October 24, 2025 • 24 mins
What separates a champion truck driver from the rest? For Calvin Logan, Minnesota regional champion in the sleeper truck category, the answer goes beyond technical skill—it’s about mindset. In this episode, Calvin takes us inside the world of competitive truck driving, from local contests to the high-pressure stage of the National Truck Driving Championship in Minneapolis. His story highlights not only the discipline and training required, but also the mental resilience that makes all the difference behind the wheel.
Key Takeaways
✅ State vs. Nationals — state contests felt laid back, but nationals demanded advanced backing maneuvers and razor-sharp precision
✅ Training Commitment — Calvin practiced every Monday (his only day off) for two months and took a full week off before nationals to train daily
✅ Employer Support — his company maintained his pay during competition week, easing family and financial strain
✅ Champion Mindset — success comes from staying mentally present, focusing on the immediate challenge, not the next step
✅ Life Lesson — “Don’t let the truck drive you—you drive the truck” applies to both competition and daily trucking life
✅ Blooming Onion Effect — how small setbacks can spiral if drivers don’t stay calm and in control
✅ Rookie Advice — practice every day, stay positive, and drive safe as if competing, putting your tractor and trailer exactly where you want it
Calvin Logan Links
- NTDC Information — National Truck Driving Championships https://ntdc.trucking.org/
- Minnesota Trucking Association — MTA Website https://www.mntrucking.org/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to another episode of that's
Delivered.
I'm your host, trucking Ray,and today I've got someone truly
special joining me.
Today it's Calvin Logan,minnesota regional champ in the
sleeper truck category DrivingChampionship in Minneapolis, and
(00:31):
we're going to dive into whatthe experience was like for him
and how he got into trucking andwhat life looks like both on
and off the road.
Calvin, welcome to the show.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
How are you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Not too bad.
Yeah, you know it's alwaysgreat to get together and talk
about the wins that we have, andI, uh, I mean you've really
done it.
You've made a win, uh forregional.
Uh, I mean you've done a lotalso just driving safe.
You know, a part of that isbeing safe out there on the road
.
A lot of people don't know thestruggle that's out there.
I mean, they see the videos onsocial media but they have no
(00:58):
idea what it's like in person.
Not everything gets captured.
So what was it like?
We'll just get right into it.
What was it like stepping intouh, ntdc and Minneapolis,
surrounded by some of the bestdrivers out there in the country
?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
The championship is a little.
It was a little overwhelming.
Uh state I felt was a littlemore laid back.
But yeah, once you get up withthat, like the level of driver
at champion at the championshiplevel is they're good, they're
excellent, they're excellent,yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Some of those guys go back every year, try again, and
they learn from what theypicked up on that last time and
they bring it back with them thenext time.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
What's some of the things that you, when you saw
the atmosphere expanding on that, you kind of imagine it had to
be a little different than statelevel.
How did the vibe compare tocompeting at Minnesota regional?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So it felt I'll just go back to state and then I'll
just kind of go through thechampionship.
State I felt was it was superlaid back, it wasn't you know.
And I kind of went in with amore laid back kind of mentality
as well, like, oh, you know,I'm representing the company,
I'll be able to, you know, do mybest, uh.
So it wasn't really it was fun.
(02:16):
It was still fun, right, likethe, the trucking association on
the state level and thenational level.
They do a great job with, like,making it a family atmosphere,
laid back, um, but the drivingat the state was all forward
motion, so there was no backwardbacking category at all for
(02:37):
anybody.
Um, and then getting intonationals, once you go into
nationals, there was a backingcategory and then just the level
of the mentality of the driverswere definitely more of like,
hey, I'm here to win this thing,I'm not here just to try out,
(02:58):
I'm not here to try to playgames, like you know.
Just, it was very good.
Like every professional, theylock you down for a whole day,
um, so you're not even you'reable to walk the course, um,
which we were able to do atstate.
But uh, what on competition day.
(03:18):
Yeah, they have completecontrol over you for the whole
day, which was different, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I bring, the energy I bring the motivation to help
get into the competition mindset.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I really do.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah.
So now that not every driverjumps into competitions, what
pushed you or made you want todo this?
Throw your hat in the ring andtest yourself out this way.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, the, the, yeah.
So for me it was all aboutcompetition mainly.
Uh, there are a couple otherdrivers that you know work with
us that I was like, oh, ifthey're doing it I'm gonna no
problem, I'll do it as well.
Uh, and then also it was mydaughter's birthday on the
saturday of the statecompetition and so I kind of,
you know, was like, hey, I'mtrying to get time off, that's
(04:06):
what I need to be able to dothis.
And yeah, they gave me sometime off and I was able to be
home for the daughter's birthday.
Everybody else couldn't make it, but my brother did for state,
so he competed, but mostlycompetition.
I like the competition Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's good.
I mean we need that.
It's healthy, it helps us grow,it helps us to not get stagnant
or complacent.
So very good Preparation-wise.
You know there's a lot of prepthat goes into these
championships.
People practice every day.
How did you get yourself readyand did you do anything that
surprised you once you were outthere?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
The championship competition, competition, I did,
I practiced, I came in.
I once stayed in June and so Icame in.
