Behind the Scenes: How Terminal Managers Run the Show

1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:05,239 When you climb into the truck every morning, it can feel like your day starts with turning the 2 00:00:05,239 --> 00:00:11,680 key. But the truth is, your day actually started hours before that. Before the first trailer 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:17,360 moves, someone has already been balancing customer schedules, maintenance appointments, call offs, 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:23,720 weather equipment availability, and a dozen last minute surprises you may never even know 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:30,680 happened. It's a giant puzzle, and somehow, every single day, the pieces come together until they 6 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:36,080 don't. Sometimes it's a driver calling off at three in the morning. Sometimes it's a truck that 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:41,360 suddenly needs service. Sometimes it's a bakery that's only hours away from running out of flour, 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:46,359 and every once in a while, it's a bird that somehow ends up in a trailer full of food grade 9 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:52,759 product, or a fishing hook that turns into a five figure mistake. Today, we're pulling back the 10 00:00:52,759 --> 00:00:58,840 curtain on the people who live in that controlled chaos every single day. Joining us are three 11 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:05,019 terminal leaders from two very different operations Fairborn, Ohio and Saginaw, Texas, to 12 00:01:05,019 --> 00:01:11,580 explain what really happens behind the scenes. Why communication can make or break an entire day, how 13 00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:16,940 drivers from different terminals routinely step in to help one another, and why keeping freight 14 00:01:16,940 --> 00:01:23,860 moving isn't just about trucks, it's about trust. If you've ever wondered what has to happen before 15 00:01:23,860 --> 00:01:28,980 your phone rings with the next load. This episode is for you. Let's get moving. 16 00:01:31,660 --> 00:01:36,980 You are listening to Always Pneumatic, Never Static. The Totally Pressurized podcast, brought to 17 00:01:36,980 --> 00:01:42,540 you by Bulk Transit, where we keep the lines clear, the tanks empty, and the conversation anything but 18 00:01:42,540 --> 00:01:47,379 dry. Whether you're running powder pellets or anything in between. Pull up a seat, crack the 19 00:01:47,379 --> 00:01:54,019 windows, and let's hit it. How's it going out there? Bulk and spur. 20 00:01:54,059 --> 00:01:59,809 Welcome into another episode of Always Pneumatic, never static. Thank you so much for being here 21 00:01:59,809 --> 00:02:05,729 today and clicking that download button. It helps us more than you know. I of course am your host, 22 00:02:05,730 --> 00:02:11,969 Marcus. Same as always. Nothing's changed there and nothing's changed except the most recent episode. 23 00:02:11,969 --> 00:02:18,769 This one has been uploaded to the website podcast.bulktransit.com. Make sure you head on 24 00:02:18,770 --> 00:02:23,769 over there. Take the quizzes that we have with every single episode. Uh, check out all the 25 00:02:23,770 --> 00:02:29,689 information. Maybe you're just brand new to this podcast. Maybe somebody told you because we're 26 00:02:29,729 --> 00:02:34,569 giving out homework to tell a friend right now. Maybe somebody told you about it and you're just 27 00:02:34,570 --> 00:02:39,969 listening. And this is your first episode. Well, I got great news for you. We got some, I think like 28 00:02:39,969 --> 00:02:45,809 25 behind this one that you can catch up with, and they're all about an hour long or more. So you've 29 00:02:45,809 --> 00:02:50,849 got plenty of stuff to listen to while you put the miles behind you. We can occupy that 30 00:02:50,850 --> 00:02:57,030 windshield time. And, uh, we're always just glad to have everybody here. And to our new listeners, 31 00:02:57,030 --> 00:03:01,910 thank you for tuning in. We appreciate you greatly, and we hope that you'll stick around with us as 32 00:03:01,910 --> 00:03:08,830 we continue to learn about and grow with bulk and spur transit. And today's episode is a 33 00:03:08,830 --> 00:03:13,869 really cool one. We'll get into that in just a second, but let's not forget that homework. Before 34 00:03:13,869 --> 00:03:18,950 I go any further, tell a friend, hey, maybe it's Mom or Dad and you've got a, you know, you've got an 35 00:03:18,950 --> 00:03:23,229 appearance that you made on here. My parents listen to this podcast every single week. They 36 00:03:23,229 --> 00:03:28,710 account for one click and I am grateful for it every time. And that was just me telling a friend, 37 00:03:28,750 --> 00:03:33,949 um, now I can't get my wife to listen yet. I haven't gotten her turned on to it. That could be 38 00:03:33,950 --> 00:03:39,189 an effect of the fact that she lives between the four walls of this house with me, and this mouth 39 00:03:39,189 --> 00:03:44,949 does not have an off switch. But I tell her every single week that there's a new episode of Always 40 00:03:44,949 --> 00:03:50,110 Pneumatic, never static. If she feels like checking it out, and one day she will. I'll wear through 41 00:03:50,110 --> 00:03:54,029 that hard exterior and she's going to click through and see what this thing is all about. 42 00:03:54,030 --> 00:03:59,100 That's all I'm asking you guys to do. But you don't have to work nearly as hard at it. That's 43 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:05,859 something that I take. Uh, very important to me. Very personal to me. Uh, to to make my wife 44 00:04:05,859 --> 00:04:10,099 listen to these, even though she gets a full recap of every one of them whenever she gets home 45 00:04:10,099 --> 00:04:14,739 across the dinner table each night. So all you have to do is tell a friend, and you know, 46 00:04:14,739 --> 00:04:18,779 something that's going to happen in this episode is we're going to hear from some terminal 47 00:04:18,780 --> 00:04:24,339 managers that talk about having drivers, uh, they see a driver with a bulk truck pulled over on the 48 00:04:24,339 --> 00:04:28,780 side of the road, and they call up their terminal and say, hey, you got a driver stop to off, you know, 49 00:04:28,820 --> 00:04:34,019 exit two on on ten. And they say, yeah, we do. Okay. Well we're going to stop and help that driver out. 50 00:04:34,019 --> 00:04:38,739 Hey, you guys are already doing it. You're already helping a friend. Now all I need you to do is just 51 00:04:38,739 --> 00:04:45,540 tell a friend about the podcast. It's real simple. Say, head on over to podcast.bulktransit.com 52 00:04:45,540 --> 00:04:50,299 and check out Always Pneumatic, never static. If you want to search it on your favorite podcast 53 00:04:50,299 --> 00:04:56,799 platforms instead of going to the website we are on all of them. Spotify, Apple, Google, you name it, 54 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,279 you can find us there. iHeart. Yeah, we're there too. I know a lot of you guys are cruising through the 55 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:07,759 country listening to iHeart podcasts or iHeart radio stuff. Well, uh, add us to the lineup. We'll 56 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:13,439 give you one hour of content a week, releasing at 5 a.m. local time every single Wednesday here at 57 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,720 Always Pneumatic, never static. And we are proud to do it. Working with such a great company like Bulk 58 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:25,600 and Spur, a family run company. Uh, it really makes the job easy on us over here at Always Pneumatic, 59 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:31,399 never static. So we will welcome new listeners with open arms. And if you work for bulk and you 60 00:05:31,399 --> 00:05:37,399 want to join us on this podcast, the door is open, head on over to the website podcast.bulktransit.com 61 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:43,119 and send me an email. There's a button over there you can click. It will come directly to 62 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:48,239 me, which also hits me right in the pocket because my phone's connected to that email address too. So 63 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,749 wherever I am, I will get that message and I will be reaching back out to you to talk to you about 64 00:05:53,749 --> 00:05:58,629 coming on the show. You can send me your suggestions for things you'd like to hear, or you 65 00:05:58,630 --> 00:06:02,789 can just, uh, you know, get in touch with me and tell me why the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to 66 00:06:02,829 --> 00:06:07,069 beat my Oregon Ducks this year. We got football season around the corner, and I'm chomping at the 67 00:06:07,109 --> 00:06:13,029 bit to talk about that with all of you Ohio State fans, all of you Michigan fans, all of you Texas 68 00:06:13,029 --> 00:06:18,070 Longhorn fans out there. I know you're out there and we will have a football episode. We'll have 69 00:06:18,070 --> 00:06:23,349 some fun coming up here before too long, so make sure to look forward to that in the future. Uh, but 70 00:06:23,350 --> 00:06:27,989 today's episode is a very important one because we're giving you a peek behind the scenes of 71 00:06:27,989 --> 00:06:33,909 operations. But we're not talking about operations like what Shawn came on and talked about during 72 00:06:33,910 --> 00:06:39,829 the company anniversary episode a couple weeks ago. That was great. That was a 300 zero foot view 73 00:06:39,829 --> 00:06:45,070 of the entire operation. And I love that because it's so insightful and it gives drivers a peek 74 00:06:45,070 --> 00:06:49,429 behind the curtain of what's really going on when they're out putting miles behind them. We wanted 75 00:06:49,429 --> 00:06:54,929 to take it a step further and get a couple more terminals in here. Talk to some guys that are in 76 00:06:54,929 --> 00:07:00,369 unique situations, hauling unique things with unique teams of drivers that help them get 77 00:07:00,369 --> 00:07:07,089 through it every single day. And, uh, it's really I think this episode will help you understand that 78 00:07:07,089 --> 00:07:13,729 the driving, while it's the most important part, is only one part of just a sea of operations that 79 00:07:13,729 --> 00:07:19,369 has to come together for all of this to work out smoothly. Um, today's guests represent terminals 80 00:07:19,369 --> 00:07:26,289 separated by hundreds of miles, yet they operate together as one team. And I think that that aspect 81 00:07:26,290 --> 00:07:31,848 is really cool. We're going to dig into it once we get our guys in here and this episode, it isn't 82 00:07:31,849 --> 00:07:36,569 just for you current bulk and spur drivers out there. I know there's people that are going to 83 00:07:36,609 --> 00:07:41,809 tune in to this podcast to see what Bulk and Spur is all about before they ever submit an 84 00:07:41,810 --> 00:07:46,849 application to Rachel. And I think this is a really good episode for that too, because a lot of 85 00:07:46,849 --> 00:07:52,479 times, in my experience, I find drivers going from one company to the next are going to ask 86 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,759 questions like, well, what's operations like? How does this how does this whole, uh, boat float 87 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:04,039 through the ocean and how does my part affect it? This episode is for you, I promise you that. And 88 00:08:04,039 --> 00:08:09,479 hey, we got some great stories coming up here, too. We're going to tell you about a time that a bird 89 00:08:09,479 --> 00:08:16,320 ruined an entire silo of flour. How? Well. Stay tuned. How about a $10,000 fish hook? You ever 90 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:22,239 heard of one of those? Me either. But we'll talk about one today and 3 a.m. phone calls. These ones 91 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:28,279 aren't about. Hey. You up? Uh, this isn't coming back from the bar. You want Taco Bell? No, that's not why 92 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:32,839 these 3 a.m. phone calls come through the 3 a.m. phone calls that come through that we're going to 93 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:38,038 talk about today are important phone calls, because they tend to send a ripple effect through 94 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:43,719 the rest of the day. That could affect everybody at the terminal or even outside of the terminal. 