April 25, 2025 • 31 mins
Today, we’re live with SPI Logistics’ Cristine Sills, Navneet Johal, and Shivrani Narayan, who are talking about claims handling, professionalism, fraud prevention, and carrier verification!
Guests discuss how the SPI team manages complex claim issues to prevent escalation and safeguard agents from costly errors and potential disputes, uphold SPI’s reputation, counter identity theft, and update their due diligence process!
About Cristine Sills, Navneet Johal, and Shivrani Narayan
Manager of Client Services, Cristine Sills has been employed at SPI Logistics since January 2003. Cristine started her journey with SPI as an Accounts Receivable Supervisor.
Throughout her tenure, she has acquired diverse skills by cross-training in Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and the Client Care Services department. This comprehensive knowledge has provided her with a unique vantage point on the company's operations, enabling her to contribute to the creation and development of a more integrated learning experience for the employees and independent business owners.
Manager of People and Culture, Navneet Johal has been a part of SPI Logistics since June 2023.
In her role, she works collaboratively with her colleagues to ensure the highest level of service delivery to our esteemed agents. Her responsibilities encompass various aspects, including facilitating the smooth integration of new agent offices and their sub-reps, as well as configuring roles within the Salesforce Platform.
Operations Manager, Shivrani Narayan has been a part of SPI Logistics since July 2020.
In her role, Shivrani is responsible for providing comprehensive training and support to our agents, particularly in utilizing our internal TMS system and addressing claims and insurance-related inquiries. With her expertise in claims management, Shivrani offers invaluable guidance on carrier vetting, emphasizing key factors to consider and warning signs to be cautious of.
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Phone: 866-744-7774
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Came back with a bank window down yelling now money anything hey oh Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when I'm get to the back hey Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when the lane moving fast hey Let them all cross if they hate then let them made them make a bigger ball.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey what is up ladies and gentlemen? We are back. We are live. It is the Freight Coach Podcast, the top podcast in transportation. Coming to you guys really live today with three guests at SBI's Rendezvous Agent event up here in Vancouver, BC. Thank you guys for taking the time. The rest, you guys know the rest of the intro here, guys. We're just gonna jump right in on this one. I've never done a show with three live guests before at all. So you guys are all my guinea pigs out here today. So, Christine, Nav, Shiv, thank you guys so much for joining. These guys are, in my opinion, are the unsung heroes of the operations at SPI Logistics.
(01:02):
As an agent who's there personally moving freight day in and day out, you know, inevitably we're faced with these situations that come up that, you know, you need that guidance. I mean, I just went through a situation this week where, you know, I've been doing this job for 15 years and I've never experienced this before. And having the support behind the scenes from you guys to be able to just get our customer taken care of and get it resolved as soon as possible. That to me is like where the truest of true values come in. Having my book of business and my agency with SPI and it's like, you know, because it's always easy to sit back and operate when things are going good, right? And like in your mindset, when things are going good, you think, oh, this is perfect.
(01:45):
It's always going to be this way until it's not right. And then ultimately you're going to be faced with a situation where it's like you need that guidance. But, you know, you might need those resources as well to be able to help navigate through that. So, Nav, you got the mic. I'm going to start with you. Why don't you introduce yourself first before we go in any further.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Of course. So my name is Navneet or Nav. Easier too. I'm the manager of people and culture at spi and in terms of like, you know, working with the agents, I onboard agents, I help them, you know, set up, like Revenova, like just in general, like all of their setups done by me. And I'm kind of like the first point of contact for them. So I try to like make a really good impression and yeah, then I just, you know, pack parcel it all up to move it to the client care for them to train the agents and the sub reps.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Okay. Shiv.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Hi, my name is. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Okay, perfect. My name is Shivrani Narayan and I'm the operations manager. So I would deal with basically our carrier compliance, cargo claims, many other things. But that is kind of what Chris is talking about that we deal with is, you know, onboarding carriers along with Christine who's client care, who does the training. But that's the part that I kind of assist with along with any distress load situations that you had this week.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah. And then Christine.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hi, my name is Christine and I am the client services manager at spi. So that entails overseeing the support team. When is the first point of contact? Once an agent's been onboarded. So we work with the agents to get them up and running using the TMS software, do the training. If there's any issues that might arise, regardless if it's customer carrier software programming, they would be calling us. And we're very hands on. So it's not like, oh well, you've onboarded with us, you've had your, you know, three hours of training, we don't want to hear from you again. We are hands on. We are the main point of contact. Dial 6. You're going to get everybody on the team. There's 10 of us and each one of them is integral and trained exactly the same way to handle situations.
(03:55):
And it's always a collaborative way of handling things. And we're there to support the agents to make their life a lot easier. We want them to book the freight. That's their job. And our job is to make their job easier.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, that you know, and I can attest to how great all of you guys are at your jobs. And I'm not just saying this because you guys are sitting in front of me. It's, you know, when we're in the thick of things out there trying to execute and you know, putting the work in to just build a sustainable book of business is hard enough. But then executing on that business is another beast essentially that comes along with it. And you know, I can personally attest to the amount of times that we have called in and I mean it is damn near every hour of the day where. But there's no lack in response. Right. Like there is almost an immediate response or it's like worst case scenario, it's a text message because it is after hours.
(04:45):
And you know, you guys do have lives and you know, it's stuff like that, but it's like that the instant response that comes along with it, right? And it's not just like a facade out there, you know. Cause it's easy to market a lot of what you guys are describing and you're like, hey, we do this, we do that until like, you know, push comes to shove. And they're like, there's times to come along with it. So Christine, from your perspective out there, how. What is one thing that, you know, maybe an incoming agent or an existing agent should maybe better prepared for like when they're out there actually operating in their own, you know, business? You know, as an agent, the one.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Thing that I would think that what we strongly stress is don't wait. If you're having a problem, don't automatically assume it's something you're doing wrong. So I always say it's a 10 minute rule. If you can't figure something out in 10 minutes, call head office so we can assist you. Don't assume that, you know, I can't do this or I can't find because a lot of times people don't want to ask for help. And that's what, as a support team, we're here to help you. And chances are at least one other person in the network has gone through the same issue you're going through or having the same problem or experience. And if you don't know something, we have a huge network of agents where we can pull that information from. So we also say, oh, I'm a truckload guy.
