On August 3-7, more than 450 professional truck drivers from all 50 states will meet in Columbus, Ohio, to put their safe-driving skills to the test in the National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC), known as “the Super Bowl of Safety.” Drivers earn the right to compete in this prestigious annual event by first winning titles in their respective vehicles classes at the state level. Bernie Spine, a Driver for FedEx Express based in Williston and a resident of Richmond, Vt., will compete against his peers from across the country in the 4-Axle class. He qualified for the NTDC by taking the top spot in his class at the state competition earlier this year. Spine has accumulated more than 600,000 accident-free miles and has been a professional truck driver for 27 years.
Collectively, the 114 drivers who comprise the FedEx team come from 45 states and have driven nearly 132 million accident-free miles during their 2,319 years of professional driving.
The NTDC is an annual competition sponsored by the American Trucking Associations to recognize industry leadership in safety and to promote professionalism among truck drivers. “FedEx promotes safety among the drivers of all classes of vehicles,” said Scott A. Mugno, managing director, Safety at FedEx Express. “The achievements of our 114 national competitors represent the collective commitment of the many FedEx drivers and contractors who safely share the road with other motorists each and every day.”
Drivers will compete for national titles in nine vehicle classes and for the overall “National Grand Champion” title. The drivers accumulate points by demonstrating their driving skills and knowledge of the industry through a written exam, pre-trip vehicle inspection and a difficult driving course that tests their ability to judge distances, maneuver tight spaces, reverse, park and position their vehicle exactly over scales, before barriers and around curves.
