Driver to Driver - A Stokes Trucking Podcast

Episode #14 - Freightliner Fever!!!

• Mark Lawver • Season 1 • Episode 14

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On this episode of Driver to Driver, we focus on a couple of our vendors and talk about international shipping. Segments are as follows. 

  1.  Ben Isaacson  @ 2:41 - Truck Sales
    Premier Truck Group
    (801) 978-8038 (direct)
    (801) 695-5717 (mobile)
    bisaacson@premiertruck.com
  2. Zach Zaroor @ 35:35 - Commercial Account Manager
    Advantage PressurePro LLC.
    zach@pressurepro.us
    O – 816-925-0335  C – 816-289-1145
  3. Jess Starke @ 1:01:27 - Vice President & C0 - Owner of Alta Rose Freightlines. 

Welcome to driver, to driver, a Stokes trucking podcast on driver to driver. We will discuss everything related to trucking. And put a stokes trucking spin on it stokes trucking doing the right thing since 1979.

Mark:

Welcome to episode 14 of driver to driver, a Stokes trucking podcast. I am your host mark. lava. I'm joined again by my part-time co-host full-time producer, who is laughing at me cause I can't talk I had 30 minutes to work up to this and I still couldn't spit it out. Right.

Grace:

Okay.

Mark:

thanks again for downloading this episode, please make sure whatever platform you using rate and review. We've had a pretty big uptick in listeners over the last couple of weeks after the, UTA episodes aired. So that's nice. Uh, getting out there a little more, this episode's really going gonna be focused on a couple of our vendors. at Stokes trucking, we look at our vendors as partners in our business. so we have, our employees are part. Our customers are partners, but our vendors are too. And those are the people that sell us the stuff we need to do our jobs every day. So grace, who are we talking to you first on the podcast?

Grace:

Ben Isaacson. He does sales for premier truck group.

Mark:

Yeah. He's our Freightliner salesman. I work really close with Ben each year when we order the new group of trucks, we go through. The spec, which is short for specification, so when we order a truck, the list of things that go into that truck of options, it's about 25 pages long. And we go through their line by line and make sure that everything in the spec is to our liking there's things that change every year, you know, The emission systems will get bigger. So we lose some frame space or things like that. Well, Ben is the one who helps me try to get our trucks as comfortable as possible for our drivers, but also, so that they're cost savers for us for Stokes trucking. Here's Ben Isaacson from premier truck group. Grace.

Grace:

Let's roll.

Mark:

So we're joined by Ben Isaacson from Warner. Uh, there I go from premier truck group.

Ben:

edit machines for. Huh?

Mark:

I do, I cannot, I can't get it right. I can't, the folder in my email where I keep all my Freightliner. Emails. It's still called a Warner. Yeah. Warner. I don't know.

Ben:

We still get called Warner all the time. I still say Warner then Isaac soon Warner. Oh free Freightliner, what do you need?

Mark:

So Ben works at premier truck group in salt Lake city. Are you just a sales rep? What's your title there?

Ben:

Yeah, just I mean we, so we split the sales department. We've got used sales and new sales. I started off on the use sales department just over about seven, seven and a half years ago and then transitioned over to the new side. So yeah, I'm I still sell some used trucks, especially to my FedEx contractors. But primarily focused on new trucks, specking, and really tailoring the truck to the customer's requirements.

Mark:

So Ben is our salesman. We work really close with you Usually it's in the fall to come up with the specs for

Ben:

it'll be spring for next year

Mark:

for the spring order deciding how many units we're going to get, what things we're going to change. can you talk to us, first of all, you're from a bear river, right? Garland.

Ben:

W I was originally born in Seattle moved to Oregon, moved to Missouri, moved to South Carolina. I moved back to Utah. Long story short. My dad has been in trucking forever, so we've traveled. West to East, to central all over the place. He was working with Jerry Moyes through Swift, so he would set up terminals and as they'd set up new terminals, they'd get it established and then we'd move again. So then we'd set up another one and yeah, so I've always been on the actual trucking side of the industry. It's different, but it was a good transition into the equipment and the customer and the service side of the industry. So yeah, we've always been,

Mark:

it I had no idea that your dad worked for Swift

Ben:

I believe it was last year He's been with them 29 or 30 years now So that's how I got into it obviously So he was the CEO of central refrigerated So at the time that was a private division Jerry Moyes owned Swift and he owned central So they were completely separate so he was the CEO of central refrigerated so when I left we were about 2100 trucks I started off just working in the shop nothing crazy was installing decals and stereos and just simple work grease in fifth wheels everything like that started there worked up into warranty worked up into the equipment management side which is actually where I really got involved with specs trucks buzz Warner specifically meeting with those guys going through trade term work That's how it all came to fruition of me going over to Warner and truck center

Mark:

Dad's still working for Swift

Ben:

Swift bot central right So essentially Jerry Moyes he changed ownership from this hand put it all on this hand and pocketed millions and millions for it And I it's still his company so worked out well for him but yeah so now my dad he runs the refrigerated division specifically of Swift

Mark:

So I got to ask why did you make the decision to leave there and go to work question at

Ben:

for me it was just too big It was I liked dealing with the drivers personally I liked dealing with the trucks personally I liked being involved and the equipment and everything we were doing Then nothing against Swift by any means it's just it's a monster right we went from 2100 power units running it over 90% 95% seated on average all of the time to going to 17,000 power units like that I was limited to what I could do Really My job responsibilities got cut quite a bit So for me I got a little bit bored going from being involved in trades and the equipment and the specs and the drivers And all the way down to we had a pet policy So you had to I had to put a little deposit down take care of your truck do the sticker I was in charge of that For the whole fleet And so stuff like that was really fun And a lot of that stuff got taken away and it just got a little bit stale for me on that and I think buzz could tell what was going on And he said Hey why don't you come over and interview And I said okay when you know he says Now I'm in the office now So I go over I've got my shop jacket on I'm not dressed up by any means at all And he says do you have a do you have a resume Yeah Yeah He printed one off real quick before I came over And that's kinda how we went from there Started selling used trucks two or three weeks after that So really Yeah

Mark:

How long have you been working at premier

Ben:

Just over seven years now

Mark:

Okay So it's been awhile you're younger

Ben:

Yeah

Mark:

I guess

Ben:

31 Yeah Turned 31 I guess two weeks ago Yeah

Mark:

you're super knowledgeable I the last two years I've worked

Ben:

I can fake it really good If that makes you feel bad

Mark:

The last two years I've taken over Going through the spec line by line from Val and the you you know your stuff I yeah It you've done great So I'm really happy with our Freightliners with what we're getting Yeah Now we've got your history Tell us a little bit about I want to talk about our trucks specifically things we're getting the big one this time around is we're getting Freightliner insurance 5.0 So talk to us a little bit about that other fleets who are maybe getting it and why maybe some fleets that have been getting it for a while

Ben:

