Jimmy Mac shares glimpse into the future of ‘The Dave Nemo Show’

It’s tough to follow a legend.

It’s something we see often in the world of sports. When a future hall-of-fame player retires, nobody wants to be “the next guy” to the mantle – typically with the expectations of picking up where the previous player left off.

Radio host Jimmy Mac is staring down the barrel of exactly that situation.

In March, during a live broadcast at the Mid-America Trucking Show, longtime radio personality Dave Nemo announced he would be stepping away from full-time hosting duties. As the host of “The Dave Nemo Show” and formerly of “The Road Gang,” Nemo has spent over 50 years cementing himself as a fixture in the trucking community.

As Nemo enters the homestretch of a career that has spanned five decades, it will now be up to Mac – and others – to fill some rather large shoes.

Mac was recently a special guest at the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s Truck To Success course. While in town to share his insights with prospective owner-operators at the three-day seminar, Mac paid a visit to OOIDA’s headquarters, joining Land Line Magazine Managing Editor Jami Jones for a wide-ranging conversation.

During the interview, Mac told the story of his start in trucking radio. Being new to the industry, he had plenty to learn about trucking and the terminology that went along with it. But despite this, he could tell Nemo shared valuable wisdom when it came to having conversations with truckers. 

“The big thing – talking about Dave Nemo saving my tuchus – he said, ‘Jim, they will put up with anything except a phony. If you don’t know, you need to tell them you don’t know, and it’s OK,’” Mac told Land Line.

Mac also discussed what the future of the Dave Nemo Show could look like, saying the “format and the information stays the same” but that he planned to bring his own style to the broadcast.

“I feel like I want people to walk into a diner where there’s a lot of smart, groovy people who know a lot about trucking, and they sit in a booth with those really cool cats and everyone is just kind of shooting the breeze,” Mac said.

He added that while there was plenty from the old show that would remain unchanged, there was one particular area he felt could improve.

“We need a little diversity. We need some people of color. We need some Sikhs. We need some people who are just getting into the action. There are vast groups of people who are not being spoken to and not being given the information they need,” he said. LL

Watch Land Line’s full conversation with Jimmy Mac below.