See Attached Below

Road_Guardian_profile.pdf

Early in February we setup a branch in Townsville, with a Prime Mover and Medium rigid Truck, with Dale Wilkinson as Trainer.  After lack of bookings over a 3 month period and no sign of improvement (Global Financial Crisis impact), Dale had to move on to put food on the table for his family.  Shame, as Dale is a great trainer with a wealth of industry experience.

Yours truly then carried on in Townsville for another 3 months and after looking at booking trends etc, and mounting pressure to have truck availability back in Cairns, we made the decision to cease in the Townsville market.

Late August, we secured a contract to train a group of people in Mackay, Prime Mover for Heavy Rigid Training, which ended up being another 3 month commitment.

We are extrememly grateful for the support of our trusted clients, over the past 12 months and of course the years before this as well.

The latter part of September saw the beginning of our entrance to facebook, with a personal profile and business profile ( Tenni's Heavy Vehicle Driver Training ) set up. This is a big part of why the website is not being updated as much as it should, but will be more in the new year.

This ended up being duplicated somehow by a default setting somewhere on facebook, that to this day don't really understand how or why, (no Jan it was not the operator !! ), this resulted in having to delete one... the one that had the most fans, as it did not have some functionality for future marketing that we require.  So if you were a fan of the old page, can we push the friendship and ask you to "Like" "Add to Favourites" and "Suggest to Friends" again?... Come on, it only takes one stubby to complete :)

We have already made some business friendships with users on facebook and some notable, (and in no particular order), such as Di Caroll, Mari Benson and Trans Help Foundation Team of volunteers.  This link is just a short read and well worth the time Trans Help

I have heard it said before (and in no way is this to detract from these special individuals, but instead edify them), that this is a case of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

In short Mari Benson nominated Di Carroll as Trans Help in a competition run on facebook to go in a draw of 7 finalists to win $100,000 for their charity, and I am very happy to say we promoted the hell out of this through as many networks as we could.  To those of you that voted,... deep gratitude and thanks from us,... give yourselves a pat on the back as they WON!!! and went to Sydney to accept the American Express prize from OPRAH, and will be aired on Australian Telvision some time early in the new year.  This is a massive achievement as the Australian Government has always turned their back on these Aussie Battlers.

Danny Phillips, decided it would be an idea to have a BBQ to remember the truckies that have given their lives to their jobs and businesses.  The idea became a Video and people really understood, and so the idea grew into The National Truckies Rememberance Day BBQ Group, and now within a short space of time, it is a Great Idea, over 1000 fans, and one that Tenni's Heavy Vehicle Driver Training will be co-ordinating locally in Cairns, towards the end of Next year for the first BBQ.

Brad Hayes, created a page to honour women with Put Women Into Trucks with over 1000 fans, and self support system for women already in the industry, and those wishing to become part of it.  An awesome network for the girls to make new friends, and get the advice from their peers.

Jason Isaac, and team at Truckin Aussies really impressed with this page as it is the facebook politically correct page, and a portal to their website which features on our home page that you will find at http://truckinaussies.ning.com/  Beware, enter at your own risk, and leave your feelings at the log in page.  If you want answers, you will get them straight... the way it should be.

The biggest advantage to come from facebook is the ability to have instant communication between a large group of people, and for the first time in decades I can see finally the truckie is going to have a united voice. There are others of just as notable importance that I will be devoting entire future blogs to, and just because you are not mentioned here now, does not mean you have not made a personal impact on me.

One such voice is our own effort, to change a dangerous intersection (Scott Street ROUNDABOUT Group page), that claimed the life of a young innocent man (18 yrs).  Personally this loss rocked me to the core, as I cannot even begin to imagine the pain of those that were closely involved or caught in the impact of this event.  To those people, I vowed the day I heard the news, that I would do everything within my power to bring about change on this intersection.

We have had the usual politically correct answers from the powers that be, and in this forum those comments fall on deaf ears, well that's not totally correct as those comments actually strengthen the resolve to get the changes made.  This is in our eyes our Social Conscience at work, there are many other issues that need to be dealt with, but we are fighting one battle at a time.

