Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Frank Hurst, President of Roadrunner Freight, and Page Siplon, CEO of TeamOne Logistics.  In this episode they discuss the importance of Truck Driver Appreciation week, and strategies for ensuring truck drivers get the attention and recognition that they deserve.

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply chain Now Radio broadcasting live from the Supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia, Supply chain. Now radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the companies, the technologies, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. Now here are your hosts.

[00:00:35] Hey, good morning, Scott Luton here with you live once again on Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. We’re coming to you today from Vector Global Logistics, a company that’s providing world class Logistics services all while deeply investing into the communities they serve. Based here in Atlanta, but with an international reach. This company is on the move. You can learn more at Vector GSL dot com. Today’s show is all about the trucking industry. And as we give pause to celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, we’re we’re gonna be celebrating the contributions to Supply chain in the business industry by three point five million professional men and women that make supply chain and business happen. Quick programming note. Like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a variety of channels Apple, podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and wherever else you find your podcast. As always, we’d love to have you subscribe. Don’t miss a thing. Supply Chain Now Radio is also brought to you by a variety of sponsors, including the Effective syndicate Talentstream, Verusen, Apex, Atlanta and several leading organizations. Be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about our valuable sponsors. OK. So let’s welcome in my co-host once again today. Greg White co-host here at Supply Chain Now Radio and Serial Supply chain Serial and Serious Supply chain tech entrepreneur and a trusted advisor. Greg. Hey, you don’t.

[00:01:52] Hey, I’m doing great. Thank you. Serious, huh?

[00:01:54] See? Into Antonym Day, right? Yeah. Well, great to have you back.

[00:02:01] We’ve been on a string of some really neat shows. This topic that we’ve. I think we published Episode 152 here recently and and truck drivers and transportation as has hit a lot of those episodes. Yeah, I know. I think a lot of important things going on. Of course, it’s a critical part. Supply chain. And we love celebrating the people that make that happen. Yeah, no doubt. Okay. We’ve got to go to great feature guests and really industry thought leaders here with us today. Frank Curse, president of Roadrunner Freight. Frank, how you doing? Good morning. Thanks for having us. Great to have you back here today.

[00:02:34] And Page Siplon old friend, the show industry stalwart CEO of Team one Logistics. Hey, you done page outstanding. Thanks for having us.

[00:02:41] Great to have you back. You know, when you made your appearance on the show, you about it. I know a couple of them, but one of them ranks top ten all time in terms of nothing less.

[00:02:51] You are an incredible Daryl. Wow. He’s an angel. No. No. Yeah. Well, I got set some expectations now.

[00:02:59] Yeah. Re I think that’s testament to your passion for industry and passing what you’re doing here and you’re you’re make it happen persona which is really important. We love. Thanks. Deeds, not words. Yeah. Yeah. So. But looking forward to Frank and Page weighing in on a variety of industry topics, including, of course, all about truck drivers. Yeah. Okay. So Greg, before we get into our interview with Frank and Greg, Frank and Greg, Frank and Page, I’m willing to get hooked already.

[00:03:28] You forgot my name. So, Greg, we want to cover some of the top things.

[00:03:34] No Supply chain now. So, Greg, what’s been on your radar here?

[00:03:36] Well, you know, we said it a little bit, but hey, let’s say it again. It is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week sponsored by the American Trucking Association’s celebrating those folks that make sure we get it literally and stuff. So, you know, we talk a lot about last mile and goods and storage and and things moving. But these are the people steering the wheel, hitting the gas and brakes, thankfully, to get it here. That’s right. And some amazing skills. I don’t know. This is no joke. I don’t know if you ever watched any of these truck driving videos, people with tandem trailers and slipping into a parking spot, you couldn’t get a camera. And it’s amazing the skills of these folks. It is. Right. Mm hmm.

[00:04:18] Well, that in light of how hard the rest of the traffic community makes it challenging. Right. Guilty as charged. Oh, yes. I’ve been there. I’ve lived in professional maybe a little bit late. Once or twice. Yeah. Sorry. By the way, to the truck driving.

[00:04:34] Well, I do owe some apology. Yes. Well, you know. And then one other tidbit. So just recently, Bloomberg said that the U.S. truck driver shortage is on course to double in a decade. So not only is there a shortage. So let’s see. The numbers they quoted were the deficit swelled to sixty thousand eight hundred and just fell just slightly this year to about fifty nine thousand. Truck drivers needed versus jobs available. So the fact that we expected to double in a decade. I don’t know. I’m not educated enough. I’d love to hear from you guys.

[00:05:15] But they say that if that shortage and the trend continues. And I don’t doubt it’ll continue at that pace. But if it continues, you’re going to be hundred and fifty hundred sixty thousand drivers short. You know, you look at the impact it makes on our businesses now and what it’s gonna do if you’re that kind of short. Right. Ten years from now, it will be a lot different. Right.

[00:05:33] I mean, think if you if you think about the. Shortage or demand, really, of a professional truck driver. That’s always gonna be there. I mean, drivers really are the heartbeat of transportation.

[00:05:42] Trucks bring it as they say. Yeah, no doubt. Well, and we’re adding warehouses at an incredible pace. Every one of those is a stop for a truck. That’s right. Right. So that matters. And to your point, Frank, the you know, the skill level. So in previous companies, we’ve had distributors and retailers as customers, some who have their own trucking fleet. And it wasn’t just whether they could get truck drivers, it was whether they could keep them. It was also whether they could keep the drivers with the skills that they needed. Right. So, yeah, I think so.

[00:06:15] We were talking about truck driver appreciation. And, you know, I sort of definite have a passion. You have almost a thousand drivers around the country now. And, you know, we appreciate them, not just for not to pick on you, Greg White, you talked about the skills they have. Yeah. And, you know, I think part of the problem we have that we’ll probably talk about today is, you know, the what truck drivers do and I think part of the issue about why there’s a shortage is we have a problem of perception. Yeah. I won’t go into it now. But the word driver is, yeah. They are professional and they’re trained and they’re safe. And they’ve got incredible skills to use the wheel and the gas and thankfully the brakes. Yeah, but there’s so much more than that. And we really don’t take those, right Wade. We don’t appreciate them only for their skills of driving and steering the wheel and pushing the gas. We appreciate for all the other stuff they do that frankly, is lost. You know, a lot of those drivers as the only face that our customers will see their sales, their customer service, sometimes they’re, you know, doing accounts receivable or just writing things. I know Frank Anthony, you’re saying what?

[00:07:11] Solving problems? That’s a great point. You know, we our customers tell us all the time you can change an account executive, you can change your service, but don’t change the driver Froome just how important they are to them, to their business, the front line, so that we’re drivers again.

[00:07:24] Take that with a grain of salt. They are much more they’re more freight navigation engineers. And I think why do so much that is hard to say transportation.

[00:07:31] It’s not that they catch and only you catch on. But we have to go with Jerai Lu. Appreciate them a lot more than just during the wheel. I agree.

[00:07:37] It’s true. And that and that that breadth of skills is is what makes it such a difficult market. That’s right. I mean, you’re not just looking for somebody. I could steer a truck. You’re probably getting back on track, but you’re looking for somebody who has those those kind of skills in addition to that. Yeah.

[00:07:53] So I got to ask you guys this. So there’s this I don’t know how big of a debate, but if you if you were to Google National or if you were to Google truck driver shortage in the second search, the most the second most high training search that comes up is myth. So tell me about that. I mean, these numbers are well researched, right? But. Sure.

