Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and entities Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:32):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s show. Now on today’s episode, we’re gonna be diving into a conversation with a critical member of the global supply chain workforce, a professional truck driver. So stay tuned for what promises to be an informative and intriguing discussion. And with that said, I wanna dive right in when welcome in our featured guest, Joey Thiessen with Southeastern freight lines, which is a privately owned industry leader in the regional less truckload transportation service space. So Hey Joey, how you doing?

Joey Thiessen (01:04):

Good, Scott, how are you?

Scott Luton (01:05):

I am doing great. And I’ve been looking forward to today’s interview, as I shared with you. Pre-show not only do folks in global supply chain, not get a chance to kind of get that VOD or voice of the driver, but a lot of consumers, this is a blind spot for no pun intended, and I’m really excited to, to learn myself, but also, uh, share your experiences with our global audience. So Joey, you ready to dive right in?

Joey Thiessen (01:29):

Yes, sir.

Scott Luton (01:30):

Awesome. So I gotta, you know, we’re gonna start with you, like we start with most of our guests, uh, before we get into the professional drug truck driving profession. Let’s learn a little more about Joey th so where’d you grow up, Joey? Yes,

Joey Thiessen (01:42):

Sir. I grew up in the Georgia. Uh, it’s located in Gwinnett county, which is a suburb, but Atlanta,

Scott Luton (01:48):

So tequila that is home of one of the largest Memorial day parades in the country. If I’m not mistaken, right?

Joey Thiessen (01:54):

That is, uh, we attended every year ever since. Oh man, I guess since I was five years old, we started attending that, uh, Memorial day parade. It’s uh, it’s definitely a big hit.

Scott Luton (02:04):

It is. Um, my family we’ve been going there at least for the last, uh, I don’t know, six or seven years. Um, but love that part of the state. What now growing up in tequila, Georgia, you know, I mentioned to you, we love talking food here at supply chain. Now, what is one dish or one restaurant that was a inseparable part of your childhood?

Joey Thiessen (02:24):

Oh man. Originally moving to tequila. It’s not like how it is now. It was, uh, it was pretty bare. There wasn’t much, mostly just farm fields, uh, growing up, uh, we had this one little, uh, it was a gas station slash little restaurant on the corner called a cane circle. And, uh, we were, we would walk up there and we’d keep it simple just with, and uh, the chili dogs are pretty famous. <laugh>, I’d say within a three mile radi, so all right. Chain circle.

Scott Luton (02:52):

Yeah. I love that cane circle. I got one quick follow up question in my house. We’ve got a raging debate, whether or not ketchup belongs on hotdog. I say no, but we’ve got others in my dear family that can’t eat a hot dog without it. So are you yes or no to ketchups on those famous canes circle chili dogs.

Joey Thiessen (03:11):

I’m with you brother mustard only. Yeah. Mustard and onions, or what on

Scott Luton (03:15):

Man? Right. We got to go get some, all right. I wanna shift gears a bit. Uh, so we’ll move from the Kula to, um, to, as we get in the industry. Uh, so you know, you’re a professional truck driver for a leading firm, Southeastern freight lines. Um, what initially attracted you to the logistics and transportation industry?

Joey Thiessen (03:35):

Uh, you mean other than over the top with Sylvester Stallone <laugh> uh,

Scott Luton (03:39):

Um,

Joey Thiessen (03:41):

I, I, I grew up seeing it. Um, my father, uh, he went to work for Southeastern freight lines in the early or the late 1980s as a driver. And, uh, I remember being a little kid sitting in the back of the car and, uh, you know, looking for the Southeastern truck to roll down the road. And, uh, you know, I just thought it was the coolest thing ever, other than that, it’s the, uh, uh, the financial stability and, uh, the job security that, you know, having a CDL brings to the table. Um, it’s one of those industries you can kind of go anywhere and, uh, work anywhere and, uh, uh, be financially successful at the same time. So, mm.

Scott Luton (04:15):

And, and a lot of folks probably don’t appreciate that. They don’t know that, uh, with a commercial driver’s license. I mean, the opportunities are endless, you kind of pick and choose in many cases of what you wanna do. Right, right.

