Fuel, Hotshot, and Carrier Challenges Ahead

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:04.759 Welcome back to the Road Forward, a podcast for trucking industry leaders, brought 2 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:09.359 to you by trucks by the all in one fleet management platform built to empower 3 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:14.080 your drivers to be compliant, productive and safe. My name is Alex. 4 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:20.519 And then this week's episode, Flint eats a taco and Matt opens up to 5 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.879 us. I'll be honest, I'm pretty fluss. All right, let's get 6 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:36.560 started, all right, So obviously last week it was F three the Future 7 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:39.479 of Freight Festival. And by the way, the reason it's called F three 8 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:42.640 is because they tried to do F one and then it was they tried to 9 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.799 do F two and that was didn't work out, and so now they're calling 10 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.119 they call it F three. I thought it was F three maybe because Future 11 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:54.679 of Freight Festival three f's but um whatever. So but we group were invited 12 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:59.119 to like a little bar party or whatever at F three by truck Stop dot 13 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:00.119 Com. And so I'm my, hey, guys, we're sitting here, 14 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.759 we're having a drink, we're just relaxing. Let's talk about some of the 15 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.760 challenges in the industry and kind of what we've seen so far at the show. 16 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:11.680 And I think it was a good conversation between Flint who is the CEO 17 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.239 and founder and he was a motor carrier, and Matt who was our new 18 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:22.200 chief operations officer and he was he joined recently, but he did do a 19 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:26.120 little bit of he has a little bit of experience in FedEx from from before 20 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.519 and so it was just a good conversation about what we're seeing in the industry. 21 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:33.079 All right, Matt, what was your big learning from the show United? 22 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.840 Did you learn anything? Well, the whole thing I was trying to 23 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:47.480 learn today was how these companies, how this brokerage thing is happening. I'll 24 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:53.359 be honest, I'm pretty clueless. Is now how a carrier is actually planning 25 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:59.599 loads, picking up freight, picking up jobs, who's interacting with who um? 26 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:06.200 And how we can help lets carriers out in the whole process. I 27 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:12.479 mean, I think that the process, at least from what I heard today, 28 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:16.240 there seems to be a lot of innovation upstream of the carrier, right, 29 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:22.159 Like the carrier is almost like the redheaded step child in this whole Like 30 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.719 everybody, all the tech companies here want to talk. Shippers need to integrate 31 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:30.599 with the brokers, and you know, you needed on board the carrier or 32 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:32.919 broker. Like, everything was very centered around what the broker needs and very 33 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:38.000 little was about the carrier. Like I think it's one of the biggest problems 34 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:42.159 in the industry. Honestly. Well that's the thing though. My whole world 35 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:46.360 has been how do we pitched carriers? Right, But there's this whole world 36 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:51.960 beyond that, and some of that's represented here and and that's a big learning 37 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:53.879 experience. Yeah, there's a lot of extreme of the carrier. Yeah, 38 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.439 I mean, I just remember even from my time being a carrier, which 39 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:00.360 was seven years ago, six years ago, don't Yeah, six years ago. 40 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.439 It sucked. The broker deal sucked, the interacted, but like you 41 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.639 had to do it because you need back. It just I mean it, 42 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:12.800 it sucked in Like you would think with all those innovation, all these tech 43 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.520 companies, let's have a conference for the tech companies that are doing stuff in 44 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.159 this space. You think somebody would have said, hey, let's get really 45 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:22.560 eight coon that we all have to email back and forth and sign and then 46 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.280 I gotta call you in negotiate, and then oh I got them to find 47 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.840 out I get there and I need eight foot tarps and only have four foot 48 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:32.080 tarps. And you think some of that would be SOLVEDO. I mean it's 49 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:39.080 not hire is though in some regards and some of the ways they're doing business. 50 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.800 Well, I mean it just goes back. It's kind of tangent. 51 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:47.439 But carriers, so many of them, so fractured. It's yeah, so 52 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:51.919 many carriers. Yeah, there's it all comes back to the barrier venture. 53 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.639 There's no garrity entreating and therefore, like the biggest guys have already like claimed 54 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:59.840 their piece of the pot, right, and they can defend that that's the 55 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.120 incable, But the little guys like there's there's no way to band together appropriately. 56 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:08.280 Just say look, brokers, like this is how the ship's gonna work. 57 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:10.960 Because at the end of the day, if I say that that sound's 58 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:14.240 gonna work, well, you're a little two trucks will keep taking those loans 59 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:18.360 exactly right, Like, there's there's just no since they're cannibalizing each other. 