AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Roadway, a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc. , is proud to announce that Roadway driver Alphonso Lewis has been crowned National Grand Champion, the highest honor, at the 2007 National Truck Driving Championships held August 21-25 in Minneapolis, MN. Al Lewis also took home first place in the 4-Axle Class. Alphonso's sharp driving skills and knowledge of transportation and truck safety information topped those of the other 377 drivers from all across the United States that competed at the 70th Annual National Truck Driving Championships.
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Alphonso Lewis is a Freight Handling Professional / Driver Account Specialist at the Roadway service center in Montgomery, AL. He has worked for Roadway for 17 years and has been in the industry for 21 years all accident and injury-free. Alphonso Lewis has competed at nationals three times. He has also competed at the state level seven times, including first place/ grand champion in 2005, and first place in 2006. In 2002, Alphonso was named Grand Champion in the Roadway Professional Freight Handlers Competition.
Other top performers for Roadway were: -- Lynn Springer, Tanker Class from Portland, OR, placed 3rd in the Tanker Class. He has worked for Roadway for 24 years and has been in the industry for 30 years. Lynn is a driver account specialist and has over 1 million miles of safe driving. Lynn has competed at nationals four times. He has competed at the state level seven times. -- Greg Nauertz, Sleeper Class and David Messmer, 3-Axle Class both from Phoenix, AZ, were part of the team that took first place and the State Team Trophy for Arizona.
"We are very proud of all our employees who participated in this year's National Truck Driving Championships, particularly Alphonso Lewis," said Mike Smid, President and CEO of YRC National Transportation. "We strongly support the National Truck Driving Championships as an important part of our training and safety program. Year after year in conversations with our professional drivers they have said that the championships provide an opportunity for them to strive for even higher levels of professionalism."
"The 38 Roadway drivers who participated in the national competition are among the nation's safest drivers and our company's safety leaders. We are proud to have them represent Roadway," said Terry Gilbert, President of Roadway.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) sponsors the event, also known as the "Super Bowl of Safety," where drivers compete against nearly 400 others for national titles in eight different classes of vehicles for the National Grand Champion title. The drivers accumulate points by demonstrating their driving skill and knowledge of the trucking industry through a series of tests. The drivers are given a written examination, personal interview, pre-trip inspection test and a skills test.
To compete at the national competition, drivers must be accident-free for the 12 months leading up to the event and place first in the state-level driving championship. A record of 79 professional drivers from YRC Worldwide brands qualified for the national event this year.
The 2007 Roadway National Truck Driving Championship team: Driver Class Service Center Jim Baber 3-Axle Dover, DE Jesse Ballard 5-Axle Portland, OR Cory Bare 3-Axle Nashville, TN Chris Bates 4-Axle Pasco, WA Mike Bortnick Tanker Cheshire, CT William Bramwell 4-Axle Kansas City, KS Jim Brown 3-Axle Brockton, MA Nick Caiola Straight Truck Kearny, NJ Dan Chaves 4-axle Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN Mike Coakley Twins Concord, NH Randy DeVault Straight Truck Portland, ME Ron Dunlap 5-Axle Akron, OH Kent Durant 5-Axle Wichita, KS Ralph Eisenschenk Twins St. Cloud, MN Mike Erick 4-Axle Providence, RI Al Evans Tanker Akron, OH Mark Hewitt Flatbed Cleveland, OH Willie Holter 3-Axle West Chester, PA Steven Kislia 3-Axle Libertyville, IL John Larson Straight Truck Kansas City, KS Alphonso Lewis 4-Axle Montgomery, AL Jeff Mefford Twins Cincinnati, OH David Messmer 3-Axle Phoenix, AZ Kevin Miskiewicz Straight Truck West Chester, PA Greg Nauertz Sleeper Phoenix, AZ Jerry Penley Sleeper Raleigh, NC Mickey Rafeal 3-Axle Concord, NH Myron Randall 3-Axle New Orleans, LA Kurt Royer 5-Axle Baltimore, MD Dennis Sheehan 4-Axle Elk Grove Village, IL Russ Smith Tanker Denver, CO Steve Spradling Straight Truck Omaha, NE Lynn Springer Tanker Portland, OR Mitch Stegner Flatbed Columbia, MO Ron VanBibber Tanker Salt Lake City, UT Michael West Flatbed Roanoke, VA Vic Wheeler 3-Axle Salt Lake City, UT Clayton Wycoff 4-Axle Bloomington, CA
State grand champion honors: Jim Baber, Nick Caiola, Jeff Mefford, Jerry Penley, Mickey Rafeal, Dennis Sheehan and Vic Wheeler
State rookie of the year honors: Cory Bare, Steven Kislia, Mitch Stegner
For more details on the NTDC and Team Roadway visit http://www.roadway.com/about/ntdc/2007
About Roadway
Roadway, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, is a leading transporter of industrial, commercial and retail goods. Roadway offers a variety of innovative services to meet customer needs, including Time-Critical(TM), Time-Advantage(TM), Exhibit Transportation and the patented Sealed Divider(TM) Service. Roadway provides seamless transportation between all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Global logistics solutions for import and export shipping are provided in conjunction with YRC Logistics, a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc. Service within Canada is provided by Reimer Express, a Roadway subsidiary. Roadway is a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc. , a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation services providers in the world. The enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, YRC Worldwide employs approximately 66,000 people.
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