Overdrive Radio

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Overdrive Radio

The Overdrive Radio podcast is produced by Overdrive magazine, the Voice of the American Trucker for 60-plus years. Host Todd Dills -- with a supporting cast among Overdrive editors, contributors and others -- presents owner-operator business leading lights, interviews with extraordinary independent truckers and small fleet owners, and plenty in the way of trucking business and regulatory news and views. Access an archive of all episodes of Overdrive Radio going back more than a decade via this link: http://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio

  1. 'You can succeed': Truckers of the Month beat 2024's sluggish conditions with more than just will

    4天前

    'You can succeed': Truckers of the Month beat 2024's sluggish conditions with more than just will

    In this week's Overdrive Radio podcast, drop into the second and final part of this series re-engaging with Overdrive's 2024 Trucker of the Year competitive field of owner-operators, with check-ins on how the year shaped up for each individual owner. Likewise, you'll hear plenty considered advice from each business owner for peers, particularly those with only short history in the trucking business or looking to get their start. Part 1, ICYMI: Words of encouragement, too, drawing on lessons learned from challenges overcome, and the plentiful nature of naysayers who will undoubtedly tell an aspiring truck owner just to "stay away." Play your cards right, and do the hard work early and often, noted owner-operator Greg Labosky, and you will be poised for profit. Use that "negative energy," as he put it, to "be willing to prove them worng to the best of your ability to show them that you can, indeed, succeed." Labosky's made strides in backstopping profit with cost reductions amid sluggish rates in Amazon's direct-contracting system, where he specializes. He's done that in part by maximizing reliability of his 2017 Cascadia with careful preventive maintenance, always learning more to do smaller repairs himself, and using close record-keeping to drive his efforts. "Keep extermely good, tight bookkeeping to keep track of your expenses that you can control," he advised other owners, to help spot when something is out of line. There's growth on the horizon within the goals for Labosky's GDL Enterprise business, something Alpha Drivers Transportation owner Alec Costerus is already acheiving, having started the year with just one truck. With fellow owner Joel Morrow in their Alpha Drivers Testing & Consulting side business, Costerus is building a dry van-pulling operation with growth this year and more to come, backed by tremendous efficiency gains to reduce costs. "Holding the steering wheel is the easy part," he advised any prospective owner to realize. "There is a great deal more to the trucking business," urging careful study of all of those aspects. Owner-operator Mike Nichols reported steady revenues through the year for his Wayne Transports-leased one-truck operation, with at once some unexpected downtime chipping a smidge away from that top line (including the results of a run-in with an unfortunate deer). Nichols offered considered advice for prospective owners about up-front saving as prep, building for a down payment but also reserves for unforeseen expenses that are inevitable. With respect to "start-up capital and down payment," he said, "you need to treat that like you would firewood. Save what you think you might need and triple it, if not quadruple it." As for Dayl and Nelson Zimmerman, owners of Minnesota-based Zimmerman Ag, the brothers are very close to making good on goals set out at the beginning of the year to erect a new shop at headquarters, which will deliver opportunity for outside maintenance work during slow winter periods. More importantly, it stands enhance their own in-house maintenance prowess to continue to get the job done for direct customers, the center of their ag-support two-truck business. Read more about all of these Trucker of the Year contenders, and others, via https://overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year Enter your own or another deserving business in the 2025 Trucker of the Year program now at this link: https://overdriveonline.com/toptrucker

    30 分钟
  2. Success through self-help, lane change: 2024 Trucker of the Year 'exit interviews,' part 1

    12月9日

    Success through self-help, lane change: 2024 Trucker of the Year 'exit interviews,' part 1

