Mercedes-Benz Trucks launches Driving Academy

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has announced first details of its new truck-specific Driving Academy, which is set to kick off early next year

Mercedes-Benz Trucks will soon be opening a new truck-focussed Driving Academy, with the school's program to get underway in early 2015.

While details are still scarce, Mercedes-Benz says the Driving Academy will offer driver training and will enhance customer engagement, as students sample vehicles at a range of truck driving events spanning track, snow and outback environments.

According to the General Manager for Mercedes-Benz Truck & Bus, Justin Whitford, the new Driving Academy will deliver benefits on multiple levels.

"The Driving Academy will provide exclusive opportunities for our customers and future customers to drive the entire Mercedes-Benz Trucks range in an exhilarating and educational environment," he said.

"The initial feedback from customers on the Driving Academy has been fantastic; this is just another initiative that highlights our commitment to improving the truck and transport industry throughout Australia and New Zealand."

The new Mercedes-Benz Trucks Driving Academy will be managed by Peter Hackett, Chief Driving Instructor for the passenger-car-focussed Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy, in conjunction with Andrew Assimo, Mercedes-Benz Trucks Manager, Product & Technical.

While Mercedes-Benz says it will release further details on the program later this year, the new truck-focussed Diving Academy will undoubtedly draw heavily on Hackett's expertise and the lessons learned over the 13 years since the establishment of the car-specific Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy.

trucksales.com.au recently attended the 2014 Mercedes-Benz Trucks Drive Day Experience, which was run by a mix of Mercedes-Benz Truck & Bus staff and instructors from the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy at the Mount Cotton driver training complex near Brisbane.

The event gave participants a chance to sample Mercedes-Benz's Actros in a variety of configurations, also showcasing many of the safety technologies found across the brand's truck, light commercial and passenger-car ranges.

However, while it provides a unique insight into the Mercedes-Benz truck range, the Trucks Drive Day Experience is limited in two respects: it's an invitation-only affair and at present it's only held once a year. The opening of the Mercedes-Benz Trucks Driving Academy should address both those issues.

While the new Mercedes-Benz Trucks Driving Academy will adopt a format all its own, it will invariably combine many of the benefits of both the Mercedes-Benz Trucks Drive Day Experience and the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy, giving truck customers past, present and future a unique and informative way in which they can experience the brand's commercial products and hone their skills. Watch this space…

Mercedes-Benz Trucks launches Driving Academy

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