Sitting in the Atlanta airport last Saturday afternoon (Sept. 5), Ramon Guzman held a level of anticipation and excitement that would easily rival a large group of kids on Christmas Eve.
A two-time State Truck Driving Championships title holder from California with decades of safe miles to his credit, Guzman knew he had just one last leg of a momentous trip — a trip that actually began in Ireland about a year ago. The months and weeks of working and waiting had been whittled down to mere days, hours, minutes and even seconds.
Guzman’s dream of being part of the first Team USA to compete in the UICR Professional Driver World Championships (PDWC) was in its final countdown toward a joyous reality as he waited to board the flight that would bring him to Germany.
“I can’t believe we are this close,” said Guzman upon hearing the countdown had been reduced to a little more than just three days while he was in Atlanta. “Last year in Ireland, they had an exhibition competition with some of the (PDWC) countries, including the defending world champion Finland.
“I helped put together a small group of three drivers from the U.S, to go to Ireland (last year), but I ended up being the only one who could make the trip,” he continued. “It was a great experience, and it was very humbling. But I told the people there that I would be back, and that I would be bringing a team with me.”
As the sun rose on Wednesday morning, Sept. 9, in the Heidelberg region of Germany, Guzman became a man of his word. His proof of delivery is a 15-member-strong Team USA that’s prepared for the pioneering adventure of competing in the 33rd edition of the UICR Professional Driver World Championships.
This first edition of Team USA has collectively put together the type of domestic credentials that are poised to make the stars and stripes shine among the world’s best professional drivers.
Team USA features 12 state championship title holders, four Captains from the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) America’s Road Team, two TA Citizen Drivers and two legends behind the wheel who have amassed great success at the state and national levels through the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships (NTDC) program for over two decades.
“The amount of expertise and talent that we have on this team is unbelievable,” observed Guzman. “We are pioneers, and to me, this is a dream team.”
Click here to listen to the Podwheels podcast featuring Team USA.
Making one man’s dream into a competitive team
Unlike the plane carrying Guzman from Atlanta to Germany on Saturday (a flight that generally lasts a little under 10 hours), it took months for the concept of a Team USA to gather the necessary support and momentum to take flight and eventually land its 15-member team at the PDWCs in Germany.
Following his experience in Ireland, Guzman reached out to Jacob Pierce, the executive director of the Safety Management Council & Transportation Security Council for ATA. Pierce also oversees the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships program.
In order for Team USA to be eligible to compete in the PDWCs, the rules require that a trucking association from the country applying to participate in the world competition join the UICR. The PDWCs are currently held every two years (the event Guzman attended in Ireland last year was an exhibition).
With a history that dates back to its first competition in 1974, the Professional Driver World Championships is a global event that seeks to bring together the world’s elite truck, bus, coach and van drivers to test precision, safety, environmental efficiency and real‑world driving skills.
Seeing an opportunity to provide a platform for some of America’s safest and accomplished drivers to shine on the international stage, Pierce navigated the route that added the ATA as a member of the European-based UICR, a global alliance dedicated to advancing professionalism and excellence in the driving profession.
Building the inaugural Team USA
While a membership by ATA in the UICR was being secured, the challenge became fielding a team from the United States that could compete in the PDWCs six divisions — trucks, buses, tractor-trailers, drawbar trailers, delivery vans and young drivers ages 18 to 21. (Note: Team USA will not be competing in the young driver category during the 2026 PDWCs.)
By the time that the door was officially opened to create Team USA, the calendar had moved to a point where sponsor dollars to cover the cost of the competitors’ expenses were difficult to find. In addition to the expense of overseas travel, entry fees and team uniforms, there was also the issue of finding interested competitors who had the ability (or available vacation time) to take off from work to join Team USA in Germany.
During the State TDC season as the state champions were qualifying for NTDC 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pierce and Guzman led targeted efforts on some NTDC-focused Facebook groups to invite drivers to learn more about joining Team USA for the World Championships. In addition to the social media posts, Pierce, Guzman and a few others championing the creation of Team USA launched other other grassroots efforts to reach out within their respective networks.
The invitations the group sent out made it quite clear that team members, while they could find individual sponsors, would be responsible for covering all their expenses, and they needed to have the vacation time to make the trip to the World Championships.
“The way I see it, this is part of being a pioneer,” explained Guzman. “This year, we needed to pay our way there and do whatever it takes to make it better for the people who are going to follow us at the world championships in the future.”
Stunned by the response to ‘the call’
Guzman and Pierce didn’t know what to expect from the grassroots campaign to recruit what would essentially become the inaugural Team USA. As it turns out, the prospect of being a member of the first Team USA to compete in the World Championships was very intriguing to a number of highly accomplished professional drivers.
Before Guzman knew it, America’s Road Team Captains Richard Frazer, Ron Round and Nathan Wick were on board. Jim Kohr, the 2024 Straight Truck National Champion and living legend because of all his state championships in New York, had put the PDWCs and Team USA on his bucket list before his upcoming retirement from the road.
“I was surprised that so many people came in and they said, ‘I want to do this. I’ll pay and I’ll go,’” observed Guzman. “Then, I started looking at the team as it was coming together, and I was really impressed.”
Team USA also grabbed the attention of Robert Fernald, a TA Citizen Driver from Connecticut. Fernald then reached out to a couple of his fellow Northeast driving professionals, and both Jason Murphy and Diethild Holbein were ready to roll with the red, white and blue.
