Winner of FTA Driver of the Year 18 tonne competition announced

The winner of the Freight Transport Association Driver of the Year 18 tonne competition has been announced. 

Craig Stewart of Clarke International has received the award, demonstrating outstanding professionalism, knowledge and excellent driving skills. 

Lee Hawkins of Greggs has been named Young Driver of the Year in the 18 tonne category.

The competition took place on September 13 at Mercedes-Benz, Wentworth Park, Barnsley. 

Each driver took part in six separate tasks in order to evaluate their overall ability – driving style, economical driving, manoeuvring, defect checking, knowledge of legislation and risk awareness. 

The twelve finalists, who had each been nominated by their fleet manager, were individually scored on each task, ranked on their performance and the overall winner was announced based on the scores. 

Other winners from the 18 tonne contest were:

2nd place – Rob Morris of Bibby Distribution

3rd place – Jamie Jarman of Simply Waste Solutions

Risk assessment – Sean Preston of Greggs

Legislation test – Mike Pyrah of PJ Carey Group

Pre-use defect checks – Rob Morris of Bibby Distribution

Manoeuvring – Geriant Edwards of Seconds and Co

Economical driving – Guntis Paberzie of Greggs

Driving Style supported by Microlise – Pamela Dennison of WS Dennison

The winners of all three contests – Van, 18 tonne and 44 tonne – will be assessed, and the overall winner of FTA Driver of the Year 2017 will be revealed at the Transport Manager Conference at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry on November 29.