The new year ahead brings with it a new beginning, and optimistically we embrace another new dawn.  The development of the Road Guradians and system of consistant monitoring within the driver training industry, with one big difference that has never been done before... it's roots firmly entrenched in the wisdom of the lifetime and career truckie, throughout the world, that has over the years been de-edified in the eyes of the mis-informed and mis-guided media.

Our Xmas wish for you, your family and friends, is that you have a new look at how you drive, just take a moment to spot the hazards ahead as you encounter them and take action to slow down and give room for the events to evolve, without you or loved ones in it.

Look ahead more

Increase your stopping distance, just and extra second on what you are used to, is a great start.

Focus on driving when driving, you have to do two things... manage your gearbox, and observe, everything else is a distraction, phones, friends, fans, road rage, etc.. don't buy into it.

Have the Safest, most Happy, and Memorable, Merry Xmas and New Year, from all of us here at Tenni's.

Murray, Narelle, Don, Kevin and Mark

PS. Don, Kevin and Mark... thank you for your dedication, reliability and strength of Character you bring to our business.  Your efforts are appreciated completely.

Chain of Responsibility laws have been around for some years now, and slowly but surely they are beginning to impact in a negative way on those currently in the Transport Logistics sector.

In short everyone involved in the chain of getting freight from a destination to another destination are liable under these comprehensive laws.

Lets have a closer look at this for a minute.  Consider the person that works in a company that has direct involvement in the finance department and it can be proved that they did not provide the funds to get equipment fixed, they are exposing themselves to unnecessary potential litigation.

Likewise, the Manager that does not check each and every driver,both their own company drivers and Sub Contract driver, in regard to Fatigue Management, after all the drivers while on site are in the Managers personal care.  Therefore if they go "Out of hours" during their time on site the manager must provide a bed for them.

The operator of a weigh bridge, that occasionally lets the odd overloaded truck enter their work place.

Or the in house or contract trainer, that conducts yearly audits on drivers (these are becoming more and more common place, with professional Transport operators making these mandatory including pre-employment Driving Assessments), giving the "Competent" or "Not Yet Competent" judgement on drivers.

The list goes on and on, however it is this last one I would like to draw your attention to, as recently and over the years our company has been asked to conduct these audits.  The fact a person holds a current licence does not qualify them for a "Competent" result.  

Our company is not going to risk it's reputation or expose itself to litigation for anyone.  I have spoken before about having a business Conscience and we promise not to allow incompetent drivers to continue to drive Heavy Vehicles and share these roads with our families.

When conducting assessments we normally ask the subject where they were trained and for how long as we are trying to establish some form of formal training, (we work day in day out on not forming any sort of bias, however some Heavy Vehicle schools do not teach the correct techniques, and the subject can only display what they have been shown).  The standard we expect a driver to display is nothing less than the same standard we train our Clients to.

Over the years and even just recently I have had to give a "Not Yet Competent" result to a couple of company drivers which has resulted in the company asking the drivers to "Stand down" until their skills can be upgraded.  This means there is a loss of income for the period until the employee can prove competence.

So often I get asked if clients can go and get some practice with a mate that has a truck... my response is always the same... "gain your gearbox competence first, then practice till your heart is content"

Inevitably, some of our clients will try and rush things opting for the drive with a mate too soon and then they get to pay more for extra lessons as we re train them to get rid of the bad habits the mate has instilled in them.

Same can be said for those wanting to go higher in their licence classes, especially the MC Multi-Combination level.  In Queensland there is still the possibility that a person can do 50 hours in a Work Diary,... and yes, some people are using this crazy method as they don't see the value in formal training, until they hurt someone, or they face me having to prove their abilities during an on road driving assessment.

Chain of Responsibility is catching up.

Our training regime is such that we have had many round table discussions both within our organisation and from external advisors, in what the basics are, what must be taught, how we are going to measure the evidence of what we have taught being developed in the new client, and always... how we improve on what we are currently doing.

