July 29, 2025 • 34 mins
Today, we’ll discuss solving the truck parking crisis at a national level and scaling authentic brand content in trucking with our returning guest, Reed Loustalot of the Truck Parking Club!
Reed shares how their consistent content strategy has driven massive growth, earning hundreds of millions of impressions, and how authenticity has powered their branding.
With over 2,300 locations and 40,000 spaces, and growing weekly, they’re addressing inefficiencies that cost drivers time and money! There’s more to this episode that you should hear, so stay tuned!
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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 out money in a day hey oh Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when I'm getting to the back hey Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when the blame moving fast hey Let them all cross if they hate then let them hate them Make a bigger ball hey.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
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.
(00:47):
And I do say that before every single show.
And 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 meaningful difference in your business and your life.
Happy Tuesday, everybody.
(01:07):
I got a very special guest for you guys here today.
I've said it before, they've been on the show in the past, but these guys are literally, I think, one of the hardest working teams out there in the industry.
They're out there, they're pounding the pavement, they're getting their brand out there, and they're truly solving an issue out there in the marketplace.
And we're going to talk about a bunch of sick announcements that they've released here recently.
So I got Reed with Truck Parking Club back on the show.
(01:29):
Reed, dude, I don't like.
I gotta.
You gotta come up with a new cowboy like, moniker here, man, with that hat.
Dude, that hat is money.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I. I've been saying y' all a lot more lately.
Does that count?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yes, it does.
You are.
You're in the south now.
You're in the Tennessee.
I.
So are you going, like, straight SEC mode now as well?
Because, like, dude, I think a lot of people tend to forget, like, nobody cares about the NFL in the Southeastern Conference area of the country.
It is all college football all day long.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, I'm honestly looking forward to the.
To the.
To the season.
I don't.
I don't have a college football team, so I guess I got to just adopt one around here.
It is.
It does seem to be a way of life.
So I'm excited to.
I'm excited to.
To take some sides here and maybe get invested.
Hey, the orange man.
We were talking about your orange.
I mean, maybe.
Maybe I'm.
Maybe I gotta be a volunteers guy.
(02:21):
I don't know.
It seems Chattanooga is interesting because it's kind of, like, equidistant between, like, Knoxville and Athens, and, like, Tuscaloosa is not terribly far.
So you see all sorts of.
You see.
You see all sorts of loyalties, you know, around town.
We'll see.
We'll see what I end up going with.
I'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Dude, you're gonna have to, man.
I mean, I. I think it's only a matter of time, right?
Like, I. I feel like the south is one of those areas.
Like, it just slowly starts to chip.
You just slowly start to formulate into it.
Like you said, you're starting, y' all as soon as reason to start saying bless your heart a bunch here.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm quickly picking up all the.
All the lingo.
It's.
It's.
I'm transforming.
Yeah.
And transforming.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So, dude, what's been new out in your guys's world?
You got.
I mean, like, I'm not joking or even trying to blow smoke when I say you guys are some of the hardest working people in the industry because, like, you guys are literally non stop out there.
Branding.
Working on that.
And I want to talk about branding first, though, before we get into any of your guys's releases here, man, because it's like, how is it, you know, from your perspective being, you know, the chief marketing officer over there, how, like, how freeing is it to know that, like, you can literally just do what you want to do and there's no, like, corporate box.
(03:41):
You got to stay inside.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It was definitely just a precondition to taking the job.
I mean, and I didn't really bring that sort of culture here.
Like, that's what's kind of.
That's kind of how it's been from the very beginning.
I mean, it's just a natural reflection of the characters involved in the story, so to speak.
Right.
You know, Hunter is kind of our face the face.
(04:05):
He's going on all the videos, going to all the truck shows.
That's just kind of who he is.
And when I started working with these guys on the side, just helping with content and stuff like that, it was one of the things that really attracted me or made it obvious that a.
This was the right team solving an important problem right at the right time, and the right team being just folks who a had a lot of personality, were comfortable in front of the camera, like, naturally created content just, like, by living.
(04:38):
And if you just put a camera on it's just like, okay, this is exactly how they are, even with the cameras off.
And it just makes your job from, like, a content standpoint so easy.
It's not forced.
You don't really have to ask for anything.
It just kind of.
It just kind of flows.
And so that's.
That's just kind of how it's always been.
And.
And it definitely makes my job a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I think that, you know, I don't know about you, but I know the amount of people over the years who have came to me instead, like, hey, man, I want to create content, or, like, I want to do something like that.
But, like, I don't know how or, you know, it's like, I feel like, you know the term.
I'm sure you've been told the term authenticity.
You know, you got to be authentic.
But, like, so many people just want to be, like, 80% authentic, right?
(05:22):
Like, they want to fit in all of these boxes.
And I think, like, one thing that you guys have done well, and I know, you know, Paul Freight Caviar, he's done really well at this as well, is it's just like you plant your flag and you just roll with it, right?
Like, you just unapologetically be yourself out there, because it doesn't matter what you guys do or say.
And, you know, and this goes for me as well, somebody out there is not going to be happy with it at some point.
(05:46):
You know, like, eventually someone's going to not be happy with it.
So it's like, to me, it's like, man, if you're going to speak it, just speak your mind, be yourself, and you will attract that right customer base and that right tribe that I think, like, a lot of people are ultimately searching for.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, I mean, there's.
It is definitely cliche, you know, that you got to be authentic, but it's just.
It is, you know, true.
I think a lot of people just forget that.
It takes a long time.
Whenever you're starting, whenever you, like, are getting into the content game, especially, it just takes a long time of just pounding the pavement, just doing it over and over again before anyone really starts to notice.
(06:27):
And if you're not doing what makes sense to you, it can be a very difficult task to produce the quantity of output required to reach, like, a critical mass.
You know what I mean?
And if you're not doing something that just, like, Comes naturally, so to speak, then it's just.
It's just like, impossible.
So you might as well.
(06:48):
You might as well do what.
Do what makes sense to you, because that's about the only thing that's going to give you the amount you need to really make something happen.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
How much content do you think most people need to make to really kind of get that ball rolling?
And you can talk about it from a personal standpoint or like a business standpoint, like with what you guys do.
A truck parking club.
Because you guys are.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Release a lot of content.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Oh, yeah.
I mean, we've done.
I mean, man, we produce.
We probably do four, five, six posts a day.
And we've been doing that for almost two years.
Over two years.
And so, I mean, we've done, you know, tens of thousands of posts and we've done, you know, hundreds of millions of impressions and we've got, you know, probably six or seven hundred thousand followers across all our channels.
(07:37):
And that's really only.
That's.
That's a result of a.
The team doing a really good job, producing kind of the raw material, taking lots of photos.
It helps that we're on the road all the time.
Right.
We have all the vans driving around.
