At the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) Awards night a celebration of trucking in Queensland saw a wide range of individuals and operators receiving honours.
Two Driving Excellence Awards were presented on the night. The first went to Neil Kerkow from BP Australia’s Wondai depot. He has been employed at the same depot for over 35 years and is known around his workplace as having a keen eye for detail in all areas of his work. He has taken on a mentoring role with other drivers, providing guidance and support, including contributing to a ‘Black Spot’ sheet for other drivers to ensure their safety at delivery sites. The second Driving Excellence Award went to Steven Williams from Seymours.
The QTA Professional Driver of the Year was awarded to Dwight Emerson from Simon National Carriers. With a long experience in trucks behind him, Emerson left his home country of Canada in 2004, coming to Australia and starting work as a linehaul driver.
His professional driving career broadened into B-Doubles, Road Trains and, now, he has extended himself into the safety and operational areas of the company. Highly regarded by his fellow employees, he drove Assistant Police Commissioner, Mike Keating on a road trip to Rockhampton to allow him to get first hand experience of life on the road in a B-Double and to better understand the challenges facing heavy vehicle drivers in maintaining appropriate safety standards.
The Industry Excellence Award went to Donald Seymour from Seymours. He began as a driver with one truck and, now, with his sons Scott and Carl, owns and operates a fleet of 98 heavy vehicles, 23 light vehicles, all working in general freight and logging.
Don’s passion and love for the road transport industry provides example to his employees that Transport is a rewarding career offering a unique lifestyle opportunity, he believes to be both rewarding and enjoyable.
The winner of the 2014 QTAYoung Achiever Award was Nathan Wilson from Willow’s Bitumen Haulage. Nathan is a partner in Willows Tipper Hire, starting out as an apprentice diesel fitter at Cummins in Mackay. He now drives a triple, hauling dangerous goods and has never had an incident. As an apprentice Nathan won Cummins ‘Fitter of the Year’ Award and was a finalist for Apprentice of the Year. At Cummins they nick named him the “Yes Man” because he never said no to any job. Nathan keeps up with the latest knowledge and attends courses and trade shows to make sure that he is at the top of his game.
The Industry Safety Award winner is Toll Mining Services (TMS) Explosives Services after an earlier this year. A Mine Plant Operator misjudged the height of the tines and penetrated two boxes of detonators. The potential consequences of a detonator discharging could have been catastrophic endangering lives and equipment. Consultation between Toll Mining Service, Dyno Nobel and BHP has since sought to develop a solution for the identified risks.
The Excellence in Contribution Award winner is Christopher Knight from Followmont Transport, the People Leadership Excellence Award winner this year is the Easter Group and Trucking Woman of the Year Award recipient is Julie Russell from Russell Transport.