Typically it takes a minimum of about 3-4 hours to teach a person how to change up in the Road ranger Gearbox, we are not concerned with down changes as this only takes us 10-15 minutes to teach this when we have evidence that all competencies in the "Up Change" have been completed.

We will not depart from this style of training until we find a better way.  We have too much evidence that there is not enough training in the specifics of the gearbox by people either teaching themselves to drive a Heavy vehicle, being trained by a company driver Being taught their bad habits), or being trained by a Heavy vehicle school that just overlooks this important fundamental of Vehicle operation.

We firmly believe if a person absolutely understands the gearbox, the product is a relaxed driver behind the wheel of a Heavy Vehicle, the reverse is also true, this shows up when our company is asked to do driver assessments on company drivers.  As far as we are concerned there are two main parts to the Heavy Vehicle operation, 1) is the gearbox competence and 2) is observations, (this is not just looking out the window, to find out you need to do lessons and get some coaching).

Now we come to the very reason why we made sure our trucks have 18 speed Road Ranger gearboxes, there is nothing more complex, and at the same time when explained properly there is nothing more simple.

Our trucks also have auxiliary braking systems fitted, this is so we do some work with you when you are training, we don't just sleep in the passenger seat.  We get you to change gear from 1st through to 4th, and then the trainer will get the truck slowing and place the gearstick in 1st for you again, another reason we chose Kenworth as the trainer can control the truck from the passenger seat, (this includes braking, steering, clutch and gears).  This way we get you through as many gear changes as we can in a short space of time, building the much needed muscle memory in your body, so you can change gear with your eyes shut.

This is where our company does get critisied as different individuals and even our competition cannot understand why we spend hour after hour in a low volume traffic area just getting the gearbox competence done, when normally for both parties once or twice around the block is enough before venturing into heavy traffic conditions.

I put it to you dear reader, the hardest job we have as firstly seasoned truck drivers and secondly Heavy vehicle trainers is to spend hour after hour with every new client in a low volume traffic area getting the gearbox taught properly.  If there was an easier way to do this we would, but there isn't.  And besides your training is about YOU not us, our focus is your training.

There is a right way and a wrong way to change gears and you will not find it in any manual, video or information guide.  One way promotes stress and anxiety, and the other a relaxed and calm state of driving bliss.  If you are already driving a Heavy Vehicle and find it challenging at times, do yourself and your family a favour, come and do a refresher lesson where we can show you the fundamentals really quickly.  Stress and Anxiety create fatigue in a driver and the biggest killer of ANY driver on the roads is Fatigue.

When choosing your trainer and company make sure they are thorough, and ask yourself what you are not being taught if you find you are out in Heavy traffic and not feeling that you have a handle on the gearbox, (all of the gearbox, Skip changes, Split changes and whole gears both Up and Down).

Keep on trucking... in a relaxed chilled out state

Murray

We had to create and innovate just to survive, and at the end of the year we managed to expand in a very difficult market.

We cannot take full credit for our business making it through those difficult times, we have a dedicated hand picked team, willing to share our vision.  More importantly we have an even more dedicated team of clients willing to use our services over and over again.  Without this support we would not have a business.

On a personal level our small family is very grateful for the opportunity to deliver our services to the general public, grateful for our team of professionals that have been attracted to a common goal, and grateful for all the support that we have been given by all those spanning from Central Queensland to the Far North.

We have some very big plans for the future, these are at present simultaneously in the "Development" and "Implementation" stages.  

We have some new team members coming on board which is a difficult process for the new person, as they not only have to be given the tick of approval from the directors but must be accepted by the rest of the team.  

This means in the case of the Heavy Vehicle Trainers, that the new person must be a Master of their Craft in respect to the operation of a Heavy Vehicle, and be exceptional at being able to convey training, utilising an array of techniques to handle the full spectrum of situations that arise on a day to day basis, as no two students are ever the same.

Not all trainers we employ are able to be everything we require, or we don't fit what that a particular trainer is looking for and therefore we part ways.

