Eagan, Minn. -- The 63rd annual Minnesota Truck Driving Championships (MTDC) were held June 6-7, 2009, in Mahtomedi, Minn. The best professional truck drivers in Minnesota gathered to vie for state titles in various classifications and for the top honor of “Minnesota Grand Champion.”
Over 100 of the state’s best and safest truck drivers competed for titles in nine separate classes: Straight Truck, Three Axle, Four Axle, Five Axle, Tank Truck, Flatbed, Twin Trailer, Sleeper Berth and for the first time this year a Step Van competition.
For the seventh year, Transport America participated at the MTDC with six drivers representing them in the event. Terry Putt, Sleeper Berth; William Piktel, Jr., Five Axle; Michael Nye, Four Axle; Greg Payne, Tank Truck; Troy Kasprowicz, Sleeper Berth; and Clint Brown, Five Axle.
“We take great pride in announcing that Greg Payne finished in First Place in the Tank Truck Class this year,” says Scott Arves, President and CEO of Transport America. “Transport America is very proud of each driver who participated in the Minnesota Truck Driving Championships.”
In addition to demonstrating their driving skills by navigating a tough obstacle course, the drivers were also subjected to a knowledge test and pre-trip inspection where they had to identify planted safety defects on a tractor-trailer.
Greg has been with Transport America since March 1996, and has participated in six previous truck driving championships. In 2006 and 2007, Greg placed First in the State Sleeper Berth competitions. Because Greg went to Nationals twice for the same class, he was required to switch classes in 2008, his first attempt in the Tank Truck Division. “Greg’s truck driving skills as a van driver were so extraordinary, that he was able to train simply by watching other drivers, without the benefit of ever having driven a tanker,” says Arves. Greg and the other first-place class champions will be representing Minnesota and competing in the 2009 National Truck Driving Championships in Pittsburgh this August.
