Transport companies that are serious about going somewhere with good compliance need to join TruckSafe, the National Linehaul Manager of Toll NQX, John King, said after winning the Queensland Trucking Association’s 2013 Industry Excellence Award.

Mr King said the award recognised Toll NQX’s attitude towards safety, compliance and continuous improvement.

“NQX is quite a big company. We recognised the need to change course in about 1997. We were starting to get increasing pressure from customers about safety,” he said.

“We joined TruckSafe in 1998. It was absolutely the starting point for improved compliance at NQX. We’ve been huge supporters of TruckSafe ever since. It’s really worth it because it’s a consistent approach across the business.

“If you’re serious about going somewhere with good compliance, you need a map and a way forward. It seems daunting, but it’s not with the TruckSafe structure,” he said.

Toll NQX is the leading provider of transport solutions for moving freight between Queensland, the Northern Territory and the rest of Australia. The business delivers 43,000 consignments each week through 2,000 scheduled road services. It employs 1,500 people in 24 branches nationwide.

Frasers Livestock Transport, also a member of TruckSafe, took out the QTA’s 2013 Industry Safety Award. Frasers Livestock Transport recently won the ‘Best solution to an identified work health and safety issue’ and ‘Best individual contribution to work health and safety’ categories of the 2013 Queensland Safe Work Awards.

TruckSafe is the trucking industry’s leading safety accreditation program. Businesses in TruckSafe meet higher safety standards than those required by law, and are audited regularly by qualified auditors selected by TruckSafe. TruckSafe is owned by the Australian Trucking Association.