60 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:25.279 Now, there's no margins to make investments in their technology. That's why people 61 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:29.240 leave carriers alone because there's so many of them, so they have such little 62 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.920 money to work with. You know, they don't understand, they don't understand 63 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.600 the cause. Yeah, and they really are not trying to strategically. I 64 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:41.360 think I'm not trying to detegrate everybody, but they're not all thinking strategically long 65 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.920 term because there's just trying to put players out there day to day. Yeah, 66 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:49.680 but that's that's a day in a lot, right. Yeah. That 67 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:55.480 I think the thing is is once you finally scrimp and save enough to build 68 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:59.920 an actual viable business as a character, and then you you know, you've 69 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:03.800 maybe get some stuff that's not broke, or you know, whatever your path 70 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.439 is to get there, and then there's always somebody that's going to start up 71 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.839 with their two trucks and all of a sudden compete with me. And it's 72 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.959 like I can just never fend off. I can never actually build what Davy 73 00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:19.399 Hunt has or what you guys have been at it for a hundred years. 74 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:23.800 Now, keep in mind, this is actually our first time all three of 75 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:26.120 us got to see each other in real life. You know, we did 76 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.160 our podcast a couple of weeks ago, but this is our first time actually 77 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.480 hanging out. So it was good. And since we're talking about carriers and 78 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.759 the struggles carriers are facing, and I want to cover in this segment the 79 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:40.199 headlines, I want to cover some of these diesel problems. Right, So 80 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:44.720 freight Waves as an article came out Friday, October two, right, and 81 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:48.480 it's winter's coming and that could have major impacts on already soaring diesel market. 82 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.279 So here they explain that because some of these refineries use natural gas, and 83 00:05:55.399 --> 00:06:00.879 natural gas is going up in price, they might actually switch to using diesel 84 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.439 instead of natural gas, and that in turn will lower the overall diesel market 85 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:10.560 even more. So this is a really um it's gonna be really interesting to 86 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:15.639 see how winter is going to affect the price of diesel because to my understanding, 87 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:16.800 we have a carry on a little bit later on in the show, 88 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:21.959 but to my understanding, rates are still really really really cheap. So um, 89 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.959 yeah, this is this is a good article worthwhile read. Um. 90 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:30.279 And then actually another article from freight Waves is East Coast retail diesel prices moving 91 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:36.560 significantly higher than overall US hikes. Okay, and basically the subtitle is extremely 92 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:42.600 tight inventories are seen as the driving factor blowing out spreads with benchmark Gulf Coast 93 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:44.879 markets. Right. So, and then they have this graph, right, 94 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:47.800 so you got your Houston for seventy a gallon, I believe is what is 95 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:51.199 this, I think this is just um either price per gallon. I don't 96 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:54.560 think that's at the pump though, because we don't have four seventy at the 97 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.240 pump right now. We have more than that. So and then but then 98 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.680 for the East Coast it says six o two. So it's two dollars more 99 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.879 expensive from Houston to Pennsylvania in pricing. And the main line right here is 100 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:10.399 the right here, the East Coast price blowout has been propelled largely by the 101 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:15.040 tight inventory situation is in what is known as PAD one Okay p A d 102 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:19.360 D the number one the Department of the Energies designation for that region. Okay, 103 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:24.519 so they have regions. That northeast region is called PAD one. Weekly 104 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:29.560 statistical data reported by the e i A this week had PAD one inventories of 105 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.800 ultra low soul for diesel at twenty one point three million barrels for the week 106 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:38.480 ended October twenty one, a more than seven percent decline in just one week. 107 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.360 But more striking was the fact that those inventories are fifty six point five 108 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:49.000 percent of the five year average for corresponding October weeks, excluding the pandemic influenced 109 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:55.439 data from SO that means the Northeast market PAD one market in the Northeast that 110 00:07:55.480 --> 00:08:01.199 includes Pennsylvania is operating on fifty six point six fifty six point five percent level 111 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.800 of inventory, right, so fifty percent of the fuel you folks are supposed 112 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.399 to get in the Northeast. I'm in Texas, but are you're supposed to 113 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:13.439 get a hundred percent? You guys are operating at fifty percent of the fuel, 114 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.240 So no wonder your prices are going up faster than the rest of the 115 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:20.000 country. So this is not good. Definitely a worthwhile read from the Freight 