[00:08:13] Well, I think some of that research is a little suspect because those do it. I mean, the federal governments are great and they have some great tools and resources. But, you know, being granular and business friendly is not exactly their strong suit at times. So, you know, I think Frank said it before. There is such a huge demand. So put whatever word you want in front of it, whether it’s shortage or demand or supply or. I mean, there is there’s a huge need out there for safe, qualified professional drivers. So, you know, I think that’s I mean, there’s definitely in our business and I know forecki to trucking in particular, there’s huge need for that because it impacts so many other kinds of businesses. Yeah. I mean, it’s really the bottom the common denominator of our of our freight economy, for sure. And I would say the the broader economy, too.

[00:08:52] That’s having a driver really is about creating capacity, whether it be in a local market or over the road as well. So as long as you’ve got the capacity, you continue to grow overall. So when you get sponsors, a shortage of drivers that are out there that are today. Right. There’s always going to have to be a focus on retention and proper recruitment.

[00:09:09] So Froome. And I mean, capacity is definitely impacts. You know where people’s opinions are on the driver shortage. You know, if there’s if there’s too much capacity available or not enough capacity, I mean, you know, the truck sitting empty is is also a driver not driving it. I mean, it fluctuates just with market demands as well.

[00:09:26] So, you know, I’m a state the obvious the I’m talking about misperception. Right. You know, you think when you pull into the old the old banks where they had the pipes.

[00:09:36] Right. And they put something in, they pressed the button and it went exactly where it needed without anyone really thinking. Well, I mean, I think one of the luxuries that make truck are our drivers are trucking professionals. Insert whatever word they’re so valuable is that they are making a variety of decisions that impact the mission and the calls and the delivery. And, you know, if there is a if there plan through which star word in which targets traffic get hanging Highway 54. OK, well, that becoming a way to liberal Kansas. Yes. So if that is if that has a snafu on Thursday afternoon, there a lot of time for actively problem solving, because I have to because the hours of service to make sure that that snafu on highway, what, 54, 54 in Wichita doesn’t slow everything down and that that there is so much value in that ability to, you know, kick off the shipment, but have have a very knowledgeable and skilled and experienced problem solver in that cab that’s gonna be averting some of the fires that could pop up. We know in Supply chain we got plenty of fires. All right, every day forgot.

[00:10:38] That’s a great point to me. If you think about. They’ve got to be a student of our industry that know the regulations and the new rules and requirements. But also, you think of the technology that we’ve employed just in the past few years. Having to be able to operate that technology overall is how important that is. And in recruiting the right type of driver.

[00:10:54] Yeah. Yeah, absolute. It’s almost expected now. I mean, we talk about how we get younger folks in our industry. It’s part of the problem that plagues our industry is we have an older demographic. And so, you know, you get some of these younger folks in there that want to join our industry. One, the perception we’ve talked about a little bit, but then also they want to they want to have that iPod Apple. They want to have the technology. They want to be handed paper logs. Right.

[00:11:14] My grandfather did was the app that I can navigate this, how am I going to maximize the amount of money I’m going to make in this in these trips? Yeah, well, it’s just sort of the price of entry.

[00:11:22] You know, the cool thing is and we’ll touch on that. I want to get ahead of any other news that you go have. OK. That’s it. Let’s go. So we’re going to dive right in.

[00:11:29] Let’s take it one last note and we’ll circle back to this after we learn more about Frank and Page is that, you know, truck drivers, transportation professionals who, again, whatever the right term is, it’s becoming more and more like every role, more of a technology. It is your role. Right. Right. Someone put it really well when we’re talking about some of the health care shortages that we have, especially in nursing profession. And this this gentleman is making a point here. It’s no longer a traditional nurse as a technologist that is driving technology as much as they’re providing patient care. And we’ve got it. We’ve got to work hard to get that right message out there to the front in the pipeline. I think very some are challenges as it relates to this industry as well.

[00:12:09] Ok. So with all that said today, we did. We did. We jumped right in today that way. I think if I had called.

[00:12:15] I mean, how was the coffee? Did anyone try that task? Was it good? Good. Our coffee sponsor, Vector Global Logistics, not good. All right.

[00:12:25] So let’s let’s let’s before we dive more into industry insights and thought leadership here. Let’s get to know both Frank Hurst and Page Siplon a little better. So, Frank, let’s start with you. Tell us more about yourself and kind of your professional journey and then, of course, tell us more about Roadrunner.

[00:12:41] Great. Thanks. So I grew up on Pure Gold, Arkansas, a small town in eastern Arkansas, and went to school to University of Arkansas. So go hogs the harder you go. And upon graduating with a transportation Logistics majors started with a small regional company called American Freight Ways, which we were later purchased by FedEx Freight and so traveled all over the country with those two great companies overall. And since I was with a company called VI Train Express, which we later sold. Now I’ve been at Roadrunner now for the past two and a half years and in my current role, the last two years to current role as president of the organization.

[00:13:19] Before we learn more about what Roadrunner does it, is there one thing in particular that we think that your priority stamp on organization or your priority value? What what kind of impact are you looking to make in your leadership role in Roadrunner?

[00:13:35] That’s a great question. So, you know, I think really for us, it’s about how do we impact our customers by providing reliable longtime service to them, but also making sure that we are paying close attention to our internal customers as well. Because I’m truly one that believes that, you know, our independent contractors and employees have to come to work every day, excited to be there so they can take care of our customers. Right. We do those things. Then we’ll grow as a company, an organization overall.

[00:14:00] That’s great.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:02] That internal customer I love that. That phrase, I think oftentimes gets lost in the shuffle, even in the war for talent era that we are or we’re in. Tell us more about Roadrunner, what it does.

[00:14:12] Sure. So we Roadrunner Freight is the less than truckload arm of Roadrunner transportation system. So we’ve got two main companies. We have a company called Expedited Freight Systems, which is a regional six state LTL provider based out of Kenosha, Wisconsin. And then Road Runner freight is the long haul metro to metro service provider. We have 19 facilities across the United States. One of the top 20 LTL providers in the U.S. by.

[00:14:38] I see the trucks everywhere. You know, I mean, they are. They are all over the place. So. So you have so Roadrunner itself has multiple entities, right? I think Intermodal is based here in Atlanta. Yes. Right. And so was that. Has it always been separate business units like that or is that a recent, fairly recent change here?

[00:15:00] Yes, great question. If you go back and think of Road Runner in our infancy, we were the LTL organization and over a period of time we purchased a lot of small companies in the last couple of years under new leadership. We’ve really worked to build three main verticals in our business. Overall, we have a smart global Logistics group as well as a truckload expedite and then we have our LTL arm as well. Got it. Okay. So we go to market really as three separate companies, but on was professional Logistics truckload as well as LTL some offerings. Mm hmm.

[00:15:33] Well, switching gears a little bit here, one page siplon back into the conversation. CEO of Team one Logistics a page. Before we talk about team one, let’s talk about your background.

[00:15:44] Yeah. So I spend about a dozen years in the Marine Corps, in the Air Force. I joke that I was cargo for a while being shipped around and not very efficiently, I would add. And so I did secure data systems and cryptography type work for the for the Marine Corps and the Air Force for forget about twelve years. And then left there, went to Georgia Tech, got a computer engineering degree. That’s where I’ll get to the Logistics part of an engineering degree, a master’s degree in computer engineering and really just a problem solver. I mean that’s really where it comes back into the Logistics side and then ran a consulting company essentially for the state of Georgia for over a decade and helped shape. Yeah. Froome from an economic development perspective, helped companies figure out why Georgia was a great place to do business and was the energy transportation perspective.