Joey Thiessen (04:26):

Absolutely. Yeah. You, you, you have a lot of options go from, I mean, a lot, uh, I work for Southeastern freight, which is a, uh, LTL company and, uh, you know, we, we dabble in any kind of freight, not only in the south, but across the country as well. Hmm. And, uh, but you know, you can, you can get into an industry like that, but, you know, you could be an independent driver and then, then, you know, start your own business.

Scott Luton (04:50):

So a couple of basic questions for, for folks out there that may be really unfamiliar. And I’m certainly not a truck driving expert by any means, but some, maybe not have, have interacted with LTL carriers at all. When, when you say LTL and less than truckload, uh, you’re making a lot of stops with a lot of customers perhaps on the same truckload, is that right?

Joey Thiessen (05:12):

Yes, sir. And when meeting a lot of people and, uh, interacting with customers, um, I kind of compare it to the ups or the FedEx man, uh, come kind of the same thing. Uh, the only difference is, uh, dealing with much larger items. We, we deliver freight palletized freight. And so it could be something such as a refrigerator going to a house, you know, or it could be, uh, the, the, uh, toilet paper going to a target, pretty much anything and everything just in power with form. Um, most of our trucks headed out on a route LTL route, leaving with anywhere from 10 to 13, maybe even 15 deliveries or stops. Um, we cover a certain area. Uh, my route specifically covers Buford, Georgia. Um, so I’ll leave in the morning with my, uh, trailer 13, 15 stops sometimes and, uh, yeah, deliver around town,

Scott Luton (06:08):

Man. Uh, so you’ve kind of painted a picture of what a typical day looks like. And I’ve got just, I got another follow up question too around that, but I wanna back up just for a second, because how long have you been driving? When did you start your truck driving career?

Joey Thiessen (06:23):

Uh, I began in the summer of 2014. I had just finished my enlistment in the United States Navy. And I was, uh, looking for the next career path. Like I mentioned before, uh, my father, he works or is with, of Southeastern freight lines now. And, uh, you know, I, I knew the, the financial security and the job security, not only that, but Southeastern has a very rich culture, um, that they breed here. And so I naturally gravitated towards that. And, uh, I got, I got on with them as a, uh, outbound freight now to begin with. And then shortly after that, I enrolled in the driver trainee program. It’s a, it’s a program Southeastern offers to aspiring personnel who wish to get their CD and become a driver. Uh, I completed that, uh, program, got my CDL and I’ve been driving, uh, P and D out to out of north Atlanta for the last eight years.

Scott Luton (07:18):

Okay, man. All right. So Joey, uh, I didn’t realize at my pre-interview homework, wasn’t complete. I didn’t realize you’re a fellow veteran. So what’d you do in the Navy?

Joey Thiessen (07:27):

Yes, sir. Yeah, I, I was the United States Navy. Uh, I was a air mechanic. I worked on F 18 super Hornets. I deploy, I deployed once to, um, the Persian Gulf, uh, where I serve in operation during for operation during freedom and operation, uh, red, new dot.

Scott Luton (07:45):

Mm. Well, I appreciate that. I really do. I was an air force still hold it against me. I was a, uh, a data analyst <laugh> I didn’t, I didn’t do cool stuff like work on equipment. Although we, we interacted regularly with, uh, the maintenance, uh, professionals at that, uh, kept aircraft and, and everything, uh, mission capable. And, you know, speaking of we’re, we’re gonna touch on this in a minute, you know, as we maybe mentioned on the front end, you know, a lot of folks don’t appreciate the truck driving community that keeps every, you know, E everything moving forward, but, you know, folks also don’t appreciate all the maintenance professionals and technicians that are out there that keep fleets moving. Would you agree,

Joey Thiessen (08:21):

Right? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. There’s uh, the amount of equipment that goes into basically keeping everything moving in the world as we know it. Rolling. Yeah. It, it, it’s a tremendous amount of effort from all different aspects from, you know, the, the trailer technician up to the driver, to the terminal manager, you know, uh, just like with the military, it’s one team, one fight, and all those cards have to kinda go in order to make it happen,

Scott Luton (08:47):

Team effort for sure. Takes everybody. Um, alright. So one quick que I wanna move in a second to kind of one of the most challenging aspects of what you do, but would you say I love organizations that put a priority on providing opportunities to veterans? Is that a big part of the culture at Southeastern freight lines?

