Rising Star Awarded
At the joint Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) and Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA conference in Busselton WA, the winner of the inaugural Rural Transport Rising Star (RTRS) award with the Rising Star awarded to Amy Throckmorton, an Operations Manager working for TGR Transport in Victoria. As the winner, Amy was presented with the trophy, a $5,000 cash prize and a GME GPS Personal Location Beacon.
Amy came out at the head of a very strong field of nine nominees, with entrants from all over Australia being put forward by their employers and associates. The panel of four judges admitted it had been hard to single out a winner as the quality of the nominees had been so high.
Amy was described as, “A country girl with a strong passion for the transport industry. Very content working with trucks in the rural sector,” by TGR Transport Director, Tom Allen.
Damian Swalling, a livestock transport operator from Toowoomba in Queensland was named as runner-up for the award and also received a GME GPS Personal Location Beacon.
The RTRS award was developed by PowerTorque Magazine, in association with the ALRTA, and this year, sponsored by BP. The aim of the award is to shine the spotlight on, and encourage, the best in the young people who are working the industry and driving it forward into the future.
The RSRT initiative was developed because, like many sectors of the economy, the rural trucking sector is crying out for bright new entrants into the industry. The award is designed to highlight young people currently working in many roles in this sector, creating change and improving the industry, with the aim of demonstrating the possibilities for other young potential entrants into our industry.
The RSRT award is intended to extend and complement the young persons awards, which some rural transport state associations already have in place. This award can bring those involved at state level to national attention and emphasise the wide variety of roles rural transport offers. It’s not just about truck drivers , but anyone involved in rural transport, in any capacity.
Amy grew up in rural Victoria with a father who owned trucks and a grandfather on a farm. This introduction to the industry saw Amy washing trucks when growing up to pay for phone credit. Her first real role in transport was with Wettenhalls, where she started processing run sheets. Over time she moved to other roles getting experience in fleet maintenance administration, going on to manage both the workshop and fleet maintenance.
We now find her as an Operations Manager at TGR Transport. The fleet handled grain cartage as well as heavy haulage around Australia. Amy’s job involves most parts of the business, scheduling trucks, organising loads, managing drivers, co-ordinating with customers, scheduling maintenance, processing payroll, completing invoicing and even organising work training functions. Amy describes her role as being, “a jack (or jill) of all trades role and I love it”.
“I learnt early on that transport is about learning on the job,” says Amy. “You learn quickly when things go wrong! My roles have varied from scheduling milk trucks at McColls to running the Kenworth service office. I take every chance to attend truck shows, conferences and courses as this industry always changes!”