January 1, 2026 • 60 mins
We sit down with Howard Pearl, CEO of CARS, to unpack how a 100,000-vehicle donation engine funds thousands of nonprofits while delivering safe parking, food, and rides with dignity. Howard shares road-tested leadership lessons, process discipline, and why service scales impact.
• CARS’ national vehicle donation logistics, auctions, and payouts
• Why donors really give and how timing drives trust
• 80 percent resale rate and keeping used cars on the road
• Safe parking lots, food pantries, and senior rides for dignity
• ISO 9001 processes that reduce stress and grow revenue
• Balancing compassion and tough decisions in staffing
• AI for retraining and smarter operations
• Parallels between trucking reliability and nonprofit service
• Views on autonomous convoys and human judgment
• Five-year plan to double impact to $200 million
Careasy.org — Tons of information including how to reach Howard directly. “I even answer my phone and I’ll always answer my emails.”
Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Click here to join the conversation!
Get your discount for Truck Parking Club click: here
Strong. Steady. 3-Axle Ready. Try it now at 3AxleCoffee.com
🔗https://www.treeringdigital.com/delivered
Need help finding the perfect truck seat? Let us find one for you! Call 269-692-5770, email: sales@seat-specialists.com ,or fill out form and use code TR104U.
Get your Trucking Ray merch to show that you roll with Trucking Ray and That’s Delivered Podcast! click: here
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome back to That's Delivered the podcast
where trucking andtransportation meet real stories
that move people forward.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray,and today we've got a guest
that's Howard Pearl, CEO ofCars, a Charitable Adult Rides
and Services.
Howard leads an operation thathandles nearly 100,000 vehicles
donated a year and delivers tensof thousands of rides to seniors
(00:24):
nationwide.
Just like trucking, cars is allabout logistics, reliability,
and making sure people andresources get where they need to
go.
And we're going to dive intoHoward Scale cars into a
nonprofit powerhouse and thechallenges that is leading both
business discipline andcompassion and what trucking
leaders can learn from thisapproach.
(01:03):
That's awesome.
Yeah, track and rain.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
That's awesome, man.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
I love it.
My friends, they say, hey, man,we we should use that.
And it's always great whensomeone else gives you a name.
So I'll take it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
I agree.
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
Yeah.
So um, you know, you you've donea lot out there.
I mean, you shared a lot with mebefore backstage before we got
on here.
Um, man, just talk about yourexperiences.
How did you get started into uhwhat you're on today?
I mean, you're leading anonprofit um around the uh so
the world to serve the Canadiansand um and all those around.
(01:39):
So how did you get started withall that?
SPEAKER_03 (01:42):
Uh you know, I I knew I never intended.
Uh I never intended to work at aat a nonprofit.
Didn't start out that way, butuh 10 years ago I was sort of
tapped on the shoulder theyneeded some help to uh change
out management.
And uh I had just returned fromuh uh China.
I'd been working in China forfour and a half years, five
(02:03):
years building a uh plant uh tobuild rough terrain vehicles, uh
mostly uh uh emergency uhrecovery vehicles, rock
crawlers, uh some of it for fun,and uh, you know, some of it for
you, uh some of it for utility.
Um and uh I I I was asked tocome in and and uh give these
(02:23):
guys a little bit uh a littlebit of help.
And uh I had no intention ofstaying here.
I didn't know anything aboutnonprofit, but I knew enough to
you know hold the businesstogether and hire hire a guy, I
figured 45 to 90 days.
And uh when I got in here, uh Ifound two things uh that
inspired me.
(02:44):
One um was the existing staff,it was a small staff at the
time.
They were incredible, but they'dbeen terribly terribly
mismanaged uh by the individualthat I was being asked to
replace on a short-term basis sowe could hire somebody.
Uh, but they were reallyincredible people.
They really knew what they weredoing, they just weren't being
(03:06):
allowed to do it, which we findso often uh in businesses where
the boss wants to be the boss asopposed to letting people run
the business that really knowhow to run the business.
You know?
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Was there something in your early days?
I mean, you uh we talked abouthow you were able to do some
trucking back in the day and youstill have that in your heart.
Was some of that play a role asleadership?
SPEAKER_03 (03:28):
Oh my God, it absolutely.
Are you kidding?
Look, the things I learned onthe road um still work uh to
this very day.
I I started off um, you know, II I worked uh my way through
school.
I did a lot of trucking.
I had a work worked uh withanother guy.
We got a couple of contractswith PepsiCo.
We were dragging mobile homes upthe highway, um, got up uh even
(03:51):
onto some of the ice roads uh uhup as far as Metagamy Quebec, up
to the Quebec Hydro Projectthere, way up in northern
Canada.
Um hauling those uh Atcotrailers in there to build the
the work camps for Samard Baudryfor the construction camps.
Um that was kind of you know,that was kind of fun.
And in between, you know,placing people's homes, moving,
(04:12):
you know, moving mobile homes.
So that was uh and I and I gotthat job because the guy was
working with, uh he and I drovetow truck together for uh, you
know, one of the services in thein the city that I uh you know
that I lived in.
They would they had the policecontract, so we got to do uh,
you know, a lot of interestingstuff on the freeways, uh,
rollovers and crashes and youknow, God knows what.
(04:32):
And then the you know, theregular everyday uh pickup and
delivery, you know, the the sortof boring stuff in between uh
that you have to do.
But you begin to realize thatthe boring stuff isn't so
boring, right?
That's commerce.
You're moving somebody's productfrom one place to another,
whether it's uh you know a carthat needs to get in for repair,
or whether you're or or orwhether you're move picking up a
(04:53):
vehicle that's being donated.
Um so in the business I'm innow, really understanding the
tow business and understand thechallenges that they face, and
understanding the guys thatdrive tow trucks, um, an
interesting breed.
Um, you know, we we're pickingup eight to ten thousand cars a
month and delivering them to 300different auction yards across
(05:17):
the country, right?
We're national, in Alaska toHawaii and everything in in in
between.
Um and when when we got to getthem picked up, you've got to
get them picked up.
People donate a vehicle, theywant those things picked up in
24 to 48 hours.
They're not gonna sit around andwait.
If you don't pick it up, they'llgive it to somebody else.
So you've got to pick it up.
We you know represent uh almost11,000, a little over, well, a
(05:40):
little under 11,000 uhnonprofits.
Um and uh, you know, they expectus to uh to express gratitude.
They expect uh when that thatdriver shows up at the door that
he expresses gratitude, pardonme, that he's polite.
And you know, they're not alwaysthat way.
Sometimes, you know, the handsaren't so clean.
(06:03):
You know, they're they'rethey're working men and women,
and uh and and so um I can't getreal upset with them.
I just have to try and educatethem.
And uh I think what I learned inmy days on the road, uh not just
the technical skills, becauseGod knows we handle a lot of
things that happen from betweenA and B, but uh everybody
(06:27):
deserves everybody deservesrespect.
Everybody deserves the sameamount of respect, the people
that work for you, the peoplethat work with you, and the
people you're working for.
And if you can't understandthat, then I don't know how
you're ever gonna get along inlife.
SPEAKER_00 (06:41):
Yeah.
Some great fundamentals, somegreat uh, you know, things to be
characteristics that we shouldhave as part of everyday life.
SPEAKER_03 (06:51):
So that's I think it is.
I think we have to understandthat everything you do has to
have a a value attached to it,either for your own self-respect
or or for you know for theperson you're providing a
service for.
Um, I think that's you know,that's what keeps you on top.
That's what'll get you to thetop.
Just out service the next guy,right?
(07:12):
Lots of reasons to get upset.
But the smarter plays to justkind of chill, let it move on,
be respectful, be the guy thatisn't a pain in the ass, right?
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
Absolutely.
I mean it's uh help a lot ofpeople out there.
I mean, you're you're providinga great service.
Walk us through the vehicledonation process and from
someone giving up their car to anonprofit receiving the benefit.
Uh tell us a little bit aboutthat.
What goes on?
SPEAKER_03 (07:37):
Sure.
It's it's actually um it the theunderbelly of it is like every
other uh logistics challenge,um, you know, far more complex
than it seems on the on theoutside.
I say complex, not complicated,it's just a series of simple
executions, but they all got tocome together.
So if an individual had avehicle that they wanted to
(07:57):
donate, and people donatevehicles for a number of
different reasons.
Uh people, you know, peoplethink everybody donates them for
their tax benefits.
I believe that's number four onthe reason why people donate a
vehicle.
The number one reason, what doyou think?
What do you think the number onereason is that people donate a
vehicle?
SPEAKER_00 (08:40):
Uh, they kind of think about when there's a time
that they probably needed that,um, someone helped them.
So here's their opportunity forthem to do the same.
SPEAKER_03 (08:47):
Well, I think that's a wonderful reason.
That's one of the reasons.
But the number one reason peopledonate their vehicles, they want
to get it out of their driveway,get it out of the garage, get it
off the lawn, get that treestump that's in the middle of it
so they can cut it down.
You know, it's that's that's thenumber one reason.
SPEAKER_00 (09:06):
They need the space.
There's a lot of storage unitsgoing in out there, so I can
understand that.
You know, you don't want to payfor storage, so give it to
someone else.
SPEAKER_03 (09:14):
Yeah, and and you know, it's and it's a myriad of
reasons.
I mean, you wouldn't think a lotof people want to give their
cars, but you know, kids growup, you don't need that extra
van anymore, they're all goneoff to work or on off to school
or gone got married, or youknow, your spouse has passed
away, and the second car issitting in the driveway.
Finally, there's you know,spider webs growing between the
(09:35):
tires and the concrete, and it'suh just time to get that eyesore
out of there, or you know, maybeit was a collectible that the
old man was working on in thegarage but never finished, and
uh, you know, the old lady'ssaying he loved that thing more
than he loved me, and he he henever finished that either.
So get it out of here.
Um all kinds of reasons.
Or you've got a spare vehicle,you bought a new one, you didn't
(09:57):
want to trade it in because theyweren't gonna give you enough
for it.
You didn't want to go meet astranger in the parking lot and
you know, get a chance of beinguh you know lit on fire like the
guy with his half-done truckthere a few years ago, and you
want to do something nice forsomebody in your community,
whether it's a small nonprofitthat looks after animal rescue,
or or you know, whether it'ssomebody like St.
(10:18):
Jude Children's ResearchHospital or Shriners or
something somewhere along thoselines.
Because we have a nonprofit foreverybody.
If you go to our site, or evenif you go to if you go to Kelly
Blue Book, there's a uh you knowa tile there that says donate.
You hit that, it comes to oursite.
SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (10:37):
And and there's there's thousands of them you
can choose by geographiclocation or by subject matter.
Maybe you're interested in uh,you know, three-legged uh dogs
with striped tails, you know.
There's probably one there forit.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (10:54):
And then so you the you call in and and you give
your information uh to uh awonderful donation receptionist
who's basically trained toexpress gratitude for your gift,
or you go online and and you doit.
And when we get that order, wedispatch a tow truck.
And we'll dispatch a tow truckfrom the nearest auction yard
(11:15):
that we use.
Okay.
Again, logistics, we want tomove it the shortest possible
distance, right?
Every mile you move, it costsyou money.
So we go pick it up, goes to theauction yard, and generally it
gets an inspection.
We publish the things that aregood about the car, we publish
the things that are bad aboutthe car, and then the auction
goes online.
Uh we have uh several auctionsevery week.
(11:37):
There's an auction going onevery day across the country at
most most auctions, and and uhand usually they're wholesale
auctions.
So we sell to the the guys thatuse car lots, the guys that buy
here, sell here, or buy here,finance here, those things.
Um believe it or not, most ofthe vehicles that are donated
aren't junk.
(11:57):
Everybody thinks people onlydonate the crap, right?
The stuff that goes for recycleor dismantle.
That's not the case.
I'd say that 80% of the vehiclesthat are donated to us are we
are able to resell, you know,either into a third world or or
it gets uh you know gets alittle tune-up here and there
and then gets back put put backon the road.
You know, normal normal people,when I say normal people, people
(12:21):
that uh you know, people whosecollars are usually uh you know
a little wider, um, basicallythink when your car hits you
know 49,000, 50,000, thatthing's ready for the junk pile.
You and I both know it's gotanother 150,000 miles if you
just change the oil every nowand again.
Put a set of tires on it, maybeyou gotta put a battery.
That's it.
Don't have to do much.
(12:42):
They they they're putAmerican-made, the Japanese,
they're pretty pretty goodvehicles.
So uh so that's uh we we we liketo recycle them.
We like to give them to peoplethat you know you know can't
afford a new car.
And and uh so you get aneight-year-old car with 50 or
60,000 miles on it, and thatthing is still running well.
(13:02):
And uh a lot of our donors comefrom um you know a more
white-collar environment, sothey've got you know options on
it that you might not normallybuy.
And so the thing is a littleolder, but it's reliable.
And uh, you know, we got peoplethese days.
One of the one of the sort ofphenomenon is that um
(13:23):
particularly with uh you know,with immigrant families, three
or four families that live in acluster will come together and
they'll buy one car and they alluse it to go shopping on the
same day or to go to the laundryor to do whatever it is they do,
and they share the unit.
And it becomes and and so thatso these things provide a great
service and a great recycle.
