We’re backing the All Blacks!

Relax, dear readers. I’m not referring to the Rugby World Cup. Instead, I am referring to an amazing competition in New Zealand, which aims to make our industry better, cleaner, and more efficient. We’re supporting this initiative and calling for local entries from truck drivers – who could win bundles of cash!

The competition is called Trucking Toward a Better Future, and it is being organised by New Zealand Trucking Media and Resilienz, a company specialising in developing and implementing strategies to address climate change.

New Zealand Trucking Media editorial director Dave McCoid and Resilienz director Lindsay Wood approached me a couple of months ago and asked if I would judge the competition. They wanted to add depth and an international dimension to the judging panel. I LOVED the competition concept and went one step further than accepting the judging post, making an instant decision to co-run the competition in FOCUS and its sister magazine, SHEQ MANAGEMENT. After all, I see no reason why we should not take a dip into the intellectual property pool of our country’s drivers as well!

What is Trucking Toward a Better Future?

So, what is the competition all about and why am I so excited about it? Well, in the simplest of terms, the competition – now in its third year – provides a forum for truck drivers to share their thoughts on how our industry can become better, cleaner, and more efficient. Trucking Toward a Better Future attempts to extract and celebrate the vast and hidden intellectual property that lurks behind the windscreen.

“No one is a more passionate advocate of the truck driver than me,” says McCoid. “Almost every life hero and mentor I’ve had came from behind the wheel. That makes me their biggest fan – and sometimes their biggest pain in the arse,” he laughs.

“I’m always imploring them to come out of the cab and show the world who they are. Truck drivers come from all walks of life, and are more often than not fiercely intelligent, hugely practical, highly imaginative, funny as hell… and often a little shy to pop their heads above the parapet” McCoid continues.

“I know they see things that could be improved. I know they compare how much better ‘company A’ does something compared to ‘company B’, and I know they talk about it. The two companies they are comparing might be in entirely different industries and will likely miss the opportunity to communicate and share ideas. The one thing they do have in common is the truck drivers visiting them. Those drivers are potential conduits of a great idea.”

Prizes

There’s a prize pool of NZ$7,500 (roughly R83,000) up for grabs, with the winning entry taking home a substantial NZ$5,000 (roughly R56,000), second NZ$1,000 (roughly R11,000), and third NZ$500 (roughly R5,500). There are also five NZ$200 (roughly R2,300) spot prizes. Entry is free and is open to any truck driver.

Ideas for entries

There are no limits to entries: they can be products, services, concepts, innovations… anything and everything that pertains to trucking, transport, warehouses, loading docks, trucks, roads, bridges, intersections, and more. We want ingenious ideas from truck drivers, that may make a small or indeed a very large impact on the world of trucking.

Wood offers some inspiration for the thinking that will be needed to win: “German tech firm Ubitricity has come up with the cool idea of converting the electric access panel at the base of a lamp post into an EV charging point. UK publisher This Is Money reports the switch-over takes only 30 minutes, costs only about a sixth of a normal charger, and all an EV owner needs is the right cable and an account. Smart, eh?”

I believe that truck drivers on our continent have great ideas too. They don’t need to be as technical as Ubitricity’s; sometimes the simplest ideas are the best! Do you have an idea about how our industry can be made better, cleaner, and more efficient? Enter today and you could soon be R56,000 richer!

You can find the entry form here. The competition closes on 15 November, so don’t delay!

• The intellectual property of any entry remains that of the entrant and – while the organisers may help with communication channels – progressing the opportunity presented is up to the individual entrant.