Three drivers have taken top honours in the Hoyer Petrolog Driver Of The Year Awards, 2017.

Sion Williams, from ShellFleet, Stanlow, was first, with David Young, of EssoFleet, Grangemouth, second and Stephen Pick, from Shell Fleet, Kingsbury, in third.

The competition finalists beat off competition from Hoyer Petrolog’s 1,250 drivers in the UK.

Over a period of eight months, from May to December 2016, all Hoyer drivers competed to qualify for a place in the final ten of the “Driver of the Year” competition.

Drivers with the highest safety and efficiency scores taken from the vehicle’s on-board truck computer, along with a faultless safety and service performance, represented their contract and terminal at the final.

The finals event held at Bruntingthorpe Airfield, Leicestershire, included skid control, roll-over prevention, defect spotting, steering wheel control, slow speed manoeuvring and a written test. The contest was followed by an awards dinner and presentation at Sketchley Grange Hotel, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

The prize for the overall winner, Williams, was presented with a trophy and a £2,250 Red Letter Day prize vouchers with runners-up Young and Pick each receiving trophies and £1,000 and £500 respectively in Red Letter Day vouchers.

Williams has been working on the Shell contract for 17-and-a-half years and this was the second time that he qualified for the final of the driver of the year competition.

Young works on the Esso Contract at Grangemouth and prides himself on safety and customer service, he has had no incidents in 11 years of working for Hoyer and dropping only seven loads in this time. David’s attendance is exemplary at 100% and his claim to fame is that he has worked out of every Hoyer depot around the country.

Pick has worked for Hoyer on the Shell contract for 11 years and this was his second time at the final after coming third in 2016.

Gareth Sterland, contract manager for Hoyer Petrolog UK, said: “It took hard work, skill, consistency and knowledge to qualify for one of the ten finalist positions from across our contracts and from more than 1000 drivers. This was a great accomplishment and really showed that our ten finalists are among the highest skilled in the industry.

“Sion, this year’s winner was consistent throughout all the events and quietly went about the business of getting the job done. Sion was a returning finalist but we ensured that the events were different and more difficult than the previous year and his overall calm and steady approach won the day for him as well as a perfect performance in the lane change event, well done indeed.”

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