Roadway Driver Is 2007 Truck Driving Grand Champion
A driver for Roadway Express, one of the two longhaul units of YRC Worldwide, was named the 2007 National Truck Driving Grand Champion, American Trucking Associations said Sunday.
Alphonso “Al” Lewis, a Montgomery, Ala., driver, topped 377 fellow drivers in the National Truck Driving Championships, held in Minneapolis.
The first African-American Grand Champion in the 70-year history of the championships, Lewis has logged 21 accident-free and injury-free years as a driver.
The contestants have collectively driven over a half-billion accident-free miles. The 70th annual “Super Bowl of Safety” is sponsored by ATA.
Lewis succeeds Dale Duncan as the National Grand Champion, who won this year’s tank truck division.
Jason Matte, a five-axle driver for FedEx Freight from Pearl, Miss., was named 2007 Rookie of the Year. Matte has been a professional truck driver for nine years and has over 700,000 accident-free miles.
Lewis also won the individual four-axle truck driving competition. Joining him as champions in their respective classes were:
• Straight Truck: Scott Watts, FedEx Express, Anchorage, Alaska
•Three-Axle: John Hazlett, ABF Freight System, Philadelphia
• Five-Axle: Kevin Scott Harris Sr., ABF Freight System, North Greenbush, N.Y.
• Five-Axle Sleeper: Warren Lewis, Jr., Hannaford Trucking Co., Lewiston, Maine
• Twins: Dennis Day, Con-way Freight, Lawrenceville, Ga.
• Flatbed: John Smith Jr., FedEx Ground, Tupelo, Miss.
• Tank Truck: Dale Duncan, Con-way Freight, Chula Vista, Calif.