My off days were Mondays, so Icame in every Monday and we
would practice driving, practice, pre-trips, practice, a little
bit of the knowledge, but thatwas mostly.
I could handle that on my own,um, but yeah, every monday for
(05:08):
about seven weeks, eight weeks,it was just pre-trip drive,
pre-trip drive.
So it's pretty, yeah, it waspretty.
And then the week before,actually the week before
championship, I took off as welland I practiced every day that
whole, that whole week before.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Wow, man huge sacrifice Great.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, I tried, you know yeah especially for the
family too.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I mean making that sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I know you're, I don't know, was that pay cut in
there somewhere?
Well, I took a voluntary layoff, so I took the voluntary layoff
the week before, and then ourcompany they do pay us for doing
the championship week, so Ijust get my, my normal mileage
rate that I would have gotten.
Uh, on going over the road niceall right, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So a lot of drivers probably wondering hey, man, he
made a huge sacrifice on themoney side.
You gain a lot on theconfidence and the competition
side.
So yeah, um, great tip to letpeople know that companies do
that.
I wasn't sure if sometimes thatworks out, but uh, I did.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I'm glad that's it and like on the incentive base,
because I know a lot of guyshave asked like and I've been
and I was kind of talking to himabout it like I feel like it
needs to be like a by driverincentive.
I'm not always like a likemoney is obviously a huge
incentive, but also it's hometime and especially if I was
(06:34):
like hey, you know, my incentiveis I just want to be home with
my family.
So if you can give me the timeoff, I'm willing to do it.
If you're not going to, well,then I'll try, but I'm not you
not going to well, then I'll try, but I'm not, you know, going
to sacrifice family time also,too much family time.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Smart man that pays off in the future.
Yeah, good investment in yourfamily.
Think about the skills in thesleeper category.
And for folks listening who maynot know, the sleeper category
is no joke.
Not know the sleeper categoryis, uh, it's no joke in your
mind.
What separates a goodcompetitor from a good one in
that division?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
you know, just from a good to a great one attention
to detail, for sure, um, andthen not not getting too caught
up with the next obstacle.
So, like in state, I felt likeyou know you got to set yourself
(07:31):
in one obstacle to get throughthe next obstacle, which you do.
But the ones that I kind ofobserved, it seemed like you
know, if they're doing thebacking event, they're only
worried about backing right now.
They're not putting their mindforward too far on.
Hey, I need to set myself up.
It's just, let's get throughthis one obstacle and let's get
(07:54):
through the next.
And the guys that could do thatin one place, they were
excellent.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, I mean that's huge.
Staying on task, I mean that'sa big one.
That we learned in school.
Um, you know, you don't getahead of yourself or or get
behind.
Uh, so, living the present,that's huge yeah great mindset,
great exercise to help peopleeven um outside of trucking.
That's awesome yeah, yeah um,advice for future competitors.
(08:24):
Uh, let's say, someone's outthere and they're thinking about
, uh yeah, going into 2026competition, giving it a shot.
What's your advice for them?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I would say don't, don't get too nervous.
Like nobody takes I mean, theytake it seriously, but they
don't take it as like live ordie, like you could over the
road, right.
But have fun.
If you think you're going to dosomething one way and I'm going
(08:57):
to stop this tire on this lineevery single time, it doesn't
work like that at all.
But yeah, just go in with howyou're trained, right like you,
you drive safe every day.
You drive safe every year.
Um 99.9 of the time.
You put your tractor andtrailer where you want it to go,
(09:18):
and so I would just treat itjust like that.
You're going to put thistractor and trailer exactly
where you want it.
If you do that, you'll doreally well.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That means drivers got a head start, giving them
that advice they can practiceevery day until 2026.
They put that tractor and thattrailer exactly where you want
it to go each and every day.
If you're going to win, if youwant to come out swinging, it's
awesome.
So was there something youalways pictured yourself doing
other than trucking, or didtrucking just find your way in
(09:50):
your life along the way?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Trucking.
Just found my, just found myway.
Yeah, same here.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I thought about it but didn't see the path you know
.
But then eventually it clearedup.
It's kind of like those foggymornings so uh, community
influence.
Have you also had a pretty goodconnection with the minnesota
trucking association, or haveyou heard of them before?
Has that been something in your, your community, that shaped
you and your career, to help youdrive in this direction?
(10:21):
Maybe you knew someone, um,what would you say?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I haven't, I haven't.
I've heard of the MinnesotaTrucking Association but until I
won state I never reallycommunicated with anybody.
But everybody I havecommunicated there, great people
Like so professional, they'llhelp you out with anything
trucking wise.
They really they really will.
(10:46):
They're really good people.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Nice.
Big shout out to MinnesotaTrucking Association for helping
our drivers out there.
Uh compete and stay uh involved, and competitions, uh, cause
it's a good experience spreads.
You know your story with manypeople and then uh, they'll too
feel like they can do it.
So, uh, any road stories, uh,every driver's got a story from
(11:10):
the road, maybe a good one, orfinding uh, maybe even a little
while.
You know that's.
Uh, that's always one we couldtake away.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
A little wild one.
Is that what you're talking?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
about how about that not lately.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Lately, I would say.
I would say no, it's beenpretty, pretty safe, pretty good
.
