The three contests are: FTA Truck Driver of the Year (44 tonne) sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Trucks; FTA Truck Driver of the Year (18 tonne) sponsored by Bridgestone Tyres; and the Van Excellence Driver of the Year sponsored by LeasePlan UK. All three will be held at Mercedes-Benz, Wentworth Park, Barnsley, from 12-14 July 2016.
Contestants taking part in each of the events will be asked to complete various tasks in the competition designed to test their abilities across a wide range of skills. Throughout the day drivers will be assessed on their overall competence behind the wheel.
Last year’s Van Excellence competition winner was Dave Lucas, a driver for the London Borough of Redbridge. Commenting on Mr Lucas' success, Eddie Cross, head of transport engineering service at London Borough of Redbridge, said: “For any fleet, compliance is key, and what better way to demonstrate your compliance than having the Van Excellence standard? Of course, as with any accreditation standard it’s easy to become complacent so you need to keep staff engaged.
“A competition internally or externally is one of the best tools a manager has, it’s an even bigger motivator when your man wins the main competition. From a corporate standpoint to have Dave win the overall prize helps keep Transport Services at Redbridge at the forefront of what can be achieved in the current climate of budget cuts. Well done to the FTA for organising such a terrific event.”
Elements of the competition will examine driving skills (fuel economy and driver behaviour), manoeuvring ability, the drivers’ risk awareness, checked legislative knowledge, and ability to identify pre-use defects of the vehicle. Contestants will be scored on each task and ranked based on their scores.
The individual winner of each event will be announced on the day of the contest, and overall winner of the three competitions will be revealed in October.
For details on how to nominate a driver to enter the 2016 FTA Driver of the Year competition, click here.