[00:16:27] And now you won’t brag on you, but you were a trailblazer in that regard. I mean, you really changed. You know, there’s a reason why I think Georgia celebrating, what, six years in a row is the best state to do business. Yeah, I think it was a big part of that. Yeah, that’s right. And if you think of some of the short list of reasons why that we’re seeing that today is a lot of wells work. We are doing that. You were leading when you were you were so deeply involved, that center.

[00:16:48] Thank you. I mean, it was it was the industry’s work. I mean, we just shined a light on it. Right. And use that as our asset and our tools to help businesses create opportunities here. Plants like Keith and Home Depot expanding and just you go down and down the list and the number of Fortune 500 companies that are here in just the metro land area alone, not to add the you know, the won’t get to my Georgia soapbox, but the Ports Authority, as you know, one of the fastest growing in the country. And on down the list, there is an easy these job to have and be able to market that and sell it and create jobs and investment for the state of Georgia and get some really great relationships with companies and private businesses around the around the country. Really. And here in Georgia in particular.

[00:17:24] Absolutely. And it’s tough. It’s tough not to get on that Georgia set box. And we try to make this a really a global says here’s our frank go hog.

[00:17:35] That’s right.

[00:17:35] But there’s so much really neat things that are going on here that folks come here to benchmark a lot of it related to and then supply chain. But to your point, it is it is about the global economy these days. It is about how Georgia can contribute to that as well as the regional economy and national economy.

[00:17:53] So Supply chain are all about connecting all those dots in Georgia just happens to be one of those places that we have a great corner store location here on the East Coast. And, you know, it’s a hub not just for Georgia, but for really the globe. And that’s why Team one Logistics is here, right? That I’m CEO joined back in 15. We’ve been in business for about 15 years. Founded in 2003 as an opportunity to work with companies, we now have, you know, just shy of a thousand employees, 90 percent of them are commercial, safe, qualified professional drivers that we appreciate very much and good timing and so on. But we do that in 43 states around the country working with partners, companies similar to Franks and asset base providers all over the country that we work with. So now that’s been certainly being in Georgia. We were in north of Atlanta now, but our headquarters is. But again, a great corner store location for us to be. That’s great.

[00:18:40] And that that coverage at national coverage has continued to grow dramatically. Forty three states now.

[00:18:47] I mean, well, we run out of states at some point. Right. I’m still trying to figure out Hawaii, but you get a truck close, Lu Vetlanta freight business in Hawaii, but you try to figure that one out.

[00:18:58] So I think you all done really well for especially an executive summary of kind of paint a picture of who you are, what your organization is do. So, Greg, I know one of the hot questions, burning questions that we want to ask about is finding drivers. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:13] I mean, so, you know, one of the questions that I think a lot of people are asking is what? And we we alluded to this earlier, but maybe relate your own personal experiences. What makes finding drivers so difficult?

[00:19:25] I mean, the first part is just the quantity, right? I mean, we talk about the shortage. And that is a true it’s a true fact. And it’s not. It’s finding the drivers that fit the needs that we have as businesses. And frankly, more importantly, that fit the needs that they want to do, right. Our industry is also plagued with a lot of turnover and that turnover is driven by there’s a lot of large tree over the road truckload companies that put wrong people in the wrong seats. Right. And they’ve built their business models around it. And I know Franks is different than that. My mind is certainly different than that. But so finding people that really fit the needs, it’s not a needle in a haystack, but it seems like that sometimes. Yeah, right. Finding the right person for the right job that meets our business needs but also meets their family needs is really is really key. Makes them excited, as Frank said, to come to work every day and do the job that they were hired to do is difficult. And that’s not a team one problem or a roadrunner problem. That’s a industry problem and it’s not new.

[00:20:18] Yeah, I think the other thing is to really understand what was it hard to find drivers? It’s you firm. I was very fortunate early in my career that I’m with American freight ways where I learn to drive a forklift and got a CDL and drove a truck. And so, you know, not only understanding what with the physical demands of the job, but also the mental fatigue and demands of the position of not only of understanding regulations as well as safety and operating equipment up and down the road, but being away from your family and your friends and holidays and so forth. So I think there’s a there’s a lot of demand on on the drivers overall. So as our organizations, which we have to understand, how do we better facilitate not only communication but retention and and work to appreciate the drivers that time and what they go through on a day and day basis?

[00:21:03] You know, we really say we never really stop recruiting even when they come to work for us. Right. You’ve got to continue to recruit them. We call retention at some point right after you really got to be recruiting all the time and then their needs change. And there’s still a lot of folks that want to be out on the road and maybe don’t have that family connection and they want to be the Cowboys ride and be out on the road being road warriors and.

[00:21:21] Yeah. And that’s that’s. And they are. I mean it’s but you know, not all the jobs like that. Everything that I’ve read has said that that’s that loneliness or solitude, whatever you want to call it, is probably the biggest you know, it’s probably the biggest impact on the on the driver turn. Yeah.

[00:21:37] It’s definitely this connected day and age. Yeah. Yeah. But going back and empathy comes to mind. I mean, you know, and that’s of course, we need we need more empathy universally. But for this role, role that make that that has for for as long as we’ve had wheels has made business and commerce and supply chain happen. You know, being a lot more empathetic about what these drivers encounter. Sure. Day in and day out, I think we can all probably do a better job of that.

[00:22:07] I would tell you, just as a public safety note, we joked about four wheelers before, but we can all anybody listening, right? We all drive cars, right. Even the truck drivers have cargo in cars. But as you’re on the road, give them some room. I mean, you see him. We you know, if you’re not in the industry like Frank and I are, you know, you might not you might get frustrated when you see trucks on the road because they take up more space. Okay. Well, they’re doing a job. They’re working. You’re not trying to get to you maybe do your job, but give him space. I mean, there. I always try to give him a little bias, obviously, but I always try to give a little extra room or let that truck come in because they’re there working and he’s giving it. And everybody listening can do that.

[00:22:41] I mean, simply learning practical empathy. I love it when Lu is there.

[00:22:46] I always tell my wife I said the safest time to travel is that night on the road with the truck drivers because they’re professional drivers. They are a lot more safe to be on the road with professional drivers than being in Chicago at 8:00 o’clock in the morning and rush hour.

[00:22:58] That’s a bunch of rookies. Great point.

[00:23:00] It’s a lot safer for you to give them Froome also. Yeah, I mean, right. They can’t stop quickly. You know, I’ve I’ve experienced that only just from tone. A boat, right? Yeah. I mean I think more people should have to experience. I think if more people experience what it’s like to really tow something. Yeah.

[00:23:18] And it’s also I mean you were empathy is a great one, but it’s also respect. I mean, the reason they’re doing what they’re doing is for you, right? I mean. Yeah. Milk just doesn’t magically show up at your at your grocery store. Trucks bring it right. I mean your furniture wouldn’t pick a product. That truck is bringing it. Yeah. Period. Railroads play a big role too. But those trucks are those last mile. And so that truck is bringing something for you or your family or one of your loved ones. Let them do it.

[00:23:42] You get some room, make it easier for those plant socks. You just had to have two hours. Yeah, right. So not for their safety or your safety.

[00:23:49] For the safety of your 70 inch television because it’s football season or the price of that 70 and television. Oh, right. Where has it go? Right. Right.

