ATA Truck Driving Championships

[jaminjim]

Use A Dang Period, And Maybe A Paragraph.

[greg334]

Use A Dang Period, And Maybe A Paragraph.

Jim..... it was a rambling thought, not War and Peace.

[jaminjim]

It was war on my eyes!

[greg334]

It was war on my eyes!

OK so there are two apologizes, I'm sorry.... now I am going back to my movie........

[jaminjim]

No apology needed, just messin with you,

[cheri1122]

To reply to ATeam's snide remark "People can read. The link is posted in the original" : a link isn't much help for those with a very slow connection, and even though I read the referenced link, it didn't appear to answer the question that Pjjjj asked, so what's the big deal about just answering the dang question, Phil?!

[ATeam]

I do not know if Panther is an ATA member or not. Drivers/contractors with any carrier, including own-authority owner-operators, that may wish to enter the ATA National Truck Driving Championships, can get info at National Truck Driving Championships.

This is the same link provided in the original post. It is not my place to describe the NTDC eligibility rules and registration procedures. The ATA and its state affiliates speak for themselves on this matter. Interested readers can learn more by clicking the link above.

Notwithstanding the off-topic posts in this thread, the ATA Truck Driving Championships present an industry-recognized opportunity for drivers to refine and demonstrate their skills in a competitive envrionment. To bring us back on topic, allow me to say again that while the competiton is intesnse, the challenge can be fun if you embrace it as such. If part of you thinks you might want to try this some day, our advice is to go for it.

[davekc]

I believe that is what they were looking for earlier.

[ATeam]

Sounds like great fun Phil! Where would one find the requirements to become involved? What were the prizes and classes? Is there an entry fee? Glad you had a great time, and that the participants were friendly. That was quite a financial commitment you made in taking that time off! Oh, and congratulations on 11th and 7th!

The answers to most of your questions are on the ATA web site (links already provided). I do not know what the entry fee may be in your state. Our carrier paid ours. Some drivers in our Minnesota competition told me their carriers provided bonuses for winning. Beyond that, I know nothing about prizes. With a 7th place finish, it was not an issue. Diane and I did receive belt buckles for being rookie contestants.

Marry me Honey, and I'll spirit you off to sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots. We will crawl around together under trucks with matching coveralls and flashlights, and sport his-and-her trucker belt buckles when we dress for dinner!

[juliewray60]

allow me to say again that while the competiton is intesnse, the challenge can be fun if you embrace it as such. If part of you thinks you might want to try this some day, our advice is to go for it.

We are entering the MTA event
for the third year in a row. Not as
big as the one you entered but is
alot of fun. All us straight trucks
park together and you get a chance
to meet alot of cool drivers. We
learn somthing new every year and
are hoping to place alot higher than
we have in the past.

Unfortunatly you must be a Mi resident.

details are here
2008 Michigan Truck Driving Championship Facts

[ATeam]

We are entering the MTA event
for the third year in a row. Not as
big as the one you entered but is
alot of fun. All us straight trucks
park together and you get a chance
to meet alot of cool drivers. We
learn somthing new every year and
are hoping to place alot higher than
we have in the past.

Very cool! I see your state organization provides sample written test questions online. These are the same samples we received in Minnesota. The questions are similar to those we saw on the actual test but they were not the same. Thorough book study was still necessary to do well on the test.

Diane missed only one question on the test (I missed three) and she smoked me on the pretrip, which I totally blew because I got rattled under the pressure and lost my focus. When we walked off the course on Saturday, we were disgusted with ourselves and believed no one could have possibly done worse in the competition than us. As things turned out, we scored higher than we thought. It was a relief to finish higher than last place.

As you already know, people will say you are already a winner for just being able to enter the contest. You must have a clean safety record and you are showing a willingness to go up against some serious competition. We're rooting for ya! Let us know how it goes.

[juliewray60]

Thorough book study was still necessary to do well on the test.

we were disgusted with ourselves and believed no one could have possibly done worse in the competition than us.

My partner aced the written test
but crumbled in skills. I missed not
only tire depth but a bunch of other
questions cause of not studying. It
was amazing how much really basic
stuff you forget after the years.
PreTrip is also somthing i totally messed
up once again because of many years
of not refreshing. I did tho ace the skills
and probably could of placed very
high but written test had me in the
corner wearing the dunce cap. This
competition in the straight truck div
is mostly local type delivery guys. There
were few sleeper straights. Were
heading over to the local high school
bus drivers training area to practice
with their supplied cones. Im also cracking
open the book and reading up on all the
points i unlearned over the years.

[ATeam]

It was amazing how much really basic stuff you forget after the years.

