A push for NZTA to be given the same powers as Police - to impound unsafe trucks.

The trucking industry wants tougher rules, after an Auckland operator was jailed for manslaughter last year.

Ashik Ali kept his truck on the road despite it being banned, and its failed brakes caused it to roll away and fatally hit a road worker last year.

National Road Carriers Association chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers told Mike Hosking that most operators maintain their vehicles.

He says there's a handful that blatantly ignore the rules, and they're the ones the system doesn't currently identify.

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