(06:05):
That's all I do is truckload. Oh well, I got a customer that has LTL or hazmat or has an Ocean Freight. Oh, I can't do that. Actually you can call SPI head office. We can connect the dots. We can, you know, help you out, get that load moved for your customer so you don't have to say no. And a lot of people are afraid to step into that next realm. You know, it's not my comfort zone. I don't want to do Ocean or I don't want to do LTL because I've only ever had a negative experience. Well, that's because you didn't have the support and the availability for training and a walkthrough and to help you grow your business. That's what we're here for. Ask us the questions. If we don't know. We'll say, you know, that's a great question.
(06:40):
Let me get back to you. And we will find the right person to connect the dots for you, to make you a better salesperson and to grow your business.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I'm laughing because that's me. I'm that guy who's like, I'm a truckload guy. I don't do ltl. I don't do ocean. And, you know, you're very right. It's because I had a lot of bad experiences in the past with other modes. And it wasn't necessarily the organization I was working for at the time. It was the provider of said services who were making it so challenging out there to do what we needed to do as a broker. Right? Like, I can't have the goal line moving when you quote me your price, that all of a sudden it's the, hey, this the price now until we actually decide what we really want to charge you. So it makes it really hard to go out there and, you know, convince your customer, like, hey, I know I told you it was a hundred dollars.
(07:28):
Now it's actually $700, because, you know, so it's. It's those situations like that, though, where I don't want to say it's. It's a lack of my confidence in my abilities to do it, but for me, it's more of kind of like just staying in a singular focus right now while we're building up. And it's like, hey, once we get more established business and more established book of business with our customers in the, like, you know, like I say, I'm going to sell myself one thing. If they come to me with other modes, I'm not going to turn it away right at the end of the day. But it is like everything you're describing right there is 100% that.
(08:00):
And Nav, to her point there, when you're onboarding agents, how much of that comes up in the beginning stage is like, hey, I've never felt supported behind the scenes. Or like, anytime I've come, you know, with it's all smoke and mirrors, right?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So we've had agents who have, you know, previously said the companies they were with, they didn't find that support. And we've had like, just. I've heard from agents come up to me or just like, call me and they say, oh, hey, like, you guys pick up your phone call, like you pick up your calls within like, you know, five minutes, or like you answer emails within five minutes, 10 minutes. That's like our maximum. Right. So I think that's very important is that when they're looking for that help, they need like, they get that help right away because some situations require that emergency. And so, yeah, like, agents have come up to me and said they didn't. I think, like they lacked that training from the previous companies, from the companies they were with.
(09:07):
And they just love SPI for how we train them and how like we follow up with questions if they have any questions. Or now with our SPI Academy as well, we have everything. Like we have the videos for them to refer back to and if they have any questions, they can like, obviously just come up to us and just ask.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, Shiv, this is a perfect lead in. With you and everything you're dealing with in claims. How much are you finding yourselves at times unwinding bad habits that were established at other organizations? Because, you know, I come like, for me, it's like when it comes down to an insurance claim, damages or anything like that, first thing that comes to my mind, the first way I was trained, take photos, get the name of the person who's telling you know, do that document, have them write it on the bill of lading what is actually going on. And then as a broker, try and get on the phone with the receiver or whomever is claiming that there's damages right away and just have a conversation.
(10:04):
Because it's like, I want to remove the driver from that situation outside of them taking photos, because I want to hear it directly from them. And I say that because I've heard the sky is falling from one direction. And then you actually talk to the people. They're like, nah, man, we're just like, there's a. We're good. But, you know, so it's like, how much do you find yourself kind of unwinding those bad habits?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of those. And actually, funny enough, one of the things I just heard from an agent yesterday, they were talking about how at the previous organization they didn't get any assistance when it came to claims, so they had to be hands on. And now when they're here, they tell like their staff members, they're like, back off. Claims team has got it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Like, don't get involved. Because once they get involved, they get heated, they start getting into arguments with the driver. And then there's things that are being said in emails that can be used against you for a claim declination. Things such as that and so like he was talking about, you know, just for example, from his previous claims team and support team, they're just like, nope, we have a little support here. Just back off. If they need anything, you know, they'll come to us. But they're just like, here you go, claims team, handle it. And then that's not just the claims, but also distress load situations. That's when, you know, things are stuck in transit and a driver's holding a load hostage or it's a potentially stolen load. Same situation.
(11:21):
Like, you know, we have unfortunately, dispatchers getting heated in the moment, going back to back in emails saying, I'm going to deduct this much from you. And we're like, don't say anything.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
You know, and that's, you know, to my, in my experience, it's like, you know, fortunately, unfortunately, I've had a lot of crap happen in my career, right? And it's one of those things that, you know, maybe it's because I'm just older now and I'm not a young kid anymore, but I'm like, all right, we got to get to a resolution. Because arguing, bickering back and forth has never solved anything in my career, but it's right, you know, and that was one of those escalation points that were trained on early on is, hey, sometimes you just back away, let somebody else come in and just have a conversation. It's amazing what can get resolved when there's just a different voice on the phone. And it's not, and I want more people to realize this.
(12:12):
It's not a knock on your abilities or it's not a disability of you and how you can operate in that moment. Sometimes it's just the person hates the sound of your voice and it does not matter what you say or do in that moment, they are not going to work with you. Right? So it's like once you hit that inevitable impasse, it's like, back away, let somebody else come in. Because you got to think long term damages. Is there something you're going to do or say in that moment where that person is just going to be like, go rogue. And then all of a sudden we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. And then like you said, these things are in writing. Hey, their insurance companies, like you actually told them to do this and then are you going to fight that?
(12:48):
And then do you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for that out of pocket? And it's like, it might sound like an extreme situation that I just Described, but it's not happens, you know, and it gets. And then when those egos start to come in, that's when stuff gets out of hand. And, you know, Christine, then is it, you know, on the, you know, the client services side of things, how much is. Is it like, I don't want to say on you, but there's no. I can't think of the right way to describe it of like, making sure everybody knows, like, hey, come to us with these problems. Like, please, we are here to actually help you. Do not take this upon yourself.