We go to a lot of truck shows, we talk to a lot of drivers.
And that just naturally begets itself for, you know, for content.
(07:58):
And so it kind of just flows naturally from that.
I think from a.
From a company standpoint, we're well positioned to make it, you know, quote unquote.
It's not easy, but it's still, it's.
It's a lot easier than just trying to, like, fly into a company that's already existing and being like, hey, you guys need to change everything you do to produce content.
And that's been what's worked for us.
(08:18):
I think from a personal standpoint, it does.
It still is.
You know, there still is a high bar for just output that you need to hit in order to really make anything happen.
And it can feel.
It can feel.
Again, from a personal standpoint, it can feel, but it's probably applicable to brands, too.
It's like, it can feel like a chore.
(08:40):
And especially when nobody, like, you post something and like, nobody interacts with it can feel bad.
But like, at the end of the day, it's just.
It's just kind of shots on goal, you know, and you get some feedback whenever people engage and you kind of just iterate on that feedback and you just kind of keep pumping.
I mean, you feel like, you feel like an imposter a lot of the time, which is fine.
(09:03):
I don't think that's a big deal.
You gotta just, you gotta just roll with it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
No, I'm right there with you, man.
And I think that a lot of individuals need to understand how much like fake engagement is actually on social media.
Like, I had no idea that this was a thing, man.
But like, dude.
Cause like my marketing team, they brought this all to my attention.
You can buy followers, you can buy engagement on posts, you can buy, you can do anything, right?
(09:31):
Like if you want, you can purchase for a fake following out there.
So to your point about like, it, you know, can be demoralizing a little bit when you're like, oh, nobody's interacting.
I think nobody's interacting at that level.
That some of these individuals out there and this is just like influencer world entirely.
Like, this isn't a trucking thing.
This is like kind of out there because a lot of these people get exposed.
(09:51):
And I think like, you know, it's like, you got to ask yourself though, like, why are you creating content, though?
Like, what is it?
Is it, are you doing it because you want to get famous?
Because I feel like that's when you really have a hard time showing up day in and day out.
It's like if you're only chasing a vanity out there, but like, if you're out there for a love of the game and just wanting to add value and trust, try and help educate people, I think it's a lot easier to produce content than most individuals think, even at a company level.
(10:19):
And you know, it's one of those things for me where it's like, man, I'm just going to put my thoughts out there at the time.
Is it, is it going to, is it the best thing in the world?
No, it doesn't get the most engagement out there.
But to me what matters is the amount of people who will DM you.
And I'm sure you guys have seen this behind the scenes.
They don't.
They're lurkers.
They'll never comment publicly, but in your DMs, they'll tell you how much that content means to them.
(10:42):
And that is the stuff out there that I feel like if you're a brand or you're an individual and you get those messages, that's when you know you're really on the right track.
Because it's like, I feel like there's enough information out there or enough People out there who, they create stuff, but it's a mile wide and an inch deep, you know, like it has no meaningful effect out there.
It might look good on paper, right?
(11:02):
Like, oh, I got 3 million pieces of engagement in a 30 day period.
Yeah.
But like 99.999% of it was not effective out there and it didn't actually add value to people's lives.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, it's, Yeah, I mean, I think it's again, it comes back to what comes naturally to you.
I mean, not to say that if something doesn't come naturally right off the bat that, and it doesn't work, that means you shouldn't do it.
I don't think that's necessarily it.
I think you still can be, you know, purposeful about like, okay, this is what I want to do.
And you try, but you have to do it in a style that makes, and that's something that you develop over time, I think.
(11:39):
And yeah, I mean, I think entertainment, entertain, like, you cannot be boring.
You know what I mean?
If you want to, if you want to.
And this is, this is for brands and for individuals.
I mean, if you're boring, like, forget about it.
Like, you don't want to be, you know, a ship passing in the night.
Like you want to be an orange shirt guy, you know, beating your, just yelling and being noticeable.
(12:03):
You know, no matter what you're saying, you have to figure out a way to stand out.
You know, if you're, if you're, you scroll these feeds, it's easy to just go into zombie mode and just, you know, look at a thousand things and you don't know what any of them are.
But if you can jump off the page, you know, in whatever way possible, that's really the name of the game, you know, so.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Absolutely, man.
And I mean, speaking of things kind of jumping off the page here, truck parking is in the big beautiful bill.
It's, it's out there.
There's a lot of, you know, money that is now being noticed at the federal level and being earmarked for this.
And how much?
Like, you know, again, because you guys are out there talking to drivers all the time and then obviously drivers are the end users of truck parking, the accessibility and stuff out there.
(12:46):
So when they see headlines like this, when they see an administration really fighting for this for them, what's that general reaction from a lot of those drivers out there?
Is it like finally somebody's.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Actually doing something yeah, that's been what I've heard.
I mean, I think a lot of.
A lot of folks are applauding it.
I mean, and this is amongst all the other things they've done.
It seems like, you know, Sean Duffy, the DoT Secretary is.
Has been pretty active out there talking to drivers.
I don't know if you follow him on Twitter, but he's been putting out a lot of content of him, you know, just out in the world.
(13:23):
I think, like, maybe last week he was up in Wisconsin at Schneider's headquarters, if I'm not mistaken, and was just like, content.
They're talking about, you know, the things they're doing for drivers and for the industry at large.
And, and obviously, truck parking is a huge part of that, which is a good thing.
That's a great thing.
And it's sorely needed because the solution to the issue of there not being enough truck parking is, you know, a multifaceted solution, and the government stepping in to provide, you know, big dollars for big projects is a crucial part of that.
(13:55):
And so it's.
It's.
It's good to see for sure.
And I think everyone.
I haven't heard anyone say it's a.
It's a bad thing.
I think.
I think it's been received well.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yeah, no, I'm right there with you.
And I think it was like I was, you know, being a Wisconsin guy born and raised, I was excited when Sean Duffy got appointed out there.
Right.
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It's not very often that you got a guy from Wisconsin at that high of a level in the government.
And you know what it was, man, I mean, he is, he's been.
He's been a lot more active and vocal in areas than I think anybody has been in the past.
When you're, when you're in.
When you're in the Cabinet of the White House, you know, you don't see that very often.
(14:37):
And I feel like that's one thing that, you know, again, to kind of like tie in content.
And social media do a lot of this.
That's what I think most people.
More people want to see more of is.
Is like, man, like our elected officials out there interacting with people, right?
Like, you can say what you want against the president, but, like, that dude's the most active person on social media I think, that I've ever seen.
(15:00):
And you want to see that, right?
Because I feel like at the end of the day, you need to humanize a lot of this stuff.
Right.
Just because you're in a position doesn't mean that you're better than anybody else out there.
