The Western Australia Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association has merged with Transport Women Australia
Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | August 1, 2012
The Western Australia Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association (WALDODA) has merged with Transport Women Australia (TWA) in a bid to increase member services and reduce costs.
The amalgamation was made on Monday, with both boards making the decision.
WALDODA Chairman Ray Pratt says the incorporation will not see a change in business. Unable to disclose how many members there are, Pratt says the two organisations will work in sync.
“There is no reason why it won’t work. Quite a few of our members are women and a lot of people who attend our meetings are women because their husbands are away driving. They understand what happens within transport and it’s the same with the Transport Women Australia, they have a lot of male members,” Pratt says.
TWA Chairwoman Pam McMillan says WALDODA has a close relationship with WA Main Roads and the WA Government, having successfully lobbied the implementation of the Owner-Drivers (Contracts and Disputes) Act.
“They also have a seat on the Road Freight Industry Council in WA and that will remain,” McMillan says.
“Over the past 10 years we have had a healthy relationship with WA operators and this merger will strengthen our membership in that state.”
National Transport Insurance (NTI) Risk Manager Steve Post is the board representative.
“The appointment of Steve to our board will bring about a new and healthy perspective and the fact that we care about small operator issues was highlighted with our research into their viability some years ago,” McMillan says.
Both groups have stressed the importance of retaining their brand and identity.
“We believe they need to keep their identity and what they stand for. We don’t want to lose that,” McMillan says.
“We are respecting the good work that they have done. It will be good for them and we have a fairly good membership in WA so we have to look after our WA members and that’s what they wanted to do. They didn’t feel it was anybody else who could adequately look after their issues and they weren’t happy with any other organisations so they chose us.”
