World-leading industrial gases supplier Air Products has crowned its first Driver of the Year, at Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ Wentworth Park complex in South Yorkshire.
Adrian Garlick took the honours at a hugely successful event hosted by dealer Roanza Truck & Van, which last year supplied its high-profile customer with 90 new Mercedes- Benz Actros, a combination of 6×2 tractor units and 26-tonners with tank bodies.
Six drivers were selected from 47 qualifiers on the basis of their exemplary scores in the fields of economic driving, compliance, safety and zero ‘Preventable Vehicle Accidents’ throughout 2018.
The 72-acre Wentworth Park site near Barnsley provided the perfect setting for the final of Air Products’ inaugural Driver of the Year competition. Adrian and his fellow contenders Andrew Cartwright, Dave Chadwick, Jeremy Cook, Clive Dennis and Alan Graham faced a series of trials which not only tested the skills they use every day at work, but also took them well outside their ‘comfort zones’. A lot of fun was had, too.
The programme included on-road driving in an Actros tractor unit, and a memorable opportunity to pilot a mighty all-wheel drive Unimog over Wentworth Park’s demanding offroad circuit. There were manoeuvring challenges in a fullyelectric FUSO eCanter light truck, a tricky reversing task in an Econic refuse collection vehicle with blacked-out mirrors which meant the competitors had to rely solely on the truck’s camera system, and a fault recognition exercise based on the standard driver’s walk-around check process.
A quiz with questions on compliance, safety and the Highway Code, a crane handling challenge, and some light relief in the shape of a fun game which entailed piloting a radio-controlled scale-model of a Unimog around an obstacle course, completed the packed itinerary.
It was testament to the high professional standards of the Air Products drivers taking part, that going into the final sessions there was still all to play for. Ultimately, though, when the final scores were totted up, it was Adrian Garlick who emerged victorious.
He also took the individual prizes in the reversing, fault clinic and quiz elements of the competition, while Alan Graham won the on-road drive and manoeuvring tests, and Dave Chadwick beat the field in the offroad challenge.
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