May 22, 2024 • 47 mins
This week on The Bryan Truck Line Show, we’ll kick it off by bringing you a comprehensive report about construction and closures on the interstates in Michigan. After that, we’ll bring you an employee spotlight segment with Paul Hillman. Paul works the overnight shift on the docks and has spent many years with Bryan as both a driver and a dock worker.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Brian Truck Line show.
Episode eight.
I am your host Marcus.
So happy to have you here with me today.
Uh Today,
we are going to do an employee spotlight from somebody working over at the docks at Brian Truck Line and I will get to that here very soon.
Uh Don't worry,
I don't want to spoil the surprise for you though.
(00:20):
I am gonna ask you real quick for a favor.
Click,
subscribe on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast on.
It helps us out greatly.
Uh Let's just see who's listening,
not necessarily exactly who you are,
but let's just see where you're listening from,
how long you're actually listening to the podcast for and uh how many downloads we've got?
So it really helps us,
we learn things from those metrics a lot.
(00:42):
Like we hope you learn things from this podcast.
So a like or a subscribe is great or if you feel like you'd like to leave us a review,
uh whatever podcast platform you're listening on,
either we'll have like a five star rating or a review that you can leave us.
Uh I want your honesty.
I wanna hear everything about what you think about the Brian Truck Line show,
so definitely interact with us there.
(01:04):
And,
uh,
thanks for all the support at the outset here.
We're eight episodes in.
It's been great and,
uh,
we're only getting better as we move forward into the future.
So,
if you want to be on an episode of the Brian Truck Line show,
or you would like to hear something specific,
make sure to drop by,
tell your dispatchers,
tell your driver managers,
uh tell Judy over in recruiting,
(01:25):
tell Becky and safety,
you can pretty much say it to any of them.
They'll make sure that I get my hands on it.
So before we jump into the employee spotlight on the last episode of the Brian Truck Line show,
we gave you a rundown of road closures in the state of Ohio.
I was told by a Brian driver,
they said,
look,
uh you know,
traffic reports are great,
(01:46):
but can you maybe focus them in the Ohio?
Michigan,
Indiana area?
Maybe a little Illinois as well because that's where we're doing a lot of driving.
So last time we brought you Ohio,
this time,
we are going to bring you uh Michigan and I've got a bunch of road closures here in Michigan of the single lane,
double lane,
(02:07):
total,
triple lane variety here.
So,
uh and all of these construction projects either started April 30th or we start sometime within the next couple of weeks I will,
I will read you dates on those as well.
So you guys can know what to be looking out for and where.
So let's kick it off on I 96 southbound I 96 ramp to BS Highway exit 36 intermittently closed for destruction for construction.
(02:34):
That's in Allegan County.
That is a total closure running from the 15th of May to the 17th of May.
Uh So pretty much wrap that one up there.
Uh Let's see here.
We've got I 96 eastbound I 96 ramp to southbound us 131 closed for construction.
That's Kent County.
That is a total closure that will run from April 30th through May 24th.
(02:59):
Uh Let's see going down the list here a little bit.
How about northbound,
southbound I 96 from Central Avenue to Coloma road lane?
Uh That's closed for construction.
That's just a single lane.
Uh It's out there in Baron County May 6th through May 28th.
So look out for that one.
Here's a long one.
Ok.
(03:19):
I 96 northbound,
southbound I 96 from mile marker eight to mile marker 10.
The left lane is closed for construction in Van Buren County.
That construction is going to go from uh March 18th all the way through October 10th.
So that's a big one.
You've probably already seen it at this point.
Uh Another big one out in Oakland County,
(03:39):
northbound I 275 ramp to eastbound I 696 lane is closed for construction.
That one's running from February 25th to November 1st.
So,
uh,
obviously we got a lot going on out there.
Uh Make sure to,
uh,
to keep your head on a swivel.
Uh,
one that won't start until May 28th is in Wayne County.
(04:01):
It's a double lane shutdown.
Southbound I 275 from Palmer Road to I 94 2 lanes closed again,
May 28th through June 10th.
Uh,
we've got one that ends here on May 24th.
This is out in Wayne County.
It's a double lane closure.
Northbound I 275 from Copper Nick Road to mile marker 14 I 96 right two lanes closed for construction out there.
(04:29):
Uh,
another one out of Oakland County,
I 275 northbound,
uh,
ramp two WB I 96 westbound I 96 sorry left lane is closed for construction out there.
Uh How about a few more?
Clinton County?
I 69 westbound from us 127 to old us.
(04:50):
27 has a single lane closed for construction running from May 6th through August 22nd.
The total shutdown out in Genesee County eastbound I 69 ramp to Irish closed for permit work.
That one's going from April 8th all the way to June 30th.
Uh I 69 eastbound at us 126 closed for construction in Clinton County.
(05:13):
That is a total closure from May 8th to June 7th.
Another total closure out in Clinton County westbound I 69 at us.
127.
Again,
uh,
that one's running from May 8th to June 7th.
Clinton County's got a single lane shutdown westbound I 69 from Webster Road to I 69 CD lane closed for construction.
(05:37):
That's just a single lane.
May 6th through August 22nd and again in Clinton County,
May 6th through August 22nd.
Eastbound I 69 from Old Us 27 to us.
127 has a single road closed for construction.
That's a lot of the ones that are gonna run long for you on the interstates in Michigan.
(05:57):
I had to pare it down a little bit because there was 15 pages of construction.
I don't know what's going on in Michigan.
They got a lot of back roads or something and they like to close every single one of them down pretty much every year is what I,
what I've learned here.
So this mostly concentrates on your interstates in Michigan.
I 96 I 275.
(06:18):
Uh,
there was one on I 375 but I didn't mention it because it is over on May 24th,
which will be shortly after this podcast drops,
but that one's in Wayne County.
Uh,
it's Southbound I 375 from Larned Street to westbound Jefferson Avenue.
They've got a special event out there.
So that's why that one's just running looks like for a long weekend,
(06:39):
maybe a memorial day type thing you guys wanna hear about more traffic from more States?
Let me know.
I'm always available for you to reach out to if you're a driver and you've already got my phone,
I gave out a lot of business cards when we were there for the launch of this podcast.
So if there's something you want to hear on the podcast,
you've got my number and my email address,
feel free to either text me or shoot me an email.
(07:01):
Uh,
I'd love to hear your ideas.
I'd love to talk to you about coming on the show.
Uh,
it's all a lot of fun,
man.
We have a good time in here.
We get some good information out.
We talk about the things that,
uh,
are happening around the trucking industry from time to time.
And,
uh,
mostly I just love chatting with drivers,
man.
I,
I mean,
I don't,
I haven't really told you guys that much about this,
but as a kid,
(07:22):
my dad was a manager of sawmills.
And so I spent a lot of weekends sitting out at the log yard in his truck talking to people on the CB.
Now,
I don't think I was supposed to be.
I think that the,
uh,
log truck drivers in the rural Oregon County that I grew up in probably were a bit sick of me by day two.
(07:42):
But I love to sit there and listen to those guys talk.
And a lot of times I was too afraid to say anything because,
you know,
they're talking,
they're truck drivers,
they got stuff going on.
They've got a lot to say.
And,
uh,
the conversations were interesting every now and then I would chime in and they would,
uh,
almost immediately tell me to get off the line because I was a child.
Uh,
but I did really enjoy this.
(08:03):
And so it's kind of a,
a cool thing that I ended up in a job where I get to talk to truck drivers for a living because,
uh,
I,
I've always been fascinated by the industry.
I've never thought that I could do the job.
The big rig,
it,
it scares me,
man.
I'm,
I'm timid about it.
The largest thing I've ever towed is a 27 ft Paracel boat on three axles.
(08:24):
It was very easy to back up compared it to,
uh,
some of the smaller trailers I've tugged around,
but I'll tell you the weight pulling that thing up a hill and then going down the other side of the hill.
That's where I really developed a degree of respect for truck drivers that I never had.
And that degree of respect has only ticked up since I've been podcasting for truck drivers.
(08:45):
So,
uh,
really appreciate any type of information that you want to share with me.
Like I said,
if you've got my cell phone number if you got me email,
send it directly to me.
If you don't have those things,
you can either source the phone number in the email from somebody there in the office or you can just tell your driver,
uh,
your,
your driver manager,
your dispatcher,
uh,
Becky or Judy,
let them know that you're looking to get in touch with me and they will send you my way.
(09:09):
All right.
Ok.
So it's employee spotlight time here on the Brian Truck Line show.
And I'm very excited about this next uh person that we're having on because I was told by a ranking member of the company.
Let's just put it that way.
I don't want to call anybody out here,
but I was told that this gentleman is mission critical in two very important missions at Brian Truck Line and B and H.
(09:34):
So,
uh without further ado,
we're gonna get our employee spotlight on here,
talk to him for a little bit,
find out what he's got going on and exactly why he's mission critical for the operations at Brian Truck Line and B and H,
let's get to it less than truckload,
more than trucking.
This is the Brian Truck Line show from Northwest Ohio to wherever you are with your host,
(10:00):
Marcus Bridges.
Bless,
bless,
bless.
We're r got a couple of rolling roadblocks you might want to watch out for Ohio.
Bike week is still going on in Sandusky through the end of the month,
the 31st and uh NASCAR is gonna be in Madison,
(10:24):
Illinois on the second for the enjoy Illinois 300.
Y'all.
Be careful out there.
I'll catch you on the flip flop.
Ok?
We've got an employee spotlight here for you next on the Brian Truck line show.
And I'm honored to be joined by dock worker and driver Paul Hillman.
(10:47):
Paul.
Thank you so much for the time.
How are you doing today?
Very good.
And you're welcome.
Well,
we really appreciate having you here.
Um The reason that we wanted to do an employee spotlight with you is I was actually talking to uh to Zach um Zach Dean,
of course,
and he told me we were just talking about all sorts of different employees and Zach has good things to say about everybody.
