National Truck Driving Championships

As we hit the ground in Indianapolis for the NTDC 2024, our podcast was on hand for the orientation and welcome for this year’s field of competitors. In this episode of the podcast, Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero and PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson take you behind the scenes of Day One. You will hear welcoming presentations from Senator Mike Braun from Indiana and Gragg...

As NTDC 2024 gets underway in Indianapolis, our podcast presents the interview Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero had earlier this year with NTDC Legend Ray Simon, the only competitor in the history of the event to win three National Grand Championships. As you’ll hear, what makes Simon’s accomplishment shine even greater is the fact the pride of Minnesota qualified for the nationals t...

With NTDC 2024 set to open on August 24, our podcast brings you three of the State Grand Champions who will be in Indianapolis representing FedEx. You will hear interviews with Hobie Eirich from Tennessee, Mike Light from Pennsylvania and Matthew Boenisch from Wisconsin. All three of these State Grand Champions share their thoughts on being part of the NTDC 2024 field with Transport Topics Senior...

On August 9, our podcast had the privilege of welcoming special guest Patti Gillette, who is the Chairwoman of the NTDC Organizing Committee for the 2024 event. Patti was very generous with her time as we covered a number of topics of interest for the participants who have reached the nationals, their families and the fans of the event. Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero and PodWheels...

Question: Where can you find the reigning National Grand Champion, a history-making National Champion and a Lifetime Member of the NTDC Organizing Committee in one place? The answer is this episode of the NTDC 2024 Podcast. Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero will be talking to Ina Daly, who became the first woman to win a National Championship in one of the nine classifications back in...

Old Dominion is one of the handful of companies that has continued to place an increased focus in the past few years on encouraging and supporting drivers in their efforts to compete in state truck driving championships across the country. Over the past three years, Old Dominion has steadily seen its number of national qualifiers on the rise. This year, Old Dominion will be sending a company-recor...

Connecticut’s Ernie Budlowski is in the spotlight as we count down the final days until the start of NTDC 2024 in Indianapolis. Securing his third State Grand Championship earlier this year, Ernie will be making his 13th trip to the national championships when they get underway August 21st. Ernie will also be leading a Connecticut team that won the NTDC Team trophy in 2023. In his feature intervie...

Richard Sweeney, the 2024 Grand Champion from the state of Massachusetts, joins the podcast as we enter our final countdown to NTDC 2024. During this episode, you’ll hear how Richard followed in the footsteps of his father to enter the trucking industry. In his interview with Eugene Mulero from Transport Topics, Richard also shares how he first learned about the state precision driving competition...

A National Champion in 2022, Wilbert Vano is grateful and thrilled for the opportunity to return to Indianapolis and to once again be among the nation’s elite professional drivers coming together for NTDC 2024. As you will hear in his interview with Eugene Mulero from Transport Topics, Wilbert’s dedication to preparation placed him on a path to the 2024 Grand Championship in the state of New Jerse...

While Tyler Rogers will be making his fifth career trip to the Nationals in Indianapolis, his rise to become the 2024 Grand Champion from the state of Colorado even surprised Tyler. As you will hear him share in another great interview by Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero, Tyler simply kept his focus on the driving course at the state. Taking home the competition’s top trophy was an u...

In this episode of the podcast, we’ll meet John Willinger, who will be returning to Indianapolis and NTDC 2024 after now winning back-to-back Grand Champion titles in the state of Kentucky. As Transport Topics Senior Reporter Eugene Mulero shares with us, John has been a constant presence at the NTDC event, with 2024 marking the 14th time in his career that he has qualified for the nationals. Thro...

We are thrilled to welcome Jacob Pierce from the American Trucking Associations to a special edition of the podcast. Jacob is an Executive Director for ATA overseeing the Safety Management Council and the Transportation Security Council. As you will hear during the podcast, Jacob is the point person on staff at ATA serving as the liaison for the National Truck Driving & National Step Van Drivi...

In this special episode of the podcast, we will be bringing you a segment from the Dave Nemo Weekends radio show that originally aired during Father’s Day Weekend. Trucking Radio Pioneer and legendary broadcaster Dave Nemo had asked Eugene Mulero from Transport Topics to join him on Dave Nemo Weekends, which airs every Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 to 11:00 Eastern Time on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Truc...

