Fellow Teamster and Albuquerque New Mexico ABF Line Driver, Ralph Garcia won first place in the four-axle competition at the 2013 National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC), which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah in late August. 

Mr. Garcia also received the Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award which recognizes a driver judged to best exemplify the characteristics of a professional truck driver, based on their driving record, skill, knowledge, attitude toward safety, and personality as evidenced by their work history and performance in various NTDC skills tests and overall professionalism. Contestants for the award must have competed at seven or more National Truck Driving Championships.

Ralph has done very well in State competitions winning 1^st place 16 times and has been competing since 1982.  On the National level, he placed 3^rd in 2003 and 2^nd in 2009 before reaching the top spot this year. This is the first time ever that New Mexico has had a National Champion in the NTDC.

Ralph Garcia also received the White House “Champion of Change” title in 2011. This is a Medal of Excellence from the Lincoln Highway Society.  

Ralph is a Captain on America's Road Team and is a member of the ABF Road Team as well for whom he has worked 35 years for and driven over 3.5 million accident-free miles.

"This is a huge honor for ABF…" said ABF President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Slagle."Just earning the right to compete at this event is an incredible achievement and our team performed extremely well.  We are very proud of Ralph… and the entire ABF team of drivers who earned the right to compete by winning state championships and maintaining accident-free driving records."

To view the ATA’s article, Click Here