(11:10):
Uh And,
and as I was taking notes,
one of the notes that he said about you is he said,
Paul is mission critical to LTL and Westway LTL.
And I thought,
hey,
that's a great starting right there.
So describe your role to me a little bit,
Paul because right before we came on here,
you said,
look,
I'm kind of the jack of all trades.
I'd do anything that needs to be done.
(11:31):
So what is the,
what is the role that you fill at Brian Truck Line?
Uh What is it comprised of Paul?
Well,
I uh my main job is to work the overnight shift midnight on the dock and I take care of unloading our line haul trailers and loading up the city pedals for every morning for the guys.
(11:54):
I also shuttle a trailer up into Michigan to one of our guys that works out of a remote location and I do some customer pickups in the morning as needed.
Ok.
So you really are kind of the jack of all trades there.
So,
were you a driver before you kind of took over this role?
Yes,
I uh driven truck my entire adult life.
(12:17):
And uh most of which in the LTL industry home every day,
home,
every other day.
And I uh I just wanted to come off the road.
I had enough driving lots of craziness going on out there today and I kinda had my fill.
Sure.
Was there any one thing that kind of was the straw that broke the camel's back when you finally decided that you were gonna come off the road full time.
(12:44):
Oh,
it was a combination of plenty of things.
Most of my career I spent running across the Ohio turnpike and the Indiana Toll Road and there's just,
like I said,
a lot of craziness going on out there.
And,
uh I'm kind of one of the old school guys and the industry is constantly evolving and uh,
(13:05):
but it's time for the younger guys to take over what I was doing.
Sure was the,
was the transition from because I,
I'm just assuming here Paul that you were,
you were driving during the time that they transitioned from paper logs to electronic logs.
Is that correct?
And how was that transition?
Because when I hear a lot of drivers that tell me they're old school truckers,
(13:28):
that seems to be one sticking point with a lot of them where they say,
man,
I,
I really just never kind of got used to this.
I liked it the way it used to be.
How,
what are your thoughts there?
It was a little challenging for me.
I'm not,
uh,
you know,
I'm older and electronics and I don't always get along.
I think my biggest adjustment was trying to get used to the computer in the truck and uh how to take care of that.
(13:53):
Sure.
It's always seemed a little bit,
uh,
it's,
it's kind of a double edged sword having a computer in the truck because the whole idea is like,
don't look at that thing.
Don't be playing with that thing while you're rolling down the road,
but then they kind of put it in there and it's like you kinda have to play with it from time to time when you're rolling down the road,
make sure that everything's where it should be.
Correct.
Correct.
(14:14):
Another thing with the electronic logs when it comes to us,
older guys,
uh they,
they've made the electronic logs into a one size fits all and each different part of the industry,
it may not work that.
Well,
um,
you know,
a guy that's running from Maine to Los Angeles.
(14:36):
Yeah,
this is perfect,
a perfect regulation for him.
Some of us that work in the LTL industry.
Well,
it,
it poses a challenge with the electronic logs and it probably seems like a little bit more work than what it's worth,
I would imagine.
Mhm.
(14:56):
Yep.
A lot of drivers also,
you can recognize what your limitations are and this electronic log is just set in stone your hours and,
uh,
um,
you get up against that 14th hour and you've still got some more work to do if you're a good driver,
you know,
(15:16):
can you do it or not?
You know,
your limitations?
So,
if that makes any sense.
Yeah.
No,
it totally does.
And I'm interested to know about when you made the transition.
You said that's it.
I'm kind of done dealing with this.
It's time for a younger guard to step in.
Uh,
did you have trouble adjusting to?
(15:37):
Well,
I mean,
you said you work overnight,
so,
was the schedule hard to adjust to,
was just the,
the day in day out,
hard to adjust to or did you take to the new role pretty quickly?
I,
I took to the new role pretty quickly.
I have worked nights just about my entire life.
That's kind of another reason I took the job that was open and I like working nights and,
(15:59):
uh,
the transition was great.
It was kind of funny not being on the road all night long though.
It took me a little while getting used to that,
but I liked it.
Did you find the stress level relaxed a little bit?
Yeah,
I can imagine,
man.
I,
you know,
the stresses that drivers deal with out there and,
and this is,
I mean,
(16:19):
you could even go down to,
uh,
you know,
the,
the light duty,
the guys driving the light duty or cement trucks or bus drivers,
anybody that's driving in a commercial,
uh in a commercial sense out there,
the stress is just overbearing and,
and the fact that so many people can deal with it so well,
is very commendable to me because a lot of the stress I feel like kind of comes from a place that you can't control.
(16:43):
Yup,
traffic,
uh traffic jams,
bad drivers,
all of that just,
it can take a toll on you.
And after so many years,
I just decided that was enough.
Now,
how many years were you a driver for Paul?
Do you have a number in your head?
Well,
I started driving in the summer of 1980 I took a few years,
(17:07):
a couple of years off did a,
did another thing for a couple of years shortly after I started driving and then came right back to it.
So all my adult life and it's,
it's in the blood,
it sounds like.
Yep.
Yep.
From the time even I remember back when I was a child,
you know,
everybody's got ideas on what they wanna do.
(17:28):
And,
uh,
from the time I can remember I just always wanted to be a truck driver.
Nothing else.
Well,
that's cool.
That's cool.
You got to live your dream then and I'd do it all over again if I had the choice.
That's awesome.
That's great.
I'd love to hear that from somebody Paul because it means that,
you know,
nobody wants to get through an entire professional career and be living with regret.
(17:52):
So to know that you were happy in that role.
Uh I,
I,
that just makes me,
uh,
pleased to hear from you.
And,
and can I ask you also,
how long have you been with,
with Brian truck lines right now?
I just hit my two year anniversary,
but I worked for them for four years in the late eighties into the early nineties and another four years in the late nineties into the early two thousands.
(18:18):
Ok,
great.
So you've kind of had a snapshot of the different iterations of what Brian's been over the years.
The one thing that's remained constant is it's a family owned company.
And,
uh that speaks a lot for me after working for a couple of the largest,
uh LP L companies in the industry,
(18:39):
uh,
working for the family company is much better,
much more relaxed.
Uh A lot nicer,
yeah,
just better quality of life.
It sounds like,
you know,
I hear a lot from drivers when they're working for big companies,
they say,
well,
at the big companies,
I feel like a number and at a company like BT L,
I feel like a person,
(19:00):
any truth to that.
Yes,
very much so.
And,
uh,
locally,
you know,
when I worked for the large LP L carriers,
um,
you know,
your local management knew who you were but there,
everything was strictly by the book.
Um,
um,
you know,
no personal.
(19:22):
You didn't feel like there was any personal attention.
You just came in and did your job and plugged away every day.
And uh here at Bryan it's a little more relaxed.
No,
it's a lot more relaxed and uh uh I just enjoy coming to work every night.
Sure.
No,
I feel like somebody,
you know,
when I and you and I got to talk a lot when I was at the podcast launch for Brian and,
(19:45):
and I've gotten to have a lot of conversations with people like that kind of just candid conversations where we're not on record and they're just kind of speaking from the heart.
And I feel like it,
it Brian if you needed to call somebody say,
hey,
can you go let my dog out or you can,
you,
can you pick up my kid from school?
Can you do one of these things that the general,
(20:06):
uh you know,
time flow of the day might not allow me to,
so somebody from Brian's going to step up and do that for you.
I don't think you could ask for that or even pay for it at some of these larger companies.
No,
I,
I don't believe so either.
And,
uh,
even if,
uh,
if you have to be working and there's something you have to do and you're in a convenient spot,
(20:31):
the company has no problem with allowing you to do it.
And those types of concessions are,
are huge from a quality of life standpoint because,
you know,
if you're breaking your back for somebody at work,
you wanna know that they're gonna break their back for you too.
Should that day ever come?
Yep.
Just,
uh,
an example of something similar to that one night my,
(20:53):
my daughter was pregnant about ready to have her son and she called me at work at about three.
Ami was up on the dock and said,
I'm trying to get a hold of Tammy,
my wife,
her mom,
uh,
because I'm going into labor.
And so I was able to just drop everything,
jump in my car.
I only live five minutes from work and ran home,
(21:16):
woke my wife up and said she's having her baby.
You need to get over there.
So,
and then went back to work and if you're with a big company that's probably not going to happen,
never.
I mean,
there might be the exception to the rule,
but that's definitely not the,
uh,
the standard operating procedure,
I would imagine.
And,
(21:36):
and I,
I love to hear stories like that.
I'm always glad when,
when a Brian employee shares stories like that because,
you know,
it's,
it might not have happened to every employee at this point where you've been working for Brian and everything's just been great and you haven't had one of these sort of to emergencies or something where you got to drop everything and be somewhere.
But the people that are listening to this podcast that are employees at Brian can take solace in the fact that,
(22:02):
hey,
if this does happen,
if something goes wrong in your life,
Brian's gonna be there for you.
So,
Paul,
I wonder,
can you tell me,
you told me about one thing that remained constant there and we just talked a lot about it is that the family owned environment and the family aspect and just the feeling of community and culture that goes on there,
Brian.
But what are some of the things that have changed over the course of the eighties to the nineties and two thousands to now?
(22:28):
Uh you know,
halfway into the 20 twenties,
what,
what types of,
of different things have you noticed over your three different stints with Brian truck line?
Well,
equipment,
of course,
the equipment's been upgraded um substantially,
of course,
that's industry wide,
the freight in the LTL part.
(22:49):
Well,
even in the truckload division,
our uh our freights changed.
We're not,
uh,
you know,
when I was here in the eighties,
we had different customers and a different base.
Our freight has changed location.
When I first started in 1980 we were in a small terminal in Butler,
Indiana where we ran the LTL division out of older building.
(23:14):
It was in good shape but uh just kind of not set up the way we needed it.
And then in the nineties,
the LTL division moved over into the location in Brian,
which was a very small terminal and uh kind of challenging to get all the dock work done,
especially the West Way LP L on Friday nights.
(23:35):
And then in the,
I think it was 1999 they completed the new LTL terminal right there on a corner in Montpelier.
