There are just days to go before 363 top professional truck drivers from across the U.S. arrive in Tampa, Fla., for the 2005 National Truck Driving Championships, the “Super Bowl of Safety” sponsored by the American Trucking Assns.

The event runs from Aug. 16 to 20 in the Tampa Convention Center.
The competitors are the state champions (in eight truck classes) from all 50 states. Among them, reigning National Grand Champion Wayne Crowder, FedEx Freight, Louisville, Ky., who is back to defend his title. Also contending to be the best of the best are current ATA Truck Driver of the Year Charles Brown, Yellow Transportation, Kansas City, Mo., five current and past Captains of ATA’s America’s Road Team, and a past National Grand Champion.
Collectively, this year’s contestants are the safest ever in the 68-year history of the National Truck Driving Championships. They have rolled up 484, 846,147 accident-free miles in their big rigs – a career average of 1,335,664 accident-free miles for each.
In their respective classes – from 18-wheeled five-axle sleepers to tank trucks to twin trailers to straight trucks (and more) – they will compete for four days, challenging their driving skills, and knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry.
The test course generally includes an alley dock, a rear and/or front line stop, a scales stop, a right or left turn, parallel parking, and straight line driving through a diminishing clearance.
When it is all over on Saturday, Aug. 20, the U.S. will have a new National Grand Champion Truck Driver, individual champions in each class and a state champion team.