Episodes

In this episode, our Destination is Charlotte, NC, for the ATA’s Management Conference and Exhibition (MCE 2026). PodWheels had our microphones in record mode during the General Session on October 19th when outgoing ATA Chairman Greg Hodgen and incoming ATA Chairman Derek Leathers led the audience through a discussion in the State of the Trucking Industry and the road ahead. As you will hear, Hodgen describes the current moment as a chance for trucking to move from surviving to shaping the next...

As part of PodWheels’ collaboration with The Trucker Media Group in covering ATA’s Management Conference and Exhibition, this episode of Destinations takes us to Charlotte, North Carolina. PodWheels had our recording equipment rolling for the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual unveiling of the survey results listing trucking’s top issues. As she has done now for the past 22 years, ATRI President and Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Brewster went through the list of the Top 10 iss...

In our first episode following the announcement of the finalists for the 2026 Transition Trucking Driving For Excellence Award, our special series brings you the immediate thoughts of the five professionals behind the wheel who advanced in the search for America’s top rookie military veteran driver. Recorded within the first 30 minutes following the announcement that, for the first time in the program’s history, five of the semifinalists would be moving forward (due to ties in the scoring), Des...

Daryus Jones is the lone local driver to be selected for the Elite 11 in the 2026 Transition Trucking: Driving For Excellence Award program. DJ also has the honor of being the final member of the Elite 11 to be featured as part of our special Destinations series that is continuing to cover this year’s Driving For Excellence Award. As you will hear in this episode, DJ’s transition to trucking actually began during his four years of military service in the Army, where he worked in logistics handl...

Michael Bivens from Stevens Transport is our featured guest as we continue our special series sharing the personal stories of the Elite 11 from Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award. Our conversation looks back at Michael’s life, including his 13 years of military service in the Marine Corps and the career turn that brought him into the trucking industry. As you’ll hear, Michael shares how his years as a Marine shaped his sense of discipline and how his family, especially his wife,...

With this episode of our special series featuring the Elite 11 from Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award, Juan Rosado Lozada reflects on how his service with the Marines paved the way for him to be behind the wheel at Roehl Transport. Juan was seeking to make some positive changes in his life when he enlisted in the Marines after working in a series of unfulfilling jobs after high school. As he shares with us, the Marines not only offered Juan what became the life-changing opportu...

Daniel Doss of Melton Truck Lines is our guest as we continue to feature the members of the Elite 11 from Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award. Catching up with Daniel just days before his first anniversary on the road with Melton, we look back at his rookie year as a professional driver following his retirement from the Air Force. Getting the call that Melton wanted to nominate Daniel for the Driving For Excellence Award came as a bit of surprise in what has been a seemingly very ...

In this episode of our special series, we’ll get to know Brandon Ward, a driver for Werner Enterprises who is a member of the Elite 11 group that is in the running for Transition Trucking’s 2026 Driving for Excellence Award. Our conversation looks back at Brandon’s amazing career path that saw him excel in leadership roles with the Navy, in military law enforcement and in federal law enforcement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). We also talk to Brandon about how he found his initi...

In this edition of our special series honoring the Elite 11 from Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award, you’ll meet Prime Inc. driver Jeff Barber, who entered the industry after 19 years of service in the U.S. Army and subsequent career as a deployed military consultant. Jeff talks to us about what inspired him to enlist in the Army at age 16, and he looks back on the discipline and structure of the military that served as foundational building blocks for his success in life. Jeff ...

Our Special Series spotlighting each member of the Elite 11 from Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award continues with an in-depth interview featuring HEB Grocery driver Mohammad “Mo” Arzola, a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who rose to the rank of Sergeant Major. Over the course of our conversation, Mo talks to us about his military career, which included multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. It was on the battlefield in Iraq where he was wounded by an IED,...

Monica Brooks-Buck is center stage for the next installment of our special series that is celebrating the Elite 11 honorees who are part of Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award this year. Over the course of our conversation, you’ll learn how Monica’s idea to join her husband, Johnny, aboard his Werner Enterprises truck as an authorized passenger became an opportunity for Monica to obtain her CDL. Welcoming the challenge of starting a new career after 25 years of service in the U.S...

As we continue our series featuring the Elite 11 semifinalists who are part of Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award, PodWheels places the spotlight on Kishawn Forbes, a 26-year Navy veteran who made his transition to a career behind the wheel with Melton Truck Lines. Through this in-depth conversation, Kishawn shares how a family tradition of service inspired him to leave his home in the Virgin Islands and join the Navy to become a machinist mate following high school. Kishawn als...

Jenn Wilken joins our Destinations Special Series on Transition Trucking’s Driving For Excellence Award to discuss the honor of being named one of the program’s Elite 11 semifinalists. Jenn also talks to us about her 10-year Army career, the tradition of military service in her family and how she is using her experience in the Army in navigating her transition to get behind the wheel of a big rig. Initially working in a government office setting immediately following her retirement from the Arm...

