Making our roads safer
Daimler Trucks has announced its support for Transport Month with free driver training
SA’s Department of Transport will once again embark on its annual Transport Month campaign, kicking off on October 1. The initiative is used to raise awareness on the importance of transport to the local economy, including the provision of a safe and more affordable, accessible and reliable transport system in the country. It also encourages participation from civil society and business.
In addition, October is also used to showcase the progress achieved in various transport programmes and projects. As a responsible corporate citizen, Mercedes-Benz SA (MBSA) has heeded the Department of Transport’s call by offering complimentary truck driver training to support the objectives of Transport Month. This is applicable not only for its Daimler Truck and Bus customers, but as well as brands from other original equipment manufacturers.
“SA’s road death toll is ranked as one of the highest in the world and, unfortunately, commercial vehicles are part of the problem. As MBSA, represented by all our brands — which include MercedesBenz Trucks, Buses and Vans; Fuso Trucks; Freightliner Trucks and Western Star — we are playing a critical part by offering complimentary driver training,” says Rowlands Peters, head of FleetBoard SA, a division of Daimler Truck and Bus.
“As FleetBoard, our motto is ‘Trained. Tested. Trusted.’ And that is exactly the calibre of drivers we aim to produce by offering complimentary driver training. A welltrained, tested and trusted driver is a safer one and that has a direct and positive impact on road safety. As we embark on this mission, one of the most important tools we have is FleetBoard, which is Daimler’s driver and vehicle telematics management system.
“This means we’ve been able to gather a great amount of data on trends in the local trucking sector and this allows us to train drivers to be among the best and safest in the world,” says Peters.