Editorial: The Select Few

It’s hard to decide what’s more impressive about the National Truck Driving Championships: the caliber of the competitors or the relatively small number of companies represented in the competition.

This year’s contestants had driven safely for an average of 16.3 years and 1.48 million miles before they arrived in New Orleans the second week in August. That’s impressive enough, but in an industry where driver turnover rates soar over 100%, the tenure of these men and women with their companies is even more impressive. The average contestant this year has been in trucking nearly 21 years and with his or her employer for nearly 11 years. By contrast, 60% of the drivers studied by the University of Michigan’s Trucking Industry Program had been in trucking less than 15 years.

Critics dismiss the championships as little more than a beauty contest. Some carriers take it very seriously, grooming drivers to compete.

The championships are far more than the “pride and polish” competitions held at truck shows to see who has the snazziest-looking vehicle. Take a look at the skills and knowledge the championship drivers need to have.

They must suffer no reportable accidents in the year leading up to their entrance into the state championships. They must pass a written examination that includes questions on truck safety, fire-fighting and first aid. They are interviewed to determine their attitude toward customers, regulations and the public. They demonstrate their ability to find defects during a pre-trip inspection of their equipment before getting behind the wheel. Then they have to prove they can maneuver their class of truck into a loading dock, parallel park it, turn without hitting anything and stop on a dime without squashing the frog.

All that knowledge and skill is surely worth something to those carriers that give their drivers access to equipment for practice and hold company contests. Yet, of the 387 drivers who competed in the 2000 championships, 135 of them — nearly 25% — came from just three carriers, and one of those was a private fleet. In all, drivers from 151 companies competed this year.

According to National Economic Research Associates, there are more than 10,00 motor carriers with 20 or more trucks.

Besides the obvious financial benefits of having safe drivers, carriers say they accrue higher morale among their drivers when they encourage them to compete. The stands during the championships were packed with friends, family, co-workers and executives from companies such as Con-Way, Viking, Yellow and Roadway Express. Viking Freight President Doug Duncan even sat with his third-place finisher at the Saturday night awards banquet.

Is there some correlation between partnering with drivers to improve safety through the championships and driver retention? It’s worth considering.