2004 COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SWANA
TRASH TRUCK ROAD-E-O RESULTS
by Mark McMullen

Summer 2004

The Colorado Chapter has a long and successful history of getting the best trash truck drivers in the State together for an annual trash truck Road-e-o competition. As part of the International SWANA organization, which holds an International Road-e-o competition each year, the top two finishers from each Chapter are eligible to compete in the international SWANA Road-e-o.

This year's Chapter Road-e-o was held at the Mount Elbert Parking Lot at Denver International Road-e-o on May 8th and drew 25 contestants, their families and friends. It was a beautiful day that started with coffee and breakfast burritos, after which the contestants began taking their written tests and pre-trip inspections, which are included as part of their overall score. A number of great prizes were raffled off throughout the day, which finished off with a fantastic Bar-B-Q lunch. The driving portion of the course consisted of a number of obstacles, including the off-set, serpentine, alley back-up, parallel parking, straight line, and right-hand turn events. Points are deducted at each obstacle for hitting barriers or finishing too far away from a barrier. Each driver is timed through the course, which is used as a tie-breaker. Contestants have their choice of driving a side-loader, front-loader, rear-loader, roll-off, or transfer trailer. To make the competition as fair as possible, the winner of each truck category then competes in a "drive-off" to determine the final standings, in which they again drive the truck of their choice. After winning their category, the results of the drive off are as follows:

First Place: Warren Saunders, City of Thornton
Second Place: Eduardo Gutierrez, Waste Connections
Third Place: Keith Kovak, City of Northglenn
Fourth Place: Charles Lucero, City of Denver
Fifth Place: Mark Rodriguez, City of Denver

Both Warren and Eduardo will be representing Colorado at this year's International competition in Denton, Texas to be held August 26-28. Congratulations to all of the drivers, and best of luck to Warren and Eduardo!

We would like to acknowledge our sponsors for this year's roadeo, their generous contributions helped make this event successful. Sponsors:

Kois Brothers Equipment Co.
Rush Truck Centers of Colorado
Waste Management of Colorado
Colorado Mack Sales and Service
Otto Industries
Heil Environmental Industries, Ltd.
Toter Incorporated
City of Northglenn
City of Loveland

Finally, a huge thank you to all the volunteers who donated their Saturday for some fun, education and sore feet. We all came away with a greater appreciation for the skill these drivers need to do their job.

Truck Turning
Measuring at the finish line
Taking the Exam
More pictures can be see here.