We moved into there.
Originally,
it was only 14 dock doors.
Um It was great,
set up perfectly for what we needed to do.
And then after I left the company in early two thousands,
(23:57):
they expanded our dock to 30 doors,
which,
uh you know,
it's set up perfectly for the kind of work we do and,
and sometimes we got,
we possibly could use a few more doors,
but we managed to,
to get everything done with what we have.
That's great.
That's great.
So would you call the,
(24:18):
the step up from the very first facility to uh where you're at now?
Kind of world changing?
I mean,
it sounds like going from 14 doors to 30 is,
is kind of a crazy like double up of the amount of uh of things or trucks that you can back in.
So I imagine that when that,
when you came back and you're looking at 30 doors,
you were probably celebrating a little bit.
(24:40):
Yeah.
Yes,
I was,
I thought this is great and like I say,
this,
this terminal building is,
is set up perfectly.
You know,
it's more or less a cookie cutter,
uh,
uh,
design from the entire LTL industry and it was,
uh,
definitely an upgrade and to have that many doors really helps us out.
(25:01):
That's great.
What's your,
what would you say your favorite part of your job is Paul because it sounds to me just in talking to you that you've got your hands in a lot of different cookie jars where,
you know,
you're handling different responsibilities for different things.
Uh,
do you like jumping back up in the truck and shuttling the trailer or are you more of a guy that likes to be at,
(25:21):
you know,
4 a.m. on the dock?
And you're,
you're right in your groove.
What,
what's your favorite aspect of the job?
Oh,
well,
I don't mind getting in the truck,
but,
uh,
probably my favorite part is when all the line haul trailers start coming in at night and you've got all this freight that's got to be unloaded and,
uh,
more or less sorted to be put on to the different pedal trailers and uh II I enjoy doing that.
(25:48):
It can be really challenging at times trying to fit all the freight in the trailers.
Um,
then you have the,
uh,
customers or the shippers that don't always properly mark their freight.
So you have to try to decipher what the freight is and who it's going to.
But that's what I enjoy.
It's a challenge.
It more or less is different every night and it just kind of keeps the job fresh.
(26:13):
Sure.
Well,
it sounds like a challenge and,
and I mean,
it's,
it's interesting what I hear from you is like the,
the times where a lot of people would really bite their lip and get angry about,
you know,
customers not appropriately marking their freight.
You're up for the challenge you're like,
yeah,
man,
why not?
It makes the day go by faster.
Let's figure this out.
Yep.
(26:33):
Yep.
Using,
uh,
using your brain and uh,
like I say,
I just take the challenge.
I enjoy it and,
uh keeps me going every night.
And uh also the other,
uh sometimes a line haul trailer will be coming in or will come in and they've got stuff stacked up to fit everything in the trailer and occasionally the freight doesn't ride properly.
(27:00):
And uh you get to what we call,
recoup the freight to try and get it back standing up straight and looking like nothing happened.
And that,
that can be a challenge in itself too.
I bet.
I bet it sounds like now I've got to ask you this because you are in,
in my vision and in everybody's vision,
I would think you are a professional trailer loader.
(27:23):
You,
it's a big part of your job.
You are loading freight into these big trailers all the time.
Getting it in there.
Perfect.
Making sure it's secure.
Has that translated to your family life when it comes to say,
uh packing a moving van or,
or maybe uh you know,
packing up to go camping or anything like that.
Do you really see those skills translate where it's like you're up for this challenge,
(27:46):
you're gonna fit everything in this truck.
If it kills you.
When we uh we go on summer vacation every year.
We have a family home up in northern Michigan or a family summer place and to fit all of our stuff into this,
we have a minivan.
I have three teenage girls,
(28:07):
my wife,
myself and a dog and occasionally a sister in law that travels with us and I get all and you know,
teenage girls and my wife,
they like to over pack.
You don't say no way.
And I have a car top carrier and uh fill the back and somehow we get every I,
(28:31):
I get everything in the van.
And uh yeah,
I would have to say the skills I've learned in the trucking industry have helped me with this.
Yeah,
because you gotta work miracles.
I,
I grew up with a sister and,
and of course a mom,
you know,
in the house and,
uh,
my dad and I were always the ones that were charged with that job.
It was,
you know,
Tetris it in and I watched my dad work some miracles in that department where I would have thrown everything on the ground and thrown my hands up in anger and walked away.
(29:00):
But he's like,
no,
we're gonna get,
get it,
get up there,
pull that one out,
put this one in behind it,
turn this one up on its end,
we'll get it in there.
And I just,
I take my hat off to guys like you because I don't have that Paul.
I mean,
I'm,
you give me a shoe box and I could pack it wrong.
Right.
Right.
Well,
I hope that,
(29:20):
I hope that my pedal drivers when I have to,
to get a little creative to fit all their freight into their trailers.
I hope that they don't get too upset with me because I've,
uh I've put together a few masterpieces here and there when there's a lot of freight.
And I'm like,
well,
I,
(29:40):
I hope this all goes well for him and I,
uh normally don't hear anything from the guys.
Uh I like it if uh if I did something wrong,
let me know that way I can correct it.
So,
uh that makes sense.
I think it's going.
Ok.
Good,
good.
And now do you have ever really communicate with the drivers?
(30:00):
Like,
let's say you've put together one of those masterpieces and you're sitting there looking at it going,
man that came together and I'm surprised it.
Did,
do you,
do you ever think like,
I should go tell the driver a thing or two about this load before he takes off?
Or do you pack it?
So well,
that you don't even need to communicate with them.
They can just pick up and take off.
No,
they,
(30:20):
uh the guys all come in in the morning and they come out on the dock and check their loads.
And if I see one of the guys that,
uh,
that I know uh his load is probably less than perfect.
I definitely go and communicate with them and sometimes the guys uh will come to me and say,
(30:41):
well,
can you move this around and uh I'll adjust their load the way they want it.
And I'm always happy to,
to do whatever these guys want.
And I think we have a pretty good rapport.
Nobody ever really,
really gets after me too much because I'm always happy to help him out however I can.
Sure.
Well,
and,
and you know,
(31:02):
turnabout's fair play in both positive and negative aspects of life.
And you're out here putting positivity into the world and it sounds like it's coming back to you,
which is always a good thing.
Always a good thing.
I just always hope that if somebody's got a problem with what I've done,
they come to me and,
and I've had guys mention,
you know,
in a,
(31:22):
in a positive way.
Well,
this is what happened today and I'm like,
ok,
well,
I'll make sure we address that.
We try to try to get it right next time.
Sure,
sure it's all about.
Yeah,
of course,
of course,
they've got,
you know,
they've got a tough day out there as well.
I'm sure any way that you set them up for success is,
uh,
is greatly appreciated,
(31:43):
uh,
for the drivers out there.
And,
um,
that's,
it's awesome,
Paula.
It sounds like you fit really well within your role here at Brian Truck Line and,
and helping the guys out over at B and H and everything too,
if you,
if you get to do that from time to time.
But I,
I also,
when I was talking to Zach about doing this interview,
uh,
and this is kind of funny.
(32:03):
All right.
So he told me,
he said Paul's been here for long enough that he'll have a lot of stories you can tell.
He said you can tell Paul that I give him permission to tell one story about Larry Dean,
but he said it has to be a safe story about Larry Dean.
So I think what Zach is after here is,
is he's expecting that you have some,
(32:24):
uh,
some good Larry Dean stories and he's hoping that we're judicious in picking out which one we decide to tell.
So I know I'm kind of putting this on you last minute,
like I didn't prepare you for this at all.
But,
uh I find sometimes with these types of stories,
sometimes that's the best way to go off the top of your head.
Can you tell me a safe Larry Dean story for the podcast here,
(32:46):
Paul?
Well,
does it have to be something I was directly involved with or something that happened when I was present?
I think happened while you were present.
That guarantees it's real.
Right.
Yeah.
When,
uh,
when we were over in the butler facility back in,
uh,
late eighties,
early nineties,
(33:07):
we were all younger,
you know,
probably a lot of less,
lot less mature.
And,
uh,
Larry was over at the facility.
Our,
it was kind of an interesting place.
The dock was on the east side of the road and the office was on the west side of the road and Larry came over this car,
(33:28):
I believe it was a BMW.
I don't remember for sure.
And we had a guy working for us named Jesse.
I don't remember his last name.
And Larry had left his keys in the car and Jesse and Larry were always goofing around with each other and Jesse hopped into his BMW and was doing donuts in the dock parking lot with Larry's car.
(33:51):
I'm like,
oh,
no.
So,
uh,
um,
the next day we were instructed to take Jesse's,
uh,
he had an S 10 pickup.
We were to put it up on blocks and take the wheels off.
So we did,
that's the kind of man you could do things like that back then.
(34:13):
And,
uh,
you know,
nobody got upset and it was just,
uh,
some good,
good clean fun.
Oh,
yeah,
absolutely.
You know,
II,
I have a similar story in high school.
Uh,
we had a buddy that drove a little Geo Metro and I grew up in a very,
very small mountain town so nobody locked their keys or nobody locked their doors of their car.
(34:33):
And for the most part,
the keys were in the car most of the time if you walk out to the parking lot and,
uh,
a couple of the guys up in the metal shop one day got upset at one of our offensive linemen on the football team and they went down and they not only pulled the car or pulled the wheels and tires off,
they put the wheels and tires in the car,
one in each seat and then they took the keys and they locked the wheels and tires in there.
(34:58):
And I don't remember how many days that GEO sat down there in the high school parking lot on blocks with the wheels and tires locked inside of it.
But I'll tell you it never got less.
Funny.
Every time we drove by it,
you just bay laughed.
You know.
So that,
that type of stuff is fun and it's,
and hey,
again,
we say Turnabout's fair play.
Uh,
you can't be doing donuts in the BMW.
(35:19):
And unless you expect to get yours somewhere down the line.
Yes.
Oh,
that's a great story.
And I would say that's more than safe Paul.
