Overdrive Radio
547 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★ - 18 ratingsThe 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
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Episodes
Mailbag from the driver wage shortage: More views on the long fall in pay, rates, income and more
March 17, 2016 17:39 - 5 minutes - 4.66 MBThis podcast rounds up several views following the report on what is a fall in the purchasing power of truckers' wages over 35 years. Adjusted for inflation, had driver pay kept up with the Consumer Price Index's inflation since 1980, the average trucker today would make more than $100,000 annually. As one caller put it, there's absolutely not a "driver shortage" but rather it's the "wage shortage" that is the problem. In addition, toward the end of the podcast, find a few views on the Safety...
Back from the brink: On the road with Ted Bowers Trucking
March 15, 2016 18:50 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBKingston, Tenn.-based Ted Bowers, in business as an owner-operator for decades, took Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills along for part of a run of 3,300 lbs. of stainless tubing from Knoxville, Tenn., bound for Iowa. Along the way, as Dills explains, Bowers told a story of adversity overcome that holds lessons in the importance of close freight, accounting, driver and other partnerships in any successful owner-operator or small fleet business. Recorded along the way in Bowers' own custom stre...
Nails in the coffin or change for the better? Talking trucking's future with Gary Carlisle
March 07, 2016 20:58 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBAttendant to the March 2016 issue of Overdrive and its Part 1 coverage of the future of the owner-operator business model, this talk between Agri-Empresa oil field service fleet manager and one-truck owner Gary Carlisle ranges over a myriad of issues on which Carlisle bucks many a forward-looking trend in his focus on bedrock issues of generational shifts, economic cycles and regulation. Tip of the hat to trucker/singer-songwriter Bill Weaver for a bit of his "I'm Rollin'" single from the "Ev...
"I'm rollin'": Behind 'Every Mile I Drive' with trucker/singer-songwriter Bill Weaver
February 23, 2016 18:40 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBIn this edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, run through the brand-new record from trucker Bill Weaver, who with regulator collaborators in his band has honed the Southern Rock style you'll hear here over many years. The Flippin, Ark., native is a hazmat hauler by trade, and no slouch of a songwriter, the new "Every Mile I Drive" record makes abundantly clear. Read more about him via http://overdriveonline.com/podcast-take-a-run-through-the-stories-behind-bill-weavers-every-mile-i-drive
"I Likes Me a Big Girl," by Paul Marhoefer
February 19, 2016 17:26 - 2 minutes - 4.64 MBTrucker/singer-songwriter Paul Marhoefer continues his recent spate of recording activity with this romp of a track, a sneak peek of sorts at results from a recent session with the studio pros at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. Read more about him and his music via http://www.overdriveonline.com/god-and-god-alone-driver-songwriter-paul-marhoefers-latest/
I'm Rollin', by Bill Weaver
January 14, 2016 21:45 - 3 minutes - 4.55 MBThis advance track from trucker/singer-songwriter Bill Weaver is part of his long-in-the-making "Every Mile I Drive" album of original trucking songs. The latest on the record is it's due sometime during or shortly following February of 2016. Visit http://billweavermusic.com for more.
'Brothers of the highway': Aaron Tippin, Tony Justice in the studio in Nashville
January 08, 2016 18:51 - 9 minutes - 8.56 MBTrucker-singer-songwriter Tony Justice's upcoming "Brothers of the Highway" record reached an important stop on its route toward the destination of its 2016 release. This week in Nashville, country legend and former trucker Aaron Tippin joined Justice and his producer, Nashville-based Jeff Silvey, at a modest-looking house on 18th Street in the Music Row section of town to lay down vocals for their collaboration on the record's title track, a song penned in part by Justice cowriter for many t...
