February 27, 2026 • 37 mins
Rates swing, tech buzz gets louder, and expectations rise. In this no-nonsense conversation, we sit down with Ryan Agnello to cut through the noise and get practical about what's really shifting in trucking. From the lingering effects of the freight recession to positioning for the next upswing, Ryan shares straight talk on the systems, people, and tough choices that separate resilient, profitable fleets from those just scraping by.
We kick off by examining why so many operations are still chained to spreadsheets, texts, and disconnected tools—and the steep hidden costs that pile up in fuel, driver pay, maintenance, and accessorials. Ryan breaks down how a unified Transportation Management System (TMS) transforms from a necessary expense into a true profit engine by centralizing data, streamlining dispatch, accounting, and safety compliance. He emphasizes proactive habits that safeguard uptime and build stronger relationships: rock-solid processes, consistent shipper communication, and a genuine driver-first culture that treats people like family. Get ready for actionable tips on arming drivers with one intuitive mobile app for loads, documents, and real-time status updates—slashing road friction while accelerating invoicing and cash flow back at the terminal.
We then slice through the AI hype. Ryan draws a clear line between flashy promises and real impact, highlighting native, agentic AI that cuts deadhead miles, optimizes routing, and surfaces natural-language profitability insights—no manual reports required. The core takeaway? AI should eliminate administrative busywork, not replace people, freeing dispatchers to focus on supporting drivers and delighting customers. For smaller fleets, he warns against the common trap of postponing tech adoption until growth becomes painful, and he shares the essential weekly metrics to track: on-time performance, profit per load by customer and lane, true cost per mile by unit, driver pay accuracy, and days-to-cash. Feeling stuck? Ryan's operational audit playbook starts in dispatch and flows through to faster billing, unlocking trapped cash flow and momentum.
If you're ready to shift from survival mode to sustainable, margin-protecting growth through clear processes, connected data, and practical AI, this episode is your roadmap. Subscribe now, share it with a fellow carrier who needs the wake-up call, and drop a quick review to help more trucking leaders discover the show.
Key Takeaways 👇
✅ Ditch disconnected tools—spreadsheets and texts create hidden margin leaks across fuel, pay, maintenance, and accessorials.
✅ A unified TMS turns into a profit engine by centralizing data for better dispatch, accounting, safety, and faster invoicing.
✅ Build proactive habits: clear processes, consistent shipper communication, and a driver-first mindset that treats people like family.
✅ Equip dri
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to That's Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray.
And today we have a conversationsomething that every carrier is
feeling right now.
That's change.
Change in the freight market,change in technology, change in
expectations.
My guest today is Ryan Agnello.
Ryan has uh has spent yearsworking closely with carriers
across the Midwest, seeingfirsthand how fleets operate,
(00:20):
where they struggle, and whatseparates companies that adapt
from those that stall out.
Today we're digging into whatfeels different in the trucking
industry right now, what fleetsare you know having trouble with
leaking money and withoutrealizing it, um, what a Martin
courier really looks like in2026 and how AI fits into all of
(00:41):
that.
Ryan, welcome to the show.
Joe, how are you doing?
Hey, good, Ray.
How are you doing?
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, not bad.
Right, yeah.
Um it's always good when it'snot a blizzard up here in
Minnesota.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
You know, come on down to Texas, we'll welcome
you.
It's it's a lot warmer, Ipromise you.
SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Man, I love it.
Yeah, Austin sounds great downthere.
I keep hearing a lot of greatthings about that and have quite
the journey in the industry.
They say once you get in thisindustry, you don't leave.
Um, so we're glad to have you.
Um, how did you get into thetrucking industry in the first
place?
SPEAKER_02 (01:15):
Oh, you're exactly right, Ray.
So you don't you just end up andstumble in this industry, right?
You you know, it just it's justit's one of those things, right?
I started out uh going on 13years ago.
Um, you know, I was I was goinginto college, I was working
several jobs, and you know howit is, you know, you know, three
jobs trying to manage yourincome and everything like that.
(01:36):
So I found an opportunity towork for a uh transportation
management system and techsupport and knew nothing about,
you know, I knew computers, butyou know, not to support uh
technology nonetheless, but sawthat opportunity there with set
hours, you know, more of astable income, you know.