116 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:24.759 Waves came out Friday act as well, and you know some states have started 117 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.560 to try to help out at least some ways the ways they can. So 118 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:35.200 uh CDL Life has this article Iowa issues h OS overweight waiver for fuel haulers 119 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.639 amid supply concerns. Right, So obviously, um, they increase it ten 120 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:43.000 thousand pounds. So if you're a tanker instead of being your max wait eighty 121 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.919 tho pounds in your combination, you think you can now be pounds So hopefully 122 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.960 that does help out a little bit. Um, But I mean still, 123 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:54.480 at the end of the day, man, like this, where we're going 124 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.759 is just not good and to help at least a little bit light in the 125 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.720 mood. You know, I know it can always be doing it can always 126 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:03.399 seem like it's doom and gloom, I should say. But um, a 127 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:09.679 reddit run the reddit forward slash trucker's page. They somebody was doing their like 128 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:15.679 annual test, like safety test for the winter, right, and so he 129 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.759 he said, even though they don't pay me to do the winter safety class, 130 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.559 at least they have a good sense of humor. And so we're here. 131 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:26.000 The question is during winter conditions, which of the following are appropriate measures 132 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:30.720 to take? Okay, multiple choice question. They have four options. Turn 133 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.759 up the radio and hammer down, slow down and increase your following distance, 134 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.559 skip your pre trip inspection because of the cold, and take off d none 135 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.399 of the above. Obviously the correct answers skip your pre trip inspection because it's 136 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.039 cold outside. Kidding, kidding, I know, slow down, increase your 137 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.639 following business. But it just makes it funny that the other three options are 138 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:52.879 just so like they don't make sense. It's ridiculous. So I think they 139 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:56.120 want everybody to get a high score in that test. So a little bit 140 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.159 of fun, a little bit of sense of humor, uh, in an 141 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:03.679 effort to lighten them mood um during these headlines and during these just crazy times. 142 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:05.000 You know. A couple of weeks ago, Flint and I wanted to 143 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.480 do some content at a truck stop. So we went to the truck stop 144 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:11.120 and I talked about this a little bit before. But what was really funny 145 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:15.200 is like I was just standing there and you know, he ended up getting 146 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:16.720 a taco and I was just standing there, like, let me record him 147 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:22.279 just for fun eating a taco. So it was just a funny situation I 148 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:37.000 didn't want, so pretty solid. And a couple of weeks before that, 149 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:41.080 we actually met up to do a install on a bus for a school district. 150 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:45.960 They're testing out our camera systems for you know, keeping the passenger safe 151 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.480 and making sure the drivers aren't doing anything wrong on the road. And once 152 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:52.480 we were done with that install, I showed him some funny memes. Okay, 153 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.080 some memes that I thought hilarious were hilarious, So I'll put them on 154 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:58.159 the screen so you can see it. But here's his reaction to some of 155 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:07.240 those. Will Smith's don't got fat driving the truck, didn't he right? 156 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.240 Let's see, it's like when you get your CDL. You know, you 157 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:13.840 put out some weight, right, Okay, next one, and then the 158 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:22.440 damn handle will break off on your Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 159 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:24.840 When I've watched these people of parallel park right now, we live like in 160 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.600 the mid cities here in df W and u i C. Soccer moms trying 161 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:33.240 to parallel park or a little or like boat ramps too. You can use 162 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.480 that boat rams like watching somebody go down the boat ramp. It's like good 163 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:39.159 grace Jack. But nel now the little f one fifty, the cute left 164 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:46.840 one fifty has a little knob in it, right, and you can relate 165 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.080 that one because you're you wear a hazmat carry right. No, we weren't 166 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:52.879 has Matt, but we did oversize, like the you know, the hard 167 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.799 heavy stuff. Um, but yeah, become a hazardous. Become a hazardous. 168 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.559 How's that saying? Go a laugh a day keeps the doctor away. 169 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:07.879 So but let's try to regroup and refocus our you know the point of this 170 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:11.320 episode, which is, you know, there's a lot of struggles being a 171 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.440 carrier. It's really difficult, whether it's competition or whether it's you know, 172 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:20.080 not enough technology and or maybe like that we're going to discuss in this interview. 173 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.799 Uh, it is Clinton. He is the owner of boss HOWK Logistics. 