(13:22):
And then, or even if you do want to handle it, come to us for some guidance and we can help you walk through this.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Exactly. We do brief people on that when they first come in. But as you know, when people get into a heated situation like that, it's like, well, no, no. I take this. It's a personal attack on my ability to be able to do my job or, you know, they, you know, called my mother out, you know, things like that. And it happens quite often. So with client care, we do get a lot of complaints from carriers who are, you know, I talked to Agent X and they were unprofessional. And in some cases it's like, I'm going to send you the actual phone recording of our conversation. And that is happening more and more.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
And depending what country you're in, technically they're supposed to tell you that they're recording the conversation. A lot of time they don't.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
So we're, what we're now coaching the agents is be mindful that when you're on the phone, the person that you're talking to could be recording the conversation. And that could really get you in a lot of hot water. So it's a lot. When those calls come in, then we become the mediators between the agent and the carrier. You know, we'll tell the agent, you know, hey. Or we'll see an email come in that we've been cc'd on because they want us to know what's happening.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
We go back and say, you know, please stop from. You know, do not respond any further. We will have somebody on the team contact the carrier and see if we can't find a resolution, especially if the load is still in transit. Yeah, you know, I'm not going to deliver because you said X, Y and Z and I want to get my three grand before I'm going to drop your load or I'm going to dump it on the side. And of course, then the agent's like, well, if you do that, then I'm going to lose this. I'm going to report you to care for one, we're going to put you on dnu and it just kind of gets really blown out of proportion. And at the end of the day, the guy that's got the load is trying to make money, feed his family.
(15:00):
Yeah, it's. It's his livelihood. And you on the other side, it's your livelihood. But you're both at, you know, opposite ends of the spectrum. So really just being heard and listening to what the pains are, you know, and maybe the guy had a bad day, he didn't get a great sleep, you know, he had to replace four tires on the truck. He doesn't have that money. He really needs this load. And you call and say, I need you to, you know, your appointments been shifted till 8 in the evening and he's got to bump his next load. You know, it's when we do things like that, a lot of times it's like, oh yeah, the customer says, I need this. Oh yeah, we can do that.
(15:31):
Not checking with the driver and how is that going to impact his next load or his next three loads.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
You know, so being mindful that, yes, it's a business, but the person you're talking to on the other end of the phone is another human being and it's their job and they're trying to do as much as they can, hopefully in a very respectful manner, you know, for your customer's product, because they know if they get negative reviews, nobody's going to use them. And that's what happens. We will post a load on a report on carrier for one, and we'll get a carrier. You need to take your report down. Well, we have it in writing in the emails, you know, and so in some cases we'll say, yeah, we can do that.
(16:06):
Or in other cases it's like, you know, your driver cussed out the shipper, you know, and that your driver is a reflection on SPI As a broker, we are only as good as the guys we hire.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
And if the guys that are representing SPI at the end of the day, and that's including agents, you're representing SPI and if your conduct on the phone leads to a very nasty conversation with client care in regards to your behavior, that's not only a reflection of yourself as well as SPI and we never ever want to see that or hear, I'm never going to work the SPI again because of this person.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
And so that's, you know, all those things are important, but that just starts from one person having a bad day. And what do you mean you can't deliver my load by new?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
And then the person, you know, just blows up and then the driver gets upset and they get upset and it just happens like a ping pong. And then next thing you know, there's this whole situation and, you know, SPI has been blacklisted. You know, the driver doesn't want for sure thing. And so having to really backtrack on that. And you know, carriers are our clients too. It's not just a customer. Everybody is important. We're all a team together, including the guys you hire.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, no, I agree with that. And it is one of those things, you know, you brought up about how, you know, we all represent SPI at the end of the day. And, you know, you need to be aware of that because it's like, yes, it might be your relationship with the customer and your relationship with the carrier, but at the end of the day, SPI is facilitating this move. You know, SPI is facilitating a lot of this stuff. It's SPI's credit rating that's on the hook. It's SPI's insurance that is on the hook for a lot of this stuff that comes along with it. And you know, Nav, when you're recruiting agents and when you're talking to them, how are you kind of weeding out a lot of that from getting up?
(17:42):
Because I know, you know, like, you guys just don't take anybody, right? Like, and I think like, that's like the biggest facade out there with, you know, the agent model is like a very marketable thing out there in the transportation industry now. And a lot of people want to offer it, but like, you guys do a lot more due diligence on people. You guys have converse. You know, you guys are out there meeting with these agents in person. You guys go further than phone call. Hey, can you send what's your book of business? Yeah, man, we'll sign you up right now. Right.
(18:09):
So it's like, are you trying to spot that maybe behavior or tendencies in the onboarding phase that, you know, Christine's describing here to try and, you know, I'm not saying remove the hotheads because everybody has a moment or two, but like, what I've come to kind of realize in my career, there's a pattern with a lot of these people who go off the hinges on stuff. And I think like, they start to identify themselves earlier than later.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So we do have Bob Ripple, he actually does select agents. And we also have Mike Mikulik, he the VP of sales.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
He also looks over like the books of business. And when I'm onboarding I'll give them a call and just like that first conversation with them you can just tell like how the person is like how their temperament is or what like their personality is like. And for at least the first three months we like when we onboard an agent we are careful. We are like doing our due diligence and making sure that there are, there is enough activity. And if there's not enough activity we do end up like you know, sending them an email saying hey, like just giving them a chance to explain like why there's that lack of activity and why is there no like business going on? And if we don't get a response then we do actually end up off boarding them if they're not.
(19:36):
Because again like Christine mentioned, they do represent spi.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
And we want them to, you know, just, you don't want anything. Like we want a good representation of.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
SPI So no for sure. And I mean and then especially in today's day and age with you know, the rise in scamming and everything else, like you don't need somebody going rogue, right? Like you don't. And that's, that would be my biggest fear in you know like an agent model style situation. I know that you guys have been around obviously 45 plus years now. So like you've probably seen a lot, I mean especially Christine. You have because you've been here for 20 years. Right. But it's one of those things where there's, you know, that would be my big fear with a lot of this is a couple of rogue agents who go out there who you know, because a lot of people are great salesmen on the phone. Right. And, and I see this too with you know, potential guests on the show.
(20:26):
People can type really well but then you get them talking and you're like what? You know, so it's like that's why I always do those pre call screenings with a lot of the people if I've never met them before. But you know, that's those things. It's like I want to stop that because no matter what like you are, we're a direct representation. But like for me from a brand perspective you fought like that follows you everywhere, you know. And again this might just because I've been doing this for a long time now and I look at It a lot differently. But like, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to work with me and my organization as a whole. I don't want like, we're quick with our responses. I want as seamless as possible because that's just not the case.
