National Truck Driving Championships

Robbie Roth’s trip to the NTDC the last time the Championships were held in Minneapolis sparked a number of lasting memories. First of all, the 2007 NTDC marked the first time that Robbie had qualified for the Nationals at a State Champion, representing Missouri as part of the FedEx Freight Team. As you’ll hear in this edition of the podcast, it was also during his trip to Minneapolis in 2007 that...

As our series is just two episodes away from our 50th release of 2025, we wanted to take a moment to step back from our spotlight interviews to share some fun facts and insights from your NTDC 2025 Podcast co-hosts, Eugene Mulero and Greg Thompson. As you’ll hear, this episode was inspired by Eugene, who wanted to provide our audience with the opportunity to get to know the people behind the micro...

If you have ever had the opportunity to spend five minutes with Roland Bolduc, you would see that it’s very clear safety has remained as a constant and a motivator throughout what has been an amazing career that now spans 41 years. As you will hear in this episode of the podcast, safety and a desire to challenge himself and those around him to be the best have fueled Roland’s drive to win 20 state...

Seven months and 45 episodes ago, Jacob Pierce from the American Trucking Associations was the first featured guest on this podcast just three days into the start of the New Year. Now, as we stand less than three weeks away from the start of NTDC 2025, Jacob returns to the show to talk to us about the months-long preparations and what we can expect in Minneapolis when the competition begins on Aug...

When FedEx’s Chris Buswell heard his name called for the first time as the Grand Champion of Massachusetts, it just happened to be the voice of the same person who shared some important advice with Chris several years ago. Brian Singelais, the 2015 National Champ in 5-Axle who had taken the time to become a mentor to Chris prior to the 2018 State TDC, had the honor of calling Chris to the stage to...

How do you become a living legend within the NTDC Community? That’s the one question we did not ask Dan Shamrell, who is our featured guest on this episode of the podcast. First of all, Dan is far too humble to try to attempt to answer that question. As you will hear in this episode, Dan would much rather talk about his family, the friends he’s made through his experience in state and national com...

When the competitors in the Tanker Class gather at NTDC 2025 in Minneapolis, this division will feature three National Grand Champions. Tanker includes the past two NTDC Grand Champions with Jackie Reed in 2024 and Gragg Wilson in 2023. The third member of the Grand Champion trio in the Tanker Class is XPO’s Jeff Langenhahn, who brought home the coveted title in 2014. And, as we’ll hear in this ed...

Much in the same way that professional drivers from across the country prepare for their State TDC that will give them a shot at qualifying for the National Championships, Heath Arnold is drawn to serve as a volunteer at the state and national levels of the competition. Heath, who is Director of Safety and Compliance at ABF Freight, has the deepest respect for the men and women behind the wheel wh...

How do you top winning the State Grand Championship in New York in 2024? Mark McLean of FedEx Freight provided that answer in 2025 when he became the back-to-back Grand Champion from the Empire State. For Mark, who is a veteran of TDC competitions dating back some 20 years, the opportunity to bring home the day’s top trophy from the New York State Truck Driving Championships moved his career total...

Miguel Sanchez of UPS believes in preparation. Like countless professional drivers on the road today, Miguel stays prepared for the unexpected. In the hours before the Florida Trucking Association held its awards dinner for this year’s Sunshine State Truck Driving Championships, Miguel considered the possibility of winning the Grand Championship. He took a few minutes to be prepared for the unexpe...

In early June, Ritch Fundell brought home his fifth Grand Championship for the state of Illinois. One of the many people in the crowd cheering Ritch as he won the Tanker Class Championship en route to the day’s top trophy was his son, who had driven five hours from Iowa State to support his Dad at the competition. In this episode of the podcast, we spend some time talking to Ritch about the suppor...

What goes into developing the driving courses for the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships? During this episode of the podcast, we asked that question and touched on a number of related topics with Frank Ems, the member of the NTDC 2025 Organizing Committee who has headed up the course design at the national championships for the past few years. In this extensive inte...

