The 76th annual American Trucking Association National Truck Driving Championship and National Step Van Driving Championships were held in Salt Lake City Utah August 20-24. Gary Harms a Walmart Transportation professional truck driver was named the 2013 Bendix National Truck Driving Champion.

Based in Olathe Kansas Harms’ driving skills and knowledge of transportation and truck safety made him outrank the other 422 professional truck drivers from all 50 states. He has logged more than 1.7 million miles over 30 years as a driver. Harms also won the individual 5-Axle Sleeper driving competition. Together the contestants have driven over 600 million accident-free miles.

Drivers were tested on their expertise in the driving skills they use daily such as their knowledge of safety equipment and the industry. They were also tested in judging distances maneuvering tight spaces reversing parking and positioning their vehicles over scales before barriers and around curves.

The 2012 National Grand Champion was Don Logan a FedEx Freight professional truck driver with FedEx Freight from Eskridge Kansas.

The 2013 Rookie of the Year was Bruce Renton a Holland driver from Grand Rapids Michigan. Renton has over 900000 accident-free miles in his 13 years behind the wheel.

The highest scoring honors went to the Kansas state truck driving championship team with Wisconsin claiming second followed by Vermont.

Other winners include:

Vehicle Condition Award: Don Logan FedEx Freight Eskridge Kansas

Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award: Ralph Garcia ABF Freight System Inc. Rio Rancho New Mexico

Lifetime Volunteer Award: John Killilee Meridian Idaho

Perfect Score on Written Exam:
· Judd Adams Con-way Freight Straight Truck Taylorville Utah
· Ina Daly Con-way Freight Tank Truck Avondale Arizona
· Donald Logan FedEx Freight Flatbed Eskridge Kansas
· Timothy Melody ABF Freight System Twins Fruitland Idaho
· Jeffrey Thompson FedEx Freight 3-Axle Olathe Kansas

National Champions:

Straight Truck Class

1. James Carver Maryland (Owings)
2. Judd Adams Con-way Freight Utah (Taylorville)
3. Daniel Jones FedEx Freight Kansas (Topeka)

3-Axle Class

1. Roland Bolduc FedEx Express Massachusetts (E. Longmeadow)
2. Eric Courville FedEx Freight Louisiana (Breaux Bridge)
3. Jason Harrington Con-way Freight North Dakota (Bismarck)

4-Axle Class

1. Ralph Garcia ABF Freight System New Mexico (Rio Rancho)
2. Thomas Griffin FedEx Freight Connecticut (Wallingfod)
3. Jeremy Steger Con-way Freight Wisconsin (Fond du Lac)

5-Axle Class

1. George Johnson UPS Freight Virginia (Aylett)
2. Harold Snyder North Carolina (King)
3. Ivan Nikolic FedEx Ground Illinois (Chicago)

Flatbed Class

1. Richard Wayne Crowder FedEx Freight Kentucky (Lanesville Ind.)
2. Larry Rhein FedEx Freight Arkansas (Harrison)
3. Paul Brandon FedEx Freight Connecticut (Oxford)

Tank Truck Class

1. Ina Daly Con-way Freight Arizona (Avondale)
2. Tony Spero ABF Freight System Connecticut (Stratford)
3. Jason Matte FedEx Freight Mississippi (Flowood)

Twins Class

1. Timothy Melody ABF Freight System Idaho (Fruitland)
2. Alfonso Saavedra Con-way Freight California (Watsonville)
3. Barry Kraemer Con-way Freight Wisconsin (New Holstein)

Sleeper Berth Class

1. Gary Harms Walmart Transportation Kansas (Olathe)
2. Leo Flack A. Duie Pyle Pennsylvania (West Chester)
3. Timothy Sproles UPS Freight Tennessee (Bristol Virginia)

Step Van

1. Justin Kingsley FedEx Ground Oklahoma (Tulsa)
2. Salvatore Vincelli FedEx Ground Pennsylvania (Allentown)
3. Michael Forchetti FedEx Express Maryland (Frederick)