))
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 t ...
…
continue reading
Trialcore presents. ''Radio Overdrive'', 1 hour with some of the best in electronic music in all genres (synthpop, disco groove, progressive house, trance, synthwave, etc...)
…
continue reading
1
Staying young, learning more: Master of the owner-operator craft Alan Kitzhaber, Trucker of the Year
33:34
"Constantly trying to learn new things just keeps you keeps your mind young. It keeps you going. When you stop learning, you kind of just stagnate and drift away." --Owner-operator Alan KitzhaberOverdrive Radio listeners will recognize the voice at the top of the podcast this week as that of longtime owner-op Alan Kitzhaber of Eau Claire, Wisconsin…
…
continue reading
1
Hacked? How trucking owner-ops can contain the damage -- or better yet, avoid it in the first place
33:44
"Theft increased 1,445 percent from the first quarter in 2022 to the first quarter in 2024." --Kathleen Dasal, retired from the Ansonia commercial credit bureauDasal presented at this past November’s annual conference of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies – and emphasized that huge increase in cargo theft over these last years, ai…
…
continue reading
1
Tour-haul 'special forces': Small fleet owner Josh Rickards building the team with owner-ops
37:33
For every story of difficulty expanding beyond a single truck with leased owner-operators, there's probably more than one tale of success. The latter's been the story the last several years for owner-operator Josh Rickards, whose Rickards Transportation Services business as of late November was up to a total of five owners leased on in addition to …
…
continue reading
Happy New Year! This final Overdrive Radio podcast for 2024 -- or the first for 2025, whenever you happen to be catching it -- looks back on the year that has been, a certainly sluggish one when it comes to business for many, though with a degree of optimism heading into 2025 with a new administration incoming and hope for business-friendly policy …
…
continue reading
"I just believe very passionately that if you're going to take your industry seriously, you need to be engaged, you need to be involved." --Joe Rajkovacz, Director of Government Affairs, Western States Trucking AssociationThe quote above comes from this week's long talk with Rajkovacz, with a long history in trucking and with the last decade and a …
…
continue reading
1
'You can succeed': Truckers of the Month beat 2024's sluggish conditions with more than just will
30:10
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 tho…
…
continue reading
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 th…
…
continue reading
1
What can owner-ops expect from Trump II? Outlook for speed limiters, transparency, parking, more
30:33
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'…
…
continue reading
1
Owner-op Garrett Steenblik's 200-lb. weight loss journey to Trucker's Body Shop program to give back
33:04
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…
…
continue reading
1
Paying trucking knowledge forward: Growing pains and adjustment, more from four Small Fleet Champs
46:24
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 cro…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
1
'Good day to be out trucking': Overdrive October Trucker of the Month, two-truck Zimmerman Ag
27:09
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 …
…
continue reading
"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 …
…
continue reading
1
$2 million Peterbilt 389X with a special mission, benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, other orgs
25:02
The expert singing voice of Marine veteran and Nashville-headquartered singer-songwriter Sal Gonzalez warms up and brings to fruition a special celebration event held last week by Rush Truck Centers in Nashville, Tennessee, in this edition of Overdrive Radio. Rush was announcing the big winner of the quite expensive, final, only 2025 build of a Pet…
…
continue reading
"He's such a hard worker. He's always helping his family to help get their own authority. He'll let them lease on for a while ... until they get on their feet and get their own authority. ... He's just a good person all around." --Messina Holguin, speaking to reasons she nominated her husband, owner-operator Rene Holguin, for Overdrive's Trucker of…
…
continue reading
"If you're doing the right things ... if you're looking at your numbers, figuring out your fixed cost per day, your variable cost per mile, and choosing the best loads for yourself, you're going to weather this winter just fine like you have the last two years. And then when freight turns around, you're going to be in really good shape." --ATBS Vic…
…
continue reading
In this week's Overdrive Radio edition, Part 2 of our "How to build business for trucking’s down cycles" online roundtable in late August. Among the questions flagged for panelists was just whether, and when, the long freight-rates slide of the last two years might turn the corner, or at least stabilize. Since the late-August time period, the march…
…
continue reading
1
'The sweetness of low price' v. the 'sour of bad service': Trucking through the freight trough
34:00
"The sweetness of low price is really fast, even though the sour of bad service lasts a lot longer. The sweetness is really tempting to jump in and take." --Silver Creek Transportation founder and president Jason CowanAt the top of this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, you'll hear the sage words of Silver Creek Transportation Founder and Presiden…
…
continue reading
1
No more detention half measures: The time is now to charge for it and actually collect from shippers
30:18
When we polled owner-operators about a year ago on recent-history improvement, or lack thereof, in detention time along their routes and at their customers, a huge majority noted the situation they'd seen at docks hadn’t improved to any noticeable degree in recent years. Forty percent of all poll respondents at the time in fact said detention had g…
…
continue reading
1
Investment diligence over nearly 35 years has Trucker of the Month on path to profitable retirement
26:31
In this week's Overdrive Radio podcast edition we’ll hear more of our talk with August Trucker of the Month Alan Kitzhaber, and a good bit about one particular subject near and dear to the 4-million-mile owner of a 1995 Kenworth T600 he's piloted since it was new."I've been very religious about investing my money instead of spending it, and it's pu…
…
continue reading
1
Trucker of the Month Alan Kitzhaber: 4 million miles, ever greater efficiency for his '95 T600
30:29
"Some guys customize their truck via paint, chrome, lights, and things like that. I customize my truck to make it a more comfortable place to be, a more profitable truck, a more efficient truck." --Owner-operator Alan KitzhaberIt's another rewinder of sorts for this week in the Overdrive Radio podcast series. If you missed the news last week Tuesda…
…
continue reading
1
Brake inspection blitz this week: Roadside inspection system should be 'preventive,' not punitive
31:06
With the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Brake Safety Week inspection initiative kicking off August 26 with stepped-up brake checks and inspections, generally, in jurisdictions across North America, we’re looking back at a podcast from earlier in the year – February 2024 to be exact. The episode featured Wisconsin-headquartered owner-op…
…
continue reading
It was no doubt a bittersweet last weekend in Waupun, Wisconsin, at what could well be the final edition of the decades-running Waupun Truck-N-Show, where Overdrive News Editor Matt Cole was on hand talking to many among the owner-operators and other truckers in attendance: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/15681420/final-waup…
…
continue reading
"As anti-automated driving as I am, I might almost rather see some robots. At least they're not going to be looking at screens" going down the road. --owner-operator and Overdrive July 2024 Trucker of the Month Mike Nichols: https://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year/article/15680591/trucker-of-the-month-mike-nichols-knows-limits-hones-str…
…
continue reading
1
Trucker of the Month Mike Nichols steers business with reliable freight, maintenance partners
32:43
This week on the podcast, we're diving in headfirst to the history of Wisconsin-headquartered owner-operator Mike Nichols, Overdrive's July Trucker of the Month and profiled recently in our Trucker of the Year semi-finalist series by Matt Cole: https://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year/article/15680591/trucker-of-the-month-mike-nichols-kn…
…
continue reading
