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 Pittsburgh. 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
Old Dominion’s Chad Williams Earns State Grand Championship In Return To Michigan TDC
A two-time State Grand Champion with multiple vehicle division titles, Old Dominion veteran driver Chad Williams had been counting the days until the 2026 Michigan TDC. Chad missed time with a medical issue that kept him on the sidelines during the 2025 Michigan...
Chuck Pearson Thrilled To Represent ABF Freight and Georgia At NTDC 2026
Over a period of time that lasted for a decade, Chuck Pearson of ABF Freight never lost sight of the most important aspect of having the opportunity each year to compete in his State TDCs for a shot at securing his spot at the Nationals. Every day since he made his...
Paul Butkowski Brings Home Second Career Minnesota Grand Championship
With All-Time NTDC legends Richard Gillespie and Ray Simon onsite at the 2026 Minnesota TDC, FedEx Freight’s Paul Butkowski stepped up to be at his best. Paul excelled on the test, the pretrip and the driving course to add an 11th State TDC vehicle championship to his...
Indiana’s Tony Burns Still Stunned After Winning His First State Grand Championship
As he shares with us in this episode of the podcast, Tony Burns from FedEx Freight was in a state of total disbelief when he heard his point total and then name called out as the State Grand Champion of Indiana. Qualifying for his third career trip to the NTDCs with...
Roland Returns For 21st Nationals As A Seven-Time State Grand Champion
For this episode of the podcast, we catch up with two-time National Grand Champion Roland Bolduc, just a few days after he earned his 21st trip to the NTDCs. Competing in 5-Axle at the Massachusetts TDC, Roland will be going to NTDC 2026 in Pittsburgh in grand style,...
Jeremy Kasitz Delivers Oregon Grand Championship For Old Dominion
Old Dominion Freight Lines veteran driver Jeremy Kasitz is the first to admit that bringing home the State Grand Championship trophy was not on his Bingo Card when the Oregon TDC took place on May 16th. As he shares with us in this episode of the podcast, Jeremy was...
Matthew Boenisch Returns To NTDCs As Wisconsin’s Grand Champion
A Wisconsin State Grand Champion in 2024 who finished with a third-place trophy in 2025, Matthew Boenisch of FedEx Freight maintained a year-long drive to do his best to return to the Nationals in 2026. Matthew’s all-around performance in 5-Axle at the Wisconsin TDC...
Old Dominion’s Ryan Haag Enjoys His ‘Grand’ New Mexico TDC Run
A former firefighter, Ryan Haag understands the importance of meeting the moment and how to perform under pressure. As a veteran professional driver with Old Dominion, Ryan deeply values the attention to detail that helps him stay safe on the road year after year. The...
David Comings Returns To NTDCs As North Dakota Grand Champion
In his previous four trips to the Nationals, David Comings of FedEx Freight did not have to carry the added pressure of being a reigning National Champion. After winning the 5-Axle National title and also earning the NTDC Grand Champion’s trophy in 2025, David knew...
Looking Back At An Amazing 12 Months With Miguel Sanchez of UPS
As the State TDC in Florida prepares to get underway in Daytona Beach this week, we want to share an interview that PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson did with Miguel Sanchez in mid-March during the Safety Drive For A Cure charity event. At the time, Miguel,...
Thanking Listeners, Celebrating A Milestone and Chatting With Jeremy Steger
It’s a milestone edition of the NTDC Podcast as we take some time to thank our listeners for inspiring us to reach 250 total episodes for our series. PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson is joined by NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero as they look back on the journey...
North Dakota’s Scott Meyers Reflects On Achieving TDC Career ‘Cycle’
On May 9th, Scott Meyers of FedEx Freight heard his name called as the Sleeper Class Champion at the North Dakota TDC. As Scott shares with us during this episode of the podcast, this moment at the North Dakota Championship banquet went beyond earning another state...
A True Gem: Adam Heim Talks About His Second Idaho Grand Championship
A veteran of State TDC competitions since 2007 who has brought home NTDC trophies in recent years, Adam Heim from FedEx Freight has established a standard of success that now includes multiple Grand Champion crowns from the state of Idaho. Adam followed up his...
Jamie Sowder Returns To Nationals As Tennessee’s Grand Champion
Jamie Sowder from FedEx Freight was not expecting to hear his name called as the Grand Champion of the Tennessee State TDC. As Jamie shares with us in this edition of the podcast, he was thrilled to be returning to the NTDCs as Tennessee’s Flatbed Division title...
Reporter’s Notebook: Looking Back At First Weeks of TDC Season
In this episode of the podcast recorded on May 15th, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson and NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero open up their reporter’s notebooks to review the State TDC Results from the first completed event in Arizona through the State...