And that's what I love, seeing those guys out on the streets, you know, talking to the people that are actually affected by their decisions.
And I feel like that's the literal point of the government is you need to be out there speaking to people.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
You're.
You're making too much sense.
Chris, stop.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I know.
I will stop right now.
We gotta go back.
Let's, let's.
But no, man, let's get into some of these headlines, these prep like you again, you guys are making moves out there.
And it seems like obviously truck parking's your core business, right?
But it seems to me, again, this is just from an outsider's perspective looking in.
You guys are really starting to have, like, a holistic approach to the driver lifestyle as a whole here, right?
(15:51):
And, you know, with the Club Cash Wallet, what is this, man?
Like, what was the driving force behind getting something like this out there for your guys's customers?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's, well, in the Club Cash and our organization's deal and bringing on Brent and the platform science announcement we did, those are all kind of like connected together in a way, right?
Because one thing we hear a lot, especially from company drivers, is my fleet does not reimburse me for parking.
(16:22):
Right.
And really the connection of all those features is really aimed at making it easy for fleets who want to provide a parking benefit to their drivers through an organization which is essentially just like a fleet account where they can onboard all their drivers and then deposit either, or use a shared payment method or set up kind of like a monthly deposit into the driver's wallet, the Club Cash wallet.
(16:51):
That's, that's essentially how they're going to be able to give access to their drivers to, to our network of locations.
Right?
You know, 2,370 some odd now, you know, 40, 000 plus spaces.
And we, you know, we grow.
A big thing we need to emphasize is just the growth, right?
You know, were, we had 10 a day on average.
We were at, you know, 4 or 500 this time last year.
(17:12):
We're at 2,300 something now.
We were at a thousand in November.
You know, we're growing rapidly.
We're adding, you know, six, 700 spaces a week now at this point.
And so when fleets make an organization and onboard their driver and provide them a benefit, they're really giving them access to you know, tens of thousands of spaces that they never had access to on their own, or if they wanted access to it, they would have to pay for it themselves.
(17:41):
And we're making it very simple.
For fleets who recognize that they should be providing to their drivers, we're really removing all barriers to them.
You know, really the only reason they're not going to is because they don't want, it shouldn't be.
And historically, it's been very difficult for them to reimburse.
Right.
It's an accounting, it's an accounting issue.
(18:01):
It's a, it's a, keeping track of paperwork and receipts and all that stuff.
And how does the driver pay?
Are they paying with their own thing?
Are they using a company card?
It's just there's been a lot of reasons why it's been easy to say no, and that's why a lot of fleets have kind of just thrown their hands up and been like, okay, like we're not going to do it and we want to make it as easy as possible.
And then bringing in the platform science announcement.
(18:23):
So, I mean, I guess for folks who don't know what platform science is, it's, you know, it's an in cab device that enterprise fleets, you know, throw in their trucks and it gives them, you know, it's the ld, it's all the driver apps, it's everything that the driver needs to do their job in the cab on a device.
And now our app is in there.
It's in their marketplace.
And now that means drivers who are part of an organization, Adafleet, have a monthly benefit or a shared payment that can access it all on the device in their cab and just book parking right from there.
(18:56):
So it's just about being in the places where drivers, where it's naturally a fit for drivers to interact with us.
And so that's all, that's.
And then obviously we brought Brent on, you know, in February now, I think, so it's been a bit of time, but he's kind of spearheading that operation and he's going to the big fleets and kind of pounding the pavement, being like, hey, here's what we're doing, here's how we're making it easier for you to provide this to your drivers and here's how it works.
(19:26):
And really just understanding how they think about it too.
Right.
Because everyone at a fleet thinks about this from like a different perspective.
Like, obviously the drivers are like, man, I need a place to park.
Like parking's hard.
Fleet managers are like, you know, my drivers are stopping hours with hours left on their clock, you know, frequently because there's nowhere to park.
And then that's a huge, just efficiency drag on the whole, on the fleet itself, but just the system in general.
(19:50):
Right.
And it's, and when we survey our drivers or trucker members, it's like, how often are you stopping?
You know, if not every day, it's a couple times a week.
And when you do not get the most out of your clock every single day, you're leaving money on the table and you're leaving time on the table and you're being less productive.
(20:12):
And so I think the message we're trying to send is leverage truck parking club, leverage our locations as a tool to be more efficient.
Right.
Set your sights.
If you're starting your clock, you know, in the morning and you've got 5, 600 miles to drive, you've got your, your 11 hours, it's like just set your sights on something, reserve it.
(20:34):
You know, you're going to have a spot and make the most of your day.
And that, you know, as we add more locations, that's going to be more and more possible everywhere you go.
And ultimately we just think it's going to be a big productivity boost for the system as a whole and it's going to make drivers lives easier and it's going to make fleets lives easier and it's going to just better for the system.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I mean, I would agree with that.
Right.
I feel like everything is electronic in a cab, you know, so you like with your guys stuff with platform science and everything.
And again like more efficient route planning because it's like you're talking about there, which I think is very important is most individuals are stopping where they know that they're going to be able to park and then is that the best for their clock the next day?
(21:16):
Right.
Like, are you now burning an additional two hours when you could have parked four miles away from the receiver?
Because there's a private lot that's not publicly known out there.
You know, it's not your prototypical truck stop and that's where it is, man.
It's like preserving your clock and being able to be more efficient.
Like you're talking about there where you're maximizing that time every single day as opposed to, you know, again, driver safety.
(21:40):
If you're tired, obviously pull Over.
All right, pull over and park.
Shut down.
But I. I look at it from, like, an efficiency standpoint, man.
Like, there's so many more resources that are out there to help you keep your wheels turning.
Because, again, out of all the drivers that I know, and I've known drivers my entire life, none of them make money when they're parked, right?
Like, for an extended period of time, they got to keep moving.
(22:01):
They got to keep getting loaded, offloaded, turn and burn.
Get that mentality going so they can make more revenue throughout the week.
And this is what I love the most about the expansion process that you guys are taking as a company, but also the additional resources you guys are throwing in there.
Because it's not just, hey, go on our app and reserve a spot, right?
Like, there are actual benefits that are coming along with this now.
(22:22):
And this is.
I mean, just over these last six months, the amount of changes that you guys have done, I mean, I'm pumped to see where things are going to trend from this, right?
Because, like, this isn't.
You guys don't strike me as a company.
You're like, all right, we're good.
We've accomplished everything.
Let's just see how this rides out.
Like, I feel like you're going to be constantly looking to uncover what's next.
How do we make our customers more efficient in their operations?
(22:45):
Yes, parking is one part of our business, but it's.
It's more of like a.
A lifestyle brand out there.
Like, hey, what else can we do to help make these drivers lives easier?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Well, it's interesting you say that.
I mean, I think.
