June 5, 2025 • 29 mins
Today, you’ll hear more market trends within the trucking industry, sales prospecting strategies, implementing better financial planning, and leveraging AI for operational efficiency! Tune in so you won’t miss an episode that is valuable for your freight business!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
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 every single weekday, 8:30am Pacific, 10:30 Central to break down some industry headlines. But most importantly, you guys provide some actual insight into what you can do with all of this information. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome. This is the real side of freight, ladies and gentlemen. And I do say that before every single show.
(00:48):
What I mean by that is I only speak with transportation professionals because at the end of the day, you guys, I want to talk to the right individuals who have done what you're looking to do or who are currently doing what you're trying to achieve so you can take that information, apply it, utilize it and see a meaningful difference in your business and your life. Happy Thursday, everybody. I got a very special solo show for you guys here today. Actually, throughout the month, I'm going to be starting to sprinkle this back in. You know, I see a lot of the questions that come through, whether it be DMS or on my posts and stuff like that.
(01:20):
So I'm going to try and do a little bit more solo shows to kind of answer those questions and, you know, really break down some more granular market reports and data and stuff that's out there just to try and deliver a little bit more value that we can. And this is always practices that I am personally applying inside of my freight brokerage in my operations and everything else out there. But I do have a couple of quick reminders. All right, I do have a weekly newsletter, you guys. It drops every single Wednesday. I don't auto sign anybody up for it. So if you want to get in on it, go to the freightcoach.com it'll auto prompt you to register again. It's once a week. It drops every Wednesday.
(02:00):
We talk about rates, we talk about fuel prices, and just a little bit more industry news out there. And then also my team keeps reminding me to say this a few times in the show. If you're not subscribed and you're tuning into this thing, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious as well and you want to rank the show. That is what helps us get out there to more people, is if you saw value and you rank it, chances are your network's going to see value as well. But I want to start. We got a couple of articles we're going to be breaking down here a little bit later in the show. But I want to start about.
(02:32):
I saw a comment one of my posts earlier this week about if I had a course or if I did any form of training for people. And I don't do that anymore. For starters, I never had a course. I'll never have a course. I will never charge anybody for anything like that. Right. Like a lot of the tactics and strategies that we talk about, we give it away for free on the show here. All right? So if you want to learn how I personally prospect customers, how I personally cold call and solicit business and everything I talk about here on the show, and I will never charge anybody for that. I make money in my actual businesses of brokering freight and the media stuff here. So I'm good from that perspective.
(03:17):
So if you have any of those style questions, you guys, and you want them answered, just DM me or drop them in the chat on the live stream here. Or if you comment one of my posts and I or my team sees it, they'll notify me of it. And I'll put that information out there, you guys, because at the end of the day, and ironically, I put a post out there about this very topic this morning, you know, there's a lot of individuals who are out there trying to prospect shippers or, you know, business in general or they're thinking about should I start creating content. And. But they're always like hung up on like what other people are going to be thinking about you. And in harsh reality, you guys, people aren't thinking about you at all. They're thinking about themselves.
(03:57):
You know, so when you're going on out there and I had this happen yesterday, you know, again, I make sales calls and cold calls every single day of the week and I have people hang up on me. I just really laugh about it when somebody hangs up on me mid pitch because at the end of the day, you guys, that might bother you. And it did bother me. It bothered me for a very long time. But at the end of the day, you guys, they're not thinking about you at all. As soon as they hang up on you, they're back to whatever was pissing them off prior to you calling them. And that's really what's on their mind. And again, very rarely is it you that upset them in that moment.
(04:33):
It's probably the fact that like nine other people called them in a row or maybe their boss lit them up because they've been slacking in their job. It's not you, the individual. Right. So I think that's one thing. It's a big hurdle for a lot of sales reps to get over is. Is like that anxiety that comes along with making sales calls. And, you know, how do you handle a lot of the objections that come along? And, you know, in regards to the thing that I had gotten, you know, the. The objections and rejections are part of it. If you guys want a couple of good books, I would buy and read anything that Jeb Blount puts out there. He's got fanatical prospecting. That's a book that I recently read. It is from Phenomenal.
(05:17):
It might be the best sales book I think I've ever read. I would check that one out. I'm currently reading his book called Objections as well. And that's, you know, kind of helping you me deal with the objections and rejections and separating that in the prospecting phase. Right. Because inside of transportation in particular, we have a lot of quick sales, right? Like we're trying to get through and get in there a lot faster than I think we might expect. And the reality is right now, in particular, it takes a lot longer than you want and from. And you really need to accept that. And a lot of the objections that you get are just that they're not a rejection, you know, because again, for the most part, they don't remember you. So if somebody's good right now, okay, perfect. Move on you guys.
(06:11):
Like, there's. You should be going after like a thousand different prospects at a time because you're going to be constantly filtering through them, you know, unless you're trying to be a jack of all trades, freight broker, who's going to do ltl, intermodal, air freight, drayage, full truckload, ltl all of that, which I highly advise against for anyone, unless you've been doing this for a very long time and you can do this at a high level, but for the most part, choose one thing, build up a lead list inside of that and then go after them. You know, set up a structure behind your day. One thing that I do is 50 cold calls a day, five days a week. All right? Business permitting, there are days, because again, we are a startup. There is just me and my business partner.