Picture Perfect: Darius Uible Of UPS Breaks Through To NTDC With First State Title
Over the last few years, Darius Uible of UPS has become a familiar presence at the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships. As the man behind the camera with the UPS Media Team at NTDC, Darius has gained a unique perspective and position of...
Goal Achieved: J.B. Quarles Step Van Title Makes Him A State Champion In All Nine Divisions
At this year’s South Carolina State TDC, veteran Walmart driver J.B. Quarles cemented his place as a true legend within the NTDC Community. By winning the state title in the Step Van Division, J.B. completed his quest to win South Carolina State Championships in all...
David Comings Talks To Roland About The Road Back To Nationals
In one of the five best episodes within the catalog of nearly 250 shows that we have presented in the past three years of this series, 2025 NTDC Grand Champion David Comings took some time in mid-March to have an extended conversation with Roland Bolduc, a two-time...
XPO’s Robert Dean On His Soaring Return To NTDC With State Flatbed Title
This edition of the podcast takes a flight out to the state of Washington to visit with XPO veteran driver Robert Dean. After earning the State Grand Champion’s crown in 2023, Robert brought home two second-place finishes in the vehicle division competition in both...
Middleton and Guzman: Definitions of TDC Spirit and Dedication To Safety
Over the past 17 years, Ramon Guzman of FedEx Freight and Mike Middleton of Old Dominion Freight Lines have become the very definition of why the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships stand as the longest running safety program in the...
Just Peachy: Frito-Lay’s Tony Johnson Wins 1st State Grand Champion Title
When veteran Frito-Lay driver Tony Johnson heard his name announced as the Grand Champion at the Georgia State TDC Banquet on April 24th, he admittedly did a double take. Tony was still basking in the glow of winning back-to-back state titles in 5-Axle. He knew that...
Spotlighting Arizona State Grand Champion Nate Voss and Team UPS
Veteran UPS driver Nate Voss carried a sense of purpose and determination into the Arizona TDC in Tempe on March 28th. Having qualified for the Nationals as a State Champion in 2024 and then finishing second in the Arizona TDC in 2025, Nate knew what it was like to be...
Celebrating Chris Poynor’s Repeat As State Grand Champ
With our first State Grand Champion interview of 2026, the podcast heads west to the Evergreen State to talk with XPO’s Chris Poynor, who won the top title in the Washington Trucking Associations’ TDC. Chris has now gone back-to-back in earning the state’s Grand...
Going ‘Behind The Cones’ At Washington’s State TDC
For the past five years, Abigail Potter has overseen the planning and onsite event coordination for the Washington State Truck Driving Championships. As the Director of Safety and Compliance for the Washington Trucking Associations, Abigail views the Evergreen State’s...
Some Championship Perspectives With TDC Season Preparing To Ramp Up
As we prepare to enter the heart of State TDC Season, our podcast takes some time to go inside our interview vault to highlight 12 of the conversations that NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero had with drivers who made it to the championship runoffs at NTDC 2025. With...
Ready For Your TDC? Positive Mindset Remains A Key For Trucking’s Captain Kirk
How do you earn a State TDC Championship in multiple vehicle classes and qualify for the Nationals over seven straight NTDCs dating back to 2017? For Old Dominion Freight Line’s Glen “Captain” Kirk, the first step toward winning consecutive state championships and...
Jason Damron Embraces Opportunities To Learn and Serve With NTDC
In this episode, we get to spend some time with Jason Damron, who finished second in 5-Axle at the 2025 Kansas State TDC after qualifying for the 2024's Nationals in Indianapolis. As you’ll hear, Jason was just two points away from Eric Moss’ total earned as the...
How Do Event Organizers Prepare For A State TDC?
One of the more frequent requests from our listeners in the past few weeks has centered around taking you behind the scenes of the State TDCs. As part of honoring our listener feedback, we caught up with Emily Crane, the Vice President of Safety and Engagement for the...
Roland Rolls Back The Clock To Spotlight NTDC Award Winner Jim Wilcox
Our podcast series opens up our vault to share a previously unreleased Rollin’ With Roland interview that two-time NTDC Grand Champion Roland Bolduc did in 2025 with Jim Wilcox. A regular as a competitor at NTDC with multiple State Championships to his credit, Jim...
Maine’s David Crocker Hits The Note On and Off The Driving Course
David Crocker, the 2025 Tanker Champ from the state of Maine, already knew the importance of striving for excellence even before he began his professional driving career or first attempted to compete at a State TDC. Prior to entering the trucking industry, David had...


































