Thirty-three UPS and UPS Freight state champions will test their skills against the nation's top professional drivers at the American Trucking Associations' National Truck Driving Championships Aug. 18-23 in Houston.


This year's UPS team, a mix of veterans and newcomers to the national stage, have collectively accumulated 110 state titles and logged more than 500 years of accident-free driving.

The UPS team includes two former national champions, West Virginians Clarence Jenkins and Roger Lanham. Jenkins, a UPS Freight driver from Charleston, garnered the first of his West Virginia record 13 state championships in 1983 and won his national title in 1988. Lanham, who captured his 10th state title this summer, won his national championship in 1985.

Another West Virginian making his 10th return to the nationals is Ralph Gragg, a pickup and delivery driver for UPS Freight in Charleston.
This year's company team also includes Barry Holland from Federalsburg, Md., who was named 2008 Maryland Grand Champion after recording the top score of all competitors in the state driving tournament.

The UPS Freight team also features Jerry Davis of Richmond, Va., who won his ninth state championship this year and first since 1999, and Dennis Kendrick of Richmond.

Returning for the second year in a row to the Nationals is UPS feeder driver John Foran, who this year successfully defended the Vermont four-axle championship he first won in 2007.

Other members of the 2008 team include eight UPS feeder drivers who won their first state titles this year to qualify for the national competition. They include David Edwards from Tennessee; David Sharp from Nevada; Minnesota's Carl Myers; Troy Turtle and Bill Harvey from Oklahoma; Gareth Denham from Maryland; Ed Mikan from Illinois, and Shane Schneider from Kansas.

Both the state and national competitions include difficult driving skills, maneuvering tests, equipment inspections and exams covering safety policies and regulations. More than 400 drivers from across the nation will compete in Houston in nine equipment classes.