt to bring serious safety breaches to the attention of regulators and partner companies. 

MWM is not suggesting ECS has acted unethically or in violation of workplace or transport safety laws, and unless stated, has established the alleged facts around ECS’ safety record, opinions on the extent of whistleblower protections and subsequent conduct by the company independently of Ms Mysko. 

Friends of Roxanne say she’s now turned her attention to possible wrongful-dismissal action against ECS, which terminated her after just two weeks, during which she had raised various internal alarms about driver safety and indicated her intention to contact regulators, as required of her under the law. “They sacked me without providing a reason, and did it while I was away from the office driving for the company near Hay in NSW,” she’d previously told MWM. 

A woman of limited means, Roxanne has been seeking pro bono representation in the matter. 

In recent weeks, truckies and their union have been buoyed by the addition of a road transport division to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) which is expected to help set tougher safety standards and to boost enforcement often lacking in the past. “With a new system to tackle the root causes of chronic safety issues in the industry, we hope to see (NHVR) close the loop on enforceable standards and make roads safer,” Transport Workers Union National Secretary, Michael Kaine, told MWM. 

Roxanne agrees, describing the new division as a “game changer for drivers” and all the other smaller operators. “Rest assured I’ll be getting in touch with the FWC in the months ahead,” Roxanne said with a grin.

As trucking fatalities rise, the whistleblower finds herself under arrest 

This post was originally published on Michael West.