National Professional Truck Driving Championships canceled for 2017

by Truck West

WINNIPEG, Man. – This year’s National Professional Truck Driving Championships that were slated to occur Sept. 15-16 in Winnipeg have been canceled.

Provincial trucking associations have also been putting a halt to the event for 2017, with the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) today (May 15) announcing the cancelation of its Provincial Truck Driving Championships.

The STA said that after months of promotion in Regina and Saskatoon, support in both registration and sponsorship “did not reflect an industry with a desire to see the event continue.”

“The provincial driving championships were a fantastic event that many people were very passionate about over the years,” said STA executive director Susan Ewart. “It was a great promotion for the trucking industry and a place for people to come together and celebrate the importance of trucking. The demographics have changed and the reality is that there is no longer sufficient demand for this event, so it will be officially retired.”

The British Columbia Trucking Association has also decided to cancel its event for 2017, making the announcement earlier this year, adding that it would gauge the level of support for the event for 2018.


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  • What demographics are that?

    The one where we are all in this relentless go-go-go and taking a day(which if you are OTR is more like three days to make sure you get in on time)to drive around some obstacles just doesn’t seem feasible?

    It’s a scramble out here as it is. Perhaps it could be more enticing if a meditation retreat was provided.

  • Surprise Surprise there is not enough interest in these events any more. No surprise there. Its the same with Truck Shows, Show & Shines, Parades, Charity Fundraisers etc

    Looks like the industry & the gov’t got their way. For the past 25 years they’ve been pushing the “professional drivers”, ( the ones who loved the industry & took pride in their work and equipment) out. The industry doesn’t care a whit about driving championships or any other form of pride or camaraderie among the workforce.

    The industry, bean counters & politicians have pushed cheap wages, bland & ugly equipment, and ungodly amounts of regulation and interference on the backs of the drivers & operators along with criminal type treatment, so the good ones have left in droves.

    Do you really want society to believe the $16 / hr & .45 cpm driver can be considered a “Professional Champion” ? Seriously? The drivers that are left in the industry are working themselves to death for poverty wages with no future, and they sure as hell don’y have time or the money to take a day off work to make associations look good in the eyes of the media.

    The associations, industry “thinkers”, and politicians can all ride the road to hell they’ve created. The drivers demise will ultimately be your demise.