It may not be a gold medal, but two Tucsonans are getting national recognition for their role in keeping us all safe on the road.
Con-way Freight drivers Edward Romero and Jose Orozco are headed to the National Truck Driving Championship this week in Minneapolis. The event is called the "Super Bowl of Safety" by the trucking industry.
They qualified by driving accident-free and winning first place at the Arizona Truck Driving Championships in April.
"These guys are pretty serious about safety," said Bill Rzepecki, service center manager at Con-way's Tucson office, which is filled with trophies and plaques won by local drivers at safety contests. "It's serious business for us."
Orozco said competitions have helped him become a safer driver.
And the contest prizes are great incentives. When Romero won nationals in 2004, the company bought him a new Ford pickup truck.
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Maybe the best honor for these guys is a respectful nod from the rest of us drivers.
"Trucks move the economy," Orozco said. "Everything you use at home, everything you wear, everything you eat, the utilities and energy - everything is moved by a truck."
MEET THE TRUCKERS
Jose Orozco, 47
Driving trucks 25 years, eighth trip to nationals
• My CB handle ... "Peinado (Spanish for hairdo). My dad used to be called Peinado because he always had long hair, a perm and a cowboy hat. When I started trucking on the road, they started calling me Peinado Junior."
• When I was 16 ... "I was a real good driver. My dad taught me how to drive. It's a family thing. Uncles, brothers, cousins, we're all in the trucking business."
• The most scenic road ... "Going across the 101 from L.A. to Northern California, or the Pacific Coast going alongside the ocean."
• My road music ... The Groove on XM Radio
• The best part of my job ... "You get to meet different people, travel different places, and whenever possible try to educate some of the motorist public about the trucking industry."
Edward Romero, 45
Driving trucks 27 years, fourth trip to nationals
• My CB handle ... "Road Block. We used to run line from Tucson to Las Vegas, and I had one of the slowest trucks at the time."
• When I was 16 ... "I was a real good driver. I actually spent my 16th year driving my dad back and forth to the doctors, so I was kind of like a little chauffeur."
• The most scenic road ... "Early mornings crossing the Hoover Dam going to Vegas."
• My road music ... '70s music
• The best part of my job ... "Meeting all of our customers."
Road Q
Mike Carroll wonders why plans don't call for dual right-turn lanes at the new Grant-Oracle intersection. "Won't this create a bottleneck?" he wrote. "The one right-turn lane won't be able to handle both the traffic that already goes west on Grant and the new eastbound traffic making a U-turn."
A: "The 2030 traffic projections for the Grant-Oracle intersection indicate a right-turning volume that falls below the threshold to warrant dual right-turn lanes," city spokesman Michael Graham said in an email. "Further, the traffic models prepared by the design consultant have verified that only one right-turn lane will be needed to adequately address the right-turning traffic."
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 573-4346. Send your Road Q questions by email to roadrunner@azstarnet.com or to 4850 S. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85714. Please include first and last names.
