POWER OF ATTORNEY

         I, Rita J. Heise,  hereby  authorize and designate each of
John J. Milek, Aaron K. Garms, Jennifer R. Mewaldt 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 13th day of July, 2012.

                                           /s/   Rita J. Heise
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                                           Print Name: Rita J. Heise