Editorial:They’re All Winners

The swimmers, sprinters, gymnasts, weightlifters and fancy horse riders have finished their two weeks in the sun, bathed in the world’s adoration as they competed against the best of their respective sports for that elusive gold medal.

With the world’s media attention focused on London, it’s understandable that another competition — just as fierce, with contestants just as skilled, just as focused — missed out on the limelight.

We’re talking, of course, about the 2012 National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships, which played out last week in Minneapolis. Drivers billed as “the best of the best” — 425 of them — piloted trucks ranging in size from 5-axle sleepers to step vans through a series of maneuvers that challenge their truck-handling skills. It’s a game of inches, won by the lightest, surest touch.

But that’s not all. The championships also demand nearly fanatical attention to detail in the pre-trip inspections and thorough knowledge of the industry in the demanding written test.

To get to the national championships, drivers must be accident-free for the 12 months before the competition and must win their home-state championships. It’s a winnowing process not unlike the home-country competitions that Olympic athletes must get through before they even have a shot at becoming Grand Champion.

For the competitors, it’s a pressure cooker. But most drivers train for months to get into the contest, supported by co-workers, employers and, most of all, by their families, who know what the contestants have put into their chance for glory.

A wonderful example of the kind of support the competitors have is the story of Ralph Garcia, reported in this week’s edition (see story, p. 3). Garcia, an ABF Freight System driver from New Mexico, competing in the 4-axle division, was torn between family and contest. His daughter was in the hospital, delivering Garcia’s first grandson.

Garcia told TT that, at first, he thought about abandoning the competition to be at his daughter’s side. “But she’s the one who insisted I come here to compete. She’s been to these competitions growing up and knows what a big deal they are.”

So he stayed in Minneapolis, and although it was too early to know how Garcia did at press time, his sacrifice stands as a symbol of how much the championships mean to the competitors and their families.

It’s their dedication and focus that we celebrate, and in our eyes, all 425 competitors are champions.