(13:45):
And uh and then uh what happensis uh the auction yard sends us
the proceeds and we uh send uheighty percent of that money to
uh the nonprofit that you knowthat the car was donated to.
Ten percent uh comes to us forour operating expenses and the
(14:07):
other ten percent.
Uh we are also a nonprofit, andwe we run uh uh we support a
large social service programhere in San Diego.
We feed uh the homeless.
We have uh eight uh safe parkinglots for people who are sleeping
in their cars to uh stay in atnight so they're not uh don't
get in trouble with the law orpeople are coming by and robbing
(14:28):
them at night or takingadvantage of their daughters.
Um, you know, that's not safe tobe sleeping out there at night
on the street.
So we provide secure areas forthem to do that.
And um food pantry programs forfood insecurity and so on, and
that's what we do.
So 100% of our money basicallygoes to a nonprofit.
We're a nonprofit that's ownedby a nonprofit, 111, I think,
(14:52):
110, 111-year-old.
And and uh we only work fornonprofit.
So 100 cents on our dollar, youknow, other than goes for our
salaries, but that's you know,we work for nonprofit, so we're
not talking getting wrenchedhere, but uh but but uh but the
work is good.
The work is good and it's verygratifying.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
Wow, that's huge.
Thank you.
Thank you for doing it, makingthat available.
I mean, that is something thatwe see at a lot of truck stops,
people sleeping in their cars,you know, I work at night shift
a lot of times, and you seethat.
You see individuals out theredoing things, whether it's a
sacrifice or it's just ahardship, uh, they're in that
point at their life and you'rehelping them.
(15:30):
So great.
SPEAKER_03 (15:36):
The uh I I think the most intriguing thing to me is
uh, you know, you get you getinto those yards and you talk to
some of those folks, right?
Especially in the summer nightswhen it's uh light, late and you
go in and you start chattingwith people.
You know, they're you know,they're you and me that uh the
company closed down or you lostyour job or whatever, and you
(15:59):
know, four months in you can'tpay the rent, you're out of
money.
Right?
Maybe you got two, three monthsworth of money, you borrowed,
your credit cards are maxed.
Where are you gonna go?
You know, you got that uh KiaSUV, that big sportage there,
and you know, that becomes youruh that becomes your living
room, your bedroom, a place forthe dog to sleep.
All of it.
(16:19):
It's amazing, but uh it's it'sit's it's amazing.
And yet they show up with youknow, courage and try and
maintain their dignity and theycan get up in the morning and
the kid will go into the we havethe place where they can pack
their lunches and that that sortof stuff.
We uh the local Starbucks heredonate all the food that they
(16:43):
don't sell at the end of theday, so it's on the shelves by
morning.
So some of these kids will go inthere and grab a couple of
Starbucks things and go toschool with those things.
You'd never know they wereliving in their cars.
Dad goes to work.
Yeah, and they work with a theyhave to work with a counselor to
try and get them back into ahome, into some form of housing.
(17:03):
So it's it's it's verygratifying.
We also take in uh real estateand uh uh we take in stocks and
uh you know stock certificatesand uh and so a lot of other
things as well.
But basically that's that's whatuh that's what we do.
We serve uh we we serve thatcommunity.
SPEAKER_00 (17:21):
That's amazing.
Well great stories, I mean, thatyou can have that hold dear to
your heart.
Uh many people will go throughrough times, you know.
Never say never.
It could be anybody that couldbe in that position.
So uh if we could help someoneout when they're vulnerable, I
mean that's huge.
That's a lot of what trucking isabout is helping people get what
they need, getting the goods andservices that they deserve.
(17:44):
So that's nice.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
It's unfortunate people don't really recognize
that, you know.
They uh they don't they don'tyou I don't think people get it.
Uh and one of my best employeeshere, one of the longest serving
guys, uh was uh you know, was along haul guy, uh Ryan Caldwell.
He's our VP of um well, we don'tcall it logistics, but basically
(18:09):
his job is in fact logistics.
And uh sometimes we we laugh, wewe compare stories because we
were on the road about the sametime and we we talk about the
fools that are on the road.
And and they they just you knowthey think most of us are just
you know not real thinkingcreatures.
SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:29):
But uh they they uh you know, you can be an idiot
and you can be a professional,doesn't matter what the
profession is, but I'll tell youwhat, they they don't they don't
understand they couldn't survivewithout without a truck.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yeah, I'm grateful to be a part of that network and
uh be able to still perform.
Um, but yeah, it does hurt yourheart when you hear about those
bad stories in the industry.
People are losing a little res alot more respect for truck
driving if they didn't have italready, you know.
It's saying, you know, there'sanother idiot on the road uh
hurting people.
(19:06):
So we hope we can change that inthe future and stop the decline.
That'd be great if we could dothat.
So more effort needs to be putforth in those efforts like
you're doing.
So good job.
SPEAKER_03 (19:18):
You know, you learn a lot of things on the road,
right?
You learn a lot of basic uh lifeskills, just uh well, you know,
95% of the time it's and thenthose five percent you run into
somebody that's stuck on theroad or a crash or fire or you
(19:42):
know stuck when it's uh youcan't get up that hill and
you're stuck there in the snowand looking at the fuel gauge
and thinking, uh it's there's alot of lessons.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Just starting out long day.
Yeah, so I mean thinking abouttoo, um, a lot of things that
you're doing.
It was makes an impact for a lotof people.
You have any stories or anyindividuals that you that you
could think of that you'vehelped, like with the seniors, I
mean that on the on the go riseprogram, it makes a program.
SPEAKER_03 (20:19):
Yeah.
Uh well, we we started the onthe go program.
That's you know, that's thebasis of who we are.
Uh we took it up to uh a placewhere we had uh we were serving
300 cities across the country,and and then uh because it was
really starting to become uh youknow, the uh the the tail was
(20:39):
starting to wag the dog, wemoved the program, uh it's still
in our building, but we movedthe management of the program
upwards to JFS, who's ourparent, and let them and let
them manage the program.
So uh because our uh vehicledonation program has expanded so
much, and the real estateprogram and all the rest of it,
(21:03):
and when the government decidedto defund in uh NPR, um we have
about uh just under uh somewherearound 550, 570 uh NPR stations
across the country uh that weserve.
So we got very, very busyserving that uh that market.
And uh and so while we stilloperate the program here, we've
(21:26):
moved the management of thatprogram sort of upstream um
right now.
But it was it's one of my one ofmy favorite programs, basically.
Um a lot of it's funded bymunicipal, uh, county or state
uh governments, and it's exactlywhat it says it is.
It's just uh those people thateither can't afford it or are or
(21:46):
are unable to uh you know tomanage your transportation, um,
you know, are uh given access toa program where the government
covers the cost of getting themto and from, not just medical
appointments, right?
But grocery shopping.
Um but also what we've learnedover the years is that
socialization is just asimportant to your health as
anything else.
You can't be stuck in your houseall the time.
(22:07):
You gotta be able to take, yougotta be able to take one of
those things over to, you know,over to a relative's house so
you can have a Christmas dinneror or you know, something along
those lines.
And I don't know about you, butI'm hoping to live
independently, you know, as longas possible.
And I don't I don't want to becalling my kids and saying I
need to go shopping for mygroceries, or I I want somebody
(22:30):
to be, you know, groceryshopping for me and delivering
them in a bag to my step.
I want to go and pick up my ownuh, you know, oranges or
tomatoes once, maybe once amonth or something and get out.
Or look at how important is itto get your hair cut or get your
beard trimmed, or you know what?
My own mother, you know, Iremember one of the last things
uh she wanted to do before shepassed was uh she said, Look, I
(22:54):
like this place and all, but shesaid, you know, these uh these
sons of uh I'll replace this.
So these sons of unwed mothers,they don't always get me to my
hair appointment.
And I got, you know, I'm notfeeling well this week.
I got, I'm not going to meet mymaker with roots.
You tell him to get me to my myhair appointment.
That was on a Monday, onWednesday, they did take her to
(23:16):
her hair appointment.
Okay.
She passed away that Friday.
She got her hair was done, alldone up.
She put on her her robe, youknow, the quilted robes they
would they put on with therosettes on.
She lay down on her bed, andthat was that.
See it, a little rouge on her onher cheeks, and that was it.
So I'm I'm ready.
SPEAKER_00 (23:39):
Sorry for your loss.
And yeah, definitely hadindividuals like that in their
life.
Uh those tough individuals, man,they they definitely make that
impression on us forever.
SPEAKER_03 (23:48):
So I think our grandparents, uh, I say that
because I'm a little older thanyou, so my my parents would be
about your grandparents' age.
And uh I I I think they uh youknow they were hardier than we
are.
They they you know, they didlife without push buttons.
(24:09):
Yeah.
You want water?
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Yeah, you have to go out and get absolutely,
absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, those are um I gotlike the the last bit of that
being able to see that.
Go out there and get the waterand you pump it.
I'm like, hey, it comes out ofthe ground.
Wow.
So yeah, there's a lot of thingsthat we uh take for granted.
(24:35):
You're right, especially when weall we do is scroll or swipe
right or left.
And oh my.
Yeah, it's it's it's getting uhit's getting to be over the top.
There's more to come too.
I guess they're not stopping,they're just out there coding
away.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
This whole uh AI is really quite in quite
incredible.
We're we use a we we use a fairbit of it here, and certainly we
will use more.
Um, and what we've done is thatuh, you know, instead of letting
people go, we just we takeeverybody that's being replaced
with some of the services thatthe AI replaces, and we just
(25:08):
retrain them, put them intoother jobs.
So, you know, all of a suddennow they know how to do
something else.
But you can't take good peoplethat have been with you a long
time and say, well, you know,used to drive a NASCAR, we can't
hire you because these are rightturns.
We just take them over here andshow them how to turn right.
SPEAKER_00 (25:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, maybe nonprofits isgonna be the way of the future.
Um, being able to give back andpeople can actually connect
better with the human um elementinstead of being so detached
from from individuals.
Maybe we're gonna create a morecaring uh generation in the
future ahead, you know, theopposite of what we got.
SPEAKER_03 (25:50):
From your mouth to God's ears, you know, we could
use a little more compassion.
Yeah, it doesn't take much to becivil, doesn't take much to be
decent to people, doesn't takemuch.
I mean, I I've been veryfortunate in my life.
I I've had a number of careers,uh, you know, mostly mostly
automotive or transportationrelated.
(26:11):
And um, you know, I don't wantto get all spiritual or
anything, but I'm telling you,you take any you take any eight,
take any eight of the tencommandments.
I don't care, pick eight.
Pick any eight you want, live bythose.
You'll be okay.
SPEAKER_00 (26:53):
You'll be okay.
SPEAKER_03 (26:54):
You don't even need you don't even need to do all
ten, but you have to pick theright eight.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
Great.
Um, thinking about scarcitymindset in a lot of nonprofits.
Sometimes they get stuck in thatmindset.
How do you keep cars focused ongrowth innovation instead of
just survival?
SPEAKER_03 (27:18):
Um, well, I you know, it's very personal.
Uh, I would get bored if we justdid the same thing over and over
and over again, right?
I don't just want a job, youknow.
I I want a I want an opportunityto uh to to to grow and to train
(27:38):
people to be different orbetter.
Most of my senior staff, we'reabout 190 people all together
here.
Um, my senior staff has beenwith me for almost uh I've been
here a little over.
Like I said, it was a 45 to 90day assignment.
I've been I'll be out about 10and a half years now.
Um because uh I the the missionum you can't help but get
(28:02):
passionate about the mission,doing what we're doing.
I I didn't realize most of thethings I did in my life were
really of service, but I didn'trealize that until I was in a
business that being of servicewas the major point of the
business, right?
I mean, look, you're movingthings from A to B, you're
(28:23):
performing a service, you'regetting the goods where they
need to be.
But you don't think of it ashaving a servant's heart, you
don't think of it as being inservice to your community,
although you are, you're gettingthe food onto the damn shelves,
right?
You're getting the parts, youknow, to where they need to be
if people can build things andand earn a living.
You don't think of it untilyou're in the business of
feeding people or housing peopleor or or or giving them an
(28:47):
opportunity to drive from hereto there and have a have a life
that is socially enriched.
But the truth is it's all theit's all the same.
You know, your own what I'vediscovered at the ripe old age
I've arrived at is that youryour rewards in life are in
direct proportion to the amountof service you provide to your
fellow men.
(29:07):
And by man I mean mankind, men,women.
I don't sort of distinguish any,you know, I'm not trying to be
all DEI.
I just people are people arepeople, right?
So when I say and I think thatfor people forget that.
You know, an act of kindnessdoesn't go unnoticed.
And if it does, it's okay.
You know, be thankful toyourself that you're that kind
(29:28):
of person that it doesn'tmatter.
I I think that's what it is.
And all the businesses I've beenin, I think the success that
we've had taking them public andand so on, and building vehicles
that do do things.
I I think we've been relativelysuccessful, and I think there's
one, you know, one, two reasonsfor it.
Whatever you do, well, one dofor the greater glory, but but
(29:52):
uh for the for the most part,just do what you're doing well.
Do it as if it was being donefor you.
You know, what do you want?
I want my stuff.
What do I want it?
I want it now, too.