Um, I would say, the wildestthis year, or something that I
always, I always laugh at, is uh, uh.
Have you been down to thedowntown Dallas hub?
I have, by Harry Hines and someof the people you can see
(11:49):
walking around at night.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I used to go with them too.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's pretty much the wildest On the road, though
no, like we haven't knock onwood.
We haven't gotten in anaccident hit a deer.
We haven't gotten in anaccident, hit a deer.
We haven't no close calls.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, so that's how it is right.
How about?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
you, though?
Have you had anything?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Ah, man, yeah, there's been quite a few.
I've actually haven't given itmuch thought right now, but yeah
, when I used to deliverCoca-Cola, I had a lot of
stories because we would driveand we would park and and we
would be in some really roughareas and you kind of wonder
what's going on.
Um, yeah, I mean, they hadpeople steal from me and all
(12:36):
kinds of stuff.
Man it was.
It was pretty well right,that's like, this is soda water.
Yeah, that's all.
And then you know, of course,when you're in the sleeper, uh,
the biggest thing that I thinkcomes to my mind is those bumps.
You know it'd be nice to getsome smoother roads, but I know
that's a lot to ask for billionsand billions of dollars.
But when you're trying to sleepin the back and you get your
(12:57):
team driving and you're tryingto sleep in the back, man,
that's uh, that's a huge dealjust getting knocked around all
the time Do you have to?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Because I've been looking at lately Do you use
like a thick, thick comforter,like a thick top?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's what you have.
Sometimes it's like I'mlevitating off the bed, is it?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I've been looking at upgrading because we just use
like a foam, like a littlethree-inch foam topper, but I
want to get something that'slike seven inches thick.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
you know what I mean yeah, I think I'm probably close
in the 10 inch category are youyeah?
yeah, wow, yeah, big ups to you,man.
You've been doing a lot sometime with three inches.
That's pretty amazing, awesome.
Well, um, hey, it's always roomthat we can make things more
comfortable and make changes.
Um, we can share those storiesand help each other out.
(13:48):
So, yeah, so, life outside ofthe cab Now, when you're not
competing or trucking, whatkeeps you busy?
Any hobbies or any downtimeactivities, time with the family
that you can lean on to torecharge?
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, mostly just time, time with the family, um,
like hunting, like to uh gogolfing, uh, my, my youngest son
, he's been into uh fishing alot lately, so I'm trying to go
fishing as much as possible anduh hanging out.
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
You know what it's like.
(14:19):
Sometimes you just need torecharge when you come back from
over the road.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
It's just you never really feel like you're off, so
it's just nice to hang out, hangout yeah, it's definitely a
challenge trying to find thattime between being exhausted,
getting the proper rest andspending time with your family
or those hobbies that you liketo do.
So all those projects right,you gotta get that.
You're out there on the roadthinking about what am I gonna
(14:42):
do when?
When I get back, I got to getthis done, this, that this and
that other, and then maybe youget half of that done.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And then you know that it's just time at home.
It's just gone Like I leavetonight already and it's like I
feel like I just got home.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, I think the biggest one I get, uh, doing a
sleeper routes, people say, oh,you got a lot of time now.
Oh, really.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, no time, tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, so that's good.
It's hard to keep work balanceand all that just where it needs
to be.
It can be off-center quitesometimes.
You got to put some effort intoit getting it right.
So big ups to you for doingthat, putting the effort in with
your family.
Lessons from competing gettingit right.
So, uh, pick up to you fordoing that, putting the effort
in with your family.
Um, lessons from competing.
Do you feel like competing inthe NTDC?
Uh, has changed how you look atyour job or even your goals
(15:33):
going forward.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I mean it.
One thing that helped me withmy pre trips man, they're 10 out
of 10s, I feel like they'repretty.
They're 10 out of 10s, I feellike they're pretty, they're
pretty good.
But going going forward, yeah,it's more like I kind of said
before.
It's kind of just, uh, you knowput drive the way that you know
you can drive, and I thinkwe're all pretty confident
(15:57):
drivers for the most part outthere and and it just yeah, it
helped with the confidence too,like hey, I can, I can do this,
like it's no big deal, it can bedone.
A little effort, a littleconfidence, and I think that
goes a long way, especially inthis industry.
(16:18):
You know we need some good,safe, confident drivers that can
do what they know they can do.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I like that.
Many people may get thatconfused, say hey, you know no
big deal, but that's the mindsetyou have to have, Otherwise you
feel like you can't do your job, it feels impossible, you don't
want to get in the truck.
It's a lot of mindset, I feellike you know, especially with
the competition as well.
Many people talk themselves outof even going to the
competition.
(16:47):
I would have did great, butit's that head getting in your
head thing, you know theheadspace, controlling that and
being positive, having a goodenergy.
It's not that it's not easy, butit's like you got to make it
feel like it is easy yeah, andwhen you've seen it.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I I know you've seen it too, but sometimes you feel
like where it's like you know,you, we've all seen the guy
trying to back a straight backinto a spot and it takes him 20
minutes and it's like I alwaysfeel like he's letting the truck
drive him when you should bedriving it, like you can put
that anywhere that you need to.
(17:23):
You know, and if you just dothat every time, you'll be good.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You'll be good okay, yeah, don't let the truck drive.