(06:52):
We're working through a lot of our processes and when our current customers drop freight on our plate, that takes a lot of our attention in the moment. So are there days that we don't hit that? Yes, there are, but it's because our focus has shifted to revenue producing activities that are associated with our business. But, you know, build that framework that comes along with it. Whether it's 50 calls a day or if you're just starting out, start with just like 5, 10. Do do something to get used to it because you got to build a process and a system that you can follow because anybody can make a hundred cold calls once, you know, and then there's a lot of people who post a bunch of bullshit out there that make you think that they do this stuff every single day.
(07:31):
And I doubt it. I guarantee 99% of people, what they post out there is not actually being done in their business. They're just posting it. And then they sit back and put their feet up and go back about wondering why their shit's not actually building and working and growing. And you know, at the end of the day, you got to start with that. But you know, when it comes down to objections and rejections, it's part of it. Okay, acknowledge it though, right? Unless they say not interested in, hang up. If they tell you they're good with their current network, they acknowledge that. You know how hard it is to find customers and providers and vendors that actually do what they say they're going to do. It's a lot more rare than you think, right?
(08:11):
So if a business out there tells you that and they're serious about it, phenomenal. That's, that's a huge problem for a lot of businesses out there, whether it's in transportation, their suppliers, any of that stuff, right? So that's actually a really good thing. You should acknowledge that. And then again, here's one thing that I personally do. Anytime we're hit with any form of rejection or objection in the sales process, I want to know, how do I respectfully stay in front of you? And I will ask them that, you know, I will acknowledge the fact. If they're like, we're good right now, I'm going to be like, hey, I completely understand. I know how the market's performing, I know how things are going out there. How do I respectfully stay in front of you though? Is once a month, okay?
(08:51):
And I want to get that verbal confirmation from them on how I can follow up. Because more times than not, you guys, they're going to Be good. And they might actually be. Or if they're not, you want to think of a way like, how do you stay in front of them to not annoy them to where they. Every time they see your number come up, that they just will instantly turn you into that blocked category. A lot of this business takes time, you guys. It takes a lot longer than you want. But again, if you're going to go out there and build a sustainable book of business in any industry, but especially inside of transportation, you have to formulate a process and a system for you to follow. You have to develop business constantly. All right? You are never good.
(09:33):
You are never at a point where you're fine and you don't have to prospect anymore. The second you think that is, the second your business or your book of business starts to die, you need to find sum again, build a system that you can follow. I am all about starting small and building your way back up into that. Because again, it's about hitting that consistently every single day and removing that. Hey, I did a hundred calls yesterday. I'm good for the rest of the week because again, it takes a lot longer than you want out there. And the majority of the stuff that you see on social media inside of transportation, I would argue until I am blue in the face that 99% of it is false. And, and they're not doing any of the things that they say that they are. Okay?
(10:15):
They might have had a couple or they're just relying on, you know, it's just like, hey, I was captain of the football team in high school and they graduated 30 years ago. Who cares about that, right? It's like, what are you doing today? What are you doing right now? And how are you building for the future? That is where your main focus has to be. And, you know, it's kind of a segue into one of my articles here that we're going to be breaking down because, you know, again, the market is. Is top of mind for a lot of people. And one thing outside of myself, and again, there might be other people saying it, but I, my sphere of people I pay attention to is small. I haven't seen a lot of people talking about what happens if the market remains the same.
(10:54):
Okay, that's not being talked about. That's not being talked about at all. What if. What if it remains the same? And that's how a lot of people, I think, need to be approaching this. Because if it doesn't change, what are you going to do? Are you going to six more months from now or you're going to be like, when's it going to change? And then your bank account's running out your book a bit, your boss is wearing you out because you're not booking any new freight and everything else. You got to ask yourself that, right? What if it doesn't change? What if this is the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future? You don't know. Nobody knows at this point. So first article though, you guys.
(11:27):
And again, all the links to these articles, we will put them up there in the show notes, but if you want to check them out, this one's just from ttnews.com and it's Fleet margin set to shrink again in 2025 CSCMP finds fleet margins are likely to be squeezed even tighter in 2025 spot and contract rates are unlikely to rebound for four hire fleets in 2025. Neither will demand while cost rise while costs will rise, said carrier shippers and analysts surveyed by Kearney, who is a consulting firm out there. And then margins, especially for owner operators, were down to the bone a year ago. In the past 12 months have seen little improvements, the report says. And then obviously there's a bunch of stuff going on out there. Tariffs are obviously top of a lot of people's minds. That's a major factor going into this.
(12:20):
Most US Imports of steel and aluminum did become subject to a 50% tariff as of yesterday. Imports of the key metals for building homes, commercial buildings, roads, trucks were already subject to a 25% tariff that was going on out there. And Volvo truck, excuse me, and Mack trucks hiked the prices of their vehicles in May following the March introduction of the tariffs. Additional minimum 10% tariffs on all goods imported from around the globe are also set to increase prices out there. And then the Organization for Economic Operation and Development on June 3 cut its global GDP growth outlook for both 2025 and 2026. U.S. GDP is set to increase 1.6% in 2025 and an additional 1.5% in 2026, according to the latest forecast, compared to March projections of 2.2% and 1.6%.
