From unacknowledged drivers to award-winning kings of the road! Hollard Trucking has crowned two new Hollard Highway Heroes, recognising the best-performing truck and bus drivers on South Africa’s roads.
On Friday, the grand finale for the ninth annual Hollard Highway Heroes competition was held at the Hollard campus in Parktown, Johannesburg. The event celebrated local fleet owners and their dedicated drivers who are shining examples of safe and responsible road behaviour, in a country where road accidents caused by trucks and buses are a serious cause for concern.
Drivers Daniel Jansen from Mossel Bay, representing Grain Carriers, and Tholo Levy Manamela from Soshanguwe, representing the Larimar Group, were named the 2024 Hollard Highway Heroes in the truck and bus categories, respectively. They walked away with between R120 000 and R220 000 in prize money as a reward for their exemplary driving behaviour in transporting passengers and cargo, prioritising safe roads and safe loads on all their journeys.
Paul Dangerfield, Head of Hollard Trucking commented, “As an insurer of trucks and buses, Hollard believes it’s important to walk the talk, when it comes to championing road safety. That’s why we’ve gone beyond slogans and promises to actively make a difference through Hollard Highway Heroes, transforming unsafe roads into safer ones by incentivising good driver behaviour. This is critical because in life and on the road, uncertainties can happen.
“Of course, the competition is transformative in more ways than one: it also changes the lives of the winning drivers through the cash prizes on offer, which can be used to better their lives, invest in their own transport businesses, and more. We extend our warmest congratulations to Daniel Jansen and Tholo Levy Manamela and wish them many more safe journeys to come!”
Added Olivia Kumalo, Operations Manager at Hollard Trucking, “We were delighted to have received a record number of entries this year – an impressive 9 629, which is a whopping 4 200% increase compared with the 220 entries received in the competition’s first iteration. This shows how it has grown in stature and prestige since its inception.
“Most importantly, Hollard Highway Heroes has not only led to a major improvement in participating drivers’ road behaviour during the competition, but our research shows that they have also adopted safer driving habits in the long term. This makes for a truly transformative competition with a tangible impact. We are thrilled to be honouring these bona fide heroes who are helping to mitigate the uncertainties that are so prevalent on our roads.”
This year’s Hollard Highway Heroes competition was open to all bus and truck drivers operating in South Africa, and not only to those insured by Hollard. Fleet owners were encouraged to enter on behalf of their drivers.
Truck drivers competed in five categories (tankers, tippers, tautliners, reefers and flat decks), while bus drivers competed in the short-haul and long-haul categories. Using telematics devices fitted to their vehicles, entrants were monitored for metrics such as speeding, taking regular breaks (an indicator of concentration versus fatigue), and total distance travelled within certain time frames.
Fifty truck drivers and 20 bus drivers then progressed to the second round, where additional tracking of their driving behaviour was carried out. The data gleaned from this rigorous process led to the selection of two 2024 Hollard Highway Heroes. These two winners scored highly in the demanding driver behaviour tests, making them true ambassadors for road safety.
Jansen and Manamela now proudly carry the distinction of being upstanding road safety role models in their communities and the country at large. They are helping to turn unsafe roads into safer ones and protecting all road users against life’s uncertainties, one journey at a time.