You drive the truck, um, andput it where it needs to be.
I like that man, um, could cointhat probably.
Yeah, I always go.
Hey, everybody's got a bad day,so now you got that out of the
way, I'm gonna take the nextright bad backing day.
Yeah, absolutely so, yeah, soany uh takeaways that you want
(17:54):
to hand out for for listenersout there about competing, about
pride in the industry, how tojust stay level and professional
doing your job when there's somany obstacles out there.
People want to expressthemselves on the road.
That's not the best place toget expression of frustration
and anger.
So keep professional, becausethey always come back and tell
(18:15):
you right, you're the, you'rethe professional.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, oh, one minute, yeah, one minute.
Every time you've heard it,you've heard it.
Yeah, uh.
So just something like for,like just industry wise.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, any takeaway you want to give to the
listeners.
We'll just sum it up with a fewwords of wisdom uh, what would
you uh want people to know whenthey're they're truck driving or
they maybe they got a loved oneout there that's driving truck
and they, they maybe worry aboutthem or maybe they wonder what.
What is exactly uh other truckdrivers are saying about their
(18:49):
um, is it being sugar-coated oris it really is like it is?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
you know, I don't.
I don't think it's beingsugar-coated at all.
I honestly you know what I mean.
I mean you've mentioned theroads, but I feel like it's a
multi-layered onion that onceyou start peeling back, it can
really mess up your mind spaceif you let it right.
(19:12):
So it's like you know, youstart, you start with.
You know the roads are bad.
Well then the traffic's bad,and now there's an accident, and
now I'm running late, and nowthe equipment isn't the best.
Now my employer's questioningme, and now and you see what I
mean, and it can just, and ifyou you let that onion just get
(19:34):
bad or open up, it will be bad.
So I don't think anything issugar-coated too much, and I've
only driven for the company thatwe work for.
I've never worked outside of adifferent one.
But I would think everywherethat yeah, it's not sugar-coated
, but if you can stay in theright, mind, avoid the blooming
(19:58):
onions avoid the blooming onions?
yes, because it will.
It's a trap, it's a potholethat doesn't end right, so you
will fall into that pothole andit it can get.
It can get bad.
So, yeah, it just it's notsafety.
I feel like overall, just otherdrivers on the road has it can
get bad.
So, yeah, it's not safety.
I feel like overall, just otherdrivers on the road has been
(20:21):
kind of deteriorating a littlebit like been on a downward
trend, whether it's just notpaying attention, not caring.
When was it Last year Talkingabout crazy stories Last year
and going on 94 just was thebismarck.
I had a guy going the wrong way.
(20:41):
I was going west and he wasgoing east in the west hand lane
, right, so it's just, yeah, notpaying attention.
Safety, um, yeah, I don't thinkit's sugar-coated though, bro, I
really do you feel like it iswhen, when guys have some
complaints about going over theroad you know a long time, do
(21:05):
you feel like it's sugar-coatedor do you kind of empathize with
them?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
oh yeah, I empathize, empathize a lot.
Maybe one of the reasons why Istarted the podcast yeah um,
it's not just to get clicks,it's also to be educational, to
help people maybe to get into acareer that they never heard of,
but they like what they seewhen they see that this job pays
this much and they go well,what's?
behind that and they kind of goman, you know, just trucking,
always I like driving, and soyou see those two things, I like
(21:32):
driving, you like to pay, butthen you don't know about all
the other things that happen.
And then also you don't reallyget to speak with a truck driver
because they're on the road,they're going, going and going.
So if you don't know someonepersonally, this is the best way
nowadays is to open up theforum for people to share their
careers and how it tears intotheir life.
(21:52):
I think it's a huge deal fortrucking because the industry
still needs a lot of drivers tostep up, because people are also
retiring and saying, hey, youknow, I can do this too, you
know, yeah, but that head gamething, that's a tricky one.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Yeah, it is.
It can really eat you alive ifyou want it, you know.
So I try to always have themost positive attitude.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
That you can have look at that it got me to the
championship yeah it gets methrough, you know, day to day,
right like we can.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I mean we all fall into the man.
This sucks.
Like I don't want to do this.
I want to be in montana again,or I don't want to be in denver
again, or chicago, whereverright.
But it's like if you fall intothat pothole, buddy, don't fall
into the pothole my pothole iswyoming yeah, beautiful scenery,
but man something always goingwrong there, yeah, and the
(22:44):
construction they have going onthere now too is like is anybody
working a lot of?
Tools awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
that's good, chatting with you, man, keeping it,
keeping it real out here withall the truckers and letting
them know that you know you can.
You, too, can compete.
You did it.
So so can they just startpracticing now?
Start today and take it serious, instead of waiting until next
year when you feel like you'reunder the gun want to make sure
you put some time and effortinto it each and every day.
(23:13):
So that's awesome.
Yeah, and thanks for all thatyou've done.
We want to make sure that youknow that too.
We appreciate you representingthe company, going out there and
and doing that hard work andthe sacrifices that your family
made.
May not have been the samepaycheck, but, yeah, you got
something in compensation, butyou also got a reward that you
can that lasts for a long timeand a memory that you'll have
forever.
So that's huge.