Sure So you've got the big guys obviously Swift CR England pride Those guys have been doing this for years back when I was at Swift or excuse me central whatever you want to call it at the time We were getting it right so it's been around for a long time It's been in Europe years before it even came here where it really changed where I noticed a big change was with FedEx So I believe it was I think four years ago now FedEx came out and said In order to in-service a new truck with us as a contractor you have to have factory installed collision mitigation and the lane guidance system on your truck So for us that's the detour and assurance right It used to be separate used to buy Detroit assurance which was the radar and the front bumper That's your Collision mitigation your adaptive cruise control it's specific to that radar system separately You could get the lane guidance and that would be the camera and the windshield that would measure the lines on the road Now if you get assurance you get both and it comes as a package right As you've seen in your trucks that are going to be coming in they're coming in with that package assurance you guys and obviously it's it's a pretty expensive system too so it's a good upgrade my favorite feature about it personally is the adaptive cruise control if you may even have it on your F three 50 that's out front but It's just it's becoming a lot more common And so you know what's a good way to add more driver comfort to the truck A lot of drivers are very hesitant in the beginning about it And then just like the DT 12 I can't tell you how many guys did not want an automated transmission And now those same guys It's just easier They want it for stop and go traffic They like the way it rides It shifts more in line with the way they would shift themselves and assurance has headed that way it's making the driver's life a little bit easier a little bit safer and ultimately the driver is still in control you can change the settings You guys did the adjustable headway control And what that is it's following distance based off of time So as you can go into that screen literally hit it on the right spoke of your steering wheel go into the screen menu and you can change those second settings it's pretty adaptable

Mark:

I've put 12 14,000 miles on the 71 on the school truck over the last two months first time first couple of weeks I drove it I turned that you've got to change it every time All right If you want to turn down the following distance

Ben:

Yep

Mark:

I do that And then it didn't take I don't even think it was a couple of days Pretty soon I was like you know what I think 3.6 is probably right And I don't do it anymore I'm really confident that 3.6 is correct I actually am a little sad that we got that adjustable cause we we didn't need to Yeah

Ben:

And most fleets dude they do the fixed they don't necessarily want people Shortening that

Mark:

Yeah Yeah There's just when I've tried running it shorter I didn't feel safe All of a sudden

Ben:

okay

Mark:

one thing me and Valor in agreement on after driving that truck is it's made us better We're better drivers today than we were prior to

Ben:

Why do you think that is

Mark:

because it's pointing out our flaws and our faults when it gives me a distance warning that I'm following too close Yeah I'm really I'm following too

Ben:

close Yeah

Mark:

When I'm hitting the lines it

Ben:

get the little

Mark:

positives right Yeah But

Ben:

a while I will

Mark:

yeah but I can tell if I'm getting fatigued or if I'm not paying enough attention to what I'm doing Cause I'll get the lane departure

Ben:

Yeah It's a good gut check yeah It's a good check

Mark:

The speed limit it reading the speed limit and pop on the dash It's been helpful

Ben:

Yeah Why not have a reminder

Mark:

I don't like I said lane departure I tend to be distractible so it's been very helpful I there's a little piece of me that wishes we would've got Hello It's so expensive The lane keep assist

Ben:

It is yeah Yeah When you get that lane keep assist It's that It's that Bosch steering gearbox You've got to go to in the controls for that it's expensive

Mark:

It is expensive but it does a really good job it's not perfect No right now none of it's perfect but it's great driver assistance Yeah I've been in I've had several days what's been kind of a windy spring and I've had several days where I've been in big cross winds at the end of the day I should just be exhausted from sawn on the we all day

Ben:

Yeah Manhandling the wheel through the wind

Mark:

now with that thing Yup

Ben:

Have you played with the settings where you can set it to Taylor kind of left center

Mark:

and right Oh yeah yeah yeah and generally I I always change it to write that again You have to change every time you shut the truck

Ben:

correct Yep It'll default center

Mark:

Yeah So I generally change it to right Cause I tend to bear on the fog line a bit driving across Nevada they're rumblestrip is right in the white line So I actually kept it on center Cause if I had it to the right every one small I was touching it on two lanes I always change it to the right But if I'm trying to stay in a center lane If there's three lane interstate and I'm in the center lane I want that on center Sure So it's really cool That truck is really cool The booth what's it called the driver

Ben:

driver lounge Yeah Loft whatever you want to call it

Mark:

I don't think there might be some of our drivers that would look at that and think they want that they don't you lose so much

Ben:

I was going to say so the trade-off absolutely is your storage Yeah Because you think how many spaces where you have storage now you've got brackets and swing arms for both the chairs on the

Mark:

sides

Ben:

That's a big chunk of storage All the storage is should be under the bunk

Mark:

You've only got the two cubby holes all of a sudden the two to two toolboxes on either side And since we're doing APS one of them is completely packed full of APU

Ben:

Correct

Mark:

So you only got one for tools and it was a big stressor for me because I generally carry quite a bit of stuff with me now Having the booth the table and chair I really do because I'm still doing my full-time day job where I'm working on a laptop when I'm gone in the semi So it's really it's super nice for me it's really a comfortable space for me to work in Yeah When I'm out trucking I'll spend Two or three or four hours an evening on my laptop after I stop The other thing I really like this with COVID nobody you can't sit down and eat anywhere So when I stopped for my 30 minute break if I go in and grab whatever subway or

Ben:

Just take it back to your dining table in the truck

Mark:

Absolutely That is so nice to have a nice private

Ben:

Yeah

Mark:

to work a little bit And but for an over-the-road guy Who's six days a week in that truck Yeah

Ben:

I got his life packed in the

Mark:

Yeah he just doesn't have enough room

Ben:

Have you had other drivers in that driver loft yet

Mark:

So that truck because of what it is and how it's decals We're trying to limit it to just me and Valin Mike Larson who works in the office we have used it We had an emergency situation and one of our he's one of our most senior drivers his truck was down we'd sent him in that and he didn't come back like Threatening to quit after driving that truck it was fine we've had a couple of little hiccups with that thing that we've been trying to work through but it's not nothing to do with the assurance or anything like that that's all worked really well We haven't had it on like drifted roads or anything like that That's one thing I'm a little curious about is when we get into really heavy snow on the roadway that's one of the big fears I know one of our neighbor companies had a pack our product that Jack knifed in Nebraska and the according to the driver he was just tooling along on the interstate on slick roads and the radar which was Thank a Meritor system

Ben:

The OnGuard

Mark:

Yeah it's not it was a Peter belt and it's not Peter pack our Peter belt system It's an after another company add on Yeah it did an emergency stop and he jack-knifed the truck so far I guess I've seen driving that one It defaults to turning off

Ben:

Yeah so when it can't see the lines it's just like your eyes right The as far as the lane guidance it's all visual It's just that camera picking up reflective yellow or white lines on the sides of the truck So if it can't see him it just doesn't do anything Right And and and you know kind of going back to the point of The driver is still the boss right The drivers always in charge Cause they'll it'll tell you Hey unable to see lines the other thing that'll happen too is and the technology has gotten better for shedding snow but also going through the snow But that radar can be packed with ice and snow to the point where it'll tell you Hey radar system front radar disabled Cause it doesn't want to send false positives for that exact reason If it can't Confirm what it's doing It's more than likely going to default to the Hey I'm out

Mark:

