This past weekend, NRMCA’s Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach attended the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships held in St. Louis. The field of 431 drivers included state association rodeo champions from all 50 states in nine different truck classes. The event, which NRMCA attended for the last two days, spanned an entire week and included a driving skills test, written exam and pre-trip inspection. After contestants completed each challenge, five finalists were chosen from each truck class. Of those finalists a third, second and first were chosen from each class, along with a "Grand Champion" that stood out among the entire field of 431 drivers.

NRMCA attended the event to gain more insight into how to improve its annual driving championship. NRMCA plans to make a number of changes to the current NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship to  enhance the program for drivers, spectators and the industry as a whole.