SPEAKER_00 (30:08):
Yeah, it's all about that stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (30:10):
It's all about the stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (30:13):
Oh man, you know, we get uh so passionate about it,
and like I said, we can't takeit with us if you're uh you're
thinking about what transitionyou're gonna be going into.
I mean, that's uh it's soimportant now, but it doesn't
matter later.
Um but you think about thosetough decisions you make when
you think about compassion, whenyou think about discipline that
you're doing as a leader, um,tough decisions that you've had
(30:35):
to make to balance the businessefficiently or uh to be
effective with serving people.
Uh, can you share an example ofyou had a tough decision and you
You're able to get through itwith those principles and
compassion.
SPEAKER_03 (30:49):
Well yeah.
I mean, look, um at the end ofthe day, every business has to
support itself, it has to beprofitable.
And uh that's you know, that'sthe nature of the business.
That's what business is.
And uh and so um you know, wewe've added other divisions,
(31:11):
we've added different productsand stuff, we experiment with
them, that's how we we grow, andthat's how we serve a wider and
a greater community, picking outthose technologies um, you know,
as part of the part of the job.
So when you move to a newtechnology, you have a tough
choice, right?
Sometimes you have people thatdon't necessarily adapt.
(31:31):
So when I say we move to a newtechnology, we say, okay, you
don't do that anymore becausethe machinery does that, the
technology does that, we'regonna, you know, we're gonna get
you to do something else.
Sometimes there are people thateither can't be, won't be, or
don't want to be retrained.
At the end of the day, you gottasay, look, the choice is yours.
(31:52):
You know, you have to adapt oryou have to find some other
place, you know, to earn yourliving.
And you know, it's just thenatural, it's the natural law.
It's a natural, you know, it'ssort of the natural proclivity
of people to do what's not youknow what comes to them.
So I I I think that uh I'm I'm alittle different than most.
(32:15):
Um even when we let people gofor cause, uh we tend to give
them a bit of a package plus aday, and the extra day goes into
the following month so that theycan have health coverage for an
extra month, give them time tocatch another job, or you know,
(32:35):
because Cobra is expensive ifyou're not working, and if you
got a family, you gotta keepthem insured.
So you can make the toughdecisions and not be ruthless.
You can make the tough decisionsand not surrender, you know, the
need for compassion orunderstanding.
And I'll tell you, there, youknow, during COVID, I went to
some of the staff here and said,Look, we either you know forgo
(33:01):
the bonuses and use that moneyto keep people on, or we let
people go.
And the team themselves lookedaround and said, Well, who would
you be letting go?
You know, maybe it's me or maybeit's my friend who, you know,
I've I've worked alongside thelast three or four years.
(33:22):
I can do with a little lessunder the circumstance.
And and I and I think you haveto be I think you have to be
aware of that.
Uh and and uh tough decisions,we all gotta make them.
I wouldn't I don't, you know, Idon't I don't like making the
difficult ones.
You know, I didn't want to movethe management of on the go to
(33:43):
another group of people becausewe were really doing well with
it.
But it it was interfering withwhat our major purpose is,
right, which is to fund allthese nonprofits.
I mean, sorted out.
We, you know, we we our topline, you know, is you know,
somewhere plus or minus 100million bucks a year, depending
on the year.
(34:03):
80% of that goes back into thecommunity, you know.
So that's$70, 80 million dollarsa year going back into the
community, plus, you know, pluswhatever, you know, plus
whatever we're doing.
Now that takes care of a lot ofpeople.
That takes care of a lot ofpeople.
Unlike, you know, cars for kids,the the guys with that obnoxious
jingle.
And if you're on the road,you've heard it, you can't help
but hear it.
(34:24):
Um they keep all that money,they don't have to split it with
the nonprofit, right?
They so they you know they usethat to do their work.
But we, you know, our cost ofgoods is 80 cents on the dollar
just to begin with, and then addthe labor and so on.
So we run a very, very leanshop, and that means some days
you have to make the toughdecisions.
(34:45):
We're not gonna buy that pieceof code, we're not gonna do
this.
But I I think if you if you ifyou decide look, first you gotta
be practical.
Second, you gotta have a heart.
Third, you need to balance thetwo of those.
Neither one can ever win ahundred percent.
SPEAKER_00 (35:05):
Wow, right.
Like I said, uh a lot ofexperience goes into that
answer.
SPEAKER_03 (35:11):
A lot of bruises.
SPEAKER_00 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, that blood, sweat, and tears, that
thing is real.
I mean, especially when you'rerunning a business where you're
actually trying to give back toindividuals, even if you have to
let someone go, that's a giving.
Uh because you're not holdingsomeone in a position allowing
them to go and use their talentselsewhere.
Elsewhere.
It's all how you look at it too.
SPEAKER_03 (35:33):
How'd you get started on a podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
I wanted to give, actually.
Yeah.
I started to um had somechallenges in my life and I
wanted to uh think about others.
And this was a platform that wasum didn't take a lot of money to
get into.
SPEAKER_02 (35:49):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (35:49):
Um, so it's an area where I can share people's
stories and highlight theirdreams and goals and make them
the star.
And I I enjoy talking withpeople, I enjoy having
conversations with people uhnaturally.
And so this was a way for me tofocus on others and and I
learned about podcasting.
This is a man, instead of mewatching the phone, watching
(36:11):
other people, why can't Iproduce something that will
bring joy to other people orhelping other people share their
their joy, you know, likeyourself?
SPEAKER_03 (36:19):
So well, I got I got one one good story for you,
because I didn't know you wereinterested in sort of how you do
or why you ended up in abusiness or one business over
another.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
Uh I've been lucky I've had a good career, but you
know, it has not all been roses.
You can't have success withoutsome failure.
Uh, like Mr.
Edison said, uh, I didn't uh Ididn't fail 2,000 times.
I just found 2,000 ways not tomake a light bulb.
(36:51):
Nice.
And once once I'd learned hownot to make it, uh one came
along that worked.
Right.
So I I ran I ran out of things,I ran out of ways the light bulb
didn't work, right?
So it all depends on how youlook at it.
But I was running uh I was uhrunning a communications firm of
b uh and and uh I I I I uh backin the sort of late 80s uh or
(37:19):
mid-80s, and uh back then uh youwere probably just a squirt.
But the uh were you born then?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (37:27):
I was, yeah.
I was born in the 70s.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:31):
Well, I the uh you might remember the economy was
pretty bad in those days.
There was uh the our firstreally major recession that we
had sort of come across andthings were bad.
Anyway, I was busy trying to doan acquisition by another
business and that that was gonnahelp grow.
And anyway, I I worked on thatacquisition for nine months.
(37:53):
Nine months while I was stilloperating this other little
business, but this was gonnareally make the difference.
So uh we were having troublemaking our rent.
Uh I had to lay a bunch ofpeople off, and there were just
you know, three of us lefttrying to serve a few service a
few customers and basicallymaking a you know, literally
(38:13):
making a living, period.
And uh I went off uh to sign thefinal deal.
Uh I remember leaving the officeabout 11 o'clock in the morning,
uh, met with everybody.
We had a small lunch in thelawyer's office, and everybody
was signing the deal.
It was a pretty interestingdeal.
(38:36):
And uh that was great.
It was kind of a celebratorytime, kind of happy.
And I get back to my office.
It was a Friday afternoon.
SPEAKER_02 (38:47):
Um the doors were locked, that they changed the
locks.
SPEAKER_03 (38:54):
Point is we signed the new deal which gave us life
and a new place to go on Monday.
We had to crawl in through theroof, through the roof light to
get to get stuff out.
And then I called the phone andsaid, Look, I had to take my
stuff, but here's what's goingon, and you know, we'll get you
paid over this period of timeand then and that sort of stuff.
Could you please let us back inso on?
(39:15):
You can anyway, but last day,last minute of last day, last
breath, right?
And something came along.
And I I something I learned fromthat was uh my brother was
working with me at the time, hedecided to be real cynical.
And I decided to be realpositive.
(39:37):
And uh at the end of the day, umif you got an idea, if you have
something you're passionateabout, never give up.
Last minute, last day, poof.
You know, you put something outinto the universe, if you put it
out with a good heart, somethingwill come back.
(39:57):
And you need faith for that.
You need you need faith.
That was a valuable lesson tome.
On I had to make a decision, amI gonna be I I don't know wanna
I don't want to offend anybodyon here, but are you gonna turn
into a cynical dick, you know,or are you gonna embrace the
opportunity that's before youand be thankful for what you
have and get on and get on withthe new whatever it is?
(40:19):
And I think that's what you haveto do.
You have to choose you have tochoose to have faith, you have
to choose to be committed, andyou have to choose to genuinely
appreciate and celebrate thesuccesses and learn from the
failures.
Because they're also successesin disguise, right?
It was a uh I'm not really apoetry kind of guy, but I
(40:39):
remember Kipling, you know, anduh the poem If, you know, in the
last line that says, uh, youknow, if you if you can if you
can uh meet success and meetwith failure and treat both
those impostors the same, Idon't know what the rest of it
is, but the you know the idea ofjust you know, things aren't
(40:59):
good, things aren't bad, thingsare just different.
Just how you deal with them.
SPEAKER_00 (41:05):
That really resonates with me.
Um like I said, you know, myage.
So you you reach certain pointsin your life, and like I said,
you can become very cynical, oryou could choose to embrace the
change and make the best of it.
And so yeah, I actually am in alot of those transitions right
now.
So thank you.
I mean, every time I have apodcast, I get encouraged to
(41:25):
keep going, I get encouragementto keep doing good.
So yeah, I mean, it serves apurpose right there.
I mean, and I hope that otherpeople can hear it and enjoy
that same benefit that you'reable to share with me.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (41:39):
I hope so.
SPEAKER_00 (41:40):
Yeah, yeah, I think it will.
And um, and there's a lot oflessons we can learn from
trucking or building businessesand making those tough decisions
that make you a leader.
Or, like you said, you can makeyou can either meet it with
failure or you can head on andgo for it and help so many
people by being uh the leaderthat you are today, too.
So, I mean, you've changed thegame a lot.
(42:01):
I mean, trucking companies andnonprofits, they make a
difference, but uh depend ontrust and reliability.
What parallels do you seebetween leading cars and and how
trucking companies are run orshould be run?
What would you say to thosetrucking companies out there?
SPEAKER_03 (42:16):
The bottom line is still back to something we said
a little while ago, right?
Your rewards in life are indirect proportion to the amount
of service you provide to yourfellow man.
So, and you know, basic respectfor the people that you work for
or that you work with, or thatyou know, or or or you know,
that are financing you orwhatever.
Look, you can say I'm justdriving a truck, right?
(42:36):
Or you can say, you know, I'm auh, as Brian likes to say, oh
no, I wasn't a truck driver, Iwas a logistic relocation
engineer.
SPEAKER_02 (42:51):
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03 (42:53):
You know, you you can make what you do into the
most glamorous thing in theworld or the most important
thing in the world.
And if you don't think thatsomebody else is living, if you
don't think that somebody else'skids are, you know, are are
being fed by you, you know,delivering something from A to
B, you're crazy.
So what do you need?
You you you need to be honest,you need to have integrity,
(43:18):
right?
You need to fill that logbookout correctly.
There's a reason we have thoserules and regulations, and it
may be a pain in the ass, but ifyou're working for a good firm,
they want you to pull off to theside of the road and they want
you to get your aid off becausethat that that means you're
safe.
Yeah, you're awake and you'realert, and you're not gonna kill
somebody, and you're not gonnakill yourself, and everybody's
(43:40):
going home that night.
More importantly, the peoplethat trusted you with their
goods who somebody else ismaking a living off of are gonna
get their goods.
So integrity.
Know what you're doing, knowwhat your job is, know the
importance of your job.
And if it wasn't so important,there wouldn't be so many of us
on a road.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
Yeah, you see that late at night when everybody
else is sleeping at threeo'clock and you see all the
lights ahead of you, the marketlights.
You know, that's another truckerout there pulling the load
trying to get it done.
SPEAKER_03 (44:09):
Trying to get it done.
Wants to be home on a weekend,trying to maybe get a little
time with his kids, right?
Get a little fishing in orwhatever.
And and so, one, be honest aboutwho you are, what you are, what
you're doing.
Your job is as important as youthink it is.
And so that makes you asimportant as you think your job
is and what you do.
And also remember that who youare isn't what you are, right?
(44:32):
I'm I'm I'm a father, I'm ahusband, I'm a member of the
community, I'm a social serviceguy, you know.
I I'm I'm I'm I'm not you know,I'm not the CEO of a hundred
million dollar company and kissmy whatever, right?
Well, I know a lot of guys thatuh, you know, they they are
their titles, you know,horsepucky.
SPEAKER_00 (44:52):
Titles.
SPEAKER_03 (44:53):
You know, yeah.
I lost this job today and Ineeded to eat, you know,
something.
I know where to put that chainunderneath, and I know how to
run a winch if I gotta.
I, you know, that's physicshaven't changed.
I can still do a rollover ifthat's what I had to do.
I wouldn't want to do it at myage, and I certainly wouldn't
want to do it where it snows,but if that's what it was, then
(45:15):
that's what it is.
I like it.
So know who who you are versuswhat you are.
Nice.
I think that's important.
SPEAKER_00 (45:22):
And back to the basics.
SPEAKER_03 (45:24):
Well, yeah.
