More than 150 of South Africa’s best truck drivers, as well as fleet owners, brokers and media representatives, including celebrities Loyiso Bala, John Adams and Sasha Martinengo attended the event, which rewarded the winners of last year’s Highway Heroes competition.
Paul Dangerfield, Highway Heroes campaign manager at Regent Commercial Vehicles (RCV), said one of the aims of the Highway Heroes competition is to raise road users’ awareness of the many challenges which truck drivers face in the course of their work – the daily threat of hijacking being one of the most obvious.
“From our claim statistics, we have pinpointed other challenges that truck drivers face: Excessively long hours on the road, being pushed to speed, driving at night, high traffic volumes, impatient road users, poor driver training, and that there are not enough safe places for truck drivers to stop overnight.”
RCV selects 20 of their top performing drivers of the year according to telematics recorded on the trucks’ tracking and monitoring systems. Factors such as average speed, driver fatigue and braking harshness are taken into account when choosing a winner. Dangerfield added that the winner is selected through quantitative methods and all telematics are recorded and vetted to ensure that results are not biased.
This year’s winner, Themba Vilkazi, took home a cheque for R50 000. “I think Highway Heroes is good. It promotes road safety and that is always important in South Africa,” he said.
Dangerfield has been pleased with the positive feedback received from truck drivers and fleet owners. “We have received requests from fleet owners to brand their trucks with the Highway Heroes logo. We are very excited that this campaign is gaining momentum,” said Dangerfield.
He added that truck transport is extremely important for South Africa’s economy to function properly and hopes that the Highway Heroes campaign will continue to improve the public’s perception of truck drivers and gives them the recognition they deserve.
Entries for this year’s competition were opened on 1 March and the winner and two runners-up will be selected from the finalists’ shortlist before the awards announcement in November. The winning driver will win R75 000 in cash and prizes, while the runners-up will receive prizes worth R40 000 and R20 000 respectively.
Details: 0860 734 368; highwayheroes@regent.co.za