I've gotten several Several false positives where it'll say collision warning Yeah But it's it must be a split second It doesn't even actuate the brakes It just pops up on the dash

Ben:

Oh yeah And you will if you're real good example Mark is if you're going up Hill say there's a bridge at the top of that Hill with a big sign on it it'll pick up the reflection in that sign and it thinks your it thinks you're headed dead for that Wall or whatever that is And where we've seen these false positives comes down is yeah It's going to tell you Hey collision and incoming or hate object incoming But when you get to the top of that Hill now that the camera And the radar working in conjunction with each other that camera's going to say Hey relax It's a sign Yeah So that's you'll still get the little warnings but as far as a bullet a false positive break application those have come down

Mark:

Yeah Yeah I have not had one good at all the longer I drive the truck the more I like all those safety systems and the less I want to drive anything else we have

Ben:

Yeah And it's like what we were talking about with FedEx for them it's not an effort it's a requirement If you're in servicing a new vehicle not only does the truck have to have it but with my FedEx customers I actually have to send in the factory spec sheet they have to go through it and approve it where it's listed in the specs not too long ago we saw the DOD requirement for like the electronic or the enhanced stability control that used to be an option You could do the roll stability control nothing or the enhanced stability control now it's Hey trucks have to have enhanced stability control It's the way it is And so I don't know when we'll see that requirement but I would imagine it's gotta be down the

Mark:

I would think insurance companies would maybe require it before the government Did

Ben:

I could see that Yeah

Mark:

know They're the ones who foot the big bills when there's a collision Yeah I we won't I can say this fairly confidently We won't ever order another truck without it I just for the safety of our drivers and everybody around us I can't see us ever ordering a truck that doesn't have those systems

Ben:

well and yeah I agree And it's an expensive system but that's all relative right the first accident that stops where you don't rear end a van full of a family and kids or injure a driver keep trucks on the road all of a sudden the expense disappears

Mark:

Yeah So let's talk a little bit about some of the other things we're getting in our trucks what makes them a little different than some of your other I'm going to beat up your other customers

Ben:

No you're good man No Hey you guys spec a really nice truck just starting from the front back obviously you guys are putting in those safety and support systems for the drivers now you guys have Full led lighting in and out of the trucks you guys actually recently added in not this order but last year's order with me you guys added additional utility lights back of cab led as well visual wise you guys are ahead of it driver comforts man the elite seats heated and cooled you guys actually paid for the premium insulation package So what that does is there's obviously decent installation and in most modern vehicles now but what that does is it's actually taking that 3m Thinsulate insulation and completely going around the top and the sides of that cab So I don't know if you've noticed but if you come jump on one of our stock trucks and then jump in your truck especially when you get on the freeway you're going to tell right away your truck's going to be quieter It's just more comfortable right Not just the sound level But that's also temperature control as well So the reason I like that package personally is you guys are doing optimized idol You guys are doing AP use on some of your trucks as well now all of a sudden those systems work less They have to work

Mark:

We're doing APS on everything

Ben:

Oh okay

Mark:

Going forward We're the optimize idol is it's a relatively inexpensive option

Ben:

Yeah It's yeah If you have the brake upgrades already which by the way you guys are doing dis brakes another upgrade but because you have the upgraded brakes that systems like 75

Mark:

Yeah It doesn't cost hardly anything so we're going to do optimize idle on everything but we are I've got enough data alpha last year's APS are it still takes a long time for them to pay for themselves but they're a slam dunk and we've got so many drivers that want them We've got a few that don't but we've got so many that do it just going forward Everything's going to have APS on it

Ben:

yeah That's awesome yeah between the APS and the S bar and it sounds like from the last order we went away from the factory fridges because you guys are allowing them to put in their own larger fridges

Mark:

They can we're we're providing an aftermarket there's a little tray I build for the top to put over the top So again we're a year in on the aftermarket fridges there Virta free goes We're actually buying them from Premier Okay it's slightly cheaper The fridge

Ben:

The

Mark:

Yeah The factory fridge is expensive Now it comes in its own case and it's put together really nice but we were having reliability issues with those refrigerators and they're very expensive to replace after the fact

Ben:

Absolutely

Mark:

the aftermarket ones are about 75% of the cost of what it is from the factory And we haven't had any problems with any of those yet Yeah they're a little smaller they're slightly smaller Okay But or Driver can put in

Ben:

That's the thing you can Walmart home Depot a lot of these places for a couple hundred bucks 500 bucks especially you can get into a range of a pretty nice size fridge and freezer combo You can put on that stand And that's the other thing you guys are still paying for the factory fridge Prep kit So they get that plate that sits in the back of the cab It's supported It's already got the strap pre-installed there so they can sense that fridge down it's you guys are really providing a lot for the driver and full disclosure it costs money And every time we have a model year escalator which going forward with the cost of materials no not to knock you out of your chair with the cost of materials those items that are Call it the for example the premium insulation that's an$800 list item You have a 5% model your escalator why don't

Mark:

you think we're going to stay at 5%

Ben:

I hope not but I mean you know we're we're kind of getting warnings on just the cost of rubber and steel for the frames that rubber for the tires wiring Semiconductors are beating everybody up right now I don't know if you've driven past and even automotive dealerships These semiconductors have got people order lines shut down which it's one of the reasons why Cascadias for us are sold out for the year yeah it unfortunately I think this year we're going to see we're going to see some expense increase and it's all materials It's just getting the materials and the cost of the materials in general right now is pretty it's pretty astronomical talking to some of my I I sell a wide range of trucks so it's kinda nice Cause I get to deal with Big companies like you guys run a full-size class eight sleepers I deal with government groups that are hauling 129,000 pounds out in the mud very different spec of truck all the way down to guys that are supplying furniture and cabinets They're running non CDL 26,000 GVW box trucks So these guys I'm talking to some of these construction guys and some of these suppliers and for some of these guys they're telling me one sheet of plywood Should be about eight$59 for a full size sheet of plywood That sheet of plywood as last week$45 And that's plywood

Mark:

the rough we were talking about I'm going to replace the roof on my house So had we done it last fall Cause we've got to put all new OSB down Okay Have we done it last fall It'd be about$4,000 less than it's going to be this year but it's gotta be done So the gentlemen that's going to do our roof when he gave me the quote he said this quote is good for six weeks Yeah Even if Plywood goes up again My quotes Good And the day he gave me the quote I checked at home Depot and they were$42 a sheet Okay The day I called him last week to say okay I want you to come and do it Or the day after that I checked and it was up to$53

Ben:

my gosh

Mark:

like they'd gone up the whole cost of what it should have been Yeah it's I'm hearing the grand Johnson most of the big construction companies they're rationing cement Yes Cause there's short on cement Like they're just not starting any new construction projects because they can't get materials to build whatever you want to build Anyway Even if they have labor to do it with I got to think the economy's going to slow down a little bit

Ben:

it's an interesting time right now just trying to keep up with all the changes and the expense changes right now is pretty it's pretty wild Yeah We'll see where it goes

Mark:

the last thing I wanted to talk to you about is I have always felt like Stokes has relationship with their vendors and customers and drivers but especially with their vendors is different than many other companies

