State of the Industry
E1: State of the Industry Podcast with John Elliott: Driver Apprenticeship Program & Gas Tax Holiday
When I was asked to host the “State of the Industry Podcast, with John Elliott,” I was not only honored and excited to say yes but also thrilled to be granted an opportunity to be a part of a regularly scheduled program enlightening and educating viewers and listeners about what’s the current temperature within the transportation industry.
Along with Load One CEO, and recently named Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) Chairman, John Elliott as the primary subject matter expert, we spent a little time addressing questions and looking for answers that pertain to what our audience is most interested in, transportation.
You can watch the full State of the Industry podcast episode right now, just click to watch the video below:
Full Transcript:
Brandon Baxter:
Welcome to the State of the Industry Podcast with John Elliott. I'm your host, Brandon Baxter. Now, this is going to be a monthly series. It's dedicated to discussions pertaining to the trucking industry and featuring commentary by CEO of Load One and current TCA chairman, John Elliott. John, thank you so much for joining me.
John Elliott:
Thanks for having me, Brandon. Glad to be here.
Brandon Baxter:
Fantastic. It's great to have you here and John, let's start off with just something simple, at least maybe for now it's simple, but I know there's a lot of intricacies that go into it. There's obviously been a lot going on for you this past year, which includes your being named chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association. Do us all a favor and just tell us a little bit about that and how that went down and how you're feeling right now.
John Elliott:
Well, I've been a member of the TCA for about 11 or 12 years now where Load One has. Over that time, I became an officer at Large, years ago. And then, you move up through the process. Last year, I was the first vice chair then this year I moved into the chairman's role. It's pretty exciting. It's a very tumultuous time in our history, politically, and so many ways with supply chain issues and this that I don't think I unfortunately picked the easiest year to be the chairman. I'm not very good at picking lottery numbers either so that's okay. You get what you get.
Brandon Baxter:
No, that's true. That's true. And that says a lot about what you've already done and what you've accomplished, obviously being the CEO of Load One, but stepping into this role, talk a little bit about what you've done so far to this point?
John Elliott:
It's been an exciting four or five months now since I became chairman, we've had a lot of exciting things just yesterday. I came home from the TCA Refrigerated Conference that was up in Traverse City, Michigan met with a lot of great vendors and refrigerated truckload carriers and learned a little bit about their parts of the industry and what their struggles were and the things they're fighting from a mission regulations and retaining good drivers and things like that.
John Elliott:
Previous to that last month, we had the safety and security meeting that was a great meeting with huge attendance. And then it's great to see people back it shows and that more and more but one of the bright, most interesting part was just two weeks into becoming chairman was invited to the White House and that was an experience in itself so it's great. I mean, I've got to talk to a lot of people, got a lot of Zoom meetings, a lot of this and that, but to represent our industry, to fight for our industry, be able to speak at events like Rachel and the expedited expo and that and talk to people and get feedback and understand what our industry needs and that so that we can help, I can help lead an organization that helps to shape those things.
Brandon Baxter:
That's fantastic. I love to hear that. And I know our listeners and our viewers like to hear that too, back up the truck, just a quick second here, because you mentioned, right off the rip, you were out there in DC. Talk a little bit about your trip to Washington, how that went, what was discussed?
John Elliott:
Oh, yeah. So, yes, right out the gate, I got to go up to the White House two weeks into my chairmanship. I was there to represent the TCA alongside of the ATA and other transportation related organizations. It was a pretty exciting thing. I respect the office of the president greatly and to be on the White House Lawn, representing our industry and seeing semi trucks parked there was really a great thing. That day we were talking about the apprenticeship, the driver apprentice program, the government rolling out that we had helped to shape our industry had helped to shape. And that's great pathways for drivers to get in this industry, very interesting, got to meet and listen to Pete Buttigieg, our secretary of transportation speak as well as president Biden speak on trucking and apparently his career in trucking that came up again and number of other things involving our industry and all pretty amazing experience.
Brandon Baxter:
Oh my gosh. I'm sure it was. I couldn't imagine being in a spot where there's really you had a spotlight on you for that day. And now I know, and you mentioned it before, how things are in turmoil in this country right now? And it's pretty obvious most people understand this. One of the things that recently happened with you, and I want to say within the last three weeks to a month or so, is that you actually had an appearance on Fox News in which the discussion had been brought up in terms of president Biden's gas tax holiday. For certain purposes, we can't show that clip right now, we're going to include that in our show notes so any viewer or listener can go into those show notes and listen to that, but talk a little bit about your experience and your feelings on a proposed gas tax holiday.
John Elliott:
I hate to be critical of the president, but I have to be here.
Brandon Baxter:
Sure.