I think we're starting to see examples of what that might actually mean for the daily life of a driver who's parking with us.
We're starting to see that happen now.
For example, we have a location in Texas, in Henderson, Texas.
It's called Booker's Dude Ranch, and it's a brother and sister, and they've been in trucking their whole lives.
(23:17):
Michael is his name.
He's.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
He's.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
He's a driver.
And they've got a location.
They've got, I think, 10 spaces with us.
And basically, if you park there, they're, like, gonna cook you.
They're gonna cook you a meal.
They do, like, Thanksgiving dinner there during Thanksgiving.
And it's just like.
Seems like a really.
It's like more than a place to park, so to speak.
You know, you park there and you, like, have a good time and you have a good experience.
And I think.
(23:39):
I think, you know, that's kind of the blueprint for what locations might look like in the future.
And as folks start to take notice of that and we shine a light on that, hopefully we can give other locations ideas for how to put their own interesting spin on it.
And we've probably got.
We certainly have way more examples that we probably don't even know about.
(24:02):
Right.
And that's going to be something that we start to shine a light on more over time.
And I think, you know, in years to come it's going to be prevalent and that's super exciting to us.
And shoot.
I had one other really awesome thing to say.
(24:25):
Why is my brain blinking?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I feel like that is.
You guys are also on the forefront of what is important to that next generation of driver.
You know what I mean?
It's in, it's.
And it's really kind of digitizing that entire transaction and it's making it more accessible because, you know, when my dad was driving in the 70s and the 80s, man, like, I don't think anybody ever expected an iPhone or an app or, you know, something digital to go out there and book truck parking or, you know, preventative maintenance or anything like that out there.
(24:54):
So I feel like you guys are really attacking that.
I mean, a lot of the drivers that I follow on social media that are young, I mean, dude, they have like an entire gaming system in their truck, right?
So like they're tech savvy and you know, so you guys also are, you know, a new.
And got an investment from cat.
Like, like the scales and everything?
(25:14):
Like, yeah, how was that?
And like, kind of like, what's the vision with that?
Is it more of like a brand alignment with CAT scales kind of across the United States?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
It's, I mean, more than anything, they're a kind of an aspirational brand, right?
And they've been around for, you know, decades and they've built a solid reputation as one of the most kind of reputable companies in the industry for, from a driver's perspective especially.
(25:46):
And they become part of the, you know, the life, the daily life probably in some situations for a huge portion of the industry.
And they've really done the work to build out, you know, a scaled, pun intended network.
And so, and so they've got a lot of experience building that out and they've learned a lot along the way and they've got a lot of wisdom that they can impart on us.
(26:11):
And so you know, interacting with that team and really trying to soak as much knowledge up as we can is, and get as much, you know, actionable advice as we can is a huge part of it.
And really just, like, try, because really, at the end of the day, were, Our goal is to create a lasting, you know, impactful brand and company, you know, in much the same way that they did.
(26:35):
And so I think aligning us, aligning ourselves with them is, is a first step in that direction.
And obviously, we've got, you know, we're a couple decades behind.
I think one other thing that really actually interested me about them too is they've got something called the unconditional guarantee.
Basically, if you get a cat, if you go over a cat scale, you get a scale ticket, they like, guarantee that it's accurate.
(27:00):
And if you get it, if you get an overweight ticket or something and you have a cat scale receipt, they'll basically, like, represent you in court.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah.
And it's like, and they go to bat for drivers, right?
And they've been doing that for a long time.
And I think that's, you know, also something that we try to do every single day.
That's something we strive for.
And especially, you know, our team, being a lot of former drivers, you know, our entire customer service team is all drivers, and that's what they do every single day.
(27:32):
Right?
Their job is to make sure drivers have great experiences.
Parking with us.
And that's, and that's, that's, that happens every, that's just a, it's just a ground and pound, you know, blocking, tackling thing every single day, handling issues as they arise, you know, making sure people have what they need, making sure people, drivers have a good experience.
And really, that's kind of our way of mimicking that sort of philosophy.
(27:58):
So, yeah, it's, I think just with regard to cat, we're, you know, aligned, you know, front to back on how to really build and grow this thing.
And our ambition is that one day, you know, we're up there just in the, in the hall of fame of brands who have made a significant impact on making the daily life of drivers easier.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Dude, I, I, there's no doubt in my mind, in due time, you guys will be there.
Like, there's, you cannot, like, you know, if there's one thing in, like, at this point in my life, I can say with 100 confidence, you cannot teach a work ethic.
Either you have that or you don't.
And you guys embody that.
You guys are out there truly walking the walk.
(28:41):
This isn't, you know, this isn't a get rich quick scheme, you know, where it's like you guys are trying to come in here, build something, be acquired and then walk away, you know, And I feel like that's something that on the freight tech space that's kind of been like the mo.
It's like, hey, how do we get in here, build a company and then exit and then leave you guys, I truly feel like in my heart of hearts are building something to last and you are building something to make a difference for the driver community that is actually truly needed out there.
(29:10):
And it's not just going to be truck parking.
Like, I'm pumped to see where things are going to go because I feel like this is just literally the start and I feel like it's going to be completely different in 12 months.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Well, we've got, we've got a long way to go from a location standpoint.
I mean, and that's why we emphasize how many locations we have so much is because it's when we hear from, when we talk to our trucker members, that's what they say.
You have to listen to what your customers say.
And if you listen to ours, they say we need more parking everywhere.
Right.
(29:41):
And so really until that's no longer the biggest concern of our customers, that's really all we're concerned about.
Yeah, like, we just need more parking and everywhere.
You need to be able to throw a stone everywhere and hit one of our locations because that's ultimately what's required to really realize this kind of efficiency thing we're talking about.
(30:01):
You need locations everywhere.
And so, you know, we're on our way to, you know, 5, 10,000.
We set our sights on 10,000 in the next.
By the end of 2026, we've got a long way to go.
And you know, beyond that, it's like, we're not going to stop, obviously.
We've got to have tens of thousands and it's going to take time.
And all the while, our goal is to, you know, ensure that everyone has a great experience.
(30:26):
Ensure that people, you know, if they don't, if they have a bad experience, that we remedy it and we just continually learn and improve.
And as time goes on, obviously we just continue getting the word out, continue kind of highlighting how people are using us because fleets are using us for all sorts of interesting things that they were never able to do before.
(30:48):
So that's a whole can of worms, too.
So it's going to be.
It's going to be fun, man.
It is a lot of fun, dude.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I love it.
Reed, thank you so much for your time today.
How does anybody reach out to you guys to find out more about what you got going on at truck parking club?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Yeah, just go to truckparking club.com.
that's all you got to do.
Follow us on socials.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Perfect.
I love it.
Reed, thank you so much for your time.
That's going to be it for today, ladies and gentlemen.