Ben:

Yeah

Mark:

Again I don't want you to throw anybody under the bus but can you talk about that a little bit

Ben:

And it's more of a it's more of a friendship and a trust-based relationship than it is Documentary And what I mean by that is if you were Val call me and say Hey Ben we need 15 trucks these are the specs we'll shoot you an email off that email I placed an order for millions of dollars worth of equipment You know what I mean Other groups when they send me an email and say that we'd go through the documentation process We're getting signatures from multiple people at the company We go through a verification process It's just There's a there's such a good rapport and trust with you and with certain groups that we can bypass a lot of the red tape to get down to just Hey let's do good business together let's support each other Obviously you're support us Obviously we support you and it's it it's a win-win that's the beauty of it Not only does it become a win-win it becomes a easy fun win-win right I legitimately enjoy my job I legitimately enjoy working with you guys And I know for some people with certain customers that's hard to say it's hard to say Hey I like when that guy calls me a Friday night and eight o'clock and even if it's an issue we get it worked out that's pretty rare parts issues come up service issues come up truck issues come up And honestly we just we work it out It's still fun It's a good time and that I think in any job now more than ever with is heightened stress as things are right now I think that's really rare So it's great it's fun

Mark:

We just today the episode on our mission vision and values was released A group of us that work in the office took what our driver said in the survey and put that together And relationships is one of our values And when we're talking about relationships it's with our customers our drivers and our vendors w our relationship with our vendors is so vastly different than some other companies I've been involved with where they were a hundred percent Beaten them up on price Everything was a negotiation and they felt like they got to if they got$3,000 knocked off they got a great deal or whatever the

Ben:

fees

Mark:

I've always felt like When I first started it was foreign to me how Val operated it's not that he doesn't negotiate but he's so different to to negotiate with and I don't really I never have felt like we overpay for things As a matter of fact I feel like we get great pricing because our vendors like to Deal with us

Ben:

I had a very interesting conversation with a couple of sales guys and my manager over the past couple of weeks And it's it's funny Cause you know with with all these parts shortages we're about to start our ordering process So for repeat local customers they're gonna open up the order board early in you and Valerie know this you're already planning it's just so interesting The differences in dynamic for certain customers And honestly the results are the outcomes the same Because you guys are so easy to work with We work hard for you I apply for a full concession every time long story short concession is we get an MSRP and then for local we get to take a cutoff that for volume we get to take that cut even lower So we apply for the full concession every time It just that's why we do the volume We do frankly That's one of the reasons too And whether Val called up and screamed and rants and raves about beating us up on price or whether he's super easy to work with it's going to be the same revolt So why don't we just put our best foot forward have a good relationship make things easier on everybody And at the end of the day again you're happy We're happy It's win-win it's just funner it's it's a better

Mark:

context I've never had an issue I've never had a problem with one of our trucks that I didn't feel like That I felt like I wasn't getting full attention the S the service after the sale is second to none I just a lot of people want a bash Freightliner in I can't I wasn't a Freightliner when I started working

Ben:

freight shakers

Mark:

Yeah When I started working for Stokes trucking I had almost zero experience with Freightliner and I wasn't a Freightliner guy but if somebody I don't know Well told us all to get lost and I had to go find a job tomorrow I'd probably call you up and say Hey Ben I need a truck I got to go trucking So yeah I tell

Ben:

I can get your truck in 14 months

Mark:

Yeah that's the other thing So that changed So rapidly right

Ben:

We went from having our front lot not only full we were over capacity So when you know we have auditors come out and they they check inventory basically they're seeing Hey this is the inventory you say you have We want to confirm that It took them forever because we had every spot full We had trucks lined up and down the aisles where you couldn't drive trucks without moving an aisle We had trucks in our South lot We had stocked trucks in other Los that we were renting from customers to be able to store trucks and in probably a four to five month period I think I have four stock trucks available And you and I talked about this the other day It's a couple of random day calves and some Odense backs but that's it

Mark:

that's it that's insane So last year's orders We got a white and a blue truck for the USU football project and I asked you to sit on that white truck forever You guys were renting spots and You didn't even think twice about it I think you got that in April and we didn't take delivery of it until August or

Ben:

September Yeah

Mark:

That's the relationship

Ben:

That's what I mean It we do the best we can to make things work And frankly you guys are fun to work with So when you call and say Hey I got to sit a truck a couple months for me It's okay You know

Mark:

When did we place the order for the truck 71 Wasn't that in September

Ben:

That was really

Mark:

towards

Ben:

year and we still got

Mark:

and we got it in December

Ben:

So typically if things are quote unquote normal and we can place orders without stipulations or these added rules just because of how parts and everything are getting a truck built Shipped delivered out the LA in 90 days I've seen that very often through the seven years I've been there but then we go through these swings where we'll have some parts issues technology changes or there'll be a massive spike in demand Maybe there's a bigger pool of drivers come available And then we'll see four or five six month delivery dates this delivery date of Being sold out through this whole calendar year and going to be opening up the order board into calendar year 22 that's more of some pretty extreme supply line cuts mixed with demand mixed with COVID this was just a perfect storm of everything happening at once So

Mark:

If someone new let's say a 30 truck fleet Yeah He calls you up and he says I need to order 10 trucks for next year You've never done business with them Okay when could you get him trucks

Ben:

Not this year it would be rolling into first of next year and that's why we're warning guys is Hey especially if you're wanting trucks in the first half of next year you need to have a plan in about three to four

Mark:

weeks probably end up in the second quarter

Ben:

Yeah Probably realistically ended up in the second quarter it it's and I think this has been a maybe a little bit of a wake-up call and a realization of the situation we're in this year Mark I've Just recently multiple times had to tell repeat great customers Some of them very close to you locally here I can't bid on your deal this year And they look at me like what do you mean We've got a 16 truck order we want to put together And I say I know guys that's why I was telling you back in September and October November and December

Mark:

I think you gotta get your order in

Ben:

Yeah You know

Mark:

They usually take delivery in the second half of the year.

Ben:

Yeah. We can't even, and and Hey they do their part, frankly. I think that's more than fair for a guy to call me in January or February and say, Hey, Ben, We want to put a bid together. We would like trucks to come in August or September. That should be completely feasible. And on most years, it is this year to tell a guy like that, who, by the way, I've sold multiple orders to through the past four or five years. I have to tell him, sorry, Mr. Customer, why we can't do that this year. And what's really disappointing is then he's got to go hell out now I gotta go call other OEMs and. Try and drum up. Other specs, we have our Freightliner spec dialed. Now I've got to go try and convert that to Volvo spec or Peterbilt spec or Kenworth spec. And the real catch is he goes to those guys and they say the same thing, Hey, sorry, Mr. Customer we're in the same boat or at least we could do, some of them are, a little bit better than us. They say, Hey, we've got some availability. In December. So your trucks had built in December, they'd arrive in January. Does that work? And the customer is sitting there going, no, it doesn't. So it's just one of those years,

Mark:

that's crazy. Thanks so much for taking time coming up here to the The studio,

Ben:

I love it. It's awesome

Mark:

Ben. Thanks again. It's great doing business with you. I'm so happy we have this

Ben:

We appreciate

Mark:

and I'm glad you're only 31 because it'll probably go on for the next 30 years for

Ben:

I hope so. Yeah.