95 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:50,179 And today's podcast episode is going to sort of show you how the people that are tasked with 96 00:08:50,179 --> 00:08:56,139 dealing with that deal with it, and the respect that they have for the employees that they 97 00:08:56,140 --> 00:09:03,059 oversee is really going to come through here. Um, just listen to it. If you want the real hammer, the 98 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:08,459 real hammer to nail type moment comes at the very end of the interview here, where we're getting 99 00:09:08,460 --> 00:09:13,139 into our final thoughts and you'll hear some of the appreciation that comes through from these 100 00:09:13,140 --> 00:09:17,859 guys. In fact, I think you can hear it throughout the entire episode. What these guys that were 101 00:09:17,859 --> 00:09:24,419 about to talk to understand is that this whole operation takes a village, even just one person 102 00:09:24,419 --> 00:09:30,418 not doing their job, not fulfilling their responsibility, not having the next person's back 103 00:09:30,460 --> 00:09:36,460 can really affect the entire operation. And that's why today's episode is so cool. So I don't need to 104 00:09:36,460 --> 00:09:41,539 tell you anything more about it. I've teased all the teasing points you guys are chomping at the 105 00:09:41,580 --> 00:09:48,009 bit right now to get in here and listen to these guys. So without further ado, let's bring Rob, Dale 106 00:09:48,010 --> 00:09:51,289 and Jeremy in here and talk operations. 107 00:09:59,849 --> 00:10:04,848 All right. Welcome back in here to always pneumatic, never static. Very excited for my three 108 00:10:04,890 --> 00:10:10,049 guests joining us today. One that we've had here before. So let's welcome in the terminal manager 109 00:10:10,049 --> 00:10:14,569 out there at the Fairborn terminal Rob Shope. Rob, we're really glad to have you back, man. Thanks for 110 00:10:14,569 --> 00:10:19,129 being here. All right. Thanks for the invite. I appreciate it. Always, man. You're always welcome on 111 00:10:19,130 --> 00:10:23,849 the show. Did awesome last time. Really looking forward to having you here for this one. And we 112 00:10:23,849 --> 00:10:28,169 got a couple gentlemen making their first appearance here on Always pneumatic, never static, 113 00:10:28,169 --> 00:10:33,729 and we're just as happy to have them along. First off, we've got the terminal manager out of Saginaw, 114 00:10:33,770 --> 00:10:38,209 Dale Cetina, on the phone or on the line. Sorry about that. Dale. Welcome to the show. Thank you so 115 00:10:38,209 --> 00:10:43,569 much for being here. Thank you. Mark, I really appreciate the invite here. Of course. And your 116 00:10:43,570 --> 00:10:49,349 assistant manager out there. Jeremy Willison is also with us today. Jeremy. Thanks for being here, my 117 00:10:49,349 --> 00:10:54,589 friend. Welcome to the show. Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it. No problem man, 118 00:10:54,590 --> 00:11:00,269 we're really glad to have you guys. Um, really, what I want out of this episode is to just give 119 00:11:00,270 --> 00:11:04,589 everybody a peek behind the curtain of how different terminals handle different things, and 120 00:11:04,590 --> 00:11:09,908 really how operations at those terminals make things so comfortable throughout the entire 121 00:11:09,950 --> 00:11:16,150 operation. Uh, it's one thing that I've seen, just doing this podcast for 20 some episodes is that 122 00:11:16,150 --> 00:11:21,789 things run very smoothly at Bulk and Spur, even though you guys are very spread out. I mean, we're 123 00:11:21,790 --> 00:11:26,710 talking to Ohio and Texas here, so we've got a lot of miles between the terminals, just the ones that 124 00:11:26,710 --> 00:11:33,149 we have on. So, uh, Rob, I'm going to start out with you for the driver's listening. What exactly does 125 00:11:33,150 --> 00:11:39,950 an operations team do that the drivers may never actually see? Um, how is it that you guys keep this 126 00:11:39,950 --> 00:11:44,780 thing running so that the drivers can get their miles and be on time, and you guys aren't 127 00:11:44,780 --> 00:11:49,259 constantly pulling your hair out and putting holes in the wall out there in Fairborn. Well, for 128 00:11:49,260 --> 00:11:55,819 this terminal, it's, uh, I mean, the, the these loads come at us, so it makes it kind of easy for, for us. 129 00:11:55,820 --> 00:12:01,260 But we we have to put the puzzle together. So, um, putting the puzzle together is probably one thing 130 00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:06,940 that they never see. Putting it together to where, uh, Lowe's. We got the different times, we got 131 00:12:06,979 --> 00:12:11,619 different places we're delivering to. We got trucks that need to be serviced this, that, and the 132 00:12:11,619 --> 00:12:16,059 other, uh, trailers that need to be serviced, things like that. And we don't have a shop here. So 133 00:12:16,380 --> 00:12:21,859 putting the puzzle together and making everything role and still try to be equal throughout the 134 00:12:21,859 --> 00:12:28,218 board, okay. To keep everybody busy and not just, you know, not just one person making this awesome 135 00:12:28,219 --> 00:12:32,939 money. We want to try to push that all the way down to everybody making making a good, good 136 00:12:32,939 --> 00:12:38,418 living here. So the puzzle, you know, it's all the time, all the all the different times that, uh, 137 00:12:38,419 --> 00:12:44,759 people want the deliveries, um, scheduled maintenance. Call offs. People that have doctor's 138 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:49,519 appointments, they don't understand that. You know, we still want to keep them busy as well. Uh, 139 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,640 regardless if the appointments at 1:00 in the afternoon or could be in the morning, uh, we still 140 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:59,639 want them to be able to maybe come in and run at least one load in the afternoon after performance 141 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,719 in the morning. You know, things like that happen. Uh, not really through a seniority dispatch, but we 142 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:09,719 kind of just gotta choose when somebody's got things like that to do in order for for us to 143 00:13:09,719 --> 00:13:14,479 make revenue and for the driver to not only not have to take a PTO day or anything like that, but 144 00:13:14,479 --> 00:13:18,798 it can also still make some money that day without taking the whole day off. Sure. And you 145 00:13:18,799 --> 00:13:23,840 brought up something there that I'm wondering if maybe every terminal manager ever has wanted to 146 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:29,759 have the opportunity to say on a podcast, uh, call offs, you know, they happen. This is, uh, we're all 147 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,519 adults here. We're all living our lives, fighting battles that nobody knows anything about. And 148 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:39,919 sometimes, uh, work is just kind of, uh, in the way of of living that life. And there's a call off. 149 00:13:39,989 --> 00:13:44,749 Maybe somebody's sick. Maybe you got something going on at home. Who knows? But what kind of 150 00:13:44,789 --> 00:13:49,549 ripple effect can that have? Rob throughout the terminal? If you got just one guy that calls off 151 00:13:49,549 --> 00:13:54,149 that maybe was kind of an important part of the schedule that day. Uh, how do you go about 152 00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:59,989 rectifying that? And, and like I said, what kind of ripple effect can it have? Well, everyone's 153 00:13:59,989 --> 00:14:05,309 important here because we don't have just drivers sitting and waiting for a load. Uh, you know, when 154 00:14:05,310 --> 00:14:10,789 we do this batch, it's every single, every single truck is accounted for, every single load is 155 00:14:10,789 --> 00:14:17,589 accounted for. And once a guy gets sick or calls off or whatever we have to make, uh, we have to 156 00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:22,550 make adjustments. We have to make changes in dispatch. Uh, rather, we gotta figure out what's 157 00:14:22,550 --> 00:14:29,349 priority, um. What's not priority? Uh, they're all priority, you know, it's all priority. But which one? 158 00:14:29,349 --> 00:14:35,390 Which one do we need to do or take away from in order to or stack up another on somebody else in 159 00:14:35,390 --> 00:14:40,569 order to cover that, that run for the day? It's very challenging, especially when you're when 160 00:14:40,569 --> 00:14:44,889 you're dealing with a phone call at 3:00 in the morning. They'll keep you up. Sure you can. You can 161 00:14:44,890 --> 00:14:51,289 contest to that. Um, it's very challenging. And, uh, for some, for some reason, I always tell my guys, we 162 00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:57,289 always figure it out. So. And that's what's great about having a, like, a family oriented team. That's 163 00:14:57,289 --> 00:15:02,010 pretty much what I call my guys's family. And, you know, when those people, you know, when they can do 164 00:15:02,010 --> 00:15:07,529 their best and want to do their best, when we have a call off, we have somebody that's sick or 165 00:15:07,530 --> 00:15:13,169 whatever. Whatever the case may be, they step up and get it done. And I think that's, uh, that's very 166 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:19,168 important for sure. It's a common theme on this podcast. Whenever we get to talk to people from 167 00:15:19,169 --> 00:15:23,729 other terminals outside of the plane city terminal, that's what you hear is there's a lot of 168 00:15:23,730 --> 00:15:28,769 stepping up. A lot of you scratch my back, I scratch yours, and, uh, just a lot of helping that 169 00:15:28,770 --> 00:15:33,529 come that goes on between the drivers. You know, I've had drivers come on the show and say, well, if 170 00:15:33,530 --> 00:15:38,239 they need me over at X terminal, I just go over there and help out like it's it's second nature. 171 00:15:38,439 --> 00:15:43,840 Um, I think it's really cool, and I love to call it out. I'd love to see it on this podcast. Uh, Dale 172 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,559 and Jeremy, you guys have been kind of nodding your head along with the things that Rob's been 173 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:52,159 saying here. I want to get to the Saginaw terminal and talk about some of the similarities and 174 00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:58,919 differences between, uh, Fairborn. Um, a we we haven't gotten to talk to a lot of, uh, you 175 00:15:58,919 --> 00:16:04,879 spur guys yet on this podcast. And so talk to me a little bit about the uniqueness of your terminal 176 00:16:04,879 --> 00:16:09,719 out there in Saginaw. You're really far removed from everything else. How does that bring 177 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:15,879 challenges and advantages to what you've got going on out there, Dale? Well, I think mostly we're 178 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,479 food grade here. We do a lot of food products and so things change a lot. We get a lot of add ons, a 179 00:16:21,479 --> 00:16:28,359 lot of changes and times, a lot of cancellations and things like that. And, uh, you were mentioning 180 00:16:28,359 --> 00:16:32,879 how we help each other right now. I've got one of Rob's drivers down here helping me because I'm 181 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:38,459 shorthanded. So we actually sent one all the way from Ohio down here. I've got two down here from, 182 00:16:38,460 --> 00:16:44,260 uh, bulk transit right now helping us out while we're a little short. But, um, it's really hard 183 00:16:44,260 --> 00:16:49,700 sometimes for last minute call ins. You know, they come early in the morning. Dispatch has already 184 00:16:49,700 --> 00:16:55,739 been out. And so what we have to do is make other people's day longer. Uh, it happens so frequently. 