(13:18):
Inflation in the US is set to average 3.2% in 2025 compared to 2.5% in 2024, the data shows. I don't I'm gonna have to double check on that because last time I checked out their inflation was dropping. But again, I haven't checked every single day because, you know, I'm building a business and I have Other things to do out there. But also the American Trucking association with warned against further tariffs of, you know, on trucks. And then more than a third of US commercial vehicles are sourced from Canada and Mexico. Act research has cut its Class 8 demand expectations out there. And then in a revised outlook, the S and P global mobile mobility director said he expects 9% hike in retail prices on trucks. As a result of the tariffs and subsequent uncertainty.
(14:09):
The report author says the trucking industry finds itself suspended in midair. DAT shows the national average spot rate for dry van shipments in April was at $1.96amile, which is down 1.5% from 2024, which is at $1.99amile. Contract rates averaged 240amile in April, down from 2.4% from $2.462.46amile, excuse me, in April of 2024. For out there, carrier capacity has remained higher than ideal throughout 2024. And some signs of rationalization. Again, to make it as basic and simple as possible. You guys, supply and demand. Think of that. All right, There are more trucks on the road than freight available for trucks right now, okay? That is why rates will continue to drop. Capacity is, I would say, the most important factor in all of this right now.
(15:05):
All right, I will argue that as long as there are more trucks on the road than there is freight to be moved, we will be in a market that looks eerily similar to this right now. It does go on to say no significant increases in rates can be expected in 2025. I would argue if this might be the same throughout 2026 at this point. All right, outside of something drastic happening out there. And again, I am not here to argue what is fair or unfair. I am just here to talk about my perception on how things are continuing to drag along. And again, to break it down as simple as possible, you guys, there are more trucks on the road than there is freight to be moved, okay?
(15:46):
And as long as that continues, there will not be any significant rate increases that will come about because again, it is the survival of the fittest at this point, right? Who has the most cash flow and the most cash in the bank to burn to sustain this down market. All right? And again, this is why we've talked about this for years, knowing your balance sheet. I mean, my friends at Denim come on the show literally once a month to talk about business, finances, financial, literary in literacy, inside of your operation to sustain this exact market that we're going through right now. So again, we need to look at this and see, like, how long can you sustain this? All right, Knowing your costs inside of your business? We talk about that often on the show. With Denim.
(16:31):
We talk about this often on the show. Is. Is knowing your costs being an absolute, taking a scalpel to your P and L to see what do you actually need to operate your business, whether you're a trucking company or whether you are a broker or a manufacturer, what do you need? What do you not need? And then just completely be on top of that as you are going on and going about this year. Right? Because again, they're hoping 2026 will be an uptick in transportation. We need to start asking, what if it doesn't change? How long can we survive? What can we do inside of our business to increase our margins in some way, shape or form, to build up a cushion inside of your bank account to sustain this?
(17:17):
Because again, we can sit here and hope and dream and say that, oh, God, the market's got to improve. It's got to improve. You need to start asking, what if it doesn't? What if this is normal? What if this remains like this for the foreseeable future? How are you going to survive? All right, that has to be top of mind. How are you going to survive? All right? Because there is a lot of uncertainty that goes on anytime there is talk about tariffs in the news, all right, There's a lot of stuff that goes on. And again, I'm not here to argue what is fair or not fair. I. I am dealing. I am playing the hand I am. I have been dealt as a business owner. All right, at the end of the day, I don't care.
(17:55):
I do care what's done on Capitol Hill, but I cannot change what is being done right now, okay? I cannot. I can only control my actions, my outreach, my outputs every single day to build my cash reserves inside of my business to make sure I can sustain this for the foreseeable future. And you need to start approaching it like this. You guys, you truly do. Because all the experts and everything else out there that I just wish somebody with a bunch of letters behind their name would just come out and say, figure it the out. You guys do the basics and keep your. Increase your margins in any way you shape or, you know, form you can, because nobody knows if anything's going to change. And again, that's my stance. This is what I'm going to roll with.
(18:39):
I don't know if it's going to change. Frankly, as much as I would love to be as optimistic and pie in the sky. I can't be you guys because I got a family to feed and I got a business to build. So at the end of the day I'm focused on my outputs. I'm focused on my P and L. What can I cut? What can I implement to increase my outputs? So that article, you guys, ttnews.com fleet margins set to shrink again in 2025 and you know, another good segue into another great article. And I've had a bunch of these companies on my show. All right, and we're going to continue to talk about this. So this article is from fleetoner.com and we're talking. It's just about AI at the end of the day.
(19:20):
It's just this one is trucking's mid-2025 AI update and I've had drum kit on the show. I've had Vuma on the show. I've had Augment on the show. I've had Wire be on the show. Although they're not AI, they're more phone. But again it's. How do we increase our outputs with technology? What can we implement inside of our day to increase our outputs that come along with it? And again, in my opinion, AI is a phenomenal opportunity. It really is. Because for those small business owners that are out there, this will help you implement some of this stuff to where you don't. If you can't afford to hire somebody while the price of AI to work behind the scenes for you might be able to afford that and then that will increase your outputs.
(20:08):
And that is what I am personally looking at inside of my organization is where can I implement AI and automation inside my day to day. So again we can focus on building up our cash reserves inside of our business to deploy that to hire people in the future. Because like right now, for example, we can. But like what can we do to build up the technology in our tech stack to where we have all of the kinks ironed out so when we do hire people, we're not going through like a double training phase that comes along with it. So that's our strategy with a lot of this. So AI has gone from buzzword to a necessity for tech companies. Even in trucking. It says for decades AI software tools were designed to make labor more productive.
