A group of 12 truck drivers will compete to be crowned Australia’s best.
A group of 12 truck drivers from across Australia will converge on the Gold Coast next month to battle for the prize of Australia’s best truck driver.
The final of the bi-annual Scania Driver Competition will be held at the Gold Coast Race Course on October 1.
The 12 competitors will spend a day demonstrating their manoeuvring and driving skills and then complete a skills-based theory test and mock media interviews.
The winner will receive prizes worth $10,000.
“The Scania Driver Competition in Australia is one of more than 40 similar Scania-run competitions held around the world this year, as the company invites as many as 80,000 drivers globally to show off their skills and knowledge behind the wheel,” Scania Australia communications manager Ron Szulc says.
Szulc says four of the 12 truck drivers are previous finalists.
Drivers competing come from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Northern Territory and Western Australia and work for some of the country’s top trucking firms, including Toll, Chemtrans, Harris Refrigeration and SRV Road Freight.
Scania is also holding a similar event for bus drivers at the same venue on September 30.
A group of 12 will compete for $10,000 in prizes. Like the trucking contingent, the bus drivers will undergo a driving and manoeuvring challenge, a theory test and a mock media interview.
“Scania has been a consistent force promoting the professionalism of Australian drivers, having run this competition several times in the past,” Szulc says.
“Scania is proud to be a conduit to display the professionalism and knowledge of commercial drivers, helping to raise their profile within the general community, as well as to provide a platform for the best drivers to shine.”