As we enter July and begin the final countdown to NTDC 2024, we wanted to take you inside the national competition preparations of Roland Bolduc, one of the most accomplished champions in the long history of the NTDC. This year, Roland is the only returning National Grand Champion in the field, and, as he shares with us, the state results from across the country this year have inspired him to trai...

We have a father-son story to share with you in this edition of the podcast. Eugene Mulero, Senior Reporter for Transport Topics, brings us his interviews with the father-son duo of Nate and Andrew Lewis. Nate, who is a past National Champion, has been a member of the NTDC Organizing Committee for a number of years, while Andrew is fresh off a second-place finish competing in his first State Truck...

In this edition of the podcast, we hear the onsite interviews from the road trip that Eugene Mulero made as part of his coverage for Transport Topics of the NTDC state qualifying rounds. Eugene traveled to Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to be a part of the New England Truck Driving Championships. We will hear interviews from the Grand Champions who were crowned for the states of Connecticut, Massachu...

We’re turning back the pages of the state truck driving championships to a result happened earlier this year when David Coffel brought home the grand champion’s title at the Arizona Trucking Association’s State Championships. Eugene Mulero, Senior Reporter from Transport Topics, spent some time chatting with David on his return to the NTDC. In 2023, David was one of the standouts in Columbus earni...

In this episode of the podcast, the state of Georgia is on our mind and in focus as we highlight the Grand Championship claimed by Chris Moore. As you will hear, it was at an early age that Chris gained an appreciation for trucking and the skills it takes to compete on both the state and national levels. Chris’ Dad, Ben, is a 14-time state champion in the annual Georgia event, and Ben has also tak...

As we close out May and begin the final countdown to NTDC 2024, we will spend some time talking with Dan Shamrell from Oregon and Tim Blair from Tennessee. In addition to being members of the FedEx Team who have earned a spot in this year’s Nationals in Indianapolis, Dan and Tim have both shown the power that the pre-trip phase in the competition can have on your score. As you’ll hear, Dan, in win...

In this episode of the podcast, we are delivering a “Virginia Special,” as we’ll have onsite interviews conducted by Eugene Mulero, Senior Reporter from Transport Topics. You’ll hear Eugene’s conversation with David Price, who ran the table at the competition to win the Grand Champion’s title from Virginia. David was part of the FedEx Team that excelled at the Virginia TDC. Among the other onsite...

Larry Gorby from West Virginia and Ina Daly from Arizona are in the spotlight during another mega-edition of our NTDC Podcast, which was recorded on May 8. You will hear Eugene Mulero, Senior Reporter from Transport Topics and co-author of   “From  Roadeo  To TDC ,” look back at the state TDCs that have taken place between mid-April and this episode’s recording date. We will bring you Eugene’s int...

In this supersized edition of the podcast, you will hear an interview with the 2024 Grand Champion from Nevada, Matt Hart.  Podcast co-host Eugene Mulero, a Senior Reporter with Transport Topics, talks with Matt about earning the top prize in the Silver State, and Eugene also discusses the stunning news that Gragg Wilson, the 2023 NTDC Grand Champion, finished second in the Nevada state qualifier....

Recorded on April 3, the second episode of 2024 edition of our NTDC series takes you inside this year’s first state championship, which was held in Louisiana, and we also discuss the approaches the past two National Grand Champions are taking to prepare for their respective state driving competitions. You will hear interviews conducted by Eugene Mulero, a Senior Reporter with Transport Topics, as...

PodWheels Powered By RadioNemo is thrilled to once again rev up our podcast series dedicated to the National Truck Driving & National Step Van Driving Championships . We plan to have at least one episode per month leading up to NTDC 2024 this August in Indianapolis. Eugene Mulero, Senior Reporter for Transport Topics, will join us for the series. As you will hear, Eugene, who co-authored the b...

As we bring our coverage of NTDC 2023 to a conclusion, we asked Eugene Mulero to give us his final thoughts on this year’s national championships. A Senior Reporter with Transport Topics, Eugene is also the co-author of a book covering the 86-year history of the NTDC. In this episode, Eugene takes us inside Gragg Wilson’s first trip the national finals. As you’ll hear, it was qui...