Summary
Huge well done to Jack Richards driver Carl Leavold for coming in second position in the Turners Driver of the Year award.
The competition judges drivers not only on their weekly performance scores but compliance with tachograph infringements, safety, adhering to company policies and procedures along with knowledge of Road signs & markings and EU driver regulations. The aim being to have the eight most professional all round drivers represented in the final.
From 1850 drivers across the Turners Group Network the competition started back in January and concluded in September. 8 finalist were invited to Soham to compete for the winning prize.
The five key challenges on the day were:
A 40 minute test route for our drivers to use the lowest volume of fuel : Using one of our latest DAF units the challenge remains with the driver and their style of driving to minimise the litres of fuel used.
The Manoeuvring challenge – A time challenge to work your way through a very tight, but small course with a Scania unit and our Urban two-axle rear steer trailer behind, sounds simple but when the nerves kick in and you’ve never used such a trailer it becomes as slightly more challenging task.
The Circle check challenge: Before embarking on a journey each driver must complete the legal requirement of a circle check for the truck and trailer. This helps identify any faults or damage that would deem the truck and trailer combination unsafe to drive. This year our training artic and trailer had a number of pre-set faults that each finalist had to find within 20 minutes.
The Road sign and markings exam: Testing drivers knowledge with 38 questions on UK road signs and markings along with Drivers legal obligations, the latest Highway Code plus a few “curve-ball” questions on Turners and our methods of measuring weekly driver performance.
And finally a new element for 2022 – A Risk & Hazard awareness : Each driver was shown 9 risk video clips from our own camera systems. The task was to answer the questions posed with each all testing their knowledge of on road risk, why collisions happen and how to avoid such incidents.
Jiri Sinak from Turners Temperature Controlled operation based at Crick. Jiri collected the winners’ cup plus £2000 in holiday vouchers along with a host of Drivers goodies supplied from our sponsors.
Whilst 2nd Position: Carl Leavold from Jack Richards who received £1000 in holiday vouchers.
Congratulations to all of the finalists who have set the highest of standards, not only for this competition but in their day to day duties. Their levels of professionalism are an example to other drivers and the transport industry as a whole.