(23:34):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Absolutely dude.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So yeah, calvin, thanks again for joining us and
sharing your journey.
It's been a big deal torepresent the state and national
.
I know that your story willencourage many others and push
themselves to maybe even set upand compete in the future.
So to the listeners out there,if you've been thinking about it
, um, take some time to reachout to Calvin.
If you see him, uh, if you, ifyou know where he's at, reach
(24:00):
out to him until next time.
Um, where where can people findyou?
They?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
can find.
They can find me at work forsure.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I like that.
Uh, but yeah, you can call me,hit me up, I'm a pretty open guy
, so all right, or you couldplay this back again and maybe
I'll get to know some thingsthat you haven't before or paid
attention to.
So that's it, that's delivered.
Welcome back to another episode of that's
Delivered.
I'm your host, trucking Ray,and today I've got someone truly
special joining me.
Today it's Calvin Logan,minnesota regional champ in the
sleeper truck category DrivingChampionship in Minneapolis, and
(00:31):
we're going to dive into whatthe experience was like for him
and how he got into trucking andwhat life looks like both on
and off the road.
Calvin, welcome to the show.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
How are you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Not too bad.
Yeah, you know it's alwaysgreat to get together and talk
about the wins that we have, andI, uh, I mean you've really
done it.
You've made a win, uh forregional.
Uh, I mean you've done a lotalso just driving safe.
You know, a part of that isbeing safe out there on the road
.
A lot of people don't know thestruggle that's out there.
I mean, they see the videos onsocial media but they have no
(00:58):
idea what it's like in person.
Not everything gets captured.
So what was it like?
We'll just get right into it.
What was it like stepping intouh, ntdc and Minneapolis,
surrounded by some of the bestdrivers out there in the country
?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
The championship is a little.
It was a little overwhelming.
Uh state I felt was a littlemore laid back.
But yeah, once you get up withthat, like the level of driver
at champion at the championshiplevel is they're good, they're
excellent, they're excellent,yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Some of those guys go back every year, try again, and
they learn from what theypicked up on that last time and
they bring it back with them thenext time.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
What's some of the things that you, when you saw
the atmosphere expanding on that, you kind of imagine it had to
be a little different than statelevel.
How did the vibe compare tocompeting at Minnesota regional?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So it felt I'll just go back to state and then I'll
just kind of go through thechampionship.
State I felt was it was superlaid back, it wasn't you know.
And I kind of went in with amore laid back kind of mentality
as well, like, oh, you know,I'm representing the company,
I'll be able to, you know, do mybest, uh.
So it wasn't really it was fun.
(02:16):
It was still fun, right, likethe, the trucking association on
the state level and thenational level.
They do a great job with, like,making it a family atmosphere,
laid back, um, but the drivingat the state was all forward
motion, so there was no backwardbacking category at all for
(02:37):
anybody.
Um, and then getting intonationals, once you go into
nationals, there was a backingcategory and then just the level
of the mentality of the driverswere definitely more of like,
hey, I'm here to win this thing,I'm not here just to try out,
(02:58):
I'm not here to try to playgames, like you know.
Just, it was very good.
Like every professional, theylock you down for a whole day,
um, so you're not even you'reable to walk the course, um,
which we were able to do atstate.
But uh, what on competition day.
(03:18):
Yeah, they have completecontrol over you for the whole
day, which was different, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I bring, the energy I bring the motivation to help
get into the competition mindset.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I really do.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah.
So now that not every driverjumps into competitions, what
pushed you or made you want todo this?
Throw your hat in the ring andtest yourself out this way.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, the, the, yeah.
So for me it was all aboutcompetition mainly.
Uh, there are a couple otherdrivers that you know work with
us that I was like, oh, ifthey're doing it I'm gonna no
problem, I'll do it as well.
Uh, and then also it was mydaughter's birthday on the
saturday of the statecompetition and so I kind of,
you know, was like, hey, I'mtrying to get time off, that's
(04:06):
what I need to be able to dothis.
And yeah, they gave me sometime off and I was able to be
home for the daughter's birthday.
Everybody else couldn't make it, but my brother did for state,
so he competed, but mostlycompetition.
I like the competition Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's good.
I mean we need that.
It's healthy, it helps us grow,it helps us to not get stagnant
or complacent.
So very good Preparation-wise.
You know there's a lot of prepthat goes into these
championships.
People practice every day.
How did you get yourself readyand did you do anything that
surprised you once you were outthere?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
The championship competition, competition, I did,
I practiced, I came in.
I once stayed in June and so Icame in.
My off days were Mondays, so Icame in every Monday and we
would practice driving, practice, pre-trips, practice, a little
bit of the knowledge, but thatwas mostly.
I could handle that on my own,um, but yeah, every monday for
(05:08):
about seven weeks, eight weeks,it was just pre-trip drive,
pre-trip drive.
So it's pretty, yeah, it waspretty.
And then the week before,actually the week before
championship, I took off as welland I practiced every day that
whole, that whole week before.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Wow, man huge sacrifice Great.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, I tried, you know yeah especially for the
family too.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I mean making that sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I know you're, I don't know, was that pay cut in
there somewhere?
Well, I took a voluntary layoff, so I took the voluntary layoff
the week before, and then ourcompany they do pay us for doing
the championship week, so Ijust get my, my normal mileage
rate that I would have gotten.
