NTDC News Archives | PodWheels

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 the process to be prepared for competition while staying safe with ev...

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 NTDC Podcast know th...

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 Thompson wrapped up his day onsite by chatting with Eri...

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 Empire State represented his first visit to Safety Dr...

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 work of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. The money raised to date for Safety Drive 2026 represents a single-year...

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 NTDC that regularly draws State and National champions from across the country.

With his combined efforts on the co...

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 Excellence Award.

For this episode, we will be f...

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 talk with Brent and Laura as they entered the final we...

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 a memorable time at Safety Drive 2026. This NTDC-style competition benefits the Pediatric Br...

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 the driving professionals who were gathered in Minneapolis last su...

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 out his NTDC career in 2019 in Pittsburgh by helping Pennsylvania secure the State Team...

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 will hear, Da...

This episode of the series is highlighted by our feature interview with Heath Arnold, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for NTDC 2026. Heath joins the podcast about 26 minutes into the episode, providing us an update on the onsite visit that the NTDC Organizing Committee made earlier this month to Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Heath talks to us about the meticulous planning and hundreds of details that must be covered in preparation for this August and NTDC 2026. For instance, the committee measures the distance between the bullpens and the driving course as part of...