(20:55):
John McIntyre of Trimble Transportation said during a recent AI roundtable with generative AI, the software is the labor. Trimble is a trucking technology company, offers AI powered products and solutions to assist the trucking industry Just a trucking industry update AI has advanced significantly since the introduction of chat. GPT which essentially bought brought generative AI to the mainstream in November of 22. It's like the Internet revolution, but packed into a couple of years instead of a couple of decades and how will it change the world? It says. While the full extent of AI can't be known today, Trimble experts predict significant changes will happen in the labor force digitally dependent jobs which include back office staff and admin work. A recent survey from McKinsey & Co.
(21:45):
Found industry wide up to 90% of trucking companies use AI in their operations, McIntyre said, noting these companies are using either generative AI or less sophisticated predictive AI. And then while most trucking companies aren't replacing humans with bots, today AI is being used to automate multiple back office tasks. Meanwhile, McIntyre, described as quaint and largely revolve around generating revenue and lowering costs out there. These methods include using AI to write customer emails indicating price increases. One trucking company uses AI chatbots to offer its customers quick and simple information by simply typing in a question on its website. Another trucking company uses AI to create custom workflows for its back office team, removing eliminating hours of tedious labor. And then further, Trimble has an AI tool to help its customers in the deal making process.
(22:45):
You know, again I look at it as, you know from my seat, we are going to automate as much as we can except for the customer experience and the carrier experience anytime like they brought up rate creases, rate increases, for example, that won't be done with a bot inside of my company. As long as I have a breath in my body that will be an actual conversation with our customers. We're not going to automate that. We are going to spec like be 100% human to human interaction on that because I think that's where the competitive advantage is going to lie because there are going to be a lot of companies who automate everything and then people are going to eventually gravitate away from that because they want to work with people at the end of the day and I truly believe in that.
(23:34):
I feel like the companies who use it behind the scenes are going to be the ones that are going to grow as quick as possible and implement it the right way. I just don't think it's I'm never going to use it to replace any employees or not hire people because I can just, you know, deploy technology and not do that. I feel like as somebody who's bootstrapping their business. It gives me an opportunity to build my company and hire the right amount of people as opposed to what you've historically seen where hey, we bring in this hiring class of 20 people hoping that two of them make it. But my goal is to apply as much technology as we can to just hire the right two people right away and save ourselves a lot of that.
(24:22):
Again, it's a lot of pie in the sky style things but again, menial tasks, what can you do? What takes as much time as you can to put yourself back out there? Again, load building is a big thing for us. We do not have EDI and API customers where the loads auto build. So every single time a customer sends us a bill of lading or a pickup email, we have to manually build that. And again, I'm not complaining about doing the job, but that's a great spot to start. You know what are those tasks that take up the most amount of time for you throughout your day and is there a way to automate that? Right? There are some great tools that are out there, but again you gotta start right?
(25:03):
I started using Chat GPT probably like eight to nine months ago and I started using it just to get familiar with it, right? And I don't use it ever. Like I do use it every single day actually, but I don't use it to like put out any content. I've actually used it as a resource to help kind of spark my creative genes is really how I started using it. And then now I've since used it to help me create sales processes and a bunch of other things inside of my business. So it's like I look at something like AI right now and I'm not opposed to it at all. I don't think it's going to replace anybody outside of the people who already suck at their jobs. Harsh reality is you'll probably be without a job.
(25:53):
But if you're delivering real tangible value to an organization, you'll always have a job. I've said that before and I will say that again. If you are a hard working individual, you will always have a job because people will always need quality people. But the subpar performers out there, the ones who are skating by every single day, the ones who are always talking about that I need work life balance where I can just work remote whenever I want and do whatever I want, I think those are the people that are going to be affected the most by this, right?
(26:22):
I, I, I, that was a general statement but at the end of the day, if you're sitting there thinking how can I work as little as possible and not get noticed, I think a technology and AI in the coming years we will 1000% expose your below average actions and you will be dealt with accordingly at that time. I think that's the biggest threat out there. Again, if you're a great employee, you will always have a job. I truly feel that way. So I look at it like that. You gotta look at how can you deploy it inside of your organization to help streamline and automate as much as possible as soon as possible. But again, start small and build your way up. We have in like our strategy with AI to be completely transparent.
(27:03):
We're going to choose one function, start there and build out and see what we can do. Because again, we don't want to over automate, but we also don't want to be left in the dust because this truly gives you an opportunity as a small business to pack the punch of a couple hundred million dollar organization without having the overhead of a couple hundred million dollar organization. So you need to look at that. And again, we got to look at if things don't change in the market, how do we increase our margins, how do we stay profitable? And this is why people need to start looking at this and taking this seriously out there. But that will be it for today, ladies and gentlemen. I do have a guest coming on tomorrow and then we'll have guests coming on next week with all of that.
(27:41):
But as always, you guys, if you got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one, which you should be. And you haven't ranked the show yet on itunes and Spotify, rank it out there you guys, because if you saw value, your network's going to see value as well. I appreciate you guys, I love you guys and we'll be talking to you soon.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Came back with a bank 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 the metal when the lane moving fast if they hate then let them make a bigger boss Hey.