185 00:16:55,740 --> 00:17:00,699 Sometimes we ended up having to put extra things that we could pay the driver when we make their 186 00:17:00,700 --> 00:17:06,059 day longer, you know, so they get a little bit extra when they step up. And the ones that get the 187 00:17:06,060 --> 00:17:11,059 big picture, the ones that know that we're all in this ship together and we got to keep it afloat, 188 00:17:11,060 --> 00:17:16,459 and they step up and they take it on and they make it happen. Uh, they, you know, make that little 189 00:17:16,459 --> 00:17:21,900 extra and, uh, and it's what pulls us through. Sometimes we can't make it. Sometimes we have to 190 00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:28,459 figure out, uh, which ones got the priority. Um, the rule of thumb here is we don't run run a bakery 191 00:17:28,459 --> 00:17:34,688 out of flour. Uh, they depend on our product that we're hauling from the mills to get to them, to 192 00:17:34,689 --> 00:17:40,009 make the things that they're making. And so to run them out of flour, that's like the cardinal sin. So 193 00:17:40,009 --> 00:17:44,328 we're always trying to figure out, you know, get with the customers. What's your drop dead time? 194 00:17:44,329 --> 00:17:49,089 Because we might have more than one load affected. And we got to figure out which ones to prioritize. 195 00:17:49,130 --> 00:17:54,329 It's not that one place is more important than the other, but one is going to run out faster than 196 00:17:54,329 --> 00:17:59,810 the other. So we're trying to, you know, get to the places that are the hardest first, you know, and 197 00:17:59,930 --> 00:18:05,329 sometimes they can flex with us. We've got a lot of customers that do flex and bend with us, and we 198 00:18:05,329 --> 00:18:09,769 may be able to push a load into the next day or maybe even a couple of days out, depending on 199 00:18:09,769 --> 00:18:15,649 their needs or when they're available. And so that helps. It's just working with the other drivers, 200 00:18:15,649 --> 00:18:21,609 working with the mill staff, working with the customers, and we all approach it as a team. So 201 00:18:21,609 --> 00:18:27,289 here in Saginaw, we're based right at the customer location and we take care of our customers 202 00:18:27,290 --> 00:18:33,948 customers. So we all team work it together. We get with the mill scheduler. And 203 00:18:33,949 --> 00:18:38,829 sometimes if it's an issue with a low, we might get with quality or whatever, you know, to find out 204 00:18:38,829 --> 00:18:44,188 if we can ship it or not, you know, depending on what the situation is or what. But, um, yeah, we work 205 00:18:44,189 --> 00:18:50,670 closely with the mill and just team effort. It sounds like. It. So the ones the team oriented, the 206 00:18:50,670 --> 00:18:56,310 ones that, uh, understand, you know, that, uh, the unit cohesiveness sort of thing, they pull together and 207 00:18:56,310 --> 00:19:02,309 they make it happen. You know, it's without those people. I don't know what we do here. For sure. It's 208 00:19:02,310 --> 00:19:08,228 so cool. Yeah. Once get it done. You. Yeah. It's it's so cool to hear, you know, this is the reason we 209 00:19:08,229 --> 00:19:14,029 wanted to do this episode, Dale was because of, you know, Rob, you you talked about putting the puzzle 210 00:19:14,069 --> 00:19:19,348 together and and Dale, you just kind of explained that puzzle even a little bit deeper than what 211 00:19:19,390 --> 00:19:24,669 Rob did. There's so many moving parts and so many things that have to go right just to get through 212 00:19:24,670 --> 00:19:31,300 one successful day, uh, with what we're doing here. And, Jeremy, I want to go to you next. Um, talk to me 213 00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:36,219 about the way it makes you feel as an assistant terminal manager. When you got drivers all the way 214 00:19:36,219 --> 00:19:41,219 from Fairborn, Ohio, stepping up to come down and help you guys when you're short handed. Uh, I have 215 00:19:41,219 --> 00:19:45,539 to imagine that, uh, you kind of well up with pride a little bit there, coming all the way down there 216 00:19:45,539 --> 00:19:50,739 to help you guys, uh, stay above water. And, uh, the job you're doing is really important because if a 217 00:19:50,739 --> 00:19:56,499 bakery runs out of flour, your boy Marcus doesn't have his donuts, and I get cranky. Jeremy. So. 218 00:19:57,620 --> 00:20:02,100 Um. No, it is. It is really nice. It does make me feel good knowing that these guys are willing to 219 00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:08,299 come down and and help us out. I mean, if we had a chance to return the favor, we definitely would. 220 00:20:08,339 --> 00:20:14,218 But a lot of these guys are, you know, not big on running out of state for too long. So with that 221 00:20:14,219 --> 00:20:19,819 being said, it is nice to have these guys down here because they are basically plug and play. 222 00:20:19,819 --> 00:20:23,539 They know what they're doing. They can come down and say, okay, this is what I got for you. I need 223 00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:27,939 you to run here. They're like, yeah, sure, no problem. And they're all about it. So it definitely helps 224 00:20:27,939 --> 00:20:33,199 me out tremendously doing the dispatch. Like Rob said, putting the puzzle together every day is not 225 00:20:33,199 --> 00:20:39,119 is not always fun. Sometimes it's a little more difficult than the next day, but having people who 226 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:43,719 are willing to come in and pick up whatever you need and run it wherever it needs to go and no 227 00:20:43,719 --> 00:20:48,519 questions asked. It definitely makes it a lot easier for sure. Now, do you guys have a shop there 228 00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:53,598 in Saginaw? I know Rob doesn't have one in Fairborn. You guys have a truck shop out there? No, 229 00:20:53,599 --> 00:20:59,759 we have a mobile tech, but we don't have a shop. We can't. We're a food processing center, so they 230 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:05,760 won't allow us to put a hard brick and mortar shop here. So. Okay, we're at the mercy of outside 231 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:11,359 vendors. And we have a our server stacked in the on Jeremy Hall. And he's been on there before. He 232 00:21:11,759 --> 00:21:17,639 wore Nate's all the service and things that we need through the shops that we use. So and he's 233 00:21:17,639 --> 00:21:23,318 doing a great job doing that. So yeah, another another moving part that can be a little bit, uh, 234 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:28,790 challenging, I'm sure. Rob, um, how challenging is it to not have a shop there in Fairborn, I. You're a 235 00:21:28,790 --> 00:21:32,869 little closer to Plain City, I assume. Is that where you're sending, uh, trucks when they need 236 00:21:32,870 --> 00:21:38,469 maintenance? Yeah, we send them up to Plant City and we send them over to, uh, Sydney as well. Um, but 237 00:21:38,510 --> 00:21:44,829 I have a great assistant. Her name's Cathy. She she's pretty much in charge of of maintenance and, 238 00:21:44,829 --> 00:21:50,310 uh, keeping trailers, getting service trucks, getting serviced. And she's she does a really good 239 00:21:50,310 --> 00:21:57,309 job of, uh, monitoring all of that. So, uh, you know, when something needs to be worked on and if 240 00:21:57,349 --> 00:22:03,509 if it can get worked on, we'll get it over there. We try to we try to do is we try to make money 241 00:22:03,509 --> 00:22:07,589 while we're doing that. So we're we're going to try to send a load towards Columbus or whatever. 242 00:22:07,589 --> 00:22:13,029 And then we could deliver that and then stop off and get us get a service done or whatnot, and 243 00:22:13,069 --> 00:22:19,229 maybe even do loads in between getting your service done. Just park your truck, grab a grab a 244 00:22:19,230 --> 00:22:23,069 loner, get your trailer and go back and get another load. By the time you get back your your 245 00:22:23,069 --> 00:22:28,689 truck service is ready to go. Come back home. So, um, that's kind of how we we do it here. But Kathy 246 00:22:28,689 --> 00:22:34,649 does a really good job on on scheduling and stuff like that. And, uh, staying on top of that, the whole 247 00:22:34,650 --> 00:22:41,089 trailer and truck maintenance program, uh, because that's, it's it's a lot to juggle to do, 248 00:22:41,729 --> 00:22:47,609 you know, create loads, uh, putting the puzzle together on top of figuring out what you got to 249 00:22:47,609 --> 00:22:52,889 do to get maintenance done as well. So. Yeah. For sure. Well, how cool that drivers can actually jump 250 00:22:52,890 --> 00:22:58,089 in a loner and and take a load while they're waiting. I, I talked to a lot of truck drivers. I'm 251 00:22:58,089 --> 00:23:02,929 going on four years of making podcasts for him. And one of the biggest frustrations is sitting 252 00:23:02,930 --> 00:23:08,129 and waiting and not driving. Whether it's at the shop or in traffic, it doesn't matter when they're 253 00:23:08,129 --> 00:23:12,729 not putting miles behind them, that's when they start to get a little testy. Uh, so having that 254 00:23:12,730 --> 00:23:17,529 ability for the drivers, that's kind of unique in the industry. Rob, I don't know that I've heard too 255 00:23:17,530 --> 00:23:22,890 many trucks, uh, trucking companies that will give, uh, driver a loner if it's just a day. You know, if 256 00:23:22,890 --> 00:23:27,789 that truck's going to be in the shop for a week or two, I totally see that. But having it be a day 257 00:23:27,790 --> 00:23:32,588 long thing, most of those drivers just end up twiddling their thumbs in the lounge, so I'm sure 258 00:23:32,589 --> 00:23:36,869 you see a few smiles on faces when they know they've got work to do while that truck is, uh, 259 00:23:36,869 --> 00:23:41,709 getting worked on. Yeah, there's there's definitely there's definitely smiles, but there's. I'm sure I 260 00:23:41,709 --> 00:23:48,709 can count on my hand. How many, uh, would just rather just sit there, but. Well. I get that, 261 00:23:48,709 --> 00:23:55,068 I get that I sit on my butt all day. So who am I to talk, right? Those help a lot. To have spare 262 00:23:55,109 --> 00:23:58,949 trucks when you can't have the shop. Because things don't always get turned around very 263 00:23:58,949 --> 00:24:05,589 quickly. Sure, sure. And do you guys have very many spare trucks out there in Saginaw to pick from? Uh, 264 00:24:05,590 --> 00:24:10,989 we don't keep a lot. We keep a couple of them enough that we can, you know, do scheduled services 265 00:24:10,989 --> 00:24:16,429 and things like that. We try not to slip seed as best we can. We assign everybody to their unit. But 266 00:24:16,629 --> 00:24:21,709 sometimes, in a pinch, if somebody's on vacation or what, they might follow their truck, you know, is, 267 00:24:21,749 --> 00:24:28,300 number one, we're going to take care of the customer. Right? So. Absolutely. Now, uh, it's kind of 268 00:24:28,339 --> 00:24:33,179 I wonder because we talked about Saginaw being food grade. Rob, what sort of products are we 269 00:24:33,219 --> 00:24:38,019 hauling out of Fairborn? Uh, do you guys do any food grade? Is it is it all one thing, or are you 270 00:24:38,060 --> 00:24:43,259 kind of mixed with what you guys haul? No, we're we're mainly just minerals. We're just, uh, cement, 271 00:24:43,260 --> 00:24:50,259 um, lime sand, call it. We just crushed glass. Some plastic. Um, so we, we don't 272 00:24:50,259 --> 00:24:54,819 get too much into the food grade if we're not. Unless I'm sending a sending somebody to Dale or 273 00:24:54,859 --> 00:25:01,019 we're helping out with Columbus, uh, flour. But, uh, yeah, we're mainly minnows here. Do you guys have 274 00:25:01,020 --> 00:25:05,699 to whip the mineral guys into shape when they come down to Texas to haul food grade? Or is it 275 00:25:05,699 --> 00:25:11,059 the other way around? Dale, you said they're kind of plug and play. Uh, is there is there any major 276 00:25:11,060 --> 00:25:15,459 differences in the job that these guys really have to be cued into before they come down to 277 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:20,660 haul food grade from Fairborn? There's a few things that are different. Um, we use a filter 278 00:25:20,660 --> 00:25:25,879 screen that we pass everything through. That'll catch anything that you know. If the hose lining 279 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,839 came apart, the screen would catch it. Or if there was something in the load itself, some foreign 280 00:25:30,839 --> 00:25:36,079 material, it would catch that. You know, we want to catch it before the customer