How Elite Group built safety into every journey
Elite Group operates a growing heavy-vehicle fleet carrying quarry products across New South Wales and beyond. Its safety program begins before a driver is employed, continues before every shift and is reinforced throughout the journey with training, telematics, maintenance and direct management oversight.
The safety challenge
Elite Group operates a sand and soil yard in Jamisontown, Penrith, and delivers quarry products and aggregates across New South Wales, with trucks travelling as far as Queensland when required.
The fleet includes 62 tipping trucks, supported by a workforce of approximately 82 employees. On the morning of the finalist interview, 69 drivers were working across the operation.
Drivers can leave the depot as early as 3am, before managers arrive on site. They work across busy roads, construction projects, quarries and customer locations while managing heavy loads, fatigue requirements and changing operating conditions.
For Elite Group, the principal challenge is making sure that safety standards are followed consistently even when drivers are dispersed across a wide geographical area.
Its solution is to make safety part of every stage of the employment, allocation and vehicle-management process.
Why vote for Elite Group?
Elite Group has built a safety program around the realities of operating heavy trucks, early starts, remote drivers and demanding customer schedules.
Its controls begin with recruitment and continue through daily licence checks, fitness-for-work declarations, driver training, live telematics, incident reporting, fatigue monitoring and preventative maintenance. The program is supported by leaders who are prepared to intervene when standards are not met.
What changed
Before a new driver is considered, Elite Group reviews their driving history and licence status. Applicants with serious high-range speeding, drug-driving or drink-driving offences may not progress.
The company also requires drug and alcohol screening as part of its recruitment process. Successful applicants spend a full day with an experienced driver trainer, who assesses their behaviour, following distance, cornering, acceleration and willingness to respond to instruction.
A driver can be removed from the process immediately if the trainer considers them unsafe.
Those who progress receive additional vehicle-specific instruction. Drivers are taught how to operate the company’s Mack, Volvo and UD trucks correctly, including the appropriate use of power modes, differential locks and other systems.
This approach recognises that being licensed to drive a heavy vehicle does not necessarily mean a person understands how to operate a particular truck safely and efficiently.
Safety before the truck moves
Drivers must complete a pre-start process before receiving their first job of the day.
The process confirms that the truck is safe and that the driver is fit for work. Drivers declare that they are not fatigued or impaired and that they are not affected by drugs or alcohol.
PPE requirements apply from the moment employees enter the gated yard.
Management also checks driver licences daily through the NSW licence-checking system. If a licence has been suspended or cancelled, the driver is contacted and instructed to stop immediately.
This control has identified cases where employees were not aware—or had not disclosed—that their licence was no longer valid.
“One of the most important things is that we want to make sure people have a licence,” general manager Stuart Young explained.
From data to action
Elite Group changed telematics providers because its previous system did not provide enough information to manage behaviour effectively.
Through Geosecure, the business can now monitor speeding, harsh cornering, dangerous driving and seatbelt use. Driver tags identify who is operating each truck, even when employees move between vehicles.
Management receives immediate alerts when a serious event occurs. This allows the team to contact the driver while the journey is underway rather than raising the issue weeks later.
The company applies non-conformance reports and a progressive consequence process. While each situation is reviewed on its circumstances, repeated high-range speeding can result in formal warnings and ultimately the withdrawal of work or termination of employment.
The message is reinforced through monthly toolbox meetings. Drivers are brought together, often over a barbecue, to discuss safety information, sign off on communications and contribute to the program.
Management acknowledges that changing long-established habits can take time, particularly among drivers accustomed to an industry culture in which completing work quickly was once rewarded.
Elite Group’s position is clear: drivers are paid by the hour, scheduled breaks must be taken and there is no operational reason to speed.
Making incidents easier to report
Elite Group believed that incidents and near misses were being underreported.
To remove barriers, the business placed QR codes inside truck cabs. Drivers can scan the code and immediately submit an incident or fault report through Microsoft Forms.
The information enters a central register and is sent directly to the general manager and compliance team. Since the initiative was introduced in November 2025, the business has seen a significant increase in reporting.
The additional information allows management to examine recurring causes, identify driver errors and improve procedures. Drivers are also encouraged to report incidents they witness, even when their vehicle is not directly involved.
Truck cameras can provide evidence following an event. In one instance, footage helped establish that an Elite Group vehicle had not caused an incident and enabled the company to assist police with their investigation.
Monthly, quarterly and annual reports cover National Heavy Vehicle Regulator obligations, health and safety, environmental matters, quality and operational compliance. Results are reviewed by senior management and the company director.
Managing fatigue and maintenance
Drivers complete daily work sheets, which are reviewed to confirm that regulated breaks have been taken.
The records are processed through a checking system that can identify possible breaches. Telematics can also reveal when a truck has moved during a recorded rest period, even at very low speed.
At the time of the interview, Elite Group was preparing to move from paper records to an electronic work diary system as part of an allocation-platform upgrade planned for August 2026.
The company is accredited under relevant NHVR mass, maintenance and fatigue schemes. Allocators also receive training so that they understand how much work can be assigned without creating fatigue breaches.
Maintenance standards exceed basic servicing intervals. Trucks and trailers are maintained under VCV Gold contracts at 20,000-kilometre intervals, even where manufacturer schedules may permit longer distances.
Most fleet assets are kept under five years old, helping provide drivers with modern and dependable equipment.
The results
Elite Group’s safety outcomes
- Three consecutive years of lower insurance costs
- Approximately 30 trucks added during the same three-year period
- No serious company incidents reported during more than 10 years of operation
- Greater incident visibility following the introduction of QR-code reporting
- Immediate behavioural intervention through live telematics alerts
Management reports that incident frequency has continued to decline despite substantial fleet growth. Insurance costs have also fallen in each of the past three years, while recorded incidents have generally remained low in severity.
The company acknowledges that minor collisions and driver errors still occur. Its focus is on ensuring those events are reported, reviewed and used to improve the operation.
The people behind the program
Safety responsibility extends across the general manager, compliance team, allocators, driver trainers, company director and drivers themselves.
Allocators understand fatigue obligations. Trainers have authority to reject unsafe applicants. Drivers are expected to report defects and incidents, take their regulated breaks and respond to coaching.
Senior management reviews performance every month, while the director remains involved in assessing trends and identifying opportunities for improvement.
The company believes the quality of its systems has helped build trust with major customers seeking transport partners capable of meeting strict compliance requirements.
What comes next
Elite Group is refreshing its integrated health, safety, environment, quality and compliance management system.
The work includes updating standard operating procedures, improving inductions and simplifying information so that it is easier for drivers to understand and apply.
Electronic work diaries are intended to strengthen fatigue oversight, while more detailed telematics and incident information will allow the company to develop better future performance targets.
Elite Group is also progressing towards an external fleet safety audit as it seeks to benchmark its systems against wider industry standards.