In our first PodWheels Destinations episode highlighting a member of the Transition Trucking: Driving For Excellence Award’s Elite 11, Gary Williams of Stevens Transport shares how a 31-year Army career shaped his approach to leadership and service, which ultimately led him on the road to discover trucking. As Gary explains, trucking, especially in his role with Stevens, is a new career that placed him back in a command position – behind the wheel, where he has a sense of autonomy to make decis...

With this episode of Destinations, PodWheels begins our coverage for the 2026 edition of the Transition Trucking: Driving For Excellence Award. Launched in 2015 as a collaborative initiative from Kenworth, Fastport and the US Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes Program, the Transition Trucking: Driving For Excellence Award recognizes the accomplishments of military Veterans who have entered into careers as professional drivers. To get things started on our journey will eventually bring us t...

In this special episode of our series shared on Mother’s Day, we present the inspiring story of Sarah Mosley, who looks back at her fight to survive a brain cancer ordeal. These days, Sarah is standing up again to do battle with another cancer diagnosis while managing the complexities of daily life and motherhood. With our Destination for this episode being hope, PROJECT 61 Health & Wellness Manager Lindsey Bryan welcomes her friend Sarah to the podcast for an expansive and uplifting conversatio...

This Friday (March 27th), Long Haul Paul Marhoefer will see the fulfillment of a dream that has been 39 years in the making when steps on the Freedom Hall stage at the 2026 Mid-America Truck Show. For this edition of Destinations, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson caught up with Long Haul Paul to discuss the honor of serving as the opening performer on the main stage that will be headlined by Frank Foster on Friday night. Long Haul Paul also takes us inside his journey to reach this spe...

In this episode of our Destinations Podcast Series, we will be spotlighting Eugene Mulero, a Senior Reporter from Transport Topics, who you can also hear on the National Truck Driving Championships Podcast from PodWheels. As you will hear through this episode, Eugene is also a part of the faculty at George Mason University. On February 24th, Eugene was a featured guest on the Dave Nemo Radio Show, which is broadcast nationally on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Radio. As part of his interview with ...

With this musical edition of our Destinations series, veteran professional driver and accomplished musician Long Haul Paul Marhoefer is our featured guest. As you will hear, Long Haul Paul will be previewing the Thanksgiving Day release of his new album, Floodwaters & Fires. During our interview with Long Haul Paul, he recalls the near-death experience he endured while running over the road on Christmas Eve in 2023. As Paul shares, that moment of near tragedy served as the inspiration to record ...

This episode of Destinations is being shared by PodWheels to pay tribute to Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. It’s been almost six months since Betts’ passing at the age of 80 in mid-April. Earlier this year, PodWheels Executive Producer Greg Thompson revisited his personal archives and the 1983 interview he had set up with Betts and Chuck Leavell, the one-time keyboard player for the Allman Brothers who has also been a part of the Rolling Stone for 42 years and counti...

In this special episode of Destinations recorded on location in Indianapolis during the National Truck Driving Championships, we had the opportunity to catch up with Courtney George from Wreaths Across America. Courtney, who oversees transportation, logistics and industry relations for the organization, had a booth at NTDC 2024. In the booth and across the event, Courtney talked to the attendees about the mission of Wreaths Across America, which is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve a...

Todd Carroll, the President and Founder of United Axle, spent some time with Dave Nemo, Jimmy Mac and Lindsay Lawler on the final morning of MATS to talk about the important work Todd’s company does in keeping the trucks utilizing their services rolling across the country. To learn more about United Axle, we invite you to visit the company’s website UnitedAxle.com. The post MATS Rewind: Meet Todd Carroll, President & Founder of United Axle appeared first on PodWheels.

Terry Wurzer, the Co-founder and Vice President of Iowa Customs, joined the conversation with the RadioNemo Team on Friday of MATS 2024. Terry shares the company’s origin story and how it is catering to the after-market needs and wants for big rig owners. One of the fun parts of this segment can be heard when Terry is talking to DAT’s Dean Croke, who joined Dave Nemo, Lindsay Lawler and Jimmy Mac for this interview. Dean is the owner of a Peterbilt that he drove to MATS, and Terry is able to sha...

One of the Friday conversations presented by the RadioNemo Team featured Dr. Mark Manera, who is the founder and CEO of Offshift. Dr. Manera will be chatting with Dave Nemo, Jimmy Mac and Lindsay Lawler on the work he is doing through Offshift to assist professional drivers to live healthier and happier lives both on the road and at home. As you will hear, Dr. Manera also has a connection with Dean Croke, a friend of the RadioNemo Team who is the Principal Analyst for DAT. Dean was at the table ...