The next round of the New Zealand truck driving championship will take place at the Manfeild circuit in Feilding on June 13.
More than 40 drivers to date have signed up, though organisers are slightly disappointed that the majority of entrants to date are more experienced drivers.
The full day’s action offers more than just a handling exercise in all classes of heavy vehicles, says Sandy Walker, the Hastings-based central region area executive of the Road Transport Association.
“We are encouraging younger drivers perhaps newer to the scene to also give it a crack … the scene has changed in so many ways, the whole way of driving these vehicles today is completely different to what it would have been even as little as 10 years ago.”
“There are three parts to it – a written test based on the Heavy Transport Road Code, a walk-around inspection for fault-finding and then there is the actual driving competition itself,” says Walker.
“It’s a real test of ability at all levels.”
Winners of four categories will progress to a national final at Christchurch in August, with one winner being crowned the NZ Champion Truck Driver of the Year. There will also be a Young Truck Driver of the Year Award.
This event has sponsorship from truck rental firm TR Group, which supplies vehicles on the day, with judging by Master Drive Services and Advaro (Speirs Finance) a long-time supporter of the road transport industry.
Drivers from Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay will demonstrate their talent within the Manfeild Stadium carpark – which is a space suitably sized for big rig manoeuvring – rather than on the venue’s famous-circuit.
The driving tests assessing ability to manoeuvre through cones and also undertake tricky forward and reverse parking in all manner of vehicles right up to B-Trains are guaranteed to be crowd-pleasers, yet for contestants this against-the-clock section might be the easy part, says Walker.
“The pre-drive walk-around to identify purpose-placed and often subtle faults and the written test on the rules, regulations and laws governing truck driving are reminders that this industry places huge store in expectation of operators to keep within the letter of the law,” he says
“I would expect that the road code questions might trip up a few. Driving is what they do day-to-day; but the written will be different – it’s all designed about making sure everyone is at the top of their game.
“The (written test) is the part that reinforces that a driver needs to know the book because it’s preferable to having a policeman telling you that you have a problem.”
The scoring system means competitors begin with 100 points and those who stick closest to that maximum are the winners who go expenses-paid to the August 27 national final, where a $10,000 top prize pool awaits.