In the days prior to winning what would be his 7th career Rhode Island State TDC Grand Championship, Joe Hicks of XPO was being honored on the floor of the Rhode Island State House. Joe heard a proclamation from the Rhode Island Speaker of the House being read to commemorate his National Championship victory in 4-Axle at NTDC 2024. Alongside Joe at the State Capitol that day was his XPO Service Ce...

Recorded on June 20 when the start of NTDC 2025 was just 60 days away, this episode of the podcast gave us the opportunity to catch up with Bob Foskey, who is serving as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for NTDC 2025. We talked with Bob on a range of topics, including the planning and preparation for welcoming the competitors, their families, friends and fans of the event to what has becom...

Ramon Guzman of FedEx Freight has become a fixture at the California Truck Driving Championships and he is a true testament to perseverance. Until breaking through in 2025 winning the title in the Flatbed Division, Ramon had claimed his first and only state championship 17 years ago. Yet, in always returning to the TDCs in California, which has regional competition to qualify for state finals, Ram...

What does it take to host a pair of State TDCs at the same location for the first time? We asked this question and many more during our recent conversation with Louis Campion, the President & CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association. As you’ll hear, Louis and his MMTA Team always have the State TDCs circled on their calendars. In 2025, that day was Saturday, June 7. And this year, Maryland...

How do you win three State TDC Grand Championships in a row? That’s the question we asked Kentucky’s John Willinger a few weeks after he took home the top trophy in the Bluegrass State for a third straight year. A proud member of Team FedEx, John will be making his 15th trip to the Nationals when he arrives in Minneapolis this August. We talked with John about his success in the state championship...

Over the past 25 years or so, Dan Istre had become a fixture at the Idaho TDC and a regular presence at NTDC, with 23 State TDCs and seven national appearances prior to 2025. Dan was one of the stalwarts on the Yellow Freight Team, but he had to find a new ride following that company’s closure. In addition, Dan had to qualify for the competition once again with his new carrier, XPO. It was a test...

For 2025 Nevada TDC Grand Champion Tim Stanga, the journey back to the NTDC took a little more than a decade and included a move to Las Vegas. The last time Tim was part of the Nationals field was in 2014 when he qualified as part of Team Arizona as a state champion. Tim put himself in contention for the gold of the Silver State’s Grand Championship by first winning the 4-Axle Vehicle Class State...

For this episode of the series, PodWheels went on the road to attend the Tennessee State TDC Awards Banquet that was held on the first Saturday in May, following the two-day competition. Hosted by the Tennessee Trucking Association, the State TDC Banquet not only honors all the competitors seeking to be a part of NTDC 2025, but the evening is also reserved to spotlight the state’s Driver of the Ye...

With this episode of the podcast, we are starting a series of features on members of the NTDC Organizing Committee. As we get closer to NTDC 2025 in Minneapolis, we’ll drop in interviews with some of the people who help to make the national championships a reality each year. To kick off this series, we caught up with Jason Wing, who has been involved with NTDC since 2010. Jason served as the Organ...

For Herschel Evans and for everyone involved in this year’s Georgia Truck Driving Championships, the event was a true emotional rollercoaster. The cheers for the hard-earned victories that secured championships and positions in the NTDC 2025 field were softened by the fact that the Georgia Trucking Community had lost a champion and a friend with the passing of Matt Awbrey following the first day o...

South Carolina’s Steve Ward is no stranger to success at both the State TDC and at the Nationals. Eight years ago, Steve narrowly missed having his name called for a trophy at NTDC 2017. That experience was one of three previous trips Steve has made to the Nationals as a State Champion. At this year’s South Carolina TDC, Steve was on the top of his game, winning the 3-Axle Division title before he...

As the competitors prepare to hit the course this Saturday in the Tri-State TDCs, we saved an interview that two-time National Grand Champion Roland Bolduc recorded with Jimmy Dixon earlier this year for our Rollin’ With Roland features. Both Roland and Jimmy are slated to be a part of the field at the Tri-State as the TDCs for Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts will decide who qual...

Just before the State Trucking Driving Championships got rolling again on May 31, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson sat down with Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero to dedicate an episode of the podcast to looking back at the state TDCs that are already in the books on the Road To Minneapolis. Recorded on May 30th, Greg and Eugene discuss the fact the NTDC 2025 field will feat...