Our trainers are industry hardened, and we make no apology for this, sometimes this can be a little too intimidating for some clients.  We collectively agree it is better to find out sooner rather than latter if you have what it takes to be a part of this tough industry.

Transport companies expect that the drivers they hire are not going to need a cuddle once a week or month.  

Our wish for our clients is that they integrate into the transport industry without any surprises, confident they have been taught the correct way the first time.  From the way the new driver treats their equipment, approaches a transport yard using yard etiquette, or displays a professional driving attitude when facing less experienced road users.

I will explain some of these situations a little better in new articles at a later date.

Our business personality is such that we don't tolerate crap, we stand behind and back our team and their decisions, and we will continue to deliver the no holes barred training we have built our reputation on.

We have alot of work to get through this year, and are looking forward meeting our new clients, welcoming our return clients and the business challenges that await.

I have worked at Tenni’s Driving School for the past 15 months and today is my last day. Murray and Narelle are truly honest, caring and warm people who take an interest in not only their staff but every single individual student. They go above and beyond to not only make sure everyone is on track with their training but also to answer any questions and provide more information from their wealth of experience. They will give anyone who walks through the door the time of day and that’s a rare thing for a busy business like Tenni’s.

Mark is the Training Co-Ordinator at Tenni’s and runs the courses such as Certificate III Transport & Logistics, Certificate IV Training & Assessment etc. Mark has the natural ability to find a way to explain things (train) to people in a way they understand. He puts in 200% and is often found at the office at 7pm still working. Training is his passion and he is very good at it. Anyone that has ever trained with him will agree.

Don & Kev are the Driver Trainers and I can say without a doubt you will not find better driver trainers than Don & Kev. They have decades of experience and a desire to pass that on. The biggest piece of advice I can give to anyone training is to listen. Doesn’t sound like much but surprisingly hard at times. I have the upmost respect for both Don & Kev and feel honoured to be trained by them.

I am sad to be leaving but looking forward to the future. There will always be Cake Tuesdays and I will always be around wishing only good things for Tenni’s and everyone there.

Ness 

I am going to drive Big Big Big Trucks when I grow up... hopefully next week.  So far I have learned how to climb up to the seat with Mum helping.  

Soon I will find where they hide the horn.

After a lifetime of driving trucks and watching an industry that the average age of the driver is getting older and older, and when they all die so does their experience that needs to be passed on.  We (my wife and I) saw a need for training in this field.

My experience is varied from Single Trailers, B-Doubles in General Freight, Low Loader work, some Inter Modal (Shipping Containers) & Refrigerated to bulk Earthmoving.  The majority of my work has been in Earthmoving with over 10 years in Mining specialising in Explosives.

During the mining years I was often called upon to teach new people the ropes in operating Dump Trucks up to 200 Tonne (Caterpillar 785 & 789, Komatsu 630 & 730).  This included my wife (which I don’t suggest anyone try teaching a loved one).  Some of what I taught must have stuck as she became a talented operator and in-house trainer, in her own right (her background was in explosives before we started our mining career together) working for some of the biggest mining companies on the globe ICI (now ORICA Explosives) Peabody and Rio Tinto.

After getting bored very quickly in the mining environment, I was asked if I would consider learning to operate Blast Hole Drill Rigs.  The requirement at that time was fairly simple in that for me the job just had to pay more than I was currently getting in order for me to stick around.  Little did I know just how much this new path was about to teach me about myself.

What I discovered was I had a natural ability to analyse practices that created solutions and would not give up until I had a solution.  I would often focus on the smallest event to create a different, more desirable outcome.  Attention to the detail in the realm of Drill and Blast is not only desirable but critical.  What does this have to do with training?  It means that I am always looking for new ways to improve both my training technique and the company’s ability to deliver.  I am always on the lookout for Trainers with similar abilities.