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 every single weekday, 8:30am Pacific, 10:30 Central to break down some industry headlines. But most importantly, you guys provide some actual insight into what you can do with all of this information. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome. This is the real side of freight, ladies and gentlemen. And I do say that before every single show.
(00:48):
What I mean by that is I only speak with transportation professionals because at the end of the day, you guys, I want to talk to the right individuals who have done what you're looking to do or who are currently doing what you're trying to achieve so you can take that information, apply it, utilize it and see a meaningful difference in your business and your life. Happy Thursday, everybody. I got a very special solo show for you guys here today. Actually, throughout the month, I'm going to be starting to sprinkle this back in. You know, I see a lot of the questions that come through, whether it be DMS or on my posts and stuff like that.
(01:20):
So I'm going to try and do a little bit more solo shows to kind of answer those questions and, you know, really break down some more granular market reports and data and stuff that's out there just to try and deliver a little bit more value that we can. And this is always practices that I am personally applying inside of my freight brokerage in my operations and everything else out there. But I do have a couple of quick reminders. All right, I do have a weekly newsletter, you guys. It drops every single Wednesday. I don't auto sign anybody up for it. So if you want to get in on it, go to the freightcoach.com it'll auto prompt you to register again. It's once a week. It drops every Wednesday.
(02:00):
We talk about rates, we talk about fuel prices, and just a little bit more industry news out there. And then also my team keeps reminding me to say this a few times in the show. If you're not subscribed and you're tuning into this thing, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious as well and you want to rank the show. That is what helps us get out there to more people, is if you saw value and you rank it, chances are your network's going to see value as well. But I want to start. We got a couple of articles we're going to be breaking down here a little bit later in the show. But I want to start about.
(02:32):
I saw a comment one of my posts earlier this week about if I had a course or if I did any form of training for people. And I don't do that anymore. For starters, I never had a course. I'll never have a course. I will never charge anybody for anything like that. Right. Like a lot of the tactics and strategies that we talk about, we give it away for free on the show here. All right? So if you want to learn how I personally prospect customers, how I personally cold call and solicit business and everything I talk about here on the show, and I will never charge anybody for that. I make money in my actual businesses of brokering freight and the media stuff here. So I'm good from that perspective.
(03:17):
So if you have any of those style questions, you guys, and you want them answered, just DM me or drop them in the chat on the live stream here. Or if you comment one of my posts and I or my team sees it, they'll notify me of it. And I'll put that information out there, you guys, because at the end of the day, and ironically, I put a post out there about this very topic this morning, you know, there's a lot of individuals who are out there trying to prospect shippers or, you know, business in general or they're thinking about should I start creating content. And. But they're always like hung up on like what other people are going to be thinking about you. And in harsh reality, you guys, people aren't thinking about you at all. They're thinking about themselves.
(03:57):
You know, so when you're going on out there and I had this happen yesterday, you know, again, I make sales calls and cold calls every single day of the week and I have people hang up on me. I just really laugh about it when somebody hangs up on me mid pitch because at the end of the day, you guys, that might bother you. And it did bother me. It bothered me for a very long time. But at the end of the day, you guys, they're not thinking about you at all. As soon as they hang up on you, they're back to whatever was pissing them off prior to you calling them. And that's really what's on their mind. And again, very rarely is it you that upset them in that moment.
(04:33):
It's probably the fact that like nine other people called them in a row or maybe their boss lit them up because they've been slacking in their job. It's not you, the individual. Right. So I think that's one thing. It's a big hurdle for a lot of sales reps to get over is. Is like that anxiety that comes along with making sales calls. And, you know, how do you handle a lot of the objections that come along? And, you know, in regards to the thing that I had gotten, you know, the. The objections and rejections are part of it. If you guys want a couple of good books, I would buy and read anything that Jeb Blount puts out there. He's got fanatical prospecting. That's a book that I recently read. It is from Phenomenal.
(05:17):
It might be the best sales book I think I've ever read. I would check that one out. I'm currently reading his book called Objections as well. And that's, you know, kind of helping you me deal with the objections and rejections and separating that in the prospecting phase. Right. Because inside of transportation in particular, we have a lot of quick sales, right? Like we're trying to get through and get in there a lot faster than I think we might expect. And the reality is right now, in particular, it takes a lot longer than you want and from. And you really need to accept that. And a lot of the objections that you get are just that they're not a rejection, you know, because again, for the most part, they don't remember you. So if somebody's good right now, okay, perfect. Move on you guys.
(06:11):
Like, there's. You should be going after like a thousand different prospects at a time because you're going to be constantly filtering through them, you know, unless you're trying to be a jack of all trades, freight broker, who's going to do ltl, intermodal, air freight, drayage, full truckload, ltl all of that, which I highly advise against for anyone, unless you've been doing this for a very long time and you can do this at a high level, but for the most part, choose one thing, build up a lead list inside of that and then go after them. You know, set up a structure behind your day. One thing that I do is 50 cold calls a day, five days a week. All right? Business permitting, there are days, because again, we are a startup. There is just me and my business partner.
