Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff
Irving Materials Inc. driver Trent Slavens took the 2012 National Mixer Driver Championship, adding a fourth trophy to a collection earned from his placing first in the 2010 event and third in 2009 and 2011. Slavens has delivered ready mixed for 23 years, the past 13 with Greenfield, Ind.-based IMI.
Joining him at the top of this year’s competition were second-place finisher Christopher Harrison, who has delivered ready mixed for 10-plus years, the past three with Mobley Construction Co. in Morrilton, Ark.; and third-place finisher John Tesi, who has spent 18 of his 20 years with Flushing, N.Y.-based Ferrara Bros. Building Materials, as a driver.
NRMCA affiliate, the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau, awarded Slavens, Harrison and Tesi $2,500, $1,000 and $500 cash prizes, respectively. The three led a field of 28 delivery professionals at the sixth annual National Mixer Driver Championship, staged September 16-17 in National Harbor, Md., during the NRMCA ConcreteWorks Conference. Administered by the association’s Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee, the competition combines scores from a written exam, vehicle inspection and a nine-station challenge course, where drivers can choose rear or front discharge mixers to prove their skills in negotiating tight turns, pinpoint stopping and precise wheel placement with narrow parameters. Championship participants are mostly winners of state ready mixed concrete group driver competitions or similar events NRMCA members stage in-house.