That was a good,
that was a good choice there.
No.
Yeah.
Well,
you know,
and,
and the majority of my career with Brian Truck line,
I've worked nights and I don't always get a lot of interaction with the,
(35:44):
the other than the pedal drivers in the morning and,
uh,
my coworkers on the dock,
I don't get a lot of interaction with the office or,
uh,
um,
you know,
other than through email,
I always email,
pertinent information or text it.
And,
uh,
so maybe that's,
uh,
maybe that's another reason I've always enjoyed nights.
(36:05):
I'm just kind of left out there to do what I need to do.
They trust me enough that they don't have to watch me and,
uh,
um,
everything works out for the best,
I guess.
Yeah.
I mean,
that's huge because if they trust you enough that they don't have to watch it,
that means their sleep schedules get to stay the same.
And so does yours?
Right.
For the most part?
(36:25):
Good.
Good.
Well,
Paul,
I'll tell you what,
I,
I can't.
Thank you enough.
For coming on here and sharing as much time and information and experience with me as you have.
It's been a fantastic interview.
I always like at the end of the interview to open it up to my guest.
Uh If there's anything that you want to say,
Paul to anybody working at Brian,
uh any of your coworkers,
any of the drivers out there that might be listening or if you'd like to say something to maybe your family,
(36:50):
if they're gonna be listening,
it's wide open.
The floor.
Is yours take all the time that you need?
Ok.
Well,
I'd like to say to all the drivers.
I appreciate you guys.
I,
uh,
I've been out there on the road.
I know what you guys go through every day.
Maybe.
Sometimes you don't,
loads don't look like I care,
but I do and,
(37:11):
uh,
communicate with me.
I'm always happy to help you out.
You guys can recognize in the mornings if I've had a good or a bad night to my family.
Um,
being married to a truck driver or the Children and grandchildren of a truck driver can be very challenging.
Even though for the most part in my career,
(37:32):
I've been home every day or every other day.
I'm always really involved in what's going on and my family has been very understanding and I appreciate that and,
uh,
all I can say to everybody is we gotta just keep having fun.
Great thing about Brian Truck line is,
(37:52):
it's a small culture and,
uh,
trust me,
it,
it's a much better culture than working for these large corporations.
Yep.
I can hear it.
I can hear it in every single interview that we do.
Paul.
And I think that you hit the nail on the head right there,
man.
It's a good company.
It's a great company to work for.
And,
uh,
it sounds like you've slid right into a roll hats off to your family.
(38:16):
You're exactly right.
It is challenging,
uh,
to,
to share a family with a truck driver.
And I think that it takes a special person to understand that and it sounds like your wife,
your kids,
your grandkids,
everybody's been right there along,
uh,
along for the ride with you and,
uh,
that I couldn't be any happier to hear,
hear that.
Uh I hope you'll give your family the Brian truck line shows best.
(38:39):
Uh,
when you,
when you get off the phone with us here because it's a lot later where you are than where I am.
And I gotta get,
I gotta let you go here so that you can get on to your next day,
man.
Yep.
Yep.
I've got to finish getting ready for work and it's just about time to head in for the night.
Awesome.
Well,
I hope you have a fantastic day in there or night in there.
I should say,
(39:00):
um,
Paul Hillman mission critical dock worker and driver for Brian Truck Line B and H.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Paul.
Really appreciate the time.
You're welcome and thanks for having me.
It's been fun.
Of course,
you don't want to hear that sound.
So just take precautions.
(39:21):
Safety is always a good rule.
Here's some tips for properly securing your load.
I don't,
y'all,
y'all know all this but inspect all your tie downs for wear and damage and if you need to replace them,
an enclosed trailer may not be sufficient for securing your load.
Chances are it's not throw some straps or some load locks on there.
Uh Bungee cords trap starves,
(39:43):
obviously,
those aren't good for securing your load,
use your straps or your load locks or whatever tie downs should be secured lower on the trailer,
not near the top rails,
give it the most support.
Always be sure your load is properly contained,
immobilized and secured so it cannot leak,
spill,
blow off,
fall from fall through or otherwise be dislodged from the trailer or shift upon or within the trailer.
(40:07):
Remember,
you're securing the load for sudden stops and trailer sway,
not just normal driving conditions.
My rule of thumb that's worked for many years.
An old time trucker told me when I first got started.
If you think one strap's enough use two.
If you think three use six,
just double the amount of straps to be extra secure.
Just a quick safety message from Brian trucking be careful out there.
(40:36):
You know,
there's a few times in life where you sit back and,
and you have like a deep realization about something.
And I feel like after I got off the phone with Paul Hillman there,
I kind of had one of those moments and it was like,
man,
I feel like the people that work at Brian Truck line really.
They feel some sort of way about Brian Truck Line and,
(40:59):
and about the community and the culture and the family.
You know,
I,
I just listened to Paul there,
talk me through what I would find as a frustrating uh from time to time work environment,
not frustrating from the,
from,
from Brian's side of things,
but frustrating because you're dealing with customers that might not uh might not label their loads correctly.
(41:21):
Uh You might have something that just all of a sudden falls off a pallet and it costs you half an hour of time that you have to go do it and it's gonna put this project back on the back burner and it might make me miss this deadline.
And I just heard Paul Hillman tell me all of those stories and talk about it with a smile on his face.
Embracing the challenge that is not something that you get at every single company that you could work for.
(41:48):
A lot of people won't embrace the challenge because they've been treated like garbage for so long.
Why would you challenge yourself.
Why would you want to go above and beyond?
What are they get you another slice of cold Totino's pizza as a way to say thank you.
Come on.
And what I can hear here from,
from not just Paul,
I've heard this from a lot of the people I've talked to on this,
(42:09):
on this podcast already.
Is it,
it,
we're coming back to Brian or we're staying with Brian,
whatever the case may be because of the way that we're treated because we feel heard because we feel like people and not numbers because we like the culture,
we like the environment,
we like the people,
something very special and,
(42:29):
and sometimes I think that it's important to take a step back and kind of,
you know,
see the forest for the trees.
This is a,
this is a great place to work and I'm,
I'm slowly uncovering that on this podcast.
And I think that's really one of the coolest aspects of my job.
And what I get to do,
meeting all of the phenomenal people is,
(42:50):
is the cherry on top.
Really uncovering the reason why these people do the things they do,
make the decisions that they make and stand up in the face of any adversity so that they can get the job done is what I'm really interested in.
And I hear it on every single interview,
whether it's been a driver or an office,
staff member or a dock worker you can hear it,
(43:13):
it propagates through the staff there at Brian Truck Line and B and H and uh I'm just very happy to be a part of it.
Very um thankful that that uh the Deans and everybody involved in Brian Truck Line has kind of welcomed me to the squad here and uh I know that there's a lot of you that I haven't spoken with yet and I intend to get to speak with you at some point in time.
(43:36):
If you want to join me,
of course,
we're never gonna twist anybody's arm and make them come on this podcast.
That's not what we're here for.
But I would love to have you on if you're listening and going man,
this is kind of a cool thing.
I've got some things I would wanna share,
get in touch with me,
like I said off the top.
I gave away a lot of business cards when I was there for the podcast launch.
(43:56):
I tried to put one in every driver's hand that I talked to so that,
that driver knows if there's something that you wanna hear or if there's something that you wanna say,
get in touch with me.
I'll be glad to talk about it.
I want to hear the feedback that you guys have.
How's the podcast going so far?
I've got some feedback from drivers,
some of it positive,
(44:16):
some of it negative.
Listen,
I can take it.
I don't have the broadest shoulders,
I'm,
you know,
59,
100 and £85.
So I'm not the,
I'm not the most burly built guy,
but I can handle the pressure.
Is there something that you don't like that we're doing?
Let me know,
you know,
the first traffic report we brought to you guys was kind of a nationally focused traffic report and because we got some feedback from a driver that said,
(44:37):
listen,
I,
I,
that really doesn't affect me.
I want to know what's going on in the tri-state area.
Well,
our last two episodes,
we've hit you with uh road closures in Ohio and road closures in Michigan.
I would guess that you're probably gonna get Indiana coming up on the heels of Michigan.
So we will make changes on this podcast to accommodate the things that and employees want to hear and,
(44:57):
uh,
want to be informed on.
So get in touch with your driver manager,
get in touch with,
uh,
Becky,
get in touch with,
uh,
Judy,
any of these people.
I would tell you to get in touch with Zach or Larry,
but let's face it.
They got bigger fish to fry.
So,
uh,
step down the ladder,
a couple of rungs and,
and touch base with some of those guys.
If you're a dock worker,
you're listening to this,
(45:18):
uh,
you know,
talk to Paul.
Paul's got my number,
talk to Corey.
Corey's got my number.
Uh I,
I'm,
I'm down for all of it.
Let's have some fun here on this podcast.
Let's let's uh,
educate the people about Brian Truck lines.
Connect the dots if you will.
Uh It's all good things and I'm having a lot of fun doing it.
I want you to come on here and have fun alongside.
(45:39):
So anybody out there once again it's got feedback,
got ideas for the show or they just want to be a part of it,
get in touch with me and we'll make it happen.
Brian Truck Lines and B and H I'd be happy to,
that's gonna wrap up episode eight of the Brian Truck Line show.
Uh Thank you all so much for joining me again.
I'll ask you if you're listening on a podcast platform that will allow you to subscribe to the podcast.
(46:05):
Please click that button.
It's free.
It's not gonna cost you anything.
And uh it will only basically serve to remind you every time that we pump out a new episode,
which is every other Wednesday uh at 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
I,
I kind of had my lines crossed there a little bit.
(46:25):
I told you guys it was gonna be 5 a.m. but that's actually five central.
This podcast will launch at 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,
uh every other Wednesday.
So you've got a lot of opportunities we're gonna keep doing.
We're here for a long time and also a good time.
So,
uh thank you all for listening.
Stay safe out there.
Brian and B and H Drivers.
(46:46):
Keep the shiny side up.
We'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Brian Truck line show.
