FedEx’s Logan Captures Title as Nation’s Premier Trucker
This story appears in the Aug. 20 print edition of Transport Topics.
MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes nice guys like Don Logan, a FedEx Freight driver based in Topeka, Kan., do finish first.
In his sixth year competing at the Bendix National Truck Driving Championships, Logan edged out 424 others to claim the title of 2012 Grand Champion at American Trucking Associations’ Aug. 7-11 event, often called the “Super Bowl of Safety.”
He also won this year’s flatbed driving class and the competition’s vehicle condition award, given to the contestant with a commitment to safety, a thorough understanding of equipment and an extraordinary ability to inspect and evaluate a truck’s condition, ATA said.
Logan, who normally drives twins-trailers, previously won first prize in the three-axle class in 2009 and the twins class in 2010.
“I really don’t have the killer instinct when I compete,” Logan said. “I love the competition. But I’m not one of those guys who’s out for blood, whether it’s a basketball game or a baseball game. I’m there to have fun.”
His victory brought the top trophy back to FedEx for the first time since 2004 — and following three years of consecutive wins for Con-way drivers.
Despite his string of wins and his distinguished driving record — more than 2.1 million accident-free miles — Logan is known more for his leadership characteristics, quiet confidence, hard work and kindness toward his fellow drivers. For example, this year he convinced two other FedEx drivers he works with to compete in the Kansas truck driving championships, said Scott Smith, manager of the FedEx service center in Topeka.
“You can’t ask for a better individual,” Smith said. “The thing I like about him is that he’s always there to help you. He gives advice to city drivers and road drivers.”
Although event officials said they thought they designed a relatively easy course this year, many drivers said something different after exiting their trucks. Overall, scores were lower than usual, officials said.
To be successful, drivers had to score well in three areas — a pre-trip inspection, driving and a written test.
Many of the drivers admitted to being nervous, some even said their legs were shaking so much they had trouble working the clutch.
Mark McLean, a FedEx Freight driver from New York, placed second in the twins category, but was still shaking after he completed his run in the finals.
“You caught me at a bad time,” McLean said. “I just finished. I don’t know why. This is something we do every day. But you throw a thousand people in there and you’re a little nervous — without a doubt.”
Like many of his fellow competitors, YRC Freight driver Kevin Miskiewicz, a Pennsylvania state champ in the four-axle class, was a little psyched out in the finals by one of the course problems that called for drivers to back into a tight corral and stop within 18 inches of a barrier.
“I took an extra pull up and that nailed me,” said Miskiewicz, who placed third. “That first problem was extremely tough, but everything else was nice, spaced out — we could get a line. I feel good.”
Con-way driver Kenneth Grimmett, a West Virginia champ, said he had no idea exactly how he fared after running the course in the finals. Eventually, he found out he placed third in the flatbed class.
“When I’m running, I’ve learned in the past, don’t concentrate on the judges, don’t try to concentrate on your past scores, and don’t concentrate on the audience,” Grimmett said. “Once one problem is behind me, I go to the next. That’s all I’m focused on. Nothing else around me matters.”
Grimmett, a truck driver for 18 years, said before the nationals that his company had organized practice for a few days. He said he spent “countless hours” studying for the written drivers test.
YRC driver Scott Stroup, a 34-year veteran from Nebraska, thought he didn’t do very well. Stroup said he even ran over one of the yellow rubber ducks on the course.
As it turned out, Stroup sold himself short. He won the four-axle class.
On the other hand, Brent Quire, a Con-way freight driver from Kentucky who’s been behind the wheel for 33 years, was convinced he did “pretty well” in the finals.
Quire said he’s been to the nationals 10 times, but never made the cut to compete in the finals.
“This is my first run-off,” Quire said after running the finals course. “I have dreamed of this day.”
His dream came true: Quire won the tank-truck class.
“The freight business is a different kind of beast,” Quire said. “You have got to have a certain mentality. If you’re lackadaisical about your safety or driving, don’t get into this. Go find a desk job somewhere.”
Quire said he gets up every morning and takes to the road with the goal of staying safe, which is the theme of the truck driving championships.
At the competition’s “Breakfast of Champions” event Aug. 9, ATA Chairman Dan England thanked the drivers and their families for the sacrifices they had made to get to the competition.
“Every one of you makes a huge difference,” said England, chairman of C.R. England Inc., Salt Lake City. “We appreciate every champion that’s in this room.
“This is not an easy industry. You ought to hold your head up high being in this industry. If we didn’t do what we do we wouldn’t have the standard of living that we have in this country.”
Anne Ferro, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, also praised the drivers at the breakfast.
“You all rock,” Ferro said. “You absolutely rock.”
She said competitors have thousands of fans, including the FMCSA’s 1,100 employees.
“You absolutely have our admiration. You have our respect. And you have our appreciation,” Ferro said. “You cope every day with the tensions, the dynamics, the challenges of a life on the road moving millions of tons of freight across our country, across North America, to give us the quality of life that all Americans have.
“But above all, you make safety a personal priority in everything you do in carrying out that very awesome challenge.”
In all, 16 FedEx drivers made it to the finals, which included the five drivers with the highest score in each of the nine classes. Also making the finals were 12 Con-way drivers, four Wal-Mart drivers, two UPS drivers, two YRC drivers, eight drivers from various companies and a single ABF Freight System driver.
FedEx drivers captured all five of the finalist spots in the step van class, which was won by Edward Gertz of New Hampshire.
Besides winning the state title, a driver must be accident-free for at least a year in order to qualify. In total, the 400-plus competitors have logged more than 600 million accident-free miles.
Like many of his fellow drivers, FedEx’s Logan, the grand champion, said driving is his passion.
“I enjoy going down the road and operating a large piece of equipment,” Logan told Transport Topics. “It provides a great income to support my family and, as corny as it might seem, I’m moving a little piece of America every night.”
Logan said he has carried a commercial driver license in his wallet since he was 18 and has been on the road for FedEx the past 21 years. For 13 of those years, he has been driving twin trailers five nights a week on a run from Topeka to Des Moines, Iowa.
Logan’s first crack at getting behind the wheel came early in life — at age 14 — when he got a farmer’s permit to drive his father’s trucks. He hasn’t looked back since.
Logan and his wife, Pam, have four children, ranging in age from nine to 22, and live in the small town of Eskridge, Kan., about 35 miles southwest of Topeka.
He said that among the things he likes most about the truck driving championships is all the friendships he’s developed. Unlike some of the other drivers, he said he doesn’t regard those same friends as fierce competitors when the event begins and the drivers begin tackling the course “problems.”
“If I’ve got another driver who asks me what I think about a particular problem on the course, I’m going to tell him everything I know,” Logan said.
After all, there is a difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it, Logan said.
