Young Person in Transport Award 2023 winner Anton Fitzgerald named

At the conference Bull Carter's Bull on Friday night, Anton was chosen from seven finalists as the winner of the Young Person in Transport Award 2023.

Anton, 27, said the win was very overwhelming as he was not expecting it.

But he said to be recognised in such a big industry was an honour.

On the night, he thanked everyone from Meandarra Transport and the LRTAQ and said he was "a bit starstruck".

"I'm definitely in the industry for the long term and want to get more involved with the LRTAQ. Hopefully, I'll have one of those delegate positions eventually, not straight away as I've got plenty to learn, but if I keep coming to these conferences, I'll get there," he said.

Originally from Tara, Anton started in the industry in 2017 when he was 21 after a few years doing contracting mustering and farming.

He started as a livestock truck driver with Meandarra Transport under the previous owners, but when the Hurst and Fea families offered him the job as manager in 2021 he did not hesitate to accept.

"I was on holidays when I got the phone call saying 'you've got the job if you want it' so I took it," he said.

"I jumped at it straight away as it was something I wanted to do. We have five trucks and a full time sub contractor.

"We do 100 to 120 decks a week of cattle. We're pretty versatile, but our main run is to the meat works down south. We also go to saleyards and we've got a lot of cattle come in from the west and we take a lot out to the west, we've got a couple of clients out that way in the Longreach, Blackall, Tambo area.

"We go to Tamworth meat works four or five times a week and down to Dubbo every week to bring cattle back home."

Anton said one of the things he liked about the job was that it was a challenge and different every day.

"Nothing ever stays to plan. You can plan your day out, you can plan your week out, and no sooner do you finish doing that, you get a phone call that just changes the whole lot - it just keeps you on your toes having to think on the go. It's massive problem solving," he said.

"I'd like to end up with a share of the trucks out here - I'd like to get further involved in this business to be honest."

Anton said he continued driving because he enjoyed it and did not believe he could sit in an office all day.

He said he particularly liked livestock hauling because of the different places he went to and people he met.

"Every load of cattle is different. You've got to learn to read the cattle and handle them and that's another good challenge or aspect of the job," he said.

"I wouldn't mind having a few cattle of my own running around one day...but I'm more interested in the trucking side."

Anton suggested if any young person was interested in livestock hauling they should just get in and have a go.

"Give it a crack. It's a really good career to be involved in livestock carting. You can make really good money and see good places," he said.

The other finalists were Brodie Matton-Osgood of Bill Matton Transport, Josh Ahern of Martins Stock Haulage, Matthew McLennan of Seilers Transport, Skye Loveday of RJ Loveday Transport, Travis Oliver of Oliver's Livestock Transport and Wyatt Fisk-Walsh of Frasers Livestock Transport.