Uh, on going over the road niceall right, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So a lot of drivers probably wondering hey, man, he
made a huge sacrifice on themoney side.
You gain a lot on theconfidence and the competition
side.
So yeah, um, great tip to letpeople know that companies do
that.
I wasn't sure if sometimes thatworks out, but uh, I did.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I'm glad that's it and like on the incentive base,
because I know a lot of guyshave asked like and I've been
and I was kind of talking to himabout it like I feel like it
needs to be like a by driverincentive.
I'm not always like a likemoney is obviously a huge
incentive, but also it's hometime and especially if I was
(06:34):
like hey, you know, my incentiveis I just want to be home with
my family.
So if you can give me the timeoff, I'm willing to do it.
If you're not going to, well,then I'll try, but I'm not you
not going to well, then I'll try, but I'm not, you know, going
to sacrifice family time also,too much family time.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Smart man that pays off in the future.
Yeah, good investment in yourfamily.
Think about the skills in thesleeper category.
And for folks listening who maynot know, the sleeper category
is no joke.
Not know the sleeper categoryis, uh, it's no joke in your
mind.
What separates a goodcompetitor from a good one in
that division?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
you know, just from a good to a great one attention
to detail, for sure, um, andthen not not getting too caught
up with the next obstacle.
So, like in state, I felt likeyou know you got to set yourself
(07:31):
in one obstacle to get throughthe next obstacle, which you do.
But the ones that I kind ofobserved, it seemed like you
know, if they're doing thebacking event, they're only
worried about backing right now.
They're not putting their mindforward too far on.
Hey, I need to set myself up.
It's just, let's get throughthis one obstacle and let's get
(07:54):
through the next.
And the guys that could do thatin one place, they were
excellent.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, I mean that's huge.
Staying on task, I mean that'sa big one.
That we learned in school.
Um, you know, you don't getahead of yourself or or get
behind.
Uh, so, living the present,that's huge yeah great mindset,
great exercise to help peopleeven um outside of trucking.
That's awesome yeah, yeah um,advice for future competitors.
(08:24):
Uh, let's say, someone's outthere and they're thinking about
, uh yeah, going into 2026competition, giving it a shot.
What's your advice for them?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I would say don't, don't get too nervous.
Like nobody takes I mean, theytake it seriously, but they
don't take it as like live ordie, like you could over the
road, right.
But have fun.
If you think you're going to dosomething one way and I'm going
(08:57):
to stop this tire on this lineevery single time, it doesn't
work like that at all.
But yeah, just go in with howyou're trained, right like you,
you drive safe every day.
You drive safe every year.
Um 99.9 of the time.
You put your tractor andtrailer where you want it to go,
(09:18):
and so I would just treat itjust like that.
You're going to put thistractor and trailer exactly
where you want it.
If you do that, you'll doreally well.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That means drivers got a head start, giving them
that advice they can practiceevery day until 2026.
They put that tractor and thattrailer exactly where you want
it to go each and every day.
If you're going to win, if youwant to come out swinging, it's
awesome.
So was there something youalways pictured yourself doing
other than trucking, or didtrucking just find your way in
(09:50):
your life along the way?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Trucking.
Just found my, just found myway.
Yeah, same here.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I thought about it but didn't see the path you know
.
But then eventually it clearedup.
It's kind of like those foggymornings so uh, community
influence.
Have you also had a pretty goodconnection with the minnesota
trucking association, or haveyou heard of them before?
Has that been something in your, your community, that shaped
you and your career, to help youdrive in this direction?
(10:21):
Maybe you knew someone, um,what would you say?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I haven't, I haven't.
I've heard of the MinnesotaTrucking Association but until I
won state I never reallycommunicated with anybody.
But everybody I havecommunicated there, great people
Like so professional, they'llhelp you out with anything
trucking wise.
They really they really will.
(10:46):
They're really good people.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Nice.
Big shout out to MinnesotaTrucking Association for helping
our drivers out there.
Uh compete and stay uh involved, and competitions, uh, cause
it's a good experience spreads.
You know your story with manypeople and then uh, they'll too
feel like they can do it.
So, uh, any road stories, uh,every driver's got a story from
(11:10):
the road, maybe a good one, orfinding uh, maybe even a little
while.
You know that's.
Uh, that's always one we couldtake away.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
A little wild one.
Is that what you're talking?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
about how about that not lately.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Lately, I would say.
I would say no, it's beenpretty, pretty safe, pretty good
.
Um, I would say, the wildestthis year, or something that I
always, I always laugh at, is uh, uh.
Have you been down to thedowntown Dallas hub?
I have, by Harry Hines and someof the people you can see
(11:49):
walking around at night.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I used to go with them too.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's pretty much the wildest On the road, though
no, like we haven't knock onwood.
We haven't gotten in anaccident hit a deer.
We haven't gotten in anaccident, hit a deer.
We haven't no close calls.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, so that's how it is right.
How about?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
you, though?
Have you had anything?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Ah, man, yeah, there's been quite a few.
I've actually haven't given itmuch thought right now, but yeah
, when I used to deliverCoca-Cola, I had a lot of
stories because we would driveand we would park and and we
would be in some really roughareas and you kind of wonder
what's going on.