Don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review the Brian Truck Line show on your favorite platform and tune in for new episodes every other Wednesday.
Until next time,
stay safe and keep it rolling.
Welcome to the Brian Truck Line show.
Episode eight.
I am your host Marcus.
So happy to have you here with me today.
Uh Today,
we are going to do an employee spotlight from somebody working over at the docks at Brian Truck Line and I will get to that here very soon.
Uh Don't worry,
I don't want to spoil the surprise for you though.
(00:20):
I am gonna ask you real quick for a favor.
Click,
subscribe on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast on.
It helps us out greatly.
Uh Let's just see who's listening,
not necessarily exactly who you are,
but let's just see where you're listening from,
how long you're actually listening to the podcast for and uh how many downloads we've got?
So it really helps us,
we learn things from those metrics a lot.
(00:42):
Like we hope you learn things from this podcast.
So a like or a subscribe is great or if you feel like you'd like to leave us a review,
uh whatever podcast platform you're listening on,
either we'll have like a five star rating or a review that you can leave us.
Uh I want your honesty.
I wanna hear everything about what you think about the Brian Truck Line show,
so definitely interact with us there.
(01:04):
And,
uh,
thanks for all the support at the outset here.
We're eight episodes in.
It's been great and,
uh,
we're only getting better as we move forward into the future.
So,
if you want to be on an episode of the Brian Truck Line show,
or you would like to hear something specific,
make sure to drop by,
tell your dispatchers,
tell your driver managers,
uh tell Judy over in recruiting,
(01:25):
tell Becky and safety,
you can pretty much say it to any of them.
They'll make sure that I get my hands on it.
So before we jump into the employee spotlight on the last episode of the Brian Truck Line show,
we gave you a rundown of road closures in the state of Ohio.
I was told by a Brian driver,
they said,
look,
uh you know,
traffic reports are great,
(01:46):
but can you maybe focus them in the Ohio?
Michigan,
Indiana area?
Maybe a little Illinois as well because that's where we're doing a lot of driving.
So last time we brought you Ohio,
this time,
we are going to bring you uh Michigan and I've got a bunch of road closures here in Michigan of the single lane,
double lane,
(02:07):
total,
triple lane variety here.
So,
uh and all of these construction projects either started April 30th or we start sometime within the next couple of weeks I will,
I will read you dates on those as well.
So you guys can know what to be looking out for and where.
So let's kick it off on I 96 southbound I 96 ramp to BS Highway exit 36 intermittently closed for destruction for construction.
(02:34):
That's in Allegan County.
That is a total closure running from the 15th of May to the 17th of May.
Uh So pretty much wrap that one up there.
Uh Let's see here.
We've got I 96 eastbound I 96 ramp to southbound us 131 closed for construction.
That's Kent County.
That is a total closure that will run from April 30th through May 24th.
(02:59):
Uh Let's see going down the list here a little bit.
How about northbound,
southbound I 96 from Central Avenue to Coloma road lane?
Uh That's closed for construction.
That's just a single lane.
Uh It's out there in Baron County May 6th through May 28th.
So look out for that one.
Here's a long one.
Ok.
(03:19):
I 96 northbound,
southbound I 96 from mile marker eight to mile marker 10.
The left lane is closed for construction in Van Buren County.
That construction is going to go from uh March 18th all the way through October 10th.
So that's a big one.
You've probably already seen it at this point.
Uh Another big one out in Oakland County,
(03:39):
northbound I 275 ramp to eastbound I 696 lane is closed for construction.
That one's running from February 25th to November 1st.
So,
uh,
obviously we got a lot going on out there.
Uh Make sure to,
uh,
to keep your head on a swivel.
Uh,
one that won't start until May 28th is in Wayne County.
(04:01):
It's a double lane shutdown.
Southbound I 275 from Palmer Road to I 94 2 lanes closed again,
May 28th through June 10th.
Uh,
we've got one that ends here on May 24th.
This is out in Wayne County.
It's a double lane closure.
Northbound I 275 from Copper Nick Road to mile marker 14 I 96 right two lanes closed for construction out there.
(04:29):
Uh,
another one out of Oakland County,
I 275 northbound,
uh,
ramp two WB I 96 westbound I 96 sorry left lane is closed for construction out there.
Uh How about a few more?
Clinton County?
I 69 westbound from us 127 to old us.
(04:50):
27 has a single lane closed for construction running from May 6th through August 22nd.
The total shutdown out in Genesee County eastbound I 69 ramp to Irish closed for permit work.
That one's going from April 8th all the way to June 30th.
Uh I 69 eastbound at us 126 closed for construction in Clinton County.
(05:13):
That is a total closure from May 8th to June 7th.
Another total closure out in Clinton County westbound I 69 at us.
127.
Again,
uh,
that one's running from May 8th to June 7th.
Clinton County's got a single lane shutdown westbound I 69 from Webster Road to I 69 CD lane closed for construction.
(05:37):
That's just a single lane.
May 6th through August 22nd and again in Clinton County,
May 6th through August 22nd.
Eastbound I 69 from Old Us 27 to us.
127 has a single road closed for construction.
That's a lot of the ones that are gonna run long for you on the interstates in Michigan.
(05:57):
I had to pare it down a little bit because there was 15 pages of construction.
I don't know what's going on in Michigan.
They got a lot of back roads or something and they like to close every single one of them down pretty much every year is what I,
what I've learned here.
So this mostly concentrates on your interstates in Michigan.
I 96 I 275.
(06:18):
Uh,
there was one on I 375 but I didn't mention it because it is over on May 24th,
which will be shortly after this podcast drops,
but that one's in Wayne County.
Uh,
it's Southbound I 375 from Larned Street to westbound Jefferson Avenue.
They've got a special event out there.
So that's why that one's just running looks like for a long weekend,
(06:39):
maybe a memorial day type thing you guys wanna hear about more traffic from more States?
Let me know.
I'm always available for you to reach out to if you're a driver and you've already got my phone,
I gave out a lot of business cards when we were there for the launch of this podcast.
So if there's something you want to hear on the podcast,
you've got my number and my email address,
feel free to either text me or shoot me an email.
(07:01):
Uh,
I'd love to hear your ideas.
I'd love to talk to you about coming on the show.
Uh,
it's all a lot of fun,
man.
We have a good time in here.
We get some good information out.
We talk about the things that,
uh,
are happening around the trucking industry from time to time.
And,
uh,
mostly I just love chatting with drivers,
man.
I,
I mean,
I don't,
I haven't really told you guys that much about this,
but as a kid,
(07:22):
my dad was a manager of sawmills.
And so I spent a lot of weekends sitting out at the log yard in his truck talking to people on the CB.
Now,
I don't think I was supposed to be.
I think that the,
uh,
log truck drivers in the rural Oregon County that I grew up in probably were a bit sick of me by day two.
(07:42):
But I love to sit there and listen to those guys talk.
And a lot of times I was too afraid to say anything because,
you know,
they're talking,
they're truck drivers,
they got stuff going on.
They've got a lot to say.
And,
uh,
the conversations were interesting every now and then I would chime in and they would,
uh,
almost immediately tell me to get off the line because I was a child.
Uh,
but I did really enjoy this.
(08:03):
And so it's kind of a,
a cool thing that I ended up in a job where I get to talk to truck drivers for a living because,
uh,
I,
I've always been fascinated by the industry.
I've never thought that I could do the job.
The big rig,
it,
it scares me,
man.
I'm,
I'm timid about it.
The largest thing I've ever towed is a 27 ft Paracel boat on three axles.
(08:24):
It was very easy to back up compared it to,
uh,
some of the smaller trailers I've tugged around,
but I'll tell you the weight pulling that thing up a hill and then going down the other side of the hill.
That's where I really developed a degree of respect for truck drivers that I never had.
And that degree of respect has only ticked up since I've been podcasting for truck drivers.
(08:45):
So,
uh,
really appreciate any type of information that you want to share with me.
Like I said,
if you've got my cell phone number if you got me email,
send it directly to me.
If you don't have those things,
you can either source the phone number in the email from somebody there in the office or you can just tell your driver,
uh,
your,
your driver manager,
your dispatcher,
uh,
Becky or Judy,
let them know that you're looking to get in touch with me and they will send you my way.
(09:09):
All right.
Ok.
So it's employee spotlight time here on the Brian Truck Line show.
And I'm very excited about this next uh person that we're having on because I was told by a ranking member of the company.
Let's just put it that way.
I don't want to call anybody out here,
but I was told that this gentleman is mission critical in two very important missions at Brian Truck Line and B and H.
(09:34):
So,
uh without further ado,
we're gonna get our employee spotlight on here,
talk to him for a little bit,
find out what he's got going on and exactly why he's mission critical for the operations at Brian Truck Line and B and H,
let's get to it less than truckload,
more than trucking.
This is the Brian Truck Line show from Northwest Ohio to wherever you are with your host,
(10:00):
Marcus Bridges.
Bless,
bless,
bless.
We're r got a couple of rolling roadblocks you might want to watch out for Ohio.
Bike week is still going on in Sandusky through the end of the month,
the 31st and uh NASCAR is gonna be in Madison,
(10:24):
Illinois on the second for the enjoy Illinois 300.
Y'all.
Be careful out there.
I'll catch you on the flip flop.
Ok?
We've got an employee spotlight here for you next on the Brian Truck line show.
And I'm honored to be joined by dock worker and driver Paul Hillman.
(10:47):
Paul.
Thank you so much for the time.
How are you doing today?
Very good.
And you're welcome.
Well,
we really appreciate having you here.
Um The reason that we wanted to do an employee spotlight with you is I was actually talking to uh to Zach um Zach Dean,
of course,
and he told me we were just talking about all sorts of different employees and Zach has good things to say about everybody.
(11:10):
Uh And,
and as I was taking notes,
one of the notes that he said about you is he said,
Paul is mission critical to LTL and Westway LTL.
And I thought,
hey,
that's a great starting right there.
