An over 30 years institution

The International Truck of the Year Jury is an international organisation representing 21 countries in Europe. The selected truck journalists who are members of the jury each represent leading trucking magazines in their home country in Europe from Spain, Italy and Greece in the south to the Scandinavian countries up north - from Belgium, Britain and France in the west to Russia, Rumania and Slovakia in the east. The main task of the Jury is, according to the rules, the annual election and awarding of the new truck that "gives the best contribution to the development of transport of goods by road in the countries involved in the election". In these aspects the jury evaluates the technical, economical and practical qualities of the candidate vehicles. Today, also the safety and environmental aspects play on important role in the evaluation.

The IToY organisation is a non-profit democratic organisation where the members jointly make the major decisions. The jury meets several times a year to discus candidates, activities, new products and further development. Is has become a true international journalistic network for exchange of information, co-operation on international testing and support. In this respect, it is unique and of great value to the members.

It started in 1976

It all started in Great Britain 1976. Truck Magazine´s first editor, late Patrick M Kennett was testing the new truck Seddon Atkinson SA200 in northern Britain. He found it to be innovative and ahead of the competitors when it came to comfort and safety. The idea was born to promote truck development in the interest of user and driver. His publisher Andrew Frankl agreed and exclaimed. And right there they decided to appoint it a "Truck of the Year."

In 1977 the first award was handed over to Seddon Atkinson to honour the best new truck on the market from the owners' point of view. It was then of course a purely British affair, but that changed already next year. Kennett and Frankl started looking for qualified colleagues in other countries and in mid 1977 the heart of the international jury group was created. Members at that time where Axel Mortensen, Denmark, Joe Tierlynck, Belgium, Johannes Graf von Saurma, Germany, Dick Bergeren, Holland, Tiit Tamme, Sweden and of course the creator and first chairman of the Jury, Pat Kennett, Great Britain. All were professional truck transport journalists with a wide test experiences of their own and close contact with the road transport industry in their countries.

The Jury grew rapidly and for many years covered 13 countries in Western Europe. The final trophy design used today was created on the initiative of Johannes Graf von Saurma, the jury member in Germany. With the opening of Eastern Europe in the 1990-es it became an ambition to involve these new emerging markets and their new magazines to really represent the whole of Europe. The first east European member was elected in 1998 and represented Slovakia. In the next years Russia, Poland and Hungary followed. That started the growth and brought the jury to what it is today.

Professional integrity

The rules, originally quite simple, developed all the time. When the award got more and more appreciated and well known it also became more and more sought for. It became utterly important that the jury members were strictly neutral and that the judgements at the election were based on professional knowledge, own test experiences and sound evaluation of each candidate. The rules were gradually totally revised and an independent adjudicator was linked to the election procedure to avoid any suspicion that the jury itself or the chairman in the last face could influence the result. The power of the joint jury is inevitable. Power must be handled with respect and integrity. That is one of the most important foundations in the activities of the jury today. Looking back there are a lot of very successful models in the list of winners. That only proves the professional skill of the jury members. There are detailed criteria in rules for the whole election process but also for the qualifications of the jury members. The final judgment is based on independent test drives by all jury members.

Today the election procedure is well proven. The support of IRU (International Road Transport Union) in Geneva as an independent adjudicator for collecting and counting the final votes guarantees the high profile of integrity. The election takes place every autumn and is made in two steps. In the first every jury member can nominate the trucks he finds worthy to be a candidate in the election. Among these nominated trucks, the six most nominated are going on to the final closed election, made in the autumn. The jury members then individually and secretly cast their votes on the nominated trucks to IRU, who collects them and makes the final counting before it is made know to the jury. The result is presented and the winner of the award is presented on the press day of an international truck show in Europe, normally in Hannover or in Amsterdam.

Development goes on

The International Truck of the Year Trophy grows more and more attractive to the manufacturers. The award giving ceremony on the press day of the leading international truck show each autumn attracts great interest and is a main event.

An organisation like this is never fully mature. It is a living organisation meeting new possibilities and new challenges all the time. There will be further development and new members. The ambition is to cover all markets in Europe. But the expansion must not be more rapid than there are qualified candidates for membership to evaluate. The high standard must not be jeopardised.

Looking back on the unification of Europe and the internationalisation of the trucking and truck manufacturing business it is obvious that the idea created on the hills of northern Britain in 1976 more than 30 years ago was very far seeing. The Jury is today an institution and a mature and respected organisation.

Tiit Tamme
Former IToY chairman