Rolling Respect: Advocating for Truck Drivers | Ep 16
On today's episode on Leadership & Logistics, Supply Chain Leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines discuss the critical need to improve how truck drivers are treated in the logistics industry. They explore the challenging lifestyle of truck drivers, who spend up to 300 days a year on the road, often enduring long hours away from their families and facing difficult working conditions. Brian and Justin also emphasize the importance of treating drivers with respect and empathy, recognizing their vital role in keeping the supply chain moving.
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:
(01:12) - The Harsh Realities of Life on the Road
(02:05) - Societal Awareness and Stereotypes
(03:57) - Empathy and Respect for Drivers
(06:00) - Promoting Health and Wellness Among Drivers
(07:46) - Building Strong Broker-Driver Relationships
(08:22) - Personal Stories and Memories
(10:06) - Challenge to Brokers: Show Respect and Build Relationships
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Transcript
The logistics industry needs to treat drivers better.
Brian:Brian.
Brian:I feel like we've been singing that song for a number of years about treating drivers better.
Brian:What is the deal?
Brian:What's it going to take?
Speaker A:I'm not sure, man.
Speaker A:I think hopefully we can bring awareness to that, you know, with this show that we're, we're promoting.
Speaker A:But I think it's a daily action, right?
Speaker A:Treating those carrier partners with respect, with a common courtesy of doing the right thing and making sure that, you know, they're taken care of from a financial perspective, from a respect perspective.
Speaker A:I mean, life on the road's hard, man.
Speaker A:I can only imagine.
Speaker A:I've never been a driver myself, but, you know, dealing with drivers over the past, you know, 10, 15 years, you know, hearing some of those stories, man, it's, it gets tricky.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:And I think as a society, there's a stereotype with truck drivers in general.
Brian:I'd say it's similar to like a garbage man.
Brian:Like they get in the weeds, they're doing some, you know, grunt work and getting after it.
Brian:But thing is, not many people want to do that.
Speaker A:I read a stat the other day, 72% of the US's freight is hauled by a truck.
Speaker A:72%, which is crazy to think about.
Brian:I got set for you, Brian.
Speaker A:What you got?
Brian:The average driver, truck driver over the road, domestic, full truck driver, spends 300, on average, 300 days of the year over the road.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I didn't realize it was that high, man.
Speaker A:I think it's challenging, right?
Speaker A:I think a lot of people don't realize, like even until recently, right.
Speaker A:Like even during COVID and people were talking about the supply chain issues out, you know, Long beach la, and the containers that weren't coming in.
Speaker A:A lot of people don't realize that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:300 days, like away from their families, showering at truck stops, being on the road in their truck by themselves, like that's, that's got to be challenging, man.
Brian:Yeah.
Brian:And of those 300 days, I mean, they're, they're all over the place.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:Driving 10 to up to 14 hours per day.
Brian:Right.
Brian:With a 10 hour break each day, they don't stop.
Brian:And most of those drivers are away from their families for, you know, two, three weeks at a time before they're actually home.
Brian:What I want to discuss in this episode specifically, and I mentioned the stereotype, but as a society, have some awareness on what exactly is, you know, who exactly is moving our country.
Speaker A:Right.
Brian:These shelves would not be stocked.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Brian:You wouldn't have that iPhone or that laptop or the furniture in your house.
Brian:If some of these drivers aren't doing the hard work required to get these products on the shelves.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, we see it all the time.
Speaker A:Especially if there's a snowstorm or they can't move during a certain.
Speaker A:Like the shelves are wiped out.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like hell.
Speaker A:We saw it during COVID Right.
Speaker A:It brought a pretty big awareness to the supply chain industry during that time.
Speaker A:Cause we couldn't get product on the shelves quick enough.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, what was it like the toilet paper crisis where everybod and their mother with blows my mind.
Brian:But yes.
Speaker A:Yeah, same.
Speaker A:Why do you need 96 rolls of toilet paper at one point?
Brian:Right.
