2020 HVIA National Award Winners

National Apprentice of the Year Award

Sponsored by Warby Tools

WINNER: Joel Dunstan

The Brown & Hurley Group – Yatala

Joel Dunstan represents what every company is looking for in an apprentice. With a rural/trucking background, Joel has been brought up with a good work ethic helping his father with running and maintaining their fleet of trucks.

With this knowledge, when Joel first came to us as a 1st year apprentice he was already able to carry out basic repairs and servicing. He has now become a model technician with great diagnostic skills.

Joel is also an active member of his community including membership of the Gold Coast polocrosse club for the past 14 years and representing Queensland five times as a player.

Joel has now started mentoring new apprentices and was first to put his hand up to help guide this year’s apprentices through the first stages of their journey, helping them gain the skills needed.

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT Ashley Beeby

Cummins Laverton North

When Ashley Beeby was about to commence her VCE journey at the end of 2015, she hadn’t considered pathways other than university, until a fortuitous prod from a school career advisor.

Although small in stature, Ashley’s huge thirst for knowledge, desire to learn new things and ability to push herself out of her comfort zone, saw her undertake two impressive periods of work experience in the Cummins Laverton workshop.

Ashley accepted had already accepted an apprenticeship position with Cummins before graduating in the top 5% of Year twelve students in Victoria with an an ATAR of 95.

Ashley continues to impress her peers, colleagues and superiors with her dedication to the trade and her passion for encouraging others about the potential of working in the industry.

Peter Langworthy Future Leader Award

WINNER: John Jackson

Brimarco

John Jackson’s own drive and initiative has underpinned his career progression with Brimarco.

Joining Brimarco in Ballarat at age sixteen, John graduated from his apprenticeship just three years later as a qualified boilermaker. By the age of twenty-one John was Leading Hand, overseeing the manufacture of widening drop deck trailers.

After a successful five-year stint with Jayco, John returned to Ballarat, initially returning to Brimarco’s factory floor as a welder. Before the year was out, however, he was offered the role of Leading Hand and the following year Operations Supervisor for the division. John drove significant process improvements, gaining production efficiencies, without compromising quality.

John is always encouraging his team to want more; whether that is finishing their apprenticeship, striving to be a leader or just to be the best employee they could be. John asks each of them what they want and then works on a plan with them to help them achieve the outcome.

Having engaged with customers at each new trailer delivery, John’s easy rapport was recognised however it was his own idea to step into sales.

Despite no previous sales experience John has matched the previous two years’ sales volume in his first year. Customers value his reliability and responsiveness. He has also developed new channels to market and new sources of lead generation.

John listens to customer’s ideas and recently brought the recommendation to management for a new model to complement the existing range. It has now been fully engineered and the prototype is currently in production, with a customer lined up to test it in the field.

Community Leadership Award

Sponsored by Moreton Hire

WINNER: R U OK / Drought Aid

MaxiTrans Industries Pty Ltd

MaxiTRANS provided assistance to various organisations to assist in the drought event that swept most states within Australia.

MaxiTRANS trailers from across the company network have assisted farming communities with supply of much needed stockfeed and hay bales.

MaxiTRANS and its staff, in conjunction with our longest standing dealer partner Mildura Truck Centre, joined together to support this great cause, with 1% of the purchase price from all new trailers, truck bodies ordered, and parts purchased from participating outlets.

In 2020 MaxiTRANS commissioned a Freighter T-Liner semi-trailer with ‘R U OK?’ branded curtains. The trailer will continue to create awareness for ‘R U OK?’ throughout the year.

A company-wide campaign was held on the day for its staff, which included donations, wearing yellow, taking time out to ask each other about their own welfare, as well as internally promoting discussion around mental health prevention. Sites also had speakers sharing personal experiences about their own mental health.

MaxiTRANS’ has donated almost $45,000, since its first ‘R U OK? Day’ campaign in September 2017.

Product Innovation Award

Sponsored by NTI Australia

WINNER: Hevi Spec/Spider Path

by Tiger Spider Pty Ltd

Hevi Spec is an online high-productivity vehicle design tool that allows users to create almost any high-productivity combination and test it against Performance Based Standards.

The modular vehicle builder includes prime movers, rigid trucks, buses, special purpose vehicles, pigs, dogs, semi-trailers, goose-neck dollies and non-standard trailers with multiple axle groups. Steerable axles, powertrain, suspension, tyres and coupling can all be configured.

Hevi Spec/Spider Path also provides an intuitive and easy to use online route assessment tool for transport companies and road managers to more confidently apply and confirm that a vehicle combination will fit a specific route or network.

Safety Innovation Award

WINNER: SK42ASW Pneumatically Operated Sensor Fifth-Wheel

Jost Australia

The JSK42ASW reduces manual strain injury when operating a fifth wheel and minimises the likelihood of a dropped trailer by giving a clear indication when the coupling is correctly secured.

The JSK42ASW is opened by means of a pneumatic cylinder, activated from the cabin. The system is secured against inadvertant actuation by using three solenoid valves connected to two electrical switches.

The switches are only energised if the truck’s park brake is applied and the driver must press both switches at the same time to open the fifth wheel. The pneumatic actuation removes the manual effort required to operate the fifth wheel.

A three-way sensor system on the JSK42ASW detects the correct height of the trailer skid-plate, the correct position of the kingpin and the correct position of the secondary safety mechanism before signalling to the driver that the fifth wheel is closed.

The sensor status is indicated with a clear red/green lamp in the cabin and on some trucks the signal can be integrated into the vehicle multi-function display with additional instructions to the driver.

The three-point check makes it much easier to correctly identify the coupling status, partularly at night or where visual checks are difficult.