Joey Thiessen (09:05):

Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Veterans day, we get thanked, I believe there’s a huge push to hire more veterans. Um, and you know, just, it doesn’t seem to matter, you know, pretty much everyone here knows that you’re veteran and cause they come up to you all the time and thank you, especially around those special holidays for sure.

Scott Luton (09:22):

Awesome. Okay. All right. So let’s, so you kind of earlier painted a typical day, right? Based out of, uh, Beauford, Georgia, I think you mentioned. Yes, sir. What is, what would be my, maybe the most challenging aspect to what you do?

Joey Thiessen (09:38):

Oh, man. Uh, probably time management. I mean, in the, uh, in the freight world and logistics community as a whole, I mean time, management’s everything, we’re, we’re not a manufacturer. We don’t produce goods. We offer a service and be profitable in service. Um, especially moving freight from one to the next, you have to be efficient with your time, uh, on time orders. That’s what it’s called out. So, you know, you have to have efficiency with that. Uh, you have to have quality with your service and, you know, you have to be safe while doing it. So I think juggling all three of those aspects while trying to be time efficient or do it as quickly as possible is the biggest struggle. But luckily I work for a company Southeastern, you know, they, they, they had the system set up, they have the equipment set up and they have the per personnel and the manpower to do so. And so I really feel like on a daily basis, you know, not only do we tackle those challenges, but we rise above.

Scott Luton (10:35):

Mm-hmm love that. So I, I thought that one of, part of your answer to your more, more challenging aspect would be, you know, getting your vehicle and the trailer into all the tight nooks and crannies that make up any route. But sounds like you’ve got that ACE, huh?

Joey Thiessen (10:52):

Oh man. That’s cake. Yeah. I’ve uh, so my route is a, uh, 40 foot lift, which basically means I go to all the limited access places and limited access basically means they don’t have a dock. They don’t have a forklift and chances are, it’s probably down someone’s driveway to shop a back. So, uh, being able to maneuver the trailer after, uh, eight years of experience in those kind of scenarios, I, I, I feel pretty comfortable, but yeah, it just first starting out. Yeah. That’s a, that’s probably the biggest worry of any truck driver. Can I go down this road because you know, it’s not too easy to turn around for sure.

Scott Luton (11:28):

<laugh>, you know, I saw a truck driver. Uh, yes, we got a really bad intersection where I, I live out in, uh, the Walton county area, if you’ve ever been through that park of Georgia. And I saw gotta be one of the most talented truck drivers I’ve seen in action, make a UE at this main intersection and had all this. I mean, just, it was a beautiful maneuver. And I tell you, it takes a lot of talent to move, to navigate these, these big vehicles, uh, through all the traffic that you’ll find across the Metro Atlanta area, speaking, which, so it sounds like Joey, it sounds like, um, what you do day in and day out, you don’t venture too far from the Beauford service center. Is that right?

Joey Thiessen (12:07):

Uh, no sir. No, sir. So, uh, uh, north Atlanta terminal, uh, we’re located in Swanee, Georgia. The area I run or my route is, uh, Beauford, Georgia, which is literally five miles down the road from, uh, the terminal. So probably within the first five to 10 minutes, I’m making deliveries. So as far as drive time, uh, usually average about 70 to 80 miles a day, but leaving out on my route around nine morning, I’m usually coming back in around six in the, uh, in the afternoon. So it’s a long day with a bunch of Bob and weaving for sure. <laugh>

Scott Luton (12:42):

1. All right. There’s so much more, so little time, so many questions, but Joey and, and maybe this, it goes also to your personal time, cause it sounds like, you know, you’re staying in that north Atlantic area, it for what you do day in and day out, but in general, what’s one of your favorite parts of the country to drive through?

