Mississippi FedEx driver earns title of ATA Grand Champion

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The American Trucking Associations awarded FedEx driver Jackie Reed of Mississippi, the Bendix Grand Champion at the 2024 National Truck Driving & Step Van Championships.

“Jackie demonstrated the precision and professionalism we have come to expect from NTDC champions,” said American Trucking Associations President 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.”

Known as the “Super Bowl of Safety,” ATA’s National Truck Driving & Step Van Championships took place Aug. 21-24 in Indianapolis, bringing together 422 drivers from 49 states with a combined total of nearly 685 million accident-free miles.

Over the past few days, the drivers competed in a variety of events designed to measure their driving prowess, industry knowledge and dedication to safety.  Reed took home the Bendix Grand Champion award, as well as first place in the tank truck vehicle class.

Reed has been a professional driver for 34 years, accumulating three million safe driving miles.  In 2022, he was named the Mississippi Grand Champion in the 3-axle category.  Last year, he took second place in Mississippi’s 2-axle category.

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.

“On behalf of all of ATA’s members, I want to congratulate Jackie – and all our winners – on competing and completing another tremendous NTDC,” said American Trucking Associations First Vice Chairman Dennis Dellinger, president and CEO of Cargo Transporters Inc.

“Every year, I’m amazed at the passion and enthusiasm for this industry NTDC creates – starting with our state competitions and culminating with the naming of a Grand Champion. Congratulations to all the competitors, and thank you to all the dedicated volunteers who make this event so special,” he said.

During the 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.

This year’s event included driving competitions across nine vehicle classes, vehicle inspection and a written exam. A full list of award winners is below.

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