Koch & Sons driver’s adventure at Minn. driving championships

Driver John Borman and I haven’t met in person, but via the monthly photo contests I help host for Truckers News and, before that, our monthly featured photo from the magazine’s Flickr.com photo-sharing group, I’ve become well-acquainted with Borman as not only a great photographer but a consummate professional. When he asked if I’d be interested in including his narrative of his recent participation in the Minnesota state driving championships, I didn’t hesitate. Find it below. The National championships are ongoing as we speak, wrapping up this weekend, in Florida. Keep an eye on this page for posted results next week.

About a year ago I made an off-the-cuff comment that I would like to be in our State Truck Driving Championship at least once before I retire. Someone remembered that comment and told our Safety Director. He, in turn, called and asked me if I would like to be in the 2011 Minnesota Truck Driving Championship. Well, I thought if my Safety Director was calling me I really couldn’t say no. Little did I know at that time how it would all turn out.

I drive for Stan Koch & Sons Trucking in Minneapolis. We hosted the championship this year. They cleared out one of our parking lots for the weekend, brought in all the trucks and trailers needed, set up the course, and held the competition. All in all, it was a great weekend, but I went into the championship with absolutely no expectations.

In the championship itself, drivers compete in one of nine categories: Step Van, Straight Truck, Three-Axle, Four-Axle, Five-Axle, Flatbed, Tanker, Twins, or Sleeper Berth. Those drivers competing for the first time are called “Rookies” and compete for Rookie of the Year. The competition in Minnesota is a two-day affair. On Saturday all the drivers do a written test, a pretrip test, and a driving test (pictured: John Bumgardner of USF Holland on the driving course scores 50 points as judges watch). The top three scoring drivers in each category compete in another driving test on Sunday. The winners are then decided by combining all four scores. There were 105 drivers entered in the nine categories. I competed in the Sleeper Berth category against 21 other drivers. And, I was one of 23 “rookies” competing for Rookie Of The Year.

Our Safety Director had scheduled three practice sessions for the seven Koch drivers entered leading into the championship weekend. This meant going down to work on a Saturday morning on my own time. We got an overview of what to expect on the championship weekend. But, more importantly, we got to practice. With the help of our shop, we had a truck bugged with a number of “defects” for Pretrip technique workout. We had a couple of driving courses with different maneuvers. And we also got to do a practice written test.