Integrity in Logistics: The Role of Reputation | EP 9
Welcome to the Veritas Vantage Podcast!
In today’s episode, your hosts Brian Hastings and Justin Maines talk about the significance of integrity within the logistics sector, highlighting how a company's reputation hinges on ethical practices rather than superficial branding elements. The discussion covers the challenges in an industry with many players, including shippers, receivers, and insurance companies, emphasizing the necessity of doing the right thing even when unnoticed. It discusses the repercussions of unethical behaviors like undercutting in brokerage and the negative impact they have on relationships with carriers and clients.
Get ready for discussions on Logistics and Leadership!
The Logistics & Leadership Podcast, powered by Veritas Logistics, redefines logistics and personal growth. Hosted by industry veterans and supply chain leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines, it shares their journey from humble beginnings to a $50 million company. Discover invaluable lessons in logistics, mental toughness, and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit. The show delves into personal and professional development, routine, and the power of betting on oneself. From inspiring stories to practical insights, this podcast is a must for aspiring entrepreneurs, logistics professionals, and anyone seeking to push limits and achieve success.
Timestamps:
(00:45) - The Complex Web of Logistics and Integrity Challenges
(05:19) - Navigating the Gray Areas: Real-World Scenarios
(08:30) - Building a Legacy: The Role of Reputation and Culture
(10:53) - Final Thoughts: Investing in Relationships for Long-Term Success
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Watch the pod on: YouTube
Transcript
Logistics can be a shady industry.
Speaker A:On today's episode, we're going to talk about the role that integrity plays in our industry.
Speaker A:Our reputation is all we have.
Speaker A:When building a brand and building a company, we have to fall on a reputation.
Speaker A:And what does that mean?
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Does it mean the coolest logos and the coolest T shirts and having ping pong tables in the conference room?
Speaker A:No, it's about who we are, what we do, doing the right thing when nobody's looking.
Speaker A:When you think of integrity in our industry, what comes to mind?
Speaker B:Doing the right thing, regardless of the costs at all times.
Speaker B:There are so many players from shippers, receivers, asset based companies, brokerages, factoring companies, insurance companies.
Speaker B:There's so many people and vendors involved in our industry where it becomes extremely diluted and it becomes difficult to decipher, you know, who sticks to their word, who has a high level of integrity, who's playing the part but going to burn you as soon as you bat an eye.
Speaker B:So the only way that you can separate yourself from the bad actor, so to speak, is to live integrity.
Speaker B:Build your reputation up where people who work with you know what to expect and that's why they continue to work with you.
Speaker A:Carriers always blame us.
Speaker A:You know, truck drivers always blame us because if a load cancels or if we move a load, they always think we found a cheaper carrier.
Speaker A:I mean, for me, I hope that's not what other brokers are doing.
Speaker A:I know for us and any experience that I've had, we don't do that.
Speaker A:And you know, that's not a way that we run our business.
Speaker A:I mean, do you think that's happening more often than we think or do you think I'm, I'm naive to think that?
Speaker B:No, I think it, it's always going to be a part of the industry because of how many people and how many companies are.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's just business in general.
Speaker B:You're gonna have people that are gonna cut corners and burn people, and then you have people that are gonna do things the right way.
Speaker B:You know, we saw it a lot early on in our careers where, you know, stab someone in the back or you're gonna get stabbed in the back.
Speaker B:I mean, that's, that was, that was part of the culture.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And there have been a lot of parameters and compliance measures put in place to eliminate those types of things.
Speaker B:When we talk about integrity, it's one thing to put that up on your website or make it part of your brand.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker B:And it's completely different putting it up There and actually living it and practicing that.
Speaker B:So I think as brokers, and this is just a broker in general, you are pretty much your own CEO, you are running your own book of business, you're making some calls.
Speaker B:There's a little bit of gray area that you're living in, but you're making some calls.
Speaker B:And at the end of the day, like that culture, that company that you're.
