Truck Week spotlight on the next generation
If Truck Week is about recognising the people who keep Australia moving, then the 2025 HVIA National Awards winners offer a timely glimpse of the industry’s future – and of the talent already helping to build it.
Across four very different stories sits one clear theme: the heavy vehicle industry’s future will be shaped not only by better technology, but by the people willing to learn it, teach it, make it and back others to succeed.
The sky’s the limit
That was certainly evident in the story of 2025 HVIA Heavy Vehicle Specialist Trades Apprentice of the Year Isaac Rooney.
Isaac impressed judges not just with his technical ability, but with the leadership, initiative and professionalism he has already shown early in his career.
While completing his apprenticeship with Volvo Commercial Vehicles, he was recognised as someone already moving ahead in leaps and bounds across the business – contributing ideas, building trust and showing the kind of maturity that marks him as one of the industry’s brightest emerging talents.
For Isaac, the sky really does seem to be the limit.
Grow your own
It was equally evident in HVIA’s recognition of CMV Truck & Bus, which took out the 2025 HVIA National Workforce Development Award for its “Grow our own” program.
With a 20-year apprenticeship pathway, SMART goals for staff, and a dedicated training facility at Derrimut, CMV’s approach shows what long-term workforce development looks like when it is embedded in business culture rather than treated as a side project.
The investment is practical, structured and visible – from in-house technical training and tailored development programs to a deliberate focus on retention, progression and creating collaborative, job-ready teams.
Pride in the craft
That same sense of future capability was on show in the story of Joshua McNicol from Tefco Trailers, who took out the 2025 HVIA Vehicle Manufacturing Apprentice of the Year Award, sponsored by Würth.
Josh impressed judges with his passion for the job, his pride in his fabrication work and the maturity he has shown so early in his trade.
“Pride in one’s craft is a common denominator among high achievers,” one judge said.
Tefco Trailers described Josh as standing out for his ability to interpret engineering drawings, execute precision welds and solve problems in a fast-paced production environment.
Already trusted with challenging builds, Josh is keen to keep learning – from design decisions to electrical systems and hydraulics – and become a truly rounded tradesperson.
Pilbara superstar
Then there is Chalee Hollandrose, HVIA’s 2025 National Apprentice of the Year – a superstar by any measure, even if she would probably be far too humble to describe herself that way.
Chalee’s story carries the kind of grounded determination that feels distinctly shaped by her upbringing in the Pilbara. She entered the industry after a bad experience getting her car repaired and deciding she would rather learn to do the work herself. She applied for an apprenticeship with Cummins the very next day.
From a small branch in Port Hedland, she went on to be signed off seven months early, undertake placements in Perth and Adelaide, build connections right across the business and emerge as a powerful role model for other young people considering the trade.
Yet what comes through most strongly is not ego, but authenticity, work ethic and a willingness to keep learning. As Chalee put it, the industry needs “more recognition like the awards” and more awareness that “if you want to do it, just do it”.
In safe hands
Together, these stories say something important for Truck Week.
They show that attracting talent is only part of the task. Keeping that talent, stretching it, trusting it and celebrating it matters just as much.
Strong apprentices and future leaders do not emerge by accident. They are shaped by businesses that invest in training, by workplaces that create genuine pathways, and by an industry culture prepared to value curiosity, effort, ambition and pride in the job.
That is one of the reasons Truck Week matters. It gives the industry a platform not only to celebrate trucks, equipment and logistics, but to put the spotlight on the people building careers right across the sector – in factories, workshops, depots, dealerships, warehouses, offices and training rooms around the country.
For an industry often defined by its skills shortages, these award-winning stories offer something more constructive than hand-wringing. They offer a blueprint.
Back your people. Build real pathways. Recognise excellence. Celebrate the craft. And give the next generation a reason to believe this industry has a place for them.