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Editor’s Note: This is part one of a three-part exploration of the Lewis family’s relationship to the National Truck Driving Championships.

The National Truck Driving Championships are an exciting and electrifying test that tests your fundamentals, understanding, and professionalism. It has also become a multigenerational affair, with patriarchs often passing on to their kids a sense of pride in every aspect of the industry.

Andrew Lewis, 22, joined the elite drivers on May 18 when the Maine Motor Transport Association held its annual precision driving championships. Lewis competed in the Pine Tree State contest for the first time. His result was impressive, especially considering his rookie status. Lewis, representing Chapman Trucking and his family, placed second in flatbed.

Lewis grew up around the industry. He admitted that his first word was probably “truck” and his entire world revolved around trucking. He had even volunteered at tournaments before he competed this year. Andrew credits his father Nate for instilling a passion for the industry.

Nate Lewis, an executive in transportation at Tyson Foods is a member of National Truck Driving Championships organizing committee. The committee is preparing for the 87th Annual Showing of what is known as the “Super Bowl of Safety.”

Nate Lewis, Andrew’s grandfather, was a multiple-year winner in state tournaments throughout New England and competed at the nationals on several occasions before joining the organizing committee. Andrew’s grandfather Warren Lewis, his father, won a national title for the sleeper berth category in 2007. Warren Lewis’ father also named Warren competed in 1950s.

For the Lewis family trucking is a way of life and a tradition.

“I remember that when I was born the first word I said was ‘truck’, according to my father, ” he recalled in a recent interview for Transport Topics, which explored the family’s role in NTDC’s history. “I’ve been in a stroller to a TDC, you know, and I’ve seen trucks. My father wallpapered my bedroom with truck posters to make me like trucks the same way he did. “Seeing trucks from the moment I was born, it became a part me.

It will not surprise you to learn that Andrew Lewis is a trucking genius. He said that his father taught him to be passionate about the role of the trucking industry in the economy and communities.

“Watching my dad, you know, every father’s father is a superhero,” he explained. “And watching my father be very good at what he does, and talking about going across the nation in his truck and carrying these awesome loads… stuff like that made me really want to be that because he seemed so awesome for doing it.”

Every spring, thousands truckers compete in precision-driving competitions in their home states. In Maine, competitors who are aiming to qualify for the National Tournament promote a safety culture embodied by Lewis family members and others. Andrew described his experience at the state competition, which took place in May. He called it thrilling, inspiring, and consequential.

“It was different because I’ve been going for 18 years to [the truck driving championship]. Since I was born, I’ve missed only two events. It’s always been a part my life.

“I’ve always been involved, even when I was too young to volunteer to help set up the event and do other things. It was different, because I was essentially on the other side. I’ve been someone who helped the competitors and now I am a competitor.”

Andrew finds the trucking competitions a place of camaraderie and tradition. These roadeos became a family passion project.

“It became a part of me.” He explained that he listened to their stories of what trucking used to be like and what it meant for them, and all they did. “And diesel engines, and all that stuff.” Listening to the stories shaped me into who I am today and made one of my greatest passions.

Andrew, who has been in the trucking industry for almost two decades – nearly his entire life – described his deep awareness of an industry that has shaped his journey. Andrew’s safety approach is based on his keen awareness of the contributions made by his family to NTDC. Andrew is proud to celebrate his family’s role in the trucking industry.

Andrew says he will continue the family tradition as he prepares to start his own family. There’s something special about trucking for the Lewis family.

“Everything I have ever done in my lifetime has involved the industry. I don’t feel resentful about it. Some people feel forced to join something, or that they have to do something because it’s their family’s thing. But I want to branch off. “That is who I am.”

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