Maverick Comes Out Ahead in Arkansas Championship

Maverick Transportation took home several individual and team awards at the Arkansas Trucking Championships last week in Springdale, Ark.

The company won two first place individual trophies in the Truck Driving portion of the Championship, including Marcus Rush in the Flatbed division and Ben Eby in the Straight Truck division. Both will represent Arkansas and Maverick at the National Trucking Championships held in Pittsburgh in August.

Rush, from Russellville, Ark., has taken home the first place title for three consecutive years, including this championship. He has been a Maverick driver for four years and is a member of Maverick's Driver Advisory Council.

Eby, the current Maverick "Driver of the Year," was the Grand National Champion in 2006 and finished first in the competition in 1998, 2000, and 2002. A Caldwell, Ohio, resident, he has been with Maverick for about 15 years. This year, Eby was honored with the "Sportsmanship Award," which recognizes one driver at the competition who epitomizes what a professional truck driver should be.

Maverick also earned the "Small Team Award" for the second year in a row, which is given to the company with the highest combined team score.

The competition consisted of 16 trucking companies with over 100 drivers, which had to be nominated by their employer and meet certain safety performance guidelines in order to participate. Before competing, drivers had to go through a pre-trip inspection, written examination and a six-part driving skills course. The drivers compete in one of nine divisions identified by different truck and trailer combinations.

"Winning first place at our Arkansas Truck Driving Championship is a high achievement when you consider there are more than 80,000 people in our state who hold a commercial drivers license," said Lane Kidd, association president. "This is the truck driver's Olympics. They are the safest and best drivers on the road today."