Mark:

All right, buddy.

Ben:

Okay. Thanks Mark.

Grace:

That was a great segment with Ben Isaacson. did you talk about your tray tables in this one? The ones you bought? The table, the trays you built? I can't remember. You talked about it in sec.

Mark:

it's, It's been, it must've been, had to be that me and Ben recorded that to innovate it is now the end of June. And there's been a lot of water under the bridge for me since then, since it was recorded and edited. So I don't remember exactly what was in there. but That sounds, I was really waiting until we got the new trucks to put that episode out, and there was quite a delay getting our Freightliner this year. So that's why we're two months later in

Grace:

you talk about the delay.

Mark:

Well yeah, because when we recorded the truck should have been here and we're waiting, We're waiting. We're waiting finally started coming in in may. And they've been a little problematic

Grace:

time

Mark:

so

Grace:

uh, oh, SpaghettiOs. I've been saying that a

Mark:

we're Working through it. It'll be okay. grace, who we got next,

Grace:

the next person is Zach. He is a commercial accountant manager with advantage pressure pro you guys talk about tires.

Mark:

So, you know, I'm a tire nerd. I'm the tire. print. That's my new name. Yes. I started buying pressure pro system. in 2005 way back. When, when you were three,

Grace:

I had to hold up my fingers for that

Mark:

whatever yeah, the first pressure pro system I ever bought was 2005. it was when I first started buying wide based. tires And it looked far different than what we're using today, obviously, but it's a, it's a pressure monitoring system that you can add on after the fact to, to heavy trucks, to monitor the tire pressures. We've been putting them on our trucks for Oh, six or seven years. We started out with Freightliner was installing them at the factory. I I'm a little picky. I wasn't very happy with those systems because they weren't easy to change sensors. They were internal inside the tires. They broke quite often. They didn't read. Right. We couldn't change settings in them easily. The pressure pro system is way easier to use. And it's about two thirds of the cost of the factory installed system. So. We switched over to that a few years ago, then really happy. Zack has been great to work with. I was really glad he, he actually asked to come on the podcast. He saw the link Yeah. in my, email signature and asked to join me and it grows, goes great with our Freightliner segment.

Grace:

You were looking me talking about that stuff. Like I understood it. I don't know a thing. Dad

Mark:

you got, you've got pressure sensors inside your tires On your Hyundai. A couple of times And you've gotten the little triangle on your dash it's because you've had a tire that was low or a sensor that wasn't Well, those are all internal moms, all of our vehicles, Caleb's doesn't all, but all the other vehicles have pressure monitoring systems. They've become standard equipment in passenger vehicles. They're not standard equipment And so. so we're adding them. But I started adding them 15, 16 years ago. was when I first started adding pressure monitoring systems, which is funny that they're not standard in semis. because The tires on a semi,

Grace:

a huge

Mark:

well, and they cost so much, you know, two tires for a simple. It costs, more than all four on a regular passenger vehicle. And we go through them a lot more. So why wouldn't fleets want to monitor the pressure of these? It costs us$5,000 to put a set of tires on a semi. Why in the world would we not have 24 7 monitoring on that to try and. Extend the life much as So, here's Zach with advantage, pressure pro So Zach helped me with the pronunciation of your last name. So I don't, this is a roar. Okay. And you're with pressure pro is it pressure pro TPMS? So what's the name of the

Zach:

Advantage pressure

Mark:

Advantage pressure pro. You guys have been supplying us with our tire pressure monitoring systems for at least three years. I've been a customer clear back into 2005 and 2006, when I had my own trucks way back then. So tell us a little bit about the company and about you.

Zach:

well, um, you know, first of all, thanks for, thanks for this invite. the company was started by my father, back in 1991 Phillips roar. it was funny that the company was almost started on. Fluke, I guess you could say we had a, um, my father had retired at the time and was at home and my mother told him you got to find something to do. You're you're driving me crazy. And my father had been in several, high-level positions with, head hunting companies, Tool manufacturers, number of different than a clothing store, successful restaurant. And at the time he essentially purchased an office space. Didn't really know exactly what he wanted to do with it. And a gentleman came in with the idea of tire pressure monitoring on a napkin. essentially my father bought that napkin and then turned around and created a patent for it. And, um, did what I think every wise person does surrounded themselves with people who, know a lot more about what you're getting into the new do. Cause that's kind of how you grow,

Mark:

So had he been in the automotive industry at all?

Zach:

No,

Mark:

He was just an entrepreneur. You

Zach:

my father a packet of ketchup. He could sell it to a bleach salesman. I mean, that's. That's just who he was. He was the definition of a, uh, if there was a way to make an honest, fair, hardworking dollar, he found a way to do it. That's kind of who he was. So, you know, it was funny growing up. I have, I have a lot of siblings. If you look at our website, we have a, my brother, Jason and my sister, Vanessa Margo and Natalie, um, my mother still the chairman of the board, uh, several other people in our office that are very close to us. Edward who's our director of technology was one of my groomsmen in my wedding. So very close knit team and growing up our, our pizza parties were not very fun growing up. Back in the early nineties, when the original tire mate products is what it used to be called was being manufactured. It was actually being produced in our living room. It evolved, watched batteries and several other components, and we would get pizza and we had the same blankets we would sit on and we'd have almost an assembly line in our living room, actually putting together the original product. So.

Mark:

So. this was a true family. Founded, ran business.

Zach:

Since I was, let's see, since I was three years old, I'm 32 now. So for the last 29 years of my life tire pressure monitoring has been a conversation almost daily in my life. So it's to the point now to where we just bought my wife a new vehicle and it only gives the tire pressure monitoring and alert. So now I'm all worried about her tires when she's going down the road. I drive her crazy, but yeah, it's

Mark:

so the F the first system I bought and w what, at what point did you guys move out of the living room, like, and actually create a space for, for manufacture?

Zach:

I want to say the early two thousands. we've been with the same manufacturing company. Now we just, we just opened up a second relationship with the new manufacturing company. our main manufacturer has been a contract manufacturer, then a company out of Lansing, Michigan called electronics. they've just been awesome partners for us. they're the type of company to where they've helped us grow, but it's on the knowledge side of the best processes to build. As well as ideas for, Hey, we're seeing this. This may not be the best idea. Let's try it this way. And then we have a couple of gentlemen in our office by the name of, uh, Edward Gladscow, um, and Jeremy McGarvey will They are just the brain trust here, in my opinion. And they bounce ideas off of people very well. And we are always trying not to settle. We never want to think our technology is perfect. We think the way we do that is the day we do ourselves. so a mixture of those two, as well as our CEO, Jason, as a roar and our CEO, Vanessa Hargrave, who's who's my older sister, uh, her maiden name was roar. they work in line with our manufacturers, and just make sure that the product we're getting in is quality and is tested. And we'd rather beat our product up before it gets to us and put it through any sort of testing you can imagine. Instead of letting product go out there that we think is going to have an early failure in the field.

