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Big wheels of trucking bring payload of skills
By ROBERT TRIGAUX
Published August 23, 2005
TAMPA - The creme de la creme of the nation's highway truckers gathered this past weekend inside the Tampa convention center for their own modern day Olympics - the 2005 National Truck Driving Championship.
The contest pitted 363 drivers in eight different classes of vehicles. They racked up points by showing off their skills ranging from a rear dock parking exercise to driving along a narrow path of tennis balls.
Drivers also had to ace a written exam, interview and pretrip inspection.
The "Super Bowl of Safety," sponsored by the American Trucking Associations, attracted state champions from every state. Collectively, they have driven more than 484-million accident-free miles.
After the dust settled, Rick Herbert, a Yellow Transportation truck driver from Illinois, was anointed grand champion. Michael Lomastro of Publix Supermarkets was tops in tank truck driving.
[Last modified August 23, 2005, 02:45:30]
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