Joey Thiessen (13:00):

Uh, well, like we mentioned, I was prior military, so I did get to see a lot of the country and drive through it, but you know, I got, I’m a Georgia boy, so I’m gonna, I’m gonna stay close to home. I live with north Georgia mountains, North Carolina, and, uh, even going up into Virginia rolling Hills mountains and uh, the green landscape. I love it for

Scott Luton (13:18):

Sure. All right. I, I do too. Uh, now you mentioned you’re a Georgia bulldog, so of course, for some of our listeners, it may not get what that means. That means big fan of the university of Georgia bulldogs, which is Joey they’re the reigning what?

Joey Thiessen (13:33):

Uh, national champions.

Scott Luton (13:35):

Okay. Sounds gonna let you say that. I was gonna let you say that in spite of football. Yeah,

Joey Thiessen (13:39):

Yeah. Right. Dog’s on top.

Scott Luton (13:41):

<laugh> all right. Awesome. And they’ve got a bunch of folks coming back. The 2022 football season should be a good one for UGA. Okay. Absolutely.

Joey Thiessen (13:50):

We got E day Saturday looking forward to it.

Scott Luton (13:52):

Awesome. All right. So kind of coming down the home stretch here, uh, Joey, appreciate your time. I know how busy you are. He probably got it running with a few full plates. If you’re, if you had a moment or two to kind of speak to those folks, uh, consumers, maybe even non supply chain practitioners, you know, folks that really may, may not even ever step foot from a professional standpoint in global supply. What’s, you know, what’s a couple of things you wish that more folks knew about the truck driving profession.

Joey Thiessen (14:22):

Probably, probably the biggest thing is just the, uh, the sacrifice that, you know, logistics professionals and drivers, uh, do on a daily basis. I might say sacrifice. I mean, time away from home and time away from family. You know, I, the last two years, especially with the pandemic, you know, a, a lot of the world shut down. A lot of people stayed at home, but the, the trucking industry boomed, we’ve never been more busy. You know, we, we were sacrificing more time away from home and being out and about during the pandemic than we were prior. So just the sacrifice from away from home, like I mentioned, I’m a P and D driver. So a lot of people call that nine to five trucking because I run a route. I kind, I, I get here in the morning and I leave in the evening, I’m home every night.

Joey Thiessen (15:07):

Hmm. Even even doing that kind of the gig, I still leave in the morning when it’s dark and I get home in the evening when it’s dark. So it, it is just a lot of sacrifice to time away. The other thing, probably the air pump for the air horn. I don’t think we see it enough, uh, kids these days. I feel like don’t even know what it is. So if I could tell, you know, of people, anything, um, and I think all the truckers would agree with me. The main perk of the job is seeing that little arm going up and down. That was awesome. And, uh, so yeah, uh, hashtag bring back the arm.

Scott Luton (15:42):

<laugh> <laugh> all right. I love that. I’m so glad you mentioned it. Uh, that was a big part of, of certainly my childhood and probably many folks’ childhood. But kidding aside, I wanted to one more follow up here because, you know, as folks are getting back on the highways, you know, getting outta the lockdown, hopefully keep your fingers crossed. We’re kind of in the post pandemic environment where folks getting in the offices or getting out and about, you know, of course traffic is coming back, right. And oh yeah. Gosh, having driven myself, you know, for the last 20 years on the, the highways and byways around Atlanta, all the interstates, you know, bypass, you name it, and I’ve seen some crazy you, you, you have too, I’m sure some crazy drivers, what you for for those drivers out there, truck drivers could be probably afforded a little, little, extra professional courtesy from our fellow drivers. Would you say,

Joey Thiessen (16:32):

Oh man, absolutely way. Yeah. Going back to the pandemic. Uh, I mean, we were working longer hours, uh, busier than ever, but the traffic was amazing. I mean, there was none, it was in and out, not a problem. Anything good came to that. That was it. Uh, yeah. Coming back into it though, especially in the Metro Atlanta area, we’re pretty much back at full capacity as far as traffic on a daily basis, but yeah, I mean, be courteous, you know, we make right, uh, wide right turns and, uh, we can’t stop on a dime, uh, you know, especially back in or back doing the rush hour thing. There’s a lot of people that like to pull right over in front of you or, um, you know, or get a little, you thinking you can just, if they break, check. Yeah. You can, you can just stop. So yeah, just, just be cur courteous. Yeah. To, to the big trucks, please,

