Reporter: James Thomas

It's a game of cat and mouse.

Some get through, some don't. But, what's certain is if you drive a truck and take drugs - police have you in their sights.

Operation Austrans was conducted last week. A nationwide 3 day blitz combining the Roads & Traffic Authorities and police in a crack down on rogue truckies. Particularly, drivers on drugs.

“The driver is breath tested first. If that goes negative we then ask them to do a roadside drug test.”

Senior Sergeant Hal Potts and his crew will have tested 1200 truck drivers on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Canberra.

In the hours we were there, hundreds of drivers were tested. However, in spite of reports of widespread drug use, few tested positive.

“Where are all the truck drivers on drugs” James Thomas asks one truckie.

“We don't do drugs anymore!” he answers.

“It's not what you told me a minute ago! Word's out isn't it?”

Yeah, everyone knows you are here” the truckie says.

Truck Driver Scott is contemptuous of the blitz. He says word travels quickly in the trucking world, and if you're on the gear, you won't be found here.

“Waste of time. Waste of time. You are just tying drivers up for a couple of hours that's all” says Scott.

“Well it's proven that it is not the case. Because we are still getting drivers through” says Sergeant Rod Cranston. He concedes some drivers do go to ground. But operations now stretch on for days and Police patience pays off.

One driver was found to have methyl amphetamines in his system, otherwise known as speed, now you speak a lot to the drivers and they'll tell you the reason they are doing this is they are still being pushed to the brink to make deadlines they say are unrealistic.

“It is just the pressure. Getting the loads on and off. Getting the time slots” says Scott.

In a study of more than 200 drivers supplied by the Transport Workers Union, 64% of drivers admitted pressure from employers to use unsafe working practices.

44% said they were pressured into breaking driving laws.

When drivers get pushed, they crack.

In the year to November 2009, 287 people were killed in truck accidents.

Historically, drugs play a leading role in tragedy.

October 1989, outside Grafton on the northern NSW coast, 19 bus passengers die along with the driver of a semi trailer which collided with them. A coronial inquest heard evidence the truck driver had an ephedrine level in his blood 80 times that of a normal dose.

1996, Blanchetown, South Australia. 6 people die when a prime mover ploughs into 2 cars. The driver had traces of Amphetamines, Ephedrine and THC - which is found in Cannabis - in his system.

“Mate it used to scare me, but you had no choice. But now it is not worth the risk anymore. It is not worth doing it. It's crazy” says Scott.

Scott may not do drugs these days, but plenty do.

A driver was arrested for testing positive to traces of Cannabis. He didn't want to be filmed for fear of embarrassment should his family see this story. But for some families - it's hard to sympathise.

Greg and Cath Campbell lost their children Rebecca and Jessica when a truck lost control, killing them and the girl's grandmother in 2004. We met Greg and Cath in a story in 2007. In 2010 people still don't get it.

A father, truckie, tested positive to amphetamines. But no one seems too fazed.

“It wasn't positive, it come up not positive.”

First he lied and then this driver argued that doing the drugs was a good thing for safety on the road because amphetamines keep him alert.

“Mainly just to stay awake and not hurt anybody while we drive” he adds.

“It is not safer.” Clinical Forensic Pharmacologist, Dr Judy Perl says mixing amphetamines with driving is deadly. “It can produce paranoia, hallucinations, even cardio vascular changes where you get massive rises in your blood pressure and the risk of having a heart attack or stroke are significantly increased with high doses.”

While national results are yet to be released, in New South Wales 90 drivers tested positive to roadside drug tests from May 2009 to June 2010.

14 tested positive in New South Wales last week.

The tragedy of these stories is most drivers are decent blokes struggling to make a living. Often they feel the heat of the law and adverse publicity while bosses that push them so hard remain invisible to the public... most of the time.

Remember Brien Smith? We met him in 2007 after discovering he was running a lethal trucking operation.

A whistleblower provided evidence of Brien's trucks doing speeds in excess of 140 kilometres an hour, his drivers working without breaks for more than 14 hours and photos showing the consequences.

“This company has a major accident every 6 or 7 weeks” said the whistleblower.

The Roads Traffic Authority took Brien to Court following our story. He was found guilty of 60 offences.

So what happened? Well, very little. Brien was fined a measly $5,100.

And the companies that contracted Brien such as Boral and NSW State Forests? They weren't punished at all.

A spokesperson for the RTA states Chain of Responsibility laws make all parties in the supply chain equally responsible, for breaches of the law. But on the side of the Hume Highway, drivers insist companies are unfazed and still pushing them over the edge.

“The express rate guys, those blokes still have to be in at 4 in the morning - and a lot of them aren't getting out of Melbourne till 10 o'clock at night. So you work it out” says Scott.

Melbourne to Sydney in 6 hours - legally it should take 10. No wonder some turn to drugs to achieve these goals.

Police work around the clock to quell the use and supply of drugs to truckies. They face an uphill battle if driver's bosses aren't also called to account.

Do you think it should extend up the line? asks James.

“Yes I do. They are employing these people, they should know what they are doing, what they are taking and what pressures they are placing these people under in order that they do their job” answers Senior Sergeant Hal Potts.

Until that happens, the game of cat and mouse will continue.

Many thanks to staff at Channel 7 and Today / Tonight for the opportunity to communicate this news piece.