A tanker driver for Buckinghamshire-based oil distribution company Lovell Fuels has won the FPS OAMPS Hazardous Industries Driver Of The Year 2018 Award, the heating oil trade association Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) has revealed during its recent industry event.
Clifford Tappin of Lovell Fuels, Buckinghamshire, has been named Driver Of The Year 2018 in the annual competition run by the FPS to find the finest tanker driver in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Runner up in 2017, Clifford Tappin was recently revealed as this year’s winner during the industry event FPS EXPO 2018 in Liverpool. James Flynn of Ribble Fuels and Bernhard Fuller of New Era Fuels were awarded runner up prizes for all their hard work and great achievements during the last year.
“The standard set by all the nominated tanker drivers is always incredibly high and this year was no exception, but for us Clifford Tappin stood out as going above and beyond in his work,” explains Tony Brown, FPS Technical Manager and Driver of The Year Awards judge.
“We were impressed by Clifford last year, which is why we awarded him the joint runner up prize, but he won the competition this year thanks to his impressive commitment to his job – his driving professionalism, quality of work, customer care and motivation are inspiring to witness.
“Nothing is too much trouble for him. He always completes his workload and then is happy to take on more. He takes great care of his customers, understanding the importance of customer care, and is proactive with sales for new customers – winning them over and then working hard to keep them happy with their chosen products and services going forward.
“Clifford has had a great year and we’ve no doubt he’ll continue to work at this high standard long into the future – which is why we were proud to present him with the Driver Of The Year 2018 winner’s glass trophy and £1,000 prize money. The runners up, James and Bernhard, impressed us too and were awarded the runners up glass trophy and £250 each.”
Suzanne Lovell of Lovell Fuels added: “We are really proud of Clifford and feel lucky to have him working for us. He deserves the industry recognition for his commitment and attitude, and it was brilliant to see how chuffed he was personally to win the award.”
The annual competition is sponsored by OAMPS Hazardous Industries and is in its 18th year.
Ian Peach of OAMPS Hazardous Industries comments: “The oil tanker drivers are at the core of all we do within the oil distribution industry, and OAMPS Hazardous Industries are delighted to sponsor the Driver Of The Year competition. Together with the FPS, we believe this award encourages all drivers to operate at the highest levels of safety, customer care and professionalism – something that can only be positive for the sector as a whole.”
All members of the FPS can nominate their drivers, with one nomination allowed per depot. The nominated drivers must have been employed by their current company for at least one year and had an incident-free twelve months on the roads.
To find out more about the award and how to enter for the FPS Driver Of The Year 2019 competition, contact Dawn Shakespeare on 0121 767 1320 or email ds@fpsonline.co.uk
To find out more about the FPS, visit fpsonline.co.uk