    Today on Overdrive Radio, after a year's worth of talks featuring Overdrive's Truckers of the Month, all of whom remain in the running for the top 2024 Trucker of the Year honor, the first of two final talks featuring a bevy of contenders. Call this and next week's podcast edition the “Exit Interviews” series, if you will, as judges work through the process of determining a set of three finalists we’ll announce later this month, then a winner in the new year. At once, the perseverance and excellence to drive profit in a time like the present shown by every single owner we wrote about in the program this year make all truly deserving of all the accolades that come their way, the margins between every single Trucker of the Year contender absolutely razor-thin, given unique strengths that all bring to their respective operations. Today on the podcast, you’re going to hear answers to two fairly simple questions. Namely: 1. How has 2024 gone for the business? And, 2. Each owner was asked to look back over their history and experience in the trucking business for lessons learned that could serve as their best piece of advice for peers, and particularly for those newer to the business or thinking about going into business. Hear here from four semi-finalists, including owner-operator Candace Marley, headquartered in Iowa and pulling dry van freight, now leased to Mercer after running under her own authority as Calliope, LLC, when we last spoke early in 2024. She continues to adjust to the realities of the system at Mercer, yet is enjoying a measure of stability compared to the difficulties she'd experienced in the current market. Speaking to her peers, she advised, "If something's not working out, don't be afraid to change lanes." Minnesota-headquartered Gary Schloo, leased to Long Haul Trucking, noted current interest-rate levels as high yet not especially high considering his long history. Yet for an owner-op looking to invest in the business with a truck purchase, saving for a big down payment and building a good relationship with a local bank are likely to save on interest, he said. Then: "Find a good company, with stable freight, and different kinds of freight" to build the most effective partnership long-term, in his view. Independent Rene Holguin emphasized taking control of your business, getting as much mechanical knowledge as possible to save on repairs and gain confidence in the equipment. And "be the boss," he added, as an owner. "Things start going south when you wait for somebody to give you direction," he said. Use your instincts and knowledge through self-education to "get on the horse and go." Independent Alan Kitzhaber made business education his central point of emphasis, particularly for those who've never before been in business for thesmelves. Yet his 4-million-mile 1995 Kenworth T600's longevity has hinged on preventive practices when it comes to maintenance. Like all of the owners, he places huge emphasis on regular check-ups and careful attention with an effective preventive maintenance schedule. "I get my truck in on a regular basis, at least once a month, to have it gone over," he said, at his longtime preferred shop partner in his area. They "grease the driveline and steering column," and he has "an automatic greaser that takes care of the rest," among plenty more he shares in what follows in the podcast. Listen on for plenty more all from these four in the Trucker of the Year field. Read more about all via this link to the central Trucker of the Year profile collection: https://overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year Put your own or another owner-operator's deserving business in the running for next year's award at this link: https://overdriveonline.com/toptrucker

    31 分钟
  3. What can owner-ops expect from Trump II? Outlook for speed limiters, transparency, parking, more

    12月1日

    What can owner-ops expect from Trump II? Outlook for speed limiters, transparency, parking, more

    When Donald Trump first came into the White House back in 2017, an express deregulatory agenda yielded various moves most owner-operators could count as wins. Though the administration famously did not act to block implementation of the Congressional electronic logging device mandate later that year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's then-pursuit of a speed-limiter mandate, for instance, soon disappeared from the Department of Transportation's regulatory calendar. With another Trump administration incoming, can we expect a similar fate for the current pursuit of speed limiters? That's but one of the questions today's Overdrive Radio guests, OOIDA President Todd Spencer and Executive VP Lewie Pugh, are hopeful to yield an emphatic "yes" answer, likewise as regards a lot of what we've seen from the Environmental Protection Agency this last year and more. But a "deregulatory" agenda could seal the fate of other federal agency moves for which there's no express Congressional authorization but that many owners favor, such as FMCSA's recent pursuit of potential changes to the broker transparency regulations. Fortunately for those owners, notes OOIDA's Spencer, there's history there when it comes to the first Trump administration. And Trump himself. "He heard the horns" of the group of protesting truckers in 2020, the genesis of the current effort around transparency, Spencer points out in the podcast. "Certainly this is going to be an issue that we're going to point out to the new administration that, 'Hey folks, this is old business that we need to get after and fix it this time." In the podcast, hear from Spencer and Pugh on these and other priority issues, and what potentially to expect from Congress and the administration moving ahead: Truck parking: The next infrastructure reauthorization is due up in 2026, they note, and including dedicated truck parking funding at very high levels for a very high, long-term need is perhaps the association's biggest priority. Safety rating change: Pugh noted the kind of "Fit/Unfit" two-tier system FMCSA has proposed is probably preferable to the current three-tier system, yet he's skeptical FMCSA will move forward with much anytime soon. Notably, when Trump first came into office in 2017, an effort to shift ratings to being based in part of roadside data then was tabled. Bedrock value placed on drivers' time: Currently, as Spencer's noted before, it's effectively valued at $0. OOIDA favors legislation introduced in the last two sessions of Congress to remove the exemption for motor carriers from paying overtime as a potential central cog in the effort to increase time's value. Trump Labor Secretary pick, Pugh felt, could well be an ally in that push, though it might be unlikely to move successfully through a Republican-controlled Congress. And plenty more. Following find links to related coverage mentioned throughout the podcast: **Overdrive's July 2024 Trucker of the Month Mike Nichols will be a candidate on OOIDA's upcoming/in-process board elections: https://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year/article/15680591/trucker-of-the-month-mike-nichols-knows-limits-hones-strengths **Overdrive readers' response to FMCSA's proposed changes to the ELD mandate regulations: https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15297229/eldexempt-ownerops-say-no-to-any-pre2000-exemption-change **Trump's Labor Secretary nominee: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15709066/prounion-former-congresswoman-tapped-to-lead-dol **Trump DOT nominee: https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15708579/sean-duffy-tapped-by-trump-as-secretary-of-transportation

