The 2013 National Trucking Industry Awards have honoured Australia's top driver and other leading industry figures, courtesy of the Australian Trucking Association.  

Presented at the ATA Foundation Sponsors Gala Awards Dinner on Hamilton Island the dinner was part of the ATA's new industry event, Trucking Australia 2013.

The awards recognised National Professional Driver of the Year, Robert Schalkwyk. Mr Schalkwyk has spent more than 40 years as a professional heavy vehicle driver and never had an accident in his vehicle.

Mike Moylan, of Johnstons Transport has been awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Trucking Industry Award. Mr Moylan is the chairman of the ATA NSW Container Section Committee, and is credited with reducing the average truck turnaround time at Port Botany to 30 minutes; "The queues used to be four or five kilometres long. We've kept the pressure on and through everyone's hard work we got results," he said.

Sharon Middleton has been in the road transport industry for 30 years and is now the winner of the National Trucking Industry Woman of the Year Award. The winner of the Don Watson Memorial Award, Simon Skazlic, led the development of best practice guidelines to prevent accidents while trucks were loaded and unloaded. Thousands of businesses have downloaded the guidelines. Simon said he was a combination of surprised, humbled and stoked; "I think it's important to give back to an industry that needs so much, yet has so much," he said.