And the other is look, whetheryou like the guy you're working
for or you don't like the guyyou're working for, he's putting
food on your table.
SPEAKER_00 (45:36):
There you go.
SPEAKER_03 (45:37):
And he's making tough decisions and he's got
bills to pay of his own, andmaybe he's got trouble at home,
maybe he's got prostate cancer,you'll never know.
If he's having a bad day, he'shaving a bad day.
I find that most people that ifyou give them respect, they give
you respect back, even ifthey're a dick.
It gets hard for them not to,right?
It's just you just you just nicethem uh out of their grumpiness.
SPEAKER_00 (46:00):
Yeah, there you go.
All right, compassion.
I love that empathy, empathy,okay.
SPEAKER_03 (46:05):
So you know, that's just the basic rules of life.
And if you got a dream, chaseit.
SPEAKER_00 (46:14):
It's worth it, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (46:16):
Oh gosh, it is so worth it.
I had no way in the world I was.
I knew within a week I was gonnastay here.
Wow, I I wouldn't admit it toanybody, but my wife said,
What's the matter with you?
You're like you're coming homehappy.
What's wrong?
You like to work?
So I said, Well, yeah.
She said, Well, what do you wantto do?
I said, I don't know.
She said, Well, why don't youstay?
(46:38):
And uh I've tried to retirethree times.
Last time around, I knew it tookme two and a half hours to take
a pair of pants to the cleaners.
I knew I'd never wear again.
I said, I this is it.
I this is not for me.
This retirement stuff is not forme.
So I knew that.
And I and and and the passion ofdoing what I was doing, the
(46:59):
belief in doing what I wasdoing, and knowing that I could
take, you know, what turned outto be about 30 years in the you
know, C-suite as a you know asenior executive officer, to
take all that knowledge that I'dlearned from people much smarter
than I ever was, and and uh andput it, you know, either, you
(47:21):
know, put it in a box somewhereand put it in the garage or or
come into an office and put itto work and train people that
are younger than I am to do allof this stuff and to apply all
of the learning to growing thebusiness, to do an acquisition,
to bolt it together, to do theintegration, to rise people up.
You know, they don't necessarilywant another big raise.
(47:44):
They would rather I send themoff for some education, right?
So I've I've taken people hereand sent them off and sent them
to executive ed and sent themback to college.
And, you know, those are lifeskills that whether they're with
me or with somebody else, theywill always take that with them
and they will make a betterliving and they will grow.
And so my wife said, Well, whydon't you tell them you want to
(48:09):
stay?
I'm sure you'll find that they'dbe happy to keep you.
And you know, I was well, youknow, I don't know.
But women are smarter than men,right?
SPEAKER_00 (48:17):
So tell you, man.
Yeah, yeah.
Gave me a pattern.
One of the questions I want toask you, is you know, you've
accomplished a lot with cars.
What makes you the mostproudest?
It looks like you're able tohelp individuals continue or
further their their knowledgeand their in their life with uh
the success that you're able toshare.
(48:38):
I mean, that's that's gotta besomething to be proud of.
SPEAKER_03 (48:41):
I I am proud of that, but what I'm most proud of
is uh, you know, I've produced acouple of good citizens.
I've I've uh I've got a34-year-old, my youngest son,
who is uh just you know doinggreat in life.
Uh he's got good values, he'sgot good integrity, we're tired,
(49:01):
we're tired of the job that helikes.
He's uh you know, he's not he'schasing a good living, but he's
not chasing the best living overthe best work and the greatest
satisfaction in his life.
Um he's a hockey broadcaster uhand uh played hockey most of his
(49:22):
uh you know most of his life.
He's young, God, 34, but uh itdidn't seem so young when I was
34, it seemed like forever, butbut uh but when you're looking
back from from this angle, it'suh it's still pretty young.
But I think I'm most proud ofthe fact that I've been with the
same woman for 38 years andwe're still happy.
(49:42):
I still like I still like thegirl.
I'm assuming she still likes me,I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (49:47):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (49:48):
She's still hanging out, so I guess that's okay.
Uh but I'm most proud of thefact that I've uh uh put people
together that read and that voteand that that uh are
compassionate and and uhunderstand the value of of uh
interacting with their fellowmen with dignity.
(50:10):
That's what I think I'm probablymost proud of.
And then I am also to be quitehonest, I look at my car's
family, the people that havebeen working with me for over
ten years, and I I jump with joythat they've decided to spend so
much time here, that we've madeit so palatable for them to be
(50:30):
here so comfortable and thatthey've learned stuff.
They're doing when I got here,they were doing about 30 odd
million, we're doing 100 now.
So they are doing three and ahalf, four times, four hundred
times the business they weredoing when I got here.
unknown (50:43):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (50:44):
And and and they're more relaxed.
There's less stress because webrought in process, right?
You guys know what ISO is, ISO9000.
We're an ISO 9001 company.
We've got process, everybodyknows what they have to do, so
there's no stress, right?
Everybody knows what what thejob is, and they get out there
(51:05):
and they do it.
I'm I'm really proud of that.
I'm proud that that in a in anera where people are turning
over and leaving jobs and allthat, people choose to stay here
because it because they like thework and because they like the
environment and because they aretreated with respect.
SPEAKER_00 (51:21):
That's beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (51:22):
I couldn't do this alone.
No man, no man can create asuccessful enterprise on his
own.
It's impossible.
They get the they get thecredit.
You know, my job, I I stand atthe front of the boat and say,
we're going that way, right?
SPEAKER_00 (51:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (51:36):
But but they're carrying me.
SPEAKER_00 (51:39):
That's beautiful.
What a great story.
Uh you mentioned 10 years.
Uh where do you see cars in thenext five years uh from now?
SPEAKER_03 (51:48):
Oh, it's funny.
You should ask.
No, that's great.
Our our our goal, we have amanagement, uh, big management
uh deal coming up in Nevada, youknow, bringing in all the senior
people, guest speakers, hype,hype, hype, whoop, whoop.
Uh, and we're setting the uhwe're setting the goals for the
next five years, and in fact,the next the goals for the next
(52:08):
60 months is to double.
We're gonna do we're gonna gofor 100 to 200 million, and it's
not a big ask, it's a 20% a yeargrowth.
Wow.
In fact, it the growth getssmaller.
I don't need 20% on year five,you know, only need about 8%,
right?
Okay, yeah, you go eight percentof a bigger volume.
And I think I think they'regonna do it.
(52:30):
That's exciting.
Yeah, actually, it is veryexciting.
And by then, believe me, I willbe ready to hang it up.
SPEAKER_00 (52:37):
Pass it on to someone else.
Yeah, pass the torch.
Um, that will hopefully continueyour legacy and your dream.
I think that's great.
I mean, that's uh that's a goodthing to keep in mind that other
people can help you besuccessful and carry that on for
you.
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (52:54):
Yeah, where where are you based, right?
SPEAKER_00 (52:56):
Uh I'm in Minnesota, yeah, in the Midwest.
So yeah.
There's a lot of times I thinkabout moving, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03 (53:05):
Yeah, I'm sorry to say I'm down here where the
weather is boring and just finewith me.
SPEAKER_00 (53:12):
Yeah, originally I was born in North Carolina, so I
know where it's warm.
I live in California, so I knowwhere it's it's just beautiful
and gorgeous.
So on the west coast is thatweather, man.
That's uh that no humidity.
That's a mean that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (53:27):
No bugs.
Yeah, that's how much you did.
You got kids?
SPEAKER_00 (53:31):
Uh she's grown now.
Um, she's 18, yeah.
She's all groom.
SPEAKER_03 (53:37):
Well, they think they are at 18 anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (53:40):
Yeah, she's still the light of my life, and I'm
very proud of her for she's umshe's trying to make you know
the best of what she's got, makelife work for her.
You know, so many kids feeldefeated.
I feel like, you know, what'sthe point of trying?
And I'm so proud of her forgoing out there and trying her
best.
SPEAKER_03 (53:56):
So I'm pretty sure she's proud of you too.
SPEAKER_00 (53:59):
Thanks.
Yeah, you gotta keep remindingeach other of that.
You know, a lot of times timegoes by and you get out on that
big rig and you're moving, yougotta make sure to reach out to
your loved ones and let themknow, hey, this is what really
matters.
This is what I've been doing,what I've been doing, right?
For my loved ones.
SPEAKER_03 (54:16):
Well, isn't that isn't that what texting's for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:19):
What's that?
SPEAKER_03 (54:20):
Isn't that what texting's for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:22):
Yeah, they love it.
To me, it seems so impersonal.
I love the phone call, I lovethe voice, but for them, they
love the text message.
That's just like, okay, I can dothat.
Yeah, just not what I'm doing.
You see, that's yeah, I like Igo back with uh the phone on the
wall.
I love that.
I mean, with the long cord, youget that long cord, you can
(54:42):
stretch it pretty much all overthe house.
SPEAKER_03 (54:45):
Dude, the first phone I ever used is a magneto,
you know, the crank.
You know what, you know whatthat's for, right?
You know what that crank is for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:55):
I think he would generate the electricity or
something.
SPEAKER_03 (54:57):
Yeah, and it rang the bell at the other end where
Sadie was sitting with her boardand plugging in the wires.
It rang the bell and she sawwhere the light came approach
about.
Yeah, what do you want?
SPEAKER_00 (55:07):
Wow.
Yeah, the switchboard jump.
Man, that those are some days,huh?
People will sit there and manthat board for so long.
Yeah, it's a change.
SPEAKER_03 (55:19):
Now I can buy a house and pay my mortgage.
SPEAKER_00 (55:22):
Right there.
You're right.
Buy a house.
Man.
Yeah, somebody's gonna get more.
They're they're working on it aswe speak.
They're coding their littlefingers and coding their little
little hearts out.
SPEAKER_03 (55:33):
That's right.
They're gonna put one of thesethings right in here.
They're gonna cut a little slit,they're gonna stick it in there,
and they're gonna go, Oh, gotreception now.
Nobody knows where you're gonnahave to put the other finger.
I don't want to know.
Hello?
SPEAKER_00 (55:50):
Yeah.
Oh man, that's funny.
Yeah, I mean, where do you wheredo you see technology uh going?
Um, what are your thoughts onthat?
You're you're all for theautonomous truck, or I mean, how
do you feel about all thesechanges?
SPEAKER_03 (56:05):
I have mixed feeling about uh autonomous trucks, but
I do think that we will see uh,you know, I I think we'll see uh
one, two, three, four, five, youknow, trailer caravans uh, you
know, at night, you know, in thein the in the in the darker
(56:26):
hours, you know, maybe eleven tofive a.m.
Uh just you know, just on the onthe freeways, on the
multiple-lane freeways, just youknow, going up.
We'll see trains, we'll see puptanks being and I and I think
that's not a bad deal.
Uh, I do think there should besomebody probably uh on there
(56:46):
for now.
But yeah, I think we're goingthat way.
And I don't know that it's sobad.
I think there'll be lesscarnage.
SPEAKER_00 (56:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (56:52):
You know, the software doesn't make the
mistakes.
Uh, but I think once you get offthe freeways, I think you're
still gonna have humans in theredoing all that stuff.
I don't mind these little guysdriving around the little cars
and the Wayne Mow's and all thatsort of stuff.
But you know, you put you know,you put three million bucks
worth of somebody's materialbehind you.
You gotta show that somerespect.
SPEAKER_00 (57:14):
Yeah, they are dumping the money into it.
And I do too.
I have mixed feelings about itas well.
So, but yeah, I do like thehuman factor.
Um, something about thatinstinct, the feeling about
knowing, you know, hey, that's Iknow exactly what that is.
That's a deer.
SPEAKER_03 (57:32):
And I know what I and I and I know that the deer
is scared and confused, and it'sprobably gonna stop where they
are, right?
SPEAKER_00 (57:39):
When they see all of that, yeah.
Because they look up now whenthe lights come through and
they're like, What are you doingout here?
I'm eating grass.
Yeah, those guys are out there.
SPEAKER_03 (57:52):
Worse, man.
It's the elk.
The elk, the deer are easy.
The melt, the elk, 900-poundelk.
SPEAKER_00 (58:00):
It's yeah.
You're going to get loose.
There's a lot of cows that getloose too.
Um, they get loose and they geton the road and they really uh
they really stop us, anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (58:10):
Well, they're two two thousand pounds.
SPEAKER_00 (58:18):
Yeah.
Well, that's good talking withyou.
I mean, uh, you've done so much.
Um, you've inspired me.
I'm sure you'll inspire so manyothers, and your team continue
to do such great work there.
I appreciate you sharing yourjourney, sharing us how showing
us how nonprofit leadershipisn't just uh about uh you know
the one cause.
There's so many other causesthat they're able to to help um
(58:40):
make a difference in justtrucking, but rely relatability,
um, reliability, um, efficiency,and making every mile count.
So thank you so much for sharingthat journey.
And um, for anyone who wants tolearn more about cars and how to
get involved, um, where wouldthey where would they look?
Where would you send them?
SPEAKER_03 (58:57):
Uh well, they can go to uh www.careasy.org.
Car easy dot org.
And uh there's tons ofinformation there, including how
to reach uh me personally.
If you've got a specificquestion or something, I'll
always answer my emails.
I even answer my phone and uhI'd be uh be more than happy to
(59:21):
take your questions.
