Trucking legends Spencer and Nemo look back

Two trucking legends, OOIDA President Todd Spencer and Dave Nemo of RadioNemo, sat down to share memories, stories and more at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.

Spencer and Nemo’s paths have crossed on countless occasions throughout their five decades in trucking, including when both were named to the Mid-America Trucking Show Wall of Fame in 2022.

Their first encounter came via the power of the air waves.

“I was just a casual listener,” Spencer said. “I became aware of Dave when I was in the Army. It was overnight trucker radio. After I left the military, I got into a truck, and it was easy to listen to the show living in the Midwest.”

Nemo, also an Army veteran, had just completed his service when he began his radio career.

“Trucking has metamorphosized so much,” Nemo said. “Everybody was on the road forever. My theory is in the mid-80s, trucking started to develop regional fleets because dads wanted to be home more. That became almost a mantra for the industry to this day.”

After deregulation, a lot of owner-operators fell into the niche of being able to going anywhere, Spencer said.

“You can own and drive a truck, but if you’re going to run a trucking business, someone better be paying attention to the business affairs,” Spencer added. “In the early days, the regulatory requirements for a one-truck operator were identical to a thousand-truck operator. We had three or four license plates, if you wanted to truck in multiple states. It was more than one person could handle in a lot of instances, so having a support staff at home was really important.”

The husband-wife team was a staple in the industry for many years, before the split-sleeper-berth changes came and the industry lost that vital component, Nemo said.

From Nemo’s perspective, there was a strong desire for independence among those exiting the military following the Vietnam War.

“They didn’t want someone standing over their shoulder telling them what to do, when to do it, how to do it and that they did it wrong,” Nemo said. “A lot of those guys got into trucking because it was long-haul, all night and the road is yours. You’re independent.”

Truckers take pride in the responsibility of doing the job safely, Spencer said.

“Trucking is an essential utility for America,” Spencer added. “These folks that make it possible, you have to make accommodations so they can. That’s what keeps our country going. We have to create a system where trucks can function and meet the needs.”

The wide-ranging conversation also touched on what the future of the industry may hold.

“It has to be an economically viable model, and we have kind of moved away from that in trucking,” Spencer said.

Nemo added that artificial intelligence can only learn from what it’s already done; it can’t foresee what’s going to happen, like a human can.

“I think we’re going to see a resurgence in human control in trucks once people realize computers can’t do everything,” Nemo said. “They can learn something and do that, but they can’t learn something and adjust like we can.”

Despite new technology, much in trucking has remained the same over the years, particularly the people.

“Trucking is one of the professions where you could have friends all over the country,” Spencer said. “They’re real friendships, too.”

“Just be yourself” proved to be sage advice for Nemo throughout his radio career.

“If you try to be somebody you’re not, these guys are going to spot you a mile away,” Nemo said. “They’ve been cheated, lied to and shorted every day of their lives out there. I think that’s the connection, because everyone is themselves out there in those trucks.” LL