Aberdeen does it again
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LORRY DRIVER OF THE YEAR FOR 1973: A. Howitt, Shell and BP Scotland Ltd, Leyland, 375 penalty points. Runner-up: R. N. Edwards, Eastern British Road Services Ltd, Guy, 396. Third place: J. McGrath. Freightliners Ltd, Seddon, 428.
Reported by Martin Hayes, Pictures by Harry Roberts
ALISTAIR HOWITT was driving north on Monday after the 1973 Lorry Driver of the Year finals on Sunday. And he had no idea he had won the competition outright and become this year's champion.
When Alistair left Bramcote on Sunday he knew that he had won his class but thought he had come fourth overall. Only on Monday, after his protest against the run-off markings had been upheld at a special stewards' meeting, was the final, corrected result announced.
Alistair's victory is the second in three years for the Aberdeen depot of Shell and BP Scotland Ltd. Jovial Norman Singer, 1971 LDoY champion, also drives a tanker from the Point Law terminal there. It must have been quite a homecoming on Monday night for Alistair, who was greeted by his wife and four children. They were in the know before he was Thirty-four-year-old Alistair has been driving for 17 years, the last 10 of them for Shell and BP. He shared some of the limelight with Norman in 1971 when he won his class at the National Finals.
Alistair's victory was preceded by a series of organizational errors which came close to throwing the whole competition into disrepute. First, the newly introduced road section had to be discounted when fog penalized some competitors and after some unsatisfactory marking was discovered. Then, after four protests had been received, it was discovered that the model answer used for one of the Highway Code questions was incorrect. The protests were upheld after some of the class winners had received their trophies. The Code papers had to be marked again and the results changed, which led to a four-hour delay in the event. Then, to cap it all, many of the results were declared null and void on Monday after yet another protest — this time concerning the marking of the fault-finding section in the run-off — had been upheld. As a result the man who had been awarded fourth place on Sunday was named champion.
Nevertheless, most people at Bramcote on Sunday undoubtedly enjoyed themselves. The weather was the best it had been for E final for years and the ice cream and Net. tents had a bumper day. Such is the loyalty of the LDoY crowd that there was still a very sizeable throng when the prize giving ceremony eventually began at 7.17 pm.
For many people, though, the day had started much earlier. For the first time it was decided to include a road section in Cie final. This was run along very similar lines to those used at eliminating rounds. Competitors began the route from Bitteswell airfield on A5, where scrutineering took place. A 10-mile section of Watling Street followed on which there was a pull-in point for a time check (a 30 mph average was required) together with several secret checks on driving skill. Then the route skirted Nuneaton before arriving at Brameote. Although the route was clearly marked more than one competitor decided to follow AA signs to Bramcote and became well and truly lost. But the road route, though it was eliminated from the final results, proved its worth. If nothing else, vehicles arrived at regular intervals at Bramcote, and by mid morning the event was well ahead of schedule. The manoeuvring test was very much the mixture as before but it was significant that the men from the big fleets were scoring particularly well. Several fleet managers I spoke to were sure the value of proper training courses was at last beginning to be felt.
After lunch some of the class winners were presented with their silverware by Mr Keith Speed, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of the Environment, and MP for Meriden, which is only just down the road from Bramcote. Mr Speed said that there was much public disquiet currently about heavy lorries. The lorry driver had a big part to play in dispelling this. The lorry was essential to our distribution and transport systems and to improving ouf standard of living.
"Every driver is an ambassador for the road transport industry and his firm," said Mr Speed. "The more professional, more skilful, more courteous and more thoughtful he is, the more he can help to defuse an explosive situation as far as heavy lorries are concerned and prevent ill-considered and potentially very damaging restriction on their use."
During the afternoon period of four hours when not a single competition vehicle moved, the sideshows really attracted the crowds. For many, the highlight of the day was probably the outstanding displays by the Metropolitan police motorcycle squad. These showed off precision driving and riding that would have done credit to the LDoY men themselves.
Among the sideshows, it was the Conoco static cycle race that made the most noise. But other, more educational, pursuits attracted plenty of crowds, too. Among these one of the most useful was the Smith's tachograph tent. This show, making its first appearance at Bramcote, featured a chartreading competition. Entrants had to deduce various items of information from a tachograph chart.
Despite the long delays there was still a good crowd to see the final run-off. Four vehicles provided by Mercedes-Benz were used for the manoeuvring tests. Artie men studied a Mercedes 1418 with Peak dropframe semi-trailer for deliberate faults, while the rigid drivers looked over a Bedford TK for faults. Once the run-off got under way there was more vocal support than I can remember. The crowd cheered on their favourites in no uncertain manner. Deservedly, there was plenty of good-natured support for the only lady driver in the competition, Mrs Ann Adkin. Although she only began professional driving earlier this year with a BMC 250 JU, she won her class by a handsome margin.
But attractive, 34-year-old Mrs Adkin is not a stranger to competitions. In 1972 she was runner-up in the Daily Mail womandriver-of-the-year competition. She told me that all her driving tuition had been given by her husband. He must have done a good job because she put up a first-rate performance in the final run-off. Despite finding difficulty in getting reverse gear in several of the Mercedes, Mrs Adkin was willing to have a go at anything. But the strain showed; she swallowed some aspirin just before the championship contest started! That big artic was obviously a bit daunting.
Although Mrs Adkin provided the glamour, there was plenty of interest in the male competitors, too. Much to the delight of Dan Pettit, new LDef president and chairman of the National Freight Corporadon, there were no fewer than four NFC drivers among the class winners. They came from four separate branches, too: _BRS Parcels Ltd, National Carriers Ltd, Eastern BRS Ltd, and Freightliners Ltd.
Although he had to wait for his just rewards, many observers had marked down Alistair Howitt as a likely champion. He was last man in the run-off so he had most "nerves" time behind closed doors but this did not seem to trouble him. I watched him on the last test and he was cool, calm and collected all the way. Although he normally drives a rigid he twitched the maximumlength artic round the tight zigzag course like an old hand.
Obviously he thought he had done well but he was too shy to let us take a picture of him. No doubt his disappointment on Sunday was well overcome on Monday evening when he got home to Bridge of Don, Aberdeenshire, to hear the amended results. The man who had all the glory on Sunday, John McGrath from Freightliners in Glasgow, was finally placed third overall. One hopes he was consoled by the decision of the sponsors (Commercial Motor) to donate the money to enable him to keep his cash prize and wrist watch.