A new season of SDLG’s China Top Driver campaign gets underway in Beijing

April 21, 2015

Chairman of China Construction Machinery Association Qi Ju (fourth from the left), Executive President of SDLG Yu Mengsheng (third from the right) and Chief Technology Officer Zhi Kaiyin (second from the left) and other SDLG customer guests attended the launch ceremony.

Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., (known as Lingong) has launched the latest season of its popular China Top Driver campaign, offering a mix of training programs and operator challenges. The campaign’s goal is to improve skill levels among operators and promote safe working practices.

This is the third consecutive year for the China Top Driver program, which runs nationwide, with this year’s event getting underway with a special inauguration ceremony in Beijing on April 19. It is also the first year that the competition will expand globally as SDLG launches Thailand Top Driver in the middle of May.

At the inauguration ceremony were, Qi Jun, chairman of the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA), Guo Mingyi, a nationally recognized construction industry celebrity, and Yu Mengsheng, executive president of SDLG all delivered speeches to launch the campaign.

Following the success with the previous two years’ SDLG China Top Driver campaigns, SDLG is taking this year’s event to new levels, with broader outreach to grass-root workers, a more rigorous training program and a stricter qualification standard than previous years.

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony for 2015’s China Top Driver, Qi Jun said:

“China is experiencing accelerated urbanization and this is driving the need for better skilled talents to operate construction machinery on our job sites, as we move from more traditional labour-intensive construction methods to greater automation and more technology-driven models. By initiating the China Top Driver campaign, SDLG has taken the lead in establishing new benchmarks for equipment operating standards as well as promoting standardization of training methods, strong work ethic and positive social values.”

Since it was founded in April 2013, SDLG’s China Top Driver program has set out to improve the safe operating standards and work ethic of operators in China. The program includes a series of well-designed training courses and has also developed into a thriving online community where operators from across China share best practices and get involved in charitable activities.

SDLG estimates that its China Top Driver 2015 program will welcome ten thousand operators from 22 cities across China – all of whom will be trained, tested and qualified in the campaign’s boot camps. An additional feature of this year’s activities will be courses in the maintenance and sourcing of parts and components – giving participants a broader knowledge base in running construction equipment. It is also open to a much wider audience with anyone able to register, as opposed to previous years when entrants were limited to those already working in the industry.

Yu Mengsheng, executive president of SDLG, said:

“I am proud to see our China Top Driver campaign moving into its third year and getting bigger and better. Our aim with the program was always to set new standards for the construction industry in China by promoting the right values and increasing the skill levels of workers in our industry. Through our continued commitment to the China Top Driver campaign and other initiatives we hope to see more job opportunities for those who take part and a growing awareness of good operating practices.”