Colorado Man Wins Kind Of A Bizarre National Competition

File this on the list of things I didn't know existed - but it turns out, we here in the State of Colorado get to claim the best of the best at it, as our own.

Have you ever heard of the ROAD-EO National Championship? I hadn't either. But 2025 has crowned a new champion, and Ron Torrez, of Commerce City, is all ours.

The ROAD-EO National Championship is a a garbage truck driving competition, put on by Republic Services, which of course is a countrywide waste collection company. The competition is held every two years in Phoenix, AZ and is for drivers across the country who have a perfect safety record on their routes to go and show off their skills.

They compete in different categories and many different events, like parallel parking, alley backing and a serpentine segment. To save you time, I went ahead and Googled that for you, because I too had no idea what a "serpentine segment" was...

A "serpentine segment" refers to a winding, S-shaped section of a line or path, often used in design or engineering contexts, where the shape resembles the movement of a snake, essentially a curved segment that repeatedly changes direction back and forth, creating a zigzag pattern. 

Turns out it was exactly what I thought it was, so I guess it means they navigated their trucks safely through an obstacle course of some sort, much like Marcia and Greg Brady in the drivers' ed episode of the Brady Bunch.

There were many other winners from other states and a lot of other fun competitions... I love this kind of stuff. I wish more companies and more industries would celebrate their best people. Kudos to all the winners and to Republic Services for putting on the competition in the first place!