So describe your role to me a little bit,
Paul because right before we came on here,
you said,
look,
I'm kind of the jack of all trades.
I'd do anything that needs to be done.
(11:31):
So what is the,
what is the role that you fill at Brian Truck Line?
Uh What is it comprised of Paul?
Well,
I uh my main job is to work the overnight shift midnight on the dock and I take care of unloading our line haul trailers and loading up the city pedals for every morning for the guys.
(11:54):
I also shuttle a trailer up into Michigan to one of our guys that works out of a remote location and I do some customer pickups in the morning as needed.
Ok.
So you really are kind of the jack of all trades there.
So,
were you a driver before you kind of took over this role?
Yes,
I uh driven truck my entire adult life.
(12:17):
And uh most of which in the LTL industry home every day,
home,
every other day.
And I uh I just wanted to come off the road.
I had enough driving lots of craziness going on out there today and I kinda had my fill.
Sure.
Was there any one thing that kind of was the straw that broke the camel's back when you finally decided that you were gonna come off the road full time.
(12:44):
Oh,
it was a combination of plenty of things.
Most of my career I spent running across the Ohio turnpike and the Indiana Toll Road and there's just,
like I said,
a lot of craziness going on out there.
And,
uh I'm kind of one of the old school guys and the industry is constantly evolving and uh,
(13:05):
but it's time for the younger guys to take over what I was doing.
Sure was the,
was the transition from because I,
I'm just assuming here Paul that you were,
you were driving during the time that they transitioned from paper logs to electronic logs.
Is that correct?
And how was that transition?
Because when I hear a lot of drivers that tell me they're old school truckers,
(13:28):
that seems to be one sticking point with a lot of them where they say,
man,
I,
I really just never kind of got used to this.
I liked it the way it used to be.
How,
what are your thoughts there?
It was a little challenging for me.
I'm not,
uh,
you know,
I'm older and electronics and I don't always get along.
I think my biggest adjustment was trying to get used to the computer in the truck and uh how to take care of that.
(13:53):
Sure.
It's always seemed a little bit,
uh,
it's,
it's kind of a double edged sword having a computer in the truck because the whole idea is like,
don't look at that thing.
Don't be playing with that thing while you're rolling down the road,
but then they kind of put it in there and it's like you kinda have to play with it from time to time when you're rolling down the road,
make sure that everything's where it should be.
Correct.
Correct.
(14:14):
Another thing with the electronic logs when it comes to us,
older guys,
uh they,
they've made the electronic logs into a one size fits all and each different part of the industry,
it may not work that.
Well,
um,
you know,
a guy that's running from Maine to Los Angeles.
(14:36):
Yeah,
this is perfect,
a perfect regulation for him.
Some of us that work in the LTL industry.
Well,
it,
it poses a challenge with the electronic logs and it probably seems like a little bit more work than what it's worth,
I would imagine.
Mhm.
(14:56):
Yep.
A lot of drivers also,
you can recognize what your limitations are and this electronic log is just set in stone your hours and,
uh,
um,
you get up against that 14th hour and you've still got some more work to do if you're a good driver,
you know,
(15:16):
can you do it or not?
You know,
your limitations?
So,
if that makes any sense.
Yeah.
No,
it totally does.
And I'm interested to know about when you made the transition.
You said that's it.
I'm kind of done dealing with this.
It's time for a younger guard to step in.
Uh,
did you have trouble adjusting to?
(15:37):
Well,
I mean,
you said you work overnight,
so,
was the schedule hard to adjust to,
was just the,
the day in day out,
hard to adjust to or did you take to the new role pretty quickly?
I,
I took to the new role pretty quickly.
I have worked nights just about my entire life.
That's kind of another reason I took the job that was open and I like working nights and,
(15:59):
uh,
the transition was great.
It was kind of funny not being on the road all night long though.
It took me a little while getting used to that,
but I liked it.
Did you find the stress level relaxed a little bit?
Yeah,
I can imagine,
man.
I,
you know,
the stresses that drivers deal with out there and,
and this is,
I mean,
(16:19):
you could even go down to,
uh,
you know,
the,
the light duty,
the guys driving the light duty or cement trucks or bus drivers,
anybody that's driving in a commercial,
uh in a commercial sense out there,
the stress is just overbearing and,
and the fact that so many people can deal with it so well,
is very commendable to me because a lot of the stress I feel like kind of comes from a place that you can't control.
(16:43):
Yup,
traffic,
uh traffic jams,
bad drivers,
all of that just,
it can take a toll on you.
And after so many years,
I just decided that was enough.
Now,
how many years were you a driver for Paul?
Do you have a number in your head?
Well,
I started driving in the summer of 1980 I took a few years,
(17:07):
a couple of years off did a,
did another thing for a couple of years shortly after I started driving and then came right back to it.
So all my adult life and it's,
it's in the blood,
it sounds like.
Yep.
Yep.
From the time even I remember back when I was a child,
you know,
everybody's got ideas on what they wanna do.
(17:28):
And,
uh,
from the time I can remember I just always wanted to be a truck driver.
Nothing else.
Well,
that's cool.
That's cool.
You got to live your dream then and I'd do it all over again if I had the choice.
That's awesome.
That's great.
I'd love to hear that from somebody Paul because it means that,
you know,
nobody wants to get through an entire professional career and be living with regret.
(17:52):
So to know that you were happy in that role.
Uh I,
I,
that just makes me,
uh,
pleased to hear from you.
And,
and can I ask you also,
how long have you been with,
with Brian truck lines right now?
I just hit my two year anniversary,
but I worked for them for four years in the late eighties into the early nineties and another four years in the late nineties into the early two thousands.
(18:18):
Ok,
great.
So you've kind of had a snapshot of the different iterations of what Brian's been over the years.
The one thing that's remained constant is it's a family owned company.
And,
uh that speaks a lot for me after working for a couple of the largest,
uh LP L companies in the industry,
(18:39):
uh,
working for the family company is much better,
much more relaxed.
Uh A lot nicer,
yeah,
just better quality of life.
It sounds like,
you know,
I hear a lot from drivers when they're working for big companies,
they say,
well,
at the big companies,
I feel like a number and at a company like BT L,
I feel like a person,
(19:00):
any truth to that.
Yes,
very much so.
And,
uh,
locally,
you know,
when I worked for the large LP L carriers,
um,
you know,
your local management knew who you were but there,
everything was strictly by the book.
Um,
um,
you know,
no personal.
(19:22):
You didn't feel like there was any personal attention.
You just came in and did your job and plugged away every day.
And uh here at Bryan it's a little more relaxed.
No,
it's a lot more relaxed and uh uh I just enjoy coming to work every night.
Sure.
No,
I feel like somebody,
you know,
when I and you and I got to talk a lot when I was at the podcast launch for Brian and,
(19:45):
and I've gotten to have a lot of conversations with people like that kind of just candid conversations where we're not on record and they're just kind of speaking from the heart.
And I feel like it,
it Brian if you needed to call somebody say,
hey,
can you go let my dog out or you can,
you,
can you pick up my kid from school?
Can you do one of these things that the general,
(20:06):
uh you know,
time flow of the day might not allow me to,
so somebody from Brian's going to step up and do that for you.
I don't think you could ask for that or even pay for it at some of these larger companies.
No,
I,
I don't believe so either.
And,
uh,
even if,
uh,
if you have to be working and there's something you have to do and you're in a convenient spot,
(20:31):
the company has no problem with allowing you to do it.
And those types of concessions are,
are huge from a quality of life standpoint because,
you know,
if you're breaking your back for somebody at work,
you wanna know that they're gonna break their back for you too.
Should that day ever come?
Yep.
Just,
uh,
an example of something similar to that one night my,
(20:53):
my daughter was pregnant about ready to have her son and she called me at work at about three.
Ami was up on the dock and said,
I'm trying to get a hold of Tammy,
my wife,
her mom,
uh,
because I'm going into labor.
And so I was able to just drop everything,
jump in my car.
I only live five minutes from work and ran home,
(21:16):
woke my wife up and said she's having her baby.
You need to get over there.
So,
and then went back to work and if you're with a big company that's probably not going to happen,
never.
I mean,
there might be the exception to the rule,
but that's definitely not the,
uh,
the standard operating procedure,
I would imagine.
And,
(21:36):
and I,
I love to hear stories like that.
I'm always glad when,
when a Brian employee shares stories like that because,
you know,
it's,
it might not have happened to every employee at this point where you've been working for Brian and everything's just been great and you haven't had one of these sort of to emergencies or something where you got to drop everything and be somewhere.
But the people that are listening to this podcast that are employees at Brian can take solace in the fact that,
(22:02):
hey,
if this does happen,
if something goes wrong in your life,
Brian's gonna be there for you.
So,
Paul,
I wonder,
can you tell me,
you told me about one thing that remained constant there and we just talked a lot about it is that the family owned environment and the family aspect and just the feeling of community and culture that goes on there,
Brian.
But what are some of the things that have changed over the course of the eighties to the nineties and two thousands to now?
(22:28):
Uh you know,
halfway into the 20 twenties,
what,
what types of,
of different things have you noticed over your three different stints with Brian truck line?
Well,
equipment,
of course,
the equipment's been upgraded um substantially,
of course,
that's industry wide,
the freight in the LTL part.
(22:49):
Well,
even in the truckload division,
our uh our freights changed.
We're not,
uh,
you know,
when I was here in the eighties,
we had different customers and a different base.
Our freight has changed location.
When I first started in 1980 we were in a small terminal in Butler,
Indiana where we ran the LTL division out of older building.
(23:14):
It was in good shape but uh just kind of not set up the way we needed it.
And then in the nineties,
the LTL division moved over into the location in Brian,
which was a very small terminal and uh kind of challenging to get all the dock work done,
especially the West Way LP L on Friday nights.
(23:35):
And then in the,
I think it was 1999 they completed the new LTL terminal right there on a corner in Montpelier.
We moved into there.
Originally,
it was only 14 dock doors.
Um It was great,
set up perfectly for what we needed to do.