    31 分钟
  4. Owner-op Garrett Steenblik's 200-lb. weight loss journey to Trucker's Body Shop program to give back

    11月24日

    Owner-op Garrett Steenblik's 200-lb. weight loss journey to Trucker's Body Shop program to give back

    When truck owner Garrett Steenblik was in the throes his personal body-transformation journey toward losing, ultimately, 200 lbs. over-the-road, he was hauling with Boyle Transportation, it was his birthday, and he got a message over the Qualcomm from operations wishing him a happy birthday. Such was his commitment to working physical activity into his daily routine, then teaming with his wife, that he'd garnered a particular reputation with folks at the company, including its customers. "I was so dedicated," he said, that "if we were getting loaded I'd wake up, I'd hop out and do some push-ups, I'd run around the truck, I'd so some body-weigh exercises. ... The shippers would be like, 'What's that man doing?'" The message, immortalized with a picture you'll see as part of the cover image for this week's podcast and which he calls my "favorite picture in all of trucking," contained a simple message for him: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRETT, CELEBRATE WITH A FEW LAPS AROUND THE TRUCK AND SOME KALE CAKE!" As of August this year, Steenblik had hired an operator to join his wife in their rig, a 2023 Kenworth T680 leased to Tri-State Motor Transit, as he's at the end of years of development of the Trucker's Body Shop business, a membership and support program for truckers seeking to lose weight or address some other conditions (smoking cessation, for instance, is a part of it). In this edition of Overdrive Radio, Steenblik details Trucker's Body Shop goals to help drivers deliver on their own aims of weight loss via diet and exercise, medical doctor network support through telehealth, convenient weight-loss prescription delivery, ongoing doctor consultation and more. Overdrive featured the Trucker's Body Shop MediReady travel kit covering common OTR needs recently here: https://www.overdriveonline.com/gear/product/15708444/truckers-body-shop-truckers-body-shop-intros-new-medical-kit-for-truck-drivers In the podcast, hear how Steenblik found not only greater physical health through the weight-loss journey but, ultimately, bedrock mental well-being as well. With Trucker's Body Shop, he hopes to deliver that to any fellow OTR hauler who needs it. Find more about Trucker's Body Shop via this link: https://truckersbodyshop.com/ More from Overdrive Radio: https://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio

    33 分钟
  5. Paying trucking knowledge forward: Growing pains and adjustment, more from four Small Fleet Champs

    11月18日

    Paying trucking knowledge forward: Growing pains and adjustment, more from four Small Fleet Champs

    It’s one of our favorite opportunities covering the trucking world these last several years -- the annual conference of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, for four years now the sponsor of Overdrive's annual Small Fleet Championship, recognizing and sharing the stories of business excellence for owner-operators who hit and/or cross that 3-truck threshold. On November 7 this year, Overdrive Radio host Todd Dills announced winners in two categories, recognizing four total finalists during NASTC’s Thursday-night conference-opening Transportation Trust Forum. You’ve likely seen the news – Paul Rissler Transportation and C.W. Express took home the Small Fleet Champ title belts this year in their respective categories: https://www.overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ/article/15707739/rissler-transportation-cw-express-emerge-as-small-fleet-champs Yet that’s not the true highlight of the program for Dills. Rather, the chance for an in-person, roundtable sitdown with all four of our Small Fleet Champ finalists, to share their perspectives on business challenges overcome, on the makets in which they operate, and more. The talk you'll hear in this Overdrive Radio podcast edition offers plenty potential lessons for other truck owners similarly wrestling with various business difficulties of various stripes. Likewise a strong current that’s a bit different from past Small Fleet Champ roundtables we've conducted. All owners offered examples of how they pay their hard-earned trucking knowledge forward to leave behind capability when the end of the line comes squarely into view. For some, those efforts were front and center in the talk itself. Automotive and general dry van carrier C.W. Express owner Steve Wilson was joined in the talk by his son, Steven the second, in his early 20s and newly involved in the business, for instance. Hear also C.W. Express’ fellow finalist in the 11-30-truck division of the Small Fleet Championship – Brian Brewer and Jennifer Leasure of mostly local scrap and dump hauler Brian Brewer Trucking. Likewise, competing in the 3-10-truck division, Jamie Hagen of mostly dry van carrier Hell Bent Xpress and Paul and Michelle Rissler, of Paul Rissler Transportation, running reefer. It's a hallmark of a truly exceptional business owner that, though the day-to-day fires may mount, keeping eyes on the future is a necessity for the next generation. As Steve Wilson outlined his immediate and longer-term goals, invoking all that he'd been through over the last several years (including 8 months' worth of a hospital stay, near death at one point), "I've got grandbabies now," he said. "You know, what I want is to build a legacy for those kids. 'Hey, my granddad built that.' That's what I'm here for." Read Wilson's and others' stories via the Small Fleet Champ section of Overdrive's website: https://overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ

