Hovis driver Richard Barnes has taken home the overall Microlise Driver of the Year Award for 2018 after beating competition from more than 180,000 other UK drivers.

Richard also won the medium distance category, featuring drivers who regularly undertake journeys between 31,000 – 60,000 miles per year. In securing the overall prize, he beat off competition from winning drivers in the short and long distance categories.

The short distance category was won by Timothy Murphy of Menzies Distribution, with the long distance category won by Alan Bateman of CEVA.

Meanwhile Culina won the Driver Excellence award as a result of having the highest proportion of their drivers in the top 1,000 based on analysis of the telematics data.

Bigger than ever before, the telematics-based Microlise Driver of the Year Awards this year also featured shortlisted drivers from DHL, Co-op, Eddie Stobart, Warburtons and Culina.

The winners were also named for a number of nomination-based categories including; Young Driver, Most Improved Driver, Extra Mile, HGV Hero and Lifetime Achievement with Ceva’s Michael Coker, Roberts Bakery’s Gary Hollinrake, Daryl Honess from BRS, DHL’s Nick Mouyiassi and Mark Lyons winning respectively.

The independent judging panel, which reviewed the entries for each of these categories, included Road Haulage Association Chief Executive Richard Burnett, Motor Transport Editor Steve Hobson, Freelance Journalist Sharon Clancy and Microlise Director of Product Stephen Watson.

“I would like to congratulate all the winning drivers who have demonstrated the highest levels of consistency, skill and professionalism over the last twelve months,” said Bob Harbey, Microlise Executive Director. “Our industry is nothing without the efforts of drivers and we’re pleased to be able to highlight their excellent work via the billions of miles of telematics data we capture every year.”

The full shortlist of 24 drivers, who enjoyed a Porsche track day courtesy of MAN Truck & Bus UK, are listed below including the winning drivers in each category.

Ends

MICROLISE DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARDS SHORTLIST AND WINNERS

Short Distance
WINNER – Timothy Murphy – Menzies Distribution
RUNNER UP – Ian Hedley – Co-op
RUNNER UP – Gary Padgett – DHL Next

Medium Distance
WINNER – Richard Barnes – Hovis
RUNNER UP – Brian Holmes – Warburtons
RUNNER UP – John Patterson – Eddie Stobart

Long Distance
WINNER – Alan Bateman – Ceva
RUNNER UP – David Cashmore – Culina
RUNNER UP – Richard Porter – Culina

Driver Excellence – Sponsored by Road Haulage Association
WINNER – Culina

Extra Mile – Sponsored by Bridgestone
WINNER – Daryl Holness – BRS
RUNNER UP – Stephen Amphlett – Frank Roberts
RUNNER UP – Richard Durrant- DHL

HGV Hero – Sponsored by Ford & Slater
WINNER – Nick Mouyiassi- DHL Argos
RUNNER UP – James Hilton – Bibby Distribution
RUNNER UP – Gavin Riley – DHL Argos

Most Improved Driver of the Year – Sponsored by NFU Mutual
WINNER – Gary Hollinrake – Frank Roberts
RUNNER UP – Jamie Pladgeman – Samworth Brothers
RUNNER UP – Anthony Roche – Royal Mail

Young Driver of the Year – Sponsored by Santander
WINNER – Michael Coker – Ceva
RUNNER UP – Jake Brotherhood – Samworth Brothers
RUNNER UP – Aaron Haynes – Ryder

Lifetime Achievement – Sponsored by Apex
WINNER – Mark Lyons – Frank Roberts
RUNNER UP – Angus Campbell – Travis Perkins
RUNNER UP – Robert Hughes – Bibby Distribution

AVAILABLE IMAGERY

ABOUT MICROLISE
Microlise telematics, proof of delivery and journey management solutions help its customers reduce costs and the environmental impact of their fleet operations. This is achieved by maximising vehicle utilisation, increasing operational efficiency and improving economy and safety; whilst helping to deliver the very best customer experience by providing real-time visibility of the fleet against schedule.

A privately owned business based in Nottingham in the UK, Microlise invests significantly in research and development annually to ensure its solutions continue to be underpinned by market-leading technology. For more information, please visit https://www.microlise.com/ or follow us on Twitter – @microlise.