does. Depending on 281 00:25:36,079 --> 00:25:40,400 what it was. I mean, if it's like a moisture clump or something, that's one thing. But one time we 282 00:25:40,439 --> 00:25:46,159 found a bird in there. Uh, loader was loading the trailer, turned his back on the hatch for a second, 283 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:53,159 and a bird flew in there and the driver found it. And so, yeah, I sent the picture to the, uh, QC 284 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:57,360 lady. At the time, I thought she was going to throw up, but, uh, we decided we were going to have to 285 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:01,760 take all that flower out of that silo because that bird got in there. I mean, things happen. Yeah. 286 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:06,799 So, you know, safety first, but food safety second. We don't want to contaminate anything. We're 287 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,999 feeding millions of people here. I mean, we got some of the biggest customers that make pizzas 288 00:26:11,999 --> 00:26:18,799 and pastas and breads and cookies and crackers and all this and tortillas and and they're not 289 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:23,469 small companies. I mean, we're we're eating millions of people and we got to do that in a way 290 00:26:23,469 --> 00:26:29,029 that's food safe because we don't want to end up, you know, with a giant recall and have every 291 00:26:29,029 --> 00:26:32,869 government person down here checking us with a white glove or everything. We try to get ahead of 292 00:26:32,869 --> 00:26:37,589 it. So, you know, the loaders pay close attention and make sure everything smells good before they 293 00:26:37,590 --> 00:26:42,989 load it. Nothing's in there. You know, we also have different kinds of products. And, you know, the 294 00:26:42,989 --> 00:26:47,510 pizza people don't want cookie flour and the cookie people don't want cracker flour and so on 295 00:26:47,510 --> 00:26:52,629 and so forth. So we got to make sure the trailer is empty and clean. We got a full wash bay here 296 00:26:52,630 --> 00:26:56,588 that's food grade wash. They make sure the trailers all stay clean for us and the Sherman 297 00:26:56,589 --> 00:27:01,630 Terminal. And we do some outside washes as well. But you know, they get it all cleaned before we 298 00:27:01,630 --> 00:27:07,029 load it and everything. And that, you know, all this stuff comes into play for food safety because, you 299 00:27:07,030 --> 00:27:13,909 know, that's super important. We all eat this stuff. Yeah. I mean I just I consistently see Jeremy just 300 00:27:13,910 --> 00:27:19,069 sitting there nodding his head. Yes. Yes. And and Rob too. And I, I mean, look, if you're cooking my 301 00:27:19,089 --> 00:27:25,369 pizza or pasta. I'm definitely. I don't want to bite into a dead bird bone. So I get that, uh, I 302 00:27:25,369 --> 00:27:29,769 wonder, uh. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Dale, I didn't mean to step on you there. Well, it could be all kinds of 303 00:27:29,769 --> 00:27:34,490 things. You never know. You got to be careful with it. You know? That's why we take extra steps. Things 304 00:27:34,490 --> 00:27:39,050 get passed through magnets. They probably don't have to do that with cement or whatever. But, you 305 00:27:39,050 --> 00:27:44,050 know, all our stuff goes through different types of equipment at the plant level when it's when 306 00:27:44,050 --> 00:27:49,049 they're making their products and everything. So, uh, the sifter will catch anything that we don't. 307 00:27:49,050 --> 00:27:55,128 And, you know, that may trigger us going to take our back trailer over there to pull the flour out, 308 00:27:55,169 --> 00:27:59,969 you know, and we clean everything out and start them over again, which is a real headache. It's 309 00:27:59,969 --> 00:28:06,609 easier to catch it beforehand. Absolutely no fun at that level. It missed several checks along the 310 00:28:06,610 --> 00:28:12,609 way. So we want to do all the things ahead of time so that the customer never sees any of that. We 311 00:28:12,609 --> 00:28:16,369 want to catch the problem before it leaves the yard. So there's checks and double checks and 312 00:28:16,369 --> 00:28:21,959 triple checks to make sure things are right before it ever leaves here. Is that bird story the 313 00:28:21,959 --> 00:28:27,079 craziest one, or do you have another one that you know? The reason I ask, and I was going to get to 314 00:28:27,079 --> 00:28:31,479 this a little bit later, but I feel like it's such a good transition here. We got to make it. Um, 315 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,959 you're juggling a lot. We already talked about it. The whole puzzle comes together with a lot of 316 00:28:35,959 --> 00:28:42,079 moving parts and a lot of, uh, work from a lot of people, but that just means that the crazy things 317 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:47,159 that happen when they do happen tend to stick out in our minds a little bit. The bird stories really 318 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:52,599 good, Dale. But I wonder if you and Jeremy got any other ones that are you didn't expect to receive 319 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:59,479 that call that day. Uh, anything stand out in your mind? I got a $10,000 fishhook hanging on my, uh, 320 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:05,799 uh, corkboard back here. Um, somebody was loving the trailer. Somebody doesn't work here anymore. It was 321 00:29:05,799 --> 00:29:10,079 a long time ago, but that's been on the wall a long time. He dropped something in the trailer 322 00:29:10,079 --> 00:29:13,719 while he was loading it. He didn't want to say anything because he's pretty get in trouble. So he 323 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:19,539 went out to his car and got his little pocket fisherman, and he fished out whatever it was. And 324 00:29:19,540 --> 00:29:23,339 he thought he got it all back, but he dropped that hook in there. He got whatever he dropped, but he 325 00:29:23,339 --> 00:29:27,259 dropped the hook in there. And that came out in the filter screen and triggered one. So it was 326 00:29:27,259 --> 00:29:33,619 like, yeah, you never know that. It's always something. $10,000 fishing hook. That's the most 327 00:29:33,620 --> 00:29:38,339 expensive one I've heard of. Well, by the time because we ended up, you know, we contaminated that. 328 00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:43,660 So, you know, that's a freight claim we had to pull not just the flour we put in there, but what was 329 00:29:43,660 --> 00:29:48,099 already in there and all that comes out. And then we got to clean it and all that. I mean, that gets 330 00:29:48,099 --> 00:29:54,299 expensive. That's a part of it. Then sometimes drivers understand is the cost of when we mess up. 331 00:29:54,340 --> 00:29:59,819 Yeah. No, rework is expensive. I don't care what line of work you're in. If you're doing it over, 332 00:29:59,860 --> 00:30:04,379 you know it gets expensive and you know the margins aren't that high in all this. So you know 333 00:30:04,420 --> 00:30:10,060 that's a loss. That's money. We could have used other places for equipment or raises or whatever, 334 00:30:10,340 --> 00:30:15,729 you know, but now we just had to use it to send a crew out to, you know, clean out this and that and 335 00:30:15,729 --> 00:30:21,410 the other. Yeah. Yeah. It gets expensive. Yeah, I'm sure it does. I'm sure it does, Rob. I see you kind 336 00:30:21,410 --> 00:30:27,609 of, uh, almost smiling in bewilderment about the $10,000 fishhook. And I wonder, uh, what kind of 337 00:30:27,649 --> 00:30:32,369 what kind of crazy ones have come out of left field in Fairborn that you didn't expect, but, uh, 338 00:30:32,369 --> 00:30:39,209 maybe, uh, put a little bit of a dent in your day. Well, I hate to say it, but it probably a similar 339 00:30:39,209 --> 00:30:46,208 situation. Cargo claim. I mean, we got we try. You know, I, I hadn't had one until this year. Um, yeah, 340 00:30:46,209 --> 00:30:51,929 we we took some product to, uh, we actually were running product for another terminal. First time 341 00:30:51,930 --> 00:30:58,768 ever this driver ever ran pre-mixed. Okay, he gets to the shipper and the guy says, hey, uh, 342 00:30:58,889 --> 00:31:04,569 just around the corner, around that silo. You can't miss it. And he goes back here and delivers in it. 343 00:31:04,569 --> 00:31:11,409 And guess what? He put the wrong product in the wrong silo. Oh, no. That's just, uh. Yeah. Um, 344 00:31:11,929 --> 00:31:17,829 to keep that from happening. Yeah, we had to, uh. We got to physically have these people walk back 345 00:31:17,830 --> 00:31:24,429 there and show us not only the. The forklift driver could not be the shipping 346 00:31:24,430 --> 00:31:29,149 receiving guy, and he's just telling something, you know, out of the clear blue for somebody. But, uh, 347 00:31:29,189 --> 00:31:35,189 yeah, that was one of those ones that I thought I would never get into or have. I know we have, uh, we 348 00:31:35,230 --> 00:31:40,029 delivered to some places that have, like, gray cement, white cement, fly ash. This, that and the 349 00:31:40,029 --> 00:31:46,870 other. But that's a little bit different from having, uh, mixing, uh, in a sand bin. So. Yeah, for 350 00:31:46,870 --> 00:31:51,389 sure. Is there ever been a time when somebody says you can't miss it? That that hasn't been kind of a 351 00:31:51,390 --> 00:31:57,109 famous last words scenario? I mean, you can't miss. It almost gives you a 50% chance to miss it. I 352 00:31:57,110 --> 00:32:02,029 feel like Rob. Yeah, yeah. And that wasn't even the place where he was supposed to be unloading. It's 353 00:32:02,029 --> 00:32:06,149 just misinformation from a different from somebody that really shouldn't even get many 354 00:32:06,149 --> 00:32:12,979 instructions. But regardless, uh, our drivers should not even have went around and just guessed that 355 00:32:12,980 --> 00:32:18,459 that was the silo. You know, that's what kind of precautions dales down there is taken to make 356 00:32:18,499 --> 00:32:25,298 sure that, you know, we don't have these claims and I mean it. They had to empty that whole that whole 357 00:32:25,339 --> 00:32:31,380 the whole bin now with a vac truck and all that stuff. So it's. Yeah, it's definitely not, uh, it's 358 00:32:31,380 --> 00:32:36,779 not good and it costs a lot of money and, uh, and it doesn't look good on us either, so. Sure, sure, 359 00:32:36,780 --> 00:32:41,779 there's customer service angle that comes in here for sure. Yeah. I mean, the the rework is expensive, 360 00:32:41,780 --> 00:32:46,899 but how do you get your reputation back and what does that cost? