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
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...
Course Design Chief Frank Ems Looks Back On NTDC 2025
Would you like to hear how the fire hydrant became part of the semifinal driving course at NTDC 2025? Would you like to go inside some of the processes involved when it comes to deciding the challenges that are included for the driving courses at the Nationals? Frank...
Dan Shamrell Looks Back On His Final Champions’ Drive At NTDC
We are thrilled to launch our NTDC 2025 Champions Series by welcoming Dan Shamrell, who met the challenge of winning a National Championship in his final appearance at an NTDC. Prior to arriving in Minneapolis for NTDC 2025, Dan had shared his plans to retire before...
One More Rewind: Chatting With Maine’s David Crocker On His First NTDC
David Crocker, the Tanker State Champion from Maine, had just finished his first-ever run on the driving course when our podcast caught up with him in Minneapolis during the second day of NTDC Week. David’s interview is part of the collection of chats that we recorded...
One Month Later, NTDC 2025 Chairman Robert Foskey Looks Back On The Championships
Almost one month to the day that the NTDC 2025 Organizing Committee began its onsite work to prepare for the Opening Day of this year’s Championships, PodWheels caught up with NTDC 2025 Chairman Robert Foskey. In this episode of the podcast, PodWheels Executive...
Celebrating Professional Drivers’ Dedication To Safety, Service & Community
The NTDC 2025 Podcast dedicates this episode to spotlighting the importance of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week by looking back at the achievements at NTDC 2025 and on the highways by the 425 state champions who gathered in Minneapolis for this year’s edition...
Champions’ Chat: Dan Shamrell Reflects On NTDC Career While Rollin’ With Roland
As we continue to celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week on the NTDC 2025 Podcast, we are thrilled to bring you a Champions Appreciation edition with a special Rollin’ With Roland episode of the series. About one month prior to the NTDC 2025 competition in...
Appreciating The Performances and Achievements By Nation’s Top Drivers at NTDC 2025
As this year's celebration of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week begins, the NTDC 2025 Podcast dedicates our 80th episode release of the year to take an initial look back at a number of the top performances across the nine vehicle divisions in the competition...
NTDC Wednesday Rewind: Alex Ayala Values Carrying H-E-B’s Banner and Promoting Safety
As we continue our NTDC 2025 Rewind Series from our time onsite in Minneapolis, PodWheels is rolling it back to Wednesday of NTDC Week when we caught up with a friend we met in Columbus two years ago. In 2023, PodWheels Executive Producer was introduced to Alex Ayala,...
Championship Saturday Moment Rewind: Jersey Legend Wilbert Vano Continues To Inspire
Not long after the finalists had been announced and the vehicle parade ended on Championship Saturday in Minneapolis, PodWheels witnessed a moment that we will be featuring with this rewind episode which truly embodies the full spectrum of competition and respect that...
Rewinding To Two Weeks Ago, Looking Deeper Into NTDC 2025
Recorded four days after the closing night of NTDC 2025, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson and Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero sit down for an extended look at what took place in Minneapolis during NTDC Week for 2025. As you will hear, Greg is...
Maine NTDC Rewind: Lewis Now Four Generations Deep In Reaching Nationals
One of the many highlights of PodWheels’ onsite coverage of NTDC 2025 in Minneapolis was the time that we spent with the Lewis family. As part of our NTDC 2025 Rewind Series, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson takes us back to Friday of NTDC week when he...
Minnesota NTDC Rewind: Proud Mom Lindy Jackson Blazing Trails In Step Van
On Friday of NTDC Week, we caught up with FedEx Step Van driver Lindy Jackson, who will forever own a piece of Minnesota TDC history with her 2024 first-place finish in the Step Van Division. Lindy’s victory last year made her the first woman to ever win a state...
NTDC Host Rewind: Minnesota’s John Hausladen Inspired By Professional Drivers
On Thursday of NTDC Week, PodWheels had the opportunity to sit down and have an extended conversation with John Hausladen, who has served as the President & CEO of the Minnesota Trucking Association since 1996. As you will hear in this episode of the podcast, NTDC...
NAIC Rewind: Looking Back At 2025 Inspector’s Challenge Competition
In this NTDC Rewind edition of the podcast, we are going to highlight the North American Inspectors Challenge, which is the annual event conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. We will hear the acceptance speech from this year’s winner of the Inspector’s...
Looking Back At NTDC 2025 Grand Championship With The Comings Family
About 45 minutes after David Comings held the Bendix NTDC Grand Championship trophy for the first time while his entire family celebrated the realization of a career dream on the NTDC 2025 stage in Minneapolis, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson was able to...
Rewind With ATA Chairman: Dellinger Salutes Commitment To Excellence At NTDC
Recorded on the opening day of NTDC 2025 Week, ATA Chairman Dennis Dellinger tells our podcast that he was so impressed with his visit to the National Championships in 2024 that he made plans to be onsite in Minneapolis for the entire run of NTDC 2025. As you will...
Championship Saturday Rewind: ATA COO Dan Horvath Values Every Moment of NTDC
When the moment arrived for the Parade of Equipment on Championship Saturday at NTDC 2025, American Trucking Associations Chief Operating Officer Dan Horvath had the honor of driving the lead truck in this special convoy that could be seen inside the Minneapolis...