We are learning more about the Truck Driving Championships from several different people not involved in Expediting.
The more we think about it the more we see the learning curve to become involved with this as a win win situation with us the winners.
CSA 2010 has encouraged us to learn more about the laws that effect us and how to find these rules. We are even more conscious making sure our lights are working at all times and that the truck is always in tip top shape.
We have looked at some of the requirements to become involved with the championships including what the driving course could look like and we are still interested in learning more.
I feel for our future that we cannot learn enough about this business and I see this as a intense and fun way to learn more from positive professionals.
I know a few of you have been involved with this and I would like to hear your thoughts on your experiences as it is a huge commitment.
Diane and I competed in the National Truck Driving Championships in June, 2008.
My report about it is published on my web site.
Comments in response to your post:
- Don't rule out winning at the state level and advancing to the nationals. First-time contestants have done so before.
- Preparing for the NTDC (National Truck Driving Championships) will do nothing to improve your CSA compliance skills. CSA compliance means fulfilling the requirements of a particular set of rules that you already know how to fulfill.
Comparing CSA compliance to NTDC (National Truck Driving Championships) competition is like comparing a walk in the park to an Olympic foot race. In the latter, so much more is involved and the competition is intense. In the former, all that is required to "win" is to complete a walk in the park. It is not a competitive event. It does not matter what other park walkers do. You complete your walk and that's it.
There are no CSA bonus points awarded for NTDC participation. If your required lamps all work, they won't burn any brighter because you competed in the NTDC.
- You said, "I see this as a intense and fun way to learn more from positive professionals." You are correct and you cannot understate "intense." Veteran competitors give up weekends, week nights and vacation time to study and practice. They memorize everything in the
Facts for Drivers book on which the written test is based. The winners have perfect or nearly perfect scores on the written test.
In our state competition, the vast majority of competitors were company drivers who worked out of terminals. They were always home and always close to friends who also compete and to trucks similar to the trucks used in the contest. Unlike expediters, their schedules are predictable. It is easier for them to build weeks and months of study and practice time into their lives than it is for expediters.
Diane and I did not know what we were getting into when we agreed to compete. After we found out, we gave it our best in the little time we had to prepare and decided that if we finished better than last place it would be a victory for us. We did not win but did not finish last either.
A good approach to your first competition is to be open to the possibility that you might win and train as if you mean to. At the same time, view the entire experience as a practice event so when you come back next year you will truly know what you are in for.
- You will not be able to drive your own truck in the competition and will not know what truck you will drive until you see it before you drive it. So too with all other contestants, but some of them end up driving a truck that is identical to the one they have driven every day for the last two years.
Some of the competitors prepare by visiting truck dealerships and test driving a variety of trucks. They explain to a cooperative dealer what they are up to. They draw charts and take notes about seat position, window shape and height, steering wheel characteristics, etc. They drive these trucks around spots on the ground to "get their marks" as they say.
You probably have your marks on your truck. You know exactly when to cut the wheels to the right to make the tight turn without curbing a tire. You know exactly when to stop at a dock without actually bumping it. When you back into a parking spot at a shopping mall, you don't have to get out and look to know exactly where your back bumper is when you set your brake. Some competitors spend time in a variety of trucks, to get these same marks to make themselves that much more ready for the truck and the course they will drive in competition.
- Diane and I did not compete a second time but heard from friends that the festivities related to the competition were greatly toned down. The recession was on and ATA members contributed less money and time to the contest. There was a wonderful banquet for us. It did not happen in 2009. Had we advanced, FedEx would have sent us to an all expenses paid FedEx competition which served as a good practice event for those going to the nationals. That event did not happen in 2009. They may have brought it back this year. I don't know.
- We benefited greatly from the help and coaching new FedEx friends gave us in Minnesota. We were welcomed with open arms by people at FedEx Express in Minneapolis. They let us use their trucks to practice on the practice course they had set up at the airport facility. One competitor even made a special trip in from home to coach us for an afternoon.
- One thing that completely threw me off in the pre-trip part of the contest was pre-tripping a truck I had never seen before. You wear coveralls and crawl under the truck to find planted defects in this timed event. Seeing a truck's underside that I had never seen before threw off my game and I did poorly in this part of the contest. Diane had the same issue but kept her head. She out scored me in this contest component and out scored almost everyone on the written test. She got one written test answer wrong. I got two wrong, which put me not that far back from perfect but in a much larger group of competitors.
If I had it to do over again, I would do something that would lead many expediters to believe I had gone totally mad, but I would do it anyway. At a truck stop, I would explain to fellow expediters that I wanted to build familiarity with the uderside of different trucks and tell them why. If permission was granted, I would have Diane time me with a stopwatch as I pre-tripped that truck bumper to bumper, top, bottom and under; calling out loud each component as I inspected it. That would give me a better sense of the components and of where I needed to be on the truck as the clock ticked. You want to use all the time you have to find as many defects as possible and finish the entire truck just as the time runs out.
Those are the thoughts that come to mind at the moment. Read my web site for more. There is a great deal of help available from FedEx and your fellow competitors for those who seek it. But the financial sacrifice, personal commitment and time you put into this can only come from you.
Notwithstanding the financial and personal costs, NTDC competition is fun and worth doing at least once. Regardless of your score, there is no question that competing in this contest will make you a better and more professional truck driver than you already are.
