Shell announces the UK’s most fuel efficient road transport fleet driver

Shell has announced that Dean Scott of CFT Services, which offers palletised distribution solutions throughout the UK and Ireland, as the UK’s most fuel efficient road transport fleet driver. 

The announcement comes as part of the Shell FuelSave Partner European Driver Competition, an annual contest to find the most fuel efficient road transport fleet driver among Shell FuelSave Partner customers in Europe.

It is run by Shell in cooperation with DEKRA Academy, which specialises in driver training within EU regulations and also offers a customised driver training programme for transport companies using Shell FuelSave Partner.

During the assessment, DEKRA Academy worked with Shell technical experts to rank drivers from across thirteen European countries based on the driver reports from their Shell FuelSave Partner advanced fuel management system.

Certain operational considerations, such as the terrain in which they operate (inner city or highways), the type of vehicle they drive and the weight of load they carry, were also taken into account.

Scott said: “I was over the moon to be crowned the UK’s winner of this fantastic competition.

“The analysis that the Shell FuelSave Partner product achieves was a real eye opener for me, and ultimately helped me to improve my efficiency.

“I am thoroughly looking forward to the final in Germany and will be flying the flag for the UK.”

Along with his fleet manager, Scott will now join fellow winners from Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Switzerland at the grand final in Augsburg, Germany, later this month.

There, the finalists will compete in a series of challenges designed to test their fuel efficient driving skills and safe driving techniques.

Challenges will include live driving exercises designed to evaluate steering, braking and vehicle control and a DEKRA driving simulator test that measures the amount of fuel each competitor uses over a standard virtual journey as well as the time they take to complete it.

The winner of the grand final will win a trip to a Ferrari driving challenge, while their company will have the chance to send more of their drivers on a one day specialized eco-driving training course. The drivers that finish second and third will win a place on a Porsche driving challenge.

All driving challenge prizes include travel and accommodation for two people.

Philip Williams, Shell head of Commercial Fleet UK, said: “We know from our own testing at Shell that a few simple changes to driver behaviour can help road transport fleet operators cut fuel consumption significantly, so it was great to see so many UK fleet drivers putting their fuel efficiency skills into practice.

“The competition was strong but Dean’s fuel efficient driving skills were particularly impressive. We’re looking forward to seeing him in the Shell FuelSave Partner European Driver Competition grand final in June.”

The Shell FuelSave Partner European Driver Competition represents part of Shell’s on-going efforts to help commercial road transport fleet operators improve their drivers’ fuel efficiency through fuel efficient driving techniques.

Other initiatives include Target One Million, a Shell FuelSave campaign established to help one million drivers around the world learn the skills required to become more fuel efficient.