Day 1, Swedish Young European Truck Driver 2010: Eco-driving

27 August 2010

Eco-driving, a part of the Young European Truck Driver 2010

Just as the fog left, eight quiet finalists showed up early Friday morning for the eco-driving part of the Swedish national final of Young European Truck Driver 2010. In the afternoon, the spectators affected the nerves during the manoeuvring part.

The eco-driving part was performed on public roads, an environment familiar to the eight Swedish national finalists of the Young European Truck Driver. According to the instructors and judges, they all performed well.

After this relatively quiet part of the final, it was time to move on the manoeuvring part which took place on an arena at the fairground of Lastbil 2010 – Sweden’s largest trade fair for trucks and truck accessories. And you could almost tell this was a new situation for the contestants. With spectators gathering around the arena, the nerves became visible immediately.

The so called Combo was a tough challenge for many of the drivers. Knowing the exact position of a vehicle most of them had never driven before was sometimes too difficult. Andreas Söderström from Växjö explained one of the difficulties:  “It feels awkward to actually use the truck to hit things, when we’re supposed not to hit things at all in our ordinary work”. Perhaps that put extra strain on the drivers.

Patrik Segeman, Karlstad. One of the Swedish finalists.

The nerves were visible also among some of the close to 300 spectators. Girlfriends, mother-in-laws, and friends showed up to support their favourite. Hillevi Johansson was one of the first female truck drivers in Gothenburg. He was there to support her son-in-law Patrik Segeman from Karlstad. She knows what he was up to as she entered a truck driving competition already in the early 1970s.

To keep the thrill, the results after the competition’s first day are a well kept secret. Check back tomorrow afternoon to obtain the final result.

Add comment

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own blog. All new comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

Required field *

Name *

E-mail (will not be published) *

Website

Security check *

Enter the letters in the above image:

Comment *