And uh Ray, I'm humbled.
I I appreciate you uh spendinguh some your valuable time with
me.
I've been I've enjoyed uh beinga guest on your show, and uh and
I wish you great success and uhlove and success.
SPEAKER_00 (59:36):
Awesome.
I mean, humility is a huge partof your game.
I think you describe yourself ashumbly driven, right?
SPEAKER_03 (59:43):
Well, driven anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (59:46):
Thank you so much, and uh Howard, you have a great
rest of the day, and um that'sall for the show, and that's
delivered.
SPEAKER_03 (59:52):
Thank you, sir.
You take care.
SPEAKER_00 (59:54):
Ciao.
Welcome back to That's Delivered the podcast
where trucking andtransportation meet real stories
that move people forward.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray,and today we've got a guest
that's Howard Pearl, CEO ofCars, a Charitable Adult Rides
and Services.
Howard leads an operation thathandles nearly 100,000 vehicles
donated a year and delivers tensof thousands of rides to seniors
(00:24):
nationwide.
Just like trucking, cars is allabout logistics, reliability,
and making sure people andresources get where they need to
go.
And we're going to dive intoHoward Scale cars into a
nonprofit powerhouse and thechallenges that is leading both
business discipline andcompassion and what trucking
leaders can learn from thisapproach.
(01:03):
That's awesome.
Yeah, track and rain.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
That's awesome, man.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
I love it.
My friends, they say, hey, man,we we should use that.
And it's always great whensomeone else gives you a name.
So I'll take it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
I agree.
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
Yeah.
So um, you know, you you've donea lot out there.
I mean, you shared a lot with mebefore backstage before we got
on here.
Um, man, just talk about yourexperiences.
How did you get started into uhwhat you're on today?
I mean, you're leading anonprofit um around the uh so
the world to serve the Canadiansand um and all those around.
(01:39):
So how did you get started withall that?
SPEAKER_03 (01:42):
Uh you know, I I knew I never intended.
Uh I never intended to work at aat a nonprofit.
Didn't start out that way, butuh 10 years ago I was sort of
tapped on the shoulder theyneeded some help to uh change
out management.
And uh I had just returned fromuh uh China.
I'd been working in China forfour and a half years, five
(02:03):
years building a uh plant uh tobuild rough terrain vehicles, uh
mostly uh uh emergency uhrecovery vehicles, rock
crawlers, uh some of it for fun,and uh, you know, some of it for
you, uh some of it for utility.
Um and uh I I I was asked tocome in and and uh give these
(02:23):
guys a little bit uh a littlebit of help.
And uh I had no intention ofstaying here.
I didn't know anything aboutnonprofit, but I knew enough to
you know hold the businesstogether and hire hire a guy, I
figured 45 to 90 days.
And uh when I got in here, uh Ifound two things uh that
inspired me.
(02:44):
One um was the existing staff,it was a small staff at the
time.
They were incredible, but they'dbeen terribly terribly
mismanaged uh by the individualthat I was being asked to
replace on a short-term basis sowe could hire somebody.
Uh, but they were reallyincredible people.
They really knew what they weredoing, they just weren't being
(03:06):
allowed to do it, which we findso often uh in businesses where
the boss wants to be the boss asopposed to letting people run
the business that really knowhow to run the business.
You know?
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Was there something in your early days?
I mean, you uh we talked abouthow you were able to do some
trucking back in the day and youstill have that in your heart.
Was some of that play a role asleadership?
SPEAKER_03 (03:28):
Oh my God, it absolutely.
Are you kidding?
Look, the things I learned onthe road um still work uh to
this very day.
I I started off um, you know, II I worked uh my way through
school.
I did a lot of trucking.
I had a work worked uh withanother guy.
We got a couple of contractswith PepsiCo.
We were dragging mobile homes upthe highway, um, got up uh even
(03:51):
onto some of the ice roads uh uhup as far as Metagamy Quebec, up
to the Quebec Hydro Projectthere, way up in northern
Canada.
Um hauling those uh Atcotrailers in there to build the
the work camps for Samard Baudryfor the construction camps.
Um that was kind of you know,that was kind of fun.
And in between, you know,placing people's homes, moving,
(04:12):
you know, moving mobile homes.
So that was uh and I and I gotthat job because the guy was
working with, uh he and I drovetow truck together for uh, you
know, one of the services in thein the city that I uh you know
that I lived in.
They would they had the policecontract, so we got to do uh,
you know, a lot of interestingstuff on the freeways, uh,
rollovers and crashes and youknow, God knows what.
(04:32):
And then the you know, theregular everyday uh pickup and
delivery, you know, the the sortof boring stuff in between uh
that you have to do.
But you begin to realize thatthe boring stuff isn't so
boring, right?
That's commerce.
You're moving somebody's productfrom one place to another,
whether it's uh you know a carthat needs to get in for repair,
or whether you're or or orwhether you're move picking up a
(04:53):
vehicle that's being donated.
Um so in the business I'm innow, really understanding the
tow business and understand thechallenges that they face, and
understanding the guys thatdrive tow trucks, um, an
interesting breed.
Um, you know, we we're pickingup eight to ten thousand cars a
month and delivering them to 300different auction yards across
(05:17):
the country, right?
We're national, in Alaska toHawaii and everything in in in
between.
Um and when when we got to getthem picked up, you've got to
get them picked up.
People donate a vehicle, theywant those things picked up in
24 to 48 hours.
They're not gonna sit around andwait.
If you don't pick it up, they'llgive it to somebody else.
So you've got to pick it up.
We you know represent uh almost11,000, a little over, well, a
(05:40):
little under 11,000 uhnonprofits.
Um and uh, you know, they expectus to uh to express gratitude.
They expect uh when that thatdriver shows up at the door that
he expresses gratitude, pardonme, that he's polite.
And you know, they're not alwaysthat way.
Sometimes, you know, the handsaren't so clean.
(06:03):
You know, they're they'rethey're working men and women,
and uh and and so um I can't getreal upset with them.
I just have to try and educatethem.
And uh I think what I learned inmy days on the road, uh not just
the technical skills, becauseGod knows we handle a lot of
things that happen from betweenA and B, but uh everybody
(06:27):
deserves everybody deservesrespect.
Everybody deserves the sameamount of respect, the people
that work for you, the peoplethat work with you, and the
people you're working for.
And if you can't understandthat, then I don't know how
you're ever gonna get along inlife.
SPEAKER_00 (06:41):
Yeah.
Some great fundamentals, somegreat uh, you know, things to be
characteristics that we shouldhave as part of everyday life.
SPEAKER_03 (06:51):
So that's I think it is.
I think we have to understandthat everything you do has to
have a a value attached to it,either for your own self-respect
or or for you know for theperson you're providing a
service for.
Um, I think that's you know,that's what keeps you on top.
That's what'll get you to thetop.
Just out service the next guy,right?
(07:12):
Lots of reasons to get upset.
But the smarter plays to justkind of chill, let it move on,
be respectful, be the guy thatisn't a pain in the ass, right?
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
Absolutely.
I mean it's uh help a lot ofpeople out there.
I mean, you're you're providinga great service.
Walk us through the vehicledonation process and from
someone giving up their car to anonprofit receiving the benefit.
Uh tell us a little bit aboutthat.
What goes on?
SPEAKER_03 (07:37):
Sure.
It's it's actually um it the theunderbelly of it is like every
other uh logistics challenge,um, you know, far more complex
than it seems on the on theoutside.
I say complex, not complicated,it's just a series of simple
executions, but they all got tocome together.
So if an individual had avehicle that they wanted to
(07:57):
donate, and people donatevehicles for a number of
different reasons.
Uh people, you know, peoplethink everybody donates them for
their tax benefits.
I believe that's number four onthe reason why people donate a
vehicle.
The number one reason, what doyou think?
What do you think the number onereason is that people donate a
vehicle?
SPEAKER_00 (08:40):
Uh, they kind of think about when there's a time
that they probably needed that,um, someone helped them.
So here's their opportunity forthem to do the same.
SPEAKER_03 (08:47):
Well, I think that's a wonderful reason.
That's one of the reasons.
But the number one reason peopledonate their vehicles, they want
to get it out of their driveway,get it out of the garage, get it
off the lawn, get that treestump that's in the middle of it
so they can cut it down.
You know, it's that's that's thenumber one reason.
SPEAKER_00 (09:06):
They need the space.
There's a lot of storage unitsgoing in out there, so I can
understand that.
You know, you don't want to payfor storage, so give it to
someone else.
SPEAKER_03 (09:14):
Yeah, and and you know, it's and it's a myriad of
reasons.
I mean, you wouldn't think a lotof people want to give their
cars, but you know, kids growup, you don't need that extra
van anymore, they're all goneoff to work or on off to school
or gone got married, or youknow, your spouse has passed
away, and the second car issitting in the driveway.
Finally, there's you know,spider webs growing between the
(09:35):
tires and the concrete, and it'suh just time to get that eyesore
out of there, or you know, maybeit was a collectible that the
old man was working on in thegarage but never finished, and
uh, you know, the old lady'ssaying he loved that thing more
than he loved me, and he he henever finished that either.
So get it out of here.
Um all kinds of reasons.
Or you've got a spare vehicle,you bought a new one, you didn't
(09:57):
want to trade it in because theyweren't gonna give you enough
for it.
You didn't want to go meet astranger in the parking lot and
you know, get a chance of beinguh you know lit on fire like the
guy with his half-done truckthere a few years ago, and you
want to do something nice forsomebody in your community,
whether it's a small nonprofitthat looks after animal rescue,
or or you know, whether it'ssomebody like St.
(10:18):
Jude Children's ResearchHospital or Shriners or
something somewhere along thoselines.
Because we have a nonprofit foreverybody.
If you go to our site, or evenif you go to if you go to Kelly
Blue Book, there's a uh you knowa tile there that says donate.
You hit that, it comes to oursite.
SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (10:37):
And and there's there's thousands of them you
can choose by geographiclocation or by subject matter.
Maybe you're interested in uh,you know, three-legged uh dogs
with striped tails, you know.
There's probably one there forit.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (10:54):
And then so you the you call in and and you give
your information uh to uh awonderful donation receptionist
who's basically trained toexpress gratitude for your gift,
or you go online and and you doit.
And when we get that order, wedispatch a tow truck.
And we'll dispatch a tow truckfrom the nearest auction yard
(11:15):
that we use.
Okay.
Again, logistics, we want tomove it the shortest possible
distance, right?
Every mile you move, it costsyou money.
So we go pick it up, goes to theauction yard, and generally it
gets an inspection.
We publish the things that aregood about the car, we publish
the things that are bad aboutthe car, and then the auction
goes online.
Uh we have uh several auctionsevery week.
(11:37):
There's an auction going onevery day across the country at
most most auctions, and and uhand usually they're wholesale
auctions.
So we sell to the the guys thatuse car lots, the guys that buy
here, sell here, or buy here,finance here, those things.
Um believe it or not, most ofthe vehicles that are donated
aren't junk.
(11:57):
Everybody thinks people onlydonate the crap, right?
The stuff that goes for recycleor dismantle.
That's not the case.
I'd say that 80% of the vehiclesthat are donated to us are we
are able to resell, you know,either into a third world or or
it gets uh you know gets alittle tune-up here and there
and then gets back put put backon the road.
You know, normal normal people,when I say normal people, people
(12:21):
that uh you know, people whosecollars are usually uh you know
a little wider, um, basicallythink when your car hits you
know 49,000, 50,000, thatthing's ready for the junk pile.
You and I both know it's gotanother 150,000 miles if you
just change the oil every nowand again.
Put a set of tires on it, maybeyou gotta put a battery.
That's it.
Don't have to do much.
(12:42):
They they they're putAmerican-made, the Japanese,
they're pretty pretty goodvehicles.
So uh so that's uh we we we liketo recycle them.
We like to give them to peoplethat you know you know can't
afford a new car.
And and uh so you get aneight-year-old car with 50 or
60,000 miles on it, and thatthing is still running well.
(13:02):
And uh a lot of our donors comefrom um you know a more
white-collar environment, sothey've got you know options on
it that you might not normallybuy.
And so the thing is a littleolder, but it's reliable.
And uh, you know, we got peoplethese days.
One of the one of the sort ofphenomenon is that um
(13:23):
particularly with uh you know,with immigrant families, three
or four families that live in acluster will come together and
they'll buy one car and they alluse it to go shopping on the
same day or to go to the laundryor to do whatever it is they do,
and they share the unit.
And it becomes and and so thatso these things provide a great
service and a great recycle.
(13:45):
And uh and then uh what happensis uh the auction yard sends us
the proceeds and we uh send uheighty percent of that money to
uh the nonprofit that you knowthat the car was donated to.
Ten percent uh comes to us forour operating expenses and the
(14:07):
other ten percent.
Uh we are also a nonprofit, andwe we run uh uh we support a
large social service programhere in San Diego.
We feed uh the homeless.
We have uh eight uh safe parkinglots for people who are sleeping
in their cars to uh stay in atnight so they're not uh don't
get in trouble with the law orpeople are coming by and robbing
(14:28):
them at night or takingadvantage of their daughters.
Um, you know, that's not safe tobe sleeping out there at night
on the street.
So we provide secure areas forthem to do that.