A retired veteran driver with State TDC experience from Maine, Holbein is fluent in German; she is serving as Team USA’s Captain.
“This is such an honor, and it’s definitely the most exciting thing that I’ve done in my trucking career,” expressed Holbein. “We are putting our money where we believe that this is something for the USA to be involved in, and we’re willing to do these first steps for the teams in the future.
“None of us said, ‘I can’t do it because I can’t pay for it,’” she continued, noting the American team’s can-do attitude. “We looked at this opportunity, and we just said, ‘Fine, we’ll find the money.’”
Securing an NTDC legend for Team USA
In the weeks prior to NTDC 2026 taking place in Pittsburgh, Guzman got a call from Roland Bolduc, a two-time National Grand Champion who also has five National Championships, seven State Grand Championships and 21 state vehicle titles to his credit.
The two had talked previously about the NTDC legend joining Team USA, and Bolduc had begun to dive into the history of the World Championships. A true student of precision driving competitions, he also reflected on the history-making nature of this initiative.
A Captain on America’s Road Team Captain and a TA Citizen Driver with millions of safe miles on his career ledger, Bolduc chose to embrace the adventure and join the trailblazers on Team USA.
“As we compete in the United States with the American Trucking Associations putting on the National Truck Driving Championships, I couldn’t be happier. It’s what I call my family reunion,” said Bolduc. “Now, with the World Championships, I’m thinking of our overseas family that we’re about to meet — that we’re about to join their family reunion.
“It’s not only about truck driving; it’s not only about going to compete. I’m trying to think of the 20 or so countries of people that we’re about to meet,” he continued. “I feel it’s going to be very special.
“As far as the truck driving portion of it, I’ve done pretty good in the United States. I’ve had my share of luck in the United States. Man, would I like to test my metal elsewhere? That would be a lot of fun to bring that trophy back over the pond,” Bolduc concluded.
“Having Roland join us just took things to another level,” said Guzman of the Bolduc’s addition to the team.
What can team USA expect at the PDWCs?
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Team USA joined the other countries participating in the 2026 World Championships to go through their first meetings and learn details on the driving course. In addition to the skills competition, the World Championships features a pre-trip inspection and a safety exam.
“Any of us that have done these competitions in any fashion understand that we are going in here as rookies,” explained Kohr. “It’s going to be very interesting to see. We have no idea how this is going to play out.
“Everyone in the world knows about NTDC and what we do,” he continued, noting the international reputation of America’s National Truck Driving Championships. “So, it’s a little bit daunting to know that we’re going to go over there and have to perform up to expectations. But I can’t think of a better way to wind up my professional career. It’s going to be wicked cool.”
On Wednesday, during their first day on the ground at the PDWCs, Team USA learned its schedule for competition over the next couple of days. According to a note shared by Bolduc, Thursday will see Team USA take the written exam and the Americans are also scheduled to compete in the vehicle inspection phase of the World Championships.
In addition, Bolduc noted that at some point on Thursday, Team USA will have 30 minutes to check out the vehicles they’ll be driving on the course. Team USA members will be behind the wheel on the driving course Friday afternoon. At the World Championships, the individual countries run as a group, with Team USA taking turns following each other in the vehicle classes in which competitors are entered.
Last week, during the last pre-event call, Road Team Captain Round drew a good laugh from his teammates in using his experience as a veteran of state and national competitions to bring up a fish-out-of-water comparison.
“Look, we’re the Jamaican bobsled team. But I also know that it’s going to be a lot of fun, and it’s going to be a challenge,” Round added before noting his assignment on Team USA. “I ended up in ‘passenger bus’ because I have that endorsement, and I’m one of the few who does. Now, I’ve never driven a passenger bus, but it’s got wheels and I’m going to drive it. We’ll see what we can do.”
Round’s approach to the World Championships is one that has become a common theme for the members of Team USA.
“This is going to be an honor and a pleasure,” said Phillip Glover, winner of multiple state championships who has become a regular at the NTDC. “I would say this is the pinnacle of my trucking career. It will be a learning experience for all of us. We’re going to go out there and do the best that we can. This is an all-new level for us and it’s a different ballgame.”
Team USA
The inaugural edition of Team USA, competing this week in the UICR Professional Driver World Championships, includes:
- Jamie Bautista
- Kenny Bergland
- Roland Bolduc
- Mario Camacho
- Ray Carroll
- Robert Fernald
- Richard Frazer
- Zach Fazer
- Phillip Glover
- Ramon Guzman
- Diethild Holbein
- Jim Kohr
- Jason Murphy
- Ron Round
- Nathan Wick
Greg Thompson is an award-winning writer and producer who has worked in the trucking industry in a variety of roles since 1998. With more than a decade’s worth of experience as a journalist prior entering trucking, Greg is the founder and executive producer of PodWheels.com, a podcast network dedicated to spotlighting the trucking industry.
Since 2019, PodWheels has provided specialized coverage of the National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships. Over its history, the NTDC Podcast Series has provided more than 150 hours of podcast content highlighting the competitors, organizers and volunteers involved with the Truck Driving Championships at both the state and national levels. The NTDC program, which is hosted annually by the American Trucking Associations, has a history that dates back to 1937.
Beginning in 2025, PodWheels was chosen by the ATA to serve as the Official Podcaster for the NTDC. PodWheels’ coverage of the NTDC, including state competitions and other features, is available through RoadToNTDC.com.
