Provincial Driving Championships

ALBERTA
The popular AMTA Truck Driving Championships took place on June 19 at Red Deer’s Westerner Park with 57 top drivers from across the province competing for prizes and honorary titles. The annual event, hosted by Alberta Motor Transport Association, is regarded by many as the Olympics of trucking.

The competition challenges each driver to demonstrate his or her driving and inspection skills, knowledge and professionalism through a series of rigorous tests. The drivers undergo a written examination, personal interview, pre-trip inspection test and finally, the most visible – the skills test.

Finalists in each of six classes move on to compete at the national truck driving championships which will be held in Winnipeg this September.

Truck driving championships are considered one of the industry’s most effective safety programs. Known to many as the ‘Olympics of Safety,’ these annual competitions inspire drivers to operate collision-free for the right to compete.

“The championships are a great incentive for professional truck drivers to operate safely, because they must be collision-free for at least one year prior to the competition,” says AMTA Executive Director Mayne Root, “Many of the competitors have millions of accident-free driving miles to their credit.”

The annual competition of truck safety inspectors is held in conjunction with the driving championships and resulted in an impressive roster of top ranked inspectors.

Congratulations to all competitors for their outstanding performance and demonstration of commitment to excellence.

SASKATCHEWAN
After a year’s respite, this year’s Provincial Truck Driving Championships were held on Saturday, June 5 at SLH Transport Inc.

The competition featured professional driving at its finest and the winners were as follows: 
Super B Trains - Gord Procyk, Jay’s Group of Companies
Straight Truck - Larry Radons, Reimer Express Lines
Single Single - Brian Weslowski, SLH Transport Inc.
Single Tandem - Harvey Gording, Reimer Express Lines
Tandem Tandem - Dan Buburuz, Ridsdale Transport Ltd.
 
Team Saskatchewan will be heading to Winnipeg, MB to compete in the 2010 National Truck Driving Championships from September 16-19.

 The STA presented a special award at the Awards Banquet to Joe Laurin for his tireless devotion to promoting safety in the truck transport industry. Pictured are presenter Shawn Hornoi (L), Joe Laurin and his wife Linda.

The STA would like to thank the sponsors of the 2010 Provincial Truck Driving Championships: SGI, Frontier Peterbilt Sales Ltd, Jay’s Group of Companies, Reimer Express Lines, Transall Group of Companies, Frontline Truck & Trailer, T&T Group of Companies, SLH Transport Inc., NRT, Ridsdale Transport, Hornoi Leasing, Canadian Freightways, and Village RV. It’s because of your support that we can continue to hold this competition and showcase our province on the National stage.

 Thank you also to the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure - Compliance Section, for coming out and judging the defects event.

 Also, a huge THANKS to all the volunteers who came out to help set up the course, judge the events, barbeque, and kept things running smoothly! 

MANITOBA
Thirty-six drivers competed at Peterbilt Manitoba Ltd. on Saturday, June 26 for recognition as one of Manitoba’s top professional commercial drivers. Drivers in six classes – step van, straight truck, single-single, single-tandem, tandem-tandem, and Super B train – participated in three different tests (written test, pre-trips/defects, and the track) throughout the course of the day.

Winners from the 2010 event include:
Step van: Robert Archambault (Bison Transport)
Straight truck: John Klassen (WM Dyck & Sons)
Single-single: Brian Hrabarchuk (Con-Way Freight Canada)
Single-tandem: Rob Trager (YRC Reimer)
Tandem-tandem: Howard McAfee (H&T Trucking)
Super B train: Ken Wiebe (EBD Enterprises)

These six drivers will represent Team Manitoba at the 2010 National Professional Truck Driving Championship, held this year in Winnipeg September 16-19.

The event was capped off with the annual Driver Awards Banquet. All six winners from the driving championship were recognized for their efforts. Further awards that were presented include:
First Time Entrant: David Bielski (Con-Way Freight Canada)
Team Award: Team Con-Way Grand Champion: Howard McAfee (H & T Trucking)
Bjornson Memorial: Ken Wiebe (EBD Enterprises)

As well, the 2010 MTA-Volvo Trucks Canada Driver of the Year was awarded. This year’s recipient is Bill Gagnon of Big Freight Systems Inc. Gagnon was one of seven recipients of the 2009 MTA-Custom Truck Sales Inc Industry Excellence Award. Winners of the 2010 MTA-Volvo Trucks Canada Driver of the Year award are chosen from this pool of nominees.

The Manitoba Trucking Association would like to thank all of the volunteers who ensure the success of this event, year after year. This year, over 40 volunteers came out to work at various stations in order to make the day happen. Further, the MTA would like to recognize Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, Peterbilt Manitoba Ltd, and Beaver Truck Centre for their continued sponsorship of this event.

To view this article in its entirety, go to pages 20-23 of the Fall 2010 issue.
Click HERE to open the Media Rich pdf.