Industry stalwart spruiks Australian Freight Industry Awards and David Hay scholarship winners
Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | August 3, 2012
With less than a month to go until the 23rd annual Australian Freight Industry Awards, transport operators are urged to secure a ticket.
Victorian Transport Association (VTA) will hold the gala event on September 1 at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium ballroom.
Some 620 people have booked a spot but there’s plenty more to go to fill the room that seats 950 people, VTA Executive Officer Phil Lovel says.
“People are bloody slow and we have to give numbers in and do a lot of coordination and they just wait to the very last moment those transport people,” Lovel says.
Some 100 of the 260 people who attended this week’s VTA luncheon booked a ticket for the awards.
Despite tough times, Lovel says it is important for the industry to celebrate its achievements.
“This is a celebration of the industry, if we don’t go on and celebrate it and recognise top companies and technology we might as well go and die under a bush,” he says.
“This makes people feel good; we don’t want to go away and get depressed with the Federal Government – we are taking this on because it makes people feel a whole lot better and we all celebrate together.”
Four David Hay scholarship winners will be announced on the night, which is made available by the generosity of Hay’s widow, Christine, supporting those wanting to pursue further studies in the supply chain, logistics and transport industry, Lovel adds.
The scholarship will fund the course fees, allowing students to pursue any course from Diploma to PhD in the industry.
“David Hay was a very famous transport person who died last year and his wife has donated a lot of money to Victoria University (VU) to run four scholarships for young people,” Lovel says.
“He had a great history in the industry so we’re celebrating his life with a new scholarship which is fantastic.”
The VU Foundation, through the Institute for Supply Chain and Logistics (ISCL) is managing the scholarship, which will be offered next year.
Hay died from cancer in June 2011, after more than 50 years in the transport industry working for major companies including TNT, Linfox, Pacific Waste, Mayne Logistics and FBT Transwest.