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Definitely an 361 00:32:46,900 --> 00:32:51,859 important part of the conversation. And that kind of brings me to the next part of the the segment 362 00:32:51,860 --> 00:32:57,739 here. And I wanted to talk about communication. I know how important communication is, uh, between 363 00:32:57,740 --> 00:33:02,538 drivers and dispatch and staying on time, the customer service angle, keeping your customers 364 00:33:02,539 --> 00:33:08,259 happy, making sure that we're not running bakeries out of flour here. Uh, but I wonder. And, Rob, I'll 365 00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:13,518 start with you here from a terminal manager standpoint. You can talk to the drivers here. 366 00:33:13,519 --> 00:33:20,319 They're listening. How important is good solid, clear communication, uh, to helping this puzzle 367 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:25,879 go together every single day without a hitch. It's a vital I mean, if you don't have good 368 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:31,479 communication, uh, things are going to fall apart. People are going to not be led. You know, I'm. I'm 369 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:37,880 the type of manager that I like to lead, okay? I like to lead before I manage. Therefore, you know, I 370 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:43,159 was a coach. And, you know, when I got out of high school, I was a coach and, you know, did the whole 371 00:33:43,359 --> 00:33:50,039 leading thing as, as far as teaching little kids how to, how to wrestle and, you know, play drums and 372 00:33:50,479 --> 00:33:56,999 ride their bikes and all kinds of stuff. But I like to lead and, uh, I want to lead. And that 373 00:33:56,999 --> 00:34:03,999 gained some trust in people before you manage, um, you know, some people don't take leading 374 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:08,438 very well or management very well. Uh, or constructive criticism, you know, everybody's 375 00:34:08,470 --> 00:34:14,350 different. You got to kind of feel people out and just kind of lead them in the direction. That is 376 00:34:14,949 --> 00:34:19,109 the way they want to be managed and be able to communicate with them. Some people aren't 377 00:34:19,110 --> 00:34:24,189 communicative. You know, we just had a person that wasn't very communicative here, um, that left us 378 00:34:24,189 --> 00:34:31,029 and it and it it sucks. But he got to communicate and getting through every outsole we have 379 00:34:31,070 --> 00:34:35,310 during the day because things change by the minute here sometimes. We definitely got to 380 00:34:35,310 --> 00:34:41,229 communicate and, uh, you know, that's that's just key for me. That's that's number one. That safety 381 00:34:41,230 --> 00:34:47,070 is number one and communications. Number two I'll tell you that. So for sure for sure. Well Rob, I, I 382 00:34:47,070 --> 00:34:50,870 already knew I liked you because you've been on here before. We had a great chat. This one's going 383 00:34:50,870 --> 00:34:56,229 well too. But, uh, I didn't know you were a fellow drummer man. Rhythm section for life. But how long 384 00:34:56,269 --> 00:35:01,189 have you. Oh, and Dale, you're a drummer, too? Yes. Amazing. Jeremy, if you tell me you play lead 385 00:35:01,190 --> 00:35:07,369 guitar, I'm kicking you out. No, no, I played drums for about 7 or 8 years, and I had to sell them off. 386 00:35:07,370 --> 00:35:13,049 So, uh, I'm there, but it's been a long time. Hey, you can stay, man. That's fine. We got a rhythm section 387 00:35:13,050 --> 00:35:18,609 chat here, I like it. Uh, Rob, how long have you been playing the drums, man? Since I could hold sticks. 388 00:35:18,610 --> 00:35:25,329 That's why. That's why we're hearing aids. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You know, I I've. I've reached the digital 389 00:35:25,330 --> 00:35:30,249 age. The band I'm playing with now. We even practice with in-ear monitors. I don't feel like 390 00:35:30,249 --> 00:35:35,049 I'm 20 anymore. Um, because those are glorified earplugs that just play a little bit of sound. 391 00:35:35,050 --> 00:35:40,289 That's all it is. So, uh, totally get it. How about you, Dale? How long have you been playing? I started 392 00:35:40,290 --> 00:35:47,008 when I'm 12. I'm 60 now. So in a little while. Yeah. You guys, you guys have drum circles around me. 393 00:35:47,050 --> 00:35:52,089 Same for me. I started when I was 12 too, so. I also play the guitar. So I do play rhythm and lead 394 00:35:52,090 --> 00:35:58,409 guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar. And so you're one of those guys that can do everything. If we 395 00:35:58,449 --> 00:36:04,169 carbon copied you five times, we'd have a sweet band, wouldn't we? Yeah, yeah, I've actually done I, 396 00:36:04,169 --> 00:36:09,758 I've, I've read track things for musicians, you know, behind the scenes because, you know, sometimes 397 00:36:09,759 --> 00:36:14,479 they lay a track down and doesn't sound all that great. And so I'll go in between the scenes and 398 00:36:14,479 --> 00:36:19,799 redubbed their tracks to make the final product better. So listen to the drummer, leave it to the 399 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:24,359 drummer. We're just here cleaning up the messes. That's all we do, right? And getting, you know, we're 400 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,958 the offensive linemen of the band. We get no credit. But without us, you wouldn't want to listen 401 00:36:28,959 --> 00:36:35,439 to it, right? Right. But that doesn't work hard. But play hard, too. You know. There you go. It can't be 402 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:40,079 all about work. There's got to be a balance. I know Rob knows this. I've known Rob a long time. 403 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:47,479 So I kind of wonder. Dale, we didn't really talk to you about the communication side of things, but 404 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:52,280 talk to me about how important that strong communication is out there in Saginaw. Obviously. 405 00:36:52,439 --> 00:36:57,159 Um, you know, the trailers are the same. The trucks are the same or at least similar. But, uh, the the 406 00:36:57,159 --> 00:37:00,679 product you're hauling is different. The work you're doing is a little bit different. How does 407 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:06,139 the communication come into play in Saginaw? Oh, it's super important here because like I said, 408 00:37:06,179 --> 00:37:11,139 we're taking care of our customers customers so they don't want to hear from their customers 409 00:37:11,139 --> 00:37:15,938 before they hear from us first. They don't want to be told that there's a problem from their 410 00:37:15,939 --> 00:37:21,259 customer end. They want to hear it from us. And for that to happen, we need to hear from our people. 411 00:37:21,419 --> 00:37:26,339 They need to let us know if something's going on because there's a lot going on. It's easy to get 412 00:37:26,339 --> 00:37:31,379 distracted. This is a huge place. We've probably got 100 people working here at any time. There's 413 00:37:31,379 --> 00:37:35,899 trucks and trailers and stuff going in and out. There's a lot of, uh, we got maintenance people. We 414 00:37:35,899 --> 00:37:41,379 got all kinds of stuff going on between the mill and us. Yeah. And, uh, you know, there's all kinds of 415 00:37:41,379 --> 00:37:45,418 people coming in and out of the office or whatever, so it's easy for us to get distracted. So 416 00:37:45,459 --> 00:37:51,099 we kind of rely on the drivers to, you know, call or text and let us know, hey, I'm running behind. 417 00:37:51,100 --> 00:37:56,059 And why? So that we can, you know, see that and then get with the mill and let them know, hey, we're 418 00:37:56,060 --> 00:38:00,739 going to be a little late so they can get with the customer ahead of time. So because it goes a 419 00:38:00,740 --> 00:38:07,169 lot better for us when we get ahead of it. It's not a surprise. And I don't want surprises like 420 00:38:07,169 --> 00:38:12,968 that. You know, I want to know. And Jeremy want to know so that we can let the mill know. So that 421 00:38:12,969 --> 00:38:17,850 they can let the customers know so that everybody's happy. Sure, sure. That line of 422 00:38:17,850 --> 00:38:23,249 communication is so important. And, Jeremy, I imagine, especially for you, with a hand in 423 00:38:23,250 --> 00:38:28,769 dispatch. Um, even more important, because again, we talked about that ripple effect. Just one call out 424 00:38:28,769 --> 00:38:33,968 can have, uh, talk to me a little bit about the, uh, the team and how effectively they communicate and 425 00:38:33,969 --> 00:38:39,730 how that helps you do your job. Well, the good thing is, what most of the guys down here, um, they 426 00:38:39,730 --> 00:38:44,609 have a group chat kind of in between themselves. So a lot of the guys that are communicating back 427 00:38:44,610 --> 00:38:49,249 and forth and saying, well, you know, Jeremy called me and said, hey, I'm going to run this load. So 428 00:38:49,249 --> 00:38:54,249 we're going to swap. And so a lot of these guys are pretty much kind of in touch with each other, 429 00:38:54,249 --> 00:38:59,889 mostly throughout the day. Um, but yeah, like everybody said, you get that one call in or the 430 00:38:59,889 --> 00:39:04,549 one text message at 4:00 in the morning, and they're supposed to be somewhere at 9 a.m., and 431 00:39:04,549 --> 00:39:09,029 you're having to scramble and pull somebody from here and put them there and. Okay, well, if I do 432 00:39:09,029 --> 00:39:14,709 this here and this is going to leave A and B, so now I have to put this on somebody else. And it's 433 00:39:14,709 --> 00:39:20,070 um, it's nice to be able to one, have the relationship with some of these guys to 434 00:39:20,110 --> 00:39:25,269 communicate in between themselves, but also be able to reach out and say, hey, I had to move 435 00:39:25,270 --> 00:39:29,389 so-and-so. Can you pick this up for me? And they're like, yeah, sure, not a problem. You know, like, like 436 00:39:29,389 --> 00:39:34,229 Dale and Robin both said, it's it's nice to know that communication is vital for sure, to make sure 437 00:39:34,230 --> 00:39:40,469 we take care of everybody here, take care of the mill. And that way everybody's happy. Great stuff 438 00:39:40,470 --> 00:39:45,229 there, I love it. Uh, Rob, I'll come back to you. Here. I want to talk a little bit about the customer 439 00:39:45,230 --> 00:39:51,149 service angle. Um, on on your side of things. We already got a little bit of peek into it from 440 00:39:51,149 --> 00:39:55,550 Dale and Jeremy's side. You know, they're right there on site. Um, how much work goes into 441 00:39:55,590 --> 00:40:01,339 maintaining customer relationships behind the scenes out there at Fairborn. Um, obviously. Still, 442 00:40:01,340 --> 00:40:06,579 we got to keep our customers happy. We know that the bulk and spur drivers do great work. Um, but 443 00:40:06,580 --> 00:40:11,100 that's something that we're dependent upon you for out there as a terminal manager from time to 444 00:40:11,139 --> 00:40:16,260 time to sort of serve these relationships. How much work goes into that behind the scenes? Rob? Oh, 445 00:40:16,260 --> 00:40:23,178 it's a it's a lot of work, a lot of fill spring lunches. Uh, that's really good. But 446 00:40:23,179 --> 00:40:28,699 no, it's it does. It takes a lot. I mean, I, I try to, I try to tell every person who walks in my door 447 00:40:28,739 --> 00:40:33,780 to, you know, that has an interview with me. Go over the mission statement with them. Um, you know, 448 00:40:33,820 --> 00:40:40,300 Brian's mission statement is, uh, is point on not only not only not only through a, 449 00:40:41,020 --> 00:40:47,819 a business aspect, but just life in general. Okay. Um, and it's, uh, when 450 00:40:47,819 --> 00:40:54,580 I, when I really got to read that and understand it and, and really took it in because I 451 00:40:54,580 --> 00:41:01,439 think at first I read it and, you know, I just read it and but I really didn't sink in. But once 452 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:07,759 it sank in. Now I just push it. I just live by this. I try to and I try to make my drivers live by it. 453 00:41:07,759 --> 00:41:13,359 Because that's what if you do all of what his statement says and you have all the pillars 454 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:20,359 holding up that roof, everything works out. But if you if you miss one pillar, if it's 455 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:27,240 safety, if it's communication, if whatever it is, that roof is going to collapse somewhere, okay, it 456 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:33,919 will fall. Yeah. That's that's when mistakes happen. That's when you didn't check your your bill of 457 00:41:33,919 --> 00:41:39,719 lading and match up addresses. You're going to go to the wrong address eventually. Okay. Um, and it 458 00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:45,158 could be just like Dale, you know, talking about communication with Dale. I mean, that one phone 459 00:41:45,159 --> 00:41:52,040 call that somebody actually can communicate could catch the smallest. That's just 460 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:58,909 the smallest number off of a load. Or it could change the whole dynamics of that's the 461 00:41:58,909 --> 00:42:04,909 wrong trailer, you know, that's the wrong product, that's the wrong customer. We're all human. You 462 00:42:04,909 --> 00:42:11,429 know, we're the ones typing in all this stuff. Um, and and trust me, I'm. I'm not a very good typer, 463 00:42:11,429 --> 00:42:16,949 but, uh, you know, I'll make some some, you know, some mistakes on this keyboard. And because we're all 464 00:42:16,949 --> 00:42:23,629 human. But, uh, thank God, you know, you we these guys do communicate, and they do catch those things, you 465 00:42:23,629 --> 00:42:29,149 know, at the most part, for for us. I, you know, it's getting better. I'm not going to say it's the best, 466 00:42:29,149 --> 00:42:34,710 but it's getting better. And I think that's, uh, that's the hard work from Dale and, and, and, and 467 00:42:34,749 --> 00:42:40,269 people like me on, in interviews that that really kind of, you know, this is important. I have 468 00:42:40,269 --> 00:42:45,109 expectations of you. I expect you to be on time. I expect you to communicate. I don't just want you 469 00:42:45,110 --> 00:42:50,389 to just walk in here and just want to, you know, not speak with me. You know what I mean? I want no, 470 00:42:50,389 --> 00:42:54,949 I want to I want to hear about your day. I want you to tell me that you had problems with trailer 471 00:42:54,949 --> 00:43:01,409 or something like that, so I can lead you okay to do maybe an easier job the next 472 00:43:01,409 --> 00:43:07,090 time and make it easy for these guys and, uh, safe and, uh, fishing. 