In the dark of the moon on the 6th of June, a whiskey-fueled argument between truckers was escalating. Rubber Duck reckoned he ran his rig better than Big Ben, Ben smashed a bottle over The Duck's head... They both got tossed out the front window but the question remained; how do we figure who's the best trucker on the road?
Well maybe that's not quite how it went down; but somehow the American Trucking Associations came up with the trucker-on-trucker bloodfeud battle royale that we know today as the National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships.
This year, more than 400 professional drivers climbed into the ring (er, cabs) to compete in the event's nine classes.
Believe it or not, some 2,000 folks were in the bleachers to cheer on their favorite road warriors at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
The gauntlet involved a written exam, a skill (driving) course, and a pre-trip inspection test.
Since you probably don't need to see video of guys filling out multiple-choice answers, here's what the driving portion looks like:
And from the truck:
That's a bumper cam in the "3-axle" division, there are eight categories all up:
- Straight Truck
- Three-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer
- Four-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer
- Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer (Tank)
- Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer (Van)
- Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer (Flatbed)
- Five-Axle Tractor (Sleeper Cab) -Semitrailer (Van)
- Twin Trailers
American Trucking Associations says; "To be eligible, a driver must maintain continuous employment with a motor carrier fleet for a continuous period of at least one year and remain accident free, regardless of fault, for one year prior to NTDC."
Hell, we got highlights for days!