Professional truck and work van drivers are in Indianapolis this week for the return of the National Truck Driving Championships (NTSC) and National Step Van Championships (NSVC). The event runs Aug. 16-19, matches driving champions from all 50 states in ‘the Super Bowl of Safety’ for professional truckers.
The ‘Super Bowl of Safety’ is the ATA’s premier event for drivers
A devoted following of truckers, industry stakeholders and volunteers are in Indy this week as the NTDC returns from a COVID-induced hiatus. The event is managed by the American Trucking Associations’ Safety Management Council. The last event was held in 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The reigning 2019 grand champion is Ohio’s Scott Woodrome of FedEx Freight. Woodrome is a back-to-back grand champion, having won in 2018 as well.
The only other back-to-back champion is Marty Lawson, a Harley-Davidson Transportation Co. driver from Pennsylvania, who won grand champion in 1998 and 1999.
The NTDC pits state champions of various vehicle classes in three competitive areas: a written test based on this year’s Facts for Drivers rulebook, pre-trip inspections, and tests of maneuvering their trucks on challenging safety courses. Think of the safety courses as the worst docking experience imaginable, but these drivers make it look like child’s play.
This year’s event will feature more than 400 competitors, according to ATA. The NTDC competitors are the winners in eight classes of competition from the 50 state trucking associations’ driving championships held every year.
Drivers will be competing in several classes: three-axle, four-axle, five-axle, twins, sleeper, tanker, flatbed, straight truck, and step van. Drivers must be accident-free for at least one year prior to the competition, although many of the competitors have millions of accident-free miles.
In addition to first-, second-, and third-place titles, the drivers will compete for the Professional Excellence Award, the Vehicle Condition Award, the Rookie of the Year Award, and the ultimate prize — Grand Champion.
Sponsors of the event are ACT 1, ABF Freight, UPS Inc., FedEx Corp., Pitt Ohio, Walmart , Old Dominion , TForce Freight, PrePass, XPO Logistics, Yellow and Bendix.
The NTDC is a well respected event to drivers, but not many outside the major carriers get to compete. Someone needs to get an owner-operator/independent version of the event to show off the abilities of the non-ATA members.
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