And that, dear readers, is one of the benefits of events like these. It helps keep you sharp. People talk about the value of experience. But if you allow yourself to fall into a slovenly rut, the value exists more in one's mind than out on the road. That is not to say you must enter a competitive event to stay sharp. But staying sharp takes effort and is an ongoing process. In his book, The 7 Habbits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey calls it "Sharpen the Saw."

[greg334]

I do not know if Panther is an ATA member or not. Drivers/contractors with any carrier, including own-authority owner-operators, that may wish to enter the ATA National Truck Driving Championships, can get info at National Truck Driving Championships.

Phil,
The link does not provide all the information that you need to come up with an answer if you can participate in the event or not. When I asked to be corrected, I apparently knew more about the national and the state events than you did and threw my comment in to get other people involved with the conversation but it seems you got all defensive over someone trying to upstage you.

This is the same link provided in the original post. It is not my place to describe the NTDC eligibility rules and registration procedures. The ATA and its state affiliates speak for themselves on this matter. Interested readers can learn more by clicking the link above.

I talked to ATA this morning to confirm the information I had and inform them that there are problems with the website, they acknowledge that the links are broken on the menu which would go back to the main page and I told them even though I am computer literate (and in my profession opinion the site sucks for navigation and usability), I had a very hard time with some of the links going back to the main page. I made a couple suggestions about usability to the site before being transferred to the event people and asked a number of questions to get straight answers. Because you insist on people going to the site, this is another example of not knowing that people don’t always or can be computer literate to find information out on their own.

But I digress, I would have thought that you wanted to make sure that you had correct information but apparently you don’t, bad habit to get into especially in your lofty position.

Well the eligibility rules don’t clarify some of the issues I have heard about from other possible participants, some of these issues were discussed between us fellow end of life truck owning FedEx people (me being a former member of that clan), so here is some clarification.

1 – The state is to follow guidelines from the ATA to create, modify and other wise amend their own specific rules. They can deviate from the ATA rules but can’t go beyond the guidelines, which are not posted or I can’t find anywhere.

2 – The states are allowed to have non-member COMPANIES participate, NOT non-member owner/operators or individual drivers. So your statement is incorrect, because having your own authority means nothing. The real issue is they are stressing safety record keeping and even if you have your own authority, does not mean you can participate because you have to have the proper record keeping. Their rules and their comments – not mine.

3 – There are about 50% of the state sanctioned events that are only open to ATA member companies, which means 50% of the state do not allow non-member companies to participate in state sanctioned events.

4 – Now here is something really complicated and interesting. You may participate, if you work domicile is not in your state. This is very simplified version and here is the explanation – if I (working for a member company) is based out of Oklahoma, even though I live in Michigan, I can participate in the Oklahoma event with the companies sponsorship. BUT I can not participate in more than one event.

5 – The purpose of the event is to promote safety, which is a good thing. I do agree that you are right on with your experience and explaining what it was all about but….

Notwithstanding the off-topic posts in this thread, the ATA Truck Driving Championships present an industry-recognized opportunity for drivers to refine and demonstrate their skills in a competitive envrionment. To bring us back on topic, allow me to say again that while the competiton is intesnse, the challenge can be fun if you embrace it as such. If part of you thinks you might want to try this some day, our advice is to go for it.

I think a better sentance would be; the ATA challenge presents an opportunity for drivers to refine and improve their existing skills. We are in a competitive environment already Phil, every time we start the truck/van and move on to the open road - don't you agree?

I don’t know where you come off that anything I said was off topic (*maybe I am reading into the bit of irritation, in your previous posts), it seems you didn’t want to provide more information and when you did, it seemed wrong to me. I said this in other posts and will say it again to the people who think I am in some d*mn p*ssing contest with you – if I see something that I think is wrong, I will speak up even if I am wrong. The only off topic comments made were from Julie trashing me and my sarcastic retort which I hope she read.

Well to the ‘readers’, because I am serious about safety and want to see others participate in positive events like this or at least learn more about the subject and how to be safe on the road for all of us, I am going a bit farther.

You mentioned a book, which is not easily found for the computer illiterates out there on the ATA site.

Facts for Drivers 2008, Note they list this as a CD but it also has the order information for the book and I highly recommend it even if you do not participate or can’t.

State dates and contact information - which is in PDF format, not a web page so some may not be able to open it.

Eligibility rules for the National event - which is not a clear concise read

National Awards

An overview of the National event test

AND in a final note I would recommend these two books first;

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr Norman Peale.

I would recommend these two books because of the stress we all go through in this work. Habits are one thing but without a clear mind and not being able to handle the stress, regardless how hard you try to maintain habits, you can easily fail to do so.

Oh and if you can take the Carnegie course, it is really a good thing to do.

[juliewray60]

I will speak up even if I am wrong.