BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Ben Atkinson of Lawtey placed second in a driving-skills event and received recognition as a Driver of the Month at Florida Trucking Association’s Florida Truck Driving Championships, which were held June 13-14 at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
The event consisted of more than 370 drivers who not only competed in a driving-skills course, but were also awarded points on a written regulatory exam and a pre-trip inspection.
Atkinson, who has been driving for ABF Freight Systems Inc. for 21 years, earned a second-place award on the skills course in the Twins class. He placed third in Twins in 2024.
The driving competition consisted of 11 classes.
This was Atkinson’s 20th year participating in the Florida Truck Driving Championships. Some of his past highlights include he and fellow ABF Freight drivers winning team trophies in 2005 and 2023.
Drivers of the Month for 2024 were recognized at the event’s awards banquet. Atkins earned the honor for July.
The Florida Truck Driving Championships consisted of drivers who had a combined 535-plus million miles of safe, accident-free driving. According to Florida Truck Association’s website, that would be comparable to one person not having any violations or accidents in 940 years of non-stop driving at 65 mph.
Safety is a big reason why Atkinson served as an America’s Road Team Captain this past year. Upon his selection, he had accumulated 3 million accident-free miles and had received the ABF Freight Silver and Bronze awards for 30,000 and 15,000 consecutive hours of accident-free driving. Atkinson has also received ABF Freight’s 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-Year Safety Performance Driving awards.
America’s Road Team members serve as ambassadors, speaking about the trucking industry as well as on safety. They travel throughout the country in the American Trucking Associations’ Interstate One Image Truck (Volvo VNL 760), which tows a trailer that bears an image of the U.S. flag and contains a truck-driving simulator and mobile classroom.
Atkinson, who was one of 24 America’s Road Team Captains for 2024-25, has been a driver for 37 years.