'God and God Alone,' by Paul Marhoefer
December 18, 2015 14:43 - 4 minutes - 3.88 MBA new track from Indiana-based trucker and singer-songwriter Paul Marhoefer, written following his two daughters graduation from college early in 2015 and also inspired by memories of a catastrophic crash Marhoefer was involved in years ago. Given it crippled him in the short term and ruined his career as an owner-operator, Marhoefer believes it held the potential to have outsize negative effects on the young lives around him but that "God, and God Alone, took us here from there...." against...
Mailbag: Answering ELD Mandate questions, and more trucking views
December 17, 2015 20:37 - 10 minutes - 9.22 MBIn this Overdrive Radio podcast edition, Senior Editor Todd Dills answers a few ELD-mandate-related question and rounds up commentary coming in on the podcast line: 530-408-6423. Commentary has reflected fairly strong opposition to the mandate by and large, with as much as 85 percent of readers -- in a poll still ongoing at OverdriveOnline.com -- noting they’d do what they could to avoid running with an electronic log of any kind. Half said they’d rather retire or look for another line of wor...
A 'piece of freedom' under threat: Owner-operators sound off on ELDs after final rule's release
December 15, 2015 16:48 - 3 minutes - 1.49 MBIn this edition of the audio mailbag, owner-operators respond to news of the electronic-logs mandate's final rule release by FMCSA -- if the timetable for implementation in the rule stands, truckers running under the hours of service and with a model year 2000 or newer truck will be required to record hours with an approved device in December 2017. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association petitioned in court for a review of the rule on December 15. More detail here: http://www.overd...
Mailbag: Mixed reactions from owner-operators on CSA's public scores' removal
December 07, 2015 15:02 - 3 minutes - 3.32 MBIn this mailbag podcast, drivers offer a decidedly mixed response to Dec. 4 news that the CSA Safety Measurement System, pursuant to requirements in the highway bill signed into law the same day by President Obama, had been pulled from public view. Some called it a win for trucking, while others wondered whether pulling the scores would simply make it easier for less qualified carriers to compete for freight. For more on the news, join the discussion at this link: http://www.overdriveonline....
Lindsay Lawler's "Highway Angel" live in Nashville
November 10, 2015 13:20 - 5 minutes - 5.13 MBThis edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast excerpts Lindsay Lawler's final performance on her Truck Stop Tour in support of the Truckload Carriers Association's Highway Angel program recognizing acts of heroism large and small by truckers on the road. The song here, also titled "Highway Angel," was penned for the program by Lawler and writing partner Chris Roberts. Find more at this link: http://overdriveonline.com/podcast-lindsay-lawlers-highway-angel-live-in-nashville
Will Congress pass CSA-reforming highway bill?
October 29, 2015 19:11 - 10 minutes - 14.1 MBGreg Cohen, president of the Highway Users Alliance, talks with Overdrive News Editor James Jaillet about the chances that Congress will pass a bill to hide CSA cores and force FMCSA to fix the program. Cohen also talks tolling provisions, size and weight and whether highway monies will go to rail projects.
Trucking troubadour Tony Justice hard at work on third album in Nashville
October 19, 2015 20:47 - 7 minutes - 6.53 MBJustice recently passed the 50,000-CD unit just a few years into establishing a distribution network with most major truck stop chains. He talks here about what the accomplishment means to him amid work on his third record, due in January.
What's up with rates?
October 16, 2015 20:35 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBDAT Solutions' Mark Montague talks with Overdrive News Editor James Jaillet about recent rate trends, where he sees rates headed next year and more.
What it's like driving an autonomous truck
October 08, 2015 13:59 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBWhat's it like behind the wheel of a self-driving truck? And how do you get an autonomous endorsement for your CDL? Overdrive Equipment Editor Jack Roberts and OD News Editor James Jaillet talk details of automated trucking.
What does the future hold for hours of service?
October 02, 2015 14:25 - 4 minutes - 4.47 MBIn this brief interview, Overdrive News Editor James Jaillet talks with the Truckload Carriers Association's David Heller about potential changes to hours of service rules FMCSA and Congress could be working on.
