THE search has officially begun to find the best fleet commercial vehicles on the market, with separate awards up for grabs in the fiercely competitive Fleet Van of the Year and Fleet Truck of the Year for 2005. For the first time ever, Fleet Managers can enter the awards online, nominating their favourite van and truck models at the click of a mouse by logging on to www.mtawards.co.uk before March 10.

The two categories form part of the Motor Transport Awards, run by specialist industry newspaper Motor Transport, which culminates in a glitzy gala awards evening at London's Grosvenor House Hotel in July - where the two winning manufacturers will be revealed by BBC Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson.

Andrew Brown, Motor Transport Editor, says no one is in a better position to vote for the top fleet commercial vehicles than the tens of thousands of operators who run them. "Commercial vehicles, whether a small panel van or a fleet of mximum weight tractor units, play an essential role in any modern transport operation. today's vehicles need to deliver fuel economy, productivity, reliability and driver appeal. More than that, they need the back-up of a high quality dealer network," added Mr Brown.

Only operators of trucks and vans can submit nominations on the website, and these must be qualified by supplying the voter's full name, company name, telephone number and e-mail address.

The top four vehicles shortlisted in each category will be presented to a panel of the fleet buyers and engineers who will look at factors such as whole life costs, driver comfort and manufacturer support, before deciding the best of the best.