174 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:28.759 He's a dispatch service and a motor carrier and he he does really really 175 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.720 good work. And so we discuss some of the some additional challenges that trucker's 176 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:35.399 face. So let's just get into that interview. So, in my opinion, 177 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.759 this is the problem with trucking, right and why the I think some 178 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.720 of the turnover is really high that right you. By the way, we're 179 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.360 taking a look at freight Waves publish an article about us Express and there's a 180 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:52.000 picture they kind of broke down some of the revenue that each truck makes. 181 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:56.919 And so one of the issues is that trucking u UM. It's good because 182 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:00.919 you can, you know, essentially have no experience, get into it and 183 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.480 and get a job that's pretty stable, pretty consistent. But it's bad because 184 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:07.480 the moment you become an owner operator or you go get your own authority, 185 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.360 you can you can start grossing five six thousand a week, right, that's 186 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.200 like pretty consistent. You can do five six thousand a week on a semi 187 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.360 especially, And the reason why the turnover is highs or or why owner operators 188 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.279 want to hang it up after a few years. Maybe. In my opinion 189 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:28.919 is that that is both that that becomes your ceiling indefinitely. The reason I 190 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.519 say it becomes your ceiling indefinitely is because, like you gross five or six, 191 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.200 and unless the market does something insane, that's all you can gross. 192 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.559 It's not like somehow you with a single truck operation, right with like think 193 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:43.440 about the regular Joe blow, I bought a pick a, bought a Semi. 194 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:48.559 I'm on the road, like he can't. There's nothing he can do 195 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.960 to gross ten thousand. There's nothing he can do to gross twelve thousand. 196 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.799 With that same one truck operation. There's nothing you can do to gross fifteen. 197 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.759 Right, there's no way to grow your business. So you come in 198 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.080 there, you want you you have a floor. Let's say you want to 199 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:05.120 uar your floors about four thousand, Well, you have a ceiling six or 200 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:09.320 seven thousand. That's There's absolutely nothing a individual owner operator can do in the 201 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.399 industry to increase his revenue. That's it a stock And this is why a 202 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:18.080 lot of good people quit from the industry. And you know they just turnovers 203 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.120 so high, Like what do you think, I don't I don't know, 204 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.519 man, I mean a one man, single operation. Yeah, you're always 205 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:26.720 you know, you're gonna have that that pinnacle, that high. You know 206 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.519 that that ultimately that ten thousand dollar week. You know you did it. 207 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.480 You did a great job, you know, and then that's it. There's 208 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:35.919 never ever gonna be any growth. Hell, I feel like I feel like 209 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.799 that's that right now. I've only got a five truck operation, you know, 210 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:45.480 on non CDLs, and and you know, yeah, last week I 211 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.200 had a truck to do eight. This is this first week out. I 212 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.559 told him, I was like, it's never gonna happen again, Like, 213 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.919 you just achieved greatness. I don't know how we did it, but we 214 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.440 went, you know, I rolled the diece and took him out out into 215 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:01.240 the mountain West and he did right, and he's like, let's do it 216 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:05.000 again next week. I'm like, that will never happen again. So, 217 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.000 even even just as a small operation, not even just a one man band, 218 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.759 it's you're you're absolutely right, there is no Once you hit that peak, 219 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.080 it is what it is. There's no more. You know, you 220 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.639 can't make more money with one truck and trailer um. You just that's it. 221 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:22.879 You're stuck and so um. And that's that's good if you're new, 222 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:26.639 because then you like you can count on that, Hey I got five thousand 223 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:30.440 coming in every week if I'm working. But it's also sucks because there's no 224 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.879 reason for people to stay in it any longer than they absolutely have to. 225 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.000 I think a good majority of them is also they just don't know their cost 226 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.600 and you know, and that's one of the reasons why you know, it's 227 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:43.080 so rough and why it is so cut throat on the load boards, you 228 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.799 know, because you get these new guys that fresh out, you know, 229 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.279 with a new authority went you know, spent hundred thousand dollars on a on 230 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.559 a on a whole rig, and and they're just hungry to get out there 231 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:56.799 and they take you know, they don't know that, you know, a 232 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:00.200 dollar thirty is it's terrible, you know, for a treat of it. 233 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.519 And now those brokers, broker's got it one time, so now they