(06:52):
We're working through a lot of our processes and when our current customers drop freight on our plate, that takes a lot of our attention in the moment. So are there days that we don't hit that? Yes, there are, but it's because our focus has shifted to revenue producing activities that are associated with our business. But, you know, build that framework that comes along with it. Whether it's 50 calls a day or if you're just starting out, start with just like 5, 10. Do do something to get used to it because you got to build a process and a system that you can follow because anybody can make a hundred cold calls once, you know, and then there's a lot of people who post a bunch of bullshit out there that make you think that they do this stuff every single day.
(07:31):
And I doubt it. I guarantee 99% of people, what they post out there is not actually being done in their business. They're just posting it. And then they sit back and put their feet up and go back about wondering why their shit's not actually building and working and growing. And you know, at the end of the day, you got to start with that. But you know, when it comes down to objections and rejections, it's part of it. Okay, acknowledge it though, right? Unless they say not interested in, hang up. If they tell you they're good with their current network, they acknowledge that. You know how hard it is to find customers and providers and vendors that actually do what they say they're going to do. It's a lot more rare than you think, right?
(08:11):
So if a business out there tells you that and they're serious about it, phenomenal. That's, that's a huge problem for a lot of businesses out there, whether it's in transportation, their suppliers, any of that stuff, right? So that's actually a really good thing. You should acknowledge that. And then again, here's one thing that I personally do. Anytime we're hit with any form of rejection or objection in the sales process, I want to know, how do I respectfully stay in front of you? And I will ask them that, you know, I will acknowledge the fact. If they're like, we're good right now, I'm going to be like, hey, I completely understand. I know how the market's performing, I know how things are going out there. How do I respectfully stay in front of you though? Is once a month, okay?
(08:51):
And I want to get that verbal confirmation from them on how I can follow up. Because more times than not, you guys, they're going to Be good. And they might actually be. Or if they're not, you want to think of a way like, how do you stay in front of them to not annoy them to where they. Every time they see your number come up, that they just will instantly turn you into that blocked category. A lot of this business takes time, you guys. It takes a lot longer than you want. But again, if you're going to go out there and build a sustainable book of business in any industry, but especially inside of transportation, you have to formulate a process and a system for you to follow. You have to develop business constantly. All right? You are never good.
(09:33):
You are never at a point where you're fine and you don't have to prospect anymore. The second you think that is, the second your business or your book of business starts to die, you need to find sum again, build a system that you can follow. I am all about starting small and building your way back up into that. Because again, it's about hitting that consistently every single day and removing that. Hey, I did a hundred calls yesterday. I'm good for the rest of the week because again, it takes a lot longer than you want out there. And the majority of the stuff that you see on social media inside of transportation, I would argue until I am blue in the face that 99% of it is false. And, and they're not doing any of the things that they say that they are. Okay?
(10:15):
They might have had a couple or they're just relying on, you know, it's just like, hey, I was captain of the football team in high school and they graduated 30 years ago. Who cares about that, right? It's like, what are you doing today? What are you doing right now? And how are you building for the future? That is where your main focus has to be. And, you know, it's kind of a segue into one of my articles here that we're going to be breaking down because, you know, again, the market is. Is top of mind for a lot of people. And one thing outside of myself, and again, there might be other people saying it, but I, my sphere of people I pay attention to is small. I haven't seen a lot of people talking about what happens if the market remains the same.
(10:54):
Okay, that's not being talked about. That's not being talked about at all. What if. What if it remains the same? And that's how a lot of people, I think, need to be approaching this. Because if it doesn't change, what are you going to do? Are you going to six more months from now or you're going to be like, when's it going to change? And then your bank account's running out your book a bit, your boss is wearing you out because you're not booking any new freight and everything else. You got to ask yourself that, right? What if it doesn't change? What if this is the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future? You don't know. Nobody knows at this point. So first article though, you guys.
(11:27):
And again, all the links to these articles, we will put them up there in the show notes, but if you want to check them out, this one's just from ttnews.com and it's Fleet margin set to shrink again in 2025 CSCMP finds fleet margins are likely to be squeezed even tighter in 2025 spot and contract rates are unlikely to rebound for four hire fleets in 2025. Neither will demand while cost rise while costs will rise, said carrier shippers and analysts surveyed by Kearney, who is a consulting firm out there. And then margins, especially for owner operators, were down to the bone a year ago. In the past 12 months have seen little improvements, the report says. And then obviously there's a bunch of stuff going on out there. Tariffs are obviously top of a lot of people's minds. That's a major factor going into this.
(12:20):
Most US Imports of steel and aluminum did become subject to a 50% tariff as of yesterday. Imports of the key metals for building homes, commercial buildings, roads, trucks were already subject to a 25% tariff that was going on out there. And Volvo truck, excuse me, and Mack trucks hiked the prices of their vehicles in May following the March introduction of the tariffs. Additional minimum 10% tariffs on all goods imported from around the globe are also set to increase prices out there. And then the Organization for Economic Operation and Development on June 3 cut its global GDP growth outlook for both 2025 and 2026. U.S. GDP is set to increase 1.6% in 2025 and an additional 1.5% in 2026, according to the latest forecast, compared to March projections of 2.2% and 1.6%.
