The National Truck Driving and Step Van Championships, set to kick off on Aug. 16 and run through Aug. 19 at the Indianapolis Convention Center, draw a devoted following every year of competitors, families from the driver community, volunteers, and trucking industry stakeholders who appreciate the difficult task of precisely guiding 35,000-lb. tractor-trailers on courses with different challenges—all under a rubber duck’s watchful eye.
Yeah, rubber ducks … that’s an NTDC thing. If you go, you’ll see. They are the event's unofficial mascot. The annual American Trucking Associations (ATA) competition, also known as the “Super Bowl of Safety” and in its 85th year after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, pits champions in various vehicle classes and seeking high scores in three areas: a written test based on this year’s Facts for Drivers rulebook, pre-trip inspections, and the most visible—tests of maneuvering their trucks on challenging safety courses.
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Drivers compete in several classes: three-axle, four-axle, five-axle, twins, sleeper, tanker, flatbed, straight truck, and step van. Drivers have to be accident-free for at least one year prior to the competition, but many of the competitors have millions of accident-free miles to their credit. The NTDC competitors are made up of the winners in eight classes of competition from 50 state trucking associations’ driving championships held throughout the spring and summer.
In addition to first-, second-, and third-place titles, drivers vie for the Professional Excellence Award, the Vehicle Condition Award, the Rookie of the Year Award, and the ultimate prize—Grand Champion.
The reigning Grand Champion from the last competition in 2019 is Scott Woodrome of FedEx Freight in Ohio. Woodrome is a back-to-back Grand Champion, having won in 2018 as well. This year’s event will feature more than 400 competitors, according to ATA.
Sponsors of the event are ACT 1, ABF Freight, UPS Inc. (No. 2 on the FleetOwner 500: Top For-Hire Fleets of 2022), FedEx Corp. (No. 1 on the for-hire list), Pitt Ohio (No. 52), Walmart (No. 20 on the FleetOwner 500: Top Private Fleets of 2022), Old Dominion (No. 13 on the for-hire list), TForce Freight, PrePass, XPO Logistics (No. 9 on the for-hire list), Yellow (No. 7 on the for-hire list) and Bendix.