[00:23:56] All right. So let’s you all touched on this a little bit already. But just I think there’s a couple of things we could add to the list. What are these driving professionals looking for in a job and an employer?

[00:24:08] Yeah. What gets them and keeps them?

[00:24:09] Yeah. I think a drivers looking for the same thing that everyone else is looking for in a company. Right. An honest, trustworthy leadership of solid communication. And you know, think of a growing business with a vibrant culture.

[00:24:22] Yeah, I use the word culture is huge for us. I mean, that’s something we we really we really thrive on and work hard to continue it. And again, like Frank, somebody located around the country and, you know, lots of moving parts and drivers are unique because they’re sort of moving parts inside of moving parts. Right. So they’re hard to keep. Connected to but so making efforts as leaders of companies to try to build that culture and maintain it and grow the businesses is really key.

[00:24:46] Is there anything, anything you can share that you’re doing that you feel like you have or are doing now? That’s really exceptional from a culture standpoint.

[00:24:54] You know, one of the things that we do is not only do all of our drivers have a direct line to me. I mean, whether via email or my cell phone and I get a lot of phone calls. And now that’s bold. It is. But you know, what I found is that our drivers are very respectful. But when they call, they typically need something. Have a great suggestion or idea. The other thing is we do have roundtables at least four times a year where we bring drivers in from all over parts of the country. And we talk about safety programs. We talk about tire fuel and maintenance programs that we have, as well as new contracts, comp. and so forth. And it’s great, really. So it’s really a good two days to have those drivers and really talk about the experiences they have and how we can better shape the culture and our business overall.

[00:25:37] You know, that’s great. Sidebar, quick sidebar. Love talk for that. We’d love to get that some of what that valuable conversation is out for public consumption. I can only imagine how that can help shape the narrative that the false narrative that’s out there about the driving community. So what what to talk more about that. So let’s we’re we’re kind of straddling two recruiting retention. And there’s clearly some things I’ve already shared around culture and leadership that only help you recruiting. But it certainly helps retain. But what else can we talk about? Retaining, keeping the drivers you have? Because unfortunately, like every other role in the industry, there’s there is turnover. Turnover exists. And it every company is trying to, you know, not just find the talent, but they’ve got to develop the talent so they can keep the talent develop and do some other things to make sure it stays a viable, enjoyable, successful place to work.

[00:26:33] Right. Right. So what we’re talk about keeping drivers and protecting these resources, what else are we doing? I’m not sure. Are seeing companies, do I think?

[00:26:40] I think part of it is just basic blocking and tackling. That would be true for for any business. I mean, Frank mentioned that before. I mean, you want a good place where you want to come to work. But I think it’s also listening that communication is key because inherently we’re gonna have turnover. It’s a tough job. Right. And it doesn’t last as long as some want to be in it for a long time. But you’ve got to listen to their needs as their needs change and be able to find the right home time, be able to find the right wages. Sometimes those are connected. Different kinds of jobs pay different things. And so listen to what their needs are as those change of your employees and doing it in mass is difficult, but worth the. The juice is worth the squeeze, as I say. But then I’d also say, you know, looking at things that aren’t necessarily transportation related, but that impact those families is things like health care, things like, you know, the rates of some of the insurances that they have to carry if you’re an independent contractor or an owner operator. The work comp coverage, those kind of things can get very, very expensive very, very quickly and and are impacted by the four wheelers not given over Froome on the street not to bring it back home.

[00:27:37] They gladly pointed at you and you said, yeah, I did not take X. Thanks for taking the pressure off. So but so. Yeah, I mean having. So how do you control health care work comp?

[00:27:46] That’s a whole nother discussion. But it really revolves around having people that really feel like they’re part of something and more importantly, want to be part of that something because then they’re gonna be better consumers of the health care system and be able to help keep our costs low, be able to take better care of the equipment they’re driving and be more safe. You know, all the training that we go through, whether due to quiet or not, you know, being able to adhere to those rules, because the safety procedures that we all have in place are there for a reason and not just for their own safety and the safety and well-being of their families, but also to control our costs and those things, if we can control those costs, potentially be able to put more money back in their pockets as wages. It’s all connected, but they’ve got to have people that really feel like a part of that, not just there for a paycheck, which is difficult.

[00:28:32] You know, it’s funny, we survey our drivers orientation and we many ways to contact them is once were driving for us. But, you know, the thing that’s we spent a lot of money on advertising for recruiting. But the one thing that comes back is that the number one reason that they hear about our company is through word of mouth and for other friends. And so it’s really speaks about the importance of the culture internally and what are we doing to make sure they’ve got their maximizing their miles or reducing their downtime. But it’s page speaks about also it’s the influence at home. How do we get those drivers back on the weekends and back in time so they can spend valuable time with their families?

[00:29:07] And yeah, I’ve heard it. I’ve heard drivers talking to one another at a pilot or flying J or whatever. Right. I mean, they do do that. It’s just like any other job, like everybody says.

[00:29:18] So naturally with social media, I mean, you talked about YouTube earlier and social media and the importance of how fast a good word can get out. And that’s why, you know, we’ve got to walk the talk every day as leaders in our businesses to make sure that, you know, it’s not just what. Well, we speak at the top the highest levels, but also what happens at the ground floor at a. Facility at two o’clock in the morning to make sure that we’re doing a thing to support those drivers and our in our businesses.

[00:29:43] Yeah, being with a military background, I talk about chain of command with our team all the time and I also have an open door policy and get lots of phone calls and e-mails and we sure got more, frankly. And but I’m having that communication not just at the highest levels, but, you know, all throughout that chain of command and that they also have and believe sincerely in that open door communication and whether it’s at manager two in the morning, like Frank mentioned or or whether it’s a facility manager, operations manager don’t really matter or driver manager or even a dispatcher, there’s gotta be a team effort and and communication throughout permeate throughout all the organization or just work.

[00:30:18] Yeah, good point. Great point. So we want to shift gears a little bit here. We want kind of go broader with supply chain trends. But before we do EOD, that’s something we haven’t we had talked about in the Lu in the show. And if and maybe there are if you don’t have any observations on kind of how that has continued to evolve and take root. But if you do would love for you to get you all to weigh in on what you’re seeing. Any any thoughts on ILM yielding?

[00:30:46] You know, we were an early adopter and we’re a huge proponent of a veal D, as well as all safety technology that’s in trucks today. So we’re all we’re always looking for lane avoidance. I crash avoidance, the lane change as well as front and rear facing cameras as well. Anything we can do to better coach our drivers overall to be safe. Yeah. So really with the L.D., for us, it’s all about safety to make sure that we’ve got the right hours of service, control and so forth.

[00:31:15] Yeah. I would totally agree. I mean, anything that can improve the safety and the efficiency of our of our team is welcomed. Yeah. You know, I would also say that it paints change trends that light. You talk about warehouses popping up all over the place, all of the country. All right. You know, for us to be efficient as transportation providers and those warehouses play a key role. You know, you hear the home peoples of the world and others, you know, wanting to be the shipper of choice. Right. And that means that when that truck pulls up, there’s a lot of downtime. Call it lightly that they sit and wait. And there’s been a huge debate. And then Frank faces, as I’m sure, where the shippers say, well, it’s not my fault. You know, we’re no, they weren’t here for two hours. Well, now you’ve got a tool with the data that says, well, here’s the data. This is how long our driver sat at your docks. Maybe you can’t be my customer anymore because I can’t afford to service you. In those kind of hard conversations are happening, but now they’re data driven because we have those tools, whether they imposed by the government or not. Right. There’s other plus benefits, not as important as safety, but still those those data benefits are there.

