FedEx Freight driver Jackie Reed of Mississippi earned the prestigious Grand Champion
title
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 24,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the American Trucking
Associations proclaimed Jackie Reed,
a professional driver with FedEx Freight from Mississippi, the Bendix Grand Champion at the
2024 National Truck Driving & Step Van Championships.
"Jackie demonstrated the precision and professionalism we have
come to expect from NTDC champions," said American Trucking
Associations President and CEO Chris
Spear. "While all of our competitors are champions, he
separated himself from even this elite field, showing the skills
that have produced three million miles of accident-free driving
over his 34 year career. Congratulations to him and to all our NTDC
participants."
Known as the "Super Bowl of Safety," ATA's National Truck
Driving & Step Van Championships took place from August 21-24 here in Indianapolis, bringing together 422 drivers
from 49 states with a combined total of nearly 685 million
accident-free miles.
Over the past few days, the drivers competed in a variety of
events designed to measure their driving prowess, industry
knowledge and dedication to safety. Reed took home the Bendix
Grand Champion award, as well as first place in the tank truck
vehicle class.
Reed has been a professional driver for 34 years, accumulating
three million safe driving miles. In 2022, he was named the
Mississippi Grand Champion in the 3-axle category. Last year,
he took second place in Mississippi's
2-axle category.
In addition, ATA honored Todd
Gimpel, a professional driver with FedEx Freight from
Nebraska, with the 2024 Rookie of
the Year Award, and the state of Colorado was crowned the team champion for
having the highest collective score.
"On behalf of all of ATA's members, I want to congratulate
Jackie – and all our winners – on competing and completing another
tremendous NTDC," said American Trucking Associations First Vice
Chairman Dennis Dellinger, president
and CEO of Cargo Transporters Inc. "Every year, I'm amazed at
the passion and enthusiasm for this industry NTDC creates –
starting with our state competitions and culminating with the
naming of a Grand Champion. Congratulations to all the competitors,
and thank you to all the dedicated volunteers who make this event
so special."
At tonight's closing ceremonies, ATA also honored
Richard Sweeney of XPO with the
Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award. David Wiechers with ABF Freight was chosen as
the Sam Gillette Lifetime Volunteer Award recipient.
This year's event included driving competitions across nine
vehicle classes, vehicle inspection and a written exam. A full list
of award winners is below.
Step Van:
- Matthew
Montandon, FedEx, Texas
- Scott
Wickstrom, FedEx, Maine
- Travis
Hutchinson, FedEx, Oregon
Straight Truck:
- James Kohr, FedEx,
New York
- Christopher
Shaw, FedEx, New
Mexico
- Corey
Mitchell, FedEx Freight, Louisiana
3-Axle:
- David Mogler, FedEx
Freight, Colorado
- Ritch Fundell, FedEx
Freight, Illinois
- Daniel
Shamrell, FedEx Freight, Oregon
4-Axle:
- Joseph
Hicks, XPO, Rhode
Island
- Dustin
Scholle, United Parcel Service, Inc., Illinois
- Paul Swan, FedEx
Freight, Colorado
5-Axle:
- Brandon Hardy, XPO,
Nevada
- Eric
Courville, FedEx Freight, Louisiana
- Nick Gaudette, Fedex
Freight, Colorado
Flatbed:
- Ruben Cortez, H-E-B
Grocery Co., Texas
- Larry Rhein, FedEx
Freight, Arkansas
- Martin McMahon, RIST
Transport, New York
Tank Truck:
- Jackie Reed, FedEx
Freight, Mississippi
- Glen Kirk, Old
Dominion Freight Line, Inc., Indiana
- Terry Covey, FedEx
Freight, Kansas
Twins:
- Connor Dent, FedEx
Freight, Wisconsin
- Michael
Flippin, FedEx Freight, Colorado
- Jeffrey
Cochran, FedEx Freight, Arkansas
Sleeper Berth:
- Gregory
Ryan, Walmart Transportation, LLC, Arizona
- Andrew
Girdley, Walmart Transportation, LLC, Missouri
- James Dixon, A.
Duie Pyle, Inc., Connecticut
Vehicle Condition Award:
- James
Quarles, Walmart Transportation, LLC, South Carolina
Written Exam:
- Ritch Fundell, FedEx
Freight, Illinois
- Jason Damron, Convoy
Systems, LLC, Kansas
State Team Award:
- Colorado
- Illinois
- New York
The 2024 National Truck Driving & Step Van Championships
were made possible by the generous support of a number of corporate
sponsors including:
Platinum:
- FedEx
- Old Dominion Freight Line
- Walmart Transportation
- XPO
Gold:
- A. Duie Pyle, Inc.
- ABF Freight
- DHL
- Samsara
- UPS
Silver:
- DMC Insurance
- U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier
Administration
- PITT OHIO
American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade
association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50
affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related
conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America
depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on
Twitter or Facebook. Nothing Without Trucking.
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SOURCE American Trucking Associations