Um, so from there I uh took thejob and uh joined in tech
(01:56):
support and quickly fell in lovewith this industry from
interacting with folks in thisindustry, business owners,
dispatchers, folks in theaccounting, drivers.
And I quickly learned somethingthat I didn't expect about the
truck industry is that it's themost hardworking, passionate,
motivated, determined grind ofpeople that is unlike any other
industry I'd worked inpreviously.
(02:17):
And so I quickly fell in lovewith it and uh told my boss at
the time that I wanted to moveinto sales and so quickly
transitioned from working intech support and implementation
and training to sales, andthat's and been been in it
since, right?
Um, but I think what'sinteresting is that with this
industry is that no matter howlong you've been in it, a
(02:38):
person's been in it, or a shortum and how long people have been
in it, the one thing that that Ilove the most is the
relationships, right?
So a relationship-basedindustry, I like getting to meet
new folks like yourself, and umthat's the one thing that's kept
me in the space is knowing thatbuilding long-term relationships
that'll last a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, building thoseconnections, I mean, you value
those over a period of timebecause uh the information that
you can obtain from just meetingsomeone uh can go a long ways.
I mean, um, yeah, so likewise,you coming on the show.
Thank you for doing that.
Uh, so when you first beganworking closely with fleets, uh,
what surprised you the mostabout the trucking companies
(03:18):
currently running day-to-day?
SPEAKER_02 (03:20):
Yeah, when I first came in the industry, really, I
think it was the manualprocesses for a lot of these
folks, right?
I I would argue that what I'velearned in when I first came in
the industry thattransportation's always been
behind the curb when leveragingtechnology to manage your
business, um, regardless of youknow their size or how long
they've been in the industry.
So that was one thing thatsurprised me the most.
(03:40):
Um, and I I would argue, evenstill to this day, right, as
long as I've been in this space,is that you know, they have a
way of doing it and it's workedfor them, which is great.
But I think there's so much moreopportunity, and I know I'm sure
we'll talk more about theopportunity I'm seeing in the
marketplace and the changes I'veseen in the last 12 years that
are going on.
But I would say the the biggestthing I was shocked by is the
(04:01):
the spread, the good oldspreadsheets uh to run
everything from dispatch toaccounting to safety and
compliance and fleetmaintenance.
I think that's the one thingthat shocked me the most by
entering this industry.
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
Nice.
I mean, so you know, you seepeople doing stuff because it's
habitual and it's probablyeasier to do that versus to try
to learn something new.
I mean, that's uh that's a hardthing to do, a pain point, and
you got to spend money to investin these systems.
They're not cheap.
So no, I can I totally get that.
So you're in sales and you gotto help them feel comfortable
with that.
(04:31):
I mean, the market shift.
What would you when you kind ofzoom out?
What would you say feelsdifferent about today's market
compared to a year or two ago?
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Yeah, so as you you know, you well know the freight
recession that's gone on and thelingering effects of as this
industry recovers.
I think the the biggest changeI'm seeing now in more recent
time, I would say in the last 18months and really going into
2026 is the focus aroundstrategic sustained growth,
right?
Trucking companies taking a stepback and you know, trying to get
(05:00):
out of you know, survival mode,but taking a step back and
looking at processes on how canwe prepare ourselves for growth.
And and growth can look a littledifferent to a few different
folks, right?
Trucking companies.
Growth can be, you know,expansion of the fleet, adding
more fleet uh trucks to theirfleet.
The others could be maximizingthe volume and profitability of
(05:22):
my existing fleet that I havetoday, but taking a step back
and identifying areas that theycan improve and automate from
dispatch management to thecommunication with their drivers
to how they're managing theirbooks from an accounting
standpoint and calculatingpayroll, all the way down to
kind of you know, safety andcompliance and being proactive
of routine servicing of theirequipment versus being reactive.
(05:43):
So I'm seeing I've seen a bigpivot in carriers, taking a step
back, wanting to focus onstrategic sustained growth.
And what does that look like forme?
Right.
And so, you know, theconversations, you know, doing
this for as long as I havespeaking of thousands of
carriers and working veryclosely with hundreds and
hundreds of them is you know,that focus looks may look
different for ABC truckingversus one, two, three trucking.