[00:32:17] The Vetlanta used to have better conversations around collaboration, around efficiency is such that is such a great point for us because we think about one of the things that he, L.D. brought into our business is the ability to proactively plan so much better because we know where our drivers are at all times. So we’re much more efficient to get them unloaded timely as well as to be able to have projections for updated details of shipments and so forth, since it’s brought up by a really good importance for shipment visibility.

[00:32:43] And that will always be important and continue to, frankly, I think, grow and important in the visibility and being able to plan. And I mean, Logistics is supposed to be boring. You shouldn’t be fighting fires every morning. And if you are. It’s difficult. But if you can plan it out and every week is looking. That’s that’s where do you get, you know, cost efficiencies and the customers are happier.

[00:32:59] Right. How do you get the drivers feeling good about a yield D? I mean, I could see where they could feel like. And I think some do feel like it’s an intrusion. Right. But how do you get them to understand the benefit of yield? I think it’s that conversation.

[00:33:12] Right. But we just talked about it. It’s is important to not just them. And this isn’t a punitive tool that we don’t trust them. And this is all about efficiency. It’s about our industry changing and growing and evolving and becoming more technologically advanced. And they’re part of that. I would say I don’t think there’s many left speaking broadly, not just for my company, but many left that really are against EOD. I think most of the ones that were pretty stalwarts against it are now saying, you know, you you won’t take my books from my cold, dead hands.

[00:33:39] They’re now saying, you won’t take me. You’ll leave from my cold, dead hands. Right. So I don’t know if you’re right.

[00:33:43] Frank, your company is the same way, the same way it’s made is. It was such a quick conversation, really. I think once they started using it and got familiar with it and the technology is so great today were no drivers have whether be tablets or our phones so they can write to their logs directly from there. But Jenny is like any technology. The more they see the benefits of technology overall to their life and being able to be more efficient in contacting dispatchers or planning and so forth, more again, more miles, better settlement for them. They see the benefit. Yeah.

[00:34:15] You said you guys said before, you know, deeds, not words. Right. It’s the actions that those yields and the deliverable the are alive speak at a business level that those provide to those families. Not right to our getting home. Yeah, right. It makes a difference. Yeah.

[00:34:27] So the car following along those lines and know Greg and I, we’re always interested and you know what’s what. Supply chain trends leaders especially are on their radar. There’s so many. An acronym these days, you know, whether it’s machine learning or A.I. or a blotch, whatever, it is, a hum. There’s so many things that keep your your fingers on the pulse of. But what is in particular, if you had a short list of things, what are you all tracking more of than others right now across the Supply chain community?

[00:34:54] The thing for me that is super exciting is we’re at API technology and around shipment visibility. We were meeting with one of our our solid partners yesterday, Project 44, actually, and we’re talking about really the shipment visibility, which is from quote, 10 voice. So you think about, you know, a lot of the investments that we’re making in dock automation, as well as connectivity with partners and EOD and so forth. Is that really where we want to be able track and trace any shipment in our network down to real time? I mean, that’s really where I think our entire business has gone. You think of the Uber A or the Amazon Prime effect where you want to see your ship contract or your Uber are our consumers and customers feel the same way. So that’s what I think of what’s in the future of Supply chain. That’s what’s exciting for me.

[00:35:43] Yeah, visibility. Yeah. I read an article about APICS the other day. I had have to admit being a software guy and I ran a retail guy. Having been on the retail side, I was a little bit surprised at where the industry is. The physical Logistics industry is right now and we have that kind of pushback that you get to that. Right now we have we have huge opportunities for growth, but our technology. But I think I think you’ve kind of reached that. You’ve kind of reached that tipping point. Right. I think people know when people in companies like Roadrunner and Team one, when you start to recognize and start to promote that, then I think other companies will follow. Right. You guys are influencers in the marketplace.

[00:36:23] I would say not all. I mean, and you look back at you and you talk about supply chain trends. It’s been a it’s been a difficult year for a lot of trucking companies that you didn’t share that perspective and the passion that Frank has for doing the things that they’re doing right. And a lot of these companies have gone away and a variety of reasons why that happens. I mean, it’s a natural ebb and flow of business cycles as well. Some are more strong than others and some can’t make it. And that’s unfortunate. We don’t want to see anybody fail, but it’s natural.

[00:36:47] Right? That’s also a motivator. I mean, other companies, smart companies, see that the ones that barely got by on the skin of their teeth. We saw that in Supply chain technology, right? Forecasting and planning technology. We saw that during the Great Recession, as everyone loves to call it. Those companies that survived came back with a vengeance. Right. And newly committed to recognizing what technology efficiency can bring to you and your organization. Yeah.

[00:37:14] And sometimes people get that and some some don’t. And that’s again. But sometimes those the blows. But that’s been inside. It’s been an exciting year. From watching the trends, I mean, 2013 was a great year, right? Rocket about talk about profits and loss here. But, you know, it’s been it’s been a more challenging year. The market’s a lot softer broadly. Not team one, right. Right. All right. But broadly, the new markets are softer, greater capacity, less freight to move. So pricing has become more difficult. And on and on. So, you know, I think 2020 is gonna be a lot better than 2019 was is what the trends are. I mean, in a lot of it’s impacted by the political rhetoric and, you know, the trades and shippers are being more conservative with their inventories and you on and on and on down that all these things that impact a simple business like trucking. All right.

[00:37:59] One of the big things you think of 18 and 19, the changes in the in the business overall, which really to me accentuates the need for strong technology. So we’ve become much more efficient because we owe it to our customers and shippers to make sure we’re streamlining the whole process overall and reducing our internal costs. We can be always a cost advantage in the market in any of our businesses. And so typically those companies that lead in technology typically are the ones that survive the ups and the downs of any market particularly.

[00:38:29] They’re more forward thinking. Right. And they’re looking outside the box, whatever cliche you want to use them in there. They’re doing all those things to make sure they survive and thrive.

[00:38:37] And we’re at a stage with technology where we can expect it to do the things that sit and look at you guys around the table where all of the same generation. Right. We expected it and wanted the same thing that the incoming generation millennials and Gen Z that they that they absolutely demand. We couldn’t demand it. We would have. Yeah, believe me, we would have if we could have. We couldn’t demand it because technology couldn’t get us there. But now technology can get us there and it’s become such an assumption that it better right. The companies that will thrive in the future will use technology to create those, you know, those efficiencies.

[00:39:14] If we get into the rhythm in one of the things that talks about when we talk about technology that’s in the in the news, some it’s comes to kind of comes in waves, I think is the automation side. You know, Frank touched on, you know, what yields are doing and Lu avoidance and a lot of the technologies that smart companies are putting into their trucks and into their supply chains more broadly. But, you know, the conversation around, you know, taking that driver since it is. Drive Appreciation Week and, you know, taking that driver and you read articles become The New York Times. Is that all? Don’t worry. The driver shortage, that’s a that’s a short term problem because these robots are going to come in and we won’t have drivers anymore. And then they’ll be driving by themselves all over the country. And there is there is some truth to the automation level increasing. We talking about that. You know, we’re becoming more technologically advanced. I think it’s crazy talk to talk about, you know, having completely self next self-driving truck next week or next year or next ten years to have that to be a solution to a very complicated industry. There was there was a study that Google Google Freight did in some of their that talked about, you know, if we if we automate trucks completely and they had statistics that I won’t get into.

