The global contest for the trophy awarded for the most economical, fuel-efficient and low-wear driving style saw a total of 23,569 drivers and 692 fleets from 19 countries competing against one another.
22 Sep 2018 | 8217 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Who are the world's best truck drivers? This is the question to which the 14th iteration of the Fleetboard Drivers’ League once again provided the answer. The global contest for the trophy awarded for the most economical, fuel-efficient and low-wear driving style saw a ...
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Who are the world's best truck drivers? This is the question to which the 14th iteration of the Fleetboard Drivers’ League once again provided the answer. The global contest for the trophy awarded for the most economical, fuel-efficient and low-wear driving style saw a total of 23,569 drivers and 692 fleets from 19 countries competing against one another, all of whom have the Fleetboard telematics system (on-board computer and Performance Analysis) in their trucks. This tough competition, which took place under the motto 'Drive. Duel. Win." over a three-month period from 1 May to 31 July 2018, served to identify the best truck drivers, the best fleets and, for the first time, the best national teams as well.
Contestants from a total of 19 countries signed up to take part in the Fleetboard Drivers’ League 2018: China, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia and South Africa. The determining factor in the competitive ranking is the score for driving style from the Fleetboard Performance Analysis. This encourages truck drivers to adopt a driving style that is as economical as possible during their daily work. By doing so, the best drivers can achieve fuel savings of up to 15 percent for their company, and also reduce wear. The driving style score is supplemented by bonus points won in a series of thrilling duels. The overall Drivers’ League score calculated on the basis of these two figures is what determines the winner, a place or elimination.
Best driver: Taking first place and therefore also the lead in the ranking for the German drivers in 2018 was Dennis Dukkon, a driver for the Edeka Handelsgesellschaft Rhein-Ruhr mbH in the German town of Moers (overall Drivers’ League score: 10.55).
Best fleets: The fleets, too, performed outstandingly. The winner in the national ranking was the team of truck drivers from the Edeka Handelsgesellschaft Rhein-Ruhr mbH in Moers (Germany, overall score: 9.97). The international element of the competition saw Dongguan Tianyou Logistics Services Co., Ltd. from China win for the second time (international, overall score: 10.00).
Best team: In this drivers' championship contested on a national level and across fleets, which took place for the first time in 2018, the winners were the national team from China, who thereby positioned themselves as the World Champions of truck driving. With an overall Drivers' League score of 9.98 the team of drivers from the Far East managed to edge ahead of the team from Germany, with an overall score of 9.93, in an exciting final round. The duel for 3rd and 4th places saw Switzerland take on Hungary: 3rd place on the winners' podium went by a razor-thin margin to Hungary (overall Drivers’ League score 9.783). The world championship team from Switzerland therefore took 4th place with an almost equally outstanding performance and an overall score of 9.782.
The three best drivers and the three best fleets receive highly sought-after prizes, such as tickets for motorsport events or national football games.
Participation in the Fleetboard Drivers' League is open to any driver whose truck is equipped with Fleetboard hardware (on-board computer), and to logistics companies and fleets who have booked the Fleetboard service 'Performance Analysis' for their fleet. Participating drivers and fleets compete against each other as they go about their everyday business.
The participants' driving style is judged on the basis of their driving style score from the Fleetboard Performance Analysis, which is made up of a range of factors of relevance to fuel consumption and wear, such as anticipatory driving, braking behaviour and speed changes. Each duel that they win earns the driver an extra 0.05 bonus points. The driving style score and the bonus points achieved are added together to determine the total points, and thereby to calculate the Drivers' League score. In the event of a draw, the result will be determined on the basis of the degree of difficulty in the deployment. If the results are still identical, the distance driven will be the deciding factor.
The objective of the Fleetboard Drivers' League is to provide a boost in motivation for the truck drivers; one which benefits both economic efficiency and the environmental balance. The competitive character of the challenge is designed to encourage the truck drivers to drive as economically as possible, with a positive impact on the Fleetboard Performance Analysis. Fuel savings of up to 15 percent are possible. At the same time the drivers reduce the impact of CO2 emissions on the environment and the wear and tear on their trucks.