473 00:43:08,090 --> 00:43:13,649 Great stuff there. Uh, Dale, any thoughts to add to that? Uh, obviously I see you guys kind of nodding 474 00:43:13,649 --> 00:43:18,969 your head every now and then. I see Jeremy look up, nod his head very, uh, very emphatically. So 475 00:43:19,010 --> 00:43:25,129 obviously some stuff that goes for the Saginaw terminal there and what Rob just said as well. My 476 00:43:25,129 --> 00:43:30,409 thoughts on this. Uh, for one, it everybody's got trucks and trailers out there. Our competition's 477 00:43:30,450 --> 00:43:36,049 got all that. It's our service that we sell, so we want over-the-top customer service. We want that 478 00:43:36,050 --> 00:43:41,648 customer to have such a good experience that he doesn't want to get product from anywhere else. So 479 00:43:41,649 --> 00:43:45,689 that's going to be on the drivers to give that. It's going to be on us when we're dealing with 480 00:43:45,690 --> 00:43:51,648 customers to give that, it takes everybody. Everybody's got to do their part. And uh, the other 481 00:43:51,649 --> 00:43:56,239 is that we live and die by the numbers. Like Rob said, if you you know it doesn't take but one 482 00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:01,999 digit off and everything's messed up. So if you get complacent and it's like, oh, I do this every 483 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:06,559 day, I don't really need to check all this. I, you know, I get people a little check, like the last 484 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:13,398 two numbers on a seal and seal might have eight digits in it, and the last two numbers were the 485 00:44:13,399 --> 00:44:19,199 same as a different load. So check all the numbers, make sure all your numbers are right. Make sure 486 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:23,638 you check the location, make sure you go to the right location, that kind of thing. Because we 487 00:44:23,639 --> 00:44:29,359 can't rely on the receivers. A lot of those out there, they don't check anything. So we started 488 00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:34,279 doing double checks here before they leave the yard. So everybody that has a load, they check 489 00:44:34,319 --> 00:44:39,079 their load and then they have to get another team member to check their load. And sometimes they're 490 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,560 calling Jeremy or myself out of the office and we're happy to we'll walk that outside. We'll 491 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:48,519 check your numbers. And the part that people don't know is middle of the night when there's nobody 492 00:44:48,519 --> 00:44:53,458 there. We're getting pictures of everything. People take pictures of their seal numbers, their trailer 493 00:44:53,459 --> 00:44:59,099 hooked to their truck, their bill of lading, and I'm rubbing sand out of my eye and putting 494 00:44:59,100 --> 00:45:03,580 glasses on. Or he is getting, you know, looking at the pictures, trying to make sure it all match. And 495 00:45:03,580 --> 00:45:07,699 we'll tell him good to go. It doesn't matter if it's 1:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, 496 00:45:07,740 --> 00:45:14,378 whatever that whenever, whatever. No, uh, shout out to Tina that puts up with me. My phone's ringing 497 00:45:14,379 --> 00:45:20,459 all night like that. But I was going to say, is there ever a time deal that you wish one of these 498 00:45:20,459 --> 00:45:26,859 drivers would just sleep in for a couple of hours? Yeah, sometimes it's more headaches when they 499 00:45:26,860 --> 00:45:32,580 don't make it on time, so I rather. Yeah, yeah, no more time on mine. If you need something, wake me 500 00:45:32,580 --> 00:45:37,139 up. But if it's something that is I can't do anything about at the time. Like, don't call me 501 00:45:37,139 --> 00:45:42,219 about your payroll problem at 2:00 in the morning, you know, because payroll is not. I can't get that 502 00:45:42,219 --> 00:45:48,539 fixed at 2:00 in the morning. No. So something I can complain about it at 2:00 in the morning. Bill. 503 00:45:50,459 --> 00:45:54,249 I think some of them think since they're awake, everybody should be. Or something like that. But, 504 00:45:54,249 --> 00:45:59,889 you know, we're human. We got to sleep too, you know? And our sleep does get interrupted a lot, you know? 505 00:45:59,929 --> 00:46:06,889 Yeah, I call it, uh, a a cellular insomnia. That's when that cell phone rings and you don't get any 506 00:46:06,889 --> 00:46:13,609 sleep. But it's a territory, and I don't mind when it's legit. You know, when somebody wakes you up, 507 00:46:13,610 --> 00:46:17,929 they'll. When somebody wakes you up, they'll. You're like, that's why all you're doing is thinking 508 00:46:17,929 --> 00:46:21,849 about it. You cannot go back to sleep. It don't. It could be 1:00 in the morning and somebody will 509 00:46:21,850 --> 00:46:27,928 call and say, hey, I got a flat tire or I'm in an accident. And then you're just thinking that that 510 00:46:27,929 --> 00:46:32,209 that's all you're thinking about. So. Yeah, well, that's the other part. We can't ignore the phone. 511 00:46:32,210 --> 00:46:36,169 You never know what it's going to be. Is it somebody that you know has a problem because 512 00:46:36,169 --> 00:46:40,809 they've got a flat tire? Or do you have a truck with 18 wheels sticking up in the air? We never 513 00:46:40,809 --> 00:46:46,289 know. Right, right. You know, that's. The it's bad. It's bad. I've I've seen some doozies here, you 514 00:46:46,290 --> 00:46:52,429 know. And so it's you know, I hate to make to everybody. Wherever I'm at. Stop. It's like, sorry, I 515 00:46:52,429 --> 00:46:56,749 gotta go to work for a second. Phone rang, but I never know what's going to be on the other end of 516 00:46:56,749 --> 00:47:01,909 that phone or how bad it's going to be. So sure. And those drivers depend on you to be there, right? 517 00:47:01,909 --> 00:47:06,829 That's something that, uh, that's part of the communication end of it. And, uh, as unfortunate as 518 00:47:06,830 --> 00:47:11,830 it may be, sometimes at 1 a.m. in the morning, that's what the job entails, right? That's what it. 519 00:47:12,229 --> 00:47:18,589 Is. Absolutely. You know how bad it's going to be, but. Right. Yeah. Well, fellas, I we've talked about 520 00:47:18,590 --> 00:47:22,789 how things can go wrong. We talked about the ripple effect. We talked about putting the pieces 521 00:47:22,790 --> 00:47:27,429 of the puzzle together. I want to give you the opportunity to tell me a story about when a 522 00:47:27,429 --> 00:47:31,750 driver saved the day, because I know that that stuff happens. We already hear that. Rob's got a 523 00:47:31,750 --> 00:47:37,829 couple drivers on loan down to Saginaw. I love how you guys operate. Like, uh, like, you know, uh, the 524 00:47:37,829 --> 00:47:42,429 Premier League in soccer where it's like, hey, you know what? I got this guy here, you can have him 525 00:47:42,430 --> 00:47:46,189 for a little bit. Just. We'll loan him out to you. As long as you give him back with good knees, 526 00:47:46,189 --> 00:47:52,009 we're okay with it. Um, so talk to me a little bit. Or. Rob, maybe we can start with you. Is there a 527 00:47:52,009 --> 00:47:56,809 time that sticks out where a driver, uh, just went above and beyond? Or really did something that 528 00:47:56,850 --> 00:48:01,889 kind of bailed out the whole squad or or just cleaned up a mess that would have been bigger had 529 00:48:01,889 --> 00:48:08,689 they not come along? Oh, yeah. I mean, I think each and every one of my drivers, uh, at one point in 530 00:48:08,689 --> 00:48:15,448 time will do that. Okay. Um, I'm not going to pinpoint one or the other, but I think 531 00:48:15,449 --> 00:48:21,490 all of them help each other out. Not only does that put a lot of stress off of me, I mean, I can't 532 00:48:21,490 --> 00:48:26,449 be on the phone all day long with a guy that's plugged up. You know what I mean? I, I would love to, 533 00:48:26,490 --> 00:48:33,128 to help them out. And I usually am usually off off duty. I'm usually home and then I'm, I'm trying to 534 00:48:33,170 --> 00:48:39,408 unclog somebody on the phone, but, uh, no, I think everybody does their own part, uh, to 535 00:48:39,450 --> 00:48:46,168 make to make everything work. Some people are better at, uh, unloading lime than others, uh, 536 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:52,439 you know, Dale, I mean, you know, you got your guys, uh, doing flour, uh, and, you know, the ones that are 537 00:48:52,439 --> 00:48:56,319 definitely going to check their stuff and double, triple check their stuff. And, you know, the ones 538 00:48:56,320 --> 00:49:02,479 that are going to make it happen. You know, we all have those people. Um, but collaboration of a team 539 00:49:02,479 --> 00:49:09,120 working all together, I think to me is more important than just individuals. Okay. Um. 540 00:49:09,399 --> 00:49:15,600 You can tell. And that's part of liking to lead first and manage second, right, Rob? Correct. 541 00:49:16,559 --> 00:49:21,519 I love it, I love it. Dale. Anything to add there, you or Jeremy? Uh, you know, talking about a time 542 00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:25,439 that, uh, a driver saved the day. I love what Rob said there. Is it basically, each one of the 543 00:49:25,439 --> 00:49:29,719 drivers out of Fairborn is going to save the day. It's sort of inherent in the job that they're 544 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:36,079 doing. I imagine it's probably a lot the same out there in Saginaw. It is very much like that. I've 545 00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:41,479 seen times where a driver of call me like I see a spur truck, one of ours, stuck on the side of the 546 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:46,179 road, and they're stopping, and then they're like, okay, they'll run, Go get them. You know, it's hot in 547 00:49:46,179 --> 00:49:50,298 Texas or whatever. Make sure it gets some water and some food and all that. Take it back out. Guys 548 00:49:50,299 --> 00:49:56,539 waiting on a tow truck so other drivers checking in on them. Or you get one that they get out to a 549 00:49:56,540 --> 00:50:03,100 location. Maybe the hot hose blew out and they can't unload. So, you know, people that will, um. Oh, 550 00:50:03,139 --> 00:50:08,979 I'm empty and they are in the area and they'll show up and, and, you know, go do a buddy pump, you 551 00:50:08,979 --> 00:50:14,379 know, try to help him out, you know, and, you know, a lot of times we'll pay them a little extra for 552 00:50:14,379 --> 00:50:18,979 the extra time that's on the load or whatever, because they're helping somebody through a 553 00:50:18,979 --> 00:50:24,819 mechanical issue or whatever. Yeah. Uh, you know, that kind of thing that helps. But the ones that, 554 00:50:24,820 --> 00:50:30,899 uh, they pay attention to everything and they are on time. And, you know, you give them an assignment, 555 00:50:30,899 --> 00:50:35,459 the next thing you get back is some paperwork. The paperwork's legible and everything. The customer 556 00:50:35,459 --> 00:50:41,259 is happy and all that to all of the ones that are doing that every day, day in, day out. And some of 557 00:50:41,259 --> 00:50:46,850 them for years. I got a couple with million miles. Daggett, get up in here a long time to those kind 558 00:50:46,850 --> 00:50:53,610 of people. Thank you so much. Because without you guys, we we're in trouble. Why? For sure? 559 00:50:53,850 --> 00:50:58,408 For sure. You know, we talk about the quality. Actually, just last week's episode, we were talking 560 00:50:58,409 --> 00:51:05,129 about the quality of the training that the drivers receive at Bulk and Spur. And part of 561 00:51:05,129 --> 00:51:11,168 what we figured out during that episode was that a lot of times, trainers and their trainees