Comment: Honouring industry achievers
The Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand Conference recognised the individuals and organisations that play an important role in the industry
 |
|
Neil Reid speaking after accepting the VTNZ Supreme Contribution to Industry Award
|
Having the industry gather together at the recent Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand Conference seemed like a real treat after the isolation and physical distancing of the last few years.
It was also fantastic to be able to celebrate once again some of our industry’s high achievers through the Transporting New Zealand Industry Awards.
Our industry is on the whole a pretty humble one, never really blowing its own trumpet. Nevertheless, I believe it’s important to gather together and recognise the individuals and organisations whose activities and achievements have improved the daily lives of others and ensure the industry is a rewarding and safe environment to work in.
The Awards were held as part of a gala dinner at Bill Richardson Transport World and were the perfect way to wrap up what had been an extremely informative and enjoyable conference.
The night’s first award went to the Alexander Group, which took out the EROAD Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety. This was deserved recognition for the extraordinary length of time this company has been an industry leader in health and safety.
The company, which specialises in dangerous and high-value goods transport, was an early adopter of speed limiting and telematics and continues to pride itself on safety and using leading-edge technology to assist with that.
The EROAD Young Driver of the Year Award went to Brianna Wilson, who’s a Class 5 driver at Philip Wareing Ltd and is one of our Driving Change Diversity Champions. Brianna started as an apprentice driver and never shies away from challenging work, which she undertakes with a polite, cheerful, and positive attitude.
She’s also a strong advocate for providing more opportunities for women in the industry.
Josh Hart of Hart Haulage was a deserving winner of the Castrol Truck Driver Hero Award.
This is an award that goes to a driver who selflessly goes out of their way to help others. Famous for his pink-liveried truck that carries anti-bullying messages, Josh is an anti-bullying campaigner and advocate who always has time to help other truckies or members of the public deal with and put an end to the destructive societal impacts of bullying.
Like Brianna, Josh is one of our Driving Change Diversity Champions, and I’m sure that this award will further enhance the work he’s doing to promote diversity in our industry.
One of our newer awards is the Teletrac Navman Outstanding Contribution by a Woman in the Road Transport Industry, which this year went to Jenny McIntyre of Waimea Contract Carriers.
Together with her brother, Jenny manages one of the South Island’s major log transport operations and employs 90 staff across the top of the South Island. Having been in the industry since she was 14, Jenny is well-known for her sound management skills that have helped her and the business overcome many obstacles.
She’s a wonderful example of the many women delivering in leadership roles within our industry. This leads me to the big award of the evening — the VTNZ Supreme Contribution to NZ Road Transport.
This ended up being a double celebration for the winner as they were also the first person to receive a Transporting New Zealand life membership. The winner was Neil Reid — one of the true gentlemen of the transport business.
Neil grew up in a trucking family and then worked his way up through managerial roles in transport businesses around the South Island, before joining with business partner Garth Butler to settle as 50/50 shareholders in TNL Group Limited.
By the time Neil retired in 2007, he had, through persistence and loyal and dedicated staff, built TNL into an extremely successful road transport, contract warehousing, and international freight and customs operation.
Since the 1970s, Neil has also served the industry through executive roles with the Road Transport Association, RTANZ, and chaired the Road Transport Forum for six years.
Neil was instrumental in the merger of RTANZ with RTF to form Transporting New Zealand and has also provided me with much wise counsel over the years. He’s very deserving of the accolades he has received.
Find new and used heavy machinery for sale in NZ
Keep up to date in the industry by signing up to Deals on Wheels' free newsletter or liking us on Facebook.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