Hope Rivenburg: General public 'naive' on pressing need for truck parking
October 01, 2015 19:04 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBFor many of you, Rivenburg needs no introduction, but for those who don’t know who she is, the Fultonham, N.Y., resident and postal employee — she mans the small local post office there — and mother of three became well-known among drivers after her husband, Jason Rivenburg, was killed during a robbery while, for want of other better options, he was parked overnight near a closed gas station at I-26 exit 136 in Calhoun County, South Carolina. Here Hope describes how her connection to many in ...
Shippers and brokers, too: Voices on detention and compensation for delays
September 28, 2015 18:22 - 3 minutes - 3.16 MBCalls continue to come in from drivers around the nation in response to the Detention détente series of reports -- in this podcast, drivers weigh in on the regulatory apparatus' potential role. Find further exploration of the issue at this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/audio-mailbag-more-voices-in-favor-of-swift-action-on-the-problem-of-uncompensated-detention/
Mailbag: 'All about the money'? A bevy of reader views on proposal to increase truck weight limits
September 17, 2015 17:29 - 5 minutes - 5.26 MBA sizable majority of Overdrive readers (64 percent) see negative primary consequences of any significant rise in interstate truck weight limits, preferring the current limit to the added burden of purchasing new equipment and the potential to compound safety issues associated with bridge and other infrastructure deterioration and congestion. In this podcast, several readers weigh in on the September 2015 proposal to raise limits from 80,000 lbs. to 91,000 lbs. with the addition of a third tr...
Brad James does "Detention" live at Trucker Talent Search 2015
September 02, 2015 21:46 - 2 minutes - 2.52 MB2014 Trucker Talent Search competitor Brad James warmed up the 2015 crowd at the Great American Trucking Show with his trucking-themed version of "Dock of the Bay"... "I've been sitting at the dock all day, wasting time..."
Paul Marhoefer live at Trucker Talent Search 2015 with "Jacksonville"
September 02, 2015 21:13 - 4 minutes - 4.19 MBPaul Marhoefer's "Jacksonville" takes the point of view of a trucker nearing the end of his career and requesting that final dispatch. Marhoefer got the competition heated up as the first performer among the three finalists at the Great American Trucking Show. Based in Indiana, he drives for Moeller Trucking. Read more about him at this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/looking-forward-to-a-musical-good-time-trucker-talent-search-finalist-paul-marhoefer/
Nate Moran live at Trucker Talent Search 2015 with "Middle of the Moonlight"
September 02, 2015 21:06 - 4 minutes - 3.9 MBNate Moran took first place in the 2015 Trucker Talent Search with his "Middle of the Moonlight" track -- the Bryant Freight owner-operator is based in California and has only begun what will no doubt be a serious foray into country music as a singer-songwriter. Read more about him via this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/new-musical-beginnings-trucker-talent-search-finalist-nate-moran/
Don Whatley live at Trucker Talent Search 2015 with "Honey-Dos"
September 02, 2015 21:02 - 3 minutes - 3.57 MBThree-plus-million-mile driver Don Whatley, based in Oklahoma, competed as one of three finalists in the 2015 Trucker Talent Search competition, a coproduction of Overdrive and Red Eye Radio. His wife, he noted, urged him to perform this original track, part of his self-released "American Trucker" record. Read more about Whatley's long career and his current work with Texas-based Mesquite Transportation, at this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/music-over-3-million-miles-trucker-talent-se...
