‘The Olympics of truck driving’

Rich Palzewic

Staff

April 21, 2025

APPLETON – According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 3.5 million truck drivers in the country, with about 56,000 of them calling Wisconsin home.

To showcase the Badger State’s truck drivers, Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) is again hosting the Wisconsin Truck Driving Championships May 17.

The competition, Kim Conradt – director of safety programs with the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association (WMCA) – said, will kick off at 7 a.m. and run until mid-afternoon.

“During this time, skilled truck drivers from all over the state will compete for the prestigious title of Grand Champion,” she said. “This event is like the Olympics of truck driving. The general public is also welcome to attend this free event.”

In addition to the truck driving competition, Conradt said there will be various activities for all ages, including:

• A concession stand with a wide selection of food
• Free gelato
• A Kids Zone with bounce houses and obstacle courses
• A fire truck for kids to explore

“After the competition, there will be a reception and dinner at the Hilton Paper Valley Hotel attendees are welcome to register for,” she said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to mingle with participants and celebrate the day’s events.”

Conradt said about 100 drivers are expected to compete.

“The Wisconsin Truck Driving Championships have been going on since 1937,” she said. “We couldn’t do this competition without the partnership we have with FVTC.”

Conradt said other states have to pay site hosts “perhaps thousands of dollars” to use a facility, but FVTC doesn’t charge the WMCA a facility fee.

“I’ve been in this position since 2018, and we’ve been having it at FVTC since,” she said. “The partnership with FVTC has been so fantastic because we have the grills, we have the facility and they let us use it for free. Because we’re not-for-profit, we don’t have that kind of money just rolling around, so it works perfectly for us. We appreciate their support.”

Conradt said volunteers are also needed for the event.

“Volunteers are a huge part of making this event a success,” she said.

Wisconsin truckers know how to drive

Conradt said, in her opinion, Wisconsin truck drivers are some of the best in the country.

“We are well known in the country for our quality drivers,” she said. “Obviously, we have some big trucking companies in the state, and our focus is on safety. We have a great relationship with the State Patrol, the FMCSA (The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), trucking companies, etc. We all work together and are trying to do the same thing – have zero fatalities in Wisconsin.”

Conradt said not all states have the same safety standards as Wisconsin.

“There are other states nearby that don’t adhere to a lot of the safety stuff we do here,” she said. “Our trucking companies (in Wisconsin) really stress safety. We just want to make sure everybody is safe out there.”

More on the competition

Conradt said drivers have to follow several rules during the competition.

Drivers, she said, can’t measure anything or get into the equipment ahead of time.

“All the drivers drive the same truck,” she said. “We have companies that donate equipment because every driver should be able to just get into any truck and be able to drive it. When you’re driving in your car, it feels one way, but if you get in a rental car, it feels a different way, right? We want to make sure everyone uses the same equipment so there is no unfair advantage.”

Conradt said drivers that compete must also have clean driving records.

“Drivers can’t have any accidents and they have to have a clean record,” she said. 

During the competition, Conradt said drivers complete three tests.

“They have a written test and a pre-trip test to start,” she said. “Before they get in their truck, and before they take off, they have to walk around their truck and make sure the lights are working, make sure their truck is mechanically sound, etc.”

To make things difficult and to test drivers’ skills, Conradt said defects are created.

“The drivers have to walk around and identify the defects,” she said. “Maybe the seat belt isn’t working or something else you might find on your pre-trip check. It’s timed, so you have to finish everything in a timely fashion.”

Lastly, Conradt said there is a driving test.

“It’s on a course at FVTC with about six problems,” she said. “Maybe it’s blindside backing, a railroad crossing or roadkill to avoid – just different types of problems they have to navigate. Sometimes, we’ll line up tennis balls just wide enough to get your tires through and they have to drive through and not hit a ball. It’s a very skilled competition. Other states use (decoy) ducks for their obstacles, but Wisconsin uses cheeseheads.”

Conradt said each state has a truck driving championship with nine classes represented.

“The person who wins in Wisconsin goes on to nationals,” she said.

This year’s nationals, Conradt said, will be held in Minneapolis in August.

“The national championships move around,” she said. “I’m working on having nationals here in Wisconsin, but not until 2029. It would be big and bring like 4,000 people to the state. All the drivers who won their respective states would be invited to the national competition.”

In 2015, Conradt said Wisconsin won the team competition at nationals.

For more information, visit witruck.org. 

More on the WMCA

Conradt said the WMCA is a nonprofit trade association “representing the interests of truck and transportation owners” in the State of Wisconsin.

“We have more than 1,300 members – from independent contractors to one-truck companies to companies with thousands of trucks,” she said.

Conradt said the WMCA is also associated with the American Trucking Association.

“All 50 states have an association, and they are all part of the American Trucking Association,” she said. “We work on stuff like lobbying to keep heavy vehicle use tax off and tolling in Wisconsin.”

Conradt said if trucking companies had to pay tolls, it would add “lots of money to the cost of goods.”

“There’s a trucking company in Kenosha that provides all the meat for Wendy’s,” she said. “They’re going across the state and into Chicago all the time. If they added tolling in Wisconsin, it would probably add $25,000 a quarter to their cost. We’re really trying to keep costs down so we can keep food costs down.”

With her role as director of safety programs, Conradt said she travels around the state conducting seminars.

“We have a lot of safety programs, so I run seminars for different things, like if you’re going to get audited, or what you need to have for paperwork, etc.,” she said. “There are so many regulations in the trucking industry, so these seminars teach people what they need to do to have their company be safe.”

Conradt also said the WMCA honors good truck drivers in the state.

“We honor the drivers who have no accidents, no incidents, no tickets, etc.,” she said. “We have some drivers who have been honored for 28 years, and they had to be safe for three years before they got it the first year. So, for 31 years, they’ve never had an accident, an incident, a speeding ticket, a seat belt violation, nothing.”

For more on the WMCA, head to witruck.org.