The LRTAV’s 2016 Young Driver Award winner, Rob Hodge, is prepared to put in the extra work required to employ drivers in their early 20s.
Rob Hodge believes young people shouldn’t have to wait until they are 25 to begin driving trucks.
The 2016 winner of the Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of Victoria (LRTAV) Young Driver Award doesn’t shy away from hiring drivers aged under 25 at Hodge Livestock Transport.
Hodge, 34, manages the family business and tells his broker he only wants quotes from companies which will insure drivers who are under 25.
Hodge Livestock Transport is based in Blakeville near Ballarat, Victoria. The company operates 10 trucks, including nine Western Stars, which specialise in rural freight. Most of their freight is livestock.
“You talk about the average age of the livestock transport drivers – I would imagine that our average would be mid-30s in our company,” says Hodge whose youngest driver is 21.
A third-generation truck driver, Hodge is prepared to put in the extra work required to employ and train young drivers. “They start with a smaller truck – just a tray truck with a single deck. And they just continue to grow as their experience allows.”
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Hodges’ Blakeville yards with Angus stud bulls bound for King Island.
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Hodge was presented with the LRTAV Young Driver Award last August after being nominated by his partner, Fluff Tonkin, who has a heavy combination licence and enjoys driving the Western Stars. The couple is celebrating the arrival of a daughter, Tiffany, who was born in June.
Nominations are now open for the 2017 LRTAV Young Driver Award which is sponsored by Griffiths Goodall Insurance Brokers. It is open to truck drivers aged 20 to 35 (as of December 31, 2017) who work in the rural transport sector. Entrants must be nominated by a member of the LRTAV by July 21. The winner will be announced on August 11.
Phone Cathy Taylor on 0400 933 713 or email office@lrtav.com.au for more information about the award.
Read the fully story in the July 2017 issue of Owner//Driver, on sale July 10.