2018 Visits
Check back for regularly for updates and photos of the Safety MAN'S journey
Participants to date: 17,500
Trafinz Certificate of Merit Award - November 13th
The Safety MAN received its third award in two months at the 2018 Trafinz Awards Ceremony. Thank you to Trafinz for recognising the Safety MAN's achievements over the year, with an award of Merit.
Dave Boyce, CEO of NZ Trucking Association was there to accept the award on behalf of the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck team and industry sponsors.
Blenheim School & NZTA / NZIHT Conference - November 6th
The Safety MAN was asked to attend the NZTA / NZIHT Conference in Blenheim this year as one of the presentations featured a roundup of the Safety MAN Initiative to date.
While the team were set up at the Convention Centre, Blenheim School were just across the road, so they were invited to participate in the Share the Road With Big Trucks programme. It was great to be able to share important safety messages with the kids and take the total number of participants to over 17,500, in the 15 months since the launch of the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck.
VINZ Palmerston North Depot - November 1st
VINZ are a valued Silver and Foundation Sponsor. To support the opening of their depot in Palmerston North, the Safety MAN opened its doors to the public and customers who wanted to have a look.
The poor weather did not stop some people coming along to see the Safety MAN for the first time, check out the new VINZ depot and enjoy a free BBQ. Thanks to Carters Tyres for sponsoring a $500 tyre voucher prize
Woodville School & Preschool - November 1st
Woodville School was the last of the schools visited on the Safety MAN's Palmerston North trip. It was amazing to be able to visit a school that does not often get exciting visitors. Even the preschool popped over for a visit, not wanting to miss out on all of the excitement. Although a small school, definitely no less important to share our messages with the 80 students and teachers.
Ashurst School- October 31st
The Safety MAN's next stop was to Ashurst School, to put another 500 students and teachers through the Share the Road with Big Trucks programme. Again, the kids were extremely excited to have the Safety MAN Truck at their school and could not wait to see what was inside.
Thanks to NZ Trucking Magazine for visiting while we were there and for sponsoring the printing of our important Road Safety Booklets and providing copies of your popular magazine!
Also a big thanks again to local police for helping at the school and interacting with the students!
Pahiatua School - October 30th
The closure of the Manawatu Gorge, caused massive strain on the towns of Pahiatua, Ashurst and Woodville. These small towns went from a low number of truck movements each day, to hundreds passing through. NZTA asked the team to visit these areas with the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck to help them understand how to stay safe around all the heavy vehicles. It was a busy week for the team on the Safety MAN, starting at Pahiatua School, with over 500 students. These were fantastic kids, who all thoroughly enjoyed going through the Share the Road with Big Trucks Programme. Throughout the day we could continually see trucks and Fonterra milk tankers pass by the school, reminding us of why we were there to share these important safety messages. Thank you to local police for your support and helping us put all of the kids through the truck.
CILT Award Winner - October 26th
Another great achievement was winning the CILT Award for Innovation in Logistics and Transport.
The Safety MAN Road Safety Truck and its two programmes are the first of its kind in New Zealand. The team at NZ Trucking Association and the industry sponsors pulled together to create a new way of teaching road safety around trucks; focusing on interaction, engagement and practicality, to ensure the safety messages are memorable and easy to understand. Winning the award for innovation was fantastic recognition for the talented team behind this initiative.
Brake Fleet Safety Award Winner - October 11th
The team at NZ Trucking Association were thrilled to recieve the Australasian Brake Fleet Safety Award for Road Safety In the Community, sponsored by Bridgestone. It was fantastic to have the Safety MAN initiative recognised and all of the hard work that has gone into the year.
It would not have been possible without the industry sponsors, thank you for your continued support.
Age Concern Expo - October 1st
The Safety MAN was invited back to exhibit at the Positive Ageing Expo at Papanui High, to help our elderly road users learn some safety tips about how to share the road safely with big trucks. This is one of the most vulnerable groups on the road and they were extremely engaged with the programme throughout the day. Over 400 participants came through to watch the video and take home some important resources.
RTFNZ Conference 2018- September 26th-27th
The industry conference is always a good opportunity to support the Safety MAN sponsors who also exhibit at the event and to let those that haven't already seen the initiative, get a glimpse. This year it was held in Dunedin at the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Thanks again to the industry sponsors and for jumping on board and supporting the Safety MAN for another year ahead. We could not do this fantastic work without you. CLICK HERE to view all of the sponsors and support them whenever you can!
Alexandra Blossom Festival- September 22nd
The Safety MAN featured at the 2018 Alexandra Blossom Festival to support Platinum Sponsor, Heavy Trucks, with the truck parade. The festival had a fantastic turn out and the Safety MAN was in prime position to share safety tips with all those who came through the trailer.
Close to 1,000 visitors throughout the day left with a share the road with big trucks booklet and learnt about the top hazards when driving around heavy vehicles.
Well done Heavy Trucks for a very successful show and shine and truck parade. A great turn out of 92 trucks! Congratulations Summerland Express Freight for taking out Truck of the Show 2018!
Wellington TSB Arena & Steps of Parliament - August 13-17
The Safety MAN had the privilege of parking on the steps on Parliament for two days on August 16th and 17th, to raise awareness to Government MPs and Agency Representatives about the important work that the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck is doing in communities and in the transport industry. Thanks to our generous industry sponsors, the Safety MAN has been brought to life and the NZ Trucking Association will continue to run the Safety MAN as often and as far as possible, with the amazing help of volunteers.
