UPS Drivers Honored at National Driving Championships

HOUSTON – UPS Freight’s (NYSE:UPS) Danny Drewery led a parade of nine company drivers to top 20 finishes in the American Trucking Associations’ 71st National Truck Driving Championships held here this week.

Drewery, who drives out of UPS Freight’s Memphis, Tenn., Service Center, finished second in the Flatbed division. The runner-up spot marked Drewery’s top placement in seven appearances in the Nationals. Last year, he finished eighth in the same division.

Separately, UPS Freight driver Clarence Jenkins received ATA’s highest individual honor, the Neil Darmstadtler Professional Excellence Award, for his lifetime commitment to safety and promoting the trucking industry.

Jenkins, who has 32 years of accident-free driving to his credit and is currently a member of the ATA’s National Road Team, won his record 13th West Virginia State Championship this year. He also captured a national title in 1988. Jenkins is the third company driver to be honored with ATA’s Professional Excellence Award. Roger Lanham, who won in 2000, and Bob Akers, who won in 2003, were both in attendance as Jenkins joined the industry’s elite group of honorees.

Other top company placements in the Nationals, which brings state champions in eight divisions to the competition, included UPS Freight drivers Alan Graham, Richfield, Ohio, fourth in the Tanker division; John Hummel, Gaffney, S.C., eighth in the Sleeper division; Ralph Gragg, Charleston, W.Va., 11th in Tanker; Anthony Chestnut, Jacksonville, Fla., 14th in Flatbed; David Warner, Charleston, W.Va., 15th in Sleeper; Roger Lanham, Charleston, W.Va., 17th in 5-Axle; David Edwards, Memphis, 17th in Twins division; and Dennis Martin, Gaffney, 19th in Twins.

UPS Minnesota feeder driver Carl Myers captured the championships’ Vehicle Condition Award after registering a perfect score on the pre-trip safety inspection segment of the championships. Myers, a member of UPS’s Circle of Honor with 27 years of safe driving, was making his sixth trip to the Nationals this year.

UPS Freight Atlanta driver Scott Cain, representing his state in the Sleeper division, aided Georgia in capturing the state driving title during the championships.

In all, a record 33 UPS and UPS Freight drivers represented the company at the national championships, which drew 375 state driving titleholders under one roof.

The 33 have collectively accumulated 110 state titles and logged more than 500 years of accident-free driving. The championships test difficult driving skills, maneuvering tests, equipment inspections and exams covering safety policies and regulations.

UPS Freight, one of the largest less-than-truckload carriers in the United States and a leading truckload service provider, serves customers throughout North America, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Island. For more information, visit upsfreight.com.