And um food pantry programs forfood insecurity and so on, and
that's what we do.
So 100% of our money basicallygoes to a nonprofit.
We're a nonprofit that's ownedby a nonprofit, 111, I think,
(14:52):
110, 111-year-old.
And and uh we only work fornonprofit.
So 100 cents on our dollar, youknow, other than goes for our
salaries, but that's you know,we work for nonprofit, so we're
not talking getting wrenchedhere, but uh but but uh but the
work is good.
The work is good and it's verygratifying.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
Wow, that's huge.
Thank you.
Thank you for doing it, makingthat available.
I mean, that is something thatwe see at a lot of truck stops,
people sleeping in their cars,you know, I work at night shift
a lot of times, and you seethat.
You see individuals out theredoing things, whether it's a
sacrifice or it's just ahardship, uh, they're in that
point at their life and you'rehelping them.
(15:30):
So great.
SPEAKER_03 (15:36):
The uh I I think the most intriguing thing to me is
uh, you know, you get you getinto those yards and you talk to
some of those folks, right?
Especially in the summer nightswhen it's uh light, late and you
go in and you start chattingwith people.
You know, they're you know,they're you and me that uh the
company closed down or you lostyour job or whatever, and you
(15:59):
know, four months in you can'tpay the rent, you're out of
money.
Right?
Maybe you got two, three monthsworth of money, you borrowed,
your credit cards are maxed.
Where are you gonna go?
You know, you got that uh KiaSUV, that big sportage there,
and you know, that becomes youruh that becomes your living
room, your bedroom, a place forthe dog to sleep.
All of it.
(16:19):
It's amazing, but uh it's it'sit's it's amazing.
And yet they show up with youknow, courage and try and
maintain their dignity and theycan get up in the morning and
the kid will go into the we havethe place where they can pack
their lunches and that that sortof stuff.
We uh the local Starbucks heredonate all the food that they
(16:43):
don't sell at the end of theday, so it's on the shelves by
morning.
So some of these kids will go inthere and grab a couple of
Starbucks things and go toschool with those things.
You'd never know they wereliving in their cars.
Dad goes to work.
Yeah, and they work with a theyhave to work with a counselor to
try and get them back into ahome, into some form of housing.
(17:03):
So it's it's it's verygratifying.
We also take in uh real estateand uh uh we take in stocks and
uh you know stock certificatesand uh and so a lot of other
things as well.
But basically that's that's whatuh that's what we do.
We serve uh we we serve thatcommunity.
SPEAKER_00 (17:21):
That's amazing.
Well great stories, I mean, thatyou can have that hold dear to
your heart.
Uh many people will go throughrough times, you know.
Never say never.
It could be anybody that couldbe in that position.
So uh if we could help someoneout when they're vulnerable, I
mean that's huge.
That's a lot of what trucking isabout is helping people get what
they need, getting the goods andservices that they deserve.
(17:44):
So that's nice.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
It's unfortunate people don't really recognize
that, you know.
They uh they don't they don'tyou I don't think people get it.
Uh and one of my best employeeshere, one of the longest serving
guys, uh was uh you know, was along haul guy, uh Ryan Caldwell.
He's our VP of um well, we don'tcall it logistics, but basically
(18:09):
his job is in fact logistics.
And uh sometimes we we laugh, wewe compare stories because we
were on the road about the sametime and we we talk about the
fools that are on the road.
And and they they just you knowthey think most of us are just
you know not real thinkingcreatures.
SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:29):
But uh they they uh you know, you can be an idiot
and you can be a professional,doesn't matter what the
profession is, but I'll tell youwhat, they they don't they don't
understand they couldn't survivewithout without a truck.
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yeah, I'm grateful to be a part of that network and
uh be able to still perform.
Um, but yeah, it does hurt yourheart when you hear about those
bad stories in the industry.
People are losing a little res alot more respect for truck
driving if they didn't have italready, you know.
It's saying, you know, there'sanother idiot on the road uh
hurting people.
(19:06):
So we hope we can change that inthe future and stop the decline.
That'd be great if we could dothat.
So more effort needs to be putforth in those efforts like
you're doing.
So good job.
SPEAKER_03 (19:18):
You know, you learn a lot of things on the road,
right?
You learn a lot of basic uh lifeskills, just uh well, you know,
95% of the time it's and thenthose five percent you run into
somebody that's stuck on theroad or a crash or fire or you
(19:42):
know stuck when it's uh youcan't get up that hill and
you're stuck there in the snowand looking at the fuel gauge
and thinking, uh it's there's alot of lessons.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Just starting out long day.
Yeah, so I mean thinking abouttoo, um, a lot of things that
you're doing.
It was makes an impact for a lotof people.
You have any stories or anyindividuals that you that you
could think of that you'vehelped, like with the seniors, I
mean that on the on the go riseprogram, it makes a program.
SPEAKER_03 (20:19):
Yeah.
Uh well, we we started the onthe go program.
That's you know, that's thebasis of who we are.
Uh we took it up to uh a placewhere we had uh we were serving
300 cities across the country,and and then uh because it was
really starting to become uh youknow, the uh the the tail was
(20:39):
starting to wag the dog, wemoved the program, uh it's still
in our building, but we movedthe management of the program
upwards to JFS, who's ourparent, and let them and let
them manage the program.
So uh because our uh vehicledonation program has expanded so
much, and the real estateprogram and all the rest of it,
(21:03):
and when the government decidedto defund in uh NPR, um we have
about uh just under uh somewherearound 550, 570 uh NPR stations
across the country uh that weserve.
So we got very, very busyserving that uh that market.
And uh and so while we stilloperate the program here, we've
(21:26):
moved the management of thatprogram sort of upstream um
right now.
But it was it's one of my one ofmy favorite programs, basically.
Um a lot of it's funded bymunicipal, uh, county or state
uh governments, and it's exactlywhat it says it is.
It's just uh those people thateither can't afford it or are or
(21:46):
are unable to uh you know tomanage your transportation, um,
you know, are uh given access toa program where the government
covers the cost of getting themto and from, not just medical
appointments, right?
But grocery shopping.
Um but also what we've learnedover the years is that
socialization is just asimportant to your health as
anything else.
You can't be stuck in your houseall the time.
(22:07):
You gotta be able to take, yougotta be able to take one of
those things over to, you know,over to a relative's house so
you can have a Christmas dinneror or you know, something along
those lines.
And I don't know about you, butI'm hoping to live
independently, you know, as longas possible.
And I don't I don't want to becalling my kids and saying I
need to go shopping for mygroceries, or I I want somebody
(22:30):
to be, you know, groceryshopping for me and delivering
them in a bag to my step.
I want to go and pick up my ownuh, you know, oranges or
tomatoes once, maybe once amonth or something and get out.
Or look at how important is itto get your hair cut or get your
beard trimmed, or you know what?
My own mother, you know, Iremember one of the last things
uh she wanted to do before shepassed was uh she said, Look, I
(22:54):
like this place and all, but shesaid, you know, these uh these
sons of uh I'll replace this.
So these sons of unwed mothers,they don't always get me to my
hair appointment.
And I got, you know, I'm notfeeling well this week.
I got, I'm not going to meet mymaker with roots.
You tell him to get me to my myhair appointment.
That was on a Monday, onWednesday, they did take her to
(23:16):
her hair appointment.
Okay.
She passed away that Friday.
She got her hair was done, alldone up.
She put on her her robe, youknow, the quilted robes they
would they put on with therosettes on.
She lay down on her bed, andthat was that.
See it, a little rouge on her onher cheeks, and that was it.
So I'm I'm ready.
SPEAKER_00 (23:39):
Sorry for your loss.
And yeah, definitely hadindividuals like that in their
life.
Uh those tough individuals, man,they they definitely make that
impression on us forever.
SPEAKER_03 (23:48):
So I think our grandparents, uh, I say that
because I'm a little older thanyou, so my my parents would be
about your grandparents' age.
And uh I I I think they uh youknow they were hardier than we
are.
They they you know, they didlife without push buttons.
(24:09):
Yeah.
You want water?
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Yeah, you have to go out and get absolutely,
absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, those are um I gotlike the the last bit of that
being able to see that.
Go out there and get the waterand you pump it.
I'm like, hey, it comes out ofthe ground.
Wow.
So yeah, there's a lot of thingsthat we uh take for granted.
(24:35):
You're right, especially when weall we do is scroll or swipe
right or left.
And oh my.
Yeah, it's it's it's getting uhit's getting to be over the top.
There's more to come too.
I guess they're not stopping,they're just out there coding
away.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
This whole uh AI is really quite in quite
incredible.
We're we use a we we use a fairbit of it here, and certainly we
will use more.
Um, and what we've done is thatuh, you know, instead of letting
people go, we just we takeeverybody that's being replaced
with some of the services thatthe AI replaces, and we just
(25:08):
retrain them, put them intoother jobs.
So, you know, all of a suddennow they know how to do
something else.
But you can't take good peoplethat have been with you a long
time and say, well, you know,used to drive a NASCAR, we can't
hire you because these are rightturns.
We just take them over here andshow them how to turn right.
SPEAKER_00 (25:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, maybe nonprofits isgonna be the way of the future.
Um, being able to give back andpeople can actually connect
better with the human um elementinstead of being so detached
from from individuals.
Maybe we're gonna create a morecaring uh generation in the
future ahead, you know, theopposite of what we got.
SPEAKER_03 (25:50):
From your mouth to God's ears, you know, we could
use a little more compassion.
Yeah, it doesn't take much to becivil, doesn't take much to be
decent to people, doesn't takemuch.
I mean, I I've been veryfortunate in my life.
I I've had a number of careers,uh, you know, mostly mostly
automotive or transportationrelated.
(26:11):
And um, you know, I don't wantto get all spiritual or
anything, but I'm telling you,you take any you take any eight,
take any eight of the tencommandments.
I don't care, pick eight.
Pick any eight you want, live bythose.
You'll be okay.
SPEAKER_00 (26:53):
You'll be okay.
SPEAKER_03 (26:54):
You don't even need you don't even need to do all
ten, but you have to pick theright eight.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
Great.
Um, thinking about scarcitymindset in a lot of nonprofits.
Sometimes they get stuck in thatmindset.
How do you keep cars focused ongrowth innovation instead of
just survival?
SPEAKER_03 (27:18):
Um, well, I you know, it's very personal.
Uh, I would get bored if we justdid the same thing over and over
and over again, right?
I don't just want a job, youknow.
I I want a I want an opportunityto uh to to to grow and to train
(27:38):
people to be different orbetter.
Most of my senior staff, we'reabout 190 people all together
here.
Um, my senior staff has beenwith me for almost uh I've been
here a little over.
Like I said, it was a 45 to 90day assignment.
I've been I'll be out about 10and a half years now.
Um because uh I the the missionum you can't help but get
(28:02):
passionate about the mission,doing what we're doing.
I I didn't realize most of thethings I did in my life were
really of service, but I didn'trealize that until I was in a
business that being of servicewas the major point of the
business, right?
I mean, look, you're movingthings from A to B, you're
(28:23):
performing a service, you'regetting the goods where they
need to be.
But you don't think of it ashaving a servant's heart, you
don't think of it as being inservice to your community,
although you are, you're gettingthe food onto the damn shelves,
right?
You're getting the parts, youknow, to where they need to be
if people can build things andand earn a living.
You don't think of it untilyou're in the business of
feeding people or housing peopleor or or or giving them an
(28:47):
opportunity to drive from hereto there and have a have a life
that is socially enriched.
But the truth is it's all theit's all the same.
You know, your own what I'vediscovered at the ripe old age
I've arrived at is that youryour rewards in life are in
direct proportion to the amountof service you provide to your
fellow men.
(29:07):
And by man I mean mankind, men,women.
I don't sort of distinguish any,you know, I'm not trying to be
all DEI.
I just people are people arepeople, right?
So when I say and I think thatfor people forget that.
You know, an act of kindnessdoesn't go unnoticed.
And if it does, it's okay.
You know, be thankful toyourself that you're that kind
(29:28):
of person that it doesn'tmatter.
I I think that's what it is.
And all the businesses I've beenin, I think the success that
we've had taking them public andand so on, and building vehicles
that do do things.
I I think we've been relativelysuccessful, and I think there's
one, you know, one, two reasonsfor it.
Whatever you do, well, one dofor the greater glory, but but
(29:52):
uh for the for the most part,just do what you're doing well.
Do it as if it was being donefor you.
You know, what do you want?
I want my stuff.
What do I want it?
I want it now, too.
SPEAKER_00 (30:08):
Yeah, it's all about that stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (30:10):
It's all about the stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (30:13):
Oh man, you know, we get uh so passionate about it,
and like I said, we can't takeit with us if you're uh you're
thinking about what transitionyou're gonna be going into.
I mean, that's uh it's soimportant now, but it doesn't
matter later.
Um but you think about thosetough decisions you make when
you think about compassion, whenyou think about discipline that
you're doing as a leader, um,tough decisions that you've had
(30:35):
to make to balance the businessefficiently or uh to be
effective with serving people.
Uh, can you share an example ofyou had a tough decision and you
You're able to get through itwith those principles and
compassion.
SPEAKER_03 (30:49):
Well yeah.
I mean, look, um at the end ofthe day, every business has to
support itself, it has to beprofitable.
