National Truck Driving Championships
Podcast
With a tradition and history that is now approaching nearly 90 years, the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships features a collection of the best and most accomplished professional drivers in the country from nine different classifications. To qualify to be a part of the championship, each of the competitors had to win their respective state championship within one of those categories. Plus, they had to also stay accident-free for the past 12 months.
Hosted by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the organization’s Safety Management Council, the home for NTDC 2026 will be in Minneapolis. In addition to the competition, the NTDC always features great personal and inspirational stories. PodWheels is proud to share those stories throughout the year – from the State Truck Driving Championships to the Nationals and long after the NTDC has concluded. PodWheels covers it all. PodWheels is honored that our Road To Pittsburgh Series has been selected by ATA to serve as the Official Podcast of NTDC 2026.
Latest Episodes
Reed and Comings: An Appreciation for Winning It All And Starting The Climb Again
With the State TDC Season officially underway, our podcast wanted to share a recent conversation we had with the previous NTDC Grand Champions from the past two years. PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson had the unique opportunity to visit in person with 2024...
ATA Image Trailer and Road Team Captains Perfect Fit At Safety Drive
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...
UPS Building Team Spirit With Strong Safety Drive Results
How did UPS send 40 State Champions to Minneapolis to compete at NTDC 2025? One of the building blocks in last year’s run can be traced back to the annual Safety Drive For A Cure charity event. And while the 2026 State TDC season is just beginning, Team UPS capped off...
Mark McLean and Tim Blair Give Back While Sharpening Skills At Safety Drive
Seeing both Tim Blair from Tennessee and Mark McLean from New York at Safety Drive 2026 is perfect confirmation that TDC Champions and National Title holders make the trip to Atlanta from near and far to sharpen their competitive driving skills at Safety Drive. In...
Trucking’s Caring Heart On Full Display At Safety Drive 2026
While Safety Drive 2026 featured a collection of past National Champions, State TDC Champions and no less than four past NTDC Grand Champions testing their knowledge and skills, the competition that took place at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta was a distant second to...
Paul Barnes of UPS Earns Safety Drive’s Grand Champion Title
Safety Drive For A Cure 2026 became a memorable trip to Atlanta for Paul Barnes of UPS. The reigning Illinois State Sleeper Division Champion who finished sixth at NTDC 2025, Paul was part of a record field of over 250 professional drivers who helped Safety Drive...
Spotlighting NTDC Legend Ina Daly Ahead of Arizona’s TDC
In honor of International Women’s Day that was celebrated on March 8th, our podcast shines the spotlight on Ina Daly, the veteran XPO driver and the only woman to win a National Championship in the history of NTDC. With the Arizona State TDC just around the corner on...
Brent and Laura Darnell: Answering The Call and Winning By Serving Others
When the 15th edition of Safety Drive For A Cure opens its NTDC-style competition this Saturday, Brent and Laura Darnell will have already been onsite at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta before the sun rises. For Brent and Laura, along with a legion of volunteers led by...
Veteran Driver Tim Vogt Continues To Find Inspiration Through Annual Safety Drive Event
For Atlanta-based XPO veteran driver Tim Vogt, the 15th edition of the Safety Drive For A Cure Benefit scheduled to run this coming Saturday is one of the most important dates on the calendar. In addition to getting a highly competitive test of his TDC skills ahead of...
Inspired By 2025, New York’s Zack Bourque Looking To Take Next Big Step
How would you respond if you landed one point short of reaching the runoff in your vehicle division at Nationals? Zack Bourque, the two-time reigning Tanker State Champion from New York, was forced to look squarely into that very challenge the moment he got his...
NTDC Rewind: Celebrating Pennsylvania’s NTDC Legend Bob Dolan
With a record that was highlighted by five National Championships, one Grand Championship and the Professional Excellence Award during his NTDC days, Bob Dolan put together a hall-of-fame driving career and remains a legend in his home state of Pennsylvania. In this...
Spotlighting Darius Uible, Road Team Finalist and Man Behind The Camera For UPS
During this episode of the podcast, Darius Uible takes us behind the scenes with Team UPS. A finalist to serve as an America’s Road Team Captain for 2026-27 and a veteran driver for UPS, Darius has become a fixture at the NTDC in recent years with his video work....
NTDC 2026 Committee Chairman Heath Arnold Excited About Road To Pittsburgh
This episode of the series is highlighted by our feature interview with Heath Arnold, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for NTDC 2026. Heath joins the podcast about 26 minutes into the episode, providing us an update on the onsite visit that the NTDC Organizing...
Rewinding To 2010: Recalling Carl Krites’ NTDC Grand Champion Run
For this episode of the show, we open the vault once again to feature the interview that Eugene Mulero had with Carl Krites, the Grand Champion of NTDC 2010. Last year, as Eugene was developing the second edition of the From Roadeo To TDC history book with co-author...
