This is the eight year that the Volvo Trucks Fuelwatch Challenge has been organised here in Malaysia and this time, for the first time ever, a female truck driver has made it to the finals! Junaidah Bte Ibrahim, who is 32 years of age has qualified for the Malaysian finals which is to be held on 25th and 26th August 2017 in Shah Alam. She will compete against seven other finalists where the winner will get a chance to compete in the world finals in Sweden from 18th to 22nd September 2017
Prai-based Junaidah has been a truck driver for five years and currently works alongside her husband who also drives a truck for the same company, Benua Haulage Sdn Bhd, which is part of the Sin Hock Soon Group. She has both rigid and container truck driving licenses which is uncommon even amongst the general population of the mostly male truck drivers.
It is more common to see women bus drivers than truck drivers and it is good to actually hear about Junaidah's achievements as elsewhere around the world - in Europe, the Americas and even in Australia we have women truck drivers plying the same route as the men. In fact, the Fuelwatch Challenge in 2015 Asia Oceania leg held in Hua Hin, Thailand was won by a woman (This was before Volvo Trucks decided to have each country's finalists to participate straight to the world finals in Sweden).
This is a big thing that's happening here. I hope more women drivers take to driving trucks as trucks these days are actually quite easy to operate, or drive.
Junaidah will be competing with the other finalists in the final round of Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge 2017 in Shah Alam on 26 th August, where a day prior to that, the lot of them will have to undergo a training session by Volvo Trucks’ drivers’ trainer to further enhance their skills. More knowledge means additional skills which they will take with them when driving on our roads. With all the training these days, a lot of the truck drivers from larger transporters or hauliers are the ones that actually drive better than everyone else. So what the Fuelwatch Challenge is actually build better drivers in all aspects - even those that took part in the preliminaries have basically learnt something to improve themselves in terms of driving efficiently and safely.
Volvo Trucks Malaysia have stated that since its commencement in Malaysia in 2010, the Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge has so far mentored more than 6,000 truck drivers from all over the country on how to enhance their driving competency and behaviour to be more fuel efficient and safer drivers on the roads. The number of truck drivers who participated in this year’s competition saw an increase of 19% compared to last year.
Anyway, the other seven male finalists are Ruslan Ab Ghani from Perwakilan Cekap Sdn Bhd (Port Klang), Jamal B. Embong from Prifaria Sdn Bhd (Kuantan), Ahmad Sulaiman from Konsortium PD Sdn Bhd (Port Klang), Mohd Sufian bin Sahari from Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd (Port Klang), Kaspul Anwar bin Abdul Karim from Prifaria Sdn Bhd (Prai), Tan Eng Hin from Lima Bintang Logistics Sdn Bhd (Prai) and Firdaus bin Salim from Swift Logistics Sdn Bhd (Johor Bahru).
Volvo Trucks’ Fuelwatch Challenge 2017 Creates
History With First Female Truck Driver To Compete
In Malaysian Finals!
Fuelwatch Challenge continues to elevate not only fuel-efficient truck driving skills, but
also encourages gender diversity in the profession
Junaidah Bte Ibrahim, 32 years old, conquers men’s world to compete for the winner’s
trophy
Shah Alam, 16 August 2017 – Volvo Trucks Malaysia’s annual Fuelwatch Challenge which has
returned for the 8th consecutive time this year has created history by confirming that a female
truck driver has qualified into the final round of the competition to be held on 25th and 26th
August 2017 in Shah Alam.
Prai-based Junaidah Bte Ibrahim, 32 years, has been working as a truck driver for five years and
currently works alongside her husband who also drives a truck for the same company, Benua
Haulage Sdn Bhd, which is part of Sin Hock Soon Group. Her career as a truck driver first
started out as a curiosity and interest to experience how it is like to drive a truck but little did she
know at that time, that this would later developed into a career in which she truly excels in.
Junaidah puts in around eight to nine hours a day driving her Volvo truck to ensure that goods
are delivered to customers on time. However, this doting mother of three children stresses that
being extra careful while driving on the road is her utmost priority in the job as she has a family
to go back to at the end of the day, and believes that her skills and focus in the preliminary round
of the Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge in Prai had secured her a spot in the final.
Junaidah is also popular among her customers who are pleased not only with her professionalism
but also feel proud to see a female truck driver appearing at their doorsteps.
Commenting on her truck driving job, Junaidah Bte Ibrahim, “I am the only female truck driver
in my company and I couldn’t be more proud of my job despite the fact that truck driving is
known to be a male-dominated profession. The support that I get from my husband, who is also
my colleague, and the confidence my employer and customers have in me are indeed very
encouraging. I’m glad to have found my niche and proven that gender stereotype can definitely
be broken.”
Apart from being a female truck driver, which is in itself an already extremely rare case in
Malaysia as unlike in some Western countries where there is a higher ratio of female drivers,
Junaidah also towers above her male peers in terms of license qualification. She has both rigid
and container truck driving licenses, which is not the norm and is uncommon even amongst the
general population of male truck drivers.
Junaidah will be competing with seven other male finalists in the final round of Volvo Fuelwatch
Challenge 2017 in Shah Alam on 26 th August, where a day prior to that, all eight of them will
have to undergo a training session by Volvo Trucks’ drivers’ trainer to further enhance their
skills.
The other seven male finalists are Ruslan Ab Ghani from Perwakilan Cekap Sdn Bhd (Port
Klang), Jamal B. Embong from Prifaria Sdn Bhd (Kuantan), Ahmad Sulaiman from Konsortium
PD Sdn Bhd (Port Klang), Mohd Sufian bin Sahari from Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd (Port
Klang), Kaspul Anwar bin Abdul Karim from Prifaria Sdn Bhd (Prai), Tan Eng Hin from Lima
Bintang Logistics Sdn Bhd (Prai) and Firdaus bin Salim from Swift Logistics Sdn Bhd (Johor
Bahru).
The winning champion will have the opportunity to represent Malaysia and participate in the
Drivers Fuel Challenge – World Final in Sweden from 18th to 22nd September 2017, that judges
and more importantly, teaches skill, concentration, knowledge, and discipline.
“I’m absolutely pleased to be the first female truck driver in Malaysia to take part in the final
round of Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge. The Challenge is a great platform for us, regardless of
gender, to prove that we can perform at the highest level if we apply the right skills. And of
course, it will be such a great achievement for all women out there if I can win the trophy,
fingers crossed!”, said Junaidah.
The competition, which first started in Europe as a concept for achieving maximum efficiency, is
moduled based on local market demands and industry landscape, where for Malaysia it will
mainly concentrate on three key areas; Driver Development, Fuel Maintenance and Dynafleet or
Telematics.
Since its commencement in Malaysia in 2010, the Volvo Fuelwatch Challenge has so far
mentored more than 6,000 truck drivers from all over the country on how to enhance their
driving competency and behaviour to be more fuel efficient and safer drivers on the roads. The
number of truck drivers who participated in this year’s competition saw an increase of 19%
compared to last year.
Please visit www.volvotrucks.com.my or www.facebook.com/VolvoTrucksMalaysia for more
information.
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