FedEx Drivers Take Top Honors at National Truck Driving Championships

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) announced that 10 of its drivers were recognized with top honors at the 2018 National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships (NTDC/NSVDC).

Seven were crowned National Champions in their respective driving classes and Scott Woodrome of FedEx Freight was recognized as the recipient of the Bendix Grand Champion Award.

The competition, which took place August 15-18 in Columbus, Ohio, is hosted each year by the American Trucking Associations and has a long history dating back to 1937, when it was known as the National Truck “Roadeo.”

According to Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO, FedEx, “Each of these drivers represents both our commitment to excellence and our dedication to ‘safety above all’ in the communities in which we operate.”

This year, FedEx had the privilege of sending a total of 185 drivers from across the country to the NTDC. This was the largest number of FedEx team members to ever qualify for this prestigious competition since Smith first called on drivers from across the enterprise to participate in 2003. In the last 16 years, FedEx drivers have earned five National Grand Champion titles, 57 National Championships, and eight National Rookie of the Year titles.

Individuals honored this year include:

• Scott Woodrome, of Dayton, Ohio, won his second straight Tank Truck National Championship and third national title in four years. He was also named the Bendix Grand Champion. The 2006 Ohio Rookie of the Year, Scott has never lost at the state level and has competed in six different driving classes at the NTDC. He is a member of the America’s Road Team and FedEx Freight Road Team. Scott was also named the 2015 Driver of the Year by the Ohio Trucking Association. He has logged more than 1.9 million safe-driving miles.
• Nick Arnold, of Westport, Okla., won the 4-Axle National Championship to culminate his first appearance at the NTDC. The FedEx Freight team member has logged more than 900,000 safe-driving miles.
• Miguel Corral, of Crown Point, Ind., won the Twins National Championship. Miguel qualified for his third NTDC in four years. He has driven 1.3 million miles without an accident and is a member of the FedEx Freight Road Team.
• Eric Courville, of Breaux Bridge, La., won the 3-Axle National Championship. He was the national runner-up in the 3-Axle class in 2013 and finished third in the 5-Axle Sleeper class in 2015. Celebrating his 25^th year with FedEx Freight, Eric has surpassed 1.1 million accident-free miles.
• Eric Damon, of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the Step Van National Championship. A three-time competitor at the NTDC, Eric has logged a half million safe-driving miles during his driving career.
• Artur Lesniowski, of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., won the 5-Axle Sleeper Berth National Championship. Owner of Arturs Express Corp. and domiciled at the FedEx Ground station in Secaucus, Artur finished third in the 5-Axle Class last year at the NTDC. He has logged more than 600,000 accident-free miles.
• Duane Staveness, of Portage, Wis., won the 5-Axle National Championship. This was the third time the FedEx Freight driver had qualified for the NTDC. Over a 27-year career, he has logged more than 2.2 million safe-driving miles.

FedEx had four drivers win other national awards:

• Rookie of the Year: Ronny Zeiser, FedEx Freight (Medford, Ore.)
• Vehicle Condition Award: Mike Whitehead, FedEx Freight (Lennox, S.D.)
• Highest Written Exam Award (Perfect Score): Eric Courville, FedEx Freight (Breaux Bridge, La.)
• Highest Written Exam Award (Perfect Score): Todd Flippin, FedEx Freight (Lamar, Colo.)

Along with Champions of each class and the individual award winners, 10 drivers were top finishers in their respective driving class:

• Mike Bills, FedEx Express (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.), 2^nd Place, Straight Truck
• Ross Garner, FedEx Freight (Hartselle, Ala.), 2^nd Place, Flatbed
• Lalo Fernandez, FedEx Freight (Battle Ground, Wash.), 3^rd Place, 4-Axle
• Bob Ledoux, FedEx Express (Swansea, Mass.), 2^nd Place, Step Van
• Don Logan, FedEx Freight (Eskridge, Kan.), 2^nd Place, Tank Truck
• Greg Long, FedEx Express (Frederick, Md.), 3^rd Place, Step Van
• Dave Mogler, FedEx Freight (Brighton, Colo.), 2^nd Place, 3-Axle
• Eddie Pennington, FedEx Freight (Jacksonville, Fla.), 3^rd Place, 5-Axle Sleeper Berth
• James Sheehan, FedEx Ground (Hendersonville, Tenn.), 3^rd Place, Straight Truck
• Darrell Shelton, FedEx Freight (Richland, Wash.), 3^rd Place, Twins

Also, six drivers from FedEx were members of Nevada’s Team Champions:

• Brad Cupery, FedEx Express (Las Vegas, Nev.)
• Bob Fini, FedEx Express (Henderson, Nev.)
• Eric Flick, FedEx Freight (Dayton, Nev.)
• Matt Hart, FedEx Freight (Elko, Nev.)
• Patrick Nerger, FedEx Express (Sparks, Nev.)
• Gragg Wilson, FedEx Freight (Reno, Nev.)

Nearly 450 drivers total competed in the NTDC and NSVDC this year. Drivers vied for national titles in nine different classes of vehicles and for the National Grand Champion title. Drivers accumulated points by demonstrating their driving skills and knowledge of the industry through a written exam, pre-trip inspection and driving skills challenge. To be eligible, a participant must have continuously driven for a motor carrier fleet for a minimum of one year and remained accident free for one year prior to the competition.

Category: Driver Stuff, Featured, General Update, News