Posted by Rita Mu
The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) will launch a book on the history of safety in the trucking industry to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The book, Putting Safety First, will be officially released at the 2011 Australian Trucking Convention, which will be held from 25 to 28 May in Canberra.
According to the ATA, the book was developed by a history committee led by Peter Rocke, the first chair of the Road Transport Industry Forum (renamed the ATA).
Rocke said: “Twenty years ago, the industry was very fragmented... We realised that if we didn’t take a united approach to safety we could be regulated out of business.
“Today, the national and state governments recognise the ATA as a truly national and representative voice of the road transport industry.
“We put the book together because we felt that if we didn’t record the beginnings and the reasons for starting the ATA, they would be lost in time and forgotten,” he said.
The book tells the story of the ATA’s key safety achievements over the last 20 years, including:
• its two mobile safety exhibitions: the Safety Education Trailer, now on display at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, and the Road Ahead, launched in 2008.
• the TruckSafe safety accreditation program (businesses in the TruckSafe system are twice as safe as non-accredited businesses),
• the 100 km/h per hour speed limiters installed in every truck and the chain of responsibility laws and
• a dramatic increase in road funding, more truck rest areas and the fuel tax credits system.
Pre-order copies of Putting Safety First are available by downloading the order form at www.atatruck.net.au and faxing it to 02 6253 6999.
Image: atatruck.net.au