    46 分钟
  6. Veterans Day special: Coalition supporting vets in ag careers honored in Howes Hall of Fame

    11月11日

    Veterans Day special: Coalition supporting vets in ag careers honored in Howes Hall of Fame

    Here’s wishing all United States military veterans in the audience a happy Veterans Day with this edition of Overdrive Radio. To mark the day, we bring you this dive into the work of the Farmer Veteran Coalition, an organization that got its start back in 2009 with a goal of a then California/Mexico produce farmer to help support returning military servicemembers in bids to enter the business of feeding the nation. We’ll hear today Overdrive Radio's talk with Jeanette Lombardo, current Farmer Veteran Coalition CEO, about the FVC’s recent induction into the Howes company’s Hall of Fame, bringing another important support organization to the attention of trucking and ag industries: https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15705903/vetssupport-group-now-in-howes-hall-of-fame-deadline-approaching-for-small-biz-reporting-to-fincen-alert FVC CEO Lombardo details a variety of new-farmer support and other programs that deliver on the org's mission, dovetailing in several ways with trucking and logistics businesses that support the nation's food supply chain. Lombardo sees plenty honor and value in the Howes Hall of Fame induction, enabling connections between the coalition and, not just new groups and people in the ag world, but also in trucking and logistics. "We're a nonprofit. We don't have much budget for advertising, ... yet we're seeing this huge increase in membership," she said, in part given word of mouth that occurs as a result of programs like the Howes Hall of Fame. "We were very humbled to receive the nod from Howes, and even more so when we went online to see previous awardees. ... I think it's the beginning of a wonderful partnership." The Hall of Fame launched during Howes' 100-year anniversary celebration five years back, said Howes Products' own Rich Guida. It's intended as an effort "to find the people, places, and things that make trucking and farming -- and diesel systems, really, of any kind -- so valuable. And for us to be able to give back to these people, and support them the way Jeanette was talking about, is where we find reward." Access the stories of all inductees in the Howes Hall of Fame, or nominate an organization or individual yourself, at this link: https://howesproducts.com/hof In the podcast, find much more detail about the FVC's many support programs for returning servicemembers and hear Lombardo's personal story of how, in the midst of the pandemic, she would come to be inspired by and, then, intimately involved in leading an organization with a worthy mission. More about the FVC: https://farmvetco.org/ Howes' induction video about FVC: https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15705903/vetssupport-group-now-in-howes-hall-of-fame-deadline-approaching-for-small-biz-reporting-to-fincen-alert

    25 分钟
  7. 'Good day to be out trucking': Overdrive October Trucker of the Month, two-truck Zimmerman Ag

    11月4日

    'Good day to be out trucking': Overdrive October Trucker of the Month, two-truck Zimmerman Ag

    In this Overdrive Radio, we catch up primarily with owner-operator Daryl Zimmerman of Belgrade, Minnesota, co-owner with his brother, Nelson (also featured in the podcast), of two-truck Zimmerman Ag. Daryl was looking out the windshield glass on a bright and sunny day running between Minneapolis-St. Paul and his area in Central Minnesota bound for a feed mill that has been a principal customer of his business for much of its nearly 10-year history. Since launching as one man, one truck in 2015, Daryl's was joined by Nelson when he got his own truck and leased it to the business, starting in 2020. They’ve since fully joined forces, extending a family base that stretches back to Daryl and Nelson’s father’s time as an owner-operator in the late 1990s. Zimmerman Ag is Overdrive’s Trucker of the Month for October, putting the brothers in the running for the 2024 Trucker of the Year award and marking the end of the run of our semi-finalists for this year. In the coming weeks, expert more from all of them as judges begin the evaluation process for our final 2024 Trucker of the Year winner. Today, the Zimmermans take us on a tour through their history in business, its entirety for both men as owner-operators working in support of farmers and other ag-support businesses, by and large, around their home base in Minnesota: https://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year/article/15706944/strength-in-numbers-zimmerman-ags-daryl-and-nelson-zimmerman Look for further coverage of all Trucker of the Year semi-finalists in the coming weeks and for announcement of three finalists in December. All have a chance to win a custom replica model of the truck of their choice plus a brand-new seat from Trucker of the Year sponsor Bostrom Seating. Big thanks to Commercial Vehicle Group and the fine folks at Bostrom Seating for continued support. To get in the running for next year’s program, get over to https://OverdriveOnline.com/toptrucker to start that process. Deadlines mentioned there have passed for the 2024 award, but note that any entries or nominations of deserving owners will be considered for the 2025 program.