[00:40:18] But the punch line of it was, you know, if we looked at status quo and pretended like automation and self-driving trucks and more of more fully automated trucks weren’t ever going to be a thing. And then you compare that to what it looks like, you know, 10 years down the road, there’s actually a greater demand for drivers, the human drivers in that in that model to the tune of like 300000 more jobs, because we’re the hockey stick. I mean, not quite hockey stick. Where the growth is really happening is in the LTL sector. It’s in the last mile, a short haul. The shorter, shorter haul type models. And that’s where, you know, I’d challenge any robot to drive through downtown Chicago. Right. And and then interacts with with the customers we talked about the driving part is a small percentage of what they do. But then how does that robot interact with your customer? That’s not something our customers want. So it’s there’s a place for that for that role. But if you’re going from California through Montana to Chicago, then maybe there is a role for those more automated and more cost effective solutions with technology.

[00:41:16] I can see it being like harbor pilots, right, with a ship where you have somebody who knows knows the navigation of this area. And I’m sure you all experienced the traffic coming here that everyone else experienced today. Today is an exceptionally bad day in Atlanta. But I could see the situation where the the automation hands off to this harbor pilot, if you will, and they navigate through the city and interact with the customer and do the logging or, you know, handle the manual portions of the logging that needs to occur. All right.

[00:41:47] I think there’s some great technology, especially around convoys with improving miles per gallon fuel usage and so forth. But I’m with you. Anytime you think of the importance of the customer is that that takes a human being to do that.

[00:42:02] Yeah. That won’t ever change.

[00:42:04] Go ahead. I know what you want to say. Go ahead, Scott. Until they can teach bots empathy. That’s right. Yeah, there’s always going to be a place for humans. And, you know, it’s our kind of our running joke here. It was set by former Gates. Not a joke. It’s serious. It is serious. It is. Well, we it’s funny.

[00:42:19] We apply it as a joke. But I think that the serious thing to take away from that is that that we do believe in that a person believe in is, you know, if you’re willing to learn more and if you’re willing to advance and take on new challenges and lean in to this age of technology that we’re in, it’s not going away. You know, all of these developments are going to create opportunities for a lot of people. On the flip side, if you want to stay doing that one task day in and day out for eight hours a day, it is going to get more challenging. And that’s the reality. That is, as Frank is it that there is. That’s that’s where we’re headed. So, yeah, I’m I’m much more I be an optimist to be in the glass is half full. I’m much more excited about what it’s creating for folks and and how it’s creating. You know, as well as you get people onboard and great talent into an organization, you’re going to be able as leaders to give these folks so many more doors of opportunity to walk through. But they the employees have to choose intellect to walk through the door.

[00:43:15] I don’t know. I would speak I spoke to the Members World Trade Club a few weeks ago and was asked a question about automation. And, you know, one of the things that came up was, hey, well, you know, this driver shortage, again, you know, automation is going to help in a couple of years and we’ll hold on. And then they said, OK, well, let’s just believe that premise that because we disagreed. Right. And that the timing of automation.

[00:43:35] But I had the microphone, so I was able to go a little more persuasive. And I said, OK, well. He said, well, then.

[00:43:42] Ok. At best, the wages are going to GQ so drastically because now the the more higher paying jobs are gonna be taken. I said, well, I actually think I’m not even a glass half full. I’m a glass fully full guy. And, you know, I think that the onset of technology and kind of what you were seeing, Scott, is from a truck driver perspective. Now, the as EOD have evolved and now you’ve got you know, let’s say that truck is going to operate in some sort of semi automated fashion ten years from now. That driver is going to have yet another layer of responsibility and skills are going to have to learn and be a more valuable asset to a company like Roadrunner or Team one. Right. So so how do you and with that naturally would come a demand for higher compensation because now they’re providing even more value. That’s not necessarily a trucker thing, but it will be part of the trucking truck driver model. And you’re absolutely right.

[00:44:28] It’s been part of automation and innovation throughout history. Greene.

[00:44:32] There’s always been naysayers that said, oh, well, technology is going to drive the wages down. And I think. History is proven that’s not always lived.

[00:44:39] Well, it’s always lifted human beings to do that thing that human beings are good at. That automation, whatever that innovation isn’t. We saw that when you walked through the lobby here at King Plow. Right. Mm hmm. So that replaced a dangerous and slow paced job that human beings were doing. And what I’ve seen with automation is it takes the mundane, it takes the mindless. It takes the. The unsafe and sometimes the physically, really physically difficult job and allows human beings to do what we are better at. And automation is. Yeah. I mean, if you look at the history of automation throughout history. Yeah.

[00:45:15] Well, even recent throughout history. A recent example.

[00:45:19] And we we took a plant tour of a well-known billion, five billion dollar distribution organization and they implemented a very automated picking and packing system or picking system. And they didn’t lose one maintenance technician that had been on the on own part of the facilities team. And not only did it not lose anybody, but they had the train to your point page to train these maintenance technicians, which are also skills in the man and also speak in transportation. That’s part of the big shortage and the challenge of finding people that can. Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. But this organization, not only did it not losing body do this investment in their and their infrastructure. They also had to train these folks on new skills and basically be able to train bots and fix bots and programmed bots so they raise their wages. So that’s like getting your cake and eat it, too, you know? Yeah. And that’s that’s how I think you were part of the theme of this conversation here today, what we started. Is that an accurate message just getting out to the marketplace? Well, we’ve got that challenge with trucking and we clearly have that challenge also with the technology age and automation that’s going on. So but nevertheless, and I like your phrase page, you’re not a half glass full. You’re half full glass full. I might steal that for you. Put on back t shirt. All right. So for a second time, let’s. Let’s keep moving right along, because we want to wrap up one last big questions. I’m already kind of touched on this one. Yeah. So break out your crystal ball. Right. And give us your boldest, most fearless prediction for 2020, whether it’s for your organization or if it’s any general predictions.

[00:47:03] So I have to start by saying, since tonight the Bears do play the Packers.

[00:47:08] That’s right. A bold prediction as the Bears are going to win the Super Bowl. I’ll take that. OK. Hey, Bear. You just did that. Say tonight. But Super Bowl, that’s good. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:47:17] I would say really, you know, overall, I’m an optimistic person by nature. So, you know, after we’ve seen the ups and the downs of the truckload market specifically the last two years, and I’m very positive about what’s going to happen in 2020. But also, of course, we’ve been talking about companies that invest in technology, have take care of their people and are always focused on the customer. Typically, they’re going to weather any environment, whether it be good or bad. I think that’s where we talk a lot internally about not focusing as much on external controls and what’s going on, the macro economic environment, but more what can we do to take care of our customers, that and our drivers and so forth. And if we do those things, everything else seems to fall right in line, including that really important internal customer that you’ve mentioned earlier.

[00:48:01] Yeah.

[00:48:02] Yeah.

