ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 400 top professional truck drivers from all across the U.S. will be heading for Orlando, Fla. for the 2011 National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC) and National Step Van Driving Championships (NSVDC), to be held August 9-13, 2011 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The "Super Bowl of Safety" is sponsored annually by the American Trucking Associations.
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The NTDC and NSVDC contestants are state champions from all 50 states. States send winners from each class of competition – from 18-wheeled five-axle sleepers to tank trucks to twin trailers to straight trucks – eight competing classes in all with an affiliated competition for step vans. The 19th annual North American Inspectors Championship will again take place alongside the Championships in Orlando.
Drivers will compete for four days, challenging their driving skills, and knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. ATA's President and CEO Bill Graves will kick-off the first day of driving, Thursday, with the ceremonial Breakfast of Champions. Drivers then head to the competition course, which recreates real world obstacles that drivers encounter daily, such as an alley dock, a rear and/or front line stop, a scales stop, a right or left turn, parallel parking, or straight line driving through a diminishing clearance. Five classes will drive Thursday and four classes will take to the obstacle course Friday.
When it is all over on Saturday, August 13, the U.S. will have a new National Grand Champion professional truck driver, individual champions in each class, and a state champion team.
ATA's Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships include top professional truck drivers from around the nation competing at state and regional levels to make it to the national competition Aug. 9-13 in Orlando, Fla. The NTDC and NSVDC annually attract over 2,000 cheering friends, family, colleagues and spectators. Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC is the first-time sponsor of the Bendix National Truck Driving Championships Grand Champion Award.
For more information, visit the 2011 National Truck Driving Championships website: www.truckline.com/Federation/Councils/slpmc/NTDC/Pages/Default.aspx
The American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States.
The American Trucking Associations leads the effort for safer highways, focusing on greater education, enforcement and enhancement of traffic safety laws for all drivers. www.truckline.com
SOURCE American Trucking Associations
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