What lawyer doesn’t desire to be a judge for a day? Well, I got to be a judge today, but not the kind who wears robes.

Instead, I served as one of the judges for the Annual Truck Driving Competition held by the A. Duie Pyle Trucking Company. I have done this for several years now, and last year I had the opportunity to serve as the announcer for the event. However, with the return of the regular announcer, I again resumed my “judicial” role.

I was the “Left Turn” judge, which involved walking behind each truck as the driver attempted to make a left turn around a barrel and getting the left rear tire (or tires in the case of trailer) as close to the barrel as possible without hitting it. The Left Turn was but one of the many parts of the course that had to be carefully navigated by both professional and amateur truck drivers (the “amateurs” work for the company but do not normally drive trucks).

These guys can do amazing things with those monster diesels. Indeed, two of the company drivers who competed last year went on to eventually compete in the National Truck Driving Championship, which was recently held in Tampa. One came in second in his class, and the other placed sixth.

As has been the case in prior years, this family-oriented event was a huge success with plenty of great food cooked on site, which, of course, included sausage, peppers and onions on Italian rolls – a Jersey staple. It is both amazing and gratifying to see some fifty-seven truck drivers come out on their day off to do what they do for a living – just for the camaraderie and the joy of competition.

I’m pretty tired and more than a little sunburned, but, as Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”