are 562 00:51:11,169 --> 00:51:16,289 going to stay in touch. They're going to stay in communication for a long time, maybe even decades 563 00:51:16,289 --> 00:51:22,929 down the road. Um, and being able to share that type of knowledge between trainer and trainee 564 00:51:22,969 --> 00:51:29,809 that many years into the future, uh, is really what develops this kind of family led architecture 565 00:51:29,810 --> 00:51:35,729 at Balkan Spurs. It's like you almost feel like it's not a trainer trainee relationship. It's like 566 00:51:35,729 --> 00:51:40,128 an older and younger sibling relationship. Like, yeah, I'm gonna tell you when you're messing it up 567 00:51:40,129 --> 00:51:44,549 so that you can clean it up and do it right. But at the end of the day, it's because I want you to 568 00:51:44,590 --> 00:51:50,869 succeed. Um, and that type of camaraderie, while it happens in the trucking industry, you don't see it 569 00:51:50,870 --> 00:51:56,310 as often, uh, in other fleets as what you do here at Bulk and Spur guys. And I gotta say, hats off 570 00:51:56,310 --> 00:52:02,869 for that, because that's one of those things that takes an entire village to do. Dale. Right. Yeah, I 571 00:52:02,870 --> 00:52:08,989 agree on that. Um, I've been other places where it's kind of dog eat dog and, um, people here, and 572 00:52:08,989 --> 00:52:13,709 it starts at the top. I mean, we're a family owned company, the Wolf family, and they're awesome 573 00:52:13,709 --> 00:52:19,029 people to work with. And and they foster that in everybody around them. And then we try to do the 574 00:52:19,030 --> 00:52:25,949 same, foster that in our people. And and it's all one, you know, big happy family. You know, most of 575 00:52:25,950 --> 00:52:32,229 them I mean we have them. Everybody has their moments. Right. Sometimes you got, you know, a couple 576 00:52:32,269 --> 00:52:38,469 of people, you know, not happy with each other. Not everybody's happy every day, you know? Yeah. No, I 577 00:52:38,470 --> 00:52:43,459 get that. I mean, it was nothing for my sister and I to be saying very nice things about each other 578 00:52:43,459 --> 00:52:48,179 at the dinner table, and five minutes later I'm throwing her over the back of the couch and we're 579 00:52:48,180 --> 00:52:53,260 we're we're fighting. I mean, that is what it is. But, uh, those things tend to smooth over quickly 580 00:52:53,260 --> 00:52:58,420 with, uh, the type of relationships that you guys build at Bulk and Spur. And, um, I want to give you 581 00:52:58,420 --> 00:53:04,859 guys both a chance here. Or all three of you a chance to talk to maybe a prospective employee, 582 00:53:04,860 --> 00:53:10,299 somebody that's listening to this podcast right now that doesn't work for Bulk or Spur yet, but is 583 00:53:10,300 --> 00:53:16,739 going to or wants to in the future. Um, Rob, what would you say to that driver about life in 584 00:53:16,739 --> 00:53:22,699 general at bulk? What should they expect? Why should they come to Fairborn and drive and haul 585 00:53:22,699 --> 00:53:28,300 minerals for you? I tell everybody that comes into my office that, you know, if you get hired here, 586 00:53:28,300 --> 00:53:33,459 you're not just a number. You know, people are playing city, Sydney, wherever you go, they're going 587 00:53:33,459 --> 00:53:38,699 to know you by your name. It's just, I don't know, I, I think it's amazing that Brad and Brian and 588 00:53:38,719 --> 00:53:44,839 everybody can actually like, remember names, you know. A lot of drivers come in and come and going 589 00:53:44,879 --> 00:53:51,120 around there, but somehow Brad remembers names. You know, when people go into the shop, I don't know. I 590 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:57,840 think that, you know, every time I say that to somebody, they they they feel relieved. Okay. 591 00:53:57,879 --> 00:54:04,799 And you know, to me that, you know, to me it's a job. You know, I love my job. And, 592 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:10,559 uh, you know, to them, it's, you know, they they feel like they could be a number. But when you tell 593 00:54:10,560 --> 00:54:16,239 them that these 25 drivers on my board here are going to be like family here. And, you know, if you 594 00:54:16,239 --> 00:54:22,479 get hired here, you're going to really have some relationships with, with, uh, your trainer, uh, 595 00:54:22,479 --> 00:54:28,159 anybody who's been to a job site that's going to help you and communicate with you, you know, might 596 00:54:28,159 --> 00:54:33,439 make your day a little bit easier, but you'll start to, uh, figure out we're all in this together, 597 00:54:33,439 --> 00:54:39,428 and we're all in it to help each other out. So great stuff. And again, something that's not always 598 00:54:39,429 --> 00:54:44,389 the way it is out there in the trucking industry. That is a lead complaint that I hear from drivers. 599 00:54:44,430 --> 00:54:49,789 Oh, the last place that I worked at, I was just a number. I didn't I didn't even have a name. Every 600 00:54:49,790 --> 00:54:55,509 time I called the terminal, they asked me for my number, not my name. And that really matters to 601 00:54:55,550 --> 00:55:00,109 truck drivers. I think you could say across the board, uh, there are people there doing a really 602 00:55:00,110 --> 00:55:04,669 dangerous job. They want to be recognized and understood. And I think that's something that Bulk 603 00:55:04,670 --> 00:55:11,310 and Spur does very well. Rob, uh, I agree. Uh, Dale, to you and Jeremy, same question. Um, 604 00:55:11,310 --> 00:55:15,429 what are you going to tell somebody that might come to work for you out there for Spur and 605 00:55:15,429 --> 00:55:21,908 Saginaw? Um, anything that comes to mind? I would say I've kind of got a unique perspective as far 606 00:55:21,909 --> 00:55:27,110 as being here. Uh, when I originally got hired on, I got hired on as a loader. So I started kind of 607 00:55:27,149 --> 00:55:32,189 from the bottom and worked my way up to this position. I was thankful to, uh, get the opportunity 608 00:55:32,190 --> 00:55:36,969 to move into the assistant terminal manager role as far as it being a company to work for. I've 609 00:55:36,970 --> 00:55:41,290 been at other places. I did roofing for ten years. I've been at different warehouses. It's the same 610 00:55:41,290 --> 00:55:46,929 anywhere else. They treat you as a number, not as a person. I will say the first phone call I did get 611 00:55:46,929 --> 00:55:53,169 when I got promoted to this position was from Sean. Call me by I. I'd never met Sean since I'd 612 00:55:53,169 --> 00:55:58,569 been here. Hey, Jeremy. It's nice to have you over here, Greg. You know, congratulations on moving up. I 613 00:55:58,570 --> 00:56:03,249 got emails from Brian. Andrea from everybody telling me, hey, you know, thank you very much for 614 00:56:03,249 --> 00:56:07,929 being here. You know, we appreciate you doing everything you did. So that kind of made me feel 615 00:56:07,929 --> 00:56:12,649 like it was kind of a very homely place, knowing that I've never met these people since I've been 616 00:56:12,649 --> 00:56:16,929 here, but they're the first ones that I get emails and phone calls from congratulating me on moving 617 00:56:16,929 --> 00:56:22,610 up to this position. So definitely, for sure, it is a very family oriented business. It's a great 618 00:56:22,610 --> 00:56:29,408 place to work. I mean, we all, we have our days, but and overall it's it's a good place to work. That's 619 00:56:29,409 --> 00:56:36,399 amazing. Uh, to hear from from, uh, Sean and Brian and Andrea and Brad. I can only imagine how how 620 00:56:36,399 --> 00:56:41,398 good that felt right in the middle of the chest, man. I, you know, um, I'm one of those guys where a 621 00:56:41,399 --> 00:56:46,079 small pat on the back can go a long way for me. If somebody just looks at me once in a while and 622 00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:52,239 says, hey, I like that episode, or, hey, I liked what you said here. I can live off of that sustenance 623 00:56:52,239 --> 00:56:58,319 for weeks at a time. Jeremy. So I just imagine that was, uh, that that was just one of many things 624 00:56:58,320 --> 00:57:03,559 that's really solidified your love for the company you work for. That's right. It was, um, like 625 00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:08,599 I said, it hit me in the chest pretty much. Once I got over here, I was able to hear from everybody. 626 00:57:08,639 --> 00:57:14,079 It motivated me to do everything I could to make this, you know, make this where I want to stay. 627 00:57:15,039 --> 00:57:20,039 Great stuff, man. Thanks for sharing that. Uh, fellas, I know you guys are busy. I want to let you get 628 00:57:20,039 --> 00:57:25,360 back to it here. Uh, as you know, if you've listened to the show, we always offer everybody that comes 629 00:57:25,360 --> 00:57:29,080 on the show the opportunity to share their final thoughts with us, just to make sure we didn't 630 00:57:29,080 --> 00:57:34,500 leave anything on the table or give some shout outs. Uh, I will say you'd never lose points by 631 00:57:34,500 --> 00:57:39,579 shouting out your wife or your kids on this podcast. Uh, so something to think about there, but, 632 00:57:39,579 --> 00:57:44,019 uh, Rob will come to you first. Uh, thanks for joining us again, man. Always a pleasure to have 633 00:57:44,019 --> 00:57:48,700 you here. Final thoughts from you. Rob Shope, uh, terminal manager down there at the Fairborn 634 00:57:48,739 --> 00:57:54,739 terminal. Before we let you go, my friend. Man, I'm I'm I'm just thankful, okay? I'm just thankful. I'm 635 00:57:54,740 --> 00:58:01,659 thankful for who I work for. I'm thankful for my whole team here. I'm thankful for my existence. I'm 636 00:58:01,659 --> 00:58:08,259 thankful for everything. So I'm just going to leave it at that and just say I'm thankful. Um, and, 637 00:58:08,260 --> 00:58:14,698 uh, I, I hope to continue to grow. Um, I hope law keeps keeps me around, uh, 638 00:58:14,859 --> 00:58:21,819 to, uh, to keep growing with them. Um, and, uh, I'm just thankful. Great stuff, 639 00:58:21,819 --> 00:58:26,860 man. We're thankful that you gave us some time today. Rob, thank you so much for being here. Uh, 640 00:58:26,899 --> 00:58:31,219 Dale, we'll go over to you real quick for your final thoughts, and then Jeremy will come to you. 641 00:58:31,409 --> 00:58:36,889 Dale Cetina, terminal manager out at Saginaw. Greatly appreciate the time and on short notice 642 00:58:36,889 --> 00:58:41,209 today. You guys all really came through for me today. Uh, final thoughts from you before we let 643 00:58:41,209 --> 00:58:46,010 you go, Dale. I have to follow suit. I got the attitude of gratitude as well. I just want to 644 00:58:46,010 --> 00:58:50,649 thank God that he put me on the wake up list. I'm getting older, and every day you wake up and you 645 00:58:50,650 --> 00:58:56,289 get older is a plus. And thank God for that. Uh, I thank the DeWolfe family because they've been 646 00:58:56,290 --> 00:59:01,610 great to me over the years. I've been here almost 14 years. I drove here for a year. So I understand 647 00:59:01,610 --> 00:59:06,849 all that. But been in the office for 13 almost, and they've been great to me. They've helped me grow 648 00:59:06,850 --> 00:59:11,929 through that. So thank you for that. I like to thank the whole crew. Uh, you know, Jeremy, number 649 00:59:11,929 --> 00:59:18,528 one assistant. Well, you know, the Tina says thanks to. Yeah. And, uh, you know, uh, all the 650 00:59:18,529 --> 00:59:24,489 loaders that we have and the, uh, you know, Jeremy and the shop to keep things going and, uh, you know, 651 00:59:24,530 --> 00:59:30,710 the the wash techs and, you know, uh, everybody, the drivers, it takes everybody doing everything to 652 00:59:30,710 --> 00:59:36,709 make it happen. So thanks for making it happen, you know. And thanks for our customers for keeping us 653 00:59:36,709 --> 00:59:42,509 busy. You know, I appreciate all them. And, uh, you know, and also thank you, Tina. 654 00:59:43,830 --> 00:59:49,830 Uh, my guy. You you did. You didn't let that go unsaid. Good job. Ten months today. Is you okay? Uh, 655 00:59:49,830 --> 00:59:54,268 when I woke up this morning, first thing you said was happy anniversary. It was ten months today. So. 656 00:59:54,550 --> 00:59:59,149 Uh, you know what? I think I got a button here loaded up for that. We can do an applause for ten 657 00:59:59,149 --> 01:00:05,950 months for sure. Well said. There, Dale. Thank you so much for the time. Uh, 658 01:00:05,950 --> 01:00:10,549 Jeremy Willison, we're going to come to you. Assistant terminal manager out there at the 659 01:00:10,549 --> 01:00:16,110 Saginaw terminal in Texas. Final thoughts from you. Thank you so much for the time today. Yeah. No, I 660 01:00:16,110 --> 01:00:20,668 greatly appreciate it. Um, I know we've been hearing it going on for a while, and I was glad to 661 01:00:20,669 --> 01:00:25,109 get the opportunity to come on and kind of give my side of the story from from down here. Um, I do 662 01:00:25,109 --> 01:00:29,300 have to appreciate, you know, everybody up in the office. Brian. Brad, Andrea, everybody there for 663 01:00:29,300 --> 01:00:33,219 giving me the opportunity to come here. I appreciate Dale for giving me the opportunity to 664 01:00:33,219 --> 01:00:37,900 get promoted over to this position here. You know, obviously without him giving me the go ahead, I 665 01:00:37,900 --> 01:00:42,539 wouldn't I'd still be here. I'd still be a loader. But, you know, it's nice to be able to move up and 666 01:00:42,540 --> 01:00:47,459 continue to grow here and make sure this is somewhere I want to stay. And then, of course, you 667 01:00:47,460 --> 01:00:51,019 know, I have to give the shout out to my kids. That's all them I was going to be on here today. 