The Dick Dolloff Memorial Student Driving Competition will take place Wednesday, April 12, at the Augusta Civic Center. The driving portion of this competition will start at approximately 9 a.m. and is open to the public, according to a news release from the Maine Professional Drivers Association.

This competition is for high school students enrolled in commercial truck driving classes at one of four vocational schools in Maine. The schools involved are Northern Penobscot Tech Region III in Lincoln, Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico/Rumford, Tri-County Technical Center in Dexter and Westbrook Regional Vocational Center.

The event is sponsored by an association of these schools with assistance from the Maine Motor Transport Association, the MPDA, members of the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicles Unit and State License Examiners. Equipment for this event is donated by Freightliner of Maine, O’Connor Volvo and Whited Peterbilt.

The event is named in memory of Dick Dolloff, a former truck driving instructor at WRVC, according to the release.

Dolloff was instrumental in starting this competition more than 20 years ago as a fun and educational way for students interested in the transportation field to sharpen their skills and learn safe habits.

During the competition students will test their skills in two parts. The first part is driving skills, where students will maneuver around obstacles. The second part is the pre-trip portion, where students conduct a thorough safety inspection.

There will be two classes of competition: Class B, which is a straight truck, and Class A, which is a tractor-trailer.

Students will vie for trophies for themselves and their schools, and the top two finishers in each class from each school will move on the Future Truckers Competition May 20 in Bangor.

Members of the MPDA will mentor these students to prepare them for this competition. It will be held in conjunction with the Maine Professional Truck Driving Championships, where students will compete side by side with professional drivers from across the state.

For more information contact either Ron Round, publicity officer, Maine Professional Drivers Association, at roundr@midmaine.com or 794-5605, or Vicki Kimball, truck driving instructor, Tri-County Technical Center, at vkimball@aos94.org or 343-1149.