Competition Set for Aug. 18-22 in Pittsburgh
Twenty-three state champions, including 10 returning state winners, will
represent UPS and UPS Freight at the 2009 National Truck Driving and
Step Van Driving Championships in Pittsburgh next month.
Together, the 23 UPS drivers have garnered 67 state championships and
more than 450 years of accident-free driving.
“These safety-first drivers, a mix of veteran and relative newcomers to
the competition, represent the most skilled professionals in the
trucking industry,” said Phil Warren, UPS Freight vice president for
community affairs. “For UPS and all competitors, the Nationals -- the
acknowledged Super Bowl of Safety -- represent a showcase of our
industry’s top drivers.”
The veteran UPS contingent is led by returning state champion Ralph
Gragg of Charleston, W.Va., who is making his 11th trip to
the Nationals, and Dennis Kendrick of Richmond who won his third
straight and ninth overall Virginia title this year. Kendrick will
compete in the 3-axle competition at the August championships while
Gragg will test the nation’s best in the 5-axle.
Returning for the third straight year to the Nationals is UPS feeder
driver John Foran, who successfully defended the Vermont four-axle
championship he first won in 2007.
Other members of the 2009 team include three UPS feeder drivers who will
make their second straight trip to the Nationals. They are David Sharp
from Nevada and Troy Turtle and Bill Harvey from Oklahoma.
First-time state winners making their Nationals debut will be UPS
drivers Jeff Kalinowski and Bill Raff from Illinois and Ron Seltzer from
Texas.
Raff will compete in the 3-axle competition while Kalinowski and Seltzer
become the first UPS drivers in the Step Van competition that debuted
this year in some 23 state championships.
The 23 UPS drivers advancing to the Nationals come from 14 states and
captured team titles in the state championships of four states: South
Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Four South Carolinians, led by Steve Newsome, will wear the company’s
colors in Pittsburgh. Newsome won his fifth state championship this year
and was named Grand Champion in the state competition with the highest
score among all competitors. Joining Newsome from the state are John
Cook, also a five-time winner; John Hummel, a two-time state
titleholder, and newcomer James Belcher. All four UPS Freight drivers
are based in Gaffney, S.C.
Three UPS Freight drivers from Georgia will carry the company’s colors.
Al Churchwell of Marietta will appear in his seventh Nationals and will
be joined by Mike Britt of Marietta and Tommy Lasalata of North Atlanta.
Other company drivers earning their tickets to Pittsburgh are Rodney
Cosper and Duane Holmes, both from UPS Freight’s Birmingham, Ala.,
service center; Randy Crews, Lynchburg, Va.; Manny Franco, Phoenix,
Ariz.; John Lawrence, Jackson, Tenn.; Paul Savill, Ohio, and Jerry
Sheble, Fontana, Calif.
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 Pittsburgh in nine equipment classes between Aug.
18 and 22.
UPS Freight, one of the largest less-than-truckload carriers in the
United States and a leading truckload service provider, serves customers
throughout North America, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For more information, visit upsfreight.com.
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader
in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for
synchronizing the flow of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in
Atlanta, UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
UPS stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: UPS), and the
company can be found on the Web at www.ups.com.
UPS Freight
Ira Rosenfeld, 804-291-5362
