POWER OF ATTORNEY

      I, Sarah N. Nielsen, hereby authorize and designate each of John J. Milek,
Aaron  K.  Garms,  Nicole  J. Leimer and Reyne K. Wisecup, signing singly, as my
true and lawful attorney-in-fact to:

      (1)   execute for and on my behalf, in my capacity as an officer, director
            and/or greater than 10% shareholder of Fastenal Company, a Minnesota
            corporation  (the  "Company"),  Forms  3, 4 and 5 in accordance with
            Section  16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange
            Act") and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;

      (2)   do  and  perform  any and all acts for and on my behalf which may be
            necessary or desirable to complete and execute any such Form 3, 4 or
            5  and  timely  file  such  form  with  the  Securities and Exchange
            Commission,  any stock exchange or similar authority, and The NASDAQ
            Global Select Market; and

      (3)   take  any other action of any type whatsoever in connection with the
            foregoing  which,  in the opinion of such attorney-in-fact,may be to
            my benefit, in my best interest, or legally required of me, it being
            understood  that the statements executed by such attorney-in-fact on
            my  behalf  pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall be in such form
            and shall contain such terms and conditions as such attorney-in-fact
            may approve in such attorney-in-fact's discretion.

      I  hereby  further  grant  to  each  such  attorney-in-fact full power and
authority  to  do  and perform any and every act and thing whatsoever requisite,
necessary  or  proper to be done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers
herein  granted,  as fully to all intents and purposes as I might or could do if
personally  present,  with  full  power  of  substitution  or revocation, hereby
ratifying   and   confirming   all   that   such   attorney-in-fact,   or   such
attorney-in-fact's  substitute  or substitutes, shall lawfully do or cause to be
done  by  virtue  of  this  Power  of  Attorney and the rights and powers herein
granted.

      I  hereby  acknowledge that the foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in serving in
such  capacity  at  my request, are not assuming, nor is the Company or any such
attorney-in-fact's    substitute    or   substitutes   assuming,   any   of   my
responsibilities to comply with Section 16 of the Exchange Act.

      This Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until I am no
longer  required  to  file  Forms  3, 4 and 5 with respect to my holdings of and
transactions  in  securities issued by the Company, unless earlier revoked by me
in   a   signed   writing   delivered   to   the   foregoing  attorneys-in-fact.
Notwithstanding  the foregoing, if any such attorney-in-fact hereafter ceases to
be an employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, this Power of Attorney
shall  be  automatically  revoked solely as to such individual, immediately upon
such cessation, without any further action on my part.

      I  hereby revoke all previous Powers of Attorney that have been granted by
me  in connection with my reporting obligations under Section 16 of the Exchange
Act  with respect to my holdings of and transactions in securities issued by the
Company.

      IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  caused  this  Power of Attorney to be duly
executed as of this 23rd day of August, 2021.

                                           /s/ Sarah N. Nielsen
                                           ----------------------------
                                           Sarah N. Nielsen