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NEWS
Scania Truck Driver Competition run and won
WA's Glenn 'Yogi' Kendall battles country's best to be crowned top driverGlenn 'Yogi' Kendall (pictured), from Western Australia, has triumphed in Scania Australia's 2016 Scania Truck Driver Competition.
Held in late October at Melbourne's Sandown Raceway, 12 finalists from all over the country locked horns across a range of exercises both in an out of the truck to determine the ultimate winner.
Held every two years, the competition sees hundreds of drivers of all makes of truck take part, with this year's original field of around 500 entrants whittled down to 12 via a series of exams and a phone interview.
Yogi, the owner/driver of Kendall Trucking & Co, was thrilled to finish on top in one very talented field which, for the first time, included a female competitor.
Cameron Henry from Victoria's Bordertown Haulage placed second while Scott Savory from WA's SavTrans rounded out the podium.
All finalists were challenged to undertake 10 manoeuvring activities behind the wheel of a Scania G 480 prime mover pulling a Freighter curtainsider. The also had to undertake a dog-leg reversing test in a G 480 B-double, and tackle a Melbourne metro drive in a G 480 pulling a Schmitz Cargobull pantech.
In the classroom, each of the finalists had to answer 30 road rule questions as well as undertake a simulated media interview to gauge their views on the transport industry and how to improve the lot of transport drivers.
"Scania put 12 talented finalists through a tough series of tests on the road and behind a desk in order to determine who would win the coveted Champion status," said Ron Szulc, Brand & Communication Manager for Scania Australia.
"This unique competition puts the spotlight on safe, skilful and efficient driving, underscoring the high levels of professionalism among today's drivers.
"Day to day, Australia's truck drivers are largely unappreciated for the hard work they do against tough deadlines and often in uncomfortable conditions.
"By putting these finalists to the test we expose their high levels of ability, but also importantly give them a chance to meet with other like-minded, passionate and committed drivers who can impact the industry with their professionalism, courtesy and leadership."
Yogi, who usually drives a bonneted American truck, was elated to come away with the win.
"It's amazing, unbelievable," he said.
"I felt I got one of the first tests wrong, so I had to stop and take stock and then focus on every element of the manoeuvring. I had to give everything 110 per cent.
"The switch to a state-of-the art [cab-over] Scania was one of the biggest things to get to grips with during the tests," he said.
“This event is good to meet other like-minded passionate people who want to push themselves forward in this industry. You have got to be in it to win it,” Glenn said.
Glenn said he has a burning passion for setting to right some of the issues he has seen in 20 years of driving and four years as the owner of Kendall Trucking & Co.
"The general public's perception of trucking is they see lumps of metal going down the road," he said.
"They don't see that the 'someone' behind that lump of metal is a real-life person that deals with real-life situations and has a life outside of trucks.
"We need more education and a massive revamp in the transport industry to bring a better level of understanding [of what we do] and then be able to attract a better level of driver to the industry."
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Written byTrucksales Staff
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