Less than a week to go until the Freight Transport Association’s Driver of the Year 2016 Competition – and finalists have now been selected in all three categories.
Following the hugely successful Van Excellence Driver of the Year events in 2014 1nd 2015, FTA has introduced three separate contests celebrating the skills and abilities of professional drivers across the freight and logistics sector.
The three contests – 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, next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Mike Belk, Managing Director of Trucks at Mercedes-Benz UK Limited, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting the Freight Transport Association with the 2016 FTA Truck Driver of the Year competition and host the event at Mercedes-Benz Wentworth Park, Tankersley, our new and used truck preparation facility.
“We’re very much looking forward to welcoming the finalists, all of whom have been selected for demonstrating extremely high levels of truck driving skills. The competition will, I’m sure, be very competitive, so good luck to all those taking part.”
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.
Logistics operators including Speedy Services, Central England Co-Operative, Bookers, Ceva Logistics, Matalan, XPO Logistics and United Biscuits and among those represented at the competition.
The winners’ presentation will be broadcast each day via Periscope and live on Facebook and videos of the day’s events will be uploaded on YouTube. The overall winner of the contest will be revealed at the Freight in the City expo at Alexandra Palace on 2 November.