(21:08):
That's out there. I think like, it stands out in a, like a lot more now when you're like, wait, what's the catch? Right? Because I feel like that's the thing that eventually people get to, they're like, wait, it can't be this good. You know what I mean? But it's like I'm gonna sit here and say like as an agent with spi, like I'm still shocked to this day how easy it is to work with you guys, like on literally everything. And it's one of those situations where when it comes down to client services, back office credit, all of that stuff.
(21:39):
Like, like I was telling you, Shiv, before we started the show today, we're as a two person operation because it's just me and Angelo, my business partner now we're able to pack a punch of a couple hundred million dollar organization out there in the market. Where else can you do that? Right? Like, and that to me is, you know, when it comes to actually starting a company, I've bootstrapped a couple of them. Now it's not easy, right? Like, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy.
(22:03):
But this is about as easy as it can get where you can go out there and you don't have to think, all right, do I have to sell my vehicle just to be able to onboard the shipper, to be able to afford to move this freight and you know, there's a lot of situations that come about like that. No. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
No, did you.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Oh, no. I thought, I thought you were going to say something there. I miss. I misread the whole situation there, Shiv. You threw off my flow. But it's all good with so Shiv. But we will. What are you guys doing now with a lot of the checks and balances that come with onboarding carriers and working with carriers that we've worked with, but they've had that identity theft. And I want the carriers who watch this show to hear this from you about the checks and balances that are in place that hey, if you've had your identity stolen but you are legitimate, there are ways for you to continue to work and get frayed.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I think for us, we do check Every single time. It's not something that we're gonna just go ahead and allow to be just dispatched. Like, unfortunately, if you do have that, there is going to be a block in place. But the main thing would be actually emailing and like a phone call from the actual verified numbers on fmcsa. Verified email on fmcsa. We need that confirmation from those two things. That's the most that we can do, right? We need the verification that, hey, this is the email address and this is where it's coming from. We're not going to take it from a Gmail and all of those things. Like, we're not going to accept or send out information to those things or to those, you know, fraudulent emails. But they can still work with us.
(23:42):
They just have to cooperate and, you know, send us the confirmation from the verified accounts and phone numbers. That's all it is. It's nothing. For those, for those carriers that you're talking about, it's nothing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And, and that to me is I, I want more of the carriers who listen to this show and the drivers who listen to this show who, you know, a lot of them feel like their options are extremely limited right now out there in the market, right? They, they feel like the way things are, there's now like with the, you know, the fraud software and everything that's out there, they feel like it's another thing that's working against them to get business. And 99 of the carriers that I've booked and worked with in my career are, what you said earlier, Christine, they just want to provide for their family. They want a fair shot out there. They hate the hurdles, they hate that they have to continuously jump through. And then it's like this whole, you know, the double brokering and everything that comes.
(24:33):
That's just another angle now because to me, it's like those are the real victims that are out there is it's the people who are actually hauling the freight who are thinking they're going to get this payday that never comes through in those moments, right? And it's one of those things that I want them to know that there are brokers and organizations that are out there that are actively working for the carrier community, that it's like, hey, if you have a knock for whatever reason, like, we are taking steps to ensure that we can continue to work with you.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
One of those additional steps is we will go in next step. And it's like, okay, well, you don't have a verified user. I just got a new cell Phone, I dropped mine, you know, and it broke. Or I had to get a new number because of, you know, X, Y or Z. We will actually go the next step and say, okay, you know, we really would like to work with you. You need to send us a copy of your cab card.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
And then what we do is we take that cab card, make sure that the name on the cab card matches the carrier that we've hired, which in some cases that is supposed to be in the vehicle at all times. So it's very highly unlikely that it's been stolen or copied. And then we actually double check the VIN number on that to make sure your insurance is the same. And we've actually gone a next step sometimes. And we'll call the insurance provider and say we know it's a privacy act thing so you can't tell us. But if I said, does, you know, Bob Smith, is he the primary number on there and is his number this number? And they will say yes or no.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
So we will go that extra step. We don't want to say no to really anybody. We know you're trying to make a living and we want to help you with that. But one of the things I wanted to mention is we are now not just having double brokered loads, instillment identities for carriers, we are having customer identities being stolen. And that's something that is happening more and more in the industry that people are not talking about.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Where somebody is fictitiously signing a credit application for a customer and they're moving these freight and then there are accounts receivable calls and says, hey, you know, you're past due X amount of dollars for these loads. And they're like, we don't have SPI set up as a vendor. We've never hired you for this. And so previously in the industry this was not, this is unheard of. You never heard of a customer. So now unfortunately, carriers have to worry about it. But now sales guys have to and agents have to worry about, you know, is this really. The person I'm talking to on the phone is really an actual customer that I've seen.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
So with the world of technology, you can forge just about anything and I can, you know, have my best friend, sisters, cousin, husband pretend to be somebody. So this industry, they're getting really good at being fraudulent and so doing your due diligence all the way around. So it's harder for drivers. Yes. And it's harder for carriers too. But at the end of the day, you want to protect your business and it should be a plus that, hey, they really want to know that it's me. You know, and we've had people say, you know, yes, this is a pain in the ass. And, you know, I'm getting really tired of this. But now that you've explained it, thank you for taking the time to make sure I am who I say I'm. Because you're actually looking out for me.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Correct.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
And having this conversation with Shivrani or the carrier setup team makes me really understand why people do this.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
You know, not just you have to do this to get on board and not explain it. You know, they don't know that, you know, the FMCSA was hacked last year and that, you know, over. Exactly. So they don't understand why all of a sudden, you know, hey, you know, last year before I was. I had no problems.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
Now it's like, I gotta jump through this tube. I gotta get my driver's license. You want me to get. ELD is connected, you know, why do you want to know where my truck is at all times? It's none of your business. Well, actually, if I'm putting my freight on your truck, I really want to know that your freight is on the truck, not as we had parked at a casino for four days with the reefer running when they finally found it. That was before elds.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I know. Yeah, it's. You know, to me, it's one of those situations where, you know, touching what you said about the, like, the customer identity fraud. I'm going to make it really easy for all of you brokers out there. No customer is reaching out to you to move their freight for you if you've never reached out to them. All right, like, that is the biggest. I know it sounds awesome, but that is the biggest red flag if it's somebody who you've never talked to that hits you up to want to move your freight and everything. Come on, you guys, like, let's be honest. If you've ever cold called, you know that's not happening, Right? Because everybody's good. But that is going to be it for today, you guys. That flew by as I knew it was going to because you guys are phenomenal.