[00:48:03] I mean, I don’t know how bolded I kind of said it before. I agree with Frank that the 20, 20 year economy is going to be a lot better from a freight perspective. I think it will continue to improve its image. Some pretty good shape right now. Most metrics you look at, but in the freight industry has got a little bit of a different take on it right now because of the soft markets. And again, comparing it to what 2018 looked like for most them created some overcapacity in the market. And that’s hurt us this year across the board as an industry shippers alike. But so I think 2020, a lot of that will ease. And, you know, I think there’s some things that are going to impact that, too. There’s granular stuff, but important. There’s a new drug clearing house that’s coming out and some other things that are going to make it more stringent on their kind of requirements that we have to use to screen and hire drivers. So that’s going to that’s going to shape the industry, I think, in a positive way from a safety perspective as well as from a capacity perspective. And it allows those companies, as Frank has said, you know, that are investing and be forward thinking and putting a focus on technology and their internal customers, which again, I love that phrase is going to allow those companies to thrive. And I think there are more companies like that out there than there are the latter. So I think 2020 will be a great year for the freight industry, which impacts again, it’s the common denominator of our economy overall. So that’s gonna be good news for all of us.

[00:49:17] And we all can take. We all as much good news as we can get. Right. Right. Quick way. A great way to kind of wrap up the main of our conversation today. But let’s say you all shared a lot of insights from a leadership standpoint, from a certainly trucking and supply chain standpoint. How can folks get in touch? With the all learn more about the order or to really connect with what you are doing and frankly start with you.

[00:49:41] I think first and foremost is you can follow us on social media, whether we Instagram or linked in or Twitter. We spent a lot of time make a lot of daily posts. Not only are again, our internal customers are external. Find out what’s new with Roadrunner, but also you can go to r t s dot com and you can you can see the family of companies we have and and freight. We’ve got a nice blog that our marketing team has put together there and so forth.

[00:50:06] Fantastic. Great. Want to give out your phone number.

[00:50:10] Other companies, drivers only to drivers for the drivers. That’s right. That’s right. I’ll phone number just for that. It’s that front page. Yeah.

[00:50:18] Simply just team one Logistics. Just spell it all the way out. Team one. Logistics. Dot com is our web site and it’s got all of our handles and social media tools on there as well. And learn more about what Team Logistics does and how we partner with asset based companies around the country.

[00:50:31] And you know, also that regular video report the all do. Do you think I’ll release that quarterly or that?

[00:50:39] Yeah, I know. Regular quote. We tried to we were doing a monthly.

[00:50:42] It’s a lot of work, but worth it. Would you also got a monthly quarterly video update, the workforce update where we talk about the driver market and talk about the culture and the important things that are a lot of stuff we talked about. Yeah, talked about today.

[00:50:56] That’s such a great point. You go and look at YouTube and we’re drivers. That’s what they research their companies and so forth. So for for you to do, that’s really it. So it’s a great move, you know.

[00:51:04] Thank you. So you guys are doing cool special things during the week for four drivers. Right.

[00:51:10] We are we’re excited. We’ve got, you know, every day of the week, all of our service centers. I think one hundred and two locations across the country. We’ve got something special here. Monday through Friday, we’re going to be recognizing drivers with driver of the Year. I think we’ve we’ve been one of our sponsors good years. Actually, we’re going to give away a couple blimp rides.

[00:51:27] So we’re excited. How do you sign up for that? How did you get the jerai? I got to drive a roadrunner page you page this time next year. All right. Cargo vans count. The cargo vans count. They get to slap a Roadrunner logo on. That’s right. That’s also what a great Goodyear blimp rides. It’s a ball games and events and stuff.

[00:51:46] So there’s you know, we’ve got a good time vendor of ours. So one of the. They have given away as part of a national truck driver appreciation week. A couple of Blount rides in some locations, Ohio and Texas. And it’s awesome. So, yeah, we’re excited about that.

[00:51:59] It’s really neat. Well, good stuff. I really have enjoyed it. There is so much junk covers sceptic to capture all this in an hour long podcast, but really appreciate what you all shared here today. Thanks. Not only I think is there at least what I’ve heard, Greg, not only really interesting insights from folks that are neck deep into the trucking and transportation industry, but also some really actionable ideas.

[00:52:24] Right now, the takeaways. Yeah, I mean, I think you look a lot of us, me included, and you know that I’ve been in retail. You know, to me, the truck driver was a guy back in my trailer in when when I needed to get that stuff on the on the dock. Right. So I think it’s good to get a broader perspective of the role that these folks play in. And I do think we all should appreciate them. You wonder if there’s a way that we can get people on the road to appreciate drivers. When I was a kid, you know, you used to used to make sure you were clear of them and then you flash your lights. Right. And they would flash them back to let you know that you were clear of them in your rearview mirror. Right. Right. So you pull on over. So I don’t know if people do that anymore, but I doubt it. Thank you. Yeah.

[00:53:07] Even in the youngest when we were kids, we would always go by and asking.

[00:53:10] Yes, of course. You know what? That’s it. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone should do that. Yeah. Yes. I thought that’s where you’re going with that. That’s what I remembered as a kid. Yeah. And that that horn blow is like made your day major ride. Where are you going. It made their day to.

[00:53:24] You can tell.

[00:53:26] We didn’t have iPhones and iPads back then.

[00:53:28] We’re actually looking at something. Yeah. We were actually looking at. Well if you’re millions of listeners have them all doing horn blows.

[00:53:34] You could be a move. The Navy. That’s right. Move the needle. Something like that. Stay to find a hashtag. Yeah, that’s right. We’ll find one.

[00:53:42] Believe we will want to coordinate that with the publishing. This that our marketing guru. Yes. Great stuff here. Really appreciate the time that you all invested in and what is really important common subject matter. So really appreciate, Frank, president of Red Ruin, Roadrunner Freight and Page Siplon, CEO of Team one Logistics. Spending time with us here today on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks to you. Thank you, gentlemen. And don’t take off just yet. We’re gonna wrap up bringing our gang wrap up on some upcoming announcement. Oh, my end. We’ve got you know, as always, we want to invite our audience, come check us out in person as we get out into the field. Right. These different events, Greg, and what is. And of course, our prayers and best with wishes are really with the folks in the Bahamas for sure. And may I talk about some level setting context there as the images start to proliferate out, you know? Goodness. Great.

[00:54:34] The U.S. may well get off. Scott free compared to what they’ve experienced there. No one I’ve got. We were talking about some preshow yesterday. We’d come across an article that really put something in perspective. You when that storm hung out on the Bahamas for hours on end when it was still Category 5. That is this one article. I will not dig this up. Basically, put that that’s like a 20 mile tornado staying in the same same spot for hours. And so this author went on to talk about how not only the devastation, as we’ve seen the images come out, but how the residents aren’t gonna just need help and support resources, techniques and PTSD, training or support to deal with what I mean can imagine for hours on end the winds and the breed and the destruction. It is just remarkable.

[00:55:27] The, uh, I think the consul general of the Bahamas and consulate here in Atlanta was on the phone when her with her brother when the roof was ripped off his house while, um, building. That’s that’s you know, that’s devastating to not only people there, but other other people who’ve experienced that. I think the prime minister has confirmed that he’s lost his brother as well.

[00:55:49] Well, here’s how you can help. You know, it’s one thing to be here and talk about it, but it’s another thing to if you’ve got any sense of any type of structure you can donate. Alan, a dot org is an outstanding nonprofit. They’ve been in business for years where they’re helping to marshal resources across really corporate America supply chain infrastructure and and apply it to these countries and these areas of the globe that are hit by all kinds of different challenges. Check out Alan Aid dot org HLA in a D. Dot org. We’re fortunate enough to have Kathy Fortenberry, staff director on the show not too long ago and they’re doing incredible work to make Supply chain move the needle in a very meaningful way. Yeah. All right. So much, much lighter note. Let’s talk about some of the places we’re going to be. And we hope that the hurt that the hurricane will hope are done with Hurricane Dorian very soon. Right. Yeah. Holy cow. All right. So North Charleston next week is still on September 12th and 13th. And what conference is that?