Scott Luton (17:23):

Please. Yeah. A little more space, little cur, a little, uh, professional courtesy in those tight spots. You know, sometimes it might be helpful if you just back up a few feet and give them a little extra turn space, but you know, they certainly a a as the picture you paint, uh, I really appreciate what the truck driving community does and continues to do, especially, I mean, every day, but these last couple years where, you know, folks have had a lot of stress already kind of on, on the fear of the unknown and, and you and all your fellow, uh, truck drivers kept things going, kept stuff in stores, you know, and there’s so much to be said for that and appreciate what you do. So as we start to close, we’re gonna make sure folks on how to connect with you and Southeastern freight lines in a minute, but just how special is it? I can’t remember Felix it’s preach show or maybe after we went. Uh, but you mentioned your dad is also a fellow professional truck driver. How cool is it that talk shot with him whenever you’re are able to get together, whether it’s a Sunday afternoon for dinner or, or just in general? How cool is that?

Joey Thiessen (18:23):

Uh, it, it’s pretty cool, you know, spending time with your father special when you get to work with him and have all the same insights and actually really connect with ’em in a, on a professional level. Uh, it, it is pretty neat. You know, it just not even a talking shop when, you know, we’re, we’re at holidays or whatever, you know, we’ll, we’ll call each other during the Workday and, you know, tell each other what’s going on with our delivery or anything like that. And it’s, it is good to have not only a father, but you know, a mentor that been doing it for almost 30 years. So, wow. It’s a blessing, definitely. And it’s pretty cool when you’re driving down the road in your big truck, he’s driving by you in his big truck and y’all can honk at each. You know,

Scott Luton (19:06):

I love that Joey, Big time high fives. And of course you created a hashtag a moment ago. Uh, bring back what what’d you say, hashtag what,

Joey Thiessen (19:20):

Uh, ha hashtag bring back the air pump. That’s right. Tell your kids <laugh> make it go viral.

Scott Luton (19:25):

Love it. Bring hashtag bring back the air pump. Okay. So Joey Thon really PR as Biza really appreciate your time, uh, spending some time with us here at supply chain now, uh, sharing some of these experiences, folks, it may make some assumptions and, and I’m sure you’re filling in the blind spot for a lot of folks, but how can folks connect with you and Southeastern freight lines?

Joey Thiessen (19:46):

Yeah. Uh, if you wanna connect with Southeastern freight lines, it’s a, you can just check off the website. It’s a S E F l.com. Uh, if you’re interested in job opportunities, we’re always, uh, we’re always hiring, uh, just click on the career icon and you’ll be able to find the terminal near you. Uh, other than that, just all the other social, uh, media platforms, as far as, as far as finding SDL we’re on Facebook. We’re on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Yeah. That’s it

Scott Luton (20:11):

Wonderful. Been talking with Joey Thon, professional truck driver, uh, for the last, uh, eight years, I believe with Southeastern freight lines, Joey, Hey, we hope to have you back, uh, again on behalf of our entire team and our listening community, really grateful for what you do day in and day out.

Joey Thiessen (20:28):

Thank you so much, Scott. I really appreciate your time.

Scott Luton (20:31):

All right. Uh, so folks hopeful, you know, this opportunity over the last, uh, 25 30 minutes gives you a chance to, you know, peek in on the life of, of one of the most critical aspects of the global supply chain workforce. And that’s our professional truck driver. We owe them all a huge, uh, debt gratitude for what they do continue to do, uh, day in, day out, hopefully enjoy the conversations as much as I have big thanks to Joey Thon with Southeastern, uh, freight lines. I look forward to reconnecting with them soon, but whatever you do on behalf of supply chain, now, Scott Luton signing off now challenging you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed with at that said, we’ll see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (21:12):

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