(28:47):
How does anybody reach out to you guys to find out more about what SPI has going on?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Well, they can reach out through Bob or they can call the office direct. 866-744-7774, extension six. And you will get anybody on the client care team. And you can speak to myself. Shivrani, Nav. The team and we can transfer you from there. And yeah, we're absolutely. Got questions, give us a call.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
They answered at 6:05am Pacific Time this morning. Just from experience, because I called in this morning at 6:05am and they picked up right away. All right, so there's the verifiable proof that you guys need that they are the real deal out there. But that is going to be it for today, ladies and gentlemen, as always, if you got value in what you heard, which I know you did, and you're not subscribed, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one and you haven't ranked the show yet, rank it on itunes and Spotify because that's how your network will see value. Because if you saw value, chances are they're going to see it as well. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys, and we'll be talking to you soon.
(29:44):
Now, we're going to end the show because we're a professional streamer and we're.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Just going to end it the stream.
Came back with a bank window down yelling now money anything hey oh Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when I'm get to the back hey Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when the lane moving fast hey Let them all cross if they hate then let them made them make a bigger ball.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey what is up ladies and gentlemen? We are back. We are live. It is the Freight Coach Podcast, the top podcast in transportation. Coming to you guys really live today with three guests at SBI's Rendezvous Agent event up here in Vancouver, BC. Thank you guys for taking the time. The rest, you guys know the rest of the intro here, guys. We're just gonna jump right in on this one. I've never done a show with three live guests before at all. So you guys are all my guinea pigs out here today. So, Christine, Nav, Shiv, thank you guys so much for joining. These guys are, in my opinion, are the unsung heroes of the operations at SPI Logistics.
(01:02):
As an agent who's there personally moving freight day in and day out, you know, inevitably we're faced with these situations that come up that, you know, you need that guidance. I mean, I just went through a situation this week where, you know, I've been doing this job for 15 years and I've never experienced this before. And having the support behind the scenes from you guys to be able to just get our customer taken care of and get it resolved as soon as possible. That to me is like where the truest of true values come in. Having my book of business and my agency with SPI and it's like, you know, because it's always easy to sit back and operate when things are going good, right? And like in your mindset, when things are going good, you think, oh, this is perfect.
(01:45):
It's always going to be this way until it's not right. And then ultimately you're going to be faced with a situation where it's like you need that guidance. But, you know, you might need those resources as well to be able to help navigate through that. So, Nav, you got the mic. I'm going to start with you. Why don't you introduce yourself first before we go in any further.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Of course. So my name is Navneet or Nav. Easier too. I'm the manager of people and culture at spi and in terms of like, you know, working with the agents, I onboard agents, I help them, you know, set up, like Revenova, like just in general, like all of their setups done by me. And I'm kind of like the first point of contact for them. So I try to like make a really good impression and yeah, then I just, you know, pack parcel it all up to move it to the client care for them to train the agents and the sub reps.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Okay. Shiv.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Hi, my name is. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Okay, perfect. My name is Shivrani Narayan and I'm the operations manager. So I would deal with basically our carrier compliance, cargo claims, many other things. But that is kind of what Chris is talking about that we deal with is, you know, onboarding carriers along with Christine who's client care, who does the training. But that's the part that I kind of assist with along with any distress load situations that you had this week.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah. And then Christine.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hi, my name is Christine and I am the client services manager at spi. So that entails overseeing the support team. When is the first point of contact? Once an agent's been onboarded. So we work with the agents to get them up and running using the TMS software, do the training. If there's any issues that might arise, regardless if it's customer carrier software programming, they would be calling us. And we're very hands on. So it's not like, oh well, you've onboarded with us, you've had your, you know, three hours of training, we don't want to hear from you again. We are hands on. We are the main point of contact. Dial 6. You're going to get everybody on the team. There's 10 of us and each one of them is integral and trained exactly the same way to handle situations.
(03:55):
And it's always a collaborative way of handling things. And we're there to support the agents to make their life a lot easier. We want them to book the freight. That's their job. And our job is to make their job easier.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, that you know, and I can attest to how great all of you guys are at your jobs. And I'm not just saying this because you guys are sitting in front of me. It's, you know, when we're in the thick of things out there trying to execute and you know, putting the work in to just build a sustainable book of business is hard enough. But then executing on that business is another beast essentially that comes along with it. And you know, I can personally attest to the amount of times that we have called in and I mean it is damn near every hour of the day where. But there's no lack in response. Right. Like there is almost an immediate response or it's like worst case scenario, it's a text message because it is after hours.
(04:45):
And you know, you guys do have lives and you know, it's stuff like that, but it's like that the instant response that comes along with it, right? And it's not just like a facade out there, you know. Cause it's easy to market a lot of what you guys are describing and you're like, hey, we do this, we do that until like, you know, push comes to shove. And they're like, there's times to come along with it. So Christine, from your perspective out there, how. What is one thing that, you know, maybe an incoming agent or an existing agent should maybe better prepared for like when they're out there actually operating in their own, you know, business? You know, as an agent, the one.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Thing that I would think that what we strongly stress is don't wait. If you're having a problem, don't automatically assume it's something you're doing wrong. So I always say it's a 10 minute rule. If you can't figure something out in 10 minutes, call head office so we can assist you. Don't assume that, you know, I can't do this or I can't find because a lot of times people don't want to ask for help. And that's what, as a support team, we're here to help you. And chances are at least one other person in the network has gone through the same issue you're going through or having the same problem or experience. And if you don't know something, we have a huge network of agents where we can pull that information from. So we also say, oh, I'm a truckload guy.
(06:05):
That's all I do is truckload. Oh well, I got a customer that has LTL or hazmat or has an Ocean Freight. Oh, I can't do that. Actually you can call SPI head office. We can connect the dots. We can, you know, help you out, get that load moved for your customer so you don't have to say no. And a lot of people are afraid to step into that next realm. You know, it's not my comfort zone. I don't want to do Ocean or I don't want to do LTL because I've only ever had a negative experience. Well, that's because you didn't have the support and the availability for training and a walkthrough and to help you grow your business. That's what we're here for. Ask us the questions. If we don't know. We'll say, you know, that's a great question.
(06:40):
Let me get back to you. And we will find the right person to connect the dots for you, to make you a better salesperson and to grow your business.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I'm laughing because that's me. I'm that guy who's like, I'm a truckload guy. I don't do ltl. I don't do ocean. And, you know, you're very right. It's because I had a lot of bad experiences in the past with other modes. And it wasn't necessarily the organization I was working for at the time. It was the provider of said services who were making it so challenging out there to do what we needed to do as a broker. Right? Like, I can't have the goal line moving when you quote me your price, that all of a sudden it's the, hey, this the price now until we actually decide what we really want to charge you. So it makes it really hard to go out there and, you know, convince your customer, like, hey, I know I told you it was a hundred dollars.
