Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Bendix) is sponsoring the top award at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC). The Bendix National Truck Driving Championships Grand Champion Award is given to the overall top driver of the four-day competition, which takes place Aug.16-19 in Columbus, Ohio.
For the 12th straight year, Bendix is celebrating drivers and their dedication to professionalism and safe roads. Ongoing sponsorship of the award by Bendix highlights the company’s commitment to highway safety and honors the professionals whose skills help create safer roads, the company said.
“The NTDC is the premier showcase for honoring America’s safe commercial vehicle drivers, and Bendix is grateful for the chance to support the competition,” said Fred Andersky, director – demos, sales, and service training at Bendix. “These professionals bring exceptional skill and dedication to their role as drivers while also performing a vital job as industry ambassadors and mentors to their fleets’ newer drivers. At every level, these inspiring drivers deserve recognition and thanks, and we extend wishes of good luck to all the 2023 contestants.”
The NTDC features the winners in eight classes of competition from 50 state trucking associations’ truck driving championships. Drivers compete for first, second and third place titles, in addition to the Professional Excellence Award, the Vehicle Condition Award, the Rookie of the Year Award and the highest honor – the Bendix Grand Champion Award. To qualify, all competitors must drive accident-free for at least one year prior to the event. Many competitors have tallied millions of accident-free driving miles, Bendix said.
In Columbus, these top drivers will compete in the championship event, testing their expertise through a written exam, pre-trip inspection test and a skills-based competition course.
The most recent Bendix Grand Champion Award winner is Roland Bolduc, an East Longmeadow, Massachusetts-based professional driver for FedEx Express, who was named the winner of the 2022 competition. He also won the Bendix Grand Champion title in 2017.
