POWER OF ATTORNEY

	I, Robert A. Hansen, hereby authorize and designate each
of John Milek, Reyne Wisecup, Kris Sharpe, Jennifer R. Mewaldt,
Jeffrey Sprain and Sharon A. Stuckmayer, 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 and 5 and timely file such form with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, any stock exchange or similar
authority, and the NASDAQ Stock 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 therein granted, as
fully to all intents and purposes as I might or could do if
personally present, with full power of substitute 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 forgoing attorneys-in-fact.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any such attorney-in-fact
hereafter ceases to be at least one of the following: (i) a
partner of Faegre & Benson LLP, (ii) an employee of Faegre &
Benson LLP, or (iii)  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 the Power of Attorney to
be duly executed as of this 1st day of November, 2002.

/s/
Robert A. Hansen