Trucker with 34 years of experience wins National Driving Competition

A FedEx Freight driver is this year’s winner of the Bendix Grand Champion title of this year’s National Truck Driving Championships, which concluded over the past weekend.

Jackie Reed, a veteran driver based in Mississippi, won the title at the 87th annual event help Aug. 21-24 in Indianapolis. He also won the tanker class.

Reed has 3 million safe driving miles in his 34 years in the trucking industry. His driving skills and knowledge of safety, equipment, and the industry earned him the top award in a field of 422 professional truck drivers from 49 states competing in all vehicle classes. In 2022, Reed was named the Mississippi Grand Champion in the 3-axle category.  Last year, he took second place in Mississippi’s 2-axle category. 

“Jackie demonstrated the precision and professionalism we have come to expect from NTDC champions,” said ATAPresident and CEO Chris Spear. “While all of our competitors are champions, he separated himself from even this elite field, showing the skills that have produced three million miles of accident-free driving over his 34 year career. Congratulations to him and to all our NTDC participants.”

In addition, ATA honored Todd Gimpel, a professional driver with FedEx Freight from Nebraska, with the 2024 Rookie of the Year Award, and the state of Colorado was crowned the team champion for having the highest collective score.

This year’s event included driving competitions across nine vehicle classes, vehicle inspection and a written exam. The results of the classes include:

Step Van: 

1. Matthew Montandon, FedEx, Texas
2. Scott Wickstrom, FedEx, Maine
3. Travis Hutchinson, FedEx, Oregon

Straight Truck: 

1. James Kohr, FedEx, New York
2. Christopher Shaw, FedEx, New Mexico
3. Corey Mitchell, FedEx Freight, Louisiana

3-Axle:

1. David Mogler, FedEx Freight, Colorado
2. Ritch Fundell, FedEx Freight, Illinois
3. Daniel Shamrell, FedEx Freight, Oregon

4-Axle: 

1. Joseph Hicks, XPO, Rhode Island
2. Dustin Scholle, United Parcel Service, Inc., Illinois
3. Paul Swan, FedEx Freight, Colorado

5-Axle: 

1. Brandon Hardy, XPO, Nevada
2. Eric Courville, FedEx Freight, Louisiana
3. Nick Gaudette, Fedex Freight, Colorado

Flatbed: 

1. Ruben Cortez, H-E-B Grocery Co., Texas
2. Larry Rhein, FedEx Freight, Arkansas
3. Martin McMahon, RIST Transport, New York

Tank Truck: 

1. Jackie Reed, FedEx Freight, Mississippi
2. Glen Kirk, Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., Indiana
3. Terry Covey, FedEx Freight, Kansas

Twins:

1. Connor Dent, FedEx Freight, Wisconsin
2. Michael Flippin, FedEx Freight, Colorado
3. Jeffrey Cochran, FedEx Freight, Arkansas

Sleeper Berth:

1. Gregory Ryan, Walmart Transportation, LLC, Arizona
2. Andrew Girdley, Walmart Transportation, LLC, Missouri
3. James Dixon, A. Duie Pyle, Inc., Connecticut

Vehicle Condition Award: 

• James Quarles, Walmart Transportation, LLC, South Carolina

Written Exam:

• Ritch Fundell, FedEx Freight, Illinois
• Jason Damron, Convoy Systems, LLC, Kansas

State Team Award: 

1. Colorado
2. Illinois
3. New York

This year’s competitors have accumulated nearly 685 million combined accident-free miles.

At Saturday’s closing ceremonies, ATA also honored Richard Sweeney of XPO with the Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award.  David Wiechers with ABF Freight was chosen as the Sam Gillette Lifetime Volunteer Award recipient.

“All of us at Bendix are excited to congratulate Jackie Reed on his remarkable achievement,” said Nicole Oreskovic, vice president for sales and marketing at Bendix. “Every competitor in this year’s championships deserves our praise and thanks for the excellence they bring to their jobs. The NTDC shines a deserving spotlight on these outstanding professionals, their supportive families, and the indispensable role they play in helping to keep roadways safe for all of us.”

During this year’s competition at the Indiana Convention Center, drivers demonstrated their expertise of safety, equipment, and the industry through a written exam, pre-trip inspection test, and – always a crowd favorite – navigating the skills-based driving competition course. Behind the wheel, drivers were scored on their abilities to handle their trucks, judge distances, and move through tight spaces. The driving course challenged drivers to maneuver, reverse, park, and position their vehicles with precision over scales, before barriers, and around curves.