However, permanent funding is now required to really utilise the Safety MAN and have a full time team dedicated to the initiative, so it can run 3-4 times a week throughout the year. The two safety programmes are in high demand, with requests from all over the country for the Safety MAN to visits schools, community events and transport companies. The point of visiting parliament was to show Government the programmes in action and let them experience this interactive safety initiative for themselves. The feedback we received was fantastic, with a great number of government officials coming through to visit, including Hon Judith Collins, Nicky Wagner, Hon Willie Jackson, Hon Scott Simpson and many more. Thank you very much for your time and we hope you can help us to spread the word.
Prior to that, the Safety MAN parked outside the TSB Arena for two days in Wellington and opened up to the public and the team were able to meet with potential sponsors. We were also warmly visited by Kapiti Coast District Council Transport Safety Coordinators, local police and the regional managers of CVST around NZ.
A big thank you to our sponsors who paid us a visit and for your continued support, including VINZ, NZ Trucking Magazine and Freight lines / Straight Shipping for sponsoring the Cook Straight ferry crossings on the Straight Feronia ship.
St Bede's College - 8th August
The Safety MAN visited St Bede's College today to put the junior school, year 10 classes through the Share the Road with Big Trucks programme.
Later this afternoon the Safety MAN transformed into a transport careers hub for the first time, to participate in the St Bede's College careers evening. Over 400 students and their parents attended throughout the evening and were introduced to the various trucking-related career options.
Introducing Careers at St Bede's College
Six companies came on board to join the Safety MAN's transport careers hub, including Toll Group, Hilton Haulage, HWR Group/Allied Concrete, TR Group, Cable Price and Heavy Trucks. A huge thanks for your support and helping to inspire the students. With an ageing workforce and lack of young people entering the transport industry there is concern for the future. The Safety MAN aims to attend big career events to inspire the next generation and to give companies an opportunity to promote the various career options available.
Toll Group Christchurch Depot - July 19th & 20th
The Safety MAN set up at Toll's depot in Christchurch this week to put all staff through the Healthy Truck Driver programme to raise awareness about improving driver health and wellbeing.
Safety MAN Delivers Truck Load of Money -29th June
The Safety MAN Road Safety Truck, delivered GIANT BAGS of money today to Ronald McDonald House South Island and Child Cancer Canterbury. $10,000 was donated to each of the deserving charities from the proceeds of the 2018 TMC Trailers Trucking Industry Show in March.
Thanks to everyone who helped, attended or sponsored show. It was huge effort from a very small number of people. NZ Trucking Association are very proud to raise money for these very worthy charities. Bring on new records in 2020!
Templeton School - June 25th
Fantastic day at Templeton School, over 350 students and teachers through the Share the Road with Big Trucks programme.
Templeton School is located along a particularly busy truck route, and very close to SH1, so it was a great school for the Safety MAN to visit and share messages with.
The excitement and engagement from these kids shows us that the interactive programme works & raises important awareness.
Lots of excited students first time in a truck.
Demonstrations of the truck blind zones from the cab
CVST Police - May 10th
For a day, the Safety MAN parked up at Glasnevin Weigh Bridge to give the regional CVST managers and staff a chance to check out the road safety programmes.
The response from them was fantastic and they are very supportive of the work we are doing.
Drivers who pulled over, were also invited into the trailer to go through the Healthy Truck Driver Programme.
Foodstuffs / TSI Logistics Christchurch - May 8th & 9th
The Safety MAN visited Foodstuffs / TSI Logisitcs South Island Distribution Centre in Christchurch for two days to put over 150 staff through the Healthy Truck Driver Programme.
The participants were all very engaged and positive about the programme.
Thank you for participating and supporting the Safety MAN.
Spreydon School - April 12th
Timaru Transport Sector Day - March 19th
The Safety MAN Road Safety Truck travelled down to Timaru for the Transport Sector Day at Levels Raceway, to share hot tips with the students on how to share the road safely with big trucks. The event gave the students a hands on, inside look at the Transport industry. It was supported by local trucking companies, Ara Institute of Canterbury, our team at NZ Trucking Association, and lots of Volunteers.
2018 TMC Trailers Trucking Industry Show - March 9th & 10th
The Trucking Industry Shows in Christchurch are another NZ Trucking Association Initiative. This year we were able to feature the Safety MAN Road Safety Truck for the first time, which was a big hit for everyone who had not yet experienced it.
On the Friday we ran a Careers Showcase and hosed over 200 high school students around the event. We put them through the Share the Road with Big Trucks programme while they were there. On Saturday, the Safety MAN was used as the registration desk for the show and shine drivers and throughout the day we had thousands of interested public through the trailer.
Talley's Ashburton - February 9th
Fairton School - February 8th
Getting kids into trucks is a practical, interactive way to teach them about truck driver blind zones. Thanks Fairton School for putting all of your students through the Share the Road With Big Trucks Program.
Yaldhurst Model School - February 2nd
120 students from Yaldhurst Model School came through the interactive Safety MAN trailer and left more aware of the dangers around heavy vehicles and how to behave safely around them.
Conroy Removals - February 1st
Conroy Removals, hosted the Safety MAN truck today. Thanks so much for having us visit to share the important messages with your drivers about improving health and wellbeing.
Over 25 drivers went through the Healthy Truck Driver program.
