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Hard-won young driver awards<br />
with stringent performance criteria<br />
should be worn as a badge of honour<br />
and something to aspire to. An award<br />
should take pride of place on the<br />
mantle-piece in the pool room.<br />
The Livestock, Bulk and Rural<br />
Carriers Association (LBRCA), in<br />
partnership with SafeWork New<br />
South Wales, has been running its<br />
annual Young Driver of the Year<br />
Award since 2015, to recognise<br />
outstanding young heavy vehicle<br />
drivers who demonstrate a best<br />
practice approach to driving<br />
and safety.<br />
The annual award is hotly<br />
contested, with stringent criteria to<br />
be met by all nominees. Nominations<br />
must come from an LBRCA member<br />
and nominees must be aged between<br />
21 and 35 years old. Nominees must<br />
also be either an LBRCA member or<br />
work directly for a member.<br />
According to Bec Coleman,<br />
chief operating officer of the<br />
LBRCA: “The award is our way of<br />
identifying excellence in young<br />
drivers and moulding them into<br />
industry leaders; that’s what we<br />
aim to do with the award.<br />
“This is highlighted by the<br />
progress of our inaugural award<br />
winner Reggie Sutton. Since<br />
receiving his award in 2015, Reggie<br />
has since gone on to currently hold<br />
the position of vice-president of<br />
the LBRCA.<br />
“Each year, we receive seven<br />
or eight nominations who must<br />
complete the entry to include two<br />
independent references, information<br />
about the nominee’s driving and<br />
employment history and answer a<br />
series of industry relevant questions<br />
and typical scenarios and how they<br />
are handled in day-to-day life on<br />
the road.<br />
“These nomination forms, once<br />
received, make up 50 per cent of the<br />
judging process. In the past couple<br />
of years, we have tightened the<br />
criteria even further to require a clean<br />
police check and an untarnished<br />
driving record.”<br />
A panel of judges comprising<br />
former award winners, award<br />
sponsor representatives and award<br />
steering committee members<br />
evaluates the nominees’ answers<br />
and credentials blindly before<br />
trimming the list of nominees down<br />
to three finalists. The chosen finalists<br />
are then notified and invited to the<br />
LRBCA annual conference.<br />
At the conference, the finalists<br />
are then interviewed and judged<br />
by a five-member panel, which<br />
includes two representatives from<br />
SafeWork NSW.<br />
The award winner, once chosen,<br />
then goes on to represent the<br />
LBRCA and young drivers as a safety<br />
The award is our way of<br />
identifying excellence<br />
in young drivers<br />
Top: With Matt<br />
Benseman behind<br />
the wheel, the T659<br />
Kenworth travels as<br />
far as Longreach in<br />
Queensland<br />
Above: Mick<br />
Maloney of Maloney<br />
Livestock Transport<br />
(left) congratulates<br />
Matt Benseman on<br />
winning the LBRCA<br />
Young Driver of the<br />
Year award<br />
Left: The Byrne stock<br />
trailers are very<br />
recent acquisitions<br />
for MLT<br />
FULLYLOADED.COM.AU July 2021 <strong>ATN</strong> 33
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