Competition to reward bus and truck drivers for driving well

With fatalities on South African roads reaching crisis level, insurer Hollard has launched its annual competition for truck drivers, which rewards them for good driving behaviour. 

According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s 2021 state of road safety report, there were 10,611 fatal crashes in 2021 — a 26.4% increase from 2020, and a 2% increase from 2019.

There were 12,545 road fatalities in 2021.

This year for the first time the competition by Hollard is open to drivers of all truck and bus fleets — not only those affiliated with the insurance company.

Paul Dangerfield, Hollard Trucking national operations manager, said during a media launch in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Thursday that the competition was all about improving road safety.

He said the competition, which has been running since 2015, promotes safer driving practices.

“The Hollard Highway Heroes competition has led to a big improvement in participating drivers’ road behaviour. Better driving reduces risk and leads to safer roads. It also means lower fuel and maintenance costs,” he said. 

Dangerfield said by including bus drivers in the competition they wanted to have a greater influence on enhancing road safety in South Africa. “But the broader mission is to go beyond trucking and buses to cut risk and reduce tragic loss of life,” he said.

Last year Hollard Highway Heroes received 2,400 entries. This year the aim is to attract at least 5,000 truck drivers and a decent first cohort of bus drivers.

Entries will open on March 1 and remain open until May 31. After the first monitoring phase ends on July 31, 50 truck drivers and 20 bus drivers will progress to the second assessment phase from September 1 to October 15.

There are big cash prizes to be won: R50,000 for five category winners, R100,000 for the top bus driver and R150,000 for the overall winning truck driver. The winners will be crowned on November 17.

“We’re deeply invested in entrenching safe driving practices and creating shared value by making South Africa’s roads safer for all road users. Our message is: we are where you are!” said Dangerfield.

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