Leigh Thornton - One Man can Make a Difference

In-depth

1 Aug

Leigh Thornton is a relative latecomer to the trucking industry, having gained his HC licence at 32.

Leigh had been working for a landscape gardening business as a machine operator. Although only driving a 2 ton vehicle in the job, he had gone the extra step and obtained his Heavy Rigid licence. When the boss decided to sell the company, Leigh went looking through the job adverts and saw that Eastern Plant Hire was looking for a machine operator, so he applied and got the job.

Eastern Plant Hire would be very well known to Victorians, having started business in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Nunawading. Founded in 1996, the company is owned by brothers, David and Michael Willson. Ex-plumbers, the brothers have built a major trucking business.

Eastern Plant Hire has grown to service some of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects. After successfully working on the Eastern Freeway Extension, Craigieburn and Hallam Bypass, EPH was appointed as the preferred cartage organiser for the $2.5 Billion Eastlink Project. Eastern Plant Hire has become one of Australia’s premier plant hire agencies and is these days involved in earthmoving projects up and down the eastern seaboard. The company can bring the trucks in, manage the job, take the material away and dispose of it on their own sites.

The tipper and dog business is possibly considered unglamorous by some truckies, but that didn’t deter Leigh who was keen to join them. He got the job and, watching the trucks come and go, figured he’d have more fun behind the wheel of one of the combos than what he’d been hired for. So out he went and got his HC licence.

Eastern Plant Hire are big on giving blokes (and gals) a go, and were happy to put Leigh behind the wheel with some mentoring from the old hands in the business. “I was pretty stoked that they had faith in me,” he said. “Everywhere else I looked required at least two years’ experience – a Catch-22 situation.”

That was seven years ago and now, at 39 Leigh has taken on a leadership role within the company. Up at 4 AM, he is at the Dandenong yard by 4.30. “I check the truck over and then make sure all the boys are happy. I’m just trying to make sure that there is harmony in the yard.

“In our industry there is a lot of turnover so we are always getting new guys. Good drivers are hard to find so there’s a bit of training involved - getting guys up to speed with the way that we want to do it. EPH is very conscientious about giving new guys some background and some training.”

Leigh has developed quite a passion for the industry and is keen to change the perception that the wider world has of his chosen profession. “The tipper part of the industry is probably the least glamorous side of trucking. Some people just love driving them and they love the job, as I do. It takes all sorts to make up an industry and like anything else there are the 1% with grubby and poorly maintained trucks that give this side of the business a bad name. Yes it is a grubby industry, but it’s not hard to wash your truck. Public perception can go a long way.”

At EPH it is generally one man, one truck. Lee is currently behind the wheel of a 2017, 610 Kenworth SAR with a Hercules aluminium bodied trailer. He washes the truck every shift and says that with three wash bays there is no excuse not to.

“EPH is strong on compliance and has installed Sentinel into all its trucks. It’s basically like an electronic logbook. It’s a 7 inch tablet that is mounted on the dash of the truck. Your pre-starts are done electronically on it. You do your walk around and record any faults through the system. You log in with your own unique number. It’s basically a timer. It will count your hours. It will tell you when you need to have a break, et cetera. If you go over your allotted period of time without stopping it will note the violation and messages are automatically generated. That’s how we basically control our fatigue management within the business.

“The company is very proactive in terms of making sure that the drivers do the right thing. With a lot of the Tier-1 work that we do, when companies see systems like that integrated into the trucks, I think it goes a long way in helping us win jobs. They can see us actively managing driver fatigue and doing all the things that we need to do.

“There are a lot of things fitted onto the trucks which are job specific. One of the new ones that has been implemented is a speaker mounted on the outside that audibly communicates to people that the truck is turning left. It’s a great innovation in terms of letting people know what the truck is doing. It keeps people safe, keeps them aware that we are around. Especially with the jobs in the city with cyclists and pedestrians, anything we can do to help with the public is a good thing.

Lee is on a bit of crusade to try and improve the image of the tipper driver. EPH certainly are doing so in terms of the appearance of the trucks and the OHS angle. So what would he like to see happen?

“I’d like to see better driving behaviours on the road. I’m driving a 56 ton, 20 m billboard. I personally hate that we’re termed ‘Mud Carter’. I would just like to see better attitudes and more professionalism with the driver. I’ll probably get slammed for speaking my mind by other people within the industry but that’s just the way I see it. I can but do my bit and lead by example.

**Also a handy photographer, Leigh is certainly leading by example**

“Its simple things such as being presentable: if the site asks you to wear long pants, a hazard shirt and a hardhat, then just wear it. Don’t jump out of the truck in a pair of thongs and shorts. I suppose it sounds a bit anal but its basic common sense. We can all promote safety, keep the truck looking good, speak to people politely and thank our customers. It’s really easy to do and changes public perceptions quickly.

With that in mind, Leigh takes it a step further, doing charity work with the truck when he can - and with EPH’s blessing. “I recently did a Camp Quality Convoy for Kids down at Geelong. We do a lot with Bicycle Network as well.

“We have an awareness campaign called Swapping Seats. We set up with the Bicycle Network, put a few bikes around the truck and encourage anyone and everyone to jump into the truck to get a perspective of our view of the world from the cab. It’s a really good program and I love doing it.