(13:18):
Inflation in the US is set to average 3.2% in 2025 compared to 2.5% in 2024, the data shows. I don't I'm gonna have to double check on that because last time I checked out their inflation was dropping. But again, I haven't checked every single day because, you know, I'm building a business and I have Other things to do out there. But also the American Trucking association with warned against further tariffs of, you know, on trucks. And then more than a third of US commercial vehicles are sourced from Canada and Mexico. Act research has cut its Class 8 demand expectations out there. And then in a revised outlook, the S and P global mobile mobility director said he expects 9% hike in retail prices on trucks. As a result of the tariffs and subsequent uncertainty.
(14:09):
The report author says the trucking industry finds itself suspended in midair. DAT shows the national average spot rate for dry van shipments in April was at $1.96amile, which is down 1.5% from 2024, which is at $1.99amile. Contract rates averaged 240amile in April, down from 2.4% from $2.462.46amile, excuse me, in April of 2024. For out there, carrier capacity has remained higher than ideal throughout 2024. And some signs of rationalization. Again, to make it as basic and simple as possible. You guys, supply and demand. Think of that. All right, There are more trucks on the road than freight available for trucks right now, okay? That is why rates will continue to drop. Capacity is, I would say, the most important factor in all of this right now.
(15:05):
All right, I will argue that as long as there are more trucks on the road than there is freight to be moved, we will be in a market that looks eerily similar to this right now. It does go on to say no significant increases in rates can be expected in 2025. I would argue if this might be the same throughout 2026 at this point. All right, outside of something drastic happening out there. And again, I am not here to argue what is fair or unfair. I am just here to talk about my perception on how things are continuing to drag along. And again, to break it down as simple as possible, you guys, there are more trucks on the road than there is freight to be moved, okay?
(15:46):
And as long as that continues, there will not be any significant rate increases that will come about because again, it is the survival of the fittest at this point, right? Who has the most cash flow and the most cash in the bank to burn to sustain this down market. All right? And again, this is why we've talked about this for years, knowing your balance sheet. I mean, my friends at Denim come on the show literally once a month to talk about business, finances, financial, literary in literacy, inside of your operation to sustain this exact market that we're going through right now. So again, we need to look at this and see, like, how long can you sustain this? All right, Knowing your costs inside of your business? We talk about that often on the show. With Denim.
(16:31):
We talk about this often on the show. Is. Is knowing your costs being an absolute, taking a scalpel to your P and L to see what do you actually need to operate your business, whether you're a trucking company or whether you are a broker or a manufacturer, what do you need? What do you not need? And then just completely be on top of that as you are going on and going about this year. Right? Because again, they're hoping 2026 will be an uptick in transportation. We need to start asking, what if it doesn't change? How long can we survive? What can we do inside of our business to increase our margins in some way, shape or form, to build up a cushion inside of your bank account to sustain this?
(17:17):
Because again, we can sit here and hope and dream and say that, oh, God, the market's got to improve. It's got to improve. You need to start asking, what if it doesn't? What if this is normal? What if this remains like this for the foreseeable future? How are you going to survive? All right, that has to be top of mind. How are you going to survive? All right? Because there is a lot of uncertainty that goes on anytime there is talk about tariffs in the news, all right, There's a lot of stuff that goes on. And again, I'm not here to argue what is fair or not fair. I. I am dealing. I am playing the hand I am. I have been dealt as a business owner. All right, at the end of the day, I don't care.
(17:55):
I do care what's done on Capitol Hill, but I cannot change what is being done right now, okay? I cannot. I can only control my actions, my outreach, my outputs every single day to build my cash reserves inside of my business to make sure I can sustain this for the foreseeable future. And you need to start approaching it like this. You guys, you truly do. Because all the experts and everything else out there that I just wish somebody with a bunch of letters behind their name would just come out and say, figure it the out. You guys do the basics and keep your. Increase your margins in any way you shape or, you know, form you can, because nobody knows if anything's going to change. And again, that's my stance. This is what I'm going to roll with.
(18:39):
I don't know if it's going to change. Frankly, as much as I would love to be as optimistic and pie in the sky. I can't be you guys because I got a family to feed and I got a business to build. So at the end of the day I'm focused on my outputs. I'm focused on my P and L. What can I cut? What can I implement to increase my outputs? So that article, you guys, ttnews.com fleet margins set to shrink again in 2025 and you know, another good segue into another great article. And I've had a bunch of these companies on my show. All right, and we're going to continue to talk about this. So this article is from fleetoner.com and we're talking. It's just about AI at the end of the day.
(19:20):
It's just this one is trucking's mid-2025 AI update and I've had drum kit on the show. I've had Vuma on the show. I've had Augment on the show. I've had Wire be on the show. Although they're not AI, they're more phone. But again it's. How do we increase our outputs with technology? What can we implement inside of our day to increase our outputs that come along with it? And again, in my opinion, AI is a phenomenal opportunity. It really is. Because for those small business owners that are out there, this will help you implement some of this stuff to where you don't. If you can't afford to hire somebody while the price of AI to work behind the scenes for you might be able to afford that and then that will increase your outputs.
(20:08):
And that is what I am personally looking at inside of my organization is where can I implement AI and automation inside my day to day. So again we can focus on building up our cash reserves inside of our business to deploy that to hire people in the future. Because like right now, for example, we can. But like what can we do to build up the technology in our tech stack to where we have all of the kinks ironed out so when we do hire people, we're not going through like a double training phase that comes along with it. So that's our strategy with a lot of this. So AI has gone from buzzword to a necessity for tech companies. Even in trucking. It says for decades AI software tools were designed to make labor more productive.