(06:06):
So, what does strategicsustained growth look like for
me?
And I think that's a bigconversation for a lot of folks
uh preparing for rates tocontinue to increase, the
overall industry getting back tomore of a consistent,
predictable level playing field,and you know how how to better
position themselves.
So as the market continues toupswing, how am I myself as a
truck company, how am I going tobe best positioned for that?
(06:28):
And so that's what I'm seeing alot of.
And I think it's really, youknow, needed.
Um, it's necessary.
And I think it's reallyencouraging to see kind of uh
this industry embrace technologyuh from a you know an
operational standpoint.
Um, of course, as you know, theadoption of ELDs kind of I think
in 2017, beginning of 2018,really kind of ignited companies
(06:50):
to be interested in technologyto really run their business.
I think that was the firststepping stone.
And I think really this thisprolonged freight recession that
we've been in has really kind ofignited it on a whole nother
level I'd never seen before.
SPEAKER_00 (07:04):
Yeah, I mean it's huge.
I mean, you think about all thedifferent companies that are at
play and they're trying to keepthat margin going versus it gets
so tight, you know.
When when the hidden costs andthe operational gaps get really
tight like that, what is the thebiggest hidden cost inside a
carrier operation that mostpeople don't talk about?
SPEAKER_02 (07:27):
You're exactly right.
You hit you hit the nail on thehead there, right?
With the hidden gaps andunderstanding truly what's
what's my profit margin, I wouldI would say not taking into
account truly the how profitablethey are.
I would say not taking accountthe driver pay.
I mean, really their cost after,and I wouldn't say I think it's
(07:47):
not really the hidden cost tooperate when it and talking
about impacting their margin,but I think it's the lack of
connected systems from fuelpurchases, right?
Driver pay all the way down tothe true cost to run per mile
and any accessorial charges, Ithink, and then obviously um
maintenance not being taken intoaccount when running a PL and
(08:08):
understanding how profitable Iam uh a truck company could be.
So I think the the true hiddencost is really of having
disconnected systems andreports, trying to manually
consolidate those and merge themin together to understand my
margin, I think is what um a lotof carriers overlook because
when you have differentdisconnected systems and you
have different disconnectedreports, when you run your data,
(08:30):
anytime you do anythingmanually, there's a lot of room
for human error, right?
So I think that's the ultimatehidden cost to a carrier is
having those those differentdata points in separate
disconnected systems and notbeing able to centrally have
them in a centralized system.
I think is the true hidden costbecause not everything's run
together.
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot that even in 2026,
people are still probably doingmanually.
So, I mean, try to get thosethings changed over, like you
mentioned, that lack of datavisibility or clear visibility
is also going to be somethingthat I think a lot of companies
are gonna have to try to fixlong term because they could it
could probably hurt them intheir projections.
(09:10):
Exactly, exactly.
What separates reactive fleetsfrom proactive ones?
What would you say?
SPEAKER_02 (09:19):
Processes, right?
Structure, processes, andorganization, right?
So those what I've seen iscarries that are being more
proactive, not only in terms ofjust maintaining the service and
equipment to maximize theiruptime, but also obviously being
proactive in terms of howthey're interacting with the
customers for load statusupdates and being consistent
with the communication,providing them visibility.
(09:41):
But I think uh one thing that'soften overlooked that needs, you
know, that I'm having moreconversations for and that us as
an industry really need to talkmore about is is driver
retention, right?
Making sure that drivers aretruly valued and appreciated and
taken care of, not only in termsof you know benefits and pay,
but also their overall healthand promoting uh driver health
(10:02):
and wellness and well-being, Ithink is something that we need
to you know bring to theforefront.
But back to your question, Ithink that's something that you
know, carriers that are treatingthe drivers well and promoting
driver health and well-being, Ithink are um long term, they're
gonna have a better driverretention rate, right?
They're they're they're moreproactive and jumping ahead of
(10:23):
um issues before they ariseversus the reactive ones.
Anytime any business is beingreactive, you know, you're
you're running in the businessversus running the business.
And I think carriers that arebeing proactive are always gonna
be positioned for whatevercurveball comes their way.
As you know, in transportation,right?
