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Jeremy Usener with the Texas Department of Public Safety is the 2018 NAIC Grand Champion
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On Aug. 18, 2018, after two days of tough competition in six North American Standard Inspection categories, Jeremy Usener of the Texas Department of Public Safety was presented with the Jimmy K. Ammons Grand Champion Award at the first-ever joint awards ceremony of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC) and the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC) and National Step Van Driving Championships.
Fifty-two commercial motor vehicle inspectors representing jurisdictions throughout North America gathered in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 14-18, 2018, to compete at NAIC, the only event dedicated to testing, recognizing and awarding commercial motor vehicle inspector excellence. All of the inspection categories are timed events and the compilation of scores for those categories result in a Grand Champion, which is the highest honor for commercial motor vehicle roadside inspectors.
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Country High Points Award winners, from left to right: Samantha Sarasin for Canada; Jeremy Usener for the U.S. and Luis León Merino Gómez for Mexico.
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An award is given to each inspector who scores the most points representing each of the three participating countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. The following High Points Awards were presented during this year’s NAIC:
- Sean McAlister High Points Canada Award – Samantha Sarasin – Ontario Ministry of Transportation
- High Points Mexico Award – Luis León Merino Gómez – Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT)
- High Points United States Award – Jeremy Usener – Texas Department of Public Safety
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HM/DG and Cargo Tank/Bulk Packagings Inspection category winners, from left to right: Samantha Sarasin, Ontario; Jeremy Usener, Texas; Aaron Azbill, Arizona.
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Awards are given for first, second and third place for the following inspection categories:
The North American Standard Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods and Cargo Tank/Bulk Packagings Inspection includes additional inspection steps related to identifying hazardous materials/dangerous goods and markings, labeling, placarding, packaging, identification, etc.
- First Place – Jeremy Usener – Texas Department of Public Safety
- Second Place – Samantha Sarasin – Ontario Ministry of Transportation
- Third Place – Aaron Azbill – Arizona Department of Public Safety
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Level V Passenger Carrier Vehicle Inspection category winners, from left to right: Trevor Todd, British Columbia; Roberto Pinedo, Utah; Jeremy Usener, Texas.
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The North American Standard Level V Passenger Carrier Vehicle Inspection is an inspection of motorcoaches and other passenger-carrying vehicles. Passenger vehicle certified inspectors are specially trained commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel equipped to inspect both the motorcoach and driver, while also taking responsibility for the safety of passengers.
- First Place – Roberto Pinedo – Utah Department of Transportation
- Second Place – Trevor Todd – British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
- Third Place – Jeremy Usener – Texas Department of Public Safety
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NAIC Level I Inspection category winners, from left to right: Trevor Snodden, Alberta; Aaron Azbill, Arizona; Roberto Pinedo, Utah.
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The North American Standard Level I Inspection is the most commonly performed inspection. It is a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of both driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness.
- First Place – Aaron Azbill – Arizona Department of Public Safety
- Second Place – Trevor Snoddon – Alberta Justice Solicitor General
- Third Place – Roberto Pinedo – Utah Department of Transportation
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The Yellow Team had the highest combined score.
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The Team Award is given to the team with the highest combined score. The team with the highest score this year was the Yellow Team. The Yellow Team had the following members:
- Trevor Todd – British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
- Jason Gregory – Missouri State Highway Patrol
- Kris Hunzeker – Nebraska State Patrol
- Daniel Jacquez – New Mexico Department of Public Safety
- Brian Wilson – Ohio State Highway Patrol
- Jeremy Usener – Texas Department of Public Safety
- Roberto Pinedo – Utah Department of Transportation
- Matthew Nesto – Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles
- Maxwell McGuire – Washington State Patrol
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Matt Johnson from Illinois received the John Youngblood Award of Excellence.
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A special award, the John Youngblood Award of Excellence, is an honor NAIC contestants bestow upon a fellow NAIC inspector who exemplifies the high standards and unwavering dedication to the profession. This year, NAIC contestants voted to present the John Youngblood Award to Matt Johnson from the Illinois State Police.
Each year, since NAIC’s start in 1998, the championship has been co-located with ATA’s National Truck Driving Championships. However, this year was the first year that a joint awards ceremony was held to announce the driver winners for NTDC and the inspector winners from NAIC.
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ATA’s and CVSA’s Grand Champions: Scott Woodrome (left) of FedEx Freight and Jeremy Usener (right) of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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“CVSA and ATA worked together to make the joint awards ceremony a reality,” said CVSA President Capt. Christopher Turner with the Kansas Highway Patrol. “This is the first time in NAIC’s 26-year history that we’ve had a combined awards ceremony with our ATA partners. Based on its success this year, we hope to continue this unified CVSA/ATA awards ceremony well into the future.”
NAIC was created to recognize inspectors and officers – the backbone of the commercial vehicle safety program in North America – and to promote uniformity of inspections through training and education.
Next year’s NAIC is scheduled for Aug. 13-17, 2019, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.