As always, if you got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show.
If you're feeling really ambitious after this one, rank the show on itunes and Spotify.
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 (31:26):
Came back with a prank Window down yelling now money anything 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 hate them make a bigger boss hey.
Came back with a bank window down Yelling out money in a day hey oh Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when I'm getting to the back hey Got the foot on the gas pedal to the metal when the blame moving fast hey Let them all cross if they hate then let them hate them Make a bigger ball hey.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
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.
(00:47):
And I do say that before every single show.
And 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 meaningful difference in your business and your life.
Happy Tuesday, everybody.
(01:07):
I got a very special guest for you guys here today.
I've said it before, they've been on the show in the past, but these guys are literally, I think, one of the hardest working teams out there in the industry.
They're out there, they're pounding the pavement, they're getting their brand out there, and they're truly solving an issue out there in the marketplace.
And we're going to talk about a bunch of sick announcements that they've released here recently.
So I got Reed with Truck Parking Club back on the show.
(01:29):
Reed, dude, I don't like.
I gotta.
You gotta come up with a new cowboy like, moniker here, man, with that hat.
Dude, that hat is money.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I. I've been saying y' all a lot more lately.
Does that count?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yes, it does.
You are.
You're in the south now.
You're in the Tennessee.
I.
So are you going, like, straight SEC mode now as well?
Because, like, dude, I think a lot of people tend to forget, like, nobody cares about the NFL in the Southeastern Conference area of the country.
It is all college football all day long.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, I'm honestly looking forward to the.
To the.
To the season.
I don't.
I don't have a college football team, so I guess I got to just adopt one around here.
It is.
It does seem to be a way of life.
So I'm excited to.
I'm excited to.
To take some sides here and maybe get invested.
Hey, the orange man.
We were talking about your orange.
I mean, maybe.
Maybe I'm.
Maybe I gotta be a volunteers guy.
(02:21):
I don't know.
It seems Chattanooga is interesting because it's kind of, like, equidistant between, like, Knoxville and Athens, and, like, Tuscaloosa is not terribly far.
So you see all sorts of.
You see.
You see all sorts of loyalties, you know, around town.
We'll see.
We'll see what I end up going with.
I'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Dude, you're gonna have to, man.
I mean, I. I think it's only a matter of time, right?
Like, I. I feel like the south is one of those areas.
Like, it just slowly starts to chip.
You just slowly start to formulate into it.
Like you said, you're starting, y' all as soon as reason to start saying bless your heart a bunch here.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm quickly picking up all the.
All the lingo.
It's.
It's.
I'm transforming.
Yeah.
And transforming.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So, dude, what's been new out in your guys's world?
You got.
I mean, like, I'm not joking or even trying to blow smoke when I say you guys are some of the hardest working people in the industry because, like, you guys are literally non stop out there.
Branding.
Working on that.
And I want to talk about branding first, though, before we get into any of your guys's releases here, man, because it's like, how is it, you know, from your perspective being, you know, the chief marketing officer over there, how, like, how freeing is it to know that, like, you can literally just do what you want to do and there's no, like, corporate box.
(03:41):
You got to stay inside.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It was definitely just a precondition to taking the job.
I mean, and I didn't really bring that sort of culture here.
Like, that's what's kind of.
That's kind of how it's been from the very beginning.
I mean, it's just a natural reflection of the characters involved in the story, so to speak.
Right.
You know, Hunter is kind of our face the face.
(04:05):
He's going on all the videos, going to all the truck shows.
That's just kind of who he is.
And when I started working with these guys on the side, just helping with content and stuff like that, it was one of the things that really attracted me or made it obvious that a.
This was the right team solving an important problem right at the right time, and the right team being just folks who a had a lot of personality, were comfortable in front of the camera, like, naturally created content just, like, by living.
(04:38):
And if you just put a camera on it's just like, okay, this is exactly how they are, even with the cameras off.
And it just makes your job from, like, a content standpoint so easy.
It's not forced.
You don't really have to ask for anything.
It just kind of.
It just kind of flows.
And so that's.
That's just kind of how it's always been.
And.
And it definitely makes my job a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I think that, you know, I don't know about you, but I know the amount of people over the years who have came to me instead, like, hey, man, I want to create content, or, like, I want to do something like that.
But, like, I don't know how or, you know, it's like, I feel like, you know the term.
I'm sure you've been told the term authenticity.
You know, you got to be authentic.
But, like, so many people just want to be, like, 80% authentic, right?
(05:22):
Like, they want to fit in all of these boxes.
And I think, like, one thing that you guys have done well, and I know, you know, Paul Freight Caviar, he's done really well at this as well, is it's just like you plant your flag and you just roll with it, right?
Like, you just unapologetically be yourself out there, because it doesn't matter what you guys do or say.
And, you know, and this goes for me as well, somebody out there is not going to be happy with it at some point.
(05:46):
You know, like, eventually someone's going to not be happy with it.
So it's like, to me, it's like, man, if you're going to speak it, just speak your mind, be yourself, and you will attract that right customer base and that right tribe that I think, like, a lot of people are ultimately searching for.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, I mean, there's.
It is definitely cliche, you know, that you got to be authentic, but it's just.
It is, you know, true.
I think a lot of people just forget that.
It takes a long time.
Whenever you're starting, whenever you, like, are getting into the content game, especially, it just takes a long time of just pounding the pavement, just doing it over and over again before anyone really starts to notice.
(06:27):
And if you're not doing what makes sense to you, it can be a very difficult task to produce the quantity of output required to reach, like, a critical mass.
You know what I mean?
And if you're not doing something that just, like, Comes naturally, so to speak, then it's just.
It's just like, impossible.
So you might as well.
(06:48):
You might as well do what.
Do what makes sense to you, because that's about the only thing that's going to give you the amount you need to really make something happen.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
How much content do you think most people need to make to really kind of get that ball rolling?
And you can talk about it from a personal standpoint or like a business standpoint, like with what you guys do.
A truck parking club.
Because you guys are.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Release a lot of content.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Oh, yeah.
I mean, we've done.
I mean, man, we produce.
We probably do four, five, six posts a day.
And we've been doing that for almost two years.
Over two years.
And so, I mean, we've done, you know, tens of thousands of posts and we've done, you know, hundreds of millions of impressions and we've got, you know, probably six or seven hundred thousand followers across all our channels.
(07:37):
And that's really only.
That's.
That's a result of a.
The team doing a really good job, producing kind of the raw material, taking lots of photos.
It helps that we're on the road all the time.
Right.
We have all the vans driving around.
We go to a lot of truck shows, we talk to a lot of drivers.
And that just naturally begets itself for, you know, for content.
(07:58):
And so it kind of just flows naturally from that.
I think from a.