Mark:

well, and it's, uh, you know, the sensors themselves are in a pretty, at least in our application, uh, rough service environment quite often.

Zach:

Oh yeah. And you know, you're, you're in the commercial world, which is kind of my bread and butter. That's what I, that's what I do for the company. But, most people wouldn't realize we're actually the OEM partner of several large off the road, uh, plugs. Um, case new Holland and caterpillar. we're, we're actually in, I believe the last count was 43 countries. we're in everything from mining vehicles that can be, um, half a mile to a mile underground to road trains in Australia to, earth movers and Russia to monorails down in Brazil. So we're on. Any sort of application really that ranges between eight to about 207 to 210 PSI, soon to be higher than that we're able to operate. And we have a very, I guess you would say diversified portfolio almost, and that we have several different sectors that we sell into. Some are easier on the tires like your RVs, you know, those are pretty consistent. but you know, you got monorails in Brazil that are running 210 to 225 PSI at times. And we're operating on those as well. Cause it's obviously those, those monorails are driven by pneumatic tires. So you can imagine what would happen if you were to have a cab stock of blowout, put strain on extra tires, have another bullet.

Mark:

out?

Zach:

You can imagine, you know, in a final destination kind of way, what could happen at that point. So,

Mark:

It sounds like it's all family and the upper management. How can you give us an idea how, how many. Units you're selling maybe domestically. How many, how many commercial trucks are there running around that have your system on, do you think,

Zach:

I would say since I moved into my role eight years ago, let's see, eight years ago, seven years ago. Now I'm moving to my current. I would say upwards of 10 to 15,000 tractors and twenty-five 30,000 trailers, between the commercial space. A lot of it's hard to gauge because you're one of our few customers that we actually sell direct. we typically go through dealer and distribution. So what we do is, for example, we have a large partner called pan at Pacific and Panama Pacific is very tied in with, just about every truck dealer costs, uh, across the country. They sell radios, refrigerators, um, you know, items such as that. And so we have a very large footprint, so there's been plenty of times to where someone ends up calling us saying, Hey, We're having this little issue or, Hey, we're seeing this, what do you think we should do about it? And we're going our system. We're like, well, hold on, who would you buy this thrill? And we ended up tracing it back. I realize it was sold, you know, from a distributor to a dealer, to an end-user, which we love to them meet those people, grow that relationship. So they know we buy from them. They service us our first level offense, but we know that if push comes to shove, we can contact Zach and pressure pro and he'll also. Make sure were handled or pushes the right direction or whatever we needed the time.

Mark:

Yeah, what's the, the units we're buying now, we're getting the defender sensors on ours. What's the average lifespan of those sensors, the battery life.

Zach:

what I've seen is about two and a half to three years in the commercial space. some fleets are less because quite frankly, they're just always letting that sensor. They're buying the hardware. Um, and they're, they're, they're trying to best to monitor it, but they haven't quite figured out the exact way to when a sensor alerts, how to hop on it quickly. And that's always the kind of unspoken factor of sensor life is the more often it has to alert the shorter the battery life's going to be. but for our customers who see an alert, addressing. Or at least get it into Q2 address it. they'll see an average of two and a half to three years. And that's some, a little less, some, a little more, um, just depends on the exact sector. You know, if you're, for example, one of our largest customers is a company out of Boardman, Ohio. and they run a lot of landfills and that they started sending some sensors back a while ago and they were about two and a half, three years.

Mark:

Cool. Yeah, we've, we've got one mechanic that works in our shop. Just one. And all we do is light duty stuff. greasing. He does brakes, light repairs, things like that. We don't do oil changes, but one of the things he takes care of is the pressure pro systems on the trucks. And, you know, everyone. There's one or two sensors. He hands me

Zach:

uh huh.

Mark:

and he's like, man, there's just an awful lot of these. And I said, well, please remember, we've got, we have 30 power units running those. Now

Zach:

Uh, huh?

Mark:

times 10 is about 300. And the first ones we had are all coming up. Three years old. So we're going to start seeing a lot of sensors with dead batteries is what's going on, you

Zach:

Yeah, Yeah, exactly. Debtor debtor, severely weakened. And you know, the, the longer the battery goes to, you know, you're talking about signal and RF and all that at that point. So

Mark:

yeah. Yeah. That's one thing I think probably a lot of people don't realize with pressure monitoring systems is you guys are. Kind of governed by government entities with radio waves, right? Don't you deal a little bit with what, what frequencies you can be on.

Zach:

Yeah. There's been times to where we've, we've actually had to get certified that we're on a certain radio frequency for like, um, you know, if you're going onto a site could have that could have Raul explosives or something that has a detonator that's triggered by an RF. Obviously you don't want to have a truck full of fuel and have. You know, a detonator in your regular frequency causes it. Right? So yeah, that's, that's something we have to be honest, uh, specific channels, certain frequencies. And we, we are re very religious about following everything to the T in that regard, because, um, you know, our, our partners and our customers are putting their faith in us. And we want them to be rewarded for that. For example, in your case, You all have been a very loyal, easy customer now for going on two, three years. and you know, we, we feel like your part is much more important than our part because you've allowed us to help take care of you and service you and you've communicated what we need to do on that side of it. So, it's not to say that every customer is easy. It's not to say that we don't ever have issues with anything, but, um, you know, overall, we like to think that. You know, we, we do a good job of taking care of things and having the proper RF as part of that, having the proper testing that a lot of our OEM partners require certifications and whether it be ISO or whatever else it may be. And so there's a lot going on though, kind of to watch out. But thankfully we have very smart people in important positions. I handle that for us.

Mark:

Very cool. So our podcast is really based around our own drivers. What, you know, we've, we've had some trouble with sensors, losing calm, things like that W w what did talk to my drivers? What should they be looking out for with your systems and how best can they help us. if they haven't yet?

Zach:

Well, the first thing I want to say is my, in my opinion and drivers in the most important part of this equation, you know, they're the ones who get up with their boots on turn that key and deliver the goods. So what they do. We saw what happened over the past year with the pandemic. If it wasn't for truck drivers, this world would've fell apart. Um, I truly believe that.

Mark:

Yeah. Everybody starts to realize what goes on when they're out of toilet paper. Right. How it actually gets there.

Zach:

Yeah. Or for example, a fuel it's not a shortage of fuel is a shortage of drivers to get the fuel. So, um, you know, because everyone's going to have, as long as someone want to get out of their house, You know, the first thing I would say is just use the system frequently and every now and then if you wanted to do a basic troubleshooting method, the easiest thing to do is to remove a sensor on, for example, like the front left of your tire, and then it's sensor on the far back right tire, just remove, bought those sensors and make sure they throw a zero PSI alert. Cause both those sensors were programmed. And as soon as they're removed from air, they showed there was a European site alert. Uh, the second thing I would say is if you start to see an issue or you start to see something weird, or maybe off a little bit, don't let it linger. there's many things that could happen to a center. For example, I've seen one sensor and it was actually in, let's see where it was at. I want to say it was Pennsylvania. And what was happening is these guys were driving through a construction zone and they were there. For some reason, I kept throwing up rocks in between their tires and a rocket actually come up and smack the sensor and it busted the cap off of it. Now that's a rare occasion, but it, it can happen. And then, you know, there's no reason to hide from that. So I would say, uh, troubleshoot, if there is an issue, let someone know right away. And then three, if you're seeing a sensor issue, it typically it typically has to do with one to two things. Reception or battery life. So I would say, just know where your antenna is on your tractor and just make sure it's good and tight. We've seen a couple of times where debris has hit it. Stuff has come up and hit it. And then Tenneco loosen just by a couple little twists of that antenna. You can see a lot of problems go away. the most severe stuff we can take, if we need to, to really diagnose something as all of our monitors have a data logging feature built into it.

