James Mavuso and Hennie Schutte from agricultural services and processing company, Afgri, beat 15 other crews to win the inaugural UD Trucks Southern Africa’s Extra Mile Challenge, after a day of evaluations and challenges at the Gerotek vehicle testing facility.
The two will now represent South Africa in the global Extra Mile Challenge competition in Japan in November 2015.
Teams from ABI, Afgri, Vital Distribution, Unitrans, Shoprite Checkers, Imperial Retail Logistics and Clover SA took part, with some entering more than one team.
The competition consisted of three sections, with various activities simulating a collection and delivery route. Teams had to complete a pre-drive inspection, a driving test that included two collections and delivery points, and a parking evaluation.
Driving tests were performed in Quon GW26 410s with tridem trailers, loaded to 35 tons GCM. Co-drivers were required to assist the drivers throughout the event which emphasised overall efficiency and productivity.
Teams were rated on the time taken to make deliveries, the accuracy of goods delivered, adherence to road rules, fuel efficiency and driving style. Experts continuously evaluated each team and, once the course was completed, technicians downloaded and scored the drivers’ fuel efficiency and driving styles according to information retrieved from the truck’s telematics systems.
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