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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 every mile that they drive. Many of the insights that Jackie and David share related to their experiences over the past couple of years can serve as both a blueprint and an inspiration for anyone looking at making another run at your State TDC or entering your State TDC for the first time.

It’s a fascinating conversation between the last two people who have climbed to the top of the NTDC Mountain, and it’s clear they understand getting back to the Nationals is a step-by-step process that begins by being ready for your State TDCs.

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the event’s organizers, volunteers and participants continue to work to drive their all-time fundraising total over the past 15 years to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SPONSOR:  The Lutzie 43 Foundation is our Friend of the Podcast for this episode of the NTDC 2026 Series. Founded to honor the legacy of Philip Lutzenkirchen, the Lutzie 43 Foundation is dedicated to make sure that the tragedy that took his life would never have to be repeated. Philip was a standout athlete, a beloved teammate, and a man of tremendous character. Today, the foundation that carries his name is working to change the driving culture across the Southeast and beyond by tackling distracted driving, impaired driving, and unsafe habits behind the wheel. To learn more about the Lutzie 43 Foundation and how you can use 43 Key Seconds to run through an important safety checklist before starting your vehicle, visit Lutzie43.org.

The post Reed and Comings: An Appreciation for Winning It All And Starting The Climb Again appeared first on PodWheels.

With this episode, Grawe Group Founder & CEO Doug Grawe examines the U.S. Department of Labor’s February 26th release of the proposed rule that addresses the classification of independent contractors. Doug highlights the key components of the proposed rule that would rescind the Department of Labor’s 2024 rule related to Independent Contractor status that was issued by the Biden Administration.

While looking at what the new independent contractor rule means for trucking operations, Doug also provides historical context regarding the rule, including what’s changing from the existing Biden-era rule to the update that has been proposed by President Trump’s Department of Labor. As you’ll hear, Doug discusses a number of practical implications related to the proposed rule, including control over decisions and proof standards and how the rule can affect a carrier’s independent contractor program. Doug also notes considerations related to state-specific regulations and managing compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

Doug encourages carriers that utilize independent contractors within their respective fleets to consider connecting with experts and resources for ongoing support. Having the processes in place to stay current on the changes with rules and legal decisions, including the current independent contractor status case before the Supreme Court, will help carriers in their efforts to adapt as necessary and stay compliant. To learn more about the Grawe Group, visit the firm’s website, TheGraweGroup.com.

The post Navigating The Labor Department’s New Independent Contractor Rule  appeared first on PodWheels.

This Friday (March 27th), Long Haul Paul Marhoefer will see the fulfillment of a dream that has been 39 years in the making when steps on the Freedom Hall stage at the 2026 Mid-America Truck Show. For this edition of Destinations, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson caught up with Long Haul Paul to discuss the honor of serving as the opening performer on the main stage that will be headlined by Frank Foster on Friday night. Long Haul Paul also takes us inside his journey to reach this special moment in a career that has combined working as a professional driver while continually developing his musical talents and building a loyal group of fans.

It’s been almost a decade since Long Haul Paul recorded his first album at the age of 57. During the podcast, we’ll hear 30-Weight Coffee and The Old Cumberland from his early releases. We’ll also hear two songs from his latest live album release, The After Party Sessions.

CONNECT WITH LONG HAUL PAUL:  If you would like to learn more about Long Haul Paul, including upcoming tour dates, how you can access his albums and the variety of LHP merchandise that is available for sale, visit LongHaulPaulMusic.com.

The post Long Haul Paul’s Journey To MATS Big Stage Is A 39-Year Run appeared first on PodWheels.

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 that Herschel Evans, the chief organizer behind Safety Drive, is a veteran Captain of America’s Road Team, and a number of the participants as well as volunteers over the years also have Road Team credentials to their credit. For Safety Drive 2026, the American Trucking Associations not only sent its Image Trailer, but the ATA also had a collection of Road Team Captains and two staff members take part in what was a memorable day at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta.

During this episode of the podcast, we will be joined by Nikki Thomas, the ATA’s Vice President of Industry Affairs. Sareena Barnes, who is a Senior Associate in the Industry Affairs Department, will join us as well. Nikki and Sareena, who served as timekeepers during the pre-trip portion of the competition, will be talking to us about their first impressions of being onsite at Safety Drive. 

