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18th January 2001
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When it comes to trucks there is a global trend towards fewer, bigger manufacturers—but the trailer market has never been more diverse, or more innovative. Commercial Motor's Trailer of the Year awards are designed to recognise excellence in design and construction. Adam Hill looks over the judges' selection of the finalists who will now fight it out for top honours in six categories...

The evening of 21 March cannot come soon enough for the IS finalists in Commercial Motor's Trailer of the Year Awards. On that night, to coincide with 2001's Commercial Vehicle show, the

grand surroundings of Birmingham's International Convention Centre will provide the prestigious setting for one of the transport industry's premier events as the winners of the six categories are announced.

It will be the culmination of half a year's work. From beginning to end, this is an exhaustive process for the finalists, going right back to the entry deadline of October last year. In addition to the design details and operating principles of their trailers, entrants must describe the method of construction from materials used to techniques employed. They also need to support their entries with drawings. specifications and photographs; describe its target market; and provide details of users and their comments.

Scrutiny

The graft does not end there, of course. The shortlisted trailers are subjected to rigorous scrutiny at trials by CM's panel of experts, which will take place at Cambridge Airport, courtesy of Marshall Thermo King. Only then will the judges come to their final decision.

But while the companies—big and small, domestic and foreign—sweat it out over the coveted awards, this is a good time to ask what drove them to enter in the first place.

Sam Newton, sales and marketing director of Cartwright, is characteristically frank: "To win," he says. 'But it is also a marketing tool." This is a crucial factor in the appeal of CM'S Trailer of the Year Awards. "It is definitely a prestige thing—when we got the awards last year, we flogged it," Newton reports. "It does reflect on business."

Cartwright has the most at stake in the competition this year with no less than three products in the finals—not that you have to win an award to gain benefit from association. Obviously being deemed the best in your category is the ideal, but there are other ways of winning: "It's nice to be first," says Newton. "But as a finalist you have achieved something and you can flag that up."

The real value of any awards programme is the way it is viewed by those in the know. As Newton says: "It is an industryaccepted competition."

Richard Blurton, group marketing manager at Don-Bur, agrees: "It is a third party, independent endorsement of our products if we win." The company tends to enter products which demonstrate innovation to fit in with its business strategy, he explains. "It creates awareness for the company and therefore

creates another sales tool. It is good coverage for us."

This question of exposure is an important one. Gareth Macklam, reefer product manager at Utility International, says: "We're a relatively new company; this is a way of saying we're still here and we're still coming up with new ideas. It is relatively hard to bring innovations before people." Paul Gilmore, business development manager of Northern Irelandbased Tankers finalist Crossland sympathises with this view: "In terms of manufacturing, we are a young company and we have good UK customers on board already. But we're beginning to target some of the major liquid transporters in the UK and we see this as a way of marketing the company."

"It gets new innovations exposed to the marketplace," says Graham Potter, technical director of Boalloy Industries. "There's no better way of getting it to a wider audience."

Prestige

Publicity is certainly an important part of the Trailer of the Year package, according to James Dennison, managing director of Dennison Trailers in Lancaster: "We are one of the premier trailer manufacturers in the UK and this can enhance your profile."

"We hope it generates more work," agrees Richard Anderson, sales manager of Wilson TS. "There's quite a lot of kudos involved: it's a premier magazine and a premier award well

accepted throughout the industry. Our multi-deck has been incredibly successful—those that haven't got one, we want them to have one. The awards spread the word: being mentioned alongside other people means you can look people in the eye rather than up at them."

But ultimately there are all sorts of reasons why people put their reputations into the public domain with an awards entry. King Trailers, entering for the first time this year, is in line for the Special Purpose category, and managing director Mark Carrington makes no bones about his company's involvement: "We entered with great reluctance; historically we've resisted.It is a testament to the growth of the awards that the company has entered the fray in its own right this year; King's Swing-Thru Trombone Trailer is aimed at the rail-freight sector. It should also be noted that despite the company's resistance to shining a spotlight under its own bushel, King has been heavily involved with winners over the past two years as a manufacturer of special trailers.

Awards programmes such as Commercial Motor's Trailer of the Year stimulate ideas and debate. They are a showcase for innovation and they provide a valuable platform for media coverage. If there is truly no such thing as bad publicity, consider the value of being ranked favourably with your peers and their products.

Excellence

The idea, from the beginning, was for a panel of expert, impartial judges to recognise outstanding achievement in design and engineering excellence by manufacturers of all types of road-going trailers. But the awards do something more valuable as well: they contribute towards the raising of standards as a whole; and they help the public to appreciate the safety and quality inherent in the road transport industry.

The success of CM's Trailer of the Year Awards will always rest on the entries we receive. And now in its seventh year, the competition has lost none of its attraction to top-quality names wanting to pit their best against the rest.


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