The search for Trucking’s Top Rookie is under way. Presented by Truckers News, the goal of the contest is to identify and recognize the best professional truck driver who has been on the job for less than a year.
Nominations for this, the seventh annual award, may be made online at www.truckersnews.com/toprookie/
Julie Matulle was Trucking’s Top Rookie for 2014.The 10 finalists will be named July 28, and 2017’s top rookie will be announced Aug. 25 at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas.
Partnering with Truckers News in the search are the three national organizations overseeing truck driver training:
- Commercial Vehicle Training Association
- National Association Of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools
- Professional Truck Driver Institute
Shawna Froehlich was a finalist last year.“Identifying and recognizing the best new professional truck drivers with this award is one way to help focus attention on the American trucking industry’s continuing efforts to attract, train and retain top talent for a vitally important job,” said David Hollis, editor of Truckers News. “The Trucking’s Top Rookie Award helps underscore truck driving as an important career option for men and women joining the workforce or for veteran employees looking to make a career change.”
The winner receives:
- $10,000 cash
- Expenses paid trip to the awards presentation in Dallas
- A custom plaque from Award Company of America
- Interview on Red Eye Radio Network with Eric Harley
- $1,000 worth of DAS Products merchandise featuring the RoadPro Getting Started Living On-The-Go Package
- American Trucking Associations “Good Stuff Trucks Bring It” package, which includes a logoed polo shirt, baseball cap, model truck and utility knife
- An IntelliRoute TNDTM 730 LM GPS Unit and a Deluxe Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas from Rand McNally
- A dash cam and CB radio from Cobra
- Feature story in Truckers News
The other nine finalists receive:
- $1,000 cash
- A custom plaque from Award Company of America
- $100 worth of DAS Products merchandise, featuring the Road Pro MobileSpec Portable Life Package
- American Trucking Associations‘ “Good Stuff Trucks Bring It” package, which includes a logoed polo shirt, baseball cap, model truck and utility knife
- An IntelliRoute TNDTM 730 LM GPS Unit
- CB radio from Cobra
Sponsors include:
- The RoadPro Family of Brands
- Rand McNally
- Cobra Electronics
- Progressive
- RedEye Radio
- ATA
Recognizing the top rookie driver was the idea of the late Mike O’Connell, who was formerly the executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association. He believed that honoring a top rookie driver helps show new drivers they are appreciated the trucking industry.
