DAF Trucks has announced its 2015 DAF UK Technician of the Year awards.

Developed as part of an ongoing training and education programme, the DAF UK Technician of the Year awards begin with a network wide technical questionnaire open to all DAF Technicians and accessed online.

Individual Technicians are weighted into four categories to reflect differing levels of training; Level 1 to correspond with basic product knowledge through to Master Technician ability.

At the end of July 2015, Technicians will have completed the first of four question papers. Those who score over 90% will have a chance to visit DAF’s Eindhoven production facility. Leyland factory trips and additional spot prizes are provided for technicians at all levels throughout the programme.

At the end of the process, the top 20 scorers (limited to one per dealership) will be invited to a national final at DAF Trucks’ facilities in Thame in March 2016.

The final will comprise a whole sequence of tests, including theory and practical workshop-based examinations. Contestants will undergo live fault diagnosis and repair situation under the watchful eye of a qualified instructor.

The winner will receive £2000 of reward vouchers and the DAF UK Technician of the Year trophy. The runner-up will receive £1000 of reward vouchers, £500 for third place and £200 for all the remaining finalists.

“Our DAF Technicians are one of the company’s greatest assets,” said DAF Trucks’ business services manager, Tony Shepherd.

“They are at the very heart of DAF’s well-established reputation in the truck industry as providing the best back-up – both at dealer workshops and at the roadside through DAFaid.

“Our training courses offer an interesting, practical curriculum that really empowers our Technicians,” he said, “inspiring them to self-improve under the DAF umbrella. DAF UK Technicians and DAF customer support staff in general are, of course, the lifeblood of DAF Trucks’ overall aftersales effort.”

He added: “I know I speak for the rest of the senior management team when I say the DAF UK Technician of the Year awards is one of the key events staged by the company.”