John Elliott:
It's a gimmick. It's nothing more than a gimmick, 18 or 24 cents a gallon. Something that results in the average household being probably $10 to $12 a month, if a 100% of that tax was really passed through to the consumer is a bandaid on a terrible chest wound. What people need is real energy policy, we need fuel prices to come back down $2 a gallon, not 18 cents for a period of a month or two. At the same time that tax money was what goes into the highway trust fund. At the time that we have infrastructure problems in this country and we're in terrible shape. Now, one thing we have, our government has done we've passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which was bipartisan and great thing to have happen. Now, inflation and fuel prices went up dramatically.
John Elliott:
So, that 1.2 is probably only worth one, maybe even less. I mean, a mile of asphalt road is made of oil. The cost of that commodity went up dramatically, the cost of labor has gone up dramatically. So we're at a time when you're already seeing that money is not going to go as far as originally envisioned the strip out another $15 to $18 billion out of it is just silly. Literally, you're just trying to appease people and make it look like you did something versus solid energy policy. As a country, we need to be energy independent, we need to be an energy exporter and I'm all for green energy, but there has to be a balanced logical approach that economically works and protects the security of this country at the same time without hurting the American consumer.
Brandon Baxter:
And let's stick on that for a quick second, John, because I want to pick your brain on it. Do you feel it's possible to create a practical and balanced agenda in terms of that energy independence? If it's a balance between what we're used to obviously fossil fuel and the green energy side of things, how do you feel about that? Is there a possibility that could actually work someday?
John Elliott:
Well, I think so. I think we have to... I would say, our government's incentivizing green energy and that's good to a point you can only throw so much money at something until it's economically viable and that, but it can be done. I believe there can be a balanced approach these things take time. We can't put electric semis on the road tomorrow. Our infrastructure will not support if 20% of the cars won't electric right now, that's an issue.
John Elliott:
I mean, I was talking to a vice president of the power company here in Detroit about this and the need for more infrastructure and transformers and hardening the infrastructure. And he told me it's not electric cars that are the big issue right now, that's still a problem to come. Legalized marijuana has created so many large grow operations that consume huge amounts of power that is actually the greatest consumer of all the transformers and hardware that they're trying to get into the system. I never would've imagined that. And it was pretty taken back by it. But again, it's another problem for our industry is the legalization of marijuana in so many places/
Brandon Baxter:
And that's an interesting thing, too, John, as you and I have gotten to know each other over the years, and you're aware, I've spent time as a recruiter, I've worked with several different trucking companies in that respect, working with drivers who have had to deal and I'm just going to talk about that for a second the marijuana issue. Drivers having to go through the SAP Program to try and continue their careers. It's tough. I mean, obviously, you have to qualify a driver based on certain regulations that DOT has but it's not always that easy and we're looking at a 20 year driver shortage, talk about your experience in that period of time where has it been hard for you to find drivers or recruit drivers for your company?
John Elliott:
Oh, for sure. I mean, I think we've done pretty well compared to a lot of our peers in the industry. We've always focused more on retention than I'm recruiting, but the marijuana situation just makes the situation harder and worse. Now, on the other hand, we want good safe drivers so you look at like the drug and alcohol clearing house, that's a great advancement for our industry to help safety and promote safety. And it's taking tens of thousands of drivers off the road at a time that we're already short, but you know what, I'd rather take one bad driver off the road than have one more driver in the system.
John Elliott:
So, it's a double edged sword. It's great for safety, but at a time when we're shortage drivers at supply chain crisis and that unfortunately, it puts fuel on that fire. So, there's not really a lot of winds in the whole thing. People have a lot of different opinions on marijuana and that I tell my people simply my opinion or their opinions don't matter where federally regulated industry and we have to operate under the rules and the rules are what they are plain and simple.
Brandon Baxter:
You make several excellent points there. And I think that's something that sometimes is lost on people, whether it's just the general public or drivers going back to that idea again for a second. And you mentioned earlier in your meeting at the White House, you were there to talk about that pilot program for younger drivers, individuals who might be 18 to 20 years old, they can get their CDL, but they can only drive within the state in which they are employed or in which they live. Talk a little bit about how that process is coming along and if you feel like that could be a benefit or not.
John Elliott:
We're starting a pilot program for the 18, they're under 21, I guess, the 18 to 21 year old driver. And I have a lot of mixed feelings on this. I'm a big safety advocate, but we don't have data that says they're bad drivers because we didn't have them in the fleets, but yet we have interstate, if you're looking... I live in Detroit, an interstate driver in Detroit or intrastate said could pick up a load in Detroit. You could run all the way up across the Mackinac bridge, across upper peninsula, 7 - 800 miles, maybe another truck relay and drive 7 - 800 miles back to Detroit. But yet he can't go 50 miles from Detroit to Toledo. So unfortunately, the policies lack a little bit of logic and that... I was ex military and I mean, we'll put an 18 year old into a multimillion dollar M2 Abrams tank and send them out but it goes back to training and that's we train these young men in the military for this job.
