Following a process involving over 120,000 HGV drivers, finalists have today been released in the run-up to the Microlise Driver of the Year Awards. The winners will be announced at the upcoming Microlise Transport Conference, taking place on the 17th May at The Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The shortlist includes three drivers in each category including Short, Medium and Long Distance, where nominations are based in part on telematics performance data from the last year, supported by supplementary information from employers.

Drivers have also been shortlisted in additional categories, based on nominations from industry, including Extra Mile, HGV Hero, Lifetime Achievement, Most Improved Driver of the Year and Young Driver of the Year categories.

The shortlisted drivers are from a range of organisations including; B&Q, Bibby Distribution, Brocklesby, Ceva, Chamberlain Transport, Culina, DHL, DX Freight, Eddie Stobart, Goldstar Transport, Hovis, Muller, Royal Mail, Samworth Brothers Distribution, Tesco and Warburtons.

The independent judging panel includes Road Haulage Association Chief Executive Richard Burnett, Freight Transport Association Deputy Chief Executive James Hookham, Motor Transport Editor Steve Hobson, RTITB Head of Technical Services Nick Welch and Microlise Executive Director Bob Harbey. The panel recently convened in London to review the many entries received, which were all anonymised ahead of judging.

“As always, the awards have uncovered some truly heroic behaviour, as well as professionalism and excellence, from drivers over the last year,” said Richard Burnett. “These awards are unique in that they focus squarely on drivers and the essential work being done to raise the calibre of our industry. Each year I am astounded at the lengths drivers go to, their performance and consistency. This year has been no exception.”

The short, medium and long award shortlists are based on data collected by Microlise telematics units throughout 2016. Now in their third year, these telematics-based awards are defined by analysing data assessing a range of criteria and using a process defined by the University of Nottingham’s Advanced Data Analysis Centre.

“These awards were launched and are designed to identify the best of the best,” said Nadeem Raza, Chief Executive Officer at Microlise. “Those shortlisted have performed exceptionally over a twelve month period, showing high levels of skill, dedication and professionalism. The data doesn’t lie and to be identified from over 120,000 drivers just shows how good these drivers are.”

For the remaining categories, the judges reviewed nominations which were submitted online through the Microlise Transport Conference website.

The winning drivers will be named at a special VIP Dinner event, held on the evening before the Microlise Transport Conference, with the overall winner presented with their award on stage at Europe’s largest road transport conference on 17th May.

The Microlise Transport Conference is set to deliver its strongest programme to date with over 1,000 professionals from across the transport industry attending. Chaired by Quentin Willson, motoring industry journalist, author, TV presenter and campaigner, the conference agenda will touch on the key issues affecting commercial fleet operators with presentations delivered by a range of leaders and experts in their fields.

The full shortlist of 24 drivers will enjoy a Porsche track day courtesy of MAN Truck & Bus UK.

To register your free place at the Microlise Transport Conference, go to www.microliseconference.com.
MICROLISE DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARDS SHORTLIST

Short Distance
Alan Cobb – Ceva
Michael Young – Culina
Anthony Fieldhouse – DX Freight

Medium Distance
Rafal Kolenko – Samworth Brothers
Mark Close – Brocklesby
Anthony Niles – Culina

Long Distance
Peter Jones – Chamberlain
John Seggons – Bibby Distribution
Jason Jeffry – Goldstar Transport

Driver Excellence – Sponsored by Road Haulage Association
No shortlist – award to be presented to operator with largest proportion of drivers in the top 1,000.

Extra Mile – Sponsored by Knorr-Bremse
Neil Salmon & Clive Everson – B&Q
Stuart McClellan – Bibby Distribution
Peter Cochrane – Samworth Brothers

HGV Hero – Sponsored by Dunlop
John Harrington – DHL
Robert Brown – Eddie Stobart

Most Improved Driver of the Year – Sponsored by Scania
Clive Sutton – Bibby Distribution
Michael Roberts – Royal Mail
Catherine Eastbourne – Warburtons

Young Driver of the Year – Sponsored by Vodafone
Thomas Virtue – Hovis
Grszegorz Kepinski – Muller
Laura Farnsworth – Samworth Brothers

Lifetime Achievement – Sponsored by Freight Transport Association
Richard Ireson – Tesco
John Seeley – Hovis
Paul Thompson – Bibby Distribution

Mircolise Conference

About the Author: John Loughran