(07:28):
Now it's actually $700, because, you know, so it's. It's those situations like that, though, where I don't want to say it's. It's a lack of my confidence in my abilities to do it, but for me, it's more of kind of like just staying in a singular focus right now while we're building up. And it's like, hey, once we get more established business and more established book of business with our customers in the, like, you know, like I say, I'm going to sell myself one thing. If they come to me with other modes, I'm not going to turn it away right at the end of the day. But it is like everything you're describing right there is 100% that.
(08:00):
And Nav, to her point there, when you're onboarding agents, how much of that comes up in the beginning stage is like, hey, I've never felt supported behind the scenes. Or like, anytime I've come, you know, with it's all smoke and mirrors, right?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So we've had agents who have, you know, previously said the companies they were with, they didn't find that support. And we've had like, just. I've heard from agents come up to me or just like, call me and they say, oh, hey, like, you guys pick up your phone call, like you pick up your calls within like, you know, five minutes, or like you answer emails within five minutes, 10 minutes. That's like our maximum. Right. So I think that's very important is that when they're looking for that help, they need like, they get that help right away because some situations require that emergency. And so, yeah, like, agents have come up to me and said they didn't. I think, like they lacked that training from the previous companies, from the companies they were with.
(09:07):
And they just love SPI for how we train them and how like we follow up with questions if they have any questions. Or now with our SPI Academy as well, we have everything. Like we have the videos for them to refer back to and if they have any questions, they can like, obviously just come up to us and just ask.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, Shiv, this is a perfect lead in. With you and everything you're dealing with in claims. How much are you finding yourselves at times unwinding bad habits that were established at other organizations? Because, you know, I come like, for me, it's like when it comes down to an insurance claim, damages or anything like that, first thing that comes to my mind, the first way I was trained, take photos, get the name of the person who's telling you know, do that document, have them write it on the bill of lading what is actually going on. And then as a broker, try and get on the phone with the receiver or whomever is claiming that there's damages right away and just have a conversation.
(10:04):
Because it's like, I want to remove the driver from that situation outside of them taking photos, because I want to hear it directly from them. And I say that because I've heard the sky is falling from one direction. And then you actually talk to the people. They're like, nah, man, we're just like, there's a. We're good. But, you know, so it's like, how much do you find yourself kind of unwinding those bad habits?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of those. And actually, funny enough, one of the things I just heard from an agent yesterday, they were talking about how at the previous organization they didn't get any assistance when it came to claims, so they had to be hands on. And now when they're here, they tell like their staff members, they're like, back off. Claims team has got it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Like, don't get involved. Because once they get involved, they get heated, they start getting into arguments with the driver. And then there's things that are being said in emails that can be used against you for a claim declination. Things such as that and so like he was talking about, you know, just for example, from his previous claims team and support team, they're just like, nope, we have a little support here. Just back off. If they need anything, you know, they'll come to us. But they're just like, here you go, claims team, handle it. And then that's not just the claims, but also distress load situations. That's when, you know, things are stuck in transit and a driver's holding a load hostage or it's a potentially stolen load. Same situation.
(11:21):
Like, you know, we have unfortunately, dispatchers getting heated in the moment, going back to back in emails saying, I'm going to deduct this much from you. And we're like, don't say anything.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
You know, and that's, you know, to my, in my experience, it's like, you know, fortunately, unfortunately, I've had a lot of crap happen in my career, right? And it's one of those things that, you know, maybe it's because I'm just older now and I'm not a young kid anymore, but I'm like, all right, we got to get to a resolution. Because arguing, bickering back and forth has never solved anything in my career, but it's right, you know, and that was one of those escalation points that were trained on early on is, hey, sometimes you just back away, let somebody else come in and just have a conversation. It's amazing what can get resolved when there's just a different voice on the phone. And it's not, and I want more people to realize this.
(12:12):
It's not a knock on your abilities or it's not a disability of you and how you can operate in that moment. Sometimes it's just the person hates the sound of your voice and it does not matter what you say or do in that moment, they are not going to work with you. Right? So it's like once you hit that inevitable impasse, it's like, back away, let somebody else come in. Because you got to think long term damages. Is there something you're going to do or say in that moment where that person is just going to be like, go rogue. And then all of a sudden we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. And then like you said, these things are in writing. Hey, their insurance companies, like you actually told them to do this and then are you going to fight that?
(12:48):
And then do you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for that out of pocket? And it's like, it might sound like an extreme situation that I just Described, but it's not happens, you know, and it gets. And then when those egos start to come in, that's when stuff gets out of hand. And, you know, Christine, then is it, you know, on the, you know, the client services side of things, how much is. Is it like, I don't want to say on you, but there's no. I can't think of the right way to describe it of like, making sure everybody knows, like, hey, come to us with these problems. Like, please, we are here to actually help you. Do not take this upon yourself.
(13:22):
And then, or even if you do want to handle it, come to us for some guidance and we can help you walk through this.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Exactly. We do brief people on that when they first come in. But as you know, when people get into a heated situation like that, it's like, well, no, no. I take this. It's a personal attack on my ability to be able to do my job or, you know, they, you know, called my mother out, you know, things like that. And it happens quite often. So with client care, we do get a lot of complaints from carriers who are, you know, I talked to Agent X and they were unprofessional. And in some cases it's like, I'm going to send you the actual phone recording of our conversation. And that is happening more and more.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
And depending what country you're in, technically they're supposed to tell you that they're recording the conversation. A lot of time they don't.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
So we're, what we're now coaching the agents is be mindful that when you're on the phone, the person that you're talking to could be recording the conversation. And that could really get you in a lot of hot water. So it's a lot. When those calls come in, then we become the mediators between the agent and the carrier. You know, we'll tell the agent, you know, hey. Or we'll see an email come in that we've been cc'd on because they want us to know what's happening.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
We go back and say, you know, please stop from. You know, do not respond any further. We will have somebody on the team contact the carrier and see if we can't find a resolution, especially if the load is still in transit. Yeah, you know, I'm not going to deliver because you said X, Y and Z and I want to get my three grand before I'm going to drop your load or I'm going to dump it on the side. And of course, then the agent's like, well, if you do that, then I'm going to lose this. I'm going to report you to care for one, we're going to put you on dnu and it just kind of gets really blown out of proportion. And at the end of the day, the guy that's got the load is trying to make money, feed his family.
