High profile trucking industry ambassador Rod Hannifey is now the proud driver of a new K200 Kenworth bought by his employer Rod Pilon Transport.
There was some doubt about whether the Truckright Industry Vehicle (TIV) concept would continue after Hannifey handed back the previous prime mover that had been generously loaned by owner-operator Ken Wilkie.
However, to his immense credit, Rod Pilon stepped up to the plate and purchased the new cab over after also shelling out for the new Vawdrey B-double set.
And so it is that ‘Mr Truckright’ Rod is now able to keep the show on the road, spreading positive messages – both visual and verbal – about the industry to all and sundry as he plies the highways delivering freight for Rod Pilon in addition to attending as many industry events as is humanly (and sometimes inhumanely) possible.
Fair dinkum, the bloke is a human dynamo with his ability to juggle work, family commitments (he is married and has seven children and four grandchildren) and TIV duties simultaneously, all with the ultimate goal of raising the image of the industry and those who work within it.
“My aims with the TIV are still the same as when I first got involved with road safety issues specifically related to trucks well over 10 years ago,” Hannifey told DIESEL at the recent NatRoad conference where he and the TIV were in attendance. “The worst thing that can happen is no one listens; but if I can save one life through getting a road fixed, a rest area improved, the green reflectors (unofficial rest area identification) initiative rolled out nationally, or a car driver reads the TIV curtains or one of the Truckies Top Ten Tips and then better understands trucks and/ or has more empathy for our job, it is worth it just for that. Then everything else I can affect positively is a bonus.
“The other side is that if truckies do see that we can get things fixed or improved, that the TIV and I do have some small part to play in changing how we are seen and treated by the road authorities and the public, then they may be more likely to behave differently or come up with an even better way to do something positive. If every driver did one positive thing each day, collectively we could achieve more in a day than I will in 10 years; but we do need something to drive such change.
“Many drivers call me up and say ‘Thanks for your efforts’ and there are of course some who disagree for whatever reason, but as the people who live and work on the road we need to be heard and must continue to strive for better safety for all road users.
“The fact is those who currently make the rules and the roads do not live or work on them as we do.”
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