Everything can be blue skies andsunny outside, and you know, one
(10:43):
accident or one insurance claimreally can just derail an entire
truck and company or one youknow, loss of cargo or fraud of
any sort.
So I think that the ones thatare positioned and being more
proactive are are really able torun the business versus running
in the business.
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Yeah.
What what do you think makes itbottleneck down to driver
retention, making sure thedriver feels is it competition,
or would you say it's you know,maybe social media has something
to do with it what would yousay?
SPEAKER_02 (11:13):
I think it's a little bit of everything,
definitely competition, butcompetition is obviously, as you
know, has always been there.
But social media obviously hasits play, right?
Anytime a carrier can putthemselves out there and
recruiting drivers and thebenefits and perks is always
gonna stand out, you know,better than their competitor.
They may not be doing that,highlighting it.
But one thing I think we talkwith several business owners
with driver retention, I thinkone thing they, you know, we've
(11:34):
got carriers have got to do abetter job on is treat those
drivers like family.
Generally know, be interested inwhat's going on in their
personal lives, generally get toknow who their spouses are, who
their family is, you know, treatthem like family.
I I just got back from a trip inIndianapolis, and you know, just
like you know, any uhcentralized trucking hub, you
(11:54):
know, the trucker company has,you know, their competitors
right next door to them, andthey have a 99.5% driver
retention rate for the simplefact that they genuinely treat
their drivers like family.
And I think if you treat themlike family and show genuine
interest in them, but also youknow, provide the health and the
benefits and perks to helpretain those drivers, it'll go a
(12:15):
long way.
But one other thing thatcarriers often overlook when
working with their drivers isthat, yeah, you could treat them
well, you could provide themwith great benefits, you can
truly value them and establishgenuine relationships with them.
But oftentimes it's overlookedis the day-to-day job of a
driver, right?
What tools are you providingyour drivers to really help them
do their job well and better?
(12:36):
I mean, so as simple asequipping a driver with an
actual mobile app to receivetheir load assignments and
dispatches and communicate withdispatch goes a long way.
It eliminates drivers having touse third-party apps, text
messaging, go through emails,trying to, you know, figure out
the pickup and deliverylocations of the stop, having a
call or text dispatch wherethey're at, right?
If you can provide a driver asimple app that does all those
(12:58):
things in one central solution,it makes the driver's job day to
day much simpler and easier todo.
And not only are you making thedriver's workload more efficient
and better, but also you'regetting in the back office all
the same updates and detailsthat you'd normally need from
two, three, four, or five otherexternal third-party tools.
If you had one centralized appthat can do all that, it's also
driving the back office to bemore efficient as well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
Amazing.
I mean, isn't that crazy?
Just like a love-haterelationship.
I'm sure the cost of keeping adriver is so expensive, but yet
also people have a deep respectfor what truck drivers do.
Um, so I mean, it's hard to keepthat balance.
I'm sure you probably also feelthat too, being in sales.
Um, what would you say uh thesimilarity of being a sales
(13:42):
individual you know backgroundversus trucking?
People say, you know, hey man,you guys are you guys are
getting spoiled out there.
SPEAKER_02 (13:51):
Well, I would I would argue sales is is is not
easy, right?
Especially in the transportationspace.
But I think it's all it allcomes down to right, it's the
value that you bring.
No matter what part of sales forwhat other company in the entire
transportation logisticsindustry that you you're a part
of, it's all about the valuethat you can bring, not only to
the trucking company, but alsowhat value can you actually
(14:12):
bring to their drivers, right?
You know, trucking companieswant to work smarter, not
harder.
But it's you know, it's my jobobviously to bring that value to
them so they can set theirbusiness not only up for
success, but also providing thetools that the that ultimately
benefit their drivers.
And I think you know, it's againall about that relationship and
having that rapport and thatconversation and getting to know
(14:34):
each and every person that Iinteract with, right?
Because you know, every notrucking company is the same.
They could be similar, butwhat's unique to let's say ABC
trucking and versus theircompetitor dynamistry can be
completely different.
So it's all about getting toknow every trucking company's
needs and you know what'svaluable to them and important,
but also you know, what's theirvision?
Where do they want to be in thenext phase of their you know
company's history?
You know, what's thosemilestones and making sure that
(14:56):
I'm aligned with that andproviding solutions that that
meet those goals.
