PITTSBURGH — Earlier this week, FedEx Freight driver David Comings had been watching some of the competitors navigate the semifinal course at the 2026 National Truck Driving and National Step Van Driving Championships (NTDC) that are taking place here this week.
Comings, the reigning NTDC Grand Champion, had stationed himself at the skyway window inside the David L. Lawrence Civic Center, the site of this year’s edition of the National Championships hosted by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
Like many of the competitors scheduled to drive on Day 2 of the semifinals, Comings was leveraging the unique opportunity to get an overhead view of how the state champions approached the course on Day 1 of competition. As Comings and his wife, Judy, were leaving their observation post in the skyway, they spotted a friend they’d made last year through the NTDC community.
The Comings and their friend were catching up the events of the past year as Derek Barrs, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and his onsite team from the FMCSA came into view on the skyway. The friend immediately recognized Barrs, and wanted to make sure the administrator had a chance to meet and say hello to Comings and his wife. So, the friend waved and called out to Barrs.
Barrs essentially stopped in mid-stride — and he did more than just say hello. Barrs complimented Comings on his speech during the Drivers’ Meeting on Day 1. Barrs also thanked Comings — who is this year’s North Dakota State Grand Champion — for the continued example he sets for the industry through his dedication to safety.
As Barrs and his group wrapped up the conversation and turned to head down the next hall, turning the corner to head down the next hall, Judy Comings (who was not in the Drivers Meeting on Tuesday) turned to her husband to ask, “Who was that?”
Upon hearing that Barrs leads the FMCSA, which oversees regulatory compliance and enforcement across the trucking industry, she took a minute to let the information sink in: Barrs had taken time out of his schedule to visit with them. He knew their names.
“Wow!” she exclaimed. “Really? He’s here? Wow!”
Maximizing Opportunities to Engage Drivers
What David and Judy Comings experienced with Barrs and his team is only one example of how the group from FMCSA is spending their time at NTDC 2026. While Barrs and his team have held a number of onsite meetings with various industry stakeholders, including members of the ATA Leadership Team, the FMCSA has structured Barrs’ time in Pittsburgh so he can personally engage with many of the 429 state champions who are competing at NTDC.
Barrs has taken full advantage of the opportunity to visit with competing drivers, who are in sequestered rooms that the NTDC calls “bullpens.” Under NTDC rules, the competitors gathered in their respective bullpens are not allowed access to any of their personal electronic devices.
While drivers can visit with each other, the primary purpose of the bullpen is to provide a waiting area until it’s their turn to drive on the course. Depending on the number of times a driver has been to NTDC, the time in the bullpen can sometimes be monotonous and a bit nerve-wracking.
To have the leader of the agency whose policies govern the do’s and don’ts for you out on the road ask about your experiences as a professional driver can be a welcome break. At times, an NTDC bullpen is the very place where Tom Petty’s immortal lyrics definitely ring true: The waiting in the NTDC bullpen can be “the hardest part.”
An Opportunity to Be Heard
After hearing some of the feedback from the competitors, it can be assumed that the brief visits by Barrs and the FMCSA team to the bullpens left a positive impression with drivers.
One of the more than 30 rookie state champions experiencing the NTDC bullpen for the first time shared his experience:
“I was sitting there waiting and kind of in my own thoughts when I saw him walk into our bullpen,” he said of meeting Barrs. “He spent some time talking to us, and he listened to what we had to say. I think that says a lot about him and his team — that they’re spending so much time here this week.”
As for Barrs, he says he found the meetings in the bullpens to be some of the most valued experiences of his week at NTDC 2026 during a Wednesday interview with PodWheels
“We got the opportunity to go around to the bullpens, talking to the drivers, spending time with them and understanding exactly what got you here and what’s important to you,” Barrs told PodWheels. “What I hear — and what we continuously hear — is that quality and training and making sure that you have the right people behind the wheel of commercial vehicles that are dedicated to safety (is vital).
“We want to make sure rules and regulations and enforcement are in place to remove the bad actors that are in this industry,” Barrs continued. “This industry by far is safe. However, it’s like any other profession: There are bad folks, bad entities, bad carriers, bad drivers, all of those things, just like in other professions.”