Our Trainers are hand picked with similar skills; we don’t always get it right, however those that are not up to the grade don’t stay with us, it is just natural evolution of our company.  In fairness this is not always the case and one member is no longer with us simply due to family obligations and a change in how we operate financially.  Part of that evolution is our constant and never-ending improvement.

We decided we had had enough of the rosters and shiftwork and wanted to settle down and have a family.  While working in the Bowen Basin (near Mackay) in our last mining job, (our mining career had taken us all over Australia - Kalgoorlie, Tarmoola in Leonora, Pannawonica, and Nebo), we decided on settling in Cairns.

What to do was next and the natural choice was training, feeling that we could pass on our expertise and experience.  Originally the thought was to purchase a truck and start up a Heavy Vehicle driving school.  A close friend had ownership for 12 months of a Heavy Vehicle company that had been around in Cairns for 27 years.

He offered the company to us for sale and initially I was absolutely against the idea because:

1.            the company was run by a Sole Trader that was not really that interested in passing on experience, it was just a means to an end.

2.            the equipment was so run down and out-dated that we would be buying a couple of liabilities.

3.            the company personality was non existent.

4.            the local transport industry not only frowned on this school but openly laughed at its existence.

5.            there were competitors that were beginning to take market share from the company.

For those of you that know anything about buying a business you jump from this idea to that and back again and I don’t really know how but we ended up buying the business and started in September 1^st, 2006.

Can you imagine the mistakes we made?  For the Mining Personnel reading this can you imagine what it is like for a former Leading Hand of Drill and Blast that was working 12 hour shifts both dayshift and nightshift 6 weeks on 1 week off to come into this sort of environment?

It took some time before I began to realise telling your students to “toughen up” or “stop being a sook” wasn’t that great for business.  Seriously… sometimes this is exactly what some people do need.

The first change we made was to change the company logo for a more up beat and funky sort of feel… well that’s what we told the graphic designers any way.  The same designers were very keen to help us develop our website and gave us a quote of $20,000 plus ongoing upkeep charges… they are no longer our graphic designers.

I wanted desperately to change the company name, but whether people liked the image or not they knew about it for the past 27 years.

We inherited a complete busted *&^% Ford Louisville Heavy Rigid Tipper.  It lasted 6 months until it’s first Department of Transport inspection, and they absolutely threw the book at it… and I don’t blame them.  A blessing in disguise in a lot of respects as I was able to bring in the new equipment, a new standard, and the new face of the company.

If we were going to move forward from this point and set things up “to do it right” we needed the best of the best, so going against the management advisory teams wishes I made the decision to purchase a T604 Kenworth Prime Mover, so we could expand our product range to include HC Heavy Combination and MC Multi-Combination.

After being out of business in the HR Heavy Rigid licencing for 1 week we were up and running again with the new Prime Mover.  We were able to create an all round comprehensive training package.  The old myth that I got so sick of hearing was “if you could drive the old Ford you could drive anything”

In reality if you can drive the 18 speed Kenworth, you can drive anything… I would not like to see someone that learnt to drive the Ford have a go at driving the Kenworth.  The new technology requires a different technique and mindset.

At the same time we brought the Kenworth back from Brisbane we dragged a B-Double Trailer Combination back with it.  Now we were, in my eyes, for the first time in a serious business.  Prior to this I had a hard time getting out of bed to get to work, as the equipment to me was everything.  It spoke volumes about how serious we were in the market place, it told a story about how we were not just there to teach how to drive (although important) but how to create a Career.

Around this time we needed an official office (this is listed on our website, don’t want to list it here in case it changes and then I would have to change this blog… if I remember!) instead of operating outside the Department of Transport, somewhere that our clients could be comfortable in with air conditioning and amenities.  This would also serve to help in the future when we offer our Transport Logistics support courses, and heavy vehicle inductions in our training room.

The company was beginning, in my eyes, from this day forward.  One of our goals was to raise the standard in the local area of Truck Operator (not “Driver” as an operator has a higher level of awareness and care), and if our competitors want to compete with us they too would have to raise their standards, which in effect achieves exactly our first goal.