expect, 234 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.399 you know, hey, I can do that everything right. And brokers, 235 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.879 to my understanding, as they save your company like lane rate and so 236 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:14.080 then if you try to go back and say, hey, I need two 237 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:15.840 bucks, not a dollar thirty or dollar fifty. They'll say, hey, 238 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.960 what do you mean last week you hauld the exact same load for that same 239 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.399 rate, Why all of a sudden and so um? By taking cheap, 240 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.320 cheaper freight initially, it actually makes it more difficult for you to get out 241 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:30.399 of that rut of cheap freight. Um. But you you're like, out 242 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.440 of all the people that I talked to, you have also one of the 243 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:38.600 like you're also the most aggressive at like getting direct customers, right. It's 244 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.559 like you that is like sales is your skill set, I would say, 245 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.080 and so it's like you do really good in that, Like what what do 246 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.279 you like? What what advice can you give to carriers that are getting out 247 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:53.639 there trying to get sales and trying to get direct direct freight. And I 248 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:57.480 just you know, first I'm starting in my in my local area. If 249 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.720 I'm get an opportunity to break a way and just go drop business cards, 250 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:03.759 I'm absolutely we're doing it. You know, I'm trying to get out from 251 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.759 behind the screen and uh and get out there and really pound the ground with 252 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:11.440 it, because you know, for myself, you know, I take the 253 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:15.359 dat that that has the lane rate and I use this even off the load 254 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:21.160 boards. Uh. You know, you know when when a broker post it 255 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:26.440 as a full truck load and they want expedited dedicated service. Well, and 256 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:27.640 then you give them what the lane rate is because you know, we have 257 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.920 that power. We pay for the upper tier subscription, so you get that 258 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.599 lane rate as you click on that load and you're like, well, you 259 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.319 know, i'd like to be at that, you know, to seventy eight 260 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:38.039 a mile. That's what the lane rate, And they go, oh, 261 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:41.559 that's what we pay semis. Well, listen, man, we we have 262 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.880 the same cost. We we pay, we pay for the same amount for 263 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:49.680 fuel. We you know, our insurance is roughly relatively close. Uh. 264 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:56.160 But also you're getting the benefit because we're expedited, we're gonna get there way 265 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.039 quicker than the Semi. You know, I've got a buddy that you know, 266 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:02.599 out of out of Houston that uh, he's in a forty eight flat 267 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.039 and he says all the time, he's like, man, I roll in, 268 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.640 I'm waiting hours on end. I see hotshots roll in there, out 269 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.640 in and out, and I'm waiting. And then on top of it, 270 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.160 you know, Semi is a little slower. So there are five six maybe 271 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.759 six fifty a day, so whereas you know, on a straight transit day 272 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:21.319 for my drivers, we're rolling seven fifty miles all day, So how are 273 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:25.240 we penalized for that? So anyways, circling back, I use that lane 274 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:29.359 rate for my directs and I shoot him a train and I'm transparent with them. 275 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.480 You know. Part of my spill is, hey, uh, you 276 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:36.160 know we were totally transparent. H. Every invoice I send to you, 277 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.720 I take a little snippet of that lane rate, which is the fifteen day 278 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.720 average for that particular lane, just so you know you're getting what you're paying 279 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:47.799 for. There's no overh. You know, we're not charging ungodly rates. 280 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.400 And and you know, sometimes you know it it's good, you know, 281 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.039 I mean it's it's way better obviously moving with direct clients and getting to see 282 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:57.599 you know, getting that lane rate price of to forty. You know, 283 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.480 there's spend some times where it's like it's only to twenty for that lane. 284 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.680 That's okay. But I'm building that relationship and they're calling me more in it. 285 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.799 And that's how it is right now here in Arkansas. I've got a 286 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.279 couple of directs. They call me all the time. We're moving moving their 287 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:14.119 product to three times a week. We've now worked at a deal where, 288 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:17.119 um, you know, I kind of you know, one of the lane 289 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:18.440 rates was like three nine and I was like, you know what, I'll 290 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.680 tell you what if you just pay my miles from where I'm at in Arkansas 291 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:26.039 to where you're at where you needed to go and then back to my house 292 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:29.720 at two fifty all miles and uh, we'll just do that every time. 293 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.759 And that was a huge selling point for them. And now every time, 294 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:34.359 