The shortlist for one of the UK’s most prestigious commercial driving awards has been revealed today (5 March).

Contenders on the ten shortlisted awards hail from a wide range of operators, including Maritime Transport, Gist, Yodel, Stobart, Boughey Distribution and DPD.

The Microlise Driver of the Year Awards celebrate the most talented logistics drivers working in the UK transport industry.

The highly regarded awards acknowledge the vital work these drivers carry out, enhancing road safety, demonstrating best practice, and upholding the reputation of the logistics sector.

Developed in cooperation with the University of Nottingham, there are ten awards which fall into two groups - data-led awards and awards by nomination.

The data-led awards are based on Microlise Group’s own telematics data taken from its customer base. It encompasses hundreds of operators and more than 230,000 drivers. The company works closely with a team from the University’s Advanced Data Analytics Centre to deliver impartial analysis on this data.

The awards by nomination consists of five categories, voted for by industry peers and judged by an expert panel of road transport professionals.

Richard Smith, RHA managing director and member of this year’s judging panel, said: “The RHA is always proud to be involved in judging these awards. The shortlisted drivers represent everything that is good about our industry and their efforts fully deserve to be celebrated.

“Drivers do not only bear the responsibility for delivery and collection fulfilment. They are also the front line in road safety, the customer’s face-to-face liaison, and ultimately an operator’s brand ambassador.

“By highlighting the best practice on this shortlist, we hope it will be shared and more widely adopted by other drivers.”

Along with Richard Smith, the judging panel included Phil Roe, president of Logistics UK; Victoria Davies, Traffic Commissioner for Wales; and Andy Stewart, editor of Truck and Driver magazine; and Paul Jurevicius, business development director for Microlise Group.

Davies said: “It was a real honour and pleasure to be on the Microlise Driver of the Year Judging Panel. My role as Traffic Commissioner regularly brings me into contact with vocational drivers, but not usually with drivers who excel at what they do and who demonstrate such high levels of professionalism and dedication.

“The drivers who have won these awards, and indeed all the drivers who were shortlisted, thoroughly deserve to be recognised and rewarded as unsung heroes. Well done to them all!”

Winners in each category will be announced during a black-tie VIP dinner ceremony on Monday 18 March, and the group’s overall ‘Driver of the Year’ will be crowned the following day at the Microlise Transport Conference.

To see the full list of this year’s shortlisted drivers and companies, click here.

Topics