Speaker A:I feel like a four pack is good enough.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think those are things that even from, you know, the broker perspective and, you know, sometimes, you know, we'll just call a spade a spade.
Speaker A:Some drivers can be challenging.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I think we have to do a better job promoting a lot of those great carriers that are out there that want to do a good job and they want to take care of our clients freight and take a lot of pride in their work as brokers.
Speaker A:We need to do a better job of bringing that to the table and respecting these people.
Brian:That.
Speaker A:And hell, you said it, man.
Speaker A:That literally keep this country moving every single day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:And think of their actual lifestyle.
Brian:A lot of these drivers are truly living out of their trucks.
Brian:You know, they have a day bed in the back behind the seats.
Brian:You know, they brush their teeth maybe at truck stops or in their truck.
Brian:Like, I've never been a truck driver, but we work with a lot and we have a lot of great relationships with some drivers.
Brian:So we hear the stories and what they go through and how they're treated by.
Brian:We're guilty as well.
Brian:We've had our issues here and there, but for the most part, we're very intentional with how we treat our carrier partners and specifically the drivers.
Brian:When you're living out of a truck and you're driving long hours and you're away from home and you're stressed and you're waiting at shippers or receivers for hours, and then you have an issue with one of the brokers that you book through and you're not paying any attention, like tensions get high.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And emotions, man.
Brian:Yeah.
Brian:Sometimes the way they handle them and the way brokers handle them is not the best.
Brian:Sure.
Brian:So take a step back in a lot of these situations.
Brian:Put yourself in a lot of these driver's shoes and be aware of what exactly they're going through because if you can bring that empathy to the table and just hear them out and talk them down, like, if they're stressed, if they're looking for an extra 50 bucks, just pay them the money.
Brian:As long as it's reasonable.
Brian:Make sure they're taken care of.
Brian:Have some awareness on the hard work that they're doing each day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:Just be a person and understand and show the respect that people deserve.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think, like you said, a lot of the things that are there that are a little bit of the challenges.
Speaker A:I also think when these drivers go into, like, shippers and receivers.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, if I check into a shipper and maybe I, you know, I have a 4pm pickup appointment, I check in at 2, I have time, I go in a little bit earlier, you know, making sure that these drivers have the right facilities.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, I've seen a million pictures where they might have, like a porta potty outside that hasn't been serviced in like a month.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Well, like, God, can you imagine, like, especially.
Speaker A:I'm not going to get on this topic now, but can you imagine, like, if you're living your life in, you know, in the way that you're doing today, where you go to work, you come home, you can use your own restroom at your own house.
Speaker A:Like, I think sometimes we take those things for granted.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where, you know, we have to think about it from the driver's perspective.
Speaker A:Just like you mentioned where they might have to use these facilities and or find a facility at a local truck stop that might not be the cleanest or the people behind the counter might not be the friendliest.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So have a little bit more empathy.
Speaker A:I love that piece.
Speaker A:Just because we need to treat drivers better as a whole.
Speaker A:I think there are a lot of good things or a lot of good initiatives, but I think we have to do better.
Brian:Let's jump back real quick to the lifestyle of a truck driver.
Brian:And for those of you listening, we are going to have some of our closest partners on here as guests in future episodes.
Brian:But when it comes to the lifestyle, I mentioned the 300 days driving 10, 14 hours a day, being away from their families, friends for weeks at a time.
Brian:Let's take that step further.
Brian:Let's talk about diet, lifestyle, sleep patterns, the stress.
Brian:Brian, give us a little bit more perspective on what a typical week looks like for a driver.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think you're seeing a lot more drivers that are packing their own food these days or making more of a conscious effort.
Speaker A:I still think there's A long way to go.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I think we need to, you know, continue to push that initiative.
Speaker A:I know there's a couple companies out there that are put, you know, pushing driver fitness.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker A:Can you get out of your truck and, you know, hell, do you know, 10 body weight squats at some point or another.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or taking that time and having the ability to do some jumping jacks or do, you know, whatever it is from like a calisthenic perspective where you might not have access to a weight room or a gym.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Also, you mentioned diet.