(15:00):
Yeah, it's. It's his livelihood. And you on the other side, it's your livelihood. But you're both at, you know, opposite ends of the spectrum. So really just being heard and listening to what the pains are, you know, and maybe the guy had a bad day, he didn't get a great sleep, you know, he had to replace four tires on the truck. He doesn't have that money. He really needs this load. And you call and say, I need you to, you know, your appointments been shifted till 8 in the evening and he's got to bump his next load. You know, it's when we do things like that, a lot of times it's like, oh yeah, the customer says, I need this. Oh yeah, we can do that.
(15:31):
Not checking with the driver and how is that going to impact his next load or his next three loads.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
You know, so being mindful that, yes, it's a business, but the person you're talking to on the other end of the phone is another human being and it's their job and they're trying to do as much as they can, hopefully in a very respectful manner, you know, for your customer's product, because they know if they get negative reviews, nobody's going to use them. And that's what happens. We will post a load on a report on carrier for one, and we'll get a carrier. You need to take your report down. Well, we have it in writing in the emails, you know, and so in some cases we'll say, yeah, we can do that.
(16:06):
Or in other cases it's like, you know, your driver cussed out the shipper, you know, and that your driver is a reflection on SPI As a broker, we are only as good as the guys we hire.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
And if the guys that are representing SPI at the end of the day, and that's including agents, you're representing SPI and if your conduct on the phone leads to a very nasty conversation with client care in regards to your behavior, that's not only a reflection of yourself as well as SPI and we never ever want to see that or hear, I'm never going to work the SPI again because of this person.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
And so that's, you know, all those things are important, but that just starts from one person having a bad day. And what do you mean you can't deliver my load by new?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
And then the person, you know, just blows up and then the driver gets upset and they get upset and it just happens like a ping pong. And then next thing you know, there's this whole situation and, you know, SPI has been blacklisted. You know, the driver doesn't want for sure thing. And so having to really backtrack on that. And you know, carriers are our clients too. It's not just a customer. Everybody is important. We're all a team together, including the guys you hire.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, no, I agree with that. And it is one of those things, you know, you brought up about how, you know, we all represent SPI at the end of the day. And, you know, you need to be aware of that because it's like, yes, it might be your relationship with the customer and your relationship with the carrier, but at the end of the day, SPI is facilitating this move. You know, SPI is facilitating a lot of this stuff. It's SPI's credit rating that's on the hook. It's SPI's insurance that is on the hook for a lot of this stuff that comes along with it. And you know, Nav, when you're recruiting agents and when you're talking to them, how are you kind of weeding out a lot of that from getting up?
(17:42):
Because I know, you know, like, you guys just don't take anybody, right? Like, and I think like, that's like the biggest facade out there with, you know, the agent model is like a very marketable thing out there in the transportation industry now. And a lot of people want to offer it, but like, you guys do a lot more due diligence on people. You guys have converse. You know, you guys are out there meeting with these agents in person. You guys go further than phone call. Hey, can you send what's your book of business? Yeah, man, we'll sign you up right now. Right.
(18:09):
So it's like, are you trying to spot that maybe behavior or tendencies in the onboarding phase that, you know, Christine's describing here to try and, you know, I'm not saying remove the hotheads because everybody has a moment or two, but like, what I've come to kind of realize in my career, there's a pattern with a lot of these people who go off the hinges on stuff. And I think like, they start to identify themselves earlier than later.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So we do have Bob Ripple, he actually does select agents. And we also have Mike Mikulik, he the VP of sales.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
He also looks over like the books of business. And when I'm onboarding I'll give them a call and just like that first conversation with them you can just tell like how the person is like how their temperament is or what like their personality is like. And for at least the first three months we like when we onboard an agent we are careful. We are like doing our due diligence and making sure that there are, there is enough activity. And if there's not enough activity we do end up like you know, sending them an email saying hey, like just giving them a chance to explain like why there's that lack of activity and why is there no like business going on? And if we don't get a response then we do actually end up off boarding them if they're not.
(19:36):
Because again like Christine mentioned, they do represent spi.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
And we want them to, you know, just, you don't want anything. Like we want a good representation of.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
SPI So no for sure. And I mean and then especially in today's day and age with you know, the rise in scamming and everything else, like you don't need somebody going rogue, right? Like you don't. And that's, that would be my biggest fear in you know like an agent model style situation. I know that you guys have been around obviously 45 plus years now. So like you've probably seen a lot, I mean especially Christine. You have because you've been here for 20 years. Right. But it's one of those things where there's, you know, that would be my big fear with a lot of this is a couple of rogue agents who go out there who you know, because a lot of people are great salesmen on the phone. Right. And, and I see this too with you know, potential guests on the show.
(20:26):
People can type really well but then you get them talking and you're like what? You know, so it's like that's why I always do those pre call screenings with a lot of the people if I've never met them before. But you know, that's those things. It's like I want to stop that because no matter what like you are, we're a direct representation. But like for me from a brand perspective you fought like that follows you everywhere, you know. And again this might just because I've been doing this for a long time now and I look at It a lot differently. But like, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to work with me and my organization as a whole. I don't want like, we're quick with our responses. I want as seamless as possible because that's just not the case.
(21:08):
That's out there. I think like, it stands out in a, like a lot more now when you're like, wait, what's the catch? Right? Because I feel like that's the thing that eventually people get to, they're like, wait, it can't be this good. You know what I mean? But it's like I'm gonna sit here and say like as an agent with spi, like I'm still shocked to this day how easy it is to work with you guys, like on literally everything. And it's one of those situations where when it comes down to client services, back office credit, all of that stuff.
(21:39):
Like, like I was telling you, Shiv, before we started the show today, we're as a two person operation because it's just me and Angelo, my business partner now we're able to pack a punch of a couple hundred million dollar organization out there in the market. Where else can you do that? Right? Like, and that to me is, you know, when it comes to actually starting a company, I've bootstrapped a couple of them. Now it's not easy, right? Like, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy.