668 01:00:51,019 --> 01:00:56,620 So shout out to my kids, Hannah and Hunter, for me, making them sit through the episode to listen to 669 01:00:56,620 --> 01:01:02,739 it. So that way I can prove that I was on here today. Nice shout out to Hannah and Hunter. That's 670 01:01:02,739 --> 01:01:06,979 awesome. Uh, thanks for bringing the families along. It's one of the best things you do. You know, I 671 01:01:06,980 --> 01:01:12,580 make my parents listen to this every single day, too. So, uh, once a week, they're always pneumatic, 672 01:01:12,580 --> 01:01:16,499 never static. Fans, whether they like it or not. That's just part of being in the family. Right, 673 01:01:16,499 --> 01:01:22,138 guys? Right, right. Shout out to you, too, Marcus and the crew that you have. And for all the podcasts 674 01:01:22,139 --> 01:01:27,759 that you're doing, it's it's been good. Thank you so much. Uh, Dale, we've got a fantastic team over 675 01:01:27,759 --> 01:01:33,479 here. I am, I am the tip of the iceberg in that. Yeah, I'm the one that makes the most noise behind 676 01:01:33,479 --> 01:01:38,878 the microphone, but I'm not the one that does the best work here. Uh, give Mike, my editor, Tyler, the 677 01:01:38,879 --> 01:01:45,199 web guy. Uh, Jessica, our producer. Uh, Ari, our graphics person. I mean, it goes on and on and on. 678 01:01:45,199 --> 01:01:50,199 I've forgotten people, but I really appreciate the shout out. And, uh, I want to share it with the 679 01:01:50,199 --> 01:01:55,999 whole squad. So, uh, I'm I'm adding into the final thoughts here for once on the show. Uh, gentlemen. 680 01:01:56,000 --> 01:02:01,159 Dale. Jeremy. Rob, you guys are awesome today. Thank you all so much. We will definitely get you back 681 01:02:01,159 --> 01:02:06,958 in here soon. Uh. Appreciate it. Have a good day. See you guys. Thank you. Right. They. 682 01:02:16,040 --> 01:02:22,479 Can't thank Rob, Dale and Jeremy enough for that. That was an awesome segment. And, uh, really? I said 683 01:02:22,479 --> 01:02:27,910 a peek behind the curtain, man. We ripped the curtain off the rod and just let you stand in the 684 01:02:27,910 --> 01:02:34,749 window and watch for as long as you wanted to. Um, fantastic stuff there. I want to really 685 01:02:34,749 --> 01:02:40,428 draw the point home here, that every delivery that you make, even if it's just one, even if it's just 686 01:02:40,429 --> 01:02:44,229 a little short one that you're, you know, you're going to be home early this afternoon or maybe 687 01:02:44,230 --> 01:02:49,910 get the grass mowed. Uh, maybe, maybe have a nice cold beer in the garage and get to spend some 688 01:02:49,910 --> 01:02:55,750 time with family. Even that one load that you took that seems like nothing represents dozens of 689 01:02:55,750 --> 01:03:02,549 unseen decisions made by operations, maintenance, dispatch drivers, customers and support 690 01:03:02,549 --> 01:03:09,469 staff. Um, I think that Rob really hit the nail on the head when he said, every single day is 691 01:03:09,470 --> 01:03:16,389 a puzzle and we have to put the puzzle together. And I mean, hey, they illustrated that it is a 692 01:03:16,389 --> 01:03:21,949 puzzle because it doesn't go together the same way every single time. Sometimes you start out the 693 01:03:21,949 --> 01:03:26,610 right way by getting all the edges and the corners worked in, and then you fill in the middle, 694 01:03:26,649 --> 01:03:31,649 but other times you can't find that edge piece, you can't find that corner piece, and you gotta 695 01:03:31,690 --> 01:03:37,649 work for it. And that's where the support of the rest of the staff, the drivers, the customers, 696 01:03:37,649 --> 01:03:44,370 everybody really steps up. Um, this conversation really emphasized a few 697 01:03:44,370 --> 01:03:50,049 things like communication, trust and people stepping up for each other. Like I said, uh, from 698 01:03:50,049 --> 01:03:54,809 loaning drivers between terminals to answering phones in the middle of the night. And you even 699 01:03:54,809 --> 01:04:01,129 heard it. Dale's phone rang like 2 or 3 times during that episode or during that segment. And, uh, 700 01:04:01,169 --> 01:04:06,009 he was nice enough to to mute those calls, send them on to voicemail. But I guarantee you they 701 01:04:06,010 --> 01:04:10,409 just stacked up on him. And those are now issues that he's got to solve, questions he's got to 702 01:04:10,450 --> 01:04:16,490 answer or decisions he's got to make. Um, and these guys take their job very seriously. And that is 703 01:04:16,490 --> 01:04:22,959 one of many reasons that this operation across all terminals runs as smoothly as it 704 01:04:22,960 --> 01:04:28,719 does. Um, and that's part of the culture, right? The operation works not because everything goes 705 01:04:28,719 --> 01:04:33,919 according to plan every single day. You can't. You can't even wish for that. I mean, if you had a 706 01:04:33,919 --> 01:04:38,320 genie and you said, hey, everything's got to go off without a hitch every single day, I think the 707 01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:44,959 genie would scoff at you a little bit and say, easy, bud, I can't do quite that much. Um, people 708 01:04:44,960 --> 01:04:50,239 adapt behind the scenes when things don't go right at bulk, and that's what matters. They don't 709 01:04:50,239 --> 01:04:55,199 stop at the end of their job description and say, that's it. I'm not helping out anymore. They see 710 01:04:55,200 --> 01:05:00,199 somebody struggling. They got a few extra minutes in their day, and maybe they go from their office 711 01:05:00,200 --> 01:05:04,759 over to the cubicle and help out. Maybe it's a driver that's headed home for the day. The day is 712 01:05:04,759 --> 01:05:09,639 effectively done. All I got to do is get this truck and trailer back and I'm on the golf course. 713 01:05:09,639 --> 01:05:13,958 But then they see another bulk driver pulled off on the side of the road and doesn't look like 714 01:05:13,959 --> 01:05:19,119 things are going well. The golf course can wait. We gotta adapt. It's time to make sure this driver 715 01:05:19,119 --> 01:05:24,100 has everything he needs and he doesn't need any help. That's the culture at bulk. That's the thing 716 01:05:24,100 --> 01:05:31,099 that really drives this bus. And you heard Rob talk about Brian's mission statement and how 717 01:05:31,179 --> 01:05:36,699 it really finally clicked for him. When he first saw it, it was words on a page, but when it finally 718 01:05:36,700 --> 01:05:41,459 clicked for him, everything made sense. You gotta think about that mission statement as more than 719 01:05:41,459 --> 01:05:46,459 words on a page. You have to think about that mission statement as a tattoo that everybody that 720 01:05:46,459 --> 01:05:52,659 works under this umbrella has. It doesn't change. It doesn't adapt, it doesn't move. That mission 721 01:05:52,660 --> 01:05:59,299 statement is what it is for a reason. And everybody from the top down, Brian, Brad, Andrea, 722 01:05:59,340 --> 01:06:05,939 Sean, Tim, everybody, uh, the terminal managers, of course, Rob, Dale, Jeremy and 723 01:06:05,940 --> 01:06:11,939 beyond, they're all living that every single day. It's the lifeblood of this company, the culture of 724 01:06:11,939 --> 01:06:17,779 stepping up to help one another out, trusting one another, communicating efficiently and effectively. 725 01:06:17,780 --> 01:06:23,850 It's all part of what makes bulk move forward into the future. And I feel like we've been really 726 01:06:23,850 --> 01:06:28,969 lucky here in these last few episodes because we have the company anniversary special where we got 727 01:06:28,969 --> 01:06:35,089 to talk to the top end leadership about the, you know, kind of a state of the union and, and what 728 01:06:35,090 --> 01:06:40,649 they're seeing for the future and what they're proud of at this point. And then our last episode, 729 01:06:40,650 --> 01:06:46,449 we talked to a couple of guys that are training the new crop of drivers at bulk, and we talked to 730 01:06:46,490 --> 01:06:52,570 Rachel about how she recruits the new crop of drivers at bulk. And today we talked to the guys 731 01:06:52,570 --> 01:06:57,530 behind the operations in a couple of terminals and got some really good insight on how they keep 732 01:06:57,530 --> 01:07:03,128 this whole thing moving. We've kind of done a top down view of this from the last three episodes, 733 01:07:03,129 --> 01:07:10,048 and I feel like it gives us a great composite of what Bulk and Spur really are, and why it is 734 01:07:10,049 --> 01:07:16,249 that for every episode we've had on this show. Guys come in and gals come in and they talk about 735 01:07:16,250 --> 01:07:21,949 how much they love working for this company, and it's because of the culture that has been, uh, 736 01:07:21,990 --> 01:07:27,389 pumping through the blood of this company for years, decades at this point. And we'll keep doing 737 01:07:27,389 --> 01:07:32,069 that. And that's you guys. That's something that you have to take a little pride in today after 738 01:07:32,069 --> 01:07:37,029 hearing an episode like this. I think everybody that works for Vulcan Spur should give themselves 739 01:07:37,029 --> 01:07:42,830 a pat on the back for a job well done when it comes to keeping this culture intact and helping 740 01:07:42,830 --> 01:07:48,909 out, communicating effectively, being a family rather than a number. It's all part of it, man. It's 741 01:07:48,909 --> 01:07:54,869 what makes this ship float through the waters of the trucking industry and look so much better 742 01:07:54,869 --> 01:08:00,509 than so many of the other ships that it's driving by out there. And, uh, wow, are we fortunate here at 743 01:08:00,510 --> 01:08:06,149 Always Nomadic, never static, the entire crew, uh, that gets to help me make this podcast, gets to 744 01:08:06,149 --> 01:08:09,789 help me make this podcast and make it sound like it's a privilege that they get to work. For me. 745 01:08:09,790 --> 01:08:15,589 It's not. I'm the one that's privileged to have such a great team around me. Um, and I, I can't 746 01:08:15,589 --> 01:08:20,299 thank Dale enough and Robin and Jeremy for calling it out and telling us that we're doing a 747 01:08:20,299 --> 01:08:26,499 great job. I can live on that again. I said that that that one pat on the back for me. My stomach's 748 01:08:26,500 --> 01:08:31,259 full for the next three weeks, I guarantee it. Uh, thank you to those guys once again for coming on 749 01:08:31,259 --> 01:08:36,258 here and sharing their time with us. We gotta wrap this thing up. We're out of time today, but as 750 01:08:36,259 --> 01:08:42,219 always, we will be back next week with another fantastic episode. An hour of content for you all 751 01:08:42,220 --> 01:08:47,739 about Bulk and Spur right here on always pneumatic, never static. I've been. Marcus, you've 752 01:08:47,740 --> 01:08:52,699 been awesome. Thank you for joining us here today. We'll see you next week. Be safe out there, bulk 753 01:08:52,700 --> 01:08:59,219 and spur. And that's all she blows for today's episode of Always 754 01:08:59,259 --> 01:09:05,258 pneumatic, never static. Your number one and probably only Pneumatic Trucking podcast, brought 755 01:09:05,259 --> 01:09:10,899 to you by Bulk Transit. Thanks for rolling with us today. Till next time, stay safe. Keep those lines 756 01:09:10,899 --> 01:09:12,779 clear and keep it pumping.