Speaker B:You're under as a CEO of your book of business.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If integrity is not ingrained in that culture, you have a pretty wide open gray area to make some shady decisions and burn some bridges on the way.
Speaker B:So I think it's incredibly important and I think, you know, we do a lot of things well as a company to make that a part of our culture.
Speaker B:But as you grow, I think it becomes more and more difficult.
Speaker B:Difficult to stand by that reputation and make sure that it is consistent across the board.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:You mean like more employees, like the more employees you get or what more.
Speaker B:People you work with, the more people you have, it's hard to keep a pulse on all that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I think that's like, that's hard even, you know, just like, you know, off on a little bit of a side note.
Speaker A:But like, that's hard from like a culture perspective too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like developing that culture and the more employees you get and like keeping that culture the way it is.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you hear so many entrepreneurs and business owners say, like my favorite years were the first, the two, three, four years because we had 15, 20 people and everybody in there was bootstrapping it and it was awesome.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then once they get to 50, 100 people, then it's like, like we lost that feel or we lost that buzz.
Speaker A:Do you as far as like integrity or reputation.
Speaker A:I know you said this, but like it's something people put on their website.
Speaker A:Do you.
Speaker A:Where do you think people lack there?
Speaker A:Do you think it's a, it's not something they preach or is it just something that they say, hey, like, let's make sure we're doing the right thing or what?
Speaker B:I feel like in business, you know, when you're building a company, you're building a brand, you're building your culture.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, it starts internally.
Speaker B:It starts with.
Speaker B:Frankly, it would start with.
Speaker A:Starts from the top down, man.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And it trickles down to leadership, to, you know, to mid level mental managers, to employees.
Speaker B:So if we're not living that internally and doing things the right way.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker B:Even when we don't have to we'd love to share some examples.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I know we have a couple.
Speaker B:But also on the flip side, like with, with the day to day.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Some examples.
Speaker B:But if it starts there and if, if you're not doing the right things, even when you don't have to, you're gonna have employees leave, they're gonna go find companies that will do the right thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:We cut corners.
Speaker B:And now that's just given our, our employees the nod to, you know, do the same thing.
Speaker B:Go ahead, you know, make the call.
Speaker B:If it benefits the company or benefits you, go ahead and make the call.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:So for, for listeners that.
Speaker B:Or viewers that aren't aware of like what exactly we do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:As a third party transportation company.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or a broker.
Speaker B:What are some examples, whether it's carriers, clients, where that, that gray area is kind of muddied a little bit and integrity is on the chopping block.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I think, you know, in our industry it's, there is some gray area.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Just like you mentioned, I think any time that we're in logistics and things change.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So there might be a pickup or a shipment that's picking up in Los Angeles and maybe you spoke with a driver to pick up in Los Angeles on Tuesday and on Monday it changed to a town, you know, 50 miles north.
Speaker A:Well, obviously there's miles and we call them deadhead miles in our industry.
Speaker A:And that's gonna cost a little bit extra.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And what is that cost?
Speaker A:And a lot of that's gray area.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Those are kind of like, you know, I don't know what you call them in like an airline in the airlines world, but like a seat change or like a gate change or something like that where now the driver wants more money to go pick up that shipment.
Speaker A:And we, you know, for us, the media or the intermediary, how do we negotiate the price where we're still making a margin and making the driver happy.
Speaker A:So I think with that, that's where true brokering comes in, where we're able to make the driver happy, give them enough to make the shipment fair to them price wise, and then also still be able to make money from the customer perspective as well.
Speaker A:If you are following us on YouTube, please feel free to drop in your stories about any scenarios where there might be gray area or things that you can add to the show.
Speaker A:So another example of gray area detention policies.
Speaker A:What detention is in our industry?
Speaker A:For the, for those that are outside the logistics world, it's pretty much waiting time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So there is a parameter of Waiting time that a driver, when he's picking up a shipment, you know, there is depending on if it's a first come, first serve facility or an appointment, there is a certain amount of wait time that is known to be free.
