December 13, 2024 – January 31, 2025

The Nomination-Election Committee of the OOIDA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the opening of the biannual election period for the purpose of electing alternates to the OOIDA Board of Directors. The general membership of OOIDA elects alternates to the OOIDA Board of Directors. An alternate will serve a two-year term.

To be qualified as a voting member, a member must be current with his/her dues. The voting period ends forty-five (45) days from the date of this announcement. Ballots must be received by the end of the voting period (January 31, 2025). At that time, votes will be tabulated and the winners announced.

The Nomination-Election Committee has submitted the following slate of candidates for the general membership’s consideration. Please select up to THREE(3) candidates from the slate listed and indicate your choices on the ballot on this page. The three candidates who receive the most votes will be seated as alternates at the next OOIDA Board of Directors meeting.

Thank you for your participation!

Alternate Board Member Election

  • Aaron Treece, 38, Missouri

    OOIDA member Aaron Treece has been trucking for about 17 years. He is currently a company driver hauling and delivering beer and other beverages and also occasionally works in the warehouse loading and unloading. Aaron joined OOIDA to stay current on regulations and changes in the industry and uses that information to keep his company and other drivers informed.

    Aaron believes he would be a great addition to the OOIDA board of directors because he can offer the perspective of the younger generation of truckers. For an organization to continue to grow, you need to bring in new, younger members to replace those that are retiring. Aaron can fulfill that role. Aaron also believes that his experience both behind the wheel and in the warehouse lends to a unique, bigger picture view of the industry as a whole. Trucking is diverse and it takes different perspectives from all industry segments to represent the members in the best possible way.

    Aaron says one of the biggest issues new drivers face in the industry is the thought that it’s an easy job and easy money. He has seen numerous people get into the industry only to realize how difficult it is to even get into a truck and drive it legally much less stay on top of all the safety and compliance required to maintain your truck and business.

    Aaron believes that safety is the number one most important factor in being successful in the trucking industry. He says that if you don’t have safety, you don’t have a business. Safety should be the base of your business and if you don’t have a good base, everything crumbles. He is concerned with how often drivers are pushed past their limits just because they have more hours on the clock. He believes drivers are lacking the information they need to advocate for themselves and their safety. Aaron looks forward to the possibility of being seated on the OOIDA board of directors so that he can help get important information to those in the industry that need it – especially new drivers.

  • Casey Mulder, 39, Michigan

    OOIDA Member Casey Mulder is a third-generation trucker who drives for his family’s refrigerated LTL trucking business. Casey says trucking is all he’s ever known and he started driving as soon as he got out of high school and has been on the road ever since.

    Casey would like to be elected to the OOIDA board so he can make a difference on the national level. He knows that trucking is the backbone of this entire nation and that without trucks, America stops. We need truck drivers and Casey wants to be involved with bringing important trucking issues to the attention of lawmakers. He wants to be part of the organization that advocates for truckers.

    Casey is concerned with the number of truckers that get into trucking and don’t make it through even the first year. He believes there is something very wrong with the industry if you have the skill to drive and operate a trucking business but so many don’t succeed. Truckers need to be educated about the industry so they can be successful. OOIDA provides that knowledge and business education. Casey says that fuel prices, lack of parking and equipment expense are some of the biggest issues in the industry today.

    Casey believes that his understanding in cost benefit analysis and the financial side of trucking and his broader overview of the industry as whole makes him a good candidate for the board. To be successful in trucking, you have to know your numbers. You have to know your true cost per mile so you can choose loads that will pay you. Trucking is a business and you have to treat it as such. Casey says that he truly loves the trucking industry, believes it to be one of the most crucial industries in this country and wants to do all he can to help truck drivers be successful.

  • Grover Nelson, 63, Arkansas

    OOIDA Life Member Grover Nelson has been driving truck for 40 years. He was a company driver for almost a decade and has been an owner-operator for 30 years. Grover has been a member since 1999 and would like to remain an alternate to the board because he enjoys giving back to the organization and to the industry.

    He believes he can contribute new, outside the box ideas which can improve and expand OOIDA’s reach. He would especially like to find ways to include and work with our younger generation of truck drivers that are joining the trucking industry.

    Grover believes he brings a lot to the table – specifically, relevant and current insight from the road. He says he always looks at the positive side in life and believes he can accomplish anything one step at at time.

    Grover considers a lack of training as one of the biggest issues facing new drivers today. He recently attended OOIDA’s Truck to Success seminar and said he learned a lot – even after 40 years in the business. He also believes, in large part due to the ELD mandate, that drivers are being pushed to run harder than ever before which contributes to unsafe trucking. Safety has to be a top priority if you are going to be successful in trucking.

    When Grover isn’t trucking, he enjoys deep sea fishing and wild hog hunting.

  • Mike Nichols, 57, Wisconsin

    OOIDA Life Member Mike Nichols is a second-generation truck driver with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Mike spent 25 years behind the wheel and several years in freight sales and operations/dispatch. He is currently a leased owner-operator pulling dry bulk tankers loaded with food-grade products. Mike was recognized as Overdrive’s Trucker of the Month in July 2024.

    Mike believes he would be a great addition to the OOIDA board of directors as he has been a loud and prolific advocate for the American small business trucker and company driver alike. Mike says he has embraced an advocacy role for close to 25 years by routinely speaking with the media regarding the issues and controversies affecting small business truckers. He has submitted numerous op-ed pieces and participated in interviews with media around the country.

    Mike says his top three trucking concerns are 1) foreign-owned and operated companies and drivers competing in the American marketplace causing overcapacity, reduced rates, diminished safety and a negative public perception of our industry, 2) declining infrastructure and the political and administrative indifference to repairing and maintaining the infrastructure and 3) emission regulations that are antithetical to the logistical requirements of a first-world country.

    Mike would like to see the OOIDA membership count double so as to garner more political clout and expand on the array of benefits available to members. He says that he is focused on doing what needs to be done to increase membership numbers and continue OOIDA’s mission of advocating for the professional truck driver.

    In his free time, Mike enjoys motorcycles, muscle cars, bird watching and reading history.