Not only did the sun shine brightly on the competitors of the Van Excellence Driver of the Year 2014 competition, but their professionalism, knowledge and excellent driving skills also shone through as “second to none” with every cone left in place by the final 12 who took part.
Drivers were put to the test through five separate tasks which were designed to test their overall ability behind the wheel. Six elements of the competition examined 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. The drivers were scored on each element of the competition and ranked from based on their scores.
The FTA Van Excellence Driver of the Year 2014 contest, (sponsored by motors.co.uk and Leaseplan), was open to Van Excellence accredited operators, who had been invited to enter their best driver.
And the winners are:
Coming in first at the inaugural Van Excellence event 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 – driver for National Grid.
Mark Cartwight, FTA’s Head of Vans said:
“Congratulations must go to every single driver that took part in the Van Excellence Driver of the Year 2014 – to my mind everyone was a winner. The calibre of entries was outstanding and it was hard to pick between them; the level of their expertise, experience and knowledge was thoroughly put to the test, and they are all outstanding drivers. This event offered van drivers the chance to redress the balance of what is an often maligned profession and the reputation of ‘white van man’. Instead they were able to celebrate the fantastic work they do on a day-to-day basis, and demonstrated how important they take their responsibilities.”
The 2014 Van Excellence Driver of the Year contest (backed by the Freight Transport Association) took place as part of the DRIVEit event at Bruntingthorpe Proving Grounds.
Van Excellence Industry Partners ATS Euromaster, Hertz Van Rental and TomTom attended the event as part of the Van Excellence Arena and presented additional prizes to competition entrants who demonstrated particular skills in individual parts of the competition.