With today's edition of Overdrive Radio we’re going to drop into conversation with a man who’s been making a name for himself around the Atlanta-area trucking community the last decade or so while building a small fleet -- Mike Nelms, owner of Keep Trucking Transportation. The 20-or-so-truck fleet pulls reefers and dry vans with a mix of brokered and direct business, made up mostly of owners leased on, including many owner-operators. Mike Nelms has just a few trucks of his own.

Nelms has brought instincts for raising up those around him with an interest in the trucking business, incorporating distinctly educational efforts directly into operations. All employed there approach relationships with contracted owners with an educational mission in mind, hoping to set up all owners for future success as they remain leased on or, eventually, go out on their own with authority.

And last year Nelms debuted a first-time event in Atlanta to connect owner-operators and others with newer trucking businesses with potential funding sources, whether truck loans or other needed lending, in the form of a mixer on a downtown rooftop. The second such event is coming up March 4, 2023, on top of the Ascent building, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. There’s more to it than just funding, ultimately, too -- a chance to network with stakeholders in trucking with a wide range of experience. Hear all about Nelms' now-almost-decade-long journey into and through trucking in the podcast.

More about Keep Trucking Transportation and the Atlanta event: https://www.keeptruckingtransportation.com/

Also in the podcast, hear about one of Nelms leased-on invested truck owners and how she approaches her driver, the "quarterback" of the whole operation, as such puts it, with a healthy flat pay package and more: http://overdriveonline.com/15305792

**And a discussion of FMCSA's interim dispatch provider guidance, relevant to just when any independent dispatch operation needs broker authority at present, and when it doesn't. Find details on that guidance via this link: https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15303162/fmcsa-guidance-on-when-dispatch-services-need-broker-authority