Look Beyond the Truck Campaign was launched as part of the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show as a result of a collaboration between industry leaders. Which were, Alex Fraser, Bingo Industries, Heavy Vehicle Industry Association (HVIA), Holcim, Qube, Toll Group, Viva Energy and Zurich Insurance, led by the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) and kindly sponsored by Geotab.
The launch of the campaign featured a Lego bust of each of the five drivers that featured in the promotional materials. One of the drivers, Ricky Formosa from Holcim, made the journey to the Truck Show to see his Lego bust and supporting material in person. Joining Ricky was his wife, Sarina, both of whom shared how they work as a team supporting each other by checking in regularly that they are both safe on the road and avoiding hot spots.
Ricky’s pride is 30 years without an infringement or incident, a testimonial to his passion and pride in being a professional driver and the teamwork with his wife who runs her own business and other professional drivers.
This video explores ‘why’ the campaign was developed, the passion of the many people behind it and to recognise the professional drivers in the video and all them on the road every day and night.
Context
Trucks are the largest vehicles on the road, they have a huge physical presence and keep Australia’s economy rolling. However, for most road users they are a slow-moving obstacle to get in front of without understanding these big vehicles do not behave like cars, have blind spots, and can’t stop quickly. Most road users have these misconceptions of who truck drivers are.
As a result, despite being only 4% of the nation’s fleet they typically account for being involved in 15% of fatalities, 80% are the fault of the third party.
Origins
The heavy vehicle industry leaders and NRSPP have together been developing a series of Heavy Vehicle Toolbox Talks (TBT) packages thanks to funding through National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, supported by the Federal Government. A core element of the TBT has been professional driver interviews which feature as part of a video in the packages. To date over 60 drivers have been interviewed and three key themes emerged from most interviews:
- Drivers love their job.
- They are highly professional and skilled.
- For them to get home safe they need other drivers to be safe around them.
There have been many campaigns around blind spots and educating the public on being safe around trucks but none that aim to create empathy for truck drivers from other road users. The goal is to change how other road users see the truck, from being an inanimate object to the person inside and thereby be considerate.
The idea for the campaign was endorsed by the industry partners and then enabled thanks to securing a sponsor that also supported the empathy approach in caring for professional drivers in Geotab.
NRSPP has been assisted by Swinburne Bureau in branding and monthly promotions for the TBT. They took on the creative design for bringing the campaign to life with the guidance of the industry partners.
Acknowledgment
The NRSPP’s secret to success in our campaigns and programs is our huge team effort and always recognising each of the amazing people and organisations that contribute. Special thanks to:
Industry leaders
- Adam Ritzinger of HVIA
- Daniel Brain of Toll Group
- James Zarb of Viva Energy
- Mark Noble of Holcim
- Mike Mulligan of Qube
- Mike Wilson of Bingo industries
- Peter Johansson of Zurich
- Steve Power of HVIA
NRSPP Project Team
- Grace Harries
- Jerome Carslake of NRSPP
- Jennifer Rivera Gonzalez
- Manal Rizwan
- Tim Roberts of Fleet Strategy
Swinburne Bureau
- Abel Matthew
- Charmaine Hung
- Madelaine Vincent
- Nicki Wragg
- Nilushi Jayawardena
- Shivani Tyagi
Sponsorship
- Geotab
- Heavy Vehicle Industry Association
Professional Driver Organisations
- Alex Fraser
- Bingo Industries
- Holcim
- Toll Group