Gearing Up for the Truck Driving Championships with Allen Hollopeter

posted on Thursday, June 15, 2017

After speaking with Tom Roberts and Chris Smith, we turned our attention to our most seasoned competitor at the at the Iowa Motor Truck Association’s Truck Driving Championships—Allen Hollopeter. 

GPC: Thanks for joining us Allen. You’re our most seasoned competitor going into this event.  Do you still remember your first Truck Driving Championships?

Allen: Of course, you’re buzzing all the time afterward.  You don’t know exactly what to expect going into it, but it really ends on a high.  Everything is positive, and you feel honored to be allowed to participate in everything.

GPC: Any butterflies this year?

Allen: not really.  It takes a couple years to get used to the event, but then it’s just really about the fun.  You actually develop a good relationship with the other competitors—you see many of the same faces each year—it’s just positive interaction.

GPC: It sounds like it feels like an All-Star game

Allen: that sounds about right—it’s the best drivers in the state

GPC: Do you still practice for the event?

Allen: Yeah, I’m practicing right now.  You try to line up exactly at the fuel pump.  You try to back up to an exact distance.  You do it every day when you’re driving, but I just try to focus more on the precision right now.

GPC: What about the written part?

Allen: Well, it’s easy to be distracted by the teambuilding exercises that you do first.  They kind of make you forget about all the written stuff you’ve studied for, but at some point, you just go into the zone and focus on what you’re doing—it works out.

GPC: We’re a relatively small trucking company for the competition.  Do you think that affects our performance?

Allen: No, I don’t think so.  Other companies hold qualifying tournaments internally to see who gets to go to the event, but we’re small enough, we just have a feel for that.  I’m happy the company is expanding its presence at the event this year especially when we’ve got such large companies there too.  It does help raise your profile. 

GPC: You’ve been to other truck driving competitions before.  What do you think is special about this event?

Allen: I think it’s the way that they treat the drivers and their families.  They really roll out the red carpet for you and treat you like royalty for a couple days.  You’ve got everyone from the IMTA to the State Patrol there cheering you on.  Our industry doesn’t often get a lot of recognition like that, so it feels very special to have that for a couple days.

GPC: Any advice for up-and-coming drivers?

Allen: You’ve got to remember that you’re always visible.  Even though other people may anger you from time to time, you’ve got to be the bigger man.  Being polite and courteous will get you a long way.  Also, people don’t look far enough ahead and try to anticipate what’s going on.  You can save yourself from bad situations before the even happen the further you look ahead.  

GPC: You’ve been driving for 40 years, what do you wish you could change?

Allen: I’d like to have more time on the road to explore all the beautiful places I drive past.  You pass it at 60mph and don’t have time to experience it.  I could write them down and go back, but I’ll have to wait before I have time to do that.

GPC: Trucking is going through a lot of technical changes.  How do you feel about the pace of change?

Allen: I embrace the technology.  I love the electronic logs—they force you to manage your time properly.  Sometimes it’s fun to go back and drive more analog trucks, but I’m happy with where things are at.  I’m also happy that the interstates have been built out so much during my time as a driver.  It took much longer to get anywhere 40 years ago. 

GPC: As a parting thoughts, you’ve seen a lot of the country in 40 years.  Where do you like driving the best?

Allen: I like the Northwest and the Rocky Mountain Region.  You get to see so many different climates and crops right next to each other—it’s fun to watch.  It also doesn’t get too hot which is nice. 

Green Products Company wishes Allen the best of luck for the upcoming IMTA Truck Driving Championships and looks forward to supporting all the drivers at the event.

To learn more about driving for Green Products Company, click here