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the event’s organizers, volunteers and participants continue to work to drive their all-time fundraising total over the past 15 years to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SCF AT MATS: The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund Team will once again be at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. March 26-28. SCF is the only nationwide nonprofit that provides short-term relief to Class A OTR drivers suffering from an illness or injury that took them out of work within the last 365 days. SCF also provides several free prevention health and wellness programs for OTR drivers in an effort to keep them on the road. The SCF booth will be located in the Atrium section of Kentucky Expo Center. The SCF Booth Number is 40648. SCF will be hosting its MATS Silent Auction on Thursday, March 26 in the South A Lobby of the Expo Center. To learn more about the Silent Auction and SCF at MATS, please click here.

The post ATA Image Trailer and Road Team Captains Perfect Fit At Safety Drive appeared first on PodWheels.

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 Eric Davidson and Pete Dreisbach, who are UPS State Champions from Kentucky. Greg also talked with Nevada’s Randy Stromlund, a long-time NTDC standout who was the Nevada State Champ in 3-Axle last year.

As you’ll hear, Randy has served as a mentor to a host of drivers at UPS who have competed at the TDC and National levels. For this interview, Randy, Eric and Pete brought along Dominic, a new driver with UPS who was experiencing his first taste of competition at this year’s Safety Drive.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SCF AT MATS: The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund Team will once again be at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. March 26-28. SCF is the only nationwide nonprofit that provides short-term relief to Class A OTR drivers suffering from an illness or injury that took them out of work within the last 365 days. SCF also provides several free prevention health and wellness programs for OTR drivers in an effort to keep them on the road. The SCF booth will be located in the Atrium section of Kentucky Expo Center. The SCF Booth Number is 40648. SCF will be hosting its MATS Silent Auction on Thursday, March 26 in the South A Lobby of the Expo Center. To learn more about the Silent Auction and SCF at MATS, please click here.

The post UPS Building Team Spirit With Strong Safety Drive Results appeared first on PodWheels.

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 Drive. As the reigning Grand Champion from New York, Mark made the most of his initial Safety Drive experience by claiming the Twins Division Championship. Meanwhile, Tim, who caught the attention of everyone at the NTDC in 2023 as a rookie winning the Pre-Trip competition, was once again in his element at Safety Drive. Tim tied for best score on the Pre-Trip portion of Safety Drive.

While the opportunity to experience the challenges of a top-shelf driving course, written test and pre-trip against some best drivers in the country served as the perfect practice session as Mark and Tim seek to return to the Nationals in 2026, both FedEx Freight veterans were also drawn to Safety Drive because of the money the event raises to support the work of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Recorded on the Monday following Safety Drive, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson is joined on this episode by NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero.

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the event’s organizers, volunteers and participants continue to work to drive their all-time fundraising total over the past 15 years to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SPONSOR:  The Lutzie 43 Foundation is our Friend of the Podcast for this episode of the NTDC 2026 Series. Founded to honor the legacy of Philip Lutzenkirchen, the Lutzie 43 Foundation is dedicated to make sure that the tragedy that took his life would never have to be repeated. Philip was a standout athlete, a beloved teammate, and a man of tremendous character. Today, the foundation that carries his name is working to change the driving culture across the Southeast and beyond by tackling distracted driving, impaired driving, and unsafe habits behind the wheel. To learn more about the Lutzie 43 Foundation and how you can use 43 Key Seconds to run through an important safety checklist before starting your vehicle, visit Lutzie43.org.

The post Mark McLean and Tim Blair Give Back While Sharpening Skills At Safety Drive appeared first on PodWheels.

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 record amount in the 15-year history of the event.

During this episode of the podcast, you will meet Alissa Karas, who is a Director in the Fund-Raising Department at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Alissa serves as the lead liaison between the Foundation and the Safety Drive Organizing Committee that is led by America’s Road Team Captain Herschel Evans. As our podcast listeners know, it was Herschel who has been the driving force behind launching and growing Safety Drive into a premiere NTDC-style event that has now raised over $491,000 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation over Safety Drive’s 15-year history. 

As you’ll hear in our conversation with her on Safety Drive Saturday, Alissa has a deep appreciation for the dedication of the nation’s professional drivers and the giving spirit that lives within the people of the trucking industry.

