Canberra motorists appear likely to escape any potential fuel delivery shortages even if more petrol tankers are taken off the road, although a BP spokesman said the situation was "fluid".
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Interstate safety audits have taken nearly 50 tankers off the road in the past week after a Cootes Transport fuel tanker careered out of control in Mona Vale, in Sydney's north. Two men died in the accident and five others were injured.
A VicRoads safety audit of the trucking company is expected to be issued on Monday afternoon. It is believed to be testing a further 30 prime movers and 40 trailers for safety concerns, and the audit has raised concerns of a potential fuel shortage.
VicRoads has inspected 128 vehicles from the Cootes Transport fleet and issued 114 defect notices for problems including oil and air leaks and brake and suspension defects. Forty-eight vehicles have been grounded.
Figures issued by the NSW Roads and Maritime Service on Monday showed 82 per cent of the 211 Cootes Transport heavy vehicles inspected were issued with a defect notice.
Of the 174 vehicles affected, 68 notices were for major defects such as brake failures, steering and suspension faults. However, only eight trucks had been taken off the road.
BP Australia spokesman Jamie Jardine said that while supply would be constrained until all Cootes trucks returned to service, there had been no effect on supplies to Canberra.
“The [Canberra] supply appears manageable … obviously the situation is fluid,” Mr Jardine said.
“Canberra is supplied out of the Sydney envelope, and the [safety] inspection has been going on there since Wednesday.”
He confirmed Cootes trucks did supply some Canberra BP stations but was unaware of how many, and said the company would try to find other trucks to deliver fuel.
“What we’re most concerned about is finding trucks to make up the shortfall,” Mr Jardine said.
“Cootes do supply all the petrol retailers with trucks, and clearly this is having an impact on the industry’s distribution.”
A Caltex spokesman said the company's Canberra service stations would not be affected, because their fuel did not come from Victoria.
The Canberra Times spoke to three ACT petrol stations on Monday and found no expectations of any delay in fuel deliveries.
An employee at one inner north Canberra BP station said there had been no indication that Tuesday’s scheduled delivery would be affected.
“Normally it’s our own BP suppliers [any way] … everything’s on schedule as far as we’re concerned,” the worker said.
A northside Caltex StarMart employee was unaware of any supply issues, a view repeated by a southside ColesExpress station manager.
VicRoads was believed to be testing a further 30 prime movers and 40 trailers for safety concerns on Monday.
