Awards in seven categories were presented by Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson at the Queensland Trucking Association gala event, which headlines the Queensland trucking industry calendar in October each year, with 300 attending the black tie dinner.
The Excellence in Driving Award went to Darren Peach from Simon National Carriers. Darren has established an impeccable driving record since commencing his career in 1989, covering more than 3.5 million kilometres without a single speeding offence.
The Professional Driver of the Year award was taken home by Neville Thacker from BP. Thacker operates tankers from BP in Townsville and has travelled more than three million safe and incident free kilometres.
The Industry Excellence Award went to John King, National Linehaul Manager at Toll NQX for the contribution he has made to road safety. King has initiated extensive safety strategies including the installation of black boxes and cameras into Toll NQX tricks, along with lowering speed capabilities across the fleet and enrolling the company in the TruckSafe program.
The Industry Safety Award was presented to Fraser’s Livestock Transport of Warwick for the design and development of an innovative cross loading module. The module is used in the transhipment of cattle between stock trailers and removes the need for drivers to climb on or be inside stock crates. Using a series of walkways, ramps and gates the module not only lessens risk but delivers time savings and lowers stress on cattle.
Tegan McFarlane from Followmont Transport took home the Young Achiever Award for the role she has played in the GenR8 Youth Engagement Program, resulting in developing the skills of young people within the company and creating valuable career paths.
This program won the People Leadership Excellence Award recognising the fact more than 70 year 12 students were attracted to learn more about various positions within the industry. Companies taking part and also acknowledged were KS Easter Group, Daryl Dickenson Transport, Followmont, RB Russell Transport and Transpacific Industries.
Karen Bow from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland was awarded Queensland Transport Woman of the Year. Karen is Principal Advisor for the Transport Strategy Group within the Department and works closely with transport and exhibits a continued passion for the industry while promoting safety.
Photo: Winner of the People Leadership Excellence Award was the GenR8 Youth Engagement Program and companies supporting the initiative were recognised at the QTA Awards dinner.