Truck driver’s falsified logbook revealed after cyclist’s death

A truck driver who tried to cover up his excessive hours was discovered after a cyclist deliberately cycled in front of his truck.

Carl Bruce Zander, 33, appeared in Nelson District Court on Monday on charges of making false statements in a logbook and exceeding driving hours.

On 22 November, Zander was driving a heavy truck south of Wakefield, when his truck was involved in a fatal collision with a cyclist.

Investigating the incident, police looked at Zander’s logbook pages, time sheets, fuel records and camera footage.

They found Zander, who regularly did an overnight return from Tāhunanui to Christchurch, had falsified his start, rest and finish times to make his runs look compliant when they were not.

The logbook showed the driver regularly exceeded the legal five-hour driving limit.

On one overnight journey, Zander travelled hundreds of kilometres over 11.5 hours, driving for most of that period, the summary said.

“He travelled 848 kilometres in that time, over difficult and demanding roads at night.”

When police asked Zander for an explanation, he said he liked to get straight to Christchurch because “they cooked a meal for him”.

“He stated he did often stop on the way back, but usually not for 30 minutes or more,” the summary said. “He thought maybe he was being clever.”

Judge Richard Russell told Zander the cyclist’s death was not his fault. However, he was at fault for fabricating logbooks and driving excessive hours.

“The people who drive these big rigs have a duty to drive safely,” Russell told Zander.

“Other people on the road are reliant on commercial drivers like yourself being alert and fit and proper to handle these big rigs. The consequences of getting it wrong are so profound.”

Russell convicted Zander on his charges and disqualified him from driving for one month. However, since Zander had not driven since the November incident, the start of this period was backdated to 1 January.