And then after I left the company in early two thousands,
(23:57):
they expanded our dock to 30 doors,
which,
uh you know,
it's set up perfectly for the kind of work we do and,
and sometimes we got,
we possibly could use a few more doors,
but we managed to,
to get everything done with what we have.
That's great.
That's great.
So would you call the,
(24:18):
the step up from the very first facility to uh where you're at now?
Kind of world changing?
I mean,
it sounds like going from 14 doors to 30 is,
is kind of a crazy like double up of the amount of uh of things or trucks that you can back in.
So I imagine that when that,
when you came back and you're looking at 30 doors,
you were probably celebrating a little bit.
(24:40):
Yeah.
Yes,
I was,
I thought this is great and like I say,
this,
this terminal building is,
is set up perfectly.
You know,
it's more or less a cookie cutter,
uh,
uh,
design from the entire LTL industry and it was,
uh,
definitely an upgrade and to have that many doors really helps us out.
(25:01):
That's great.
What's your,
what would you say your favorite part of your job is Paul because it sounds to me just in talking to you that you've got your hands in a lot of different cookie jars where,
you know,
you're handling different responsibilities for different things.
Uh,
do you like jumping back up in the truck and shuttling the trailer or are you more of a guy that likes to be at,
(25:21):
you know,
4 a.m. on the dock?
And you're,
you're right in your groove.
What,
what's your favorite aspect of the job?
Oh,
well,
I don't mind getting in the truck,
but,
uh,
probably my favorite part is when all the line haul trailers start coming in at night and you've got all this freight that's got to be unloaded and,
uh,
more or less sorted to be put on to the different pedal trailers and uh II I enjoy doing that.
(25:48):
It can be really challenging at times trying to fit all the freight in the trailers.
Um,
then you have the,
uh,
customers or the shippers that don't always properly mark their freight.
So you have to try to decipher what the freight is and who it's going to.
But that's what I enjoy.
It's a challenge.
It more or less is different every night and it just kind of keeps the job fresh.
(26:13):
Sure.
Well,
it sounds like a challenge and,
and I mean,
it's,
it's interesting what I hear from you is like the,
the times where a lot of people would really bite their lip and get angry about,
you know,
customers not appropriately marking their freight.
You're up for the challenge you're like,
yeah,
man,
why not?
It makes the day go by faster.
Let's figure this out.
Yep.
(26:33):
Yep.
Using,
uh,
using your brain and uh,
like I say,
I just take the challenge.
I enjoy it and,
uh keeps me going every night.
And uh also the other,
uh sometimes a line haul trailer will be coming in or will come in and they've got stuff stacked up to fit everything in the trailer and occasionally the freight doesn't ride properly.
(27:00):
And uh you get to what we call,
recoup the freight to try and get it back standing up straight and looking like nothing happened.
And that,
that can be a challenge in itself too.
I bet.
I bet it sounds like now I've got to ask you this because you are in,
in my vision and in everybody's vision,
I would think you are a professional trailer loader.
(27:23):
You,
it's a big part of your job.
You are loading freight into these big trailers all the time.
Getting it in there.
Perfect.
Making sure it's secure.
Has that translated to your family life when it comes to say,
uh packing a moving van or,
or maybe uh you know,
packing up to go camping or anything like that.
Do you really see those skills translate where it's like you're up for this challenge,
(27:46):
you're gonna fit everything in this truck.
If it kills you.
When we uh we go on summer vacation every year.
We have a family home up in northern Michigan or a family summer place and to fit all of our stuff into this,
we have a minivan.
I have three teenage girls,
(28:07):
my wife,
myself and a dog and occasionally a sister in law that travels with us and I get all and you know,
teenage girls and my wife,
they like to over pack.
You don't say no way.
And I have a car top carrier and uh fill the back and somehow we get every I,
(28:31):
I get everything in the van.
And uh yeah,
I would have to say the skills I've learned in the trucking industry have helped me with this.
Yeah,
because you gotta work miracles.
I,
I grew up with a sister and,
and of course a mom,
you know,
in the house and,
uh,
my dad and I were always the ones that were charged with that job.
It was,
you know,
Tetris it in and I watched my dad work some miracles in that department where I would have thrown everything on the ground and thrown my hands up in anger and walked away.
(29:00):
But he's like,
no,
we're gonna get,
get it,
get up there,
pull that one out,
put this one in behind it,
turn this one up on its end,
we'll get it in there.
And I just,
I take my hat off to guys like you because I don't have that Paul.
I mean,
I'm,
you give me a shoe box and I could pack it wrong.
Right.
Right.
Well,
I hope that,
(29:20):
I hope that my pedal drivers when I have to,
to get a little creative to fit all their freight into their trailers.
I hope that they don't get too upset with me because I've,
uh I've put together a few masterpieces here and there when there's a lot of freight.
And I'm like,
well,
I,
(29:40):
I hope this all goes well for him and I,
uh normally don't hear anything from the guys.
Uh I like it if uh if I did something wrong,
let me know that way I can correct it.
So,
uh that makes sense.
I think it's going.
Ok.
Good,
good.
And now do you have ever really communicate with the drivers?
(30:00):
Like,
let's say you've put together one of those masterpieces and you're sitting there looking at it going,
man that came together and I'm surprised it.
Did,
do you,
do you ever think like,
I should go tell the driver a thing or two about this load before he takes off?
Or do you pack it?
So well,
that you don't even need to communicate with them.
They can just pick up and take off.
No,
they,
(30:20):
uh the guys all come in in the morning and they come out on the dock and check their loads.
And if I see one of the guys that,
uh,
that I know uh his load is probably less than perfect.
I definitely go and communicate with them and sometimes the guys uh will come to me and say,
(30:41):
well,
can you move this around and uh I'll adjust their load the way they want it.
And I'm always happy to,
to do whatever these guys want.
And I think we have a pretty good rapport.
Nobody ever really,
really gets after me too much because I'm always happy to help him out however I can.
Sure.
Well,
and,
and you know,
(31:02):
turnabout's fair play in both positive and negative aspects of life.
And you're out here putting positivity into the world and it sounds like it's coming back to you,
which is always a good thing.
Always a good thing.
I just always hope that if somebody's got a problem with what I've done,
they come to me and,
and I've had guys mention,
you know,
in a,
(31:22):
in a positive way.
Well,
this is what happened today and I'm like,
ok,
well,
I'll make sure we address that.
We try to try to get it right next time.
Sure,
sure it's all about.
Yeah,
of course,
of course,
they've got,
you know,
they've got a tough day out there as well.
I'm sure any way that you set them up for success is,
uh,
is greatly appreciated,
(31:43):
uh,
for the drivers out there.
And,
um,
that's,
it's awesome,
Paula.
It sounds like you fit really well within your role here at Brian Truck Line and,
and helping the guys out over at B and H and everything too,
if you,
if you get to do that from time to time.
But I,
I also,
when I was talking to Zach about doing this interview,
uh,
and this is kind of funny.
(32:03):
All right.
So he told me,
he said Paul's been here for long enough that he'll have a lot of stories you can tell.
He said you can tell Paul that I give him permission to tell one story about Larry Dean,
but he said it has to be a safe story about Larry Dean.
So I think what Zach is after here is,
is he's expecting that you have some,
(32:24):
uh,
some good Larry Dean stories and he's hoping that we're judicious in picking out which one we decide to tell.
So I know I'm kind of putting this on you last minute,
like I didn't prepare you for this at all.
But,
uh I find sometimes with these types of stories,
sometimes that's the best way to go off the top of your head.
Can you tell me a safe Larry Dean story for the podcast here,
(32:46):
Paul?
Well,
does it have to be something I was directly involved with or something that happened when I was present?
I think happened while you were present.
That guarantees it's real.
Right.
Yeah.
When,
uh,
when we were over in the butler facility back in,
uh,
late eighties,
early nineties,
(33:07):
we were all younger,
you know,
probably a lot of less,
lot less mature.
And,
uh,
Larry was over at the facility.
Our,
it was kind of an interesting place.
The dock was on the east side of the road and the office was on the west side of the road and Larry came over this car,
(33:28):
I believe it was a BMW.
I don't remember for sure.
And we had a guy working for us named Jesse.
I don't remember his last name.
And Larry had left his keys in the car and Jesse and Larry were always goofing around with each other and Jesse hopped into his BMW and was doing donuts in the dock parking lot with Larry's car.
(33:51):
I'm like,
oh,
no.
So,
uh,
um,
the next day we were instructed to take Jesse's,
uh,
he had an S 10 pickup.
We were to put it up on blocks and take the wheels off.
So we did,
that's the kind of man you could do things like that back then.
(34:13):
And,
uh,
you know,
nobody got upset and it was just,
uh,
some good,
good clean fun.
Oh,
yeah,
absolutely.
You know,
II,
I have a similar story in high school.
Uh,
we had a buddy that drove a little Geo Metro and I grew up in a very,
very small mountain town so nobody locked their keys or nobody locked their doors of their car.
(34:33):
And for the most part,
the keys were in the car most of the time if you walk out to the parking lot and,
uh,
a couple of the guys up in the metal shop one day got upset at one of our offensive linemen on the football team and they went down and they not only pulled the car or pulled the wheels and tires off,
they put the wheels and tires in the car,
one in each seat and then they took the keys and they locked the wheels and tires in there.
(34:58):
And I don't remember how many days that GEO sat down there in the high school parking lot on blocks with the wheels and tires locked inside of it.
But I'll tell you it never got less.
Funny.
Every time we drove by it,
you just bay laughed.
You know.
So that,
that type of stuff is fun and it's,
and hey,
again,
we say Turnabout's fair play.
Uh,
you can't be doing donuts in the BMW.
(35:19):
And unless you expect to get yours somewhere down the line.
Yes.
Oh,
that's a great story.
And I would say that's more than safe Paul.
That was a good,
that was a good choice there.
No.
Yeah.
