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Scania South Africa
recently held the official launch if its 2007 Driver of the Year
competition aimed at drivers employed by Scania customers around the
country. It's a fine competition with truly admirably objectives embracing
all the right stuff writes Patrick O'Leary.
I have to be honest and say that when Joe Blogs, MD of Scania South Africa, took to the podium to explain the rationale behind Scania getting involved in such a competition, I expected some kind of corporate marketing spin. But no, when he stepped up to the podium - which I must point out to our good friend Gideon de Swart is a rostrum not a rectum - he immediately focussed on the person which
FleetWatch, for years, has tried to get across as the one who holds the key to a successful transport operation. It was sweet music to the ears.
"The driver is a key person in our industry, not only for the trucking companies but also for road safety and the environment and we must raise the image of this job so as to attract drivers in the future."
Man, I could have jumped up and kissed him. The customer didn't even get a mention in the introduction. First and foremost it was about the driver and 'first and foremost' is exactly where the driver needs to be positioned.
It amazes me that there are still companies out there who regard the driver as a come and go expendable who is there to be used and abused. Exaggeration? Not so! The drivers I spoke to whose rigs were standing idle after receiving Discontinuation of Service notices from the cops at our last
FleetWatch Brake & Tyre Watch day in Centurion all spoke of how they had no say in the companies they worked for.
A group of them stood around and when asked why they drove rigs which were in such a sorry state of unroadworthiness, the one driver immediately responded: "I tell the boss about the problems on the truck but he says I must drive or I lose my job." The others all agreed that this indeed is the case. And in too many companies, it is.
Certainly the shortage of drivers in the industry has impacted on changing this attitude but even so, that's more among the professional outfits who have come to view their drivers as valuable assets rather than dispensables.
FleetWatch has stated in the past that a true measure of when a company regards its drivers as key players is when the driver is given the authority to refuse to drive a rig out of the yard - no matter how urgent the delivery - until whatever it is that needs fixing on the rig, is fixed. And he won't lose his job for doing so.
It is thus that when Blogs focussed on the driver, I warmed to him. Of course, treating the driver as a key player also opens the door to increased benefits for his employer. "A competent driver affects the profitability of a company and he does this by avoiding accidents, improving fuel consumption, reducing maintenance costs and delivering a quality and accurate service to the customers," said Blogs.
In terms of road safety, he said although aspects such as the state of the vehicle as well as the state of the roads infrastructure does affect road safety, the most important influencing factor in this arena is, once again, the driver who, through a professional approach, can avoid accidents and save lives. "It is because of this that Scania puts a lot of effort into driver training and we are now at the stage where we are training over 1 000 drivers every year," he added.
Touching on the third point, namely, the influence a driver can have on the environment, he said that good driving skills results in reduced fuel consumption and this, coupled with the advances made by manufacturers such as Scania in developing more environmentally friendly engines with reduced emissions, is a powerful combination for environmental responsibility.
"Just remember, the driver is the key," he said as he stepped down from the rostrum. Hear Hear!
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Representing
Skidmonster International
at the launch was Eugene Herbert, MD of RAC Driving Solutions, who
demonstrated the efficiency of his mobile training equipment.
Designed specifically to teach vision and speed control, the
Skidmonster successfully bridges the gap between conventional
advanced driver training thinking and the dynamic nature of truck
driving. A total of 223 risk factors are addressed by teaching 10
habits, the principles of which apply to any type of vehicle –
from car to taxi to truck. The benefit of this training is its
mobility, training being delivered nationally at
locations suitable to clients. |
Major challenge
The serious intent of Scania to have as many of their customers' drivers as possible participate in the competition presented the company with a major challenge. How do you get drivers to take time off to attend the competition? As we all know, the trucking industry is under great pressure to deliver and asking operators to take their drivers off the road for any reason is a problem.
"We realise that a driver off the road means lost revenue to a company and we thus spoke to our customers to find the best way of getting their drivers to participate," says Scania's marketing manager, Gideon de Swart. It is as a result of such talks that Scania is taking the competition to the drivers rather than have them come to it.
In line with this, two Scania driver instructors, Jeremiah Selepe and Bethwell Dladla, will be working full time on this programme to take the Scania rig pictured on these pages to the premises of customers around the country where drivers will be tested at their premises. It's an all-round win situation for Scania, the drivers, their employers and of course, for road safety.
"Some of these tests will take place during the week while others will be conducted over the weekends. It all depends on the availability of the drivers," says De Swart. The tests, by the way, will comprise of both theoretical and practical driving tests based around the K53 system
Going a step further, as part of the competition Scania has produced a booklet for operators spelling out the importance of the driver as well as a puzzle promoting road safety among the children.
"Each driver will be able to take home a puzzle for his children so as to instil in them a sense of road safety. We need to start educating the next generation," says De Swart. The puzzle also has a competition attached to it with bicycles for prizes.
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FleetWatch's sales manager Maryna Parsons got her first chance at trying her hand at reversing a truck when she got behind the wheel of the test rig. It was a 'bonding' experience between her and Scania's driver trainers and testers, Bethwell Dladla (left) and Jeremiah Selepe. |
Obviously all this costs a lot of money and FleetWatch pays tribute to Afrit, Shell SA, Pick 'n Pay Control Instruments and Arrive Alive for coming on board with Scania in this admirable venture. The Road Freight Association as well as the South African Bus Owners' Association have also endorsed the event with SABOA being there to support the competition's inclusion of bus and coach drivers for the first time.
FleetWatch has instituted a new practise where, should we deem it fitting, we attach the
'FleetWatch Hats Off' tribute logo to a story. This new FleetWatch initiative is being launched in this edition and you will see it elsewhere attached to a story paying tribute to South Africa's fleet managers.
We are pleased to announce that Scania South Africa is the second recipient of our new logo which we award to the company for the sterling work it is doing via this competition. Not only is the company promoting road safety but it is also recognising the driver as a key element in any transport operation and in so doing, uplifting South Africa's truck drivers. For this,
FleetWatch lifts its hat to you Scania. Way to go!
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