This is where the local community is gaining the benefit.  In the second year of our business it was recorded in an independent study, that there were 13 heavy vehicles involved in accidents or rollovers on the Kuranda Range (just North of Cairns).

We don’t know what happened in each incident (none of our students were involved in these accidents), and all we can do is offer our students the best and most thorough training in the gearbox, and time will tell.  It may take at least a decade before we really see the benefit locally, involving safe operation of Heavy Vehicles.

It would be vain to think that single-handed our company changes the safety of Heavy Vehicles on the roads here in Cairns and other areas where we operate.  It’s all about not being apathetic towards the statistics and doing something about it, so hopefully it causes a positive influence in the local industry, and sets the baseline within Transport companies.

One such influence was brought to my attention 3 months after one of our students had completed their HR Heavy Rigid licence with us, via his new boss.  The employer rang me personally and said that this particular individual was the only one out of his 19 drivers that would check the oil and water in his vehicle every morning or before he took a vehicle out.

My response was one of surprise that all his drivers didn’t do “pre start inspections” and as he said a lot of the guys know their vehicles very well and keep a close eye on how the machines are running.  All that aside, he was impressed that the former student constantly did this practice and as the result, saved a motor.  When he checked the water reservoir there was no water and none in the motor.  If he had of started the truck and gone out the gate to do the work for the day, the truck would have cooked the motor.

We have an induction (this is mandatory for all HR and above heavy vehicle students but not so for Medium Rigid) that all of our students can attend free of charge which goes for an hour, and one of the topics taught are the basics of doing a Heavy Vehicle Pre Start Inspection, as well as important Legal, Safety and Career considerations.

The feedback from this is varied, from students asking for more, to a minority complaining they thought they would be “driving a truck and not listening to that %^$&”

In the above example “that %^$&” ensured that one individuals income was certain, that he was valued as an employee, that the company didn’t suffer a capital loss (bottom line is too many capital losses mean job losses), and it opened the eyes of his fellow workers.

Every day we build our business, we are more and more aware that we are only human and we all make mistakes, and we are no exception to the rule.  However this gives us the opportunity to grow, learn, adapt, change, improve, and graciously deliver.

As a company, we are only as good as how well our students listen, adapt and implement the specific behaviours and techniques we teach.  Not to mention how well we listen to our students.

May 2009 saw the introduction of our new 2009 model Isuzu Tipper for (MR) Medium Rigid training.  This vehicle is going to be used for specific training including earthmoving and machinery tickets.

In August 2009, we took delivery of the second T604 Kenworth prime mover to the fleet.  This is a very heavy spec. vehicle with a caterpillar 600 hp engine, both B-Double and Triple Road Train rated.  Both Prime Movers have the bunks taken out and two seats installed, this costs a small fortune, however we have done this to save our students valuable money as we can offer multiple students to one trainer, and experience has shown there is a much higher absorption and retention rate of the subject matter.

In fact, the equipment that we use for training has cost a small fortune, not because we are made of it (I wish)… instead we are like any other battler out there, we are trying to give our clients the very best of the best, whether it be service, staff or equipment.  We diligently re-invest in the company to achieve this.

Why such heavy specifications for training vehicles?  Well that’s another story… just suffice to say we are more than capable now, to put some serious distance under those wheels.  Brisbane is not that far away really!  Who wants some real live load training?

Over the past 3 years our "customers" have become “Clients”.  Actually “Extremely Valued Clients”, we will always make mistakes, not the same ones though, and our extremely valued clients will, we trust, give us the feedback we need to take this company to the next level, in fact it is going to be a direct reflection of what our extremely valued clients want.  This is not our company, nor our valued staff, it is yours, and we are merely your ambassadors.

Our Group is constantly asked "how much to use your truck for the test?" and quite often the enquirer is put out when we explain that there are lessons required before we answer this question.  The assumption is that they believe they can already drive a car and a truck can't be much more difficult? right? hhmmmppph

Our groups objective is to not only train someone in Heavy Vehicle and supplementary tuition but to setup the foundation for the rest of their life so that they have primarily a safety focus that flows through to everything they do either at work or at home.

