As we continue to share our collection of interviews from Safety Drive For A Cure, we wanted to highlight one noticeable arrival that was new to Safety Drive this year. That was none other than the red, white and blue covering the ATA’s Image Trailer, complete with its Big Rig Driving simulator inside. The Image Trailer, which has been a presence at NTDC for many years now, was onsite for the first time at Safety Drive, and it proved to be a perfect fit for the day.

Regular listeners to the NTDC Podcast know that Herschel Evans, the chief organizer behind Safety Drive, is a veteran Captain of America’s Road Team, and a number of the participants as well as volunteers over the years also have Road Team credentials to their credit. For Safety Drive 2026, the American Trucking Associations not only sent its Image Trailer, but the ATA also had a collection of Road Team Captains and two staff members take part in what was a memorable day at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta.

During this episode of the podcast, we will be joined by Nikki Thomas, the ATA’s Vice President of Industry Affairs. Sareena Barnes, who is a Senior Associate in the Industry Affairs Department, will join us as well. Nikki and Sareena, who served as timekeepers during the pre-trip portion of the competition, will be talking to us about their first impressions of being onsite at Safety Drive. 

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the event’s organizers, volunteers and participants continue to work to drive their all-time fundraising total over the past 15 years to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SCF AT MATS: The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund Team will once again be at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. March 26-28. SCF is the only nationwide nonprofit that provides short-term relief to Class A OTR drivers suffering from an illness or injury that took them out of work within the last 365 days. SCF also provides several free prevention health and wellness programs for OTR drivers in an effort to keep them on the road. The SCF booth will be located in the Atrium section of Kentucky Expo Center. The SCF Booth Number is 40648. SCF will be hosting its MATS Silent Auction on Thursday, March 26 in the South A Lobby of the Expo Center. To learn more about the Silent Auction and SCF at MATS, please click here.

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