Mark:

event.

Zach:

So she would just say, Hey, we're seeing a lot of issues. One, you know, to take a step back, we can look at the date code as well, which I showed you how to, because that's not something we hide from. We will tell our customers how they read the date code on their sensors. If they're three, three and a half years old, chances are, they're just getting weak. but we can actually insert a micro SD card into the side of our pulse and run it through a custom software for. Caught our connect platform. We can actually show you the exact history of all your sensors, their RF signals, which tires were low, which tires were hot and all that information. And from there, we can say from the raw data, we're seeing position, you know, 32, which is the third axle, second tire from left to right. Um, we would recommend changing that sensor.

Mark:

Cool

Zach:

we're, we're really here to help Number one, the shop guy, the shop team shop girl, just so I don't offend anybody, you know, because there are women as industry

Mark:

the shop person.

Zach:

yeah, yeah. The shop person but you know, we're also here to help the drivers. So if, if a driver can do those steps, those basic two, three minute steps, that's gonna cover justice. Any maintenance that really has to be done on our system in general.

Mark:

Yeah, we had some trouble and it was poor rollout and education on my part to our drivers. If you're having an issue with your pressure monitoring system, let's not just ignore it. Unplug it that was happening. Let's address it. It's a, it's an$800 system we've installed in your vehicle to try and help protect the$500 per tire. Plus the downtime where, you know, it's there for you to try and keep you on the road as, as much as possible. Get you where you need to be when you need to be there and get you back home.

Zach:

Yup.

Mark:

It's it's. It's a safety thing for you. So help us do that.

Zach:

Yeah, well, you know, not to mention if they're going down the road and get pulled over and get a deal on T it's faction, you want to make sure you're in you're within FMC USA compliance with regards to your tires, and I'll serve a certain percentage, lower certain PSI, low connection, be a ding against your F from CSA score. So, uh, we've actually had fleets that where they get pulled over, they've actually shown the DOD officer or the trooper, whoever it was. Hey, this is what my current pressures or temperatures are of my tires. And they were able to show that they monitor them and tracking them on. They went about their day, did the rest of their inspection trailer, lights, blinkers. Anything else that may go into it and we're back on the road in no time.

Mark:

very cool. I do have a question. What is inside the sensor for a battery? Is it, something specific for you guys? Are they manual manufactured. Like you're not going down to the grocery store and picking up, watch batteries and

Zach:

no, no, it's a, it's a high end lithium battery. we work in conjunction with our manufacturer and we source, uh, lithium batteries, you know, different chips, which I'm sure you've seen all these chips shortages going on in the country. Trucks and the cell phones. And so we have, you know, we, we were lucky enough to get around that for the most part, chips we have Fords, we have inside each of our sensors. It's, it's almost like a little R2D2 robot. I mean, there's so much that gets tucked down inside there. we source all those tests, home certified. Then our sensor gets built. And then once our sensor goes through the line, what we've also done is each of our sensors is actually reinforced with a potting fluid. It's almost like an enamel app or a proxy. Each of our sensors actually gets injected with this fluid. And what it does is it, is it selected. If I, as everything inside that sensor kind of holds the brains of the sensor. what we have found is the number one enemy of sensors, especially external based is, things like humidity, you know, moisture on the boards, corrosion point, stuff like that. So what we've done is found a way to help Bulletproof that as well. And that was with, customer feedback partner feedback. The help of our manufacturing house are very, very good leadership team here. As far as Jason, Edward, Vanessa, and Jeremy. they helped guide us down that path of reinforcing. But if you, if you were to cut open one of those sensors, there's so many little opponents down inside that thing and every nook and cranny it's it's it's pretty cool to see. Cut open

Mark:

cool. That's very neat. So you said we're one of the few customers that buy direct from you? Um, we do. Some owner operators listened to us. And I know there are a few other fleet owners listen to the podcast. If they were interested in purchasing your product, what would be their best, means to do that?

Zach:

contact me, uh, directly. I can give to dealers and distributors if needed in that territory. Um, a lot of what we do is based geographically. Uh, so for example, in your neck of the woods, and I know whenever we started talking, you'd already had history with our product. We felt like you were grandfather going to the program. So we wanted to take care of you direct. but you know, anyone who wants to contact me, the easiest way to reach me is just to call me, which my direct office line is 8 1 6 9 2 5 0 3 3 5. or they could email me and Zach at pressure pro at us, uh, Zach with an H on the end. So those are the two easiest ways to contact me. And, that way they're not trying to go through a dealer, then the dealer has to call the distributor. They can contact me and I could sort it out for them to make the process really simple.

Mark:

Okay. I'll I'll, uh, be, able to link all your contact info and website in our show notes. So

Zach:

Yeah. Perfect. Yeah, we'd be we'd be happy to the more customers we are and the more customers we're getting, you know, we feel like we're doing a service to the trucking industry because the cost of the tires and fuels and going down any time soon, we positively impact both those, but I like to have toys too. So I got a boat. I got my other toys. So.

Mark:

all right, sir. I do appreciate it. thank you for joining us. And, Uh, we look forward to continuing doing business with you for, for a long time to come

Zach:

Uh, yeah, as, as always, I appreciate everything mark, and you guys always make it so easy for us. So, um, you know, I also want to take another chance, another chance to thank the drivers. I've done it on my LinkedIn a few times. but I want to thank them for keeping this country growing up. It's kinda crazy how you'll see people going down the highway. The, we tell game these truckers and doing all this stuff and they don't realize that if it wasn't for those guys, they wouldn't have anything in their home. So, uh, thank you for being a whole of customer for as long as you have, and, you know, thank you to every driver in your fleet and anyone else who may be listening for everything you all do to get us what we need.

Mark:

We sure do appreciate that. Thanks again.

Zach:

All right, sir. Thank you.

Grace:

that was a great segment with Zach soror. I learned a lot about tires.

Mark:

We didn't talk that much about tires, We talked more about pressure

Grace:

that's involves tires.

Mark:

It involves tires. Next up

Grace:

is the question from the

Mark:

the question from the road, and we're going to do it a little different this time around, the question from the road who to come in from grace Mike, Mike Pawlik and 6 93, uh, sent this question in and when I saw the question, I immediately thought. of Jess Starkey with altar rose freight lines.

Grace:

Where is all Terosa Ray

Mark:

They're out of Calgary, Alberta.

Grace:

Oh my gosh. Some international guests on the podcast.