Speaker A:You know, think about, you know, what is it that they're feeding their bodies with?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:What is it like what is available?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They don't get to go to a, you know, a Whole Foods or a Kroger, a grocery store to, you know, select all the greatest things.
Speaker A:They have to pick from places they can park a truck or put, you know, make sure that they're in a, you know, parking zone.
Speaker A:The last thing is sleep.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you think about, like, we need to show some gratitude because we probably slept in our nice cozy bed last night.
Speaker A:And those are things where they're probably not getting a ton of sleep or the sleep that they're getting might get interrupted by a phone call or a text message or something that happens over the road where they can't control.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:I think from the broker side of things, understanding what they go through, but also build relationships with the ones where there's, you know, there's.
Brian:It's mutually beneficial.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:From the carrier side or driver side, work with the brokers who take care of you.
Brian:I remember in our previous role.
Brian:I know, you know, we've talked about this before, but TQL gets somewhat of a bad reputation.
Brian:We both came from tql.
Brian:There's a ton of great people at tql.
Brian:Don't write the company off as a whole just because you had a bad experience with a couple of individuals.
Brian:There are people, great people, great brokers at any company that you can work with for the most part.
Brian:So as a carrier, work with the people who take care of you.
Brian:Yeah, I remember we had a client in Oklahoma where I 40.
Brian:There's Montana Mike's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:What exit.
Brian:But we had the same driver run it.
Speaker A:Every memories for me, man.
Speaker A:Montana Mike.
Brian:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I'll tell a story in a second.
Brian:It was.
Brian:They had a 40 ounce T bone steak.
Brian:An awesome relationship with this driver.
Brian:And he would run it same day every single week.
Brian:And on a Sunday pickup, Tuesday delivery, I'd buy him a 40 ounce T bone steak at Montana Mike's.
Speaker A:Love it.
Brian:Went there myself a few times.
Speaker A:There you go.
Brian:Did not get the 40 ounce.
Brian:But I had a great relationship with that guy and he always did a phenomenal job.
Brian:If he ran to the detention, throw him an extra 50 bucks.
Brian:If you knew his transit time and his sleep patterns, don't blow him up.
Brian:Ask him for an update in the middle of his sleep routine.
Brian:So what's your experience?
Brian:What's your story?
Speaker A:No, I.
Speaker A:So I think that's exactly it, right?
Speaker A:So like, treat like hell.
Speaker A:It comes down to the golden rule, right.
Speaker A:Where treat people the way that you want to be treated.
Speaker A:And I think that it gets lost sometimes, especially in, you know, some of the negotiation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So a carrier calls in on the negotiating for a higher price, and are they going to do it in the most professional manner?
Speaker A:Maybe, maybe not.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But at the same time, like, we have to take the high road and, you know, respect these carriers for the long term benefit of our industry.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:My story about Montana Mike's.
Speaker A:I played junior college baseball in Hutchinson, Kansas, and it's.
Speaker A:It's about an hour west of Wichita, right.
Speaker A:And there were two restaurants in town.
Speaker A:The first one was a pizza joint.
Speaker A:And so, you know, anytime our parents would come down or whatever they would, we'd either go to the pizza joint or we go to Montana Mike.
Speaker A:So it brings up some fond memories.
Speaker A:I never got the T bone, man.
Speaker A:I always went with the.
Speaker A:The chicken fried steak with the mashed potato gravy.
Speaker A:You know it, man.
Speaker A:You know, but yeah, Montana makes Montana Mike's has a place in my heart, so.
Brian:Well, I challenge you this.
Brian:If you're listening, you're.
Brian:You're a broker.
Brian:Reach out to your favorite driver, your favorite carrier, buy them lunch, grab your favorite driver dinner.
Brian:Do something different to continue building that relationship and show some respect to your top partners.
Speaker A:Love it, man.
Speaker A:Love it.
Brian:As a broker, the only way you're going to earn business is if you are reaching out to these manufacturers or these shippers.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Brian:And convincing them why they should give you an opportunity to move their product from point A to point B.
