Truck, bus driving excellence rewarded in highway heroes competition

Hollard Highway Heroes, an annual competition that celebrates conscientious driving celebrated a fleet of drivers this year at their Hollard Heroes Highway finale event at Emperors Palace in Gauteng on November 24.

This year the annual event was opened to both truckers and bus drivers for the first time.

The annual event celebrates truck and bus drivers who showed examples of a broader awareness when it came to promoting driving excellence when transporting goods and commuters.

Drivers Phineas Muhlanga from Reef Tankers and Gobatlamang J. Gabonewe from Megabus Kuruman were honoured as winners during the Hollard Highway Heroes finale.

In lauding the winners, key accounts manager at Hollard Trucking Risk Services Olivia Kumalo said Phineas and Gobatlamang formed part of a cohort of truckers and bus drivers which travers the highways daily to deliver goods and services, competing for the covered title of highway hero.

“Both winners demonstrated exceptional dedication to driving safely. They not only ensured that they would deliver goods and people on time, but they also prioritised safe driving practices while remaining vigilant to safeguard their fellow road users.”

Using telematics, participants are evaluated on various criteria, including whether they exceed speed limits (defined as driving over 85km/h for 15 seconds or more), daytime fatigue driving (covering more than 300km or driving for four hours without breaks), night-time driving (covering more than 150km or driving for two hours and 15 minutes without a pause), and overall distance travelled daily.

The competitions helps improve the driving habits of both truck and bus drivers, thereby making the roads sager and safeguarding their fleet owners against risk.

Overall, it helps to ensure that there are fewer accidents on South African roads.

Head of Hollard Trucking, Paul Dangerfield weighed in by appreciating the drivers for their participation in the competition.

“We’re grateful to fleet owners, logistics companies and drivers for their participation in the competition. Our Highway Heroes have demonstrated that it can be done.”

Hollard Highway Heroes has shown growth in the past few years as it attracted around 220 entries in its first year.

In 2023, the competition has grown in stature to attract 4 264 driver-entrants from 133 fleets – while also opening up entry to bus drivers, as well as non-Hollard-insured drivers.

Dangerfiled said Reef Tankers is the first non-Hollard client to win Highway Heroes and we hope that this encourages more non-Hollard clients to enter in the future.

The real impact of the Highway Heroes competition is that in keeping our roads safe, it doesn’t just create better futures for drivers and their fleet owners, but for all South Africans.

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