Promoting Collaboration Between Law Enforcement and the Trucking Industry
One of the most striking points of Barrs’ conversation with PodWheels is the extremely high value that he’s placed on the role of feedback throughout his career. He told PodWheels:
“Feedback is something that I have always had a passion for, and our teams have a passion for — to listen to the people that do these jobs every single day,” Barrs said as he recalled his time serving as the chief official with the Florida Highway Patrol. “When I was a trooper, drivers didn’t necessarily know everything that went into being a trooper, but we can have respect for one another, and we can learn from one another on how to get better.
“I think that’s very important, because law enforcement and the trucking industry have to work together,” he continued “I think there’s so much outreach and education to people who are working together in this portion of the industry.”
Click here to listen to FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs’ onsite interview with PodWheels.
As an example of the outreach that can be available between law enforcement and trucking, Barrs shared some observations on a program he put in place while leading the Florida Highway Patrol.
“We would ask a (truck) driver to ride along with a trooper. That would give that driver an opportunity to understand what that trooper went through every day,” Barrs said. “But then I’d take that same trooper and put him in the truck with that driver and let him or her ride with them for the entire day — understanding the issues that they have at the loading dock, understanding the issues or non-issues that they have when they’re working with the shippers and brokers.
“There’s maneuvering in and out of traffic, when traffic is not always great, but it gives them a better understanding and respect of what they have to go through,” he continued “I think that program was very successful, and we’ve talked about how we’re going to expand that out in the future here with FMCSA and our other state partners to make that a priority.”
The People of Trucking Are the Best Part of the Job for Barrs
PodWheels asked Barrs to share what he viewed as the best part of his job in leading the FMCSA. Given the amount of time he and his team have spent in conversation with the State Champions and those supporting them at NTDC 2026, his answer did not come as a surprise:
“The best part of my job is being able to meet so many wonderful people that are doing really good things for this country,” Barrs said. “The trucking industry as a whole, no matter what part of the trucking industry that you’re in — whether you’re a driver, whether you’re a dispatch, whether you’re in safety, whether you’re a mechanic, it doesn’t really make any difference.
“What I’m seeing is how much we as Americans focus on that, how we depend on that. I think it’s a very, very noble profession, and we need to be talking about it more from a workforce development standpoint. We need to talk about it in those terms of what it does for the economy, what it does for the American people,” he continued.
“On the flip side of that, we need to talk about the bad things that are in there that make trucking maybe have a bad name or the industry have a bad name and root that garbage out,” Barrs emphasized. “But, again, the best part is just being around the really good people that are here trying to make those things happen and keeping safety at the forefront.”
Joining Friday’s Festivities and Parade of Champions
Without a doubt, Barrs and his onsite team have become immersed in the NTDC experience. In addition to addressing the state champions at the beginning of the competition and spending time in the bullpens during the semifinals, Barrs has taken a ride through the semifinal course aboard a golf cart with veteran NTDC organizing committee members Rick Cates and Jason Wing serving as the tour guides.
Following the annual Parade of Champions on Friday morning, Barrs will climb aboard one of the big rigs in the traditional Parade of Equipment. This has become a fan favorite of the packed house. Barrs will be hearing cheers from the crowd as he makes the lap in the jump seat around the parade route.
“Anytime I can get the opportunity to sit in the cab of a truck with a driver and … and be a part of this — I’m excited about that,” said Barrs about his plans for Championship Friday at NTDC. “That just shows how important the partnerships are
“I’m really proud of everybody that’s here this week, and I look forward to more interaction with them,” he concluded.
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.
In 2025, PodWheels’ NTDC Series earned the honor of being named the official podcast of the National Championships by the American Trucking Associations, which hosts the annual nationwide competition.
During 2025 alone, PodWheels produced some 100 episodes and provided over 50 hours of podcast content highlighting the competitors, organizers and volunteers involved with the Truck Driving Championships at both the state and national levels. PodWheels’ coverage of the NTDC, including state competitions and other features, is available through RoadToNTDC.com.
