Thursday's NTDC Notebook
MINNEAPOLIS -- …The ATA National Truck Driving Championships got underway in earnest on Thursday with a Breakfast of Champions that included a stirring tribute by Jenny Zinkel, a member of America’s Road Team and a driver for a FedEx Ground contractor in Peoria, Ill.
table width="175" border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left">
(Michael James - TT)
Jenny ZinkelShe thanked the professional truck driver who rescued her father after the family car slid into a ditch during a blizzard when she was six years old.
“Every time I or someone I love needed a hand, you have been there,” Zinkel said, who also recounted several acts of kindness by fellow drivers during her own career as a truck driver. “I’m the luckiest person in the room today because I get to tell you ‘Thank you.’ Your knowledge and driving skills touch people in ways you don’t realize.”
American Trucking Associations’ first Vice Chairman David G. McCorkle, of McCorkle Tank Lines in Oklahoma City, said the drivers in the championships “represent the face of safety” and urged them to pass along their knowledge and enthusiasm for trucking by getting involved in driver’s education.
“We take on a special kind of responsibility in sharing the road with the public,” McCorkle said.
After breakfast, drivers got their first crack at the critical driving skills tests – a series of six challenges that test the driver’s ability to operate a commercial vehicle in terms of braking, parking, backing and maneuvering through tight spots. The driving test accounts for 300 points out of a maximum 500 for the championships. Drivers also must complete a personal interview and pre-trip inspection test.
On Wednesday, all contestants completed a written examination that tested their knowledge of trucking, safe driving rules, first aid and fire fighting. The competition continues through Saturday.
Pin Heads
…Collecting and trading lapel pins is a time-honored tradition at the championships and this year is no exception.
 |
(Michael James - TT) |
“When I started it was fun. Now it’s cutthroat,” Slade said. “People say things like ‘I’m not giving you metal for plastic.’ There’s a real frenzy of activity towards the end.”
ost coveted are pins that are in the shape of trucks and feature the name of the company logo and the year of the championships.
The prize pin in Mathew Melanson’s collection is one issued by Harley-Davidson Co. Mathew, 15, claims there are only two in existence. The other belongs to Marty Lawson, the two-time national grand champion who works for Harley-Davidson.
One of the newest – and certainly the youngest – pin peddlers this year is Joshua Cregg, 5, who along with his brother Adam, 9, are getting their first taste of the art of pin bartering. They are also rooting on their mom Karen Tierney, a driver for FedEx Express, who is competing in the four-axle class from New Hampshire.
rmed with what seems like an endless supply of FedEx pins to trade, Joshua manages to nearly fill his wood and glass pin case with an impressive collection of trucking driving championships pins.
Making a Pitch for Truck Driving
…Howery L. Flinchum could have been a major league baseball pitcher. Flinchum’s father tried mightily to convince his son, who goes by the name Jim, to turn pro. Alas, Jim became a truck driver.
As one of two drivers representing M.S. Carriers of Memphis, Tenn., Flinchum has a chance to create his own “field of dreams” by becoming a national driving champion in the sleeper class.
Jim’s wife Janice, who gave up a restaurant management career to become a truck driver, prodded Flinchum to get involved in the driving championships. He competed for the first time last year and finished in a tie for seventh in his class.
Each day this week, Janice said her husband calls his dad in Virginia to tell him how he’s doing. It seems even dad now is hopeful that Flinchum can pitch a perfect game in his new chosen career.
7737
