“Buses make up a big share of our market here in Malaysia and Singapore, and so it is only natural we also organize a competition for bus drivers,” said Mr Peter Sjöblom, Chief Executive Officer for Scania in South East Asia.
The competition – the first Scania-initiative Driver Competitions to be held in Asia – also marks the first time that two competitions were run simultaneously that also included one competition for buses.
The competition was launched in July 2007, with application forms sent out to drivers from both Malaysia and Singapore. The application forms contained the Theory Test 1 – consisting of 15 questions related to road safety and fuel economical driving techniques, and 2 essay questions – which drivers were required to answer as part of the application process.
A total of 190 applications were received by the application deadline. “Each and every application was looked at, and drivers with the highest score were then identified to move on to the next round.
“The essay questions actually gave the selection committee another angle at selecting the finalists,” said Mr Ho Hee Hean, Marketing Manager for Scania in South East Asia who also coordinated the competitions. “It was indeed very heartening to see quality answers from some of these drivers in the essay questions, and it is these drivers who were selected to come to the finals.”
The top 8 truck and 8 bus drivers were then selected, and invited to the Scania Malaysia head office complex in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam to compete in the finals, including the 2 bus and 1 truck drivers from Singapore who were among the top scorers for the Applications Theory Test 1.
All finalists and their families were put up at The Saujana Kuala Lumpur resort hotel. “Of course, with all the finalists in one hotel made sense logistically. But Scania also wanted to reward these finalists with a 5-star hotel stay, for being Malaysia and Singapore’s top drivers,” added Mr Ho Hee Hean.
The programme for the competition actually started the day before, on Saturday 18th August 2007. Right after checking into the hotel, the finalists were ferried by coach to the competition venue, where they were given a briefing of what to expect the next day. “Most of the finalists felt quite daunted at the high level of skills and precision driving needed for the maneuvering tests, although a few of them did admit that they roughly knew what was to happen by reading up on the Young European Truck Driver (YETD) Competitions,” said Mr Ho Hee Hean.
The programme continued with a pre-event Welcome Dinner, held at the glitzy Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel. Mr Peter Sjöblom had the pleasure of welcoming the finalists and guests to the competition, where in his speech he outlined Scania’s commitment to Road Safety, and congratulated the 16 finalists for their splendid performance so far and wished them all the best for the competition the next day.
On Sunday 19th August, the competition began with the bus drivers doing the maneuvering tests and the truck drivers completing the road test part of the competitions. In between, all the finalists also completed Theory Test 2. These finalists were obviously very nervous that morning – some drivers admitted being so nervous they completely missed the mark for the Bulls Eye’s test. However, they managed to calm down as the competition progressed, and a few drivers even managed to wow the crowds by executing the tough “Slalom” and “The Plank” tests.
While the bus drivers were busy maneuvering around the tough obstacle course, the truck drivers were also being put through the paces in the road test. The two judges from the Road Transport Department of Malaysia or JPJ kept a keen eye on the drivers, while technical staff from Scania also measured their fuel consumption readings during the drive.
One interesting fact that came out of this Road Test was the big difference between the drivers with the best and worst fuel consumption readings. At today’s fuel prices, and assuming a fleet with 100 vehicles averaging 100,000km a year, the difference between the drivers with the best and worst fuel consumption would save the fleet a staggering RM 725,000 in fuel savings a year!
After lunch, it was now the bus drivers’ turn to conduct the Road Test and the truck drivers doing the maneuvering tests. Although all the obstacles were the same, the dimensions for some of the maneuvering tests were altered to make it equally challenging for both truck and bus drivers. The truck drivers were obviously in their element, and treated the crowd to an interesting display of 40ft trailer-tractor truck combinations making tight U-turns and maneuvering into tight spots.
After the last truck driver completed his maneuvering tests, the drivers waited anxiously for the results to be announced. A stage was set up in the workshop area with a competition truck providing the backdrop, and the results were announced – first with the bus driver competitions. Finally, Mr Ghazali Hasan from Aeroline Express – who regularly drives a K124 4x2 360 coach plying the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore route emerged the top bus driver.
An elated Mr Ghazali said later, “Of course the win was unexpected. There are many top drivers here today so I expected a tough fight with the other drivers, and the maneuvering tests were rather challenging. But I am very glad of the victory.”
Mr Borhan Bakar from Say Heng (Chuah) Transport – who delivers fuel to filling stations – was announced as the top truck driver. When his name was announced, he could hardly believe that he won, and was in a state of disbelief. When he finally calmed down, he said, “I did not practice for this competition but used my 12 years of experience of driving trucks.” He also attributed his win to constant driver training from his employers Say Heng (Chuah) Transport.
These top drivers were rewarded with a trophy and RM 8,000 cash each; while their fleet owners received RM 15,000 in Scania Service Vouchers.
The competition also rewarded 1st and 2nd runner up for both truck and bus category drivers. In the Bus segment, 1st runner up was Mr Jamel Baharom from Plusliner Express; and 2nd runner up was Mr Ibrahim Ahmad from Sri Maju Express who took home RM 3,000 and RM 2,000 respectively.
In the truck category, 1st runner up was Mr Roslin Md. Rasip from TS Transport and 2nd runner up was Mr Abdul Rahman Md Yusof from Kontena Nasional.
The competitions are supported by the Road Safety Department of Malaysia (JKJR) together with sponsors Bridgestone and Castrol, all of whom also provided the judges for the competition. The chief judge of the competition was Mr Hashim Yakob of the Road Transport Department of Malaysia (JPJ) who is a senior officer in the department’s enforcement agency.
“The competition highlights Scania’s effort in further promoting road safety and reducing road accidents and fatalities,” said Mr Sjöblom. “We are committed in working together with our partners as well as the authorities to spread the message of road safety to both truck and bus drivers in Malaysia and Singapore.”
