competition Archives

What makes an exceptional truck driver? Is it time-keeping and being reliable? Good behavior? Going beyond the call of duty? Excellent people skills? Outstanding driving skills? An impeccable safety record? From the variety of entries being submitted for the 2022 #ThankYouTrucker competition, it is evident that it is all of this – and more!

Launched in June, the #ThankYouTrucker competition aims to recognize and celebrate truck drivers across the country. The competition is a partnership between IVECO SA and the Road Freight Association (RFA). Entries for this year’s competition are pouring in – with fascinating, inspiring stories being shared.

Here are some of the reasons truck drivers are being nominated:

He has been with us since the inception of the business, which is now 15 years old. He lives and breathes trucking. The love for trucking and being on the open road pumps through his veins! Never have we met an individual who would rather be on the road, than at home with his family. He is a specialist in his field!
When he leaves South Africa, he has a truck load of food for the border runners and children along the way and always shares this. He always has friendly words of encouragement for others and a smile on his face.
He is passionate about his occupation and we are very proud he is ours!!
He is always on the job and always treats our customers with respect. A week ago, a lady had an accident on the N2 and he was the first person on the scene. He helped her out of her vehicle and warned oncoming traffic. A few years ago, he also helped a family who had an accident while he was on his way to make a delivery. His vehicle is always neat and he looks after his truck as if it is his own.
He is the best and youngest driver in the firm. He’s 24 years old this year, but the maturity in his driving is exceptional. As a long distance and short distance driver, he always finishes even the hardest loads. The future is really bright for him! He’s constantly upgrading his skills and qualifications. He once said he’s going to be the first person to obtain a degree while driving trucks full time!

How to Enter

Fleet owners and managers can nominate any number of drivers they believe meet the criteria for being our top trucker. Entries close on 3 September 2022.

The winner will receive R50 000. The driver in second place will win R10 000, with the third placed driver receiving R5 000.

To enter, go to www.thankyoutrucker.co.za

About IVECO SA

As a major player in the global transport world, IVECO is an international leader in the development, manufacture, marketing and servicing of a vast range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles. IVECO also manufactures passenger transport vehicles and special vehicles for defense, civil protection and specific missions like fire-fighting. The vehicles adopt the latest engineering technologies, applied to a comprehensive range of engines running on diesel and alternative fuels. These include natural gas (CNG), bio-fuels, hybrid technologies and electric engines.

Outside of Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, Australia ,Latin America and Africa. With over 25 years of presence in South Africa, IVECO has a well established dealer network throughout the country and Southern Africa. The local product range is complemented by a range of financial and after-sales services, and used vehicle activities.

About The Road Freight Association

The Road Freight Association was established in 1975 to support its Members who are, in the main, road freight operators. It is a lobbying and negotiating body which influences the state of the industry, rates, upkeep of the road infrastructure, road safety, freight security, driver interests, cross-border transport, education, health, the fuel price, law enforcement, labor relations and many other issues related to road freight transport.

Member companies include small and medium-sized trucking companies, including many family-owned businesses, owner operators, as well as most of the largest trucking companies in South Africa. Members come from all sectors of the trucking industry.

Private and public operators are Members of the RFA. Membership also includes a significant number of affiliates and associates – those companies providing goods and services to the trucking industry.

Team RFA (made up of support staff and experts) is committed to serving you. The team brings with it a high degree of professional experience, knowledge and dedication – which greatly contributes to the effectiveness, relevance and standing of the RFA.

As the voice of the trucking industry in South Africa, the RFA is your voice. It is important that you avail yourself of that opportunity to be heard.

Good times come with this certainty: They never last.

For businesses, that means formidable challenges (a weak economy, new competition, a sea change in the marketplace) are always just around the corner, and unprepared business leaders face the potential for disaster.

“You don’t have the luxury of resting on your laurels,” says Alyssa Rapp (www.alyssarapp.com), CEO of Surgical Solutions and author of Leadership & Life Hacks: Insights from a Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive.

“You have to keep battling, innovating, out-innovating, and outworking your competition.”

She knows something about that. From 2005 to 2015, Rapp served as the founder and CEO of Bottlenotes Inc., charting a course for the company through the turbulent years of the Great Recession. During her time at Bottlenotes, Rapp was named one of Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30” coolest entrepreneurs in the U.S. Starting in 2015, she served as the managing partner at AJR Ventures, which advised privately-held companies and private equity firms on their digital-marketing strategies.

Rapp offers four tips for helping business leaders meet the toughest of times with a resolute attitude:

Acknowledge fear, and move through it. Fear gets a bad rap, but it’s there for a reason: to protect you from something. “Just like standing on a balance beam is scary because your life or limbs are at risk, so, too, is making business decisions that carry huge risks,” says Rapp, a former competitive gymnast who knows something about balance beams. Your job is to acknowledge the fear – to take note of its presence – and then push through it. “Fear is a normal human response,” she says. “The trick is in not letting it dominate your psyche.”

Commit to finishing what you start. You have to commit before you even begin. “If you start anything knowing you probably won’t succeed, then you won’t,” Rapp says. “You’re setting yourself up for failure. You must show up with full commitment, having faith, true grit, and belief in yourself.”

Know that all great ideas start with ‘what if.’ Never be afraid to ask what if, over and over, until you find a solution, Rapp says. She points out that most of the best entrepreneurial innovation in the United States over the past 20 years has been born out of Silicon Valley, precisely because of the constant willingness to ask and re-ask this simple question. “Some people’s responses to challenges or obstacles are to stop asking questions,” Rapp says. “If you want to solve a problem, you have to open yourself up to the possibility that change is inevitable, and reframing the problem will present an otherwise undiscovered solution.”

Remember that you have to be present to win. You can’t win a race if you’re not competing. “So before you do anything else – before you commit to finishing what you start, before you acknowledge your fear and move through it – you have to show up,” Rapp says. “Remember that saying that 80 percent of success is showing up? There’s truth to that because showing up matters.”

It’s inevitable that, regardless of how well you think you’ve planned, life will throw you curveballs, Rapp says.

“They will come at you in every area, every industry, every walk of life,” she says. “I’ve faced them as a mom, wife, entrepreneur, executive, friend – you name it. But I don’t run from them. I’ve learned to apply my brother’s advice: ‘The only way out is through.’ The truth is, I love curveballs because each one comes with a question: What are you going to do about it?”

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Alyssa Rapp (www.alyssarapp.com), author of Leadership & Life Hacks: Insights from a Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive, has been CEO of Surgical Solutions since 2018. Previously, from 2015 to 2017, she advised startups and private equity-backed companies through AJR Ventures. Prior to that, Rapp ran an e-commerce business called Bottlenotes. She has been named one of Crain’s Chicago’s “Notable Women in Health Care.” Rapp also teaches at Stanford Business School and has recently been named Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School.

Wanted! South Africa’s Most Exceptional Drivers for #ThankYouTrucker Competition

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