Well,
you know,
and,
and the majority of my career with Brian Truck line,
I've worked nights and I don't always get a lot of interaction with the,
(35:44):
the other than the pedal drivers in the morning and,
uh,
my coworkers on the dock,
I don't get a lot of interaction with the office or,
uh,
um,
you know,
other than through email,
I always email,
pertinent information or text it.
And,
uh,
so maybe that's,
uh,
maybe that's another reason I've always enjoyed nights.
(36:05):
I'm just kind of left out there to do what I need to do.
They trust me enough that they don't have to watch me and,
uh,
um,
everything works out for the best,
I guess.
Yeah.
I mean,
that's huge because if they trust you enough that they don't have to watch it,
that means their sleep schedules get to stay the same.
And so does yours?
Right.
For the most part?
(36:25):
Good.
Good.
Well,
Paul,
I'll tell you what,
I,
I can't.
Thank you enough.
For coming on here and sharing as much time and information and experience with me as you have.
It's been a fantastic interview.
I always like at the end of the interview to open it up to my guest.
Uh If there's anything that you want to say,
Paul to anybody working at Brian,
uh any of your coworkers,
any of the drivers out there that might be listening or if you'd like to say something to maybe your family,
(36:50):
if they're gonna be listening,
it's wide open.
The floor.
Is yours take all the time that you need?
Ok.
Well,
I'd like to say to all the drivers.
I appreciate you guys.
I,
uh,
I've been out there on the road.
I know what you guys go through every day.
Maybe.
Sometimes you don't,
loads don't look like I care,
but I do and,
(37:11):
uh,
communicate with me.
I'm always happy to help you out.
You guys can recognize in the mornings if I've had a good or a bad night to my family.
Um,
being married to a truck driver or the Children and grandchildren of a truck driver can be very challenging.
Even though for the most part in my career,
(37:32):
I've been home every day or every other day.
I'm always really involved in what's going on and my family has been very understanding and I appreciate that and,
uh,
all I can say to everybody is we gotta just keep having fun.
Great thing about Brian Truck line is,
(37:52):
it's a small culture and,
uh,
trust me,
it,
it's a much better culture than working for these large corporations.
Yep.
I can hear it.
I can hear it in every single interview that we do.
Paul.
And I think that you hit the nail on the head right there,
man.
It's a good company.
It's a great company to work for.
And,
uh,
it sounds like you've slid right into a roll hats off to your family.
(38:16):
You're exactly right.
It is challenging,
uh,
to,
to share a family with a truck driver.
And I think that it takes a special person to understand that and it sounds like your wife,
your kids,
your grandkids,
everybody's been right there along,
uh,
along for the ride with you and,
uh,
that I couldn't be any happier to hear,
hear that.
Uh I hope you'll give your family the Brian truck line shows best.
(38:39):
Uh,
when you,
when you get off the phone with us here because it's a lot later where you are than where I am.
And I gotta get,
I gotta let you go here so that you can get on to your next day,
man.
Yep.
Yep.
I've got to finish getting ready for work and it's just about time to head in for the night.
Awesome.
Well,
I hope you have a fantastic day in there or night in there.
I should say,
(39:00):
um,
Paul Hillman mission critical dock worker and driver for Brian Truck Line B and H.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Paul.
Really appreciate the time.
You're welcome and thanks for having me.
It's been fun.
Of course,
you don't want to hear that sound.
So just take precautions.
(39:21):
Safety is always a good rule.
Here's some tips for properly securing your load.
I don't,
y'all,
y'all know all this but inspect all your tie downs for wear and damage and if you need to replace them,
an enclosed trailer may not be sufficient for securing your load.
Chances are it's not throw some straps or some load locks on there.
Uh Bungee cords trap starves,
(39:43):
obviously,
those aren't good for securing your load,
use your straps or your load locks or whatever tie downs should be secured lower on the trailer,
not near the top rails,
give it the most support.
Always be sure your load is properly contained,
immobilized and secured so it cannot leak,
spill,
blow off,
fall from fall through or otherwise be dislodged from the trailer or shift upon or within the trailer.
(40:07):
Remember,
you're securing the load for sudden stops and trailer sway,
not just normal driving conditions.
My rule of thumb that's worked for many years.
An old time trucker told me when I first got started.
If you think one strap's enough use two.
If you think three use six,
just double the amount of straps to be extra secure.
Just a quick safety message from Brian trucking be careful out there.
(40:36):
You know,
there's a few times in life where you sit back and,
and you have like a deep realization about something.
And I feel like after I got off the phone with Paul Hillman there,
I kind of had one of those moments and it was like,
man,
I feel like the people that work at Brian Truck line really.
They feel some sort of way about Brian Truck Line and,
(40:59):
and about the community and the culture and the family.
You know,
I,
I just listened to Paul there,
talk me through what I would find as a frustrating uh from time to time work environment,
not frustrating from the,
from,
from Brian's side of things,
but frustrating because you're dealing with customers that might not uh might not label their loads correctly.
(41:21):
Uh You might have something that just all of a sudden falls off a pallet and it costs you half an hour of time that you have to go do it and it's gonna put this project back on the back burner and it might make me miss this deadline.
And I just heard Paul Hillman tell me all of those stories and talk about it with a smile on his face.
Embracing the challenge that is not something that you get at every single company that you could work for.
(41:48):
A lot of people won't embrace the challenge because they've been treated like garbage for so long.
Why would you challenge yourself.
Why would you want to go above and beyond?
What are they get you another slice of cold Totino's pizza as a way to say thank you.
Come on.
And what I can hear here from,
from not just Paul,
I've heard this from a lot of the people I've talked to on this,
(42:09):
on this podcast already.
Is it,
it,
we're coming back to Brian or we're staying with Brian,
whatever the case may be because of the way that we're treated because we feel heard because we feel like people and not numbers because we like the culture,
we like the environment,
we like the people,
something very special and,
(42:29):
and sometimes I think that it's important to take a step back and kind of,
you know,
see the forest for the trees.
This is a,
this is a great place to work and I'm,
I'm slowly uncovering that on this podcast.
And I think that's really one of the coolest aspects of my job.
And what I get to do,
meeting all of the phenomenal people is,
(42:50):
is the cherry on top.
Really uncovering the reason why these people do the things they do,
make the decisions that they make and stand up in the face of any adversity so that they can get the job done is what I'm really interested in.
And I hear it on every single interview,
whether it's been a driver or an office,
staff member or a dock worker you can hear it,
(43:13):
it propagates through the staff there at Brian Truck Line and B and H and uh I'm just very happy to be a part of it.
Very um thankful that that uh the Deans and everybody involved in Brian Truck Line has kind of welcomed me to the squad here and uh I know that there's a lot of you that I haven't spoken with yet and I intend to get to speak with you at some point in time.
(43:36):
If you want to join me,
of course,
we're never gonna twist anybody's arm and make them come on this podcast.
That's not what we're here for.
But I would love to have you on if you're listening and going man,
this is kind of a cool thing.
I've got some things I would wanna share,
get in touch with me,
like I said off the top.
I gave away a lot of business cards when I was there for the podcast launch.
(43:56):
I tried to put one in every driver's hand that I talked to so that,
that driver knows if there's something that you wanna hear or if there's something that you wanna say,
get in touch with me.
I'll be glad to talk about it.
I want to hear the feedback that you guys have.
How's the podcast going so far?
I've got some feedback from drivers,
some of it positive,
(44:16):
some of it negative.
Listen,
I can take it.
I don't have the broadest shoulders,
I'm,
you know,
59,
100 and £85.
So I'm not the,
I'm not the most burly built guy,
but I can handle the pressure.
Is there something that you don't like that we're doing?
Let me know,
you know,
the first traffic report we brought to you guys was kind of a nationally focused traffic report and because we got some feedback from a driver that said,
(44:37):
listen,
I,
I,
that really doesn't affect me.
I want to know what's going on in the tri-state area.
Well,
our last two episodes,
we've hit you with uh road closures in Ohio and road closures in Michigan.
I would guess that you're probably gonna get Indiana coming up on the heels of Michigan.
So we will make changes on this podcast to accommodate the things that and employees want to hear and,
(44:57):
uh,
want to be informed on.
So get in touch with your driver manager,
get in touch with,
uh,
Becky,
get in touch with,
uh,
Judy,
any of these people.
I would tell you to get in touch with Zach or Larry,
but let's face it.
They got bigger fish to fry.
So,
uh,
step down the ladder,
a couple of rungs and,
and touch base with some of those guys.
If you're a dock worker,
you're listening to this,
(45:18):
uh,
you know,
talk to Paul.
Paul's got my number,
talk to Corey.
Corey's got my number.
Uh I,
I'm,
I'm down for all of it.
Let's have some fun here on this podcast.
Let's let's uh,
educate the people about Brian Truck lines.
Connect the dots if you will.
Uh It's all good things and I'm having a lot of fun doing it.
I want you to come on here and have fun alongside.
(45:39):
So anybody out there once again it's got feedback,
got ideas for the show or they just want to be a part of it,
get in touch with me and we'll make it happen.
Brian Truck Lines and B and H I'd be happy to,
that's gonna wrap up episode eight of the Brian Truck Line show.
Uh Thank you all so much for joining me again.
I'll ask you if you're listening on a podcast platform that will allow you to subscribe to the podcast.
(46:05):
Please click that button.
It's free.
It's not gonna cost you anything.
And uh it will only basically serve to remind you every time that we pump out a new episode,
which is every other Wednesday uh at 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
I,
I kind of had my lines crossed there a little bit.
(46:25):
I told you guys it was gonna be 5 a.m. but that's actually five central.
This podcast will launch at 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,
uh every other Wednesday.
So you've got a lot of opportunities we're gonna keep doing.
We're here for a long time and also a good time.
So,
uh thank you all for listening.
Stay safe out there.
Brian and B and H Drivers.
(46:46):
Keep the shiny side up.
We'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Brian Truck line show.
Don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review the Brian Truck Line show on your favorite platform and tune in for new episodes every other Wednesday.
Until next time,
stay safe and keep it rolling.
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