[00:56:54] Right. That is the A.I., A.G. SC AC the. Wow.

[00:56:58] Yeah. Now, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?

[00:57:00] Well, Automotive Industry Action Group, the South Carolina Automotive Commission. Council Council.

[00:57:06] You you’re sticking to that. Yeah, it’s not bad.

[00:57:08] And future governor of South Carolina, Amy Hensley, is the, uh, is the director there.

[00:57:13] I’m convinced that she great. The current the current governor is going to be pretty upset. Yeah, but yeah, we’re there.

[00:57:21] We’re gonna have a bunch of the companies, the OEMs that produce vehicles there. And then we’re gonna talk to Bosch. We’re going to talk to Volvo, probably BMW, Mercedes as well, and a number of other players there in the market. And IBM is gonna make lots. IBM, that’s right. That’s right. And lots of vehicles come a car.

[00:57:41] But it’s all about supply chain. And not saying we are too all about supply chain quality in the world of automotive. And of course, our broadcast there is sponsored by the Effective syndicate home. The date, yes, September 12th and 13th. I didn’t say that registration is still open and. But I think they’ve got things can be one of their bigger shows in recent years. So look forward to being there yet. And then here’s no neat thing. This is brand new. Spoke to him this morning. You don’t know this, Greg. Oh, my. So the Georgia Manufacturing Summit is coming up October 9th. And Jason Mol, CEO of the GM, May and his team are expecting 1000 people to be out. Biggest summit yet. We’re pleased to be not only broadcasting live there, Greg, and we lead the charge with some big guests, but we’re gonna be leading a panel session with a variety of leaders, including U.P.S.. But Jason and GM, they are offering 50 free seats to veterans. Oh, that’s right. No strings attached. You can go to Georgia manufacturing alliance ticket page.

[00:58:36] Yeah. Yes. Joy, you could give it to a more Georgia. Someone with more need for a Georgia manufacturing summit.

[00:58:44] Dot com. And we’ve got a code here. USA vet U.S.A. a vet to get your free seed if you’re a veteran. What a great show and a great movie. Yeah, we’ll definitely put in show notes. Our friends at Vetlanta are already aware of it. They’re gonna be getting the word out to the metro Atlanta veteran community and that’s coming October 9th, the full day. And want what’s so neat here when we did this at the George Logistics summit. Right. A couple years ago. It’s so important that our veterans get out. They make connections, they build their network. They’re going to go to some market intelligence. They’re going to probably find some folks that are hiring in this war for talent. And it’s just gonna be a really good day. So, so close to what that move that Jason made to donate those seats to our our fellow veteran community. So Georgia manufacturing alliance dot com or Georgia Manufacturing Summit dot com. And again, the code is USA vet for veterans that are interested. Attending for free. OK. Then tell us about Austin Gray. What’s coming up in November?

[00:59:42] Yes. So we’re going to help keep Austin weird.

[00:59:44] November 7th and 8th, we’re at the E F T Logistics CIO forum.

[00:59:49] Right. About 300 Logistics CEOs there. Pretty impressive group. And, you know, it’s an opportunity to rub shoulders with those folks. If you’re in the technology consulting area, it’s a great opportunity to meet with those folks, understand what their strategic initiatives are for the next year. Share ideas. Right. And maybe even solve some problems together. So it’s a DFT. Conferences are a really great opportunity to get decision makers together to solve problems.

[01:00:19] Yep. Second installment of our partnership with the team, we’re really excited about that. They had a great three people in Supply chain Summit here in Atlanta in June and we’re looking forward to being in Austin on November 7th and 8th, 2013 for that Logistics CIO forum. Supply chain Tech. Freight Tech. Logistics Tech. I mean, hot spot tech. Tech. Tech. Yeah. Hot space. Probably the in and supply chain. Okay. And then we’ll flip the counter. It’s hard to believe we’re talking November and Turkey Day and all. We’re gonna flip the calendar. We’re gonna be the inverse Logistics Association Conference and expo in Vegas in February. And then what? Am I looking forward to that one? Oh s s better, I guess, baby, if you have not met Tony Schroeder. Oh, yeah. Rampage. No, he exact director of the RLA. The guy knows more about returns in his sleep than I’ll ever, ever understand his shame.

[01:01:07] He’s not more energetic. Yeah, he has a wall.

[01:01:11] He is such an incredible resource. Yeah. And we’ve got this monthly series with him that we’re already enjoying, but we’ll be there in Vegas in February and then of course, mode X 2020. Back here in Atlanta in March. Not only are we gonna be broadcasting three to four days, but of course, thanks to the good people like Paige Siplon and Team one Logistics, who are some of our earliest supporters and sponsors for the Atlanta Supply chain Awards last year, we are gonna be hosting our 2020. Atlanta is pressuring the wards at Mode X. We have a two sided bout and we’re close to nailing March 10th, hopefully March 10th.

[01:01:45] Yeah, hopefully. Give me nailing down a really a sought after keynote to anchor that lunch event. So more information in combat. But first off, it’s free to attend Mode X.. Yeah. So, I mean, talk about great resources, mode X show dot com. They’re expecting thirty five thousand people here in Atlanta. And we’re looking forward to getting some of what’s being discussed there out across into our audiences ears. Okay. So I once again want to thank Frank Hurst with Roadrunner Freight. Page Siplon, CEO of Team one Logistics for being back on the show. Great show. We couldn’t get going for a couple hours and then there’s too much to talk about, right?

[01:02:26] Yeah, well, I but I think I think we covered it really well. I mean, this is an important week, right? It’s important week for your companies. It’s an important week for your drivers. And I think you did a great job. Thank you.

[01:02:36] Pain patient. I have to get a ticket on the tour buses. Charleston, Austin and Las Vegas.

[01:02:41] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring it on. If we get mad at Apple, but not a problem, actually, we have our own drinks. We can introduce you to the supply chain now to our van. Right. Sounds interesting, but I think we’ll stick with our own.

[01:02:55] Oh boy. Had the makings of a reality show. Their pay. Yeah. That’s why I said we. Well, good stuff.

[01:03:05] Well, again, as big as his job both are and as busy as your organizations are. Thanks for taking the time to stop in Supply Chain Now Radio to talk about how much we love our truckers. So Greg, anything else? So Mr..

[01:03:18] I hope not because I don’t remember it.

[01:03:22] I think there is something, isn’t it? No. No. You never ask when there’s not something. That’s because you are so chock full of industry insights. I hate to wrap up any show without giving you now.

[01:03:32] Well, thank you. But I think look, I think I think we’ve understood that this is a you know, this is a valuable.

[01:03:39] These are valuable members of the Supply chain and valuable members of society. And I really appreciate what you guys are doing and your teams are doing to, you know, to show appreciation and to lift these folks up.

[01:03:49] So, um, thanks. Thanks for that, Greg. Spot on. And thanks to you for being here again today. But to our audience, be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays of our interviews, other resources that supply chain now radio dot com. You can finally snap a podcast, SoundCloud. All of the leading sites where podcasts can be found. Be sure to subscribe to don’t missing thing on behalf of the entire Supply Chain Now Radio team. This is Scott Luton. Wish you a wonderful week ahead and we’ll see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks everyone.