And uh that's you know, that'sthe nature of the business.
That's what business is.
And uh and so um you know, wewe've added other divisions,
(31:11):
we've added different productsand stuff, we experiment with
them, that's how we we grow, andthat's how we serve a wider and
a greater community, picking outthose technologies um, you know,
as part of the part of the job.
So when you move to a newtechnology, you have a tough
choice, right?
Sometimes you have people thatdon't necessarily adapt.
(31:31):
So when I say we move to a newtechnology, we say, okay, you
don't do that anymore becausethe machinery does that, the
technology does that, we'regonna, you know, we're gonna get
you to do something else.
Sometimes there are people thateither can't be, won't be, or
don't want to be retrained.
At the end of the day, you gottasay, look, the choice is yours.
(31:52):
You know, you have to adapt oryou have to find some other
place, you know, to earn yourliving.
And you know, it's just thenatural, it's the natural law.
It's a natural, you know, it'ssort of the natural proclivity
of people to do what's not youknow what comes to them.
So I I I think that uh I'm I'm alittle different than most.
(32:15):
Um even when we let people gofor cause, uh we tend to give
them a bit of a package plus aday, and the extra day goes into
the following month so that theycan have health coverage for an
extra month, give them time tocatch another job, or you know,
(32:35):
because Cobra is expensive ifyou're not working, and if you
got a family, you gotta keepthem insured.
So you can make the toughdecisions and not be ruthless.
You can make the tough decisionsand not surrender, you know, the
need for compassion orunderstanding.
And I'll tell you, there, youknow, during COVID, I went to
some of the staff here and said,Look, we either you know forgo
(33:01):
the bonuses and use that moneyto keep people on, or we let
people go.
And the team themselves lookedaround and said, Well, who would
you be letting go?
You know, maybe it's me or maybeit's my friend who, you know,
I've I've worked alongside thelast three or four years.
(33:22):
I can do with a little lessunder the circumstance.
And and I and I think you haveto be I think you have to be
aware of that.
Uh and and uh tough decisions,we all gotta make them.
I wouldn't I don't, you know, Idon't I don't like making the
difficult ones.
You know, I didn't want to movethe management of on the go to
(33:43):
another group of people becausewe were really doing well with
it.
But it it was interfering withwhat our major purpose is,
right, which is to fund allthese nonprofits.
I mean, sorted out.
We, you know, we we our topline, you know, is you know,
somewhere plus or minus 100million bucks a year, depending
on the year.
(34:03):
80% of that goes back into thecommunity, you know.
So that's$70, 80 million dollarsa year going back into the
community, plus, you know, pluswhatever, you know, plus
whatever we're doing.
Now that takes care of a lot ofpeople.
That takes care of a lot ofpeople.
Unlike, you know, cars for kids,the the guys with that obnoxious
jingle.
And if you're on the road,you've heard it, you can't help
but hear it.
(34:24):
Um they keep all that money,they don't have to split it with
the nonprofit, right?
They so they you know they usethat to do their work.
But we, you know, our cost ofgoods is 80 cents on the dollar
just to begin with, and then addthe labor and so on.
So we run a very, very leanshop, and that means some days
you have to make the toughdecisions.
(34:45):
We're not gonna buy that pieceof code, we're not gonna do
this.
But I I think if you if you ifyou decide look, first you gotta
be practical.
Second, you gotta have a heart.
Third, you need to balance thetwo of those.
Neither one can ever win ahundred percent.
SPEAKER_00 (35:05):
Wow, right.
Like I said, uh a lot ofexperience goes into that
answer.
SPEAKER_03 (35:11):
A lot of bruises.
SPEAKER_00 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, that blood, sweat, and tears, that
thing is real.
I mean, especially when you'rerunning a business where you're
actually trying to give back toindividuals, even if you have to
let someone go, that's a giving.
Uh because you're not holdingsomeone in a position allowing
them to go and use their talentselsewhere.
Elsewhere.
It's all how you look at it too.
SPEAKER_03 (35:33):
How'd you get started on a podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
I wanted to give, actually.
Yeah.
I started to um had somechallenges in my life and I
wanted to uh think about others.
And this was a platform that wasum didn't take a lot of money to
get into.
SPEAKER_02 (35:49):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (35:49):
Um, so it's an area where I can share people's
stories and highlight theirdreams and goals and make them
the star.
And I I enjoy talking withpeople, I enjoy having
conversations with people uhnaturally.
And so this was a way for me tofocus on others and and I
learned about podcasting.
This is a man, instead of mewatching the phone, watching
(36:11):
other people, why can't Iproduce something that will
bring joy to other people orhelping other people share their
their joy, you know, likeyourself?
SPEAKER_03 (36:19):
So well, I got I got one one good story for you,
because I didn't know you wereinterested in sort of how you do
or why you ended up in abusiness or one business over
another.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
Uh I've been lucky I've had a good career, but you
know, it has not all been roses.
You can't have success withoutsome failure.
Uh, like Mr.
Edison said, uh, I didn't uh Ididn't fail 2,000 times.
I just found 2,000 ways not tomake a light bulb.
(36:51):
Nice.
And once once I'd learned hownot to make it, uh one came
along that worked.
Right.
So I I ran I ran out of things,I ran out of ways the light bulb
didn't work, right?
So it all depends on how youlook at it.
But I was running uh I was uhrunning a communications firm of
b uh and and uh I I I I uh backin the sort of late 80s uh or
(37:19):
mid-80s, and uh back then uh youwere probably just a squirt.
But the uh were you born then?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (37:27):
I was, yeah.
I was born in the 70s.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:31):
Well, I the uh you might remember the economy was
pretty bad in those days.
There was uh the our firstreally major recession that we
had sort of come across andthings were bad.
Anyway, I was busy trying to doan acquisition by another
business and that that was gonnahelp grow.
And anyway, I I worked on thatacquisition for nine months.
(37:53):
Nine months while I was stilloperating this other little
business, but this was gonnareally make the difference.
So uh we were having troublemaking our rent.
Uh I had to lay a bunch ofpeople off, and there were just
you know, three of us lefttrying to serve a few service a
few customers and basicallymaking a you know, literally
(38:13):
making a living, period.
And uh I went off uh to sign thefinal deal.
Uh I remember leaving the officeabout 11 o'clock in the morning,
uh, met with everybody.
We had a small lunch in thelawyer's office, and everybody
was signing the deal.
It was a pretty interestingdeal.
(38:36):
And uh that was great.
It was kind of a celebratorytime, kind of happy.
And I get back to my office.
It was a Friday afternoon.
SPEAKER_02 (38:47):
Um the doors were locked, that they changed the
locks.
SPEAKER_03 (38:54):
Point is we signed the new deal which gave us life
and a new place to go on Monday.
We had to crawl in through theroof, through the roof light to
get to get stuff out.
And then I called the phone andsaid, Look, I had to take my
stuff, but here's what's goingon, and you know, we'll get you
paid over this period of timeand then and that sort of stuff.
Could you please let us back inso on?
(39:15):
You can anyway, but last day,last minute of last day, last
breath, right?
And something came along.
And I I something I learned fromthat was uh my brother was
working with me at the time, hedecided to be real cynical.
And I decided to be realpositive.
(39:37):
And uh at the end of the day, umif you got an idea, if you have
something you're passionateabout, never give up.
Last minute, last day, poof.
You know, you put something outinto the universe, if you put it
out with a good heart, somethingwill come back.
(39:57):
And you need faith for that.
You need you need faith.
That was a valuable lesson tome.
On I had to make a decision, amI gonna be I I don't know wanna
I don't want to offend anybodyon here, but are you gonna turn
into a cynical dick, you know,or are you gonna embrace the
opportunity that's before youand be thankful for what you
have and get on and get on withthe new whatever it is?
(40:19):
And I think that's what you haveto do.
You have to choose you have tochoose to have faith, you have
to choose to be committed, andyou have to choose to genuinely
appreciate and celebrate thesuccesses and learn from the
failures.
Because they're also successesin disguise, right?
It was a uh I'm not really apoetry kind of guy, but I
(40:39):
remember Kipling, you know, anduh the poem If, you know, in the
last line that says, uh, youknow, if you if you can if you
can uh meet success and meetwith failure and treat both
those impostors the same, Idon't know what the rest of it
is, but the you know the idea ofjust you know, things aren't
(40:59):
good, things aren't bad, thingsare just different.
Just how you deal with them.
SPEAKER_00 (41:05):
That really resonates with me.
Um like I said, you know, myage.
So you you reach certain pointsin your life, and like I said,
you can become very cynical, oryou could choose to embrace the
change and make the best of it.
And so yeah, I actually am in alot of those transitions right
now.
So thank you.
I mean, every time I have apodcast, I get encouraged to
(41:25):
keep going, I get encouragementto keep doing good.
So yeah, I mean, it serves apurpose right there.
I mean, and I hope that otherpeople can hear it and enjoy
that same benefit that you'reable to share with me.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (41:39):
I hope so.
SPEAKER_00 (41:40):
Yeah, yeah, I think it will.
And um, and there's a lot oflessons we can learn from
trucking or building businessesand making those tough decisions
that make you a leader.
Or, like you said, you can makeyou can either meet it with
failure or you can head on andgo for it and help so many
people by being uh the leaderthat you are today, too.
So, I mean, you've changed thegame a lot.
(42:01):
I mean, trucking companies andnonprofits, they make a
difference, but uh depend ontrust and reliability.
What parallels do you seebetween leading cars and and how
trucking companies are run orshould be run?
What would you say to thosetrucking companies out there?
SPEAKER_03 (42:16):
The bottom line is still back to something we said
a little while ago, right?
Your rewards in life are indirect proportion to the amount
of service you provide to yourfellow man.
So, and you know, basic respectfor the people that you work for
or that you work with, or thatyou know, or or or you know,
that are financing you orwhatever.
Look, you can say I'm justdriving a truck, right?
(42:36):
Or you can say, you know, I'm auh, as Brian likes to say, oh
no, I wasn't a truck driver, Iwas a logistic relocation
engineer.
SPEAKER_02 (42:51):
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03 (42:53):
You know, you you can make what you do into the
most glamorous thing in theworld or the most important
thing in the world.
And if you don't think thatsomebody else is living, if you
don't think that somebody else'skids are, you know, are are
being fed by you, you know,delivering something from A to
B, you're crazy.
So what do you need?
You you you need to be honest,you need to have integrity,
(43:18):
right?
You need to fill that logbookout correctly.
There's a reason we have thoserules and regulations, and it
may be a pain in the ass, but ifyou're working for a good firm,
they want you to pull off to theside of the road and they want
you to get your aid off becausethat that that means you're
safe.
Yeah, you're awake and you'realert, and you're not gonna kill
somebody, and you're not gonnakill yourself, and everybody's
(43:40):
going home that night.
More importantly, the peoplethat trusted you with their
goods who somebody else ismaking a living off of are gonna
get their goods.
So integrity.
Know what you're doing, knowwhat your job is, know the
importance of your job.
And if it wasn't so important,there wouldn't be so many of us
on a road.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
Yeah, you see that late at night when everybody
else is sleeping at threeo'clock and you see all the
lights ahead of you, the marketlights.
You know, that's another truckerout there pulling the load
trying to get it done.
SPEAKER_03 (44:09):
Trying to get it done.
Wants to be home on a weekend,trying to maybe get a little
time with his kids, right?
Get a little fishing in orwhatever.
And and so, one, be honest aboutwho you are, what you are, what
you're doing.
Your job is as important as youthink it is.
And so that makes you asimportant as you think your job
is and what you do.
And also remember that who youare isn't what you are, right?
(44:32):
I'm I'm I'm a father, I'm ahusband, I'm a member of the
community, I'm a social serviceguy, you know.
I I'm I'm I'm I'm not you know,I'm not the CEO of a hundred
million dollar company and kissmy whatever, right?
Well, I know a lot of guys thatuh, you know, they they are
their titles, you know,horsepucky.
SPEAKER_00 (44:52):
Titles.
SPEAKER_03 (44:53):
You know, yeah.
I lost this job today and Ineeded to eat, you know,
something.
I know where to put that chainunderneath, and I know how to
run a winch if I gotta.
I, you know, that's physicshaven't changed.
I can still do a rollover ifthat's what I had to do.
I wouldn't want to do it at myage, and I certainly wouldn't
want to do it where it snows,but if that's what it was, then
(45:15):
that's what it is.
I like it.
So know who who you are versuswhat you are.
Nice.
I think that's important.
SPEAKER_00 (45:22):
And back to the basics.
SPEAKER_03 (45:24):
Well, yeah.
And the other is look, whetheryou like the guy you're working
for or you don't like the guyyou're working for, he's putting
food on your table.
SPEAKER_00 (45:36):
There you go.
SPEAKER_03 (45:37):
And he's making tough decisions and he's got
bills to pay of his own, andmaybe he's got trouble at home,
maybe he's got prostate cancer,you'll never know.
If he's having a bad day, he'shaving a bad day.
I find that most people that ifyou give them respect, they give
you respect back, even ifthey're a dick.
It gets hard for them not to,right?
It's just you just you just nicethem uh out of their grumpiness.
SPEAKER_00 (46:00):
Yeah, there you go.
All right, compassion.
I love that empathy, empathy,okay.
