Built in the Midwest

Dan started hauling 140,000-pound chip trucks through the UP woods at 17. Fifty years and a few million miles later, he sits down with Josh to talk about what trucking was, what it is now, and what every new driver needs to know. 🔑 KEY TOPICS — 50 years of trucking experience across van lines, intermodal, heavy haul, and OTR — The financial realities of owner-operator trucking— Why autonomous tru...

A math tutor who works with trade students says the bar for a high school diploma has never been lower — and he's watching the consequences walk into apprenticeship programs every week. Our guest this week, Kent King, has taught public school, run GED prep in a county jail, and now tutors math for our students. He sees what happens when students who "passed" high school meet the math the trades ac...

David spent ten years recruiting for the U.S. Army before he ever recruited a single truck driver. Now he travels the Midwest sitting down with CDL students and soldiers transitioning out — and he's blunt about what most of them get wrong before they ever sign an application. WHAT WE GET INTO The thing every new driver assumes about hiring that's costing them offers Why Roehl swapped side mirrors...

Every truck on the road, every piece of heavy equipment on a job site, every log truck bouncing through the woods at 160,000 pounds — someone has to keep all of it running. That someone is AJ. He started as a diesel tech and worked his way to managing a shop that serves everyone from over-the-road drivers passing through the UP to log truck operators 30 miles deep in the woods. He came in to talk...

Donnie walked into the largest heavy equipment show in North America and watched someone operate a real excavator in Germany — from a console in Las Vegas. That moment changed how he thinks about what's coming for the industry. And what he's bringing back to his students. WHAT WE GET INTO The ConExpo experience — 2,200 vendors, five buildings, four parking lots, and technology Donnie didn't know e...

Andrew Krueger got his start hauling freight in box trucks around Chicago in his early twenties. A decade and a half later, he's running his own trucks, hiring his own drivers, and filing for his own motor carrier authority — and he's doing it from the Upper Peninsula. Then the company he'd been leased to for years pulled the plug. Right before Christmas. Instead of walking away, he went all in. T...

A driver clears $90K his first year. Another one with the same CDL is stuck at $55K and frustrated about it. Bill Oglesby has watched hundreds of students come through Midwest Truck Driving School. He can spot the difference between those two drivers before they ever leave the building. This week, he breaks down what that difference actually is — and most of it has nothing to do with driving. WHAT...

Jillian Garcia never planned on a career in trucking. She was a self-described introvert who'd spent years in childcare and the restaurant industry before a temp agency placed her at Schneider. Ten years later, she's a Senior Territory Recruiter covering Wisconsin and Upper Michigan — and she's talked to more drivers than most people will meet in a lifetime. In this conversation, she opens up abou...

Join us as we dive into an engaging chat with Mason, who reveals his unexpected journey from military life to pursuing a career in the trades. He candidly shares how his decision to join the Marines at a young age sparked a series of life events, leading him to discover his true passion for hands-on work. Mason's story is all about finding your niche and not being afraid to pivot when things don't...

How much did you actually know before you made your career decision? Not what you thought you knew. What did you really understand about the work, the pay, the day-to-day — before you committed years of your life and thousands of dollars to it? Most people don't have a good answer. And the ones who do usually wish they'd asked better questions first. This is the first episode of Built in the Midwe...