Tony Justice live from Trucker Talent Search 2015, where he emcee'd
September 02, 2015 20:56 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBAs part of his role as emcee of the 2015 Trucker Talent Search competition -- featuring drivers Paul Marhoefer, Don Whatley and eventual winner Nate Moran -- trucking troubadour Tony played three tracks from his in-progress "Brothers of the Highway" record: "Broke down in the Hammer Lane," "We Drive Trucks," and "18 Wheels and Jesus." Catch a video production by Chris Fiffie of the last of those via this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/music-video-18-wheels-and-jesus-by-tony-justice/
Keith Sampson live at Trucker Talent Search 2015 with 'Made Me Who I Am,' 'Hard Working Family Man'
September 02, 2015 19:30 - 6 minutes - 5.52 MB2014 Trucker Talent Search champ and Landstar-leased owner-operator Keith Sampson warmed up the crowd at the 2015 event in Dallas with these two original songs. Read more about the first of the tracks and Sampson via this post at OverdriveOnline.com: http://www.overdriveonline.com/axleoutpro-ups-the-ante-for-trucker-talent-search-participants-and-a-new-keith-sampson-vid/
Kevin Rutherford at PIB reveals owner-operators' most overlooked asset: Time
August 31, 2015 20:16 - 8 minutes - 7.88 MBSpeaking in the GATS Theater at the 2015 Great American Trucking Show's Saturday edition of the Overdrive/ATBS Partners in Business seminar, Trucking Business and Beyond host, small fleet owner and longtime owner-operator business consultant Kevin Rutherford took questions and spoke over a few hours, emphasizing the importance of ongoing education to business success. There's a field of veritable diamonds lurking in the cab of most every owner-operator's truck, he noted. Find more about his t...
Tony Justice on the big stage at GATS 2015
August 29, 2015 14:43 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBIt was a big night Friday, Aug. 28, at the Great American Trucking Show for singer-songwriter and Everhart Transportation driver Tony Justice. Following two widely well-received albums of trucking songs (On the Road, Apple Pie Moonshine) and performances over the years at a variety of shows, Justice's first show on the big stage at GATS, opening for one of his musical heroes, John Anderson, was a special occasion indeed. Between his second and third songs, Justice asked all the drivers in the...
"Made Me Who I Am," by Keith Sampson
August 28, 2015 12:04 - 3 minutes - 3.09 MB2014 Trucker Talent Search winner Keith Sampson's song here tells a true story, Keith says, about Sampson’s parents. It’s a moving story about himself as a young man and those who came before him — a father who left when he was young and a mother who knew how to be the dad when she needed to be. Read more about the track, and see the video, at this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/axleoutpro-ups-the-ante-for-trucker-talent-search-participants-and-a-new-keith-sampson-vid/
New beginnings for Trucker Talent Search finalist Nate Moran
August 12, 2015 14:54 - 8 minutes - 7.8 MBPersonal history has driven country singer-songwriter and Smokey Point Distributing driver Nate Moran from the get-go. His father unexpectedly passed when he was a boy, and music became his way of coping. "Nate picked up a guitar 'to keep my mind right,'" he says in a profile on the website of the Daseke company. He talks about this and more with Eric Harley of Red Eye Radio ahead of his performance August 28, 2015 at the Trucker Talent Search competition at the Great American Trucking Show. ...
Music over 3 million+ miles: Don Whatley with Eric Harley of Red Eye Radio
August 10, 2015 13:34 - 9 minutes - 8.69 MB2015 Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search finalist Don Whatley talks at length about his long trucking career and musical pursuits in this interview, conducted by Red Eye's Eric Harley. In the on-site theater at GATS in Dallas August 28, 3:30 p.m., Whatley as well as fellow finalists Nate Moran and Paul Marhoefer will perform before a panel of judges to determine the ultimate winner of the competition. Singer-songwriter and driver Tony Justice will emcee the event and also perform. F...
'A good time': Trucker Talent Search finalist Paul Marhoefer with Eric Harley of Red Eye Radio
August 06, 2015 18:40 - 7 minutes - 6.49 MBPaul Marhoefer, 55, of Indiana, talks at length about his musical influences and his long trucking career in this interview, conducted by Red Eye Radio's Eric Harley you'll find in the podcast below. In the on-site theater at GATS in Dallas August 28, 3:30 p.m., Marhoefer as well as fellow Trucker Talent Search finalists Nate Moran and Don Whatley will perform before a panel of judges to determine the ultimate winner of the Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search competition. Singer-son...
