Wickham Freight Lines is advocating for better on-road practices around heavy vehicles by promoting simple safety measures that drivers can follow.
For Wickham Freight Lines, safety is at the forefront of its operations.
Wickham Freight Lines Training Manager, Adam Young, told Trailer it is the company’s number one priority.
“It’s built into our visions and values, and it is promoted to all the staff that work here,” he said.
“We try and make sure that when employees start, no matter what their background is, they have an understanding of safety and the laws in the industry.”
Based in Warwick, Queensland, Wickham’s maintains a fleet of around 530 trailers which feature a plethora of safety features including digital weight scales, Electronic Braking Systems (EBS), standard guide lights, reflectors, satellite tracking devices and reverse sensing lights.
The fleet is primarily made up of refrigerated singles, B-doubles and pocket road trains which travel up and down the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Sydney, and along the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne.
In hopes of reducing accidents and creating safer roads for everyone, Wickham Freight Lines displays several safety messages on its trailers throughout these corridors.
Its main tip encourages drivers to keep a three-second gap when driving behind trucks by counting, ‘One barramundi, two barramundi, three barramundi.’
“We’ve also got these big red trailers at the moment where it points out that the most important asset is the one in front, which is the driver,” Young said.
“It’s a good space to advertise messages like this on these trailers because they’re on the road all the time, up and down highways with other road users.”
Although the fleet ensures its drivers are doing the right thing, Wickham Freight Lines Compliance Manager, Kevin Bradfield, told Trailer that not all road users are aware of safe driving practices such as keeping a distance.
“Drivers will slip in front of trucks, not realising that it’s a 60-tonne B-double that can’t stop straight away,” he said.
Bradfield said that when a truck is maintaining a safe distance in traffic, light vehicles may often see that space as an opportunity to move in.
“Truck drivers will leave a gap and then all of a sudden it’s halved,” he said.
“So, the truck has to then slow down to maintain that gap again, until another person pulls in there.
“It’s a real scary situation if you’re not paying attention.”
Another one of Wickham Freight Lines’ safety messages reads, ‘Be a mate. Don’t tailgate.’
“We’re just trying to use those trailers as positive messaging on the road, whether it’s for safety or just supporting businesses and bringing awareness to those in the industry as well as those who aren’t,” Young said.
“We’ve always gone above and beyond when it comes to safety.”
Bradfield said everyone has a role to play to improve safety in the industry.
“We all want to be doing the right thing so that we can make sure that everyone is safe,” he said.
“It’s something everyone can take seriously.
“Whether it’s in the workshop or on the roads, everyone is a part of it.”
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