Christopher Sullivan of Aldi has been named as the 2026 Microlise Driver of the Year at a glittering awards ceremony at Manchester’s Co-op Live.
Held alongside the Microlise Transport Conference, the awards recognise HGV drivers across the country for their exceptional performance, professionalism and dedication.
Logistics firms in attendance included major UK supermarkets such as Tesco, Waitrose, Co-op and Sainsbury’s, as well as specialist road haulage firms including GXO, Gist and Maritime.
In addition to the ultimate prize on the evening, Sullivan (pictured centre with Microlise CEO Nadeem Raza and host Geoff Norcott) also took the title of Microlise’s Long Distance Driver of the Year, part of the data awards category determined by anonymised driver data gathered via Microlise’s in-vehicle technology.
From a pool of more than 200,000 drivers, these awards showcase the best drivers in the business with drivers grouped by short, medium and long distance, plus a separate award recognising the Most Compliant Driver of the Year and an award celebrating the overall Operator of the Year.
Elsewhere, drivers nominated by their peers were recognised across several additional categories, including Rookie Driver, Commitment to Improve, Extra Mile, Outstanding Driver Mentor and Driver Hero.
The Lifetime Achievement award was also presented on the night to Graham Whitby of Matthew Clark, recognising a career spent delivering outstanding service behind the wheel.
Commenting on the awards ceremony, Raza said: “The Driver of the Year awards is our annual celebration of all that is good in the road haulage industry, and we are delighted for Christopher and his thoroughly well-deserved success.
“Research from the Road Haulage Association has estimated that more than 200,000 new drivers will be needed over the next five years. It is therefore our privilege to highlight what a dynamic sector road transport logistics is and to promote the importance of bringing new drivers into the industry.”
“It is vital that we recognise the extremely talented individuals working as drivers who deserve the plaudits for the great work they are doing so early in their careers,” he added.
The full list of award winners is as follows:
Extra Mile
Dale Cox, CCF Ltd (Travis Perkins PLC) *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Sally Jones, Celtic International Freight
Paul Moir, Howard Tenens
Rookie Driver
Fletcher Peart, Brian Yeardley Continental Ltd *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Shanalee Johnson, Tesco Distribution
Vanessa Porter, Sainsburys GXO
Lifetime Achievement
Graham Whitby, Matthew Clark *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Ben Cooper, Floorspan Contracts
Geoffrey Dixon, Tesco Distribution
Commitment to Improve
Mareks Kvetins, Sainsbury’s GXO *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Ian Wheatley, XPO Logistics
Andrei Budurca, Great Bear
Driver Hero
Connor Brennan, Sainsbury’s GXO *** WINNER
Runner-up:
Sharon Longthorne, Loveden Travel
Outstanding Driver Mentor
Gavin Jones, Warburtons *** WINNER
Runners-up:
James Tollitt, Schenk Tank Transport
Jason Brennan, Waitrose & Partners (John Lewis PLC)
Data Awards
Short Distance
Andrew Phillips, Tesco Distribution *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Andrew Toll, Gist
John Mckinney, XPO Logistics
Medium Distance
David Hallam, Gist Ltd *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Daniel Szebeni, Maritime Transport
Peter Gunthorpe, Maritime Transport
Long Distance
Christopher Sullivan, Aldi Ltd *** WINNER & OVERALL WINNER OF MICROLISE DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2026
Runners-up:
Paul Dowdalls, Co-op
Timothy Stocks, Sainsbury’s GXO
Compliant Driver
Declan McAdams, Hovis *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Arjan Berisha, Europa Worldwide
Christopher Sullivan, Aldi
Outstanding Operator
Schenk Tank Transport *** WINNER
Runners-up:
Sainsbury’s
Tesco Distribution
