Students across the UK are being encouraged to play an active role in making roads safer by designing the next generation of trucks.
The Future Truck Design Awards, launched on 27 Oct at the Freight In The City Expo in London, give students the chance to develop concepts to make transporting goods safer, cleaner and more cost-effective.
Organised by Transport for London (TfL) as part of the Safer Trucks programme, the competition has been set up to encourage young people to understand the complexities involved in meeting challenges of safety and sustainability.
Prizes on offer include the opportunity for entrants to present their designs to Europe’s leading truck designers and £1,000 in cash. The winning entries will also be showcased at the Transport Museum in London’s Covent Garden next summer.
Ian Wainwright, head of freight and fleet at TfL, said: “The industry’s challenge is to ensure goods are delivered safely and with minimal disruption. As towns and cities grow, our streets get busier with pedestrians, cyclists, cars and vans and this challenge becomes greater.
“Truck manufacturers are already investing considerable resources in innovative features to address this and our Future Truck Design Awards is an exciting opportunity to open the field further.
“We are committed to improving road safety and hope this competition will help shape the way we transport goods in our cities. Their work could accelerate the development of safer urban trucks and generate ideas that help inform future vehicle design. We are looking forward to introducing new talent to Europe’s leading truck manufacturers.”
Individuals, teams or classes can submit an entry in three categories: whole truck design, safety feature and system of operation.
Entries will be judged by a panel of experts from commercial vehicle manufacturers, freight and logistics operators, road safety organisations and TfL and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Commercial Vehicle Show on 26 April 2016.
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