Food distributor drivers compete in annual championship

From left to right rear: Gary Noyes, Adam Caughey, Glenn Anderson, Matt Baker, and Larry Wilson. From left to right front: Danny Duke, Anthony Garcia, Joaquin Cuadras, and Andrew Spindler.From left to right rear: Gary Noyes, Adam Caughey, Glenn Anderson, Matt Baker, and Larry Wilson. From left to right front: Danny Duke, Anthony Garcia, Joaquin Cuadras, and Andrew Spindler.

Food-haulers gathered in Orlando, Florida Sept. 16 to test their trucking skills against one another in the 2017 International Foodservice Distributors Association Truck Driving Championship.

Drivers competed in three categories at the Epcot Center parking lot: written exam, pre-trip inspection and a field course.

Anthony Garcia was one of the 135 drivers competing, and he went home with the Rookie of the Year award. He had the highest score out of all the first-time competitors. Garcia isn’t a rookie on the road, however. He has driven for Shamrock Foods Company for the last 17 years. He was the only driver in the competition to score on every obstacle in the field course.

The winners were:

Straight Truck

First: Anthony Garcia, Shamrock Food Company, Phoenix, Arizona

Second: Glenn Anderson, Eby-Brown Company, Montgomery, Illinois

Third: Matt Baker, Team Sledd, Wheeling, West Virginia

3-Axle

First: Gary Noyes, Shamrock Foods Company, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Second: Danny Duke, Shamrock Foods Company, Commerce City, Colorado

Third: Larry Wilson, Delhaize America Transportation, Lexington, North Carolina

5-Axle

First: Adam Caughey, Reinhart Foodservice in Marhsall, Minnesota

Second: Joaquin Cuadras, McLane Foodservice Distribution, Riverside, California

Third: Larry Wilson, Delhaize America Transportation, Lexington, North Carolina

Team Award: Shamrock Foods Company

Rookie of the Year: Anthony Garcia, Shamrock Foods Company, Phoenix, Arizona