Um, yeah, I mean, they hadpeople steal from me and all
(12:36):
kinds of stuff.
Man it was.
It was pretty well right,that's like, this is soda water.
Yeah, that's all.
And then you know, of course,when you're in the sleeper, uh,
the biggest thing that I thinkcomes to my mind is those bumps.
You know it'd be nice to getsome smoother roads, but I know
that's a lot to ask for billionsand billions of dollars.
But when you're trying to sleepin the back and you get your
(12:57):
team driving and you're tryingto sleep in the back, man,
that's uh, that's a huge dealjust getting knocked around all
the time Do you have to?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Because I've been looking at lately Do you use
like a thick, thick comforter,like a thick top?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's what you have.
Sometimes it's like I'mlevitating off the bed, is it?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I've been looking at upgrading because we just use
like a foam, like a littlethree-inch foam topper, but I
want to get something that'slike seven inches thick.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
you know what I mean yeah, I think I'm probably close
in the 10 inch category are youyeah?
yeah, wow, yeah, big ups to you,man.
You've been doing a lot sometime with three inches.
That's pretty amazing, awesome.
Well, um, hey, it's always roomthat we can make things more
comfortable and make changes.
Um, we can share those storiesand help each other out.
(13:48):
So, yeah, so, life outside ofthe cab Now, when you're not
competing or trucking, whatkeeps you busy?
Any hobbies or any downtimeactivities, time with the family
that you can lean on to torecharge?
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, mostly just time, time with the family, um,
like hunting, like to uh gogolfing, uh, my, my youngest son
, he's been into uh fishing alot lately, so I'm trying to go
fishing as much as possible anduh hanging out.
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
You know what it's like.
(14:19):
Sometimes you just need torecharge when you come back from
over the road.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
It's just you never really feel like you're off, so
it's just nice to hang out, hangout yeah, it's definitely a
challenge trying to find thattime between being exhausted,
getting the proper rest andspending time with your family
or those hobbies that you liketo do.
So all those projects right,you gotta get that.
You're out there on the roadthinking about what am I gonna
(14:42):
do when?
When I get back, I got to getthis done, this, that this and
that other, and then maybe youget half of that done.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And then you know that it's just time at home.
It's just gone Like I leavetonight already and it's like I
feel like I just got home.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, I think the biggest one I get, uh, doing a
sleeper routes, people say, oh,you got a lot of time now.
Oh, really.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, no time, tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, so that's good.
It's hard to keep work balanceand all that just where it needs
to be.
It can be off-center quitesometimes.
You got to put some effort intoit getting it right.
So big ups to you for doingthat, putting the effort in with
your family.
Lessons from competing gettingit right.
So, uh, pick up to you fordoing that, putting the effort
in with your family.
Um, lessons from competing.
Do you feel like competing inthe NTDC?
Uh, has changed how you look atyour job or even your goals
(15:33):
going forward.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I mean it.
One thing that helped me withmy pre trips man, they're 10 out
of 10s, I feel like they'repretty.
They're 10 out of 10s, I feellike they're pretty, they're
pretty good.
But going going forward, yeah,it's more like I kind of said
before.
It's kind of just, uh, you knowput drive the way that you know
you can drive, and I thinkwe're all pretty confident
(15:57):
drivers for the most part outthere and and it just yeah, it
helped with the confidence too,like hey, I can, I can do this,
like it's no big deal, it can bedone.
A little effort, a littleconfidence, and I think that
goes a long way, especially inthis industry.
(16:18):
You know we need some good,safe, confident drivers that can
do what they know they can do.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I like that.
Many people may get thatconfused, say hey, you know no
big deal, but that's the mindsetyou have to have, Otherwise you
feel like you can't do your job, it feels impossible, you don't
want to get in the truck.
It's a lot of mindset, I feellike you know, especially with
the competition as well.
Many people talk themselves outof even going to the
competition.
(16:47):
I would have did great, butit's that head getting in your
head thing, you know theheadspace, controlling that and
being positive, having a goodenergy.
It's not that it's not easy, butit's like you got to make it
feel like it is easy yeah, andwhen you've seen it.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I I know you've seen it too, but sometimes you feel
like where it's like you know,you, we've all seen the guy
trying to back a straight backinto a spot and it takes him 20
minutes and it's like I alwaysfeel like he's letting the truck
drive him when you should bedriving it, like you can put
that anywhere that you need to.
(17:23):
You know, and if you just dothat every time, you'll be good.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You'll be good okay, yeah, don't let the truck drive.
You drive the truck, um, andput it where it needs to be.
I like that man, um, could cointhat probably.
Yeah, I always go.
Hey, everybody's got a bad day,so now you got that out of the
way, I'm gonna take the nextright bad backing day.
Yeah, absolutely so, yeah, soany uh takeaways that you want
(17:54):
to hand out for for listenersout there about competing, about
pride in the industry, how tojust stay level and professional
doing your job when there's somany obstacles out there.
People want to expressthemselves on the road.
That's not the best place toget expression of frustration
and anger.
So keep professional, becausethey always come back and tell
(18:15):
you right, you're the, you'rethe professional.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, oh, one minute, yeah, one minute.
