RED DEER, Alta. – The summertime in Western Canada brings with it a tradition as old as the land is settled.

Countless communities across the Prairie play host to a rodeo event during the summer season and the trucking community is no different. Replacing horses with horsepower, Alberta’s finest professional truck drivers put their skills to the test on June 23 in Red Deer, Alta. when the Alberta Motor Transport Association hosted its annual Truck Roadeo.

The competition is an exercise in timed precision driving and is open to all professional truck drivers who have been accident-free for one year. The day-long driving challenge allows drivers to showcase their skills by negotiating a track of obstacles simulating everyday driving conditions, performing a pre-trip inspection and completing a written test of general knowledge.

The first place finishers of the six-category event also earn the chance to represent Alberta during the National Professional Driving Championships, which will be held in Regina from Sept. 13-15. Each of the western provinces held similar events during June to establish their respective provincial teams for the national championships.

In Manitoba, the Manitoba Trucking Association combined the provincial driving championships on June 9 with the association’s annual Drivers Awards Dinner.

The annual Drivers Awards Dinner honours the achievements of Manitoba’s professional truck drivers. The province’s most prestigious trucker awards presented during the event are the Manitoba Driver of the Year and the J. O. Dutton Memorial Award.

The Manitoba Driver of the Year award was presented to Craig Cudmore of Winnipeg. Among the many traits that determined Cudmore’s selection for this award were his 32 years of accident-free driving, his constant attention to safety, his outstanding customer service and his contribution to the industry through driver training.

Brian Hrabarchuk of Winnipeg received the J.O. Dutton Memorial Cup for outstanding performance at the National Professional Truck Driving Championships in September 2006.