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Meet Miguel Corral of UPS: Your 2026 NTDC Grand Champion

Meet Miguel Corral of UPS: Your 2026 NTDC Grand Champion

On Friday, the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships crowned the 30th Grand Champion since the inception of the competition’s top trophy in 1987. After earning the 4-Axle National title earlier in the evening, Miguel Corral of UPS heard...

Placing Our Spotlight On The North American Inspector’s Championship

Placing Our Spotlight On The North American Inspector’s Championship

Just a little more than 25 years ago, the American Trucking Associations and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance began holding Trucking’s National Championships concurrently with the North American Inspector’s Championship. NAIC is law enforcement’s equivalent to...

Honoring Rick Cates: Forever ‘The Senator’ Of NTDC

Honoring Rick Cates: Forever ‘The Senator’ Of NTDC

As we release the 78th episode of our series this year, we are on the eve of Finals Friday, the day all the State Champions are honored and the National Championships will be decided. One of the most personal parts of Championship morning is watching all the State...

Day One of NTDC 2026: Semifinal Driving Course Revealed

Day One of NTDC 2026: Semifinal Driving Course Revealed

The Road To Pittsburgh has reached its final destination as the NTDC 2026 Podcast is onsite at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in the heart of the Steel City. PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson talked with the first person to navigate the semifinal...

PMTA’s Rebecca Oyler Is Ready For NTDC’s Return To Pittsburgh

PMTA’s Rebecca Oyler Is Ready For NTDC’s Return To Pittsburgh

In this episode of the podcast, we visit with Rebecca Olyer, who is the President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association. As you will hear, NTDC 2026 will be the first edition of the National Championships that Rebecca has attended since she took her post...

Driving Course Chairman Wes Herek Is Following Some Big Footsteps

Driving Course Chairman Wes Herek Is Following Some Big Footsteps

On Sunday morning, two days before the August 11th official start of NTDC 2026, Old Dominion’s Wes Herek will lead the Driving Course Committee out to the floor of the David L. Lawrence Center in Pittsburgh. The months of planning, discussion and reviewing design...

XPO’s Steve Iburg Cherishes Return To NTDCs As Iowa Grand Champ

XPO’s Steve Iburg Cherishes Return To NTDCs As Iowa Grand Champ

As a professional driver with more than two million safe miles to his credit, XPO’s Steve Iburg understands the important roles that patience and persistence play in his success on the road. As he shares with us in this episode of the podcast, Steve continued to be...

NTDC Veteran Volunteer Carlos Ortiz Embraces Pre-Trip Lead Role

NTDC Veteran Volunteer Carlos Ortiz Embraces Pre-Trip Lead Role

As a veteran volunteer at the NTDCs, Carlos Ortiz was ready when the opportunity arrived for the New Jersey-based Safety Professional with NFI Industries to lead the 2026 Pre-Trip competition that will take place in Pittsburgh. In this edition of the podcast, we take...

Final Countdown: ATA’s Jacob Pierce Checking His List Twice

Final Countdown: ATA’s Jacob Pierce Checking His List Twice

What is involved in being ready to welcome State Champions from across the country to the National Truck Driving & National Step Van Driving Championships? Our podcast asked that question and discussed a range of topics with Jacob Pierce, the Executive Director of...

First Vice Chair Scott Dewey Counting The Days Until NTDC 2026

First Vice Chair Scott Dewey Counting The Days Until NTDC 2026

By Tuesday evening of next week, NTDC 2026 will be officially underway as the state champions from across the country will have gathered for the initial driver meeting and orientation, the written test will be in the books and the walk-through of the semifinal course...

Don Jones’ Big TDC Run Now Includes Montana’s Grand Championship

Don Jones’ Big TDC Run Now Includes Montana’s Grand Championship

Once Don Jones got a taste of winning vehicle class championships and going to Nationals for the first time back in 2022, the FedEx Freight veteran from Montana has not stopped winning. In this episode of the podcast, Don takes some time to look back at a run that now...

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