    27 分钟
  8. The 'driver shortage' is dead? And: Inside the broker-carrier scrum at last week's summit

    10月28日

    The 'driver shortage' is dead? And: Inside the broker-carrier scrum at last week's summit

    "The driver shortage is dead, long live the driver shortage." That’s sort of the message you might get digging into a recent truck driver compensation study and the "driver shortage" narrative’s longest proponent’s response to it. That compensation study was conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine at the request of FMCSA. FMCSA itself was tasked to commission the study by Congress in the 2021 Infrastrucutre Investment and Jobs Act, the early Biden-era highway infrastructure legislation. The report examined truck driver compensation and compensation methods and their impacts on retention and safety, and along the way called the American Trucking Associations’ and others’ long-posited notion of a driver shortage "spurious." Fundamental labor economics principles cast doubt on what the ATA has long held out as persistent shortages, as reported Friday by Overdrive News Editor Matt Cole: https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15706801/does-trucking-have-a-driver-shortage ATA, though, dug in its heels in response, noting in Cole's reporting that the NAS study report's authors “fail to account for several important points and distinctions that are critical to understanding the market for professional truck drivers.” Of course, plenty others around trucking, including Overdrive's own reporting back in early 2016, have cast doubts around persistent shortages similar to those in the National Academies' study. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in particular has long-pointed to high turnover rates in truckload as a kind of bellwether statistic that belied any existence of a true "shortage." Today on the podcast, Cole’s conversation about the conclusions with OOIDA President Todd Spencer, who reiterated the association’s long-held view about persistent driver shortages now underscored. On the driver-retention front, Spencer felt putting real value on a driver’s time, furthermore, could well be the single biggest improvement truckload carriers could make to build a base of longer-tenured pros over-the-road where delay at shipper or receiver docks or via an on-highway emergency "certainly isn't predictable," he said. "You can't plan for it and again the common thread with detention time is that the prevailing rate for that is zero" dollars. Our own Executive Editor Alex Lockie, too, joins the podcast to break down last week's Broker-Carrier Summit conference in Texas, where fraud prevention in brokered-freight markets was front and center. Also, too, plenty subjects that played directly to carriers in attendance, offering insights into opportunities that just don’t exist for brokers, as it were. As Lockie quipped, "Carriers ... had this lab on how to land direct feright, which is essentially how to cut brokers out of your life. Of course, you could not have a panel on how brokers could cut out carriers." More of Lockie's dry sense of humor here, likewise a highlight moment near the end of a fraud-prevention panel discussion with with Anchor Reliable Transport’s Brian Woodring. As mentioned in the podcast: **Owner-operator Ilya Denisenko's thoughts on value in the BCS event: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio/podcast/15684505/sweetness-of-low-price-v-the-sour-of-bad-service **Lockie's reporting on changes to Carrier411's FreightGuard system: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15705912/carrier411-makes-big-changes-to-its-freightguard-carrier-reports **Email contact for the Truckstop load board's look into potentially building a broker-vetting service for carriers: Extensions@truckstop.com

    35 分钟
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关于

The Overdrive Radio podcast is produced by Overdrive magazine, the Voice of the American Trucker for 60-plus years. Host Todd Dills -- with a supporting cast among Overdrive editors, contributors and others -- presents owner-operator business leading lights, interviews with extraordinary independent truckers and small fleet owners, and plenty in the way of trucking business and regulatory news and views. Access an archive of all episodes of Overdrive Radio going back more than a decade via this link: http://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio

信息

  • 创作者
    Overdrive
  • 活跃年份
    2013年 - 2024年
  • 单集
    496
  • 分级
    儿童适宜
  • 版权
    © All rights reserved
  • 节目网站
    Overdrive Radio

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