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the event’s organizers, volunteers and participants continue to work to drive their all-time fundraising total for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SPONSOR:  The Lutzie 43 Foundation is our Friend of the Podcast for this episode of the NTDC 2026 Series. Founded to honor the legacy of Philip Lutzenkirchen, the Lutzie 43 Foundation is dedicated to make sure that the tragedy that took his life would never have to be repeated. Philip was a standout athlete, a beloved teammate, and a man of tremendous character. Today, the foundation that carries his name is working to change the driving culture across the Southeast and beyond by tackling distracted driving, impaired driving, and unsafe habits behind the wheel. To learn more about the Lutzie 43 Foundation and how you can use 43 Key Seconds to run through an important safety checklist before starting your vehicle, visit Lutzie43.org.

The post Trucking’s Caring Heart On Full Display At Safety Drive 2026 appeared first on PodWheels.

The countdown to the 2026 edition of the Mid-America Trucking Show is in its final days, and the team at the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund is ready to make the most of their time onsite, March 26-28. SCF’s Director of Philanthropy Diane Hutsell joins the Highway To Hope to talk about the plans that SCF has for MATS 2026.

As Diane shares with us, SCF will once again be hosting its Silent Auction event on Thursday, March 26. Diane also gives us a preview of what will be happening at the SCF booth throughout the run of this year’s MATS, including the popular spin the wheel game that visitors can play by making a donation onsite. We take this opportunity to ask Diane to look back at her first year in the trucking industry and what she remembers from MATS 2025, a trip Diane made just eight days after joining SCF. To learn more about SCF and you can support their important mission, please visit TruckersFund.org.

The post SCF Is Ready For MATS 2026 With Silent Auction And Other Fun Activities appeared first on PodWheels.

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 course, in the pre-trip phase and taking the written test, Paul is traveling home to Illinois with the Sleeper Berth Championship and the day’s top competitive trophy, the Grand Champions’ Award from Safety Drive 2026. For this episode of the podcast, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson spent the day onsite at the UPS Smart Hub in Atlanta covering Safety Drive 2026, and Greg talked with Paul just minutes after the UPS veteran driver was announced as this year’s Safety Drive Grand Champion.

SAFETY DRIVE is still accepting donations as the organization led by America’s Road Team Captain Herschel Evans continues to work to drive their all-time fundraising total for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to the $500,000 mark. If you would like to make a donation to Safety Drive, please click here.

FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SPONSOR:  The Lutzie 43 Foundation is our Friend of the Podcast for this episode of the NTDC 2026 Series. Founded to honor the legacy of Philip Lutzenkirchen, the Lutzie 43 Foundation is dedicated to make sure that the tragedy that took his life would never have to be repeated. Philip was a standout athlete, a beloved teammate, and a man of tremendous character. Today, the foundation that carries his name is working to change the driving culture across the Southeast and beyond by tackling distracted driving, impaired driving, and unsafe habits behind the wheel. To learn more about the Lutzie 43 Foundation and how you can use 43 Key Seconds to run through an important safety checklist before starting your vehicle, visit Lutzie43.org.

The post Paul Barnes of UPS Earns Safety Drive’s Grand Champion Title appeared first on PodWheels.

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 featuring a conversation that NTDC Historian Eugene Mulero had with Ina while she was in Washington DC last summer. As you’ll hear, Ina talked about the significance of being involved with the Women In Motion program from ATA and she also discussed what it takes to prepare to be ready for competition.

NEW FRIEND OF THE PODCAST SPONSOR: PodWheels is honored to welcome the Lutzie 43 Foundation as a Friend of the NTDC 2026 Podcast Series. Founded to honor the legacy of Philip Lutzenkirchen, the Lutzie 43 Foundation is dedicated to make sure that the tragedy that took his life would never have to be repeated. Philip was a standout athlete, a beloved teammate, and a man of tremendous character. Today, the foundation that carries his name is working to change the driving culture across the Southeast and beyond by tackling distracted driving, impaired driving, and unsafe habits behind the wheel. To learn more about the Lutzie 43 Foundation and how you can use 43 Key Seconds to run through an important safety checklist before starting your vehicle, visit Lutzie43.org.

The post Spotlighting NTDC Legend Ina Daly Ahead of Arizona’s TDC appeared first on PodWheels.