Last weekend saw the NatRoad Conference take place, an event where the backbone of the trucking industry get to have their say and communicate directly with the powers that be about the world of trucking. This video is one of those which were shown between sessions and illustrates the kind of membership NatRoad attracts.
It is this kind of grassroots, which has kept the NatRoad association at the forefront of campaigning for trucking over its long history. One of the two original organisations which merged to form NatRoad, the Long Distance Road Transport Association had formed after the road transport industry grew after the Hughes and Vale case in 1954 had lifted state government restrictions on long distance road freight.
The other organisation involved in the merger was the National Transport Federation, a newer organisation which had come onto the scene when smaller trucking operators, first in Victoria and later nationwide, became frustrated with the chaotic state of trucking rules in the mid-1980s. This group had led the most disruptive protests of the late eighties and early nineties representing small to medium operators who were doing it tough.
The merger of the two entities in the mid-nineties saw the NatRoad formed as the largest national membership organisation representing the bread and butter trucking operators of the country. It is this straightforward attitude which has kept the membership coming back for more as the trucking industry has had to deal with major issues on a regular basis.
The crisis around the introduction of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal was the most recent of these issues. This saw small owner operators under threat of having their businesses cut away from under them by the unfair application of safe rate rules.
NatRoad’s willingness to stand up and fight on the issue has seen a fresh group of operators join up, and many attended the most recent conference to air their views.
