At the ‘Super Bowl of trucking,’ Miguel Corral wins after 14 years of training

Miguel Corral first competed in 2012 and returned enough times to become a nine-time National Truck Driving Championships competitor. This year, he won the grand champion title after facing 428 other drivers. Corral, who competed for UPS in the four-axle division, said the event carries nerves but also “feels like a family reunion.”

The National Truck Driving Championships drew 429 drivers from 49 states, representing 55 companies and nearly 775 million combined safe driving miles. To qualify, drivers must place highly at state competitions, meet full-time driving requirements, and maintain a clean preventable accident-free safety record for the previous year. The core takeaway is clear: the contest is built to reinforce habits that matter on public roads, not just on a course.

Drivers faced a written exam, a pre-trip inspection with planted safety risks, and an obstacle course lined with cones and bright yellow plastic ducks. Competitors had to navigate close to 3.5-inch-tall ducks, make tight turns, reverse into tight parking situations, and stop with control. Safety-assistance technology such as backup cameras was covered, forcing drivers to rely on skill and judgment.

FedEx, Walmart, UPS, and XPO appeared among the companies highlighted in the competition. Fortune reported that FedEx had 18 finalists across two company divisions, Walmart had nine finalists, UPS had five, and XPO had three. Walmart driver Richard Prescott won the flatbed division, while Corral summed up the broader safety message: “Speed doesn’t prevent accidents, accuracy does.”