High school students from across western NSW have gained hands-on knowledge and experience of what a career would be like in the transport industry after attending Green Light Day.
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Held at Fletcher's International Exports on October 22, the educational day is a NSW Government/industry initiative targeting students in Years 9 to 12.
Students came from Cobar, Trangie, Condobolin, Dubbo, Narromine and Dunedoo.
Fletchers office manager Jake Young said they hope Green Light Day can open students eyes to the career possibilities within the industry.
"When people think about a job in transport they just think of driving a truck.... so we just want to highlight that there are a lot of different moving parts in a transport role, whether that be trains or trucks or air freight...," he explained.
"(It's) Just about educating people on the different opp that are available within a business such as our own and transport industry as a whole."
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Students were given a tour of Fletchers' whole site, hard about employment opportunities and visited the weighbridge and cotton shed.
"We try to keep it as interactive as possible and give them an idea of what can be done. We're proud of what we do....," Mr Young said.
Fletchers relies on many areas where the students come from, for things such as grain, cotton and livestock, Mr Young said.
"So it is important for us to have presence in those areas and support the communities that support us," he added.
As well as the event at Dubbo, there was five industry partners across New South Wales hosted 17 schools and 250 students.
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This year, industry partners comprised of the Richmond RAAF Base Richmond, the Transport for NSW Training Facility at Petersham, Minchinbury's Woolworths Sydney Distribution Centre and the Linfox Intermodal Transport Hub at Parkes.
Member for Dubbo, Dugald Saunders welcomed the joint initiative between TAFE NSW, the NSW Department of Education and Transport NSW to promote careers in transport and logistics to the students.
"The transport and logistics sector employees more than 500,000 people in NSW and offers an abundance of employment opportunities," Mr Saunders said.
"Freight volumes are expected to double over the next 20 years and the demand for skilled transport and logistics employees is increasing, so there's never been a better time to consider a career in the industry."
The top five transport and logistics occupations in demand right now are truck drivers, bus and coach drivers, contract, program and project administrators, automobile drivers and purchasing and supply logistics clerks.
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Mr Saunders said not only will future employees need the technical skills to pursue employment opportunities, but a range of generic skills such as communication, organisational, problem solving, planning and writing skills.
TAFE NSW Supply Chain and eCommerce Skills Point Product Development Coordinator, Thomas Tramby said TAFE NSW plays an important part in equipping people with the skills and training needed to respond to the demand for employees.
"Technology is driving greater accuracy in tracking, warehouse technologies and distribution systems which means that employees are required to operate increasingly complex systems that will require formal qualifications," he said.
Industry partners include Woolworths Group, Royal Australian Air Force, Linfox and Fletcher International Exports.
