Phoenix Driver Sales Representative, Ina Daly, Breaks the Gender Barrier, Becomes First Female Ever to Win a Competition Class
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – August 28, 2013 – Con-way Freight, a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE:CNW), announced today that Ina Daly, a driver sales representative from the company’s Phoenix service center, was named the 2013 Bendix National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC) Tank Truck Champion.
Daly stands alone as the first and only female professional driver to capture first place in a division at the trucking industry’s premier safety and skills competition, often referred to as the “Super Bowl of Safety.” She deftly maneuvered her truck to victory, outscoring nearly 50 other drivers from Maine to Hawaii who competed in her class at the event in Salt Lake City.
Daly has been a professional truck driver for 32 years, during which she has driven over 2.5 million accident-free miles and competed in the Arizona Truck Driving Championships 18 times. She has represented Arizona at the National Truck Driving Championships 10 times. Daly also has served as an America’s Road Team captain since 2001, participating in the premier public outreach program led by a small group of professional truck drivers who share superior driving skills, remarkable safety records and a strong desire to spread the word about safety on the highway and sharing the road with trucks.
“Ina accomplished what no woman has in three-quarters of a century,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, president of Con-way Freight. “Not only that, but she also joins an elite group of Con-way drivers who also took home awards from the national competition. Her commitment to safety and professional excellence serves as the gold standard for which every driver across the country can aspire to.”
Daly’s driving prowess is matched by her thorough knowledge of her profession. She was only one of five competitors, across all divisions, who earned a perfect score on the written exam portion of the championship competition. She also accomplished the same feat at the 2010 NTDC. As 2013 Tank Truck Class Champion, Ina will be awarded a new Ford vehicle (or the cash equivalent) from Con-way
Freight.
At NTDC, Daly was joined by five other Con-way Freight driver sales representatives who finished in the top three of their respective divisions. Those exemplary drivers include:
- Judd Adams of Taylorville, Utah, who, while competing in front of his home state crowd, finished second in the Straight Truck class and scored a 100 percent on his category’s written exam
- Alfonso Saaverdra out of Watsonville, Calif., who garnered second place honors in the Twins class
- Barry Kraemer of New Holstein, Wis., who joined Saaverdra in the top three in the Twins class, capturing third place
- Bismarck, N.D.’s Jason Harrington, who won third place in the 3-Axle class
- Jeremy Steger, of Fond Du Lac, Wis., who rounded out the top three in the 4-Axle class
In their respective classes, drivers tested their expertise in the driving skills they use daily. The competition course challenged their knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. The skills course tested drivers’ ability to judge distances, maneuver in tight spaces, reverse, park and position their vehicle exactly over scales, before barriers or around curves.
In this year’s competition, Con-way Freight fielded a total of 66 U.S. state champions from 29 states. To qualify for U.S. state and national competitions, drivers must have maintained an accident-free driving record for the previous year. At the national competition, drivers face testing in three areas: a timed written exam, a pre-trip inspection test and a driving skills test. Each driver competes in one of nine equipment classes: 3-Axle, 4-Axle, 5-Axle, 5-Axle Flatbed, 5-Axle Sleeper, Step Van, Straight Truck, Tank Truck and Twins.
The NTDC brings together hundreds of the nation’s most skilled and accomplished commercial truck drivers each year. Since the first championships in 1937, four Con-way Freight drivers have earned the title of Grand Champion and 20 have been named National Champion in their equipment class.
Follow Con-way Freight on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Conway_Freight.
Con-way equipment images are available at www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom.
About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry’s leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of 425 operating locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTLTM delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container load (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed® service; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirectSM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP-, ACE- and CSA-certified.
Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE:CNW), a $5.6 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.