John Elliott:
Well, this program has extensive training requirements in it, as well as equipment requirements, such as automatic braking systems, lane departure, adaptive crews, things like that to help make sure that they're operating the safest equipment available on the road or the most modern, safe equipment on the road. So it'll be an interesting thing to see how the program works out, hoping it's successful. You know, I think for a young person that wants to join our industry is very frustrating to graduate high school at 18 and say, now I got to find something to do for three years until I can do what my dream is. And oftentimes what happens is they get in construction. They get in retail, they get in whatever different business they get into. They don't come back because they've moved advanced three years down into that career.
John Elliott:
So we shouldn't be the career of second choice. I mean, I think there's only two industries in this country that are age limited like that. And it's being a commercial truck driver or working in a nuclear power plant. And I'm not sure of the logic of why you can't be a truck driver.
Brandon Baxter:
Having been a recruiter, myself, John, and again, we've talked about this before, and I want to stick to this for a second just because I think it is important to talk about if this pilot program does end up working and let's say it goes into effect where we're drivers who are 18 coming out of school can actively apply for their CDL. They can drive for companies over the road, rather than intrastate, as you pointed out, how does the industry reach somebody of that age? I think, in my own experience, I believe that is an issue that you're trying to sell an industry that hasn't always been glorified in a specific way. And I don't mean that as a knock on trucking or on transportation at all, it's just you're trying to reach a younger group that's coming out of school. Some of them out there, they might choose as you pointed out that this is their career and what they'd like to do, but really how does the industry reach those individuals?
John Elliott:
I think the image of the American truck driver is done better lately. I think the pandemic helped people realize that the heroes they were... When I was a kid, they were considered the nights of the highway and then, I believe the respect level is higher than what it was, but we need to capture that and capitalize on it and let that go back to the way it was. I think, if this program moves forward, I think we'll be able to start to work with school systems, to promote education in the schools, vocational programs, even in high schools for seniors in that I think a lot of kids are starting to realize that going to college and spending a $100,000 or $150,000 for a career that is going to take 15 years, 20 years to break even on that investment, if they do break even at all is not the route for everyone.
John Elliott:
Skilled trades are an excellent route, trucking, just being one of them. I mean, for a relatively low dollar amounts or possibly free, a student can get trained, get a CDL, get a career. I mean, making better money than someone coming out of college is making for years. So, I think the common sense approach and the fiscal aspect is also something that's becoming more reality. We were all guilty of it. Everybody's wanted my kid to go to college and now you realize not every kid's meant to go to college and with the skyrocketing cost of that education, it doesn't always even make financial sense anymore.
Brandon Baxter:
You make a lot of great points there and that's something that I think viewers and listeners alike when they hear or they see this podcast or they hear our conversation about this. I think it's going to make them pause and give them an opportunity to really think about maybe not just what's best for them, but as you pointed out what's best for those that are coming out or coming up through school that being said, and if you don't mind, I'm going to try and transition over to your company Load One. What are you guys doing right now to cater to that incoming group of driver, talk a little bit about your organization and how you guys are currently looking for maybe additions to the fleet be it drivers or owner operators.
John Elliott:
We've had a great growth trajectory over the years. I think anybody in the expedite industry has been around the while has watched us come up and emerge in to be one of the knock on wood or the industry leaders in that as a carrier and we've done that by a lot of reasons. We've had a good focus, a great team of people, we focus more on retention than recruiting, we've always tried to be a driver forward company and that goes all the way down to our technology, we've worked very hard to put technology in our driver's hands that none of our competition has to help make our own operators more successful than the competition, but giving them intelligent data that they can actionably make decisions on and enhance their bottom lines and it's realtime and that's the difference.
John Elliott:
I mean, it's one thing I've seen people but here's a heat map from last quarter. In this business, that means absolutely nothing. I mean, I remember 10 years ago I talked to my owner operators and that and they'd be like, they would keep notebooks of when they went to certain places, where they got their next loads out try to triangulate and figure out. And I'm like, "You're looking at last year's data or two years ago's data." I'm like, "What if we could give you this something that's real time or you could look at the last week, last 30 days and that?"
John Elliott:
I have to give photos to our technology team. They have just crushed it and it's been great. It's been great for our fleet, it's been great for our dispatch and operations teams because I mean, it used to be the classic every driver would call in, "Hey, what are you seeing?" Well, that dispatcher saw what he saw. He was making his best educated guesstimate. Now, everybody sees everything so it's a much more holistic view. The driver seeing everything that the dispatcher is really seeing in that and they can make their own choices and their own decisions and really guide their own ship even better.
