Located in the far north of the Northern Territory, West Arnhem Shire Council has donated a Mack truck to the Trades Industry Division of Charles Darwin University (CDU) to benefit heavy vehicle trade apprentices who will use the truck during their training.
The donation was the result of an extended cooperative effort between West Arnhem Shire Council, Charles Darwin University and JEC Transport, who offered to transport the truck 320 kilometres from Gunbalanya to Darwin at no cost.
Leith Darrach is the Coordinator and Lecturer/Workplace Assessor in Heavy Vehicle Trades at CDU.
He approached Council about obtaining the well used vehicle which was no longer in use and had been parked in Council’s compound in Gunbalanya for some time.
Leith Darrach said that the university relies on industry support to acquire training materials for students studying in the Certificate III Road Transport or Plant and Equipment streams.
He said that the older model Mack truck will give students a chance to learn about different technologies through hands on training, and will fill a small gap in the University’s training aid fleet.
“This vehicle will act as a component by component breakdown training tool,” he said.
West Arnhem Shire Council’s Director Infrastructure Alex Douglas was present at the truck’s delivery to ceremonially hand over the keys to the University.
“The donation of this vehicle is the result of the hard work done by Council’s Infrastructure team, Leith Darrach and his colleagues at the University,” he said.
Alex Douglas said that he was particularly pleased to learn that the donated vehicle will assist in the training of some Indigenous trainees from Jabiru, keeping a link between the truck and West Arnhem Shire.
Leith Darrach said he hopes to take on the ambitious challenge of restoring the well worn vehicle with his students over time.
