XPO Announces Team of 36 Drivers Competing in National Truck Driving Championships

July 19, 2026  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

The annual NTDC, hosted by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), is the trucking industry’s premier safety and skills competition. Known as the “Super Bowl of Safety,” NTDC dates to 1937 and brings together hundreds of the nation’s most accomplished professional drivers to compete for the coveted title of National Grand Champion.

Mario Harik, chairman and chief executive officer of XPO, said, "The National Truck Driving Championships recognize the best professional drivers in our industry, and we're proud to have 36 XPO drivers competing this year. Their commitment to safety, discipline and excellence reflects the high standards they uphold every day for our customers. We look forward to cheering them on in Pittsburgh."

XPO’s finalists come from 23 states and have collectively appeared at NTDC over 200 times. Each qualified for nationals by winning their vehicle class at their state championships and maintaining an accident-free driving record for more than one year.

Five of XPO’s finalists were named Grand Champions of their state competitions, earning the highest overall score across nine equipment categories. Each of these five drivers has achieved at least one million consecutive accident-free miles during their time at XPO.

XPO’s five state Grand Champions are:

Chris Poynor (Washington): Chris will appear at his 10^th nationals, representing Washington as Grand Champion for the second year in a row. He has driven over two million accident-free miles over his 25 years at XPO.

Curt McMellon (Louisiana): Curt won Rookie of the Year at his first Louisiana Truck Driving Championships and is returning to nationals for the seventh year. Since joining XPO in 2010, he has driven over one million accident-free miles.

Ernie Budlowski (Connecticut): Ernie is returning to nationals for the 15^th year, following a second-place finish at the 2025 NTDC. He has driven over two million accident-free miles over his 31-year career at XPO.

Joe Hicks (Rhode Island): Joe is an eight-time Rhode Island Grand Champion and is competing at nationals for the 12^th time. He has driven over one million accident-free miles since he joined XPO in 2007.

Steve Iburg (Iowa): Steve is making his sixth trip to nationals, having achieved two million accident-free miles earlier this year after 23 years on the road with XPO.
 

XPO’s 2026 NTDC Finalists

Arizona           Andrew Orozco
California        Jimmie Roy
Connecticut     Ernie Budlowski
                        Tom Griffin
                        John Brown
Idaho               Ben Scholes
                        Josh Jetton
                        Jeff Halford
Iowa                David Wollbrink
                        Steve Iburg
Louisiana        Curt McMellon
Massachusetts Rich Sweeney
Michigan         Ron Looks
Minnesota       Nick Farness
Montana          Bruce Winter
                        Dustin Lofts
                        Scott Courtney
Nevada            Brandon Hardy
New Jersey     Lorenso Ramos
                        Miguel Valle
New Mexico   James Martinez
New York       Dave May
North Dakota  Brad Morrow
                        Jon Simonson
Ohio                Matthew Keeney
Pennsylvania   Tommy Pearce
Rhode Island   Joe Daccache
                        Joe Hicks
Vermont          Lenny Trifaro
Virginia           Robbie Cottrell
Washington     Chris Poynor
                        Ray Sitton
                        Robert Dean
                        Andrey Grishchuk
West Virginia Larry Gorby
Wisconsin       Jeremy Steger

To learn more about each competitor, visit the NTDC webpage on XPO.com.