Speaker A:And then there's usually 50 bucks an hour after that for waiting time.
Speaker A:So what that does is it puts an emphasis on the shipper to get the product on the truck asap.
Speaker A:Now you get into a scenario where driver shows up for a 1pm appointment, he's on time, he's back to a dock, it takes him five or six hours to get loaded.
Speaker A:Well, now the driver's pissed off.
Speaker A:They're coming to us for, you know, a couple hundred bucks at attention.
Speaker A:Well, we go back to the customer.
Speaker A:The customer says no.
Speaker A:What do you do then?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:What's the decision?
Speaker A:And you know, sometimes it's tough.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I think you have to choose the harder right over the easier.
Speaker A:Wrong.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Especially if you want to stay in business for a long time.
Speaker A:Now, is it, is it the most fun thing to do in the moment?
Speaker A:No, it's not.
Speaker A:Because usually that money is coming out of our margin as a broker.
Speaker A:But in the long term, you know, it does work out.
Speaker A:And I'm a big believer in, you know, you call it whatever you want, karma or what goes around comes around.
Speaker A:But I think if you treat people the right way, you're going to have a very, very long history or a very long career in logistics.
Speaker B:And nowadays, you know, with, with technology and the way, you know, communication and the ability to, you know, write a review or the cancel culture.
Speaker B:Cancel culture.
Speaker B:We hear it a lot, you know, with newer employees.
Speaker B:Employees.
Speaker B:But they might get a phone call.
Speaker B:Yeah, they might get another phone call.
Speaker B:They book the first driver that calls in second drivers, you know, 200 cheaper.
Speaker B:And you'll hear him speak up when, when integrity is so hard ingrained into your, your culture when they speak.
Speaker B:Hey, I got this guy, I booked him.
Speaker B:But this other, you know, carriers, $200 cheaper.
Speaker B:Can I take him?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's absolutely not.
Speaker B:You book the first carrier.
Speaker B:So raycon for the first carrier.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:Those questions aren't asked anymore.
Speaker B:You don't hear those types of things anymore.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But let's take a situation like that where we commit to the first carrier, we fall out on the first carrier.
Speaker B:Book the cheaper second carrier.
Speaker B:Well, they can go online and just start, you know, badgering us, writing poor reviews.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or they can go to their network, let's say they're affiliated with a transportation group of owner operators or you know, smaller fleets of asset based companies, they say, hey, I worked with Veritas or I at least attempted to.
Speaker B:They'll fall out on you in a heartbeat or they don't pay attention or they'll give you an 8am appointment when it really, it's 8pm sure.
Speaker B:And like all these, you know, poor shitty practices that do happen in the industry and that's just not the reputation we want because we're not here to make a quick buck.
Speaker B:We're here to build a legacy and a reputation that people want to be involved with.
Speaker A:I mean, you said it man.
Speaker A:I think the reputation is it, right?
Speaker A:Like what kind of reputation can you build as a company?
Speaker A:And do you want to be known as that brokerage that you know, you just said it doesn't pay attention, is not fair.
Speaker A:Like at the end of the day you're not going to have many drivers.
Speaker A:They're, they're going to want to haul shipments for you if you're not trustworthy, right?
Speaker A:I mean, hell, I don't, I don't want to do business with people that aren't trustworthy.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I think those are, those things are huge, especially in our industry.
Speaker A:You know, there's another whole topic that we'll discuss in theft and fraud and double brokering and all that on a later episode.
Speaker A:But you know, I think reputation is it.
Speaker A:Do the right thing when nobody's looking, treat people the right way and you'll, you'll always have a successful career in logistics supply chain.
Speaker A:If we can give you any advice from our experience and hell, we've been doing this a long time.
Speaker A:Invest in the relationship.
Speaker A:The money will come later, I promise.
