Episodes

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 history of trucking. While they have each dreamed of competing at the nationals (Ramon earned a spot at NTDC 2025 as California’s Flatbed Champion after 17 years between titles), the most important numbers they have put on the board dur...

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 he had punched his ticket to the NTDCs for the third time in the last four years. Being Georgia’s Grand Champion was not something that was on his radar. As you’ll hear, Tony felt a bit like a lottery winner when his name was called ...

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 part of the NTDCs and what it felt like to have to wait until next year. When Nate heard his name called as the 2026 5-Axle Arizona TDC Champ, there was no doubt a feeling of both joy and relief. Now, as you’ll hear during our fea...

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 Championship and this year’s crown represents his fifth career State GC. Chris, a two-time National Champion in Twins, qualified for his 11th NTDC by winning Washington’s 3-Axle title. NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero interviewed Chris a fe...

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 TDC as one of the most important dates on her calendar. Having started her career in trucking with the American Trucking Associations after working in the nation’s capitol as a staff member for two U.S. Senators, Abigail values the...

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 practice and study sessions happening in the remaining 47 states preparing to hold State TDCs during the 2026 season, we thought it might serve as a bit of inspiration to look back at the first thoughts from members of last year’s field w...

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 competing for national championships begins with the belief that he will succeed. PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson spent some time in mid-March with Glen at the 15th edition of Safety Drive For A Cure, the NTDC-style charity...

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 Kansas 5-Axle Champion. Rather than dwelling on the would’ve, could’ve and should’ve’s from his day at the State TDC, Jason began looking at the next step in what he could learn and give back to the NTDC Community. With our conversation...

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 Georgia Trucking Association. Now in her second year as a member of the NTDC Organizing Committee, Emily is the go-to person for any question related to the Georgia TDC. So, as we enter the final countdown to the Peach State’s NTDC...

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 earned the Professional Excellence Award in 1994 before he transitioned to serve as a long-time volunteer at NTDC following his retirement as a driver in 2010. Excelling in his service to others at NTDC over the years, Jim earned the V...

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 to meet the challenge of providing the perfect finish on custom-made guitars for a list of clients who included Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney. At the 14:42 mark of this epi...

With 55 years of contributions and dedication to NTDC, Rick Cates has become a fountain of knowledge, a go-to person and a true institution with the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships. Rick is so well respected within the NTDC Community and across the trucking industry that he has been given the honorary title of “The Senator.” In this episode of the podcast, NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero talks with Rick as he shares the news that, following the conclusion of NTDC...

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 Grand Champion Jackie Reed and 2025 Grand Champion David Comings in person while they were both at this year’s Safety Drive For A Cure. As you will hear, both Jackie and David share a mutual respect for doing the work and following ...

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 NTD...

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 the NTDC “pre-season” by assembling another large group to participate in this year’s Safety Drive, which was once again held at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta. In this edition of the podcast, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thomp...

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 this episode of the podcast (at the 19:20 mark), we’ll hear from Tim and Mark, who are part of a FedEx Freight Team that brought another large contingent from across the country to the NTDCs last year. For Mark, his trip from the Empi...

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 the primary mission of Safety Drive. The record field of competitors, with over 250 professional drivers, joined with the volunteers, the sponsors and other friends of Safety Drive to raise $75,548 that goes directly to support the wo...

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 exceed the organizers’ fundraising goal by delivering $75,548 to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Now, in its 15th year, Safety Drive For A Cure has raised over $491,000 with a charity-benefit driving competition modeled after the ...

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 March 28th, the timing is perfect to look back at Ina’s career accomplishments as she has become a regular at NTDC over the past two decades. In 2023, the NTDC Organizing Committee honored Ina with the Neill Darmstadter Professional...

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 chief organizer Herschel Evans, Saturday’s charity benefit for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, will represent a coordinated effort that has been almost a year in the planning and execution. In this edition of the podcast, we t...

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 Georgia’s Championship this April, Tim is part of the lead group of volunteers who will be working to ensure the Safety Drive record field of 265 professional drivers, their families, friends, supporters and Star Families will have...

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 envelope following the call of the runoff finalists at NTDC 2025. As you’ll hear in this episode of the podcast, Zack refused to get eaten up by disappointment. Instead, he continued to work to make the most of his time onsite with all th...

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 edition of the podcast, we will be featuring Eugene Mulero’s 2025 interview with Bob that was part of Eugene’s work on the second edition of the NTDC History Book that he co-authored with Jacob Pierce. As you will hear, Bob closed ou...

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. Darius, an accomplished videographer who is a regular competitor at the State TDC in Kentucky, was asked by UPS a few years ago to photograph and video the efforts of the members of Team UPS as they compete at the Nationals. As you wil...