Merle Ashbaugh’s First National Title Makes History For DHL
Our NTDC Podcast closes out our series of conversations with the 2025 Vehicle Class National Champions by sharing the inspiring story of Merle Ashbaugh. In winning the Sleeper Class Division at NTDC 2025, Merle not only earned his first National title, but he also...
Recalling The Great John Lex and Memories of NTDC 2019 in Pittsburgh
To highlight the return of the NTDC to Pittsburgh this year, we continue our look back at NTDC 2019, the first time that PodWheels had the opportunity to cover the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships. This edition of the podcast revisits...
Taking A Trip Back In Time To Pittsburgh and NTDC 2019
As we countdown the days to the first State TDC that serve as the first miles on this year’s Road To Pittsburgh, our series would like to take our listeners back to NTDC 2019, the last time the NTDC was held in the Steel City. NTDC 2019 also marked the first time that...
Championship Runoff Rewind: NTDC’s Version Of The Playoffs
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Super Bowl and to get into the championship spirit, our podcast is doing a bit of a rewind with this episode. Greg Thompson and Eugene Mulero will be taking listeners back to the day of the Championship Runoff at NTDC 2025....
Herschel Evans Preparing For Record Field At Safety Drive For A Cure
We are honored to welcome back America’s Road Team Captain and TA Citizen Driver Herschel Evans to the podcast. The driving force behind the annual Safety Drive For A Cure, Herschel takes us inside what it takes to bring together a premiere “preseason” TDC-level event...
Time Capsule: Taking Trip With Mike Alpine Back To 2004 Championship
In his work on the second edition of the From Roadeo To TDC history book on NTDC last year, Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero had the opportunity to conduct an extended interview with Mike Alpine, the 2004 National Champion in the Auto Hauler Vehicle...
Steady Climber Ed Hill Recalls Reaching Flatbed Summit At NTDC 2025
As part of our 2025 National Champions Series, Ed Hill from FedEx Freight joins the podcast to look back at winning his first career National Championship last August in Minneapolis. The pride of Delaware, Ed first entered his state TDC in 2022 and he came away with...
Sending Out A Call For Safety Drive 2026 Volunteers
Greg Thompson and Eugene Mulero are back on the show together for the first time in a few weeks, and their first topic of 2026 is the upcoming Safety Drive For A Cure. For those who may not know, Safety Drive is the annual charity event led by America’s Road Team...
Revisiting Jeff Langenhahn’s Tanker Title Run, Third National Crown In Stellar Career
For this National Champions’ edition of the podcast, we look back at NTDC 2025 and Jeff Langenhahn’s run to the title in the Tanker Class. All things considered, it was clear Jeff was poised to have a great week last August. After all, Minneapolis was relatively close...
Rollin’ Down Memory Lane With John Greene’s 2023 National Title Run
To open our fifth season of the NTDC Podcast Series, we have pulled an unreleased interview from our vault that two-time National Grand Champion Roland Bolduc did last year with John Greene. As you will hear, the conversation takes us back to 2023 when Roland and John...
2025 National Grand Champion David Comings Reflects On His Memorable Year
To say that 2025 was an unforgettable year for FedEx Freight’s David Comings would be one of the grandest understatements of the past 12 months. At NTDC 2025 in Minneapolis, David earned his first vehicle class National Championship before hearing his name called as...
Observations & Congratulations For 2025: A Year-End Rollin’ With Roland
As we prepare for the calendar to turn to a new year on the podcast, we wanted to share this Rollin’ With Roland edition of the series that we recorded a few weeks after the close of NTDC 2025. At that time, we caught up with two-time National Grand Champion Roland...
First-Year NTDC Committee Member Emily Crane Looks Back On A Memorable 2025
As we approach Christmas Day, our podcast wanted to find a way to celebrate this season of giving and the gifts that are found by serving those in your community. We decided to reach out to Emily Crane, the Vice President of Safety and Engagement for the Georgia...
Recalling How Mark Carver Broke Through To Win His First National Championship
Mark Carver from FedEx Freight made the most of his second consecutive year at the Nationals, taking what he learned in Indianapolis in 2024 and turning it into NTDC gold in Minneapolis this past August. Returning as the Straight Truck Champion from Missouri, Mark put...
Florida’s Miguel Sanchez Still Savoring First NTDC Division Champions’ Crown
To say that Miguel Sanchez of UPS savored and valued every moment of the journey that brought him to the reality of winning the Twins Division National title at NTDC 2025 would be one of the understatements of the year. PodWheels caught up with Miguel a few weeks...
Mississippi’s Stephen Johnson Looks Back On His First National Title
For the next installment in our 2025 National Champions’ Series, we place Mississippi’s Stephen Johnson in the spotlight. Recorded in mid-October, Stephen reflects on the experience of winning the NTDC 2025 title in the 4-Axle Class. A veteran driver with FedEx...


































