The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) has selected three ABF Road Team Drivers
to be among 30 national finalists in the competition to become captains on the 2003 America's Road Team.
The drivers will now move on to the final round of competition April 6-9 at ATA headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
The selected drivers from ABF Freight System Inc. are Ruben Armendariz of the Albuquerque service center, Arthur (Otto) Schmeckenbecher of the Little Rock service center and Garland Woods of the Tulsa service center.
In selecting the 30 national finalists, the ATA considered the safety record, community involvement and presentation skills of each nominated driver.
"The commitment of these driver candidates to improve the safety record and public image of our industry is impressive,as are their individual accident-free driving skills," said Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO. "Our members would be proud to have any one of these drivers representing us."
As a captain, drivers deliver the trucking industry's highway safety message to the motoring public, the news media, civic organizations and legislative bodies. Thousands of professional drivers from across the nation compete annually to represent the industry in this highly regarded position as an America's Road Team Captain.
Armendariz has been a road driver for ABF's Albuquerque service center
since 1990. He has accumulated 2 million accident-free miles during his 25-year
trucking career. Schmeckenbecher has 28 years of professional trucking experience. He has been a road driver for ABF's Little Rock service center for more than 14 years. Woods, a city driver for the Tulsa service center, has 15 years of accident- and injury-free driving. He has earned ABF's Bronze Award for 15,000 hours driven without an accident.
"We are proud to have Ruben, Otto and Garland representing ABF in the competition for America's Road Team," said Rich Beaulieu, ABF's vice president of transportation. "While these gentlemen excel at what they do, most importantly they possess the character and dedication required to represent our industry as members of that elite group. They are fine examples of the caliber of drivers who work for ABF and who each year come forward with an interest in furthering their service to our industry."