This week, New Zealand Trucking Media and Australia’s PowerTorque magazine publicly announced the contenders chosen to vie for the crown of Truck of the Year Australasia 2024. It is the second year of the annual regional award, won by the Kenworth K220 last year.

The 2024 contenders are the Scania Super Series, Volvo F Series electric and Western Star X-Series – which you may have already read about in the February 2024 New Zealand Trucking magazine.

Officially, the award is presented to the truck introduced into the Australasian market in the past year that has made the most significant contribution to road transport safety and efficiency. The judges will consider factors such as technological innovation, comfort, safety, driveability, fuel economy, environmental ‘footprint’ and the total cost of ownership.

New Zealand and Australia present possibly the most cosmopolitan truck markets in the world, with unique operational challenges, meaning any truck introduced has to be at the top of its game, strike the right chords with operators and – to be considered for the award – meet those judging criteria. Our region’s operators are a discerning bunch … they know what works, what costs them money and makes them money; they know their trucks. For our region and the trucks produced for it, it is an undoubtedly significant award.

As associate members of the International Truck of the Year (IToY) jury in our respective countries, it is an honour to have been able to introduce a regional award in the image of the international award, which was established in 1977 and today carries serious clout among global trucking OEMs.

Australasia was the third global region (after Latin America and China) to introduce a Truck of the Year Award that recognises the region’s unique challenges and the subsequent development poured into the trucks that ply its roads. It is significant that although affiliated with the IToY parent organisation, the ToYA jury is not bound by any decision made by them in the award of IToY. While much of the criteria will naturally align, ToYA has the autonomy to make decisions based on our region and its unique demands.

The jury for the ToYA comprises three associate members of the International Truck of the Year jury – Tim Giles from Australia (editor of PowerTorque), Dave McCoid from New Zealand (New Zealand Trucking Media editorial director), and Charleen Clarke from South Africa (Focus on Transport magazine editorial director) – as well as independent road transport veterans Bob Woodward from Australia and Randolph Covich from New Zealand.

Dave and Tim have driven all trucks in contention, and the five judges will use their experience to draw out the overall effect of the new vehicle and make a judgement call on the weighting of each segment of the criteria.

The winner will be announced on 13 March at the TMS Teletrac Navman Technology, Maintenance, Safety Conference and Exhibition.

May the best truck win!

Take care out there

Gavin Myers
Editor