The resurrection of Evel Knievel's 1970s cabover Mack haul rig
July 06, 2015 22:02 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBThis talk with Robb Mariani, onetime host and producer of the American Trucker show on the Speed Channel, marks the beginning of the end of the story of the Evel Knievel Mack haul rig Mariani located several years ago in the Finding Evel episode of the show. Overdrive subsequently covered the initial stages of the restoration at small fleet owner-operator Brad Wike's shop in Lincolnton, N.C., among other things paying witness to a little safe-cracking. In the podcast, Mariani details the comi...
Owner-operator John Raffone -- for President?
June 11, 2015 15:54 - 7 minutes - 6.5 MBSwift-leased Raffone is running for the Presidency of the United States. With no operating budget for the candidacy outside of the one that keeps his trucking business rolling, he's relying on word of mouth via the road and social media to spread his message. Raffone’s by no means a traditional politician. The 25-year over-the-road operator’s platform, if he could be said to have one beyond a desire to return high-level politics to the average person, however, is heavy on trucking-related iss...
Mailbag: Hours wish list -- 'We are people, not machines'
May 22, 2015 20:46 - 3 minutes - 3.55 MBOverdrive's truck owner-operator readers sound off with ideas toward a more perfect driver hours of service rule.
Mailbag: "Huge Mistake!" Operators sound off on impending speed limiter mandate proposal
May 20, 2015 16:57 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBIn this Overdrive Radio podcast, voices are raised against any mandate for the use of speed limiters/governors in heavy trucks, while some emphasize alternatives to imposing a single speed on on-highway trucks, such as adequate training and rewards for voluntary governing,
Clear the cache: Attorney Rob Moseley on ECM data use in crash litigation
May 05, 2015 02:16 - 5 minutes - 5.04 MBSouth Carolina-based attorney Rob Moseley, speaking at the May 2015 meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association Safety and Security Division meeting, stressed the need for motor carriers of all sizes to keep an handle on data their truck electronic control modules are collecting, outlining when the data needs to be saved. Otherwise, periodic downloads from the ECM are advisable, as Moseley elaborates on in this selection from his talk.
'An industry with a force': Dave Heller's regulatory update at TCA Safety and Security meet
May 04, 2015 03:35 - 15 minutes - 13.8 MBIn the wake of the record number of comments filed on the hours of service rulemaking several years ago, followed by further legislative advocacy on the part of individual business owners, drivers and so many others, TCA's Dave Heller contends the trucking industry is a force to be reckoned with. Engagement with government on the top issues in the industry is key to changing things for the better. On CSA, the Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking upcoming represents a key opportunity to beg...
Aaron Tippin talks 25 years in music, celebrated with his new record
April 30, 2015 13:57 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MBOur talk with country singer-songwriter Aaron Tippin, ranging over his 25-year career in the music business attendant to release of his new '25' double CD, featuring classic Tippin tracks as well as new material and some special features. (Catch a few samples from new tracks in this podcast.) Tippin also ranges back over his close relationship with trucking -- he worked as a driver before his music success -- and truckers, who've been a core part of his audience over the years.
TMAF's highway bill push -- 7 million reasons
April 28, 2015 12:57 - 30 seconds - 1.15 MBTrucking Moves America Forward began its "7 Million Reasons" ad campaign in the D.C. area last week, pushing lawmakers and lobbyists to back a long-term highway bill, citing the 7 million workers in the trucking industry as why.
