A name and a person the heavy vehicle industry will remember for a long time to come is Chalee Hollandrose. HVIA was fortunate enough to sit down with the 2025 HVIA Heavy Vehicle Industry Apprentice of the Year to find out more about her and how she came to be up for the award.
So how and why did Chalee come to enter the heavy vehicle industry? For her it was a solution to a frustrating problem. When she took car to get fixed at a mechanic, she later found out that they hadn’t completed any of the work they claimed they had. Candidly she says, “I thought screw this, I want to do it myself.” The next day she applied to be an apprentice for Cummins and found herself in a workshop soon after.
It will be of little surprise that Chalee comes from a family of trades people with her dad, stepdad and brother all tradies. However, she was quick to say “if someone told me 10 years ago I’d be a heavy diesel mechanic, I would have been like, no way!”
When asked about the award experience, Chalee says “ I did not think was going to win. I was only girl in the running; there was lots of talent up on stage and I hadn’t even planned a speech.” She adds she was in “pure shock, knowing that from this little town in Port Hedland all the way from WA to the award night in Brisbane. To be nominated, and recognised from so far away, from a small branch of only six technicians was really nice.”
In her application, when asked about her next steps, Chalee had confessed that she’d like to become an engineer. She told us “I always wanted to progress my learning and don’t want to stay in one position forever, I want to keep learning.”
The reason for choosing engineering as a possible next step has a lot to do with the engineers she works with at Cummin, Chalee says. “I loved how they talked about the product in detail and I thought, that will be me one day.”
Chalee says Cummins has great opportunities available if she wants to go that way. “Personally, I don’t want to become an engineer just yet, I’m still in my first year of being qualified and want more time on the ground as a tradie.”
Chalee started her apprenticeship in 2022; and was signed off seven months early. During her apprenticeship she travelled to both Perth and Adelaide workshops to perform fill-in roles which she has said was very beneficial to her career and learning. Her hardest day of work was when she filled in for the Adelaide branch in her second year. When selected for the opportunity she had to ask “are you sure?” as she was very nervous. She was quickly made to feel at home when she realised she knew the engine she was working on quite well.
In her branch in Port Hedland, Chalee is the only female which she said was initially hard. Now her colleagues are like brothers, and she is comfortable getting support from them and providing it to new apprentices.
When asked what she does outside of work, she said “I try to work as much as I can because I love my job”. With a bit of further probing, she did confess to camping, fishing, shopping and a new side hustle baking cakes. She highly recommends the watering holes in Marble Bay for anyone planning a trip to WA.
Chalee has made friends nationally with some other apprentices, engineers and the on-highway team with Cummins. This has been enabled by site visits, her placements interstate and of course online meetings. She even met her now best friend during her placement in Adelaide, and her friend is also a qualified diesel mechanic.
Her favourite initiative has been taking on the role of HSE Chairperson in her current workplace. She has found relief in ensuring things get actioned and fixed, such as the wash bay grates which were a risk for falls. She is currently working to improve the airflow in their workshop which is in a harsh climate environment being in the Pilbara.
So how can we attract more people like Chalee? She suggests ‘more recognition like the awards. More awareness that if you want to do it, just do it and more awareness of women in the industry.”
What Chalee would say to her younger self? “Go for it, don’t be scared. You will figure things out anyway. Make sure you like what you do and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.”
And to other young people finding their way? “Say yes to every opportunity, this led me to the award, you will meet so many more people this way.”
Thanks, Chalee, for your incredible example and for being a wonderful role model for our next generation of apprentices! Who will our next national winner be? Could it be you? Look out for the next HVIA Award Applications set to open in July 2026.
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