The challenge involved visitors carrying out a pre-use defect check on a van which had already been prepared with faults. Charlton, who was selected from everyone who walked around the vehicle and correctly identified all the defects, wins an all-expenses paid trip for two to a round of the World Superbike Championship in Jerez, Spain, courtesy of lvehicle graphics and wrapping specialist Sign Language.
The Challenge took place outside the Van Excellence Arena which housed stands from the Van Excellence Industry Partners ATS Euromaster, Hertz Van Rental and Tom Tom Telematics where visitors to DriveIt were given advice and solutions for operating their van fleet.
Commenting on Chris Charlton’s win, Mark Cartwright, FTA’s head of vans, said: ‘Many congratulations to Chris and to all the other entrants who took part on the day. The pre-use defect check is right at the very heart of ensuring operational safety and compliance. Just a few minutes at the start of duties goes an enormous way in confirming roadworthiness and we hope this fun competition went some way towards showing how quick and easy these checks can be for a driver to carry out.’
The winner of the Van Driver of the Year Competition was Cameron Weir from Iron Mountain; in second place was Tony Finnerty of Amey Fleet and Plant; and third place was awarded to Matt Kitchin – a driver for National Grid.