Towing guru wins top industry award

The little known producer of an invaluable industry resource is the winner of the 2012 Eric Hayman Award for outstanding contributions to the Australian caravanning and holiday parks industry.

Caravanning Queensland’s Gerry Newton has for the past nine years singlehandedly developed and produced the Towing Mass Guide, a unique document that puts in the one location the towing limits of every vehicle sold in Australia over the past 10 years.

In his capable hands the very handy Guide, which is free to members of the various RV trade associations in Australia, has grown from six foolscap pages to a highly detailed 305 page resource.

Newton’s was one of six nominations for the 2012 Eric Hayman Award for Excellence, which was presented at this year’s Caravan RV & Accommodation of Australia (CRVA) national conference in Queensland.  

Newton was a member of the Australian Institute of Automotive Engineers, and just retired from his long time role as a technical advisor at the RACQ, when he was asked to produce a new Towing Mass document.

The Guide, which is also used by the various state motoring authorities, now not only covers every vehicle model sold in Australia in the previous 10 years -- even some that can’t tow anything! -- but more recently has expanded to include the capacities of specific vehicles suitable for towing fifth wheelers as well as the roof load capacities of vehicles. 

It’s upgraded twice a year by Newton, who works part-time at Caravanning Queensland’s head office.

Previous winners of the Eric Hayman Award include BIG4 chairman Merv King, CRVA ‘founding father’, Bob Gadd, and former CCIA NSW chief Barry Baillie, who was awarded posthumously in 2011. 

Eric Hayman was President of the CTIA (Victoria) for 17 years and also president of the Caravan and Recreational Vehicle Council of Australia.