Trucking with OOIDA

One week in early 2022, Donna Laframboise was at home, watching as the Freedom Convoy took shape in Canada’s capital city. The next, she was catching a ride to Ottawa to document what was taking place on the ground. The result: a life-changing experience for Donna and a book, “Thank You, Truckers!: Canada's Heroes & Those Who Helped Them.” Inside are the accounts of 20 truckers – and countless others &nd...

Every week at OOIDA is Truck Driver Appreciation Week – and the same goes for Aaron Knight, who founded Ten4Talks as a way to give drivers a voice. His popular YouTube videos feature unscripted conversations with the hard-working men and women of the trucking industry that keep this country moving. We connect with Aaron to find out what he’s learned from his hundreds of truck stop conversations.

Ten4Talks: https://www.t...

Whether you’ve got one truck or a thousand, it’s important to have people like Brendan Whisenant of CDL Legal in your corner. The industry expert joins the pod to talk about the importance of developing a safety culture within your fleet and preparing for those bad days that tend to pop up when you least expect them.

CDL Legal: https://cdllegal.com/

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The world suffered a huge loss last week with the passing of Dolly Parton – but her memory will live on thanks to her music, her kindness, her philanthropy and so much more. That includes a brand-new truck stop in the heart of Tennessee. In fact, the grand opening of Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop was one of her last public appearances. Mark Dukes, president of the travel stop, took some time before Dolly’s passin...

Bryan Martin is in the “knocking your socks off” business – and business is good. The “boss man” of 4 State Trucks and Chrome Shop Mafia fills us in on what he’s been up to of late – and gives us a very early preview of next year’s Guilty By Association Truck Show. Plus, there are many ways in which OOIDA is built to have your back – and Amber Stinnett personifies that sentiment...

The trucking community is quite familiar with FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs by now, but how much do we know about the man behind the title? The administrator joins us to talk about his small-town beginnings in Florida and his lifelong dedication to safety and law enforcement, plus the life advice from his father that guides him today and more.

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At OOIDA, we’re always thinking about the best ways to represent our members – and to do that, it helps to know where you’ve been. With that in mind, we decided to open up the archives this week for a little show-and-tell with OOIDA President Todd Spencer, who’s been here since the early days. More than 50 years of pictures tell the story of an organization that was forged by the fires of a cause – one...

If Kenny Ziglar II were in the market for a new nickname, “champ” would be a pretty good one. The Wyoming trucker just won his second straight Best of Show award at 44th annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs in Bristol, Tennessee. Kenny tells us how he went from “scrapin’ by” to winning big with his 2007 Peterbilt 379. Then we keep the SuperRigs party going with Heather Duffey of Shell Rotella. Heather is ins...

When it comes to YouTube, there’s no right or wrong way to find success. But it’s safe to say that Steven Howard has. The OOIDA life member has been an owner-operator for more than 20 years now, and in recent years has been documenting his adventures on his YouTube page, Big Belly and Son Trucking. And while trucking is a main character in his videos, it’s Steven’s family that really drives the content. What...

Allen Lund lived a remarkable life – and fortunately for us, it’s documented in a new biography called, “Be Good: The Allen Lund Story”. From a life-changing event as a young man that shaped his faith and his early days in the business to the formation of the Allen Lund Company and raising a family, the book is a lesson in a life well lived. Kenny Lund, Allen’s son, joins the show for a talk about his ...

The folks at Highway appear to be onto something. The load board has made a robust verification process a priority and the result is less fraud. Brent Tittle and John Tozer at Highway join the show to talk about how Highway got started, how they’re using technology to maintain a level playing field and what the future may hold, particularly when it comes to AI.

Highway: https://highway.com/

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Anthony Moore had one of those days recently where nothing seems to go right. The South Carolina-based trucker got hit with delays and detours thanks to two separate problems with his truck. After his wife said that God might be trying to keep Anthony from something, he said that maybe God had something else in mind. Turns out, he was right. Later that day, he happened upon an apparent kidnapping victim and her alleged captor and j...

In celebration of Canada Day – and in advance of Independence Day in the U.S.A. – we’re embracing our similarities and differences with the help of a man who’s developed quite a following doing just that online. Joseph DeBenedictis explains how he went from working for the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and Kelsea Ballerini to comparing food offerings in the U.S. and Canada on YouTube for tens of thousands of...

The rollout of FMCSA’s new Motus registration system has caused quite a bit of frustration out there – and just as many questions. Caleb Sears of OOIDA’s permits and licensing department runs through some of the most common problems people are running into – and some of the most common questions OOIDA is getting.

MOST COMMON MOTUS PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW

02:39 Not being able to link USDOT numbers up with system

03:1...

Marty Ellis got to cross something off his bucket list recently when he hauled The Wall That Heals – a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that travels around the country. The man who drives the OOIDA tour truck recounts the experience, but only after we get some background about the powerful tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, courtesy of Tim Tetz, director of outreach for the Vietnam V...

When disaster strikes, the Disaster Relief Haulers spring into action. The nonprofit has a very specific focus: providing hay, supplies and assistance to farmers and ranchers impacted by natural disasters. A recent example – when wildfires broke out recently in Nebraska. In short order, volunteers assembled in Ohio, loaded up their trucks and started up a convoy heading west. Levi Foss, president of Disaster Relief Haulers, a...

One of the best things about social media is showing the world things they’d never get to see otherwise. And few people are showing the world what Andy Specht is showing them. After starting out in the Marines and working as a mechanic, Andy shifted to heavy hauling. And when he started cataloguing his life online as the Blue Collar Trucker, he didn’t think it would amount to much – until it did. Today, he boasts ...

Every five years or so, Congress releases something known as the Highway Bill. Long story short, it lays out funding and policies for the nation’s infrastructure moving forward. And yes, that includes trucking – especially this year. The Highway Bill is chock full of priorities that OOIDA made sure were prioritized in the months and years leading up to this moment – so much so that OOIDA is calling this the most p...

Selling the youth on a career in trucking can be an uphill task, but it’s one Dave Dein takes on with enthusiasm. The former trucker created a CDL program at Patterson High School in California that paves the way for a career in trucking. Dave is one of those people who have found their calling, and he’s more than willing to share it. Plus, if you like classic trucks, Springfield, Missouri is the place to be next week. ...