From a company standpoint, we're well positioned to make it, you know, quote unquote.
It's not easy, but it's still, it's.
It's a lot easier than just trying to, like, fly into a company that's already existing and being like, hey, you guys need to change everything you do to produce content.
And that's been what's worked for us.
(08:18):
I think from a personal standpoint, it does.
It still is.
You know, there still is a high bar for just output that you need to hit in order to really make anything happen.
And it can feel.
It can feel.
Again, from a personal standpoint, it can feel, but it's probably applicable to brands, too.
It's like, it can feel like a chore.
(08:40):
And especially when nobody, like, you post something and like, nobody interacts with it can feel bad.
But like, at the end of the day, it's just.
It's just kind of shots on goal, you know, and you get some feedback whenever people engage and you kind of just iterate on that feedback and you just kind of keep pumping.
I mean, you feel like, you feel like an imposter a lot of the time, which is fine.
(09:03):
I don't think that's a big deal.
You gotta just, you gotta just roll with it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
No, I'm right there with you, man.
And I think that a lot of individuals need to understand how much like fake engagement is actually on social media.
Like, I had no idea that this was a thing, man.
But like, dude.
Cause like my marketing team, they brought this all to my attention.
You can buy followers, you can buy engagement on posts, you can buy, you can do anything, right?
(09:31):
Like if you want, you can purchase for a fake following out there.
So to your point about like, it, you know, can be demoralizing a little bit when you're like, oh, nobody's interacting.
I think nobody's interacting at that level.
That some of these individuals out there and this is just like influencer world entirely.
Like, this isn't a trucking thing.
This is like kind of out there because a lot of these people get exposed.
(09:51):
And I think like, you know, it's like, you got to ask yourself though, like, why are you creating content, though?
Like, what is it?
Is it, are you doing it because you want to get famous?
Because I feel like that's when you really have a hard time showing up day in and day out.
It's like if you're only chasing a vanity out there, but like, if you're out there for a love of the game and just wanting to add value and trust, try and help educate people, I think it's a lot easier to produce content than most individuals think, even at a company level.
(10:19):
And you know, it's one of those things for me where it's like, man, I'm just going to put my thoughts out there at the time.
Is it, is it going to, is it the best thing in the world?
No, it doesn't get the most engagement out there.
But to me what matters is the amount of people who will DM you.
And I'm sure you guys have seen this behind the scenes.
They don't.
They're lurkers.
They'll never comment publicly, but in your DMs, they'll tell you how much that content means to them.
(10:42):
And that is the stuff out there that I feel like if you're a brand or you're an individual and you get those messages, that's when you know you're really on the right track.
Because it's like, I feel like there's enough information out there or enough People out there who, they create stuff, but it's a mile wide and an inch deep, you know, like it has no meaningful effect out there.
It might look good on paper, right?
(11:02):
Like, oh, I got 3 million pieces of engagement in a 30 day period.
Yeah.
But like 99.999% of it was not effective out there and it didn't actually add value to people's lives.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, it's, Yeah, I mean, I think it's again, it comes back to what comes naturally to you.
I mean, not to say that if something doesn't come naturally right off the bat that, and it doesn't work, that means you shouldn't do it.
I don't think that's necessarily it.
I think you still can be, you know, purposeful about like, okay, this is what I want to do.
And you try, but you have to do it in a style that makes, and that's something that you develop over time, I think.
(11:39):
And yeah, I mean, I think entertainment, entertain, like, you cannot be boring.
You know what I mean?
If you want to, if you want to.
And this is, this is for brands and for individuals.
I mean, if you're boring, like, forget about it.
Like, you don't want to be, you know, a ship passing in the night.
Like you want to be an orange shirt guy, you know, beating your, just yelling and being noticeable.
(12:03):
You know, no matter what you're saying, you have to figure out a way to stand out.
You know, if you're, if you're, you scroll these feeds, it's easy to just go into zombie mode and just, you know, look at a thousand things and you don't know what any of them are.
But if you can jump off the page, you know, in whatever way possible, that's really the name of the game, you know, so.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Absolutely, man.
And I mean, speaking of things kind of jumping off the page here, truck parking is in the big beautiful bill.
It's, it's out there.
There's a lot of, you know, money that is now being noticed at the federal level and being earmarked for this.
And how much?
Like, you know, again, because you guys are out there talking to drivers all the time and then obviously drivers are the end users of truck parking, the accessibility and stuff out there.
(12:46):
So when they see headlines like this, when they see an administration really fighting for this for them, what's that general reaction from a lot of those drivers out there?
Is it like finally somebody's.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Actually doing something yeah, that's been what I've heard.
I mean, I think a lot of.
A lot of folks are applauding it.
I mean, and this is amongst all the other things they've done.
It seems like, you know, Sean Duffy, the DoT Secretary is.
Has been pretty active out there talking to drivers.
I don't know if you follow him on Twitter, but he's been putting out a lot of content of him, you know, just out in the world.
(13:23):
I think, like, maybe last week he was up in Wisconsin at Schneider's headquarters, if I'm not mistaken, and was just like, content.
They're talking about, you know, the things they're doing for drivers and for the industry at large.
And, and obviously, truck parking is a huge part of that, which is a good thing.
That's a great thing.
And it's sorely needed because the solution to the issue of there not being enough truck parking is, you know, a multifaceted solution, and the government stepping in to provide, you know, big dollars for big projects is a crucial part of that.
(13:55):
And so it's.
It's.
It's good to see for sure.
And I think everyone.
I haven't heard anyone say it's a.
It's a bad thing.
I think.
I think it's been received well.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yeah, no, I'm right there with you.
And I think it was like I was, you know, being a Wisconsin guy born and raised, I was excited when Sean Duffy got appointed out there.
Right.
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It's not very often that you got a guy from Wisconsin at that high of a level in the government.
And you know what it was, man, I mean, he is, he's been.
He's been a lot more active and vocal in areas than I think anybody has been in the past.
When you're, when you're in.
When you're in the Cabinet of the White House, you know, you don't see that very often.
(14:37):
And I feel like that's one thing that, you know, again, to kind of like tie in content.
And social media do a lot of this.
That's what I think most people.
More people want to see more of is.
Is like, man, like our elected officials out there interacting with people, right?
Like, you can say what you want against the president, but, like, that dude's the most active person on social media I think, that I've ever seen.
(15:00):
And you want to see that, right?
Because I feel like at the end of the day, you need to humanize a lot of this stuff.
Right.
Just because you're in a position doesn't mean that you're better than anybody else out there.
And that's what I love, seeing those guys out on the streets, you know, talking to the people that are actually affected by their decisions.
And I feel like that's the literal point of the government is you need to be out there speaking to people.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
You're.
You're making too much sense.
Chris, stop.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I know.
I will stop right now.