That's perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (15:02):
You know, because a lot of people aren't just
thinking about today, they'rethinking about down the road.
What does my life look like?
What do I want to still be hereor invest the time?
Maybe they're expanding theirfamily.
You never know.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsgoing on out here.
Speaking of which, uh, AI, thereal impact versus industry
noise, you know, we can't avoidthe topic.
(15:22):
Where do you see AI actuallyusing being useful in the
trucking industry right now?
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
I I love technology, but AI iscertainly an overused buzzword
from a lot of companies I see,not only in the space, but uh in
my personal life, right?
It's everywhere.
I mean, if you watch the SuperBowl this year, I mean how many
AI-related you know companiesdid you see have ads this year?
So, but it it's certainly AI iscertainly a real thing and it's
certainly here to stay, but it'show is it gonna be used, but
(15:50):
also be able to be real worldapplicable, specifically for the
trucking industry.
And I what I would say is that,you know, not to get in the
weeds with AI because you youget me down a rabbit hole, but
you know, a lot of the AIbuzzword and hype that's on the
market from a lot of providersin the industry is is is
generative AI, right?
Where the future really is thenext phase of uh in my opinion,
(16:13):
the next phase of AI is reallywith a gentic AI, being able to
proactively make suggestions tokind of reduce debt head or find
optimized routes or uh you knowmake suggestions that a human
being normally would make thatwould be you know more
profitable or more efficient.
So I think it's important for alot of folks, because I have
(16:33):
this conversation every day withfolks, is to truly look at
whatever piece of technologyyou're looking at, whether it's
TMS, whether it's ELD, whetherit's telem, you know, any other
telematics, really look is theAI comp piece that they're
promoting, is it is it native totheir solution or is it
dependent on a bolt-on?
Anytime any solution has abolt-on AI component to be able
to provide AI capabilities, it'snot gonna be as in-depth and
(16:56):
then thorough and as advanced asif you have a solution that's
just been natively written fromthe ground up to have AI in it
because AI is gonna consistentlychange and consistently evolve.
And anytime that you have apiece of technology that's
dependent on a third-partybuilt-on AI tool on it, it's
truly not getting all the dataand visibility to be able to
make true real worldsuggestions.
(17:17):
So that's the thing is you know,filter through the noise when
you see AI this, AI that it'sit's up to someone to really dig
deep and see, hey, is thisreally gonna apply to the real
world, right?
Is it really gonna help me as atrucking company?
Is it really gonna help my teambe more efficient?
Um, but the big thing is, youknow, you want to be able to
utilize AI to reduce deadheadand optimize your routes and
(17:38):
your load planning.
And so, you know, my opinion isthat AI shouldn't necessarily be
looked at as a tool to replacepeople, it should be more of an
assistant to help people dotheir jobs better.
Because as you as you and I saidinitially at the beginning of
this call, this is arelationship-based industry.
So if I'm working, let's say I'ma dispatcher at a trucking
company, and my company canprovide me with a tool that
(17:59):
helps kind of reduce a lot ofthe admin planning work, and I
can be on the phone spendingmore time talking with drivers,
talking to customers, providingthem updates, that's gonna
provide that carrier with awhole nother level of customer
service that they hadn't everexperienced.
So I that's kind of my outlookon AI.
It's certainly here to stay.
It's just kind of like that nextgeneration of the internet.
Everyone said, Hey, theinternet's gonna, you know, make
(18:20):
people dumber, it's gonna makepeople, you know, lazy.
But I would argue it makesactually people more efficient
and more knowledgeable becauseyou're able to just search the
World Wide Web for anything thatyou want.
So AI is definitely here tostay, but there's definitely a
clear distinction between whatAI is hype and what AI is
actually gonna be provide valuein the real world.
SPEAKER_00 (18:39):
Yeah, and also maybe it can help people follow their
passions.
Something that seemed impossiblebefore.
Maybe they can actually get itaccomplished with without you
know their cost being so highand then take them out so quick.
You know, I know cost isimportant for every industry and
every profession.
So now you can probably followyour dream a little better.
So yeah, that can be a throw.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah, and that thing with AI is natural language,
right?
Imagine, you know, I I'm not Ilove reports, I love dashboards,
I love spreadsheets.
