Roadeo

A roadeo is a competitive driving event for motor vehicle drivers. Named as a portmanteau of "road" and "rodeo", these competitions have been held for a range of different vehicles since at least 1937. Typically, drivers compete to pass through a variety of obstacles in the smallest amount of time, although the competitions may include other components, such as a written test.

Etymology

The term "roadeo" is a

The first roadeos were mainly events for truck drivers. For example, the National Truck Roadeo (now the National Truck Driving Championships, also known as the National Truck Driving Championships Roadeo^[5]) was founded in 1937 by the American Trucking Associations for the purpose of publicly displaying the "incredible degree of safety, courtesy, and driving judgement [that drivers] had achieved".^[6]

Since the earliest roadeos, roadeo competitions have been started for a wide variety of commercially operated vehicles. In addition to transit and school buses, competitions are available for

Some roadeos go beyond merely testing driving skills. Most roadeos have a written component, usually a test drivers have to take before they compete in the driving events. Maintenance competitions are part of many roadeos, especially those involving transit buses; for instance, the International Bus Roadeo includes a bus maintenance challenge in which bus maintenance teams have to diagnose and repair bus mechanical issues.[4] Adding to the challenge, mechanical issues sometimes need to be diagnosed under a strict time limit.^[9] It also has added a "Customer Service Challenge", which "allows bus operators to test their customer service skills in some distinctive customer interface scenarios".^[11]

Safety

Since the first roadeos, one goal shared by nearly every roadeo is safety. Many roadeos require drivers to have an excellent safety record in order to be able to participate in them. Some, like the International Bus Roadeo and the National Truck Driving Championships, require drivers to have been completely accident-free for a year before the competition, counting accidents that were not the driver's fault.^[6]

In management

Roadeos have been praised as a safety training exercise.^[12] Benefits of roadeos include encouraging safety and productivity in the truck driving workforce, as well as improving morale. As it was implemented in one region, bus employees "completed a written examination, an oral interview, a pre-trip inspection, and demonstrated their driving skills through a prescribed course".^[13]

Notable roadeos

In the United States, there are a number of national-level roadeos for which drivers qualify by doing well in regional roadeos. These national roadeos usually serve one or a few types of vehicles; for example, the International Bus Roadeo only allows transit bus drivers to compete.^[4]

International Bus Roadeo

The International Bus Roadeo is hosted by the American Public Transportation Association and includes bus driving and bus maintenance competitions.^[4]

National Truck Driving Championships

Described as a "glorified trucking championship"^[14] and as an "annual Super Bowl of knowledge, truck driving skills, and safety habits",^[5] the National Truck Driving Championships is the final level of the American Trucking Associations-sponsored roadeos, above the state-level Truck Driving Championships.^[3] The championships have a number of similarities to the International Bus Roadeo regarding how it operates, including the requirements for drivers (i.e. one accident-free year) and the pre-trip inspection test.^[3]

References