Every time you've heard it,you've heard it.
Yeah, uh.
So just something like for,like just industry wise.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, any takeaway you want to give to the
listeners.
We'll just sum it up with a fewwords of wisdom uh, what would
you uh want people to know whenthey're they're truck driving or
they maybe they got a loved oneout there that's driving truck
and they, they maybe worry aboutthem or maybe they wonder what.
What is exactly uh other truckdrivers are saying about their
(18:49):
um, is it being sugar-coated oris it really is like it is?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
you know, I don't.
I don't think it's beingsugar-coated at all.
I honestly you know what I mean.
I mean you've mentioned theroads, but I feel like it's a
multi-layered onion that onceyou start peeling back, it can
really mess up your mind spaceif you let it right.
(19:12):
So it's like you know, youstart, you start with.
You know the roads are bad.
Well then the traffic's bad,and now there's an accident, and
now I'm running late, and nowthe equipment isn't the best.
Now my employer's questioningme, and now and you see what I
mean, and it can just, and ifyou you let that onion just get
(19:34):
bad or open up, it will be bad.
So I don't think anything issugar-coated too much, and I've
only driven for the company thatwe work for.
I've never worked outside of adifferent one.
But I would think everywherethat yeah, it's not sugar-coated
, but if you can stay in theright, mind, avoid the blooming
(19:58):
onions avoid the blooming onions?
yes, because it will.
It's a trap, it's a potholethat doesn't end right, so you
will fall into that pothole andit it can get.
It can get bad.
So, yeah, it just it's notsafety.
I feel like overall, just otherdrivers on the road has it can
get bad.
So, yeah, it's not safety.
I feel like overall, just otherdrivers on the road has been
(20:21):
kind of deteriorating a littlebit like been on a downward
trend, whether it's just notpaying attention, not caring.
When was it Last year Talkingabout crazy stories Last year
and going on 94 just was thebismarck.
I had a guy going the wrong way.
(20:41):
I was going west and he wasgoing east in the west hand lane
, right, so it's just, yeah, notpaying attention.
Safety, um, yeah, I don't thinkit's sugar-coated though, bro, I
really do you feel like it iswhen, when guys have some
complaints about going over theroad you know a long time, do
(21:05):
you feel like it's sugar-coatedor do you kind of empathize with
them?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
oh yeah, I empathize, empathize a lot.
Maybe one of the reasons why Istarted the podcast yeah um,
it's not just to get clicks,it's also to be educational, to
help people maybe to get into acareer that they never heard of,
but they like what they seewhen they see that this job pays
this much and they go well,what's?
behind that and they kind of goman, you know, just trucking,
always I like driving, and soyou see those two things, I like
(21:32):
driving, you like to pay, butthen you don't know about all
the other things that happen.
And then also you don't reallyget to speak with a truck driver
because they're on the road,they're going, going and going.
So if you don't know someonepersonally, this is the best way
nowadays is to open up theforum for people to share their
careers and how it tears intotheir life.
(21:52):
I think it's a huge deal fortrucking because the industry
still needs a lot of drivers tostep up, because people are also
retiring and saying, hey, youknow, I can do this too, you
know, yeah, but that head gamething, that's a tricky one.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Yeah, it is.
It can really eat you alive ifyou want it, you know.
So I try to always have themost positive attitude.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
That you can have look at that it got me to the
championship yeah it gets methrough, you know, day to day,
right like we can.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I mean we all fall into the man.
This sucks.
Like I don't want to do this.
I want to be in montana again,or I don't want to be in denver
again, or chicago, whereverright.
But it's like if you fall intothat pothole, buddy, don't fall
into the pothole my pothole iswyoming yeah, beautiful scenery,
but man something always goingwrong there, yeah, and the
(22:44):
construction they have going onthere now too is like is anybody
working a lot of?
Tools awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
that's good, chatting with you, man, keeping it,
keeping it real out here withall the truckers and letting
them know that you know you can.
You, too, can compete.
You did it.
So so can they just startpracticing now?
Start today and take it serious, instead of waiting until next
year when you feel like you'reunder the gun want to make sure
you put some time and effortinto it each and every day.
(23:13):
So that's awesome.
Yeah, and thanks for all thatyou've done.
We want to make sure that youknow that too.
We appreciate you representingthe company, going out there and
and doing that hard work andthe sacrifices that your family
made.
May not have been the samepaycheck, but, yeah, you got
something in compensation, butyou also got a reward that you
can that lasts for a long timeand a memory that you'll have
forever.
So that's huge.
(23:34):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Absolutely dude.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So yeah, calvin, thanks again for joining us and
sharing your journey.
It's been a big deal torepresent the state and national
.
I know that your story willencourage many others and push
themselves to maybe even set upand compete in the future.
So to the listeners out there,if you've been thinking about it
, um, take some time to reachout to Calvin.
If you see him, uh, if you, ifyou know where he's at, reach
(24:00):
out to him until next time.
Um, where where can people findyou?
They?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
can find.
They can find me at work forsure.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I like that.
Uh, but yeah, you can call me,hit me up, I'm a pretty open guy
, so all right, or you couldplay this back again and maybe
I'll get to know some thingsthat you haven't before or paid
attention to.
So that's it, that's delivered.
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