Send No Obstacles to Safety at 2012 Nebraska Truck Driving Championships

Posted: 4:28 PM Jun 9, 2012
Reporter: Steve Ross

No Obstacles to Safety at 2012 Nebraska Truck Driving Championships - Steve Ross Reports

Truck driver and Nebraska Truck Driving Championships competitor competitor Tim Dean: "The accident rate has gone down tremendously, so regulations have made our highway safer, as well as the training that drivers go through nowadays to become the safest they can."

And the 2012 Nebraska Truck Driving Championships at Fonner Park are the culmination of those safe driving efforts.

Tim Dean: "The only way you can compete at this competition is to be a safe driver. You have to drive for 11 months -- or, 12 months for the company that you're with, and drive safely, and then your company nominates you to come compete."

Drivers take on a battery of challenges including written tests, interviews, vehicle inspection and -- oh yes -- driving obstacle courses in several classes including straight truck, three, four, five, and five-axle sleeper, step-van, and tanker classes.

Facing strong winds and even stronger competition, drivers who normally try to stay as far away as they can from obstacles try to drive as close as they can at the Championships, all in the name of safety.

And, just as out on the open road, these drivers won't let the weather hold them back.

Event organizer Mary Davie: "It's extraordinarily windy, but you know what, we've had years where it looked like severe thunder storms, where we have had to break for lightning strikes, and hail, and rain, all in the same day."

Winners of the competition will advance to the National Truck Driving Championships in August.

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