ATA boss: unified voice is key

Stuart St Clair, Chief Executive of the Australian Trucking Association, says a unified voice is crucial to achieving positive outcomes for the nation's truck industry.

Speaking with trucksales.com.au in his final month before his retirement, St Clair says a consistent and strong message was an essential element to both being heard and deflecting the negative effects of the sometimes conflicting agendas of the industry's many stakeholders.

"The industry has only succeeded in its lobbying when it has one message delivered by many voices," he says.

However, St Clair warns that this clarity has often been lacking, as it falls prey to conflicting ideas held by different sectors of the industry.

"The fact is that often it hasn't been 'one message delivered by many voices', it's been 'many messages delivered by many voices'," he says.

"I think we [the ATA] are as much at fault as anybody else, and we need to make sure we're talking to the media to ensure we're delivering a message that is at least consistent."

While acknowledging the ATA's many successes and achievements over his nine years at the helm, St Clair says more is needed to be done to promote the vital contribution made by the road freight industry.

"I think one of the largest concerns – and this will upset some people – is that we haven't succeeded as we should have in getting governments to understand the importance of the road freight task," he says.

"I think I've failed in that regard, and that goes all the way down the line.

"I think partially it's because our industry is its own worst enemy. We've got people in our own industry who purport to support it but who tear it down publicly; they do that in trade magazines and in all sorts of things, they do it on television. Television is not about delivering the news or the facts, it's just about sensational stuff – it's always a truck that killed someone."

However, St Clair says the ATA is facing the future – and its next chapter under the guidance of incoming Chief Executive, Chris Melham – with great optimism.

"We now have a really effective Board, we have our subsidiaries, we have our safety accreditation business and we've got our Safety Truck – there is a whole range of things to provide a great deal of interest," he says.

"That's why I'm excited about [incoming ATA Chief Executive] Chris Melham. With the Board the way it is and with his staff, Chris will take the ATA to another level."

Click here to read the full and frank interview with Stuart St Clair.