(20:55):
John McIntyre of Trimble Transportation said during a recent AI roundtable with generative AI, the software is the labor. Trimble is a trucking technology company, offers AI powered products and solutions to assist the trucking industry Just a trucking industry update AI has advanced significantly since the introduction of chat. GPT which essentially bought brought generative AI to the mainstream in November of 22. It's like the Internet revolution, but packed into a couple of years instead of a couple of decades and how will it change the world? It says. While the full extent of AI can't be known today, Trimble experts predict significant changes will happen in the labor force digitally dependent jobs which include back office staff and admin work. A recent survey from McKinsey & Co.
(21:45):
Found industry wide up to 90% of trucking companies use AI in their operations, McIntyre said, noting these companies are using either generative AI or less sophisticated predictive AI. And then while most trucking companies aren't replacing humans with bots, today AI is being used to automate multiple back office tasks. Meanwhile, McIntyre, described as quaint and largely revolve around generating revenue and lowering costs out there. These methods include using AI to write customer emails indicating price increases. One trucking company uses AI chatbots to offer its customers quick and simple information by simply typing in a question on its website. Another trucking company uses AI to create custom workflows for its back office team, removing eliminating hours of tedious labor. And then further, Trimble has an AI tool to help its customers in the deal making process.
(22:45):
You know, again I look at it as, you know from my seat, we are going to automate as much as we can except for the customer experience and the carrier experience anytime like they brought up rate creases, rate increases, for example, that won't be done with a bot inside of my company. As long as I have a breath in my body that will be an actual conversation with our customers. We're not going to automate that. We are going to spec like be 100% human to human interaction on that because I think that's where the competitive advantage is going to lie because there are going to be a lot of companies who automate everything and then people are going to eventually gravitate away from that because they want to work with people at the end of the day and I truly believe in that.
(23:34):
I feel like the companies who use it behind the scenes are going to be the ones that are going to grow as quick as possible and implement it the right way. I just don't think it's I'm never going to use it to replace any employees or not hire people because I can just, you know, deploy technology and not do that. I feel like as somebody who's bootstrapping their business. It gives me an opportunity to build my company and hire the right amount of people as opposed to what you've historically seen where hey, we bring in this hiring class of 20 people hoping that two of them make it. But my goal is to apply as much technology as we can to just hire the right two people right away and save ourselves a lot of that.
(24:22):
Again, it's a lot of pie in the sky style things but again, menial tasks, what can you do? What takes as much time as you can to put yourself back out there? Again, load building is a big thing for us. We do not have EDI and API customers where the loads auto build. So every single time a customer sends us a bill of lading or a pickup email, we have to manually build that. And again, I'm not complaining about doing the job, but that's a great spot to start. You know what are those tasks that take up the most amount of time for you throughout your day and is there a way to automate that? Right? There are some great tools that are out there, but again you gotta start right?
(25:03):
I started using Chat GPT probably like eight to nine months ago and I started using it just to get familiar with it, right? And I don't use it ever. Like I do use it every single day actually, but I don't use it to like put out any content. I've actually used it as a resource to help kind of spark my creative genes is really how I started using it. And then now I've since used it to help me create sales processes and a bunch of other things inside of my business. So it's like I look at something like AI right now and I'm not opposed to it at all. I don't think it's going to replace anybody outside of the people who already suck at their jobs. Harsh reality is you'll probably be without a job.
(25:53):
But if you're delivering real tangible value to an organization, you'll always have a job. I've said that before and I will say that again. If you are a hard working individual, you will always have a job because people will always need quality people. But the subpar performers out there, the ones who are skating by every single day, the ones who are always talking about that I need work life balance where I can just work remote whenever I want and do whatever I want, I think those are the people that are going to be affected the most by this, right?
(26:22):
I, I, I, that was a general statement but at the end of the day, if you're sitting there thinking how can I work as little as possible and not get noticed, I think a technology and AI in the coming years we will 1000% expose your below average actions and you will be dealt with accordingly at that time. I think that's the biggest threat out there. Again, if you're a great employee, you will always have a job. I truly feel that way. So I look at it like that. You gotta look at how can you deploy it inside of your organization to help streamline and automate as much as possible as soon as possible. But again, start small and build your way up. We have in like our strategy with AI to be completely transparent.
(27:03):
We're going to choose one function, start there and build out and see what we can do. Because again, we don't want to over automate, but we also don't want to be left in the dust because this truly gives you an opportunity as a small business to pack the punch of a couple hundred million dollar organization without having the overhead of a couple hundred million dollar organization. So you need to look at that. And again, we got to look at if things don't change in the market, how do we increase our margins, how do we stay profitable? And this is why people need to start looking at this and taking this seriously out there. But that will be it for today, ladies and gentlemen. I do have a guest coming on tomorrow and then we'll have guests coming on next week with all of that.
(27:41):
But as always, you guys, if you got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show. You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one, which you should be. And you haven't ranked the show yet on itunes and Spotify, rank it out there you guys, because if you saw value, your network's going to see value as well. I appreciate you guys, I love you guys and we'll be talking to you soon.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Came back with a bank 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 the metal when the lane moving fast if they hate then let them make a bigger boss Hey.
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