Roadway is proud to announce that Roadway driver Alphonso Lewis has been crowned National Grand Champion, the highest honor, at the 2007 National Truck Driving Championships held August 21-25 in Minneapolis, MN.
Alphonso Lewis also took home first-place in the 4-Axle Class. Alphonso's sharp driving skills and knowledge of transportation and truck safety information topped those of the other 377 drivers from all across the United States that competed at the 70th Annual National Truck Driving Championships.
Alphonso Lewis is a Freight Handling Professional/Driver Account Specialist at the Roadway service center in Montgomery, AL. He has worked for Roadway for 17 years and has been in the industry for 21 years--all of those accident- and injury-free.
Alphonso Lewis has competed at nationals three times. He has also competed at the state level seven times, including first place/grand champion in 2005, and first place in 2006.
In 2002, Alphonso was named Grand Champion in the Roadway Professional Freight Handlers Competition.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS FOR ROADWAY WERE:
--Lynn Springer (Tanker Class) from Portland, OR, placed 3rd. He has worked for Roadway for 24 years and has been in the industry for 30 years. Lynn is a driver account specialist and has over 1 million miles of safe driving. Lynn has competed at the nationals four times. He has competed at the state level seven times.
--Greg Nauertz (Sleeper Class) and David Messmer (3-Axle Class) both from Phoenix, AZ, were part of the team that took first place and the State Team Trophy for Arizona.
"We are very proud of all of our employees who participated in this year's National Truck Driving Championships, particularly Alphonso Lewis," said Mike Smid, President and CEO of YRC National Transportation. "We strongly support the National Truck Driving Championships as an important part of our training and safety program. Year after year in conversations with our professional drivers they have said that the championships provide an opportunity for them to strive for even higher levels of professionalism."
"The 38 Roadway drivers who participated in the national competition are among the nation's safest drivers and our company's safety leaders. We are proud to have them represent Roadway," said Terry Gilbert, President of Roadway.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) sponsors the event, also known as the "Super Bowl of Safety," where drivers compete against nearly 400 others for national titles in eight different classes of vehicles for the National Grand Champion title. The drivers accumulate points by demonstrating their driving skill and knowledge of the trucking industry through a series of tests. The drivers are given a written examination, personal interview, pre-trip inspection test and a skills test.
To compete at the national competition, drivers must be accident-free for the 12 months leading up to the event and place first in the state-level driving championship. A record of 79 professional drivers from YRC Worldwide brands qualified for the national event this year.
For more details on the NTDC and Team Roadway, visit: http://www.roadway.com/about/ntdc/2007
This is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (Aug. 26-Sept. 1).
Roadway is one of the safest transportation providers in the industry.
Did you know--a total of 75 professional Roadway drivers have achieved the outstanding accomplishment of driving 3 million accident-free miles?
Imagine circling the earth's equator 120 times--and doing it without a preventable accident--that's the feat these elite Roadway drivers have accomplished.
View our virtual deck of driver cards featuring our 38 Roadway NTDC drivers.
They are among our nation's safest drivers and our company's safety leaders.
Roadway is committed to maintaining the highest safety standards.
Read what people say about safe Roadway drivers.