In todays competitive work environment the key is to specialise.  Some years ago I was employed in the mining industry and found that in one day (my birthday) the Mining Superintendent of the site sacked 100 fellow workers.  He had some serious mental health issues at the time and within a week had to re-instate 15 people, however it showed that unless a person was multi skilled this  reality could happen to anyone, myself included.

Now to paint a picture here the job was 6 weeks on 1 week of, FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) of Perth WA.  Fortunately I saw the writing on the wall and made sure that it was too difficult for management to consider, me to be in the firing line.

I achieved this by increasing my worth and value to the company.  I was employed as a Truck Driver initially then worked hard at becoming a Blast Hole Driller, with this experience I added becoming a qualified Shot Firer.  This created job security, even if I was employed as a truck driver my job longevity was almost guaranteed because a Blast Hole Driller and a Shot Firer could always drive a truck, but the reverse was not so, a Truck Driver could not jump in a operate a Drilling Rig or design and shoot a Blast.

This is my point in this little Blog.  If someone is considering gaining the experience of driving a Heavy Vehicle or even a Career in the Heavy Vehicle Industry, both of these streams are both specialised and specific to the industry.

Within the Heavy vehicle stream the practical skills are many and varied, if a person wants some sort of job security now the minimum should be a Multi Combination License with a Dangerous Goods Specialty.  The idea here is not to go for the transport of Dangerous Goods, even though the person could.  It is more about what these qualifications mean to a would be employer.  It speaks volumes about the person being committed to a career in Road Transport.

What does it cost? we constantly get this enquiry, and although it is an important question, it is a question with it's roots in the now, today, present time.  A better question should be what can I hope to earn from this or these qualifications over a lifetime?

One characteristics we have noticed over the time we have been training people, is that few have the view to the future and where their career pathway could possibly lead them.  

Imagine that the above is a path a person has chosen, and they realise that after a period of about 5 years they can see that they may get a little board with their job.  With a little fore-thought and planning during the 5 year period the clever person could have continued a certificate 4 course in Transport and Logistics.  Now we have a person that has practical "on road" experience that is primed for a position in Logistics Management.

This is a very sort after individual indeed as many of the Logistics Management teams now have sprouted from a university via simulations.

Now, we need to consider, how much does it cost? or better how much can I earn aver a lifetime?

I personally was fortunate enough to gain the highest license class I could when I left school.  I have never had a situation where I didn't have options if I was out of work for a period.  That is when others had no work I always had a couple of options even if one was to go a do a course to help with the resume or more options in the future.

There is also a massive opportunity for people to do traveling holidays all around the world.  This is something I did do driving in both the USA and Canada on working visas.  This is something our company is working on now, to create a portal for International work.  Imagine driving in the tropics for a season then doing a season in Ice conditions.

The world is your oyster and only limited by your own imagination.  Our school education is basic enough to help us read write and add up.  No-one ever told us our education is ongoing for our entire life and will keep on costing us, giving us future options we haven't thought of yet.

I did not consider when I was getting my first Heavy Vehicle Driving Lesson that some day I would be, moving sand and gravel, general frieght, machinery, going to places that I couldn't pronounce on a map, Driving 200 tonne Dump Trucks, blasting million tonne ore bodies, driving concrete trucks in Canada, frieght in the USA, or conscientiously developing a Training Group that could assist people building their futures.

There have been times when the job has not been that great whether it be the equipment being sub standard, (one of my pet hates, this is why we have invested in Kenworth and Isuzu for our training vehicles), the pay not enough or the working conditions in general being shocking.  At the end of the day I always had choice.

I hope this rambling has been of benefit to you.  We are opening our business to you our valued clients by letting you decide the best way we can support you.  We ask that you send suggestions and thoughts to us via admin@theedgedtc.com.au or add a comment below.

Check out our newest addition to our ever growing product base, Real "on road experience"

Thank you for your time and custom, it is very much appreciated.