BATON ROUGE, La. — The 2025 Louisiana Truck Driving Championships, presented by the LMTA Foundation, is announcing its winners.
The two-day competition was held at the L’Auberge Baton Rouge on a specially made driving course across River Road from the L’Auberge’s main facilities.
“This year’s competition saw 80 drivers participate, each completing three tests focused on testing a driver’s knowledge and skills,” the LMTA said. “All competitors were required to provide safe driving records, including a zero-accident report for the year.”
Scored Categories
The scored categories were as follows:
- The written examination is an hour-long test that measures competitors’ knowledge of the trucking industry, safe driving rules, first aid, and firefighting.
- The pre-trip inspection tests the driver’s ability to thoroughly investigate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMSCA) pre-trip inspection. Each driver is tasked with finding defects planted on a test vehicle within a limited time.
- The field test course sees contestants drive a vehicle through the specially designed course with problems designed to simulate conditions they may encounter during the everyday operation of a truck.
Competition Classes
The Louisiana competition has nine classes, each with different size commercial vehicles. The classes include:
- Step-Van
- Straight Truck
- 3-Axle Van
- 4-Axle Van
- 5-Axle Van
- 5-Axle Tank
- 5-Axle Flatbed
- 5-Axle Sleeper Cab
- Twin-Trailers
Scores in each class were calculated from each competition category, recognizing a first, second and third-place winner. Each winning contestant was recognized during the night’s Trucking Safety Awards Banquet with an award for their competition class.
Top Champions
Also awarded from the competition were the Mechanics Award, Rookie of the Year Award, Team Award, and Overall Grand Champion.
The Mechanic’s Award was given to Corey Mitchell of FedEx Freight, with the highest pre-trip inspection score.
Rookie of the Year was awarded to Darrin Lemoine with Walmart Transportation, as the driver with the highest score among those participating in a truck-driving championship for the first time.
XPO won the Team Award with the overall highest average score based on the scores of the competing drivers from that company.
Chad Rudesill with FedEx is the 2025 Grand Champion as the driver who receives the highest overall score during the competition.
All first-place winners will represent the LMTA Foundation and the State of Louisiana in the 2025 American Trucking Association (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. on August 20 – 23.
Winners of the LMTA competition are as follows:
Step Van
1st Place – Nicholas Burgess, Walmart
2nd Place – Michael Brian, FedEx
3rd Place – Mario Powell, FedEx
Straight Truck
1st Place – Place Leroy Williams, XPO
2nd Place – Darrin Lemoine, Walmart
3rd Place – Corey Mitchell, FedEx
3 Axle Van
1st Place – Chad Rudesill, FedEx
2nd Place – David Jowers, Old Dominion Freight Line
3rd Place – Damien Hebert, XPO
4 Axle Van
1st Place – Larry Peltier, Martin Brower
2nd Place – Wallace Simien, Walmart
3rd Place – Shelton Winn, Old Dominion Freight Line
5 Axle Van
1st Place – Eric Courville, FedEx
2nd Place – Christopher Colomb, Walmart
3rd Place – John McLean, Walmart
5 Axle Tank Truck
1st Place – Curtis McMellon, XPO
2nd Place – Johnnie Long, Walmart
3rd Place – Patrick Rudesill, FedEx
5 Axle Flatbed
1st Place – Mark Collins, Walmart
2nd Place – Joseph Vital, FedEx
3rd Place – Warren Little, FedEX
5 Axle Sleeper Cab
1st Place – Patrick Bonvillian, Old Dominion Freight Line
2nd Place – Malcolm Taylor, FedEx
3rd Place – Joseph Guidry, Walmart
Twin Truck
1st Place – Wilbur Sansom, FedEx
2nd Place – Eddie Bonnet, Old Dominion Freight Line
3rd Place – Michael Greene, Ergon Trucking
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
