Driver Skills and Safety Training Event – Massachusetts Highway Association

2026 Driver Skills and Safety Training Event (aka Snowplow Roadeo)

Co-Chairs Jamie Boyer, Jason Page, Chris Bouchard

The 2026 Driver Skills and Training Event was held on July 15, 2026, at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area under beautiful weather. While it was certainly a hot day, we were all glad the sun stayed behind the clouds and didn’t make it even warmer.

This year’s event was our largest to date, with 80 attendees, including 34 truck teams and 52 loader operators representing communities from every region of the state.

One of the highlights this year was the improvement in the walk-around inspection and written test scores, which were consistently higher than in previous years. Based on participant feedback, we introduced the course walk-through using the course map displayed on a large video screen inside as we explained how the event would run for the day. This change saved time, and made it much easier for participants to hear the instructions, ask questions, and take photos of the course maps before heading outside to participate.

We also had the largest number of judges we’ve ever had. This allowed judges to rotate for water and restroom breaks while keeping the event running smoothly throughout the day.

As always, I had my doubts that we would be able to process all of the score sheets in a timely manner with so many competitors. (I feel that way every year!) Once again, we delivered and we were ready to announce the results shortly after noon.

2026 Truck Competition Results – (see full results)

1st Place: City of Worcester – Anthony Eagleton and Paul Snape
2nd Place: Town of Erving – Aiden Bailey and Cody Pease
3rd Place: Town of Athol – Jason Lichenberger and Jordan Vescovi

2026 Loader Competition Results – (see full results)

1st Place: Town of Concord – Taylor Maslowski
2nd Place: City of Newton – Rodolfo Marquez
3rd Place: Town of Arlington – Gene Cody

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and to every participant for taking part in the competition.

Complete score sheets are linked above which will also be posted on Baystate Roads, MHA website, and Berkshire County Highway website. We have a lot of pictures from this year’s event that we will send out once we get them downloaded and sorted.

THANK YOU

The Driver Skills and Training Committee would like to extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who helped make this year’s event such a success.

Thank you to the Mass Highway Association Board of Directors for your continued support of this training event and for sponsoring the first-place truck team and first-place loader operator to represent Massachusetts at the Western Snow and Ice National Finals. This opportunity would not be possible without your ongoing commitment of support for this training event.

Thank you to the county highway organizations for continually encouraging the communities you represent to participate in this training event.

A special thank you to the Baystate Roads Program for assisting with advertising, registration, and providing support on the day of the event. Your help continues to be invaluable.

Thank you to Kevin Collins and the Town of Westminster DPW for providing the vehicles used during the walk-around inspection portion of the competition and for assisting as a judge.

Thank you to Advantage Truck Group for your continued support, including helping secure trucks for the driving competition and coordinating the logistics of getting them to the event. Special thanks to Chris and Jason for serving as judges.

We also appreciate the Town of Wilbraham for providing trucks for the event. Your support is greatly appreciated, and this event would not be possible without it.

Thank you to C.N. Wood Company for your continued partnership by providing the wheel loaders used in the competition and coordinating the transportation of the equipment. Special thanks to Chris, Katherine, Dave, and Mike for volunteering as judges.

Thank you to Wachusett Mountain and its staff for once again being outstanding hosts. From providing a great venue and great food to keeping the water stations stocked throughout the day—and, of course, arranging the weather (I always make that a requirement!)—your hospitality helped make the event a great success.

To all of our judges, thank you for volunteering your time. This event simply would not be possible without your participation. We also appreciate the vendors, municipalities, and state agencies that support your involvement and allow you to volunteer.

Judges: Next year we’ll be introducing two fun awards:

Best or Most Unique Judge Station Setup
Best Comments Written on Score Sheets

I’m looking forward to seeing the creativity you will bring next year.

Finally, to the Driver Skills and Training Committee—Jason, Dave, and Jamie—thank you for your hard work, dedication, and the ideas you bring each year to help the event run more smoothly, continue to grow, and become even better than the year before. I am especially thankful for the friendships that have developed through this event.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to Jennifer and CJ for your help and support. You choose to spend your day helping with this event, and that means more to me than you know.

Thank you again to everyone who participated, volunteered, sponsored, judged, and supported the 2026 Driver Skills and Training Event. We look forward to making next year’s event even better.

The date for next year’s event is July 14th, 2027.

Christpher Bouchard

Co-Chair Driver Skills and Training Committee

Who Is Eligible?
Any employee of a highway or public works department of a city or town in Massachusetts who is in possession of a valid CDL license for the truck event and a valid 2B Hoisting license for the loader event. A team consists of two (2) eligible registrants for truck, and one (1) eligible registrant for loader. Registration is limited to no more than two (2) teams from each city or town. (we may take more depending on how many teams sign up)

Come join us for:

Valuable hands-on training exercises

A Day of friendly competition

Awards & prizes

Lunch for participants, courtesy of the Mass Highway Association

Event: 7:30 AM – 2:30 PM

2025 MHA results

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated in this event..

2025 Competition