We gotta go back.
Let's, let's.
But no, man, let's get into some of these headlines, these prep like you again, you guys are making moves out there.
And it seems like obviously truck parking's your core business, right?
But it seems to me, again, this is just from an outsider's perspective looking in.
You guys are really starting to have, like, a holistic approach to the driver lifestyle as a whole here, right?
(15:51):
And, you know, with the Club Cash Wallet, what is this, man?
Like, what was the driving force behind getting something like this out there for your guys's customers?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's, well, in the Club Cash and our organization's deal and bringing on Brent and the platform science announcement we did, those are all kind of like connected together in a way, right?
Because one thing we hear a lot, especially from company drivers, is my fleet does not reimburse me for parking.
(16:22):
Right.
And really the connection of all those features is really aimed at making it easy for fleets who want to provide a parking benefit to their drivers through an organization which is essentially just like a fleet account where they can onboard all their drivers and then deposit either, or use a shared payment method or set up kind of like a monthly deposit into the driver's wallet, the Club Cash wallet.
(16:51):
That's, that's essentially how they're going to be able to give access to their drivers to, to our network of locations.
Right?
You know, 2,370 some odd now, you know, 40, 000 plus spaces.
And we, you know, we grow.
A big thing we need to emphasize is just the growth, right?
You know, were, we had 10 a day on average.
We were at, you know, 4 or 500 this time last year.
(17:12):
We're at 2,300 something now.
We were at a thousand in November.
You know, we're growing rapidly.
We're adding, you know, six, 700 spaces a week now at this point.
And so when fleets make an organization and onboard their driver and provide them a benefit, they're really giving them access to you know, tens of thousands of spaces that they never had access to on their own, or if they wanted access to it, they would have to pay for it themselves.
(17:41):
And we're making it very simple.
For fleets who recognize that they should be providing to their drivers, we're really removing all barriers to them.
You know, really the only reason they're not going to is because they don't want, it shouldn't be.
And historically, it's been very difficult for them to reimburse.
Right.
It's an accounting, it's an accounting issue.
(18:01):
It's a, it's a, keeping track of paperwork and receipts and all that stuff.
And how does the driver pay?
Are they paying with their own thing?
Are they using a company card?
It's just there's been a lot of reasons why it's been easy to say no, and that's why a lot of fleets have kind of just thrown their hands up and been like, okay, like we're not going to do it and we want to make it as easy as possible.
And then bringing in the platform science announcement.
(18:23):
So, I mean, I guess for folks who don't know what platform science is, it's, you know, it's an in cab device that enterprise fleets, you know, throw in their trucks and it gives them, you know, it's the ld, it's all the driver apps, it's everything that the driver needs to do their job in the cab on a device.
And now our app is in there.
It's in their marketplace.
And now that means drivers who are part of an organization, Adafleet, have a monthly benefit or a shared payment that can access it all on the device in their cab and just book parking right from there.
(18:56):
So it's just about being in the places where drivers, where it's naturally a fit for drivers to interact with us.
And so that's all, that's.
And then obviously we brought Brent on, you know, in February now, I think, so it's been a bit of time, but he's kind of spearheading that operation and he's going to the big fleets and kind of pounding the pavement, being like, hey, here's what we're doing, here's how we're making it easier for you to provide this to your drivers and here's how it works.
(19:26):
And really just understanding how they think about it too.
Right.
Because everyone at a fleet thinks about this from like a different perspective.
Like, obviously the drivers are like, man, I need a place to park.
Like parking's hard.
Fleet managers are like, you know, my drivers are stopping hours with hours left on their clock, you know, frequently because there's nowhere to park.
And then that's a huge, just efficiency drag on the whole, on the fleet itself, but just the system in general.
(19:50):
Right.
And it's, and when we survey our drivers or trucker members, it's like, how often are you stopping?
You know, if not every day, it's a couple times a week.
And when you do not get the most out of your clock every single day, you're leaving money on the table and you're leaving time on the table and you're being less productive.
(20:12):
And so I think the message we're trying to send is leverage truck parking club, leverage our locations as a tool to be more efficient.
Right.
Set your sights.
If you're starting your clock, you know, in the morning and you've got 5, 600 miles to drive, you've got your, your 11 hours, it's like just set your sights on something, reserve it.
(20:34):
You know, you're going to have a spot and make the most of your day.
And that, you know, as we add more locations, that's going to be more and more possible everywhere you go.
And ultimately we just think it's going to be a big productivity boost for the system as a whole and it's going to make drivers lives easier and it's going to make fleets lives easier and it's going to just better for the system.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I mean, I would agree with that.
Right.
I feel like everything is electronic in a cab, you know, so you like with your guys stuff with platform science and everything.
And again like more efficient route planning because it's like you're talking about there, which I think is very important is most individuals are stopping where they know that they're going to be able to park and then is that the best for their clock the next day?
(21:16):
Right.
Like, are you now burning an additional two hours when you could have parked four miles away from the receiver?
Because there's a private lot that's not publicly known out there.
You know, it's not your prototypical truck stop and that's where it is, man.
It's like preserving your clock and being able to be more efficient.
Like you're talking about there where you're maximizing that time every single day as opposed to, you know, again, driver safety.
(21:40):
If you're tired, obviously pull Over.
All right, pull over and park.
Shut down.
But I. I look at it from, like, an efficiency standpoint, man.
Like, there's so many more resources that are out there to help you keep your wheels turning.
Because, again, out of all the drivers that I know, and I've known drivers my entire life, none of them make money when they're parked, right?
Like, for an extended period of time, they got to keep moving.
(22:01):
They got to keep getting loaded, offloaded, turn and burn.
Get that mentality going so they can make more revenue throughout the week.
And this is what I love the most about the expansion process that you guys are taking as a company, but also the additional resources you guys are throwing in there.
Because it's not just, hey, go on our app and reserve a spot, right?
Like, there are actual benefits that are coming along with this now.
(22:22):
And this is.
I mean, just over these last six months, the amount of changes that you guys have done, I mean, I'm pumped to see where things are going to trend from this, right?
Because, like, this isn't.
You guys don't strike me as a company.
You're like, all right, we're good.
We've accomplished everything.
Let's just see how this rides out.
Like, I feel like you're going to be constantly looking to uncover what's next.
How do we make our customers more efficient in their operations?
(22:45):
Yes, parking is one part of our business, but it's.
It's more of like a.
A lifestyle brand out there.
Like, hey, what else can we do to help make these drivers lives easier?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Well, it's interesting you say that.
I mean, I think.
I think we're starting to see examples of what that might actually mean for the daily life of a driver who's parking with us.
We're starting to see that happen now.
For example, we have a location in Texas, in Henderson, Texas.
It's called Booker's Dude Ranch, and it's a brother and sister, and they've been in trucking their whole lives.