SPEAKER_03 (46:05):
So you know, that's just the basic rules of life.
And if you got a dream, chaseit.
SPEAKER_00 (46:14):
It's worth it, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (46:16):
Oh gosh, it is so worth it.
I had no way in the world I was.
I knew within a week I was gonnastay here.
Wow, I I wouldn't admit it toanybody, but my wife said,
What's the matter with you?
You're like you're coming homehappy.
What's wrong?
You like to work?
So I said, Well, yeah.
She said, Well, what do you wantto do?
I said, I don't know.
She said, Well, why don't youstay?
(46:38):
And uh I've tried to retirethree times.
Last time around, I knew it tookme two and a half hours to take
a pair of pants to the cleaners.
I knew I'd never wear again.
I said, I this is it.
I this is not for me.
This retirement stuff is not forme.
So I knew that.
And I and and and the passion ofdoing what I was doing, the
(46:59):
belief in doing what I wasdoing, and knowing that I could
take, you know, what turned outto be about 30 years in the you
know, C-suite as a you know asenior executive officer, to
take all that knowledge that I'dlearned from people much smarter
than I ever was, and and uh andput it, you know, either, you
(47:21):
know, put it in a box somewhereand put it in the garage or or
come into an office and put itto work and train people that
are younger than I am to do allof this stuff and to apply all
of the learning to growing thebusiness, to do an acquisition,
to bolt it together, to do theintegration, to rise people up.
You know, they don't necessarilywant another big raise.
(47:44):
They would rather I send themoff for some education, right?
So I've I've taken people hereand sent them off and sent them
to executive ed and sent themback to college.
And, you know, those are lifeskills that whether they're with
me or with somebody else, theywill always take that with them
and they will make a betterliving and they will grow.
And so my wife said, Well, whydon't you tell them you want to
(48:09):
stay?
I'm sure you'll find that they'dbe happy to keep you.
And you know, I was well, youknow, I don't know.
But women are smarter than men,right?
SPEAKER_00 (48:17):
So tell you, man.
Yeah, yeah.
Gave me a pattern.
One of the questions I want toask you, is you know, you've
accomplished a lot with cars.
What makes you the mostproudest?
It looks like you're able tohelp individuals continue or
further their their knowledgeand their in their life with uh
the success that you're able toshare.
(48:38):
I mean, that's that's gotta besomething to be proud of.
SPEAKER_03 (48:41):
I I am proud of that, but what I'm most proud of
is uh, you know, I've produced acouple of good citizens.
I've I've uh I've got a34-year-old, my youngest son,
who is uh just you know doinggreat in life.
Uh he's got good values, he'sgot good integrity, we're tired,
(49:01):
we're tired of the job that helikes.
He's uh you know, he's not he'schasing a good living, but he's
not chasing the best living overthe best work and the greatest
satisfaction in his life.
Um he's a hockey broadcaster uhand uh played hockey most of his
(49:22):
uh you know most of his life.
He's young, God, 34, but uh itdidn't seem so young when I was
34, it seemed like forever, butbut uh but when you're looking
back from from this angle, it'suh it's still pretty young.
But I think I'm most proud ofthe fact that I've been with the
same woman for 38 years andwe're still happy.
(49:42):
I still like I still like thegirl.
I'm assuming she still likes me,I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (49:47):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (49:48):
She's still hanging out, so I guess that's okay.
Uh but I'm most proud of thefact that I've uh uh put people
together that read and that voteand that that uh are
compassionate and and uhunderstand the value of of uh
interacting with their fellowmen with dignity.
(50:10):
That's what I think I'm probablymost proud of.
And then I am also to be quitehonest, I look at my car's
family, the people that havebeen working with me for over
ten years, and I I jump with joythat they've decided to spend so
much time here, that we've madeit so palatable for them to be
(50:30):
here so comfortable and thatthey've learned stuff.
They're doing when I got here,they were doing about 30 odd
million, we're doing 100 now.
So they are doing three and ahalf, four times, four hundred
times the business they weredoing when I got here.
unknown (50:43):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (50:44):
And and and they're more relaxed.
There's less stress because webrought in process, right?
You guys know what ISO is, ISO9000.
We're an ISO 9001 company.
We've got process, everybodyknows what they have to do, so
there's no stress, right?
Everybody knows what what thejob is, and they get out there
(51:05):
and they do it.
I'm I'm really proud of that.
I'm proud that that in a in anera where people are turning
over and leaving jobs and allthat, people choose to stay here
because it because they like thework and because they like the
environment and because they aretreated with respect.
SPEAKER_00 (51:21):
That's beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (51:22):
I couldn't do this alone.
No man, no man can create asuccessful enterprise on his
own.
It's impossible.
They get the they get thecredit.
You know, my job, I I stand atthe front of the boat and say,
we're going that way, right?
SPEAKER_00 (51:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (51:36):
But but they're carrying me.
SPEAKER_00 (51:39):
That's beautiful.
What a great story.
Uh you mentioned 10 years.
Uh where do you see cars in thenext five years uh from now?
SPEAKER_03 (51:48):
Oh, it's funny.
You should ask.
No, that's great.
Our our our goal, we have amanagement, uh, big management
uh deal coming up in Nevada, youknow, bringing in all the senior
people, guest speakers, hype,hype, hype, whoop, whoop.
Uh, and we're setting the uhwe're setting the goals for the
next five years, and in fact,the next the goals for the next
(52:08):
60 months is to double.
We're gonna do we're gonna gofor 100 to 200 million, and it's
not a big ask, it's a 20% a yeargrowth.
Wow.
In fact, it the growth getssmaller.
I don't need 20% on year five,you know, only need about 8%,
right?
Okay, yeah, you go eight percentof a bigger volume.
And I think I think they'regonna do it.
(52:30):
That's exciting.
Yeah, actually, it is veryexciting.
And by then, believe me, I willbe ready to hang it up.
SPEAKER_00 (52:37):
Pass it on to someone else.
Yeah, pass the torch.
Um, that will hopefully continueyour legacy and your dream.
I think that's great.
I mean, that's uh that's a goodthing to keep in mind that other
people can help you besuccessful and carry that on for
you.
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (52:54):
Yeah, where where are you based, right?
SPEAKER_00 (52:56):
Uh I'm in Minnesota, yeah, in the Midwest.
So yeah.
There's a lot of times I thinkabout moving, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03 (53:05):
Yeah, I'm sorry to say I'm down here where the
weather is boring and just finewith me.
SPEAKER_00 (53:12):
Yeah, originally I was born in North Carolina, so I
know where it's warm.
I live in California, so I knowwhere it's it's just beautiful
and gorgeous.
So on the west coast is thatweather, man.
That's uh that no humidity.
That's a mean that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (53:27):
No bugs.
Yeah, that's how much you did.
You got kids?
SPEAKER_00 (53:31):
Uh she's grown now.
Um, she's 18, yeah.
She's all groom.
SPEAKER_03 (53:37):
Well, they think they are at 18 anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (53:40):
Yeah, she's still the light of my life, and I'm
very proud of her for she's umshe's trying to make you know
the best of what she's got, makelife work for her.
You know, so many kids feeldefeated.
I feel like, you know, what'sthe point of trying?
And I'm so proud of her forgoing out there and trying her
best.
SPEAKER_03 (53:56):
So I'm pretty sure she's proud of you too.
SPEAKER_00 (53:59):
Thanks.
Yeah, you gotta keep remindingeach other of that.
You know, a lot of times timegoes by and you get out on that
big rig and you're moving, yougotta make sure to reach out to
your loved ones and let themknow, hey, this is what really
matters.
This is what I've been doing,what I've been doing, right?
For my loved ones.
SPEAKER_03 (54:16):
Well, isn't that isn't that what texting's for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:19):
What's that?
SPEAKER_03 (54:20):
Isn't that what texting's for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:22):
Yeah, they love it.
To me, it seems so impersonal.
I love the phone call, I lovethe voice, but for them, they
love the text message.
That's just like, okay, I can dothat.
Yeah, just not what I'm doing.
You see, that's yeah, I like Igo back with uh the phone on the
wall.
I love that.
I mean, with the long cord, youget that long cord, you can
(54:42):
stretch it pretty much all overthe house.
SPEAKER_03 (54:45):
Dude, the first phone I ever used is a magneto,
you know, the crank.
You know what, you know whatthat's for, right?
You know what that crank is for?
SPEAKER_00 (54:55):
I think he would generate the electricity or
something.
SPEAKER_03 (54:57):
Yeah, and it rang the bell at the other end where
Sadie was sitting with her boardand plugging in the wires.
It rang the bell and she sawwhere the light came approach
about.
Yeah, what do you want?
SPEAKER_00 (55:07):
Wow.
Yeah, the switchboard jump.
Man, that those are some days,huh?
People will sit there and manthat board for so long.
Yeah, it's a change.
SPEAKER_03 (55:19):
Now I can buy a house and pay my mortgage.
SPEAKER_00 (55:22):
Right there.
You're right.
Buy a house.
Man.
Yeah, somebody's gonna get more.
They're they're working on it aswe speak.
They're coding their littlefingers and coding their little
little hearts out.
SPEAKER_03 (55:33):
That's right.
They're gonna put one of thesethings right in here.
They're gonna cut a little slit,they're gonna stick it in there,
and they're gonna go, Oh, gotreception now.
Nobody knows where you're gonnahave to put the other finger.
I don't want to know.
Hello?
SPEAKER_00 (55:50):
Yeah.
Oh man, that's funny.
Yeah, I mean, where do you wheredo you see technology uh going?
Um, what are your thoughts onthat?
You're you're all for theautonomous truck, or I mean, how
do you feel about all thesechanges?
SPEAKER_03 (56:05):
I have mixed feeling about uh autonomous trucks, but
I do think that we will see uh,you know, I I think we'll see uh
one, two, three, four, five, youknow, trailer caravans uh, you
know, at night, you know, in thein the in the in the darker
(56:26):
hours, you know, maybe eleven tofive a.m.
Uh just you know, just on the onthe freeways, on the
multiple-lane freeways, just youknow, going up.
We'll see trains, we'll see puptanks being and I and I think
that's not a bad deal.
Uh, I do think there should besomebody probably uh on there
(56:46):
for now.
But yeah, I think we're goingthat way.
And I don't know that it's sobad.
I think there'll be lesscarnage.
SPEAKER_00 (56:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (56:52):
You know, the software doesn't make the
mistakes.
Uh, but I think once you get offthe freeways, I think you're
still gonna have humans in theredoing all that stuff.
I don't mind these little guysdriving around the little cars
and the Wayne Mow's and all thatsort of stuff.
But you know, you put you know,you put three million bucks
worth of somebody's materialbehind you.
You gotta show that somerespect.
SPEAKER_00 (57:14):
Yeah, they are dumping the money into it.
And I do too.
I have mixed feelings about itas well.
So, but yeah, I do like thehuman factor.
Um, something about thatinstinct, the feeling about
knowing, you know, hey, that's Iknow exactly what that is.
That's a deer.
SPEAKER_03 (57:32):
And I know what I and I and I know that the deer
is scared and confused, and it'sprobably gonna stop where they
are, right?
SPEAKER_00 (57:39):
When they see all of that, yeah.
Because they look up now whenthe lights come through and
they're like, What are you doingout here?
I'm eating grass.
Yeah, those guys are out there.
SPEAKER_03 (57:52):
Worse, man.
It's the elk.
The elk, the deer are easy.
The melt, the elk, 900-poundelk.
SPEAKER_00 (58:00):
It's yeah.
You're going to get loose.
There's a lot of cows that getloose too.
Um, they get loose and they geton the road and they really uh
they really stop us, anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (58:10):
Well, they're two two thousand pounds.
SPEAKER_00 (58:18):
Yeah.
Well, that's good talking withyou.
I mean, uh, you've done so much.
Um, you've inspired me.
I'm sure you'll inspire so manyothers, and your team continue
to do such great work there.
I appreciate you sharing yourjourney, sharing us how showing
us how nonprofit leadershipisn't just uh about uh you know
the one cause.
There's so many other causesthat they're able to to help um
(58:40):
make a difference in justtrucking, but rely relatability,
um, reliability, um, efficiency,and making every mile count.
So thank you so much for sharingthat journey.
And um, for anyone who wants tolearn more about cars and how to
get involved, um, where wouldthey where would they look?
Where would you send them?
SPEAKER_03 (58:57):
Uh well, they can go to uh www.careasy.org.
Car easy dot org.
And uh there's tons ofinformation there, including how
to reach uh me personally.
If you've got a specificquestion or something, I'll
always answer my emails.
I even answer my phone and uhI'd be uh be more than happy to
(59:21):
take your questions.
And uh Ray, I'm humbled.
I I appreciate you uh spendinguh some your valuable time with
me.
I've been I've enjoyed uh beinga guest on your show, and uh and
I wish you great success and uhlove and success.
SPEAKER_00 (59:36):
Awesome.
I mean, humility is a huge partof your game.
I think you describe yourself ashumbly driven, right?
SPEAKER_03 (59:43):
Well, driven anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (59:46):
Thank you so much, and uh Howard, you have a great
rest of the day, and um that'sall for the show, and that's
delivered.
SPEAKER_03 (59:52):
Thank you, sir.
You take care.
SPEAKER_00 (59:54):
Ciao.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.