you know, like I said, they're they're calling and text and all the 295 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.640 time. So, uh, you gotta get off the wood boards, man. 296 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:42.640 But I would say for new carriers, pay for that upper tier subscription 297 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:48.279 to get to on that, to get that lane rate and start quoting those 298 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.880 brokers. At that lane rate, you are not any less than than a 299 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:56.119 forty eight flat if they are posting it for a truckload. And in that 300 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.359 comment they say exclusive are dedicated, Well to me, that's what it should 301 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.240 pay, right. Yeah, how can you say, hey, this is 302 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:08.799 dedicated and you can't put anything else on your trailer, but we're gonna pay 303 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:12.720 less than the lane rate data when you're taking up my full truck it's like 304 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:18.920 that doesn't make any sense. So, um, yeah, got today I 305 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.759 called on a load out of Philadelphia going down to North Carolina. It was 306 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.359 seven ft eight thousand pounds. Well, we're in the non CDO game, 307 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.839 so we're typically pounds or less. Um, I call him up. It 308 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.440 was a land Star, which you know, I was surprised because most of 309 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:34.480 my lands Star loads are good. I mean they pay really they at least 310 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:37.240 they paid me really good. And anyways, I called this guy and he's 311 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.559 like, it's got to pick up between nine and ten. It's a partial, 312 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:42.039 by the way, it's got to pick up between nine and ten on 313 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:48.240 Thursday, needs to deliver Friday morning and Monroseville, North Carolina, five sixty 314 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.279 miles away. Okay, but this is a partial now eight foots and eight 315 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:57.640 thousand pounds and uh paying five sixty miles paying six and bucks. And it 316 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:03.079 was air ride, which my guy has air ride on his non CDL unit. 317 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.279 But it's like, how insulting? Can you guys? Get man? 318 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:11.279 Right? Right? Yeah, it's it's frustrating. Now what about Like you 319 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:15.000 know, I was talking to a different carrier before and he was he had 320 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.119 like one of the worst situations of Double Broken from land Star. So it's 321 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.680 like, how has your experience about double Broken? Bit? I hear it's 322 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:25.880 on the uptick like crazy it is, and I actually witnessed it today. 323 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:30.039 I gotta drive around Seattle. We saw a post forred Bucks going back to 324 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:33.880 like Minneapolis, and you know, it's like sevent d miles paying like a 325 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:36.880 dollar fifteen ish, you know, and it was it was a decent partial. 326 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:38.240 It was twenty ft, three thousand pounds. You know, it's something 327 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:42.240 you could put together. And uh, I wasn't interested in it because of 328 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:45.759 the weather right now in Montana. Just you know, I'm not gonna put 329 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.440 my drivers through stuff like that for a dollar fifteen, you know. Uh. 330 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:56.359 But literally twenty minutes later, a Red Eye broker pops up, same 331 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.279 thing, same everything, and now for it went from the original on now 332 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:04.400 they're posting it for Bucks. I've been guilt, I've been I've been caught 333 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:07.720 up. I've I've had double brokered loads and h you know, that's where 334 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:11.440 you just gotta open that line of communication with your drivers and be like, 335 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:15.599 hey, you get that bol and it's got a different carrier broker on there. 336 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.720 You let me know as soon as possible and uh, and we did 337 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:25.319 one out in Pennsylvania. It was picking up for a land start and it 338 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.359 wound up we got the paperwork and it wound up saying Echo Global on there 339 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.799 and it just so happened to be a broker I know, really well. 340 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:33.920 So I called him up and he's like, he asked me what I what 341 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:34.880 I got for which I didn't think it was bad. It was like, 342 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:38.359 you know, to thirty five out of Pennsylvania going back west, that's that's 343 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.960 decent money for non cdo And uh, he's like, well we'll nix him. 344 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.640 And he sent me the right condirect and he's like, I actually paid, 345 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.240 like I don't know, it's like for it. So it was actually 346 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:52.960 almost like two eight a mile. Um so, but yeah, you just 347 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:56.200 gotta pay attention to those to those bols. And when you see something like 348 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.680 that, you know, I've also it and and they didn't give it. 349 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.400 You know, I called that broker. I went through the channels and found 350 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.680 out who it was and called them and let them know that this low has 351 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:11.680 been double broker. The original broker didn't care, didn't care. And so 352 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:15.119 that's that's why this is an interesting industry because like, not only are the 353 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:19.000 people spending