By carefully planning and organizing your fleet’s truck driving championship, you create an opportunity to strengthen company culture, promote safety, and reward excellence—all while having a little fun in the process.
A well-organized Truck Driving Championship (TDC) can be one of the most impactful and exciting initiatives your fleet undertakes to celebrate safe driving, recognize top performers, and encourage skill development.
Whether you’re a regional fleet or a national carrier, this guide breaks down the process of creating your own version of a Company TDC — complete with scoring systems, rules, written exams, obstacle courses, and awards.
Set Rules and Regulations
Creating a comprehensive rulebook is essential to ensure clarity and fairness. Start by identifying who is eligible to compete.
For example, participation might be limited to drivers who have been with the company for at least one year and have maintained a clean driving record for the past 12 months. Additional qualifications might include successful completion of recent safety training or no preventable accidents on record.
Choose Championship Categories
You have the flexibility to tailor your championship to reflect your company’s priorities. The most common category is a skills obstacle course that mirrors real-world driving situations. However, you could also include categories like written knowledge tests, pre-trip inspection accuracy, or even operational KPIs like fuel efficiency or on-time deliveries.
Combining multiple categories provides a well-rounded assessment of driver skill and professionalism. Keep in mind that every category should ultimately support the overarching goal: encouraging and rewarding safe, skillful, and efficient driving.
Develop a Clear Scoring System
Once categories are defined, assign point values to each. The key is to maintain transparency. Drivers should understand exactly how scores are calculated and what is expected of them.
Having tie-breaker criteria is also wise. For example, if two drivers end up with the same score, you might award the higher placement to the one who completed the obstacle course in less time or had fewer penalties.
Here’s a sample format:
| Category | Max Points |
| Written Test | 100 |
| Pre-Trip Inspection | 100 |
| Skills Obstacle Course | 200 |
| Real-World Safety Metrics (optional) | 100 |
| Total | 500 |
Establish a Timeline
Promote the Championship
Get the word out to your drivers early and often. Announce the championship through multiple channels such as fleet emails, posters in terminals, digital bulletin boards, and your company app. Consider producing a kickoff video from leadership explaining the event’s purpose and benefits.
Build a Business Plan
A written plan will help align your team on the event’s goals and logistics. Start by defining success: Is your goal to boost morale, improve safety outcomes, or reduce turnover?
Include a budget, desired number of participants, and an overview of the event structure.
Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) such as participation rates, post-event safety stats, and social media engagement will allow you to measure success and make improvements for future events.
Secure Sponsorships and Prizes
Sponsorships can enhance your event while keeping costs manageable. Reach out to vendors, equipment manufacturers, fuel card companies, or even local truck stops to sponsor parts of the event or donate prizes. In return, sponsors can be recognized in event materials, signage, and internal communications.
Plan the Course and Testing Materials
Obstacle Course Ideas (like the ATA TDC):
Design your obstacle course to challenge drivers in real-world maneuvers they encounter daily. Use cones, barrels, or foam bumpers to keep it safe but challenging.
Once you finalize the course and testing materials, build a detailed schedule for event day. Assign team members to key roles: registration, scorekeeping, judging, traffic control, medical support, and hospitality.
Include time for registration, practice runs, official testing, lunch breaks, and the awards ceremony. If your event spans several days or locations, be sure to standardize procedures across each site.
Written Test Topics:
Develop a written test of 20–30 questions covering DOT regulations, company policies, and basic safety procedures. Include a mix of multiple-choice and true/false questions.
Here is a 2019 state TDC exam with answers based off the annual ATA Facts for Drivers book. You can purchase the 2025 ATA Facts for Drivers book here.
Sample Questions:
Incorporate the ATA Facts for Drivers handbook knowledge into your regular safety meetings, keeping drivers engaged year-round.
Prioritize Safety
Make safety your top priority throughout the event. Require participants and staff to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety vests, gloves, and closed-toe shoes. Conduct a safety briefing at the start of the event, and post safety signs throughout the course.
Provide Training
Give drivers an opportunity to brush up on their skills before the event. Offer a pre-event workshop or share resources such as online training modules, safety manuals, and video tutorials. This ensures all participants are well-prepared and helps reduce anxiety around the competition.
Enforce Fair Judging
Select judges who are knowledgeable and unbiased, such as safety managers, driver trainers, or external evaluators. Train them on the scoring rubric to ensure consistency. Provide scorecards or digital scoring tools that make it easy to track points and penalties accurately.
Recognize Winners
Host a celebratory awards ceremony at the end of the event. Present trophies, medals, or plaques to top performers in each category. Consider recognizing honorable mentions for categories like “Best Pre-Trip” or “Most Improved.”
Include leadership in the ceremony to highlight the importance of the event to the company.
Publicize the Event
Capture the event with photos, drone footage, and participant interviews. Share content across your social media platforms, internal newsletters, and company website. Consider writing a post-event blog recap or pitching the story to local media for positive public relations.
Make it Ongoing
Don’t let the momentum stop after the event. Recognize winners in monthly driver meetings, newsletters, and on company dashboards. Use insights gained from the competition to improve driver training programs.
Consider making the championship an annual tradition or expanding it to include quarterly challenges for continued engagement.
The goal is to improve fleet safety AND prepare top drivers for state Truck Driver Championships.
State Truck Driving Championships are happening now through June as we gather the best of the best drivers for 2025 National Truck Driving Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota August 20-23.
The 38th PA Truck Driving Championships is being held June 13-14th at Kalahari Resort in the Poconocs sponsored by PMTA and live-streamed thanks to the media sponsors Compliance Navigation Specialists.
Register now – deadline is May 16. If you have any questions, contact Anthony Cloud at acloud@pmta.org or call 717-229-6756.
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