Home Hardware’s Shawn Matheson was named Grand champion at the 2016 Ontario Truck Driving Championships (OTDC), narrowly edging out fellow Home Hardware driver Tom Griffiths.
Matheson, who won the tandem-tandem category, has in the past competed in the provincials 10 times and has advanced to the nationals five.
“It’s always special,” he told Truck News.
A full field of 46 drivers competed in this year’s provincial competition. Each had to earn their way in by placing among the top drivers at regional competitions.
Other category winners included: Stewart Jutzi, Erb Transport, straight truck; Clary Ward, XPO Logistics, single-single (by a one-point margin over runner-up, rookie Martin Jacobs of YRC); Bryon Winfield, Home Hardware, single-tandem; and Dan Congdon, YRC Reimer, B-train.
For the first time ever, five drivers tied with perfect scores in the pre-trip inspection section of the competition. They included: Rory Holland (Waste Management); Satnam Singh Saini (FedEx Freight); Clary Ward (XPO Logistics); Martin Jacobs (YRC Reimer); and Tom Griffiths (Home Hardware). Griffiths won the MTO Safety Award, for achieving the highest combined score in the pre-trip inspection and written test categories.
Read full report here.