Brandon Baxter:
To me John, that's very exciting because I know just as you pointed out the way it has traditionally been or even perceived for a lot of drivers, whether they're... Again, drivers or owner operators with the company, now your organization Load One, your company specifically operates. I shouldn't say specifically because I don't want to make any assumptions but you guys operate typically in expedite, correct?
John Elliott:
Yes. Majority of our fleet is expedite OTR. We serve all 48 states in Ontario directly with our fleet. We have both US and on Canadian based owner operators and drivers.
Brandon Baxter:
So, John, as you guys, as Load One operates in expedite, talk a little bit about the difference between what is expedite as opposed to your typical transportation setup.
John Elliott:
Yeah. Typical trucking companies operate on much softer schedules. The freight is not normally as time critical, time sensitive. There are a lot of dedicated lanes, there's head hauls, there's back hauls, dedicated trips. It's much easier. Often trucks are planned two, three, our loads in advance because loads may be booked week, two weeks in advance. Expedite is much more. I call it the ambulance of traffic. It's your last minute, your time critical, it's your oops we need it now kind of great. So, our trucks generally never know where they're going next. Sometimes they'll have a pre-plan, but the majority of the time, no. And that, because again, nobody wants to plan to make mistakes. And unfortunately, in our business, there's a high percentage of things that are mistakes. Whether it be a quality control, an inventory problem, a production problem.
John Elliott:
Now Brandon, there are some schedule events like high value things like concerts or we're meeting aircraft or flying in and that stuff from overseas or domestically. So there are some things that are planned, but generally it's ad hoc, it's spot market all the time and it's more exciting I think by far you're going to go different places, you're going to see a lot of different things, haul a lot of different freight versus saying, "Yeah, I haul plastic pellets and point A to point B and then I haul bins back and I do it four times a week, every week around the calendar and that."
John Elliott:
But the compensation level and expedite tends to be much higher than standard trucking because again, it's the much more sensitive service and it's a much more demanding service, but I think it's an exciting opportunity for drivers and owner operators who like to get out and want to go see the country, do different things, meet a lot of different people and enjoy the experience. If you're somebody that wants to be home every night and likes the same thing, it would not be the choice of industries.
Brandon Baxter:
And over the years, John, you and I have both talked with a lot of different people who might have been stepping out of that traditional trucking sense into expedite for the first time. I know what I've said with some of these people and I know the common belief is that recruiters lie. I know, we've all heard that, but at the same time as you just pointed out, you want to make sure that the drivers have full understanding what they're getting into, especially if they're making that jump from your typical trucking sense into the world of expedite. Talk a little bit about that.
John Elliott:
I think so for sure. Yeah, recruiters tend to have a reputation in that, but you know what, we would rather be upfront fully brutally because you know what, it takes time, effort, there's an expense to bringing a driver on putting them through the training and all that and to have them come back two, three weeks later and say, this is not for me. Well, we turned a numbers, all we did and we wasted too much time and time is everything, especially an expedite. So there's no reason to waste time the money to give that driver a bad taste and that because you didn't fully explain the experience because you know what, he's going to go out and he's going to talk to other people and like, "Well I was there, but I didn't like it. Now, the next person might loved it but as soon as they hear that, they may not try it and that.
John Elliott:
So, I think honesty just a better upfront policy, better to be brutal about it. I would promise somebody 99, even if I was going to give them 100 and that because I'd rather them think they got 1% more than what they were promised than the promise on 101 and give them 99 you know if that happens then say I got cheated by 2% kind of thing. So again, it's always been our philosophy at Load One to operate that way and knock on wood. It's working out so far.
Brandon Baxter:
I think that's awesome. And, John, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to educate listeners and viewers on what Load One is, your role in the industry, it sounds like a lot of great things are happening for you. And obviously, with this podcast series that we're going to be running for the next several months, we invite listeners and viewers to comment, let us know what you'd like, maybe what you'd like to hear us discuss perhaps on the next episode and we'll be sure to get into that. And we know there's a lot of information out there, John, you pointed it out before information and education is key, whether you're a new driver coming up and getting into trucking and expedite for the first time or maybe you're that grizzled vet that is just looking for a new beginning somewhere ss…
John Elliott:
Well, like I said, it's not where you started it's where you finish they always say and Brandon, I've had drivers say before Load One where the last logo they ever need.
Brandon Baxter:
I love to hear that. Love to hear that.
Brandon Baxter:
Well, thank you so much for joining us for State Of The Industry with John Elliott. I've been your host, Brandon Baxter. Join us again next month as John and I are going to continue the discussion, all topics transportation.
And don’t forget to check out Load 1 – www.load1.com – maybe it’s the last logo you’ll ever need!