SWEETWATER COUNTY — Two Sweetwater County FedEx Freight drivers are headed to the National Truck Driving Championships in Pittsburgh tomorrow after taking top honors at the Wyoming Truck Driving Championship.
Jedediah Boyd won first place in the straight truck class at the Wyoming competition, held June 27 in Cheyenne at the Wyoming Trucking Association headquarters. Robert Klepper, a first-time competitor, also earned a spot at nationals by winning the five-axle tractor-trailer class.
The two will compete in Pittsburgh from Aug. 11-14.
Boyd, who has driven trucks for more than 40 years, has competed at the national level for four years and was named Wyoming’s grand champion in 2022. This is Klepper’s first time competing at both the state and national level.
About the competition
The championship is run by the American Trucking Associations, which started the event as a “truck rodeo” in 1937 before it became the National Truck Driving Championships in the 1970s. The competition promotes safety by testing drivers on driving skills, vehicle inspection and trucking knowledge.
The event includes three categories: a skills challenge involving simulated driving tasks such as backing and parking, a pre-trip inspection in which drivers have eight minutes to identify planted mechanical problems, and a written test covering trucking history, regulations and hazardous materials rules.
There are nine competition classes, including step van, straight truck, three-axle tractor-trailer, four-axle tractor-trailer, five-axle tractor-trailer, flatbed, tanker and sleeper berth and doubles. The first-place winner in each class from every state qualifies for nationals, with the position passing to the runner-up if the winner cannot attend.
To qualify, drivers must have gone at least 12 months without a preventable accident or citation while working for the same company.
This year’s Wyoming competition drew 36 competitors, up from about 22 the previous year. Boyd said organizers hope to grow the field further, noting that Wyoming’s small size allows the state to complete its entire competition in a single day, unlike larger states which hold multi-day or regional qualifying events.
Preparing for nationals
Ahead of nationals, Boyd and Klepper joined 111 FedEx Freight drivers from across the country for a three-day practice event in Indianapolis called the Captain Smith Challenge. The event, named for FedEx founder and former U.S. Marine Corps captain Fred Smith, includes practice runs of the driving course, pre-trip inspections and written tests.
At the Captain Smith Challenge, Boyd placed first in the straight truck class and won trophies for best pre-trip inspection and best driving course.
Competitors do not drive equipment from their own companies at either the Captain Smith Challenge or nationals. Trucks and trailers are supplied by participating carriers, including FedEx Freight, Old Dominion, UPS, ABF and Walmart, and are mixed and matched, meaning a driver might operate a tractor from one company paired with a trailer from another.
Boyd said the unfamiliar equipment, combined with the precision required in the skills challenge, sharpens a driver’s focus in ways that day-to-day driving does not.
A message for other drivers
Boyd encouraged other Wyoming drivers to consider competing, noting the only requirements are a commercial driver’s license with the appropriate endorsements and a clean 12-month safety record. Drivers do not need to work for a large carrier or provide their own equipment to compete in the Wyoming event.
Klepper, reflecting on public perceptions of truckers, said most drivers are simply trying to get home safely to their families. He said accidents nationally have decreased 34% over the past three years even as traffic has increased about 50%, meaning trucking has become safer per mile driven even though total incidents have risen with the number of trucks on the road.