(23:17):
Michael is his name.
He's.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
He's.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
He's a driver.
And they've got a location.
They've got, I think, 10 spaces with us.
And basically, if you park there, they're, like, gonna cook you.
They're gonna cook you a meal.
They do, like, Thanksgiving dinner there during Thanksgiving.
And it's just like.
Seems like a really.
It's like more than a place to park, so to speak.
You know, you park there and you, like, have a good time and you have a good experience.
And I think.
(23:39):
I think, you know, that's kind of the blueprint for what locations might look like in the future.
And as folks start to take notice of that and we shine a light on that, hopefully we can give other locations ideas for how to put their own interesting spin on it.
And we've probably got.
We certainly have way more examples that we probably don't even know about.
(24:02):
Right.
And that's going to be something that we start to shine a light on more over time.
And I think, you know, in years to come it's going to be prevalent and that's super exciting to us.
And shoot.
I had one other really awesome thing to say.
(24:25):
Why is my brain blinking?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I feel like that is.
You guys are also on the forefront of what is important to that next generation of driver.
You know what I mean?
It's in, it's.
And it's really kind of digitizing that entire transaction and it's making it more accessible because, you know, when my dad was driving in the 70s and the 80s, man, like, I don't think anybody ever expected an iPhone or an app or, you know, something digital to go out there and book truck parking or, you know, preventative maintenance or anything like that out there.
(24:54):
So I feel like you guys are really attacking that.
I mean, a lot of the drivers that I follow on social media that are young, I mean, dude, they have like an entire gaming system in their truck, right?
So like they're tech savvy and you know, so you guys also are, you know, a new.
And got an investment from cat.
Like, like the scales and everything?
(25:14):
Like, yeah, how was that?
And like, kind of like, what's the vision with that?
Is it more of like a brand alignment with CAT scales kind of across the United States?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
It's, I mean, more than anything, they're a kind of an aspirational brand, right?
And they've been around for, you know, decades and they've built a solid reputation as one of the most kind of reputable companies in the industry for, from a driver's perspective especially.
(25:46):
And they become part of the, you know, the life, the daily life probably in some situations for a huge portion of the industry.
And they've really done the work to build out, you know, a scaled, pun intended network.
And so, and so they've got a lot of experience building that out and they've learned a lot along the way and they've got a lot of wisdom that they can impart on us.
(26:11):
And so you know, interacting with that team and really trying to soak as much knowledge up as we can is, and get as much, you know, actionable advice as we can is a huge part of it.
And really just, like, try, because really, at the end of the day, were, Our goal is to create a lasting, you know, impactful brand and company, you know, in much the same way that they did.
(26:35):
And so I think aligning us, aligning ourselves with them is, is a first step in that direction.
And obviously, we've got, you know, we're a couple decades behind.
I think one other thing that really actually interested me about them too is they've got something called the unconditional guarantee.
Basically, if you get a cat, if you go over a cat scale, you get a scale ticket, they like, guarantee that it's accurate.
(27:00):
And if you get it, if you get an overweight ticket or something and you have a cat scale receipt, they'll basically, like, represent you in court.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah.
And it's like, and they go to bat for drivers, right?
And they've been doing that for a long time.
And I think that's, you know, also something that we try to do every single day.
That's something we strive for.
And especially, you know, our team, being a lot of former drivers, you know, our entire customer service team is all drivers, and that's what they do every single day.
(27:32):
Right?
Their job is to make sure drivers have great experiences.
Parking with us.
And that's, and that's, that's, that happens every, that's just a, it's just a ground and pound, you know, blocking, tackling thing every single day, handling issues as they arise, you know, making sure people have what they need, making sure people, drivers have a good experience.
And really, that's kind of our way of mimicking that sort of philosophy.
(27:58):
So, yeah, it's, I think just with regard to cat, we're, you know, aligned, you know, front to back on how to really build and grow this thing.
And our ambition is that one day, you know, we're up there just in the, in the hall of fame of brands who have made a significant impact on making the daily life of drivers easier.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Dude, I, I, there's no doubt in my mind, in due time, you guys will be there.
Like, there's, you cannot, like, you know, if there's one thing in, like, at this point in my life, I can say with 100 confidence, you cannot teach a work ethic.
Either you have that or you don't.
And you guys embody that.
You guys are out there truly walking the walk.
(28:41):
This isn't, you know, this isn't a get rich quick scheme, you know, where it's like you guys are trying to come in here, build something, be acquired and then walk away, you know, And I feel like that's something that on the freight tech space that's kind of been like the mo.
It's like, hey, how do we get in here, build a company and then exit and then leave you guys, I truly feel like in my heart of hearts are building something to last and you are building something to make a difference for the driver community that is actually truly needed out there.
(29:10):
And it's not just going to be truck parking.
Like, I'm pumped to see where things are going to go because I feel like this is just literally the start and I feel like it's going to be completely different in 12 months.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Well, we've got, we've got a long way to go from a location standpoint.
I mean, and that's why we emphasize how many locations we have so much is because it's when we hear from, when we talk to our trucker members, that's what they say.
You have to listen to what your customers say.
And if you listen to ours, they say we need more parking everywhere.
Right.
(29:41):
And so really until that's no longer the biggest concern of our customers, that's really all we're concerned about.
Yeah, like, we just need more parking and everywhere.
You need to be able to throw a stone everywhere and hit one of our locations because that's ultimately what's required to really realize this kind of efficiency thing we're talking about.
(30:01):
You need locations everywhere.
And so, you know, we're on our way to, you know, 5, 10,000.
We set our sights on 10,000 in the next.
By the end of 2026, we've got a long way to go.
And you know, beyond that, it's like, we're not going to stop, obviously.
We've got to have tens of thousands and it's going to take time.
And all the while, our goal is to, you know, ensure that everyone has a great experience.
(30:26):
Ensure that people, you know, if they don't, if they have a bad experience, that we remedy it and we just continually learn and improve.
And as time goes on, obviously we just continue getting the word out, continue kind of highlighting how people are using us because fleets are using us for all sorts of interesting things that they were never able to do before.
(30:48):
So that's a whole can of worms, too.
So it's going to be.
It's going to be fun, man.
It is a lot of fun, dude.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I love it.
Reed, thank you so much for your time today.
How does anybody reach out to you guys to find out more about what you got going on at truck parking club?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Yeah, just go to truckparking club.com.
that's all you got to do.
Follow us on socials.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Perfect.
I love it.
Reed, thank you so much for your time.
That's going to be it for today, ladies and gentlemen.
As always, if you got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show.
If you're feeling really ambitious after this one, rank the show on itunes and Spotify.
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 (31:26):
Came back with a prank Window down yelling now money anything 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 hate them make a bigger boss hey.
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