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Robert French, seated in truck, and Pete Nuckols are heading to Houston in August for the National Truck Driving Championships – as long as they remain accident-free. Photo by Jean Farley

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On the podium again

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

You won’t find Robert French behind the wheel of a tanker out on the road.
And you’ve witnessed a rare sight if you catch Pete Nuckols driving a straight truck down the highway.
Nevertheless, the pair of Wytheville-based Con-way Freight drivers can claim some skills in operating their respective vehicles.
State champion skills.
During the 57th annual Virginia Truck Driving Championships held June 13 and 14 in Lexington, both French and Nuckols won first place in their vehicle categories for their driving talents and overall trucking expertise.
The competition encompasses eight truck categories. Along with French and Nuckols, two Con-way drivers from other Virginia terminals won divisions to give the company 50 percent of the statewide victors and the event’s Team Trophy.
French also was named the 2008 State Grand Champion as his score was the highest out of 99 drivers across the eight divisions. For his overall title, French received a $200 savings bond.
One other driver from the area, Harry Gillespie of Bland, placed at the state competition. The Roadway Express driver out of the Wytheville terminal placed second in the 3-Axle class.
With their state championships in hand, French and Nuckols will be heading to Houston for the National Truck Driving Championships in August.
French, who lives in the Nobusiness section of Bland County, and Nuckols, a Wytheville resident, are some of the most versatile truckers around and no strangers to success.
Back in 2006, French won the state title in the Twin division (a tractor pulling two trailers) and went on to claim the national title in New Orleans.
His 2008 victory is his sixth state title.
Nuckols made it to nationals two previous times, in 2002 and 2006, both in the Straight Truck (think a U-Haul- or Penske-style vehicle) division.
The Cripple Creek native placed 20th in 2002 for his best national finish.
The Con-way drivers chose their categories for this year’s state event after competing in an intra-company competition.
“The closest thing I drive to a straight truck is the church bus at St. Paul [United Methodist Church in Wytheville],” Nuckols said. “It’s not something that I’m really used to.”
Nuckols said the Straight Truck division isn’t the most popular class among the other drivers, but he has come to embrace the category despite not getting practice in the vehicle on his daily route to Radford.
“We all have our specialties,” Nuckols said. “A lot of guys would rather drive something they drive every day.”
French said he’s competed in many of the other eight categories, so it fell to him to this year to take on the Tanker division in spite of his lack of experience with the truck.
Although neither of the two drivers were completely in their element, their general trucking experience more than made up for any category-specific shortcomings.
The 2008 state competition was French’s 14th trip to the Virginia event and the 13th appearance for Nuckols.
In overall professional driving experience and time with Con-way, Nuckols edges out French by one year as Nuckols has driven for 31 years and since 1989 with Con-way compared to French’s 30 years and 1990 Con-way start date.
The two drivers also put in plenty of practice time to get ready for the competitions.
Not that either of the drivers consider it to be a burden, though.
French said he plans to keep competing until he retires – a milestone he said he may already have reached if the opportunity to compete didn’t come with the job.
“Pretty much one of the reasons I still work is to compete,” the 62-year-old said.
Although the Wytheville terminal doesn’t provide enough space to fine-tune all their driving maneuvers, French and Nuckols meet in Dublin to car pool to Roanoke each weekend in the weeks leading up to a competition.
In Roanoke they join up with some other area truckers to practice at a larger Con-way facility.
The competitors also have to hit the books as a written test on trucking knowledge and a test where safety defects have to be identified on a truck also are incorporated into their state score. A personal interview provides a fourth component to the national event.
French credited his wife, Mary Ann, for helping quiz him on various questions that might come up in a competition.
“My wife helps me a lot,” he said.
Nuckols, who is married to Betty Nuckols, said he’s most confident when taking the written test, as he reasons that you can have a bad day on the road course, but with the exam questions you either have the knowledge or you don’t.
While the thrill of victory is the ultimate reward, both French and Nuckols said they enjoy the relationships they have made through competing for so many years.
“It’s kind of like a family reunion,” Nuckols said about seeing familiar faces at the state competition each summer.
French said he’s excited to be going to nationals with Nuckols and the other two Virginia Con-way drivers.
“You meet a lot of good people,” he said.
Come competition time, though, socializing gets pushed to the backburner.
Con-way drivers have an extra incentive to do well at nationals as the company purchases a new pickup truck for any of its employees who win a national division.
As a reward for his 2006 victory, French received a new red 2006 Ford F-250.
“I’d like to have one of those brand new pickup trucks,” Nuckols said. “I’m still trying.”
And although fuel costs have made driving his diesel F-250 somewhat cost prohibitive, French said he wouldn’t say no to another free vehicle himself.
“My boss says I can give it to him,” French joked.
Winning won’t be easy, however.
French said most states send a representative so each category usually has at least 40 competitors.
But French is proof that victory isn’t always elusive.
“It’s realistic, sure,” French said about claiming another national title. “You just have to work real hard…you have to believe you can win to win.”
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .