It seems there are a lot of people that like to put themselves on record or stand tall and loud whenever there is an accident, where a truck or multiple vehicles are involved and in the unfortunate event that there is a loss of life.
The outcry over our licencing and training is all over newspapers and social media. The ones leading the charge are happy to try and call out associations for not doing enough and asking them to stop looking at the financial dollar and start doing something.
Well, I have to say, and this may come as a shock to many of you, but many associations are doing something. Many board members attend regular meetings to achieve change and they do it week in and week out, and at a point of having to repeat what I have said before ‘at a financial cost to themselves’.
It is time away from their own jobs or businesses, time away from family, and usually they turn up and have a significant financial cost out of their own pocket to attend and be a part of the consultation process that so many of you have been crying out for, for such a long time. If you cannot see it, then it would be because you aren’t there, you are not in the room and if that is the case, then ask yourself why?
I ask you, where is your $11 a month to contribute to ease the financial burden for those that are making this sacrifice? Don’t pump your chest out on social media and claim to be all that you are and call out others that are trying to make a difference, if you yourself are not prepared to support them in their cause or do exactly what they are doing week in and week out.
If people want to stand on the outside and throw stones, I can guarantee we will be exactly where we are now, in another 20 years.
My point is that if you are not a member of an association or you, yourself, are not being invited to attend and be a part of the consultation process then ask yourself why.
Voicing your opinion on social media, either via posts or comments does nothing but contribute to the negative slinging match and is only detrimental to the changes so many of you want.
While it seems you are happy to state that these issues have been a discussion point, or that you have been talking about them for the last 20 years, that does not move us any further forward in change — it simply keeps you looking in the rear-view mirror of where the industry has been.
We now need to band together as a united front to achieve change and to do this we need to be looking forward, not backwards.
Yes, there is much in the transport industry that needs change, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and the wheels turn slowly. But I think I can honestly say, ‘we are making progress.’
There is consultation from industry representatives where there hasn’t been in the past. The associations are included in meetings with the powers-that-be and are working well together. There is a respect from each other for the knowledge that each one brings to industry specific meetings.
So, if you are so dead set on change coming about, get on board and either step up yourself or join an association and help support those that do.
I invite you now to join the NRFA and support the people that are at the table trying to make a difference in the transport industry to make it a safer, viable and more sustainable industry into the future for us all.
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Collette Forsyth has been a member of the NRFA since 2021 at which time her family owned and operated their own truck. In 2022 she became NRFA’s administration officer and in 2024, was voted on to the board of the NRFA as Treasurer. Collette is steadfast in her support of those in the association who do so much for positive change for the transport industry.