Hagås speaks to visitors at Tokyo Motor Show 2017.
TOKYO: The global trucking industry is currently facing a shortage of skilled drivers, especially those for growth markets like Malaysia.
According to UD Trucks vice-president for brand and marketing communications Kenneth Hagås, it is also difficult nowadays to find drivers aged 45 years and below in any trucking market, including mature ones such as Japan and Europe.
“Skills and experience, in combination, is one thing but without a new crop of drivers, how else could this be transferred to?
“We acknowledge this problem and have come up with several initiatives to address it – one of them is through the ‘UD Trucks Extra Mile Challenge’ (UDEMC),” he told The Borneo Post in an interview set up ahead of the awards presentation of UDEMC 2017 on Tuesday night.
Hagås said the company’s participation in the week-long Tokyo Motor Show 2017, which concluded last weekend, highlighted this very issue through its theme this year – ‘The Best Trucks For All Drivers’.
“At the exhibition, we provided a very interactive ambience for both the clients and the visitors, many of whom also brought their children along.
“There were demonstration cabins, equipped with augmented reality (AR) decks, which were a hit among the visitors.
“For us, it’s having fun with a message – we want to show them that trucking is not like what it was decades ago.
“It is a high-skilled occupation and as a company, we are letting them know that it is a career with good benefits and renumeration.
“The opportunity is really there for the youths to take up truck-handling as a career. Bear in mind that with the relevant skills, the drivers are not just drivers – they are also engineers, logistics experts and mechanics,” he elaborated.
On UDEMC, Hagås said it is meant not only to test the skills of drivers of UD Trucks’ heavy-duty Quester and Quon models by pitting them against one another, but to also enhance their competency in truck handling.
“We have drivers who are regional winners, but when you challenge them to perform in exactly the same obstacles and conditions, their competency level may vary significantly from one another.
“Through UDEMC, they can learn from their competitors and also gain invaluable tips from the judges,” he added.
The UDEMC 2017 global finals entailed a series of examinations for truck drivers, including vehicle inspection and manoeuvring, in which each finalist was given a ‘set revenue’ before the start of the competition.
During assessment, the examiners ‘deducted’ this revenue every time the trucker made errors. Those with the highest revenue balance would be declared the overall winner.
At the dinner event, the Malaysian champion Anuar Ahmad – a 45-year-old truck driver for Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd – was named winner of the ‘Inspection’ category.
UD Trucks group trucks Asia sales-Malaysia managing director Filip Van den Heede and TCIE executive director Tan Keng Meng were also present.
Many visitors have their children try their hands at the AR cabins – UD Trucks’ key attraction during the Tokyo Motor Show 2017.
Many visitors have their children try their hands at the AR cabins — UD Trucks’ key attraction during the Tokyo Motor Show 2017.
Anuar (left) discusses with his trainer Kah Yeow Fong before the start of the Quester inspection category of Udemc 2017.