THE NRFA BOARD

National Executive

National President

ROD HANNIFEY

My road transport career started at the age of 16, where I was given the opportunity to drive my first road train. At the age of 17, I went for my semi licence which resulted in doing local and interstate roles for Frigmobile, before moving into the container park at Luya Lulius. 

After Frigmobile been brought out by Finemores,  I moved into fuel tankers travelling mostly the eastern seaboard, doing fuel, oils and solvents, and then that was brought out by Toll. 

I become involved in Road Safety over 20 years ago, winning the driver of the year and a couple of other awards. With time spent in the Australian Roadtrain Association, but after 29 years I could not get Toll to support for my road safety efforts at the time and left. 

I have been employed with Rod Pillion Transport for 16 years and have covered most of Australia doing general and bulk DG in single to Road Trains. I have been involved with NRFA for nearly 11 years and been on the board for 6 years. I continue to be passionate about driver education, better roads and rest areas and improving how drivers are treated. 

I can say that the Truckright Industry Vehicle and Green Reflector marking of informal truck bays continue to be my two personal projects that I am so proud off.

Safe Travelling to all

Rod Hannifey

national Vice President

Glyn Castanelli

I have held my truck licence since 1990. My first truck driving job was delivering beds for Forty Winks in 1990, with Shane Warne as my truck jockey.

I have since worked for many companies mostly doing Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide with one stint working 2 up Melbourne to Perth return in a B triple.  I have also held positions as compliance manager and operations manager over a period of 14 years.

In 2014, my wife Lexy and I purchased our first truck and work as tow operators.

national Treasurer

Craig Forsyth

I have been involved in the Transport Industry for over 25 Years.

 My experience ranges in Bulk Commodities, General, Markets and Refrigerated Transport. I have a strong farming background and have had numerous management roles in Transport and Logistics and Manufacturing.

I currently am a Owner Operator in the Bulk Commodities industry.

 

National secretary

TREVOR WARNER

From a young bloke interested in mechanics and engineering, I worked every school holiday in an engineering and civil construction business. I was raised around heavy machinery and Trucks. In my early years, I worked as a Storeman, then working my way up to one of the Company sales reps. I got my first truck licence in 1990 while running my own business. We struggled through the “Recession we had to have” and eventually we were bought out by a large company. Around 1996, I worked for my first Interstate transport company doing farm pickups in refrigerated equipment. On occasions I helped out the mechanics with servicing the gear….This gave me a solid knowledge base and later on getting into the big gear, which completed what I call as “My Apprenticeship” In 1998, I was involved in exporting fresh produce into Asia and building an inventory of product to expand into the US markets. During this time I witnessed the Victorian waterfront dispute and was amazed at the skill in which Chris Corrigan restructured that sector. In recent years I have worked to reform the Road Transport Modern Wages, to provide a fairer system of wages for real performance of work undertaken by truck drivers. Having been at the high end of Risky Transport operations, I got involved in reforming some of the problems of driver mental health and to get some commonsense back into regulations, in particular, fatigue management and unjust law enforcement. I quickly discovered Government has a way of doing things. A simple solution isn’t always simple to implement. Government rarely listens to individuals, instead given more attention to Industry groups. Politicians may have the final say, but they can’t always win the vote with your solutions. I joined the TWU and later the NRFA to be part of the Solution. My Submissions to the relevant government Inquiries have been around reforming Fatigue management and unfair wages…Discussions on Mental Health include rest areas, truck sleepers and most recently the rise of Big Brother in the Industry and Sustainable Freight rates. I feel I am a supporter for the Underdog in obtaining fair and just outcomes in the current world of over regulation and overzealous law enforcement. THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY IS AN AWESOME WORKPLACE LETS KEEP IT THAT WAY
Past President

Gordon Mackinlay

Began my career in transport as a diesel mechanic, in 2005 Started driving trucks full time doing interstate for a local company doing mainly Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane in singles & B-doubles In 2016 as an owner operator and concerned with some serious negative impacts that the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) would force upon an estimated 30,000 smaller operators, I set about gathering a team together along with the National Road Freighters Association (NRFA) to take our fight to highest level and led a convoy to Canberra. After many meetings, including one involving the Prime Minister of the day Malcom Turnbull we were successful and saw the abolition of the RSRT in a first for Australian Parliament, that being the first time a bill was presented to the lower house, passed, sent to the upper house and passed as law in a single day. This is, to this day, one of my proudest achievements outside my family. I Joined the NRFA after the convoy to Canberra after seeing what a great organisation of grass roots transport people it was made up of. The NRFA was a supporter both financially and physically of the “Convoy to Canberra”. Since the Canberra Convoy, we as the NRFA have gained a seat at the table and receive invitations from the decisions makers to attend As the President of the NRFA I am committed to trying to better the transport industry and continue the fight to improve our industry for the smaller operators. Yours in transport, Gordon Mackinlay.

Board Members

Our Current Board Members

Board Member
Membership officer

mark brown

An insurance broker specialising in transport with a passion for the industry which began when we ran our own transport business in the late 80’s into the 90’s.

We choose to support the NRFA because the association has been formed with the sole intention of being a genuine representative association of the entire transport industry, not just the big end of town.

“It Must be Fair to all Concerned”

We believe the board members of the NRFA can and will make a difference to bring about the much needed change in the legislations that are crippling our industry.

They can only do that with the support of members. My goal is to build membership numbers of the NRFA to a level where the legislators have no other option but to listen and act!

There are over 20,000 owner operators in Australia and many, many more drivers, that’s one very power voice, so let’s get started and join up! And support those whom are fighting the fight for you.

Board Member
Social Media & DIgital Engagement Officer

marcus cosgrove (QLD)

So my road transport industry journey started at the young age of 16 in Toowoomba, Been that my Grandfather was the owner of his own Interstate transport company, I was employed as a weekend Truck Washing so called professional. With regular runs to Brisbane’s Fresh Food Markets at Rocklea on school holiday’s, learning how to load and unload trucks was exciting. With the pressure of completing high school by my family, this was done with success whilst learning how to run my grandfathers business. 

After my grandfather sustaining a sudden career ending health condition, the business was closed down and I found myself running my parents own courier business after completing year 12. With the relationship with my parents on solid foundation, the business was offered several darling downs and western Queensland parcel contracts. Been ambitious, I operated the western darling downs part of the business and my parents operated the Toowoomba metropolitan contract. With the sudden need for both my parents to consider their own retirement plans,  the decision to let the businesses current parcel contracts expire, then close the business down did opened to door for me to enter into the University arena.  With successful acceptance into Bond University on the Gold Coast, I was able to work as a B/Double truck driver doing weekend change overs to support my lifestyle. 

As at June 2023, I now hold a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a certificate IV in work health and safety. As I am passionate about  going to work safe and returning home safe, the above qualifications continue to support me making this dream a reality. I have also become a Mental Health Advocate that is support by several well known organisations. As there is so much more work to be done in this area, our industry leaders do need to look at ways we can make the lives of our truck drivers more enjoyable and safe. 

Keep safe on the roads and chat soon

Marcus Cosgrove. 

Board Member

Mark Reynolds (QLD)

Board Member

Dale Mcdonald (QLD)

Board Member

Louise smith (QLD)

Board Member

kerryn Woods (nsw)

Board Member

Chris Roe (VIC)

Board Member

julie downey (VIC)

Board Member

Glenn " Yogi" Kendall (sa & wa)

Board Member

VacANT

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