Proven: The best Czech drivers ride in HOPI!

All logistics and transport companies are struggling with the lack of truck drivers. Despite this unfavorable development on the labor market, we can be proud of the fact that we have two best professional drivers in the Czech Republic for the year 2019. The Scania Driver Competitions were dominated by Tomáš Plášil and Martin Kříž.

Of the nearly 1,400 participants, 14 of the best truck drivers fought their way into the Czech National Final in Modletice. In total, there were 4 challenging disciplines that thoroughly tested their driving skills.

At the first pre-ride checkpoint, the vehicle's finalists had to detect 10 malfunctions that would prevent them from operating on public roads. The second discipline was called "Super Z". Here, drivers could fully demonstrated their driving skills when reversing and tightly maneuvering with the trailer. As the name implies, the track was in the shape of the letter "Z" and the contestants had to not only correctly wrap the trailer, but still drop the cones in the exact way while reversing and driving forward, which further increased the accuracy of steering. The last discipline of the first round was the so-called "water challenge". A 1000 liter water tank was placed behind the Scania truck. Contestants had to tear down 5 cones in a defined area with a precisely defined part of the vehicle within the specified time limit and at the same time spill as little water as possible while maneuvering.

Semi-finals, where the top 4 drivers made their way through the scoring of the previous 3 disciplines, followed by the 3rd place fight and the final one against one. In a discipline called "Defeat the King", drivers had to drop 2 cones in the designated area of the rear of the trailer and another two in the front wheel of the tractor.

Tomáš Plášil beat Vlastimil Schimmel in the first semifinal and Martin Kříž beat Pavel Neterd in the second.

Two colleagues from HOPI Czech republic Martin Kříž and Tomáš Plášil were in the finals!

“It's a huge success, I didn't expect it at all. I signed up for the contest to see if I even have a chance,” said Tomáš just after the winning final battle.

At the end of May 2019, Tomáš Plášil will fight for the Czech Republic in the European final in Södertälje, Sweden. In the position of alternate, Martin Kříž will fly to Sweden.

We thank Tomáš and Martin for their excellent representation of HOPI!