The Department of Transportation's ninth annual truck roadeo will proceed Wednesday at the Tylerville maintenance yard in Haddam. Its cost — about $25,000 in staff time, equipment costs, food, T-shirts and trophies — is not playing as well in some quarters as it might have in other years, after firefighter training programs, food pantries, recreations centers and a broad array of other programs were hit with budget reductions this week.
Several states have steered away from the contests in recent years or changed the format to reduce costs. " Pennsylvania stopped its roadeos several years ago, partially because of the cost," said Tony Dorsey of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. He forwarded a query from The Courant to agencies across the country and got a string of responses. " Colorado scaled theirs back dramatically because of budget belt-tightening," Dorsey said. " Nevada does them, but they're sponsored by the Nevada Motor-Transport Association ... so it's private money." Dorsey said Wyoming also lined up a private sponsor for a truck-driving championship. An Iowa DOT spokeswoman told The Courant that her department teams with several private motor-trade associations to hold the events. She said registration fees and sponsorship money reduce the public expenditure. Illinois, South Dakota and Maine reported that they do not hold truck roadeos. Kansas has shelved its roadeos and now holds an annual training exposition with private partners, a spokeswoman said. Officials in Alaska, the king of all the snow states, said they've never done truck roadeos. "It is something, for us in Alaska, that is just not seen as being of great benefit to people who are looking to us for road improvements. We do other things, like hold career days to create jobs," Alaska DOT spokesman Roger Wetherell said.http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-truck-roadeo-0905.artsep05,0,4671700.story