you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars on trucks and trailers and 354 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.480 setups, but then it's like a mine field out there. Not only do 355 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:26.640 you have to worry about your you know, your own carriers, like other 356 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.480 truckers undercutting you, then you also have to watch out for the minefield of 357 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.319 double brokering. Right then you're losing money on not getting the right rate, 358 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.799 and so it's like there's it's almost like there's no winning in trucking. And 359 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:41.519 I'm curious how technology will solve this because I mean there's a lot of startups 360 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:45.119 and whatnot, they're they're all trying to solve this. Um but you but 361 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.079 you wholeheartedly recommend obviously using technology like um the dat rate people, right, 362 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.400 Like, that's a that's a good piece of tech that you could recommend. 363 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.519 Um any other any other technology that you're using that you like really benefits you 364 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.440 as a carrier, you know. I mean there's there's subscription ups that we 365 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.319 use, you know, for communication. You know that you introduced me to, 366 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:06.559 you know, years ago when I started dispatching for you. It was 367 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:08.119 like you introduced me to Slack, and I was like, oh my god, 368 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:11.000 I hate this, and then two weeks in it was like, oh, 369 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.960 this is the greatest thing ever. And Ben you know, because as 370 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.880 a dispatcher, you know, we're working from the computer, you're out in 371 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.920 the field driving, and this is all in one integration to where you can 372 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.640 get it in on your phone in your hand. And then it allows me 373 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:27.720 to keep my eyes on the loadboards because now I'm just copying and pasting. 374 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:30.960 I'm hot keying you know, control Sea control V and I never got to 375 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.599 look away. So that's been you know, that's been one of the best 376 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:40.440 things on the dispatch side that I highly recommend, uh is that slack integration. 377 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.440 If you have multiple um, multiple drivers. You know, if you're 378 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:45.920 a one man band, the only booking one guy, well then a simple 379 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:48.039 text isn't you know, it's not crazy. But when you're booking you know, 380 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:52.119 five seven, you know, eight drivers, well, every every second 381 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.680 counts, you know, so um, you know, it's just streamlining operations. 382 00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:00.000 You know, we we all have iPads with the apple pins and when 383 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.920 they come in, we all fill everything out electronic. You know, my 384 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.720 first year was always printing out paperwork, hand jamming it, scanning, it 385 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:11.759 back. I look back and I'm like, oh my gosh, why why 386 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:15.400 would you ever do that? You know, because now you know, you 387 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.079 can just feel it out super quick and it saves automatically into your one drive 388 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:22.599 or your eye cloud. However you've got to set up and uh but uh, 389 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.960 you know, I mean on the dispatch that's really you know, tech 390 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.000 wise, and you know, it's nothing crazy, but definitely streamlines operations and 391 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:34.519 makes you wait as the dispatcher behind the computer way more efficient. And uh, 392 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.759 when it's when it's about being the quickest and the fastest making that phone 393 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:41.400 call, you know, small things like that add up, you know. 394 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:45.759 Uh right, you know I remember from an old sales thing little hinges swing, 395 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.599 big doors, and it's like, yeah, that makes sense that the 396 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:55.559 fifty seconds that you you know, save not having to wait for a printer 397 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:59.279 like that's a big difference because that's that's an eyeball that you just removed from 398 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:00.799 the loadboard. They now might have missed the load that just popped up and 399 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:07.039 it's now gone right, so wow. Um, well, dude, the 400 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:10.759 podcast is called The Road Forward, Clint, what do you think where where 401 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:12.599 is the what is the road forward for? For trucking. What is the 402 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:15.599 road forward for your company? Um? You know, share, what do 403 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:19.799 you think the future holds? I don't I don't know, man. I 404 00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:25.759 think there's always gonna be a mean for expedited hotshot freight. Um, you 405 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.279 know, I think it's just finding the right the right people. You know. 406 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:32.799 Huge things to Clint for coming on the podcast and discussing some of the 407 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.240 challenges that the carriers are facing and giving some advice on on how you know, 408 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:38.759 in general carriers could do better. But I want to hear from you 409 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:42.599 guys, like what challenges are you currently facing? And that'll do it for 410 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:45.920 this week's show. Let us know in the comments down below what you think 411 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.279 and we'll see you next week. By