Mark:

guest on the podcast. I broke her loads to him quite often. he hauls as a matter of fact, bringing down, a Load of tires right now, as we speak actually their tanks, they used to be mining tires, but now they're cattle tanks. he brings them down out of Canada for us. He also brings them all out Canada's for us once in a while, but I knew he'd know the answer to this question. So let's, roll the clip with Jess Starkey from ultra rose freight

Jess:

Just speaking.

Mark:

Jess it's mark.

Jess:

Hello, mark.

Mark:

Did you read, did you read what? my driver.

Jess:

They did. And we get asked that question almost daily.

Mark:

Okay. So here's the question. So everybody else knows. My driver asked, I see many trucks out here on our highways from Canada. Are they only running freight to and from Canada? Or are they in the U S trucking market? Holly and our freight to, and from us locations. Same as we do. If so, are they hiring American drivers to drive their Canadian trucks? So the reason I called Jess Starkey, right. Is that how you say your last. Or is

Jess:

Correct mark. Yep.

Mark:

He's with altar rose freight out of Alberta. Is

Jess:

Yep. We're out of Calgary.

Mark:

Calgary, Alberta. And you've got what, like 20 contractors you're running around.

Jess:

We do. Yeah, we have 20 owner ops.

Mark:

Okay. So the question is, and I know you'll know the answer better than me. What's going on with Canadians coming down here and driving around.

Jess:

we cannot interstate so we can only haul to and from Canada. there's only a couple of exceptions to that is, uh, I believe. Anybody that holds dual citizenship can interstate and status. Natives can also interstate because it is actually to do with immigration and taxes. So we do not have, Native Americans. Well, I mean? I guess status, Uh, natives up here, uh, that holds, I believe it's considered to be a treaty card basically makes them tax-exempt.

Mark:

So it's a tax thing, huh? Is that the reason?

Jess:

Yeah, it's a, it's a us immigration. So it's, I don't think related to anything other than collecting appropriate tax.

Mark:

So it isn't that called CABOTAGE. If like one of our trucks goes up to Canada and hauls from Canada to Canada, or if one of your trucks comes down here, isn't that what the actual technical term is?

Jess:

I am not sure.

Mark:

I think it is. Thank you. If you look up CABOTAGE it'll

Jess:

is that.

Mark:

and it has something to do is shipping. Believe it or not like maritime shipping.

Jess:

Yeah. And there's so many gray areas, you know, people try to tell you if it's just one point and you're in the direction of home, you know, everybody's got their own theory, but when it comes right down to it, no, we cannot point to point. Can.

Mark:

Yeah. Yeah. So once you have a truck, now, if you send a truck to Miami, he's got to come back with a load inbound to Canada, no matter where it's from,

Jess:

A hundred percent. Yeah, Whether we, whether we load them right out of Florida or whether we load them out of Texas, it doesn't matter, but he has to come straight back to Canada.

Mark:

you guys probably ended up with quite

Jess:

We can do multiple pickup.

Mark:

oh,

Jess:

we can do multiple pickups and we can do LTL, but it all has to be destined for Canada. We cannot pick and drop in the U S

Mark:

So, so you can't make a pickup in Dallas and, and drop in Bismarck, North Dakota, and then go on up to Calgary. You can't do that either, right?

Jess:

no, we cannot. No, no. And some people try to pull that card is a bit of a gray area, but it is indefinitely.

Mark:

So are there some unscrupulous carriers who do that?

Jess:

Yes, there definitely is. I mean, you hear that often. it does. It means we have to run a lot of Deadheads sometimes, but it's N some, some guys that don't mind the law. Pick up some freight and close that gap and get a little money for it. But I don't think they ever want to get caught.

Mark:

I suppose, is there a risk of losing your authority to haul down here if you do that? Is that the

Jess:

Yeah, that's my understanding is they will target your authority.

Mark:

All right, buddy. Thanks for thanks again for your time.

Jess:

Yeah. absolutely. Anytime.

Mark:

So I want to thank Jess for humoring me and joining me on a podcast to answer that question. And I've asked grace to do a little research on, hill, not the Beastie boys song. That's actually sabotage. So grace, can you tell us about

Grace:

Cabota. it's a term used for the laws in place that protects domestic shippers from international competition.

Mark:

So, uh Cabota can you do, yeah. What, give us the origin, of

Grace:

the origin of camp. it is borrowed from French because English doesn't have any of its own words.

Mark:

Okay.

Grace:

I'm probably going to botch then. Pronunciation of it, but it's derived from the French word capita, which means to travel along the coast. Assuming they're talking about merchants trading with shipping maritime shipping.

Mark:

So I, I sort of vaguely remember. where the origins of were and it wasn't maritime shipping. Way back when in the 16, 17 hundreds, when that first started international shipping first became a thing. So Kavita's rules are in place to prevent exactly what me and Jess were talking about a Canadian carrier Crum coming down here and hauling freight domestically inside the unit nine states or uh, it's doing the same thing to them. That's why kava Taj rules exist. It Began with international shipping. When someone would pick something up along the coast of France you know, uh, a Spanish flagged ship would picks up and up along the coast of France and deliver it to another French port that was called and they enacted rules to prevent. it. But the EU doesn't,

Grace:

the EU has very relaxed laws on it

Mark:

Yeah, because they're so small these days it's it's way different than it used to be. But, uh, we don't here and I wonder what goes on, like in Asia and Africa,

Grace:

I'm assuming Asia has the same laws. Africa. I'm not quite sure. I know that when America is shipped things from overseas, it has to be hauled up. American ran ships in American built ships. They're very like it. You can't have the parts from any international.

Mark:

any of those sailors are international though. Very few of them are us citizens. Yeah. that's a whole kind of an interesting It is. I mean, it is. Um, It's interesting to me because of the whole shipping logistics. side of sort of fascinates Val probably knows more about that than, than I do. He shipped several containers over to him. well, everybody, this is going to conclude episode 14. We've made it to 14

Grace:

Yeah.

Mark:

Of driver to driver is Stokes, trucking podcast. We sure do appreciate you again, downloading and another episode, make sure to rate and review us, and tell your friends posted on social media, write it on bathroom stalls at truck stops. Listen to driver to driver

Grace:

that's uh, that change of scenery for those stalls. I guess not implying anything.

Mark:

I don't know what we're going to do for the next episode. I think I'm going to have a couple of interviews with a couple of the drivers over the next week or so I do know that sometime in August, we're going to have the Aggie podcast. Go Aggies. Thankfully Bo came over and recorded with us. Me and Mike. And I'm going to get Mike back over here. We're going to record another segment mostly because I want him to talk about his fandom and how like I totally don't like, I'm a, I'm a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. Mike makes me look. like An amateur. He is so into the Aggies and just gets his nuts kicked every year by anyway. So that's some things to look forward to on the podcast. Uh, everybody. Thanks again, please drive safe.

Thank you for listening to driver to driver. Uh, Stokes trucking podcast. For more information on Stokes trucking, please visit our website Stokes trucking.com. You can also learn more about us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at Stokes trucking. The intro and outro music is I can't keep still. The bumper music between segments is fetch me another one, Both performed by the caffeine creek band Driver to driver is a frankfurter studios production