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-knows-limits-hones-strengths

As Cole wrote about the owner, Nichols pulls leased to bulk carrier Wayne Transports, for most of the last six years running. And the owner well knows his strengths and weaknesses, and has built his business to hum with that in mind. His prioritization of effective partnerships (both on the freight side and with a trusted maintenance partner nearby his home, among other business areas) have his one-truck business plenty profitable even through the difficulties of these last years.

Wayne Transports, where he’s specialized in the dry bulk division, is a big part of that.

His was a long road to get to this point, though, and today we’ll run through the twists and turns of a career that stretches back to his first taste of truck ownership almost four decades ago.

As mentioned in the podcast:

**Nichols isn't the first owner-operator to benefit from Wisconsin's unique Lemon Law and its application to commercial trucks: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/14875197/lemon-aid

**You can enter your own owner-operator business -- or that of another deserving owner -- in Overdrive's Trucker of the Year program, sponsored by Bostrom Seating, via this link: https://overdriveonline.com/TopTrucker

Entries to the 2024 program are open through September.