Mike Morgan on a victory lap after inaugural ChampTruck Class 8 racing event
April 27, 2015 19:31 - 10 minutes - 9.71 MBA talk with '88 Mike' Morgan, who came out on top of the points following the inaugural ChampTruck World Series Class 8 racing event in Millville, N.J., in April 2015. Read more about the event results via http://www.overdriveonline.com/88-mike-gets-win-at-champtruck/
Mailbag: Drivers react to Kenny Capell's dismissed obstruction case
April 21, 2015 19:45 - 2 minutes - 1.21 MBA few Ovedrive readers had thoughts on camaraderie that’s fallen by the wayside given what many see as an increasingly adversarial relationship between truckers and law enforcement at the scale houses and on the road. In this mailbag podcast, readers react to the story of owner-operator Kenny Capell’s arrest and his case’s subsequent dismissal, which we reported on at the following link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/kenny-capells-obstruction-of-justice-case-at-the-scale-house-in-his-own-wor...
Kenny Capell tells the story of his dismissed obstruction charge after scale-house arrest
March 23, 2015 19:30 - 15 minutes - 14 MBThe charge stemmed from his being awoken twice over the course of two inspections in just a few weeks by the same officer while he was on his 10-hour rest period in the sleeper of the truck, driven at the time by his wife. Ultimately, Capell would like to see it become common practice in law enforcement — whether by new law or by better recognition of existing protocol — to better respect the job trucking professionals do by refraining in cases where there is clearly no reasonable suspicion o...
Mailbag: Recent owner-operator views on CSA's public scores
March 20, 2015 17:45 - 1 minute - 1.71 MBOverdrive readers weigh in positively and negatively on the public nature of carrier CSA scores today.
Watermelon Slim live in Nashville, Tuscaloosa in Spring 2010
March 20, 2015 13:13 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBBlil "Watermelon Slim" Homans in 2010, upon release of his "Escape from the Chicken Coop" record of trucking blues, plays his solo slide dobro set at Carol Ann's BBQ in Nashville, Tenn., and at Overdrive HQ in Tuscaloosa, Ala. More about the performances via http://www.overdriveonline.com/?s=watermelon+slim
Rulemaking committee member owner-operator talks driver training
March 19, 2015 19:52 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBAs an independent owner-operator, Bryan Spoon holds the rare distinction of having been selected among many qualified nominees to serve on the Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee. Or, as he puts it in this podcast, one of the only members who doesn't typically "wear a suit and tie to work" every day. More of his throughts on training here as well: http://www.overdriveonline.com/driver-training-introducing-bryan-spoon-owner-operator-on-the-rulemaking-committee/
Mailbag: 'Don't Help The Lawyers. Help Us.' --Readers on insurance
March 18, 2015 13:30 - 5 minutes - 4.61 MBMore costs piled on by regulators in the form of an insurance hike, Overdrive readers argue in this podcast, would only serve to idle more trucks and boost crash settlements unnecessarily, with them attorney’s fees. Find more on the issue via this link: http://www.overdriveonline.com/mailbag-dont-help-the-lawyers-help-us-voices-on-insurance/
Introducing owner-operator Howard Salmon's 'Who Would They Look Up To' track and outreach project
March 12, 2015 21:30 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBIndependent owner-operator Howard Salmon's moving "Who Would They Look Up To" track, originally released on his 2009 record "These Trucks Are Made of Gold," is now the center of an outreach project via the WhoWouldTheyLookUpTo.com site. Salmon's offering the track for a free download and encouraging parents, attendant to the song's message, to support schools and other institutions like the Trucker Buddy program that provide role models to the youth of today.
2014 Trucker Talent Search Winner Keith Sampson's 2015 TTS Ditty
March 11, 2015 17:45 - 1 minute - 1.18 MBSampson penned this little jingle for Overdrive readers, encouraging participation in the 2015 Trucker Talent Search music competition. Visit http://TruckerTalentSearch.com to find out how you can compete.
Entry Level Driver Training: Conversations following rulemaking committee's first meeting
March 09, 2015 21:09 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MBWill traditional training approaches survive the Entry Level Driver Training rulemaking? If statutory language is any indication, it's likely. Points of view on such approaches to training follow in conversations with owner-operator Cody Blankenship, ELDTAC committee member and owner-operator Bryan Spoon, and (principally) former operator/small fleet owner Richard Wilson of TCRG Consulting.