The trucking company whose prime mover became wedged on a motorway off-ramp in the Hunter, causing a day-long road closure, has apologised for the incident.
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The north-bound M1 Pacific Motorway exit ramp at Cameron Park was closed from about 4.30am on Monday until the early hours of Tuesday after a truck carrying a large piece of refinery equipment became jammed between two guard rails.
Rex J Andrews Heavy Haulage, a Penrith-based company that has branches in Beresfield, Adelaide and regional Victoria, had been enlisted to take the section of a pressure vessel from the former Shell refinery site in the Sydney suburb of Clyde to the Port of Newcastle for export.
National logistics manager Warrick Andrews told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday the firm was conducting an internal investigation into this week's incident.
Read more: Truck wedged on M1 Pacific Motorway off-ramp
"We do not take this incident lightly and will do everything we can to avoid an incident like this occurring again," Mr Andrews said.
"We are currently reviewing all procedures for these types of movements and are putting further systems in place to safely move these loads without incident.
"We apologise for any inconvenience that was caused due to this incident and thank the crews who helped in the recovery."
A 400 tonne crane was used to clear the blockage in an operation that was conducted in the middle of the night and prompted the closure of all north-bound motorway lanes at Cameron Park.
A guard rail was damaged during the incident, which means the speed limit on the off-ramp has been reduced to 60km/h until mid-year when repairs are expected to be complete.
Roads and Maritime Services had approved the route and the truck, a white Freightliner with South Australian licence plates, was accompanied by a pilot vehicle and police car when it became stuck.
RMS said on Monday the trucking company was "ultimately responsible for carrying out the safe transportation operation".
“The permit provided includes a number of conditions for the operator to comply with including the height, width and weight of the load, and how it is positioned,” an RMS spokesman said earlier this week.
Rex J Andrews Heavy Haulage has a history of transporting oversized objects, including mining and other large industrial equipment.
The firm was responsible for moving Goulburn's famous Big Merino - a 15 metre high, 97 tonne sheep statue - to a new location in 2007.