(22:03):
But this is about as easy as it can get where you can go out there and you don't have to think, all right, do I have to sell my vehicle just to be able to onboard the shipper, to be able to afford to move this freight and you know, there's a lot of situations that come about like that. No. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
No, did you.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Oh, no. I thought, I thought you were going to say something there. I miss. I misread the whole situation there, Shiv. You threw off my flow. But it's all good with so Shiv. But we will. What are you guys doing now with a lot of the checks and balances that come with onboarding carriers and working with carriers that we've worked with, but they've had that identity theft. And I want the carriers who watch this show to hear this from you about the checks and balances that are in place that hey, if you've had your identity stolen but you are legitimate, there are ways for you to continue to work and get frayed.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I think for us, we do check Every single time. It's not something that we're gonna just go ahead and allow to be just dispatched. Like, unfortunately, if you do have that, there is going to be a block in place. But the main thing would be actually emailing and like a phone call from the actual verified numbers on fmcsa. Verified email on fmcsa. We need that confirmation from those two things. That's the most that we can do, right? We need the verification that, hey, this is the email address and this is where it's coming from. We're not going to take it from a Gmail and all of those things. Like, we're not going to accept or send out information to those things or to those, you know, fraudulent emails. But they can still work with us.
(23:42):
They just have to cooperate and, you know, send us the confirmation from the verified accounts and phone numbers. That's all it is. It's nothing. For those, for those carriers that you're talking about, it's nothing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And, and that to me is I, I want more of the carriers who listen to this show and the drivers who listen to this show who, you know, a lot of them feel like their options are extremely limited right now out there in the market, right? They, they feel like the way things are, there's now like with the, you know, the fraud software and everything that's out there, they feel like it's another thing that's working against them to get business. And 99 of the carriers that I've booked and worked with in my career are, what you said earlier, Christine, they just want to provide for their family. They want a fair shot out there. They hate the hurdles, they hate that they have to continuously jump through. And then it's like this whole, you know, the double brokering and everything that comes.
(24:33):
That's just another angle now because to me, it's like those are the real victims that are out there is it's the people who are actually hauling the freight who are thinking they're going to get this payday that never comes through in those moments, right? And it's one of those things that I want them to know that there are brokers and organizations that are out there that are actively working for the carrier community, that it's like, hey, if you have a knock for whatever reason, like, we are taking steps to ensure that we can continue to work with you.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
One of those additional steps is we will go in next step. And it's like, okay, well, you don't have a verified user. I just got a new cell Phone, I dropped mine, you know, and it broke. Or I had to get a new number because of, you know, X, Y or Z. We will actually go the next step and say, okay, you know, we really would like to work with you. You need to send us a copy of your cab card.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
And then what we do is we take that cab card, make sure that the name on the cab card matches the carrier that we've hired, which in some cases that is supposed to be in the vehicle at all times. So it's very highly unlikely that it's been stolen or copied. And then we actually double check the VIN number on that to make sure your insurance is the same. And we've actually gone a next step sometimes. And we'll call the insurance provider and say we know it's a privacy act thing so you can't tell us. But if I said, does, you know, Bob Smith, is he the primary number on there and is his number this number? And they will say yes or no.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
So we will go that extra step. We don't want to say no to really anybody. We know you're trying to make a living and we want to help you with that. But one of the things I wanted to mention is we are now not just having double brokered loads, instillment identities for carriers, we are having customer identities being stolen. And that's something that is happening more and more in the industry that people are not talking about.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Where somebody is fictitiously signing a credit application for a customer and they're moving these freight and then there are accounts receivable calls and says, hey, you know, you're past due X amount of dollars for these loads. And they're like, we don't have SPI set up as a vendor. We've never hired you for this. And so previously in the industry this was not, this is unheard of. You never heard of a customer. So now unfortunately, carriers have to worry about it. But now sales guys have to and agents have to worry about, you know, is this really. The person I'm talking to on the phone is really an actual customer that I've seen.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
So with the world of technology, you can forge just about anything and I can, you know, have my best friend, sisters, cousin, husband pretend to be somebody. So this industry, they're getting really good at being fraudulent and so doing your due diligence all the way around. So it's harder for drivers. Yes. And it's harder for carriers too. But at the end of the day, you want to protect your business and it should be a plus that, hey, they really want to know that it's me. You know, and we've had people say, you know, yes, this is a pain in the ass. And, you know, I'm getting really tired of this. But now that you've explained it, thank you for taking the time to make sure I am who I say I'm. Because you're actually looking out for me.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Correct.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
And having this conversation with Shivrani or the carrier setup team makes me really understand why people do this.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
You know, not just you have to do this to get on board and not explain it. You know, they don't know that, you know, the FMCSA was hacked last year and that, you know, over. Exactly. So they don't understand why all of a sudden, you know, hey, you know, last year before I was. I had no problems.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
Now it's like, I gotta jump through this tube. I gotta get my driver's license. You want me to get. ELD is connected, you know, why do you want to know where my truck is at all times? It's none of your business. Well, actually, if I'm putting my freight on your truck, I really want to know that your freight is on the truck, not as we had parked at a casino for four days with the reefer running when they finally found it. That was before elds.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I know. Yeah, it's. You know, to me, it's one of those situations where, you know, touching what you said about the, like, the customer identity fraud. I'm going to make it really easy for all of you brokers out there. No customer is reaching out to you to move their freight for you if you've never reached out to them. All right, like, that is the biggest. I know it sounds awesome, but that is the biggest red flag if it's somebody who you've never talked to that hits you up to want to move your freight and everything. Come on, you guys, like, let's be honest. If you've ever cold called, you know that's not happening, Right? Because everybody's good. But that is going to be it for today, you guys. That flew by as I knew it was going to because you guys are phenomenal.
(28:47):
How does anybody reach out to you guys to find out more about what SPI has going on?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Well, they can reach out through Bob or they can call the office direct. 866-744-7774, extension six. And you will get anybody on the client care team. And you can speak to myself. Shivrani, Nav. The team and we can transfer you from there. And yeah, we're absolutely. Got questions, give us a call.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
They answered at 6:05am Pacific Time this morning. Just from experience, because I called in this morning at 6:05am and they picked up right away. All right, so there's the verifiable proof that you guys need that they are the real deal out there. But that is going to be it for today, ladies and gentlemen, as always, if you got value in what you heard, which I know you did, and you're not subscribed, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one and you haven't ranked the show yet, rank it on itunes and Spotify because that's how your network will see value. Because if you saw value, chances are they're going to see it as well. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys, and we'll be talking to you soon.
(29:44):
Now, we're going to end the show because we're a professional streamer and we're.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Just going to end it the stream.
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