LDOY association formed
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• There is to be a new association for lorry drivers. At the annual meeting of the national organizing committee of the Lorry Driver of the Year competition on Monday it was agreed to formalize the structure of the organization by forming the National Lorry Driver of the Year Association Ltd. This association will operate as a company without share capital, and limited by guarantee. It will be non-profit making.
The association will be responsible for the Lorry Driver of the Year competition, which is sponsored by Commercial Motor. Entrants and competitors will become eligible
for membership as associates and competing members. This move follows a poll taken at the 1968 final when almost 50 per cent of the competitors indicated their interest.
The association also has power to promote club activities, run training schemes and offer a wide variety of facilities to members. The full members of the association will be the members of the organizing committee who represent the eliminating centres, road safety bodies, trade and professional associations, trade unions, the Transport Holding Company and the RTITB, who will continue to run the competition as before. At the election of the executive committee, Alderman R. W. Brain and Mr. Mervyn Miles (chairman and vice-chairman respectively) said that this would be their last year of office. Both have served on the committee since the competition began 16 years ago. The executive committee co-opted Mr. K. H. Jackson, national secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union as a new member. This is the first time that the union has been represented on the executive.
There are 29 established centres for the 1969 competition, with the promise of more. To meet the increasing demand for eliminating centres the sponsors (CM) have intimated that the administrative staff will be increased.
Following the late finish at the 1968 final when the competition consisted of seven tests in two parts, the clerk of the course announced that he was reverting to the pre1968 method of four duplicated tests for the 1969 final, which will be held at Bramcote on September 7. To qualify for the eliminator, competitors require to be accident-free for the year prior to the date of the event.
The eliminating rounds will again be divided into three parts. The Highway Code test procedure will follow an identical pattern at every centre, and there will be a road route test of not less than five miles.
There are again three driving tests: reversing into a loading bay, width judgment, and kerb-parking. The loading bay test has been altered to provide different forward-barrier positions for rigids and attics. The attics will now be driven forward diagonally and reversed straight into the bay. The measurement from the front or rear of the vehicle to the barrier will now be taken up to a height of 4ft. Artics will be penalized for "out-of-line" in the kerb test.
The maximum penalty points a competitor can gather if he completes a section correctly will be 200. Failure to complete a test correctly will bring an award of 210 points. An important amendment to the regulations is that the number of mirrors is no longer limited to the legal requirements.