Go behind the scenes with Team UPS at the National Truck Driving Championships

It was game on at the weeklong competition in Orlando, FL, that featured more than 400 of the best drivers in the business, including 19 UPSers who won U.S. state championships this year to qualify for the Nationals.

Competing in the nine classifications, the drivers were tested on their knowledge of safety rules and regulations, performance of pre-trip inspections, and on-course driving skills.

Top UPS performances were turned in by Robert Foskey, who finished seventh in the Twins division and Clarence Jenkins, who placed eighth in the Sleeper division. Making his second appearance in the Nationals, Tim Sproles from Bristol,TN, garnered a tenth-place finish in the Sleeper division.  

Check out the following video and find out why the worst thing you can do at the competition is run over a duck.

Here’s our all-star roster:

Tim Bailey, Jr. – West Virginia

Ty Bentley – North Carolina

Gregory Deterding – Maine

John Evans – Nevada

Robert Foskey – Florida

John Foran – Vermont

Don Gaston – Kentucky

Larry Hall – Maryland

Steve Hanna – Missouri

Todd Hester – Georgia

Clarence Jenkins – West Virginia

Roger Nicholson – Georgia

Kari Paulson – Illinois

Bill Raff – Illinois

Ron Raney – Iowa

David Sharp – Nevada

Vernon Smith – Nevada

Tim Sproles – Virginia

Alan St. Clair  – Illinois

UPS driver William Raff provides a recap from the event:

“Very early Saturday, all of the drivers were introduced to the spectators, walked across the stage to receive their State Champion (silver) belt buckles and shook about 30 officials’ hands along the way. We also received envelopes containing a participation certificate and a printout of our individual scores for the written, pre-trip and driving tests. The printout showed points possible, our individual score, class average and what rank we achieved. The top five scorers in each class received blank printouts as they are to drive again, a different course, this morning so that 1st thru 5th place for each class can be determined. Saturday we attended the Championships Banquet where those drivers ranking 1st, 2nd & 3rd in their class and the Grand Champion of the entire event were announced. The 1st place winners in each class received a gold belt buckle. We rooted for our good friend from YRC, Rich Seigle, who made the top five. For some reason Rich has a soft spot in his heart for us UPS guys. He befriended us back in the late 90′s at the state event and has been guiding and coaching us ever since. I love that guy. “