Like that's just it's all fun.
But imagine if you're a truckingcompany, instead of having to
run different reports and filterand try to merge them between
the two because no reports 100%what you're like.
You know, one thing I'm excitedabout with this industry is the
natural language aspect of AI,where imagine if you wanted to
(19:24):
run, hey, what's my you know,profitability for this truck for
this range for this customer?
You're able to just type in asyou naturally would say in a
conversation or how yourthoughts are, you plug it in the
solution, and that report anddata or dashboard that you look
for just appears right in frontof you without having to kind of
filter your own, you know,include or exclude different
details.
It just comes right in front ofyou.
(19:45):
And I think that's the realgreat advantage and benefit
that's coming down with the AIthat's you know out on the
market today and that's comingout in the next you know months,
and I wouldn't argue less than ayear for sure, is if you're able
to just naturally run reportsand data that you normally would
have to kind of merge and blendreports that doesn't give you
100% what you're like.
So that's what I think is reallyexciting, and I think that's
(20:05):
really gonna be a game changerfor trucking companies because
at the end of the day you know,not everyone is a report wizard,
right?
Or an Excel wizard, right?
And so I think that's somethingto look forward to.
SPEAKER_00 (20:14):
Yeah, yeah, it definitely takes two different
types of individuals.
Some people are really good atthrowing wrenches, some people
are really good at makingspreadsheets and making those
work and easy to understand.
So, yeah, it is a differentmindset.
Mixing the two, I'm not sayingit's impossible to cross those
over, but the mindset of, likeyou said, doing something you
love is a whole different worldthere.
(20:35):
So I hope that AI can continueto complement humans and make
them more successful and feelyou know better about the job
that they're doing.
So great advice there.
Maybe advice for drivers andfleet owners.
Let's bring it back to peoplelistening for owner operators,
small fleets.
If someone's out there runningand just a you know a few
trucks, what operationalmistakes should they avoid early
(20:56):
on?
What would you say?
SPEAKER_02 (20:58):
Yeah, early on, the most common mistake I've seen
them is not putting in thefoundations of a solution to
manage their business, right?
I think the the bottleneck Isee, the biggest mistake I may I
see make is that they're losingspreadsheets and you know manual
processes to manage theirbusiness to keep their kind of
cost level, their overheadoperating costs low, right?
(21:19):
Because any piece of technologyis gonna come with a cost.
But the way to look at it isreally the other the right way
to look at it is the investment,right?
Investing in your business forthe long haul.
So what that looks like, let'ssay, you know, you're a startup
carrier with a fleet of three,four, five trucks, most commonly
they're gonna be using, youknow, managing their dispatches
on spreadsheets and they'recommunicating with their drivers
through text messages andemails.
(21:40):
And and then typically thebiggest mistake I see is you
know, when they get to aroundthat 10, 12 truck mark, like,
hey, I need technology, whetherit's a TMS or an you know
accounting system, that's great.
But then they create abottleneck for themselves
because their their volume ismuch higher than if they would
have implemented systems veryearly on at three, four, five
trucks, right?
And so not only are they tryingto Implement tools and processes
(22:01):
to accommodate the maturity oftheir business, but they're also
still have a business to run,right?
The business doesn't stop, thefreight doesn't stop just
because they're implementingtools and processes and
streamlining those withtechnology on the market.
So, and what they result into byrunning on spreadsheets in their
early years is they think, hey,we added two, three, four, five
trucks.
I need to hire another body inthe office to accommodate that
(22:22):
new, you know, that increasedvolume.
So what happens at that point isthat their margin uh profit
margins shrink.
They're not running asprofitable as they could if they
had the right processes andtechnology in place that managed
the entire back office for theirbusiness.
And so that's the most commonmistake I make, is because then
at that point, when they look ata new piece of technology when
they've matured to 12, 15 trucksor so from spreadsheets, then
(22:45):
their investment level and newtechnology and the time it takes
to migrate over is much higherthan if they would have started
off with the right system veryearly earlier on in the
company's history.
SPEAKER_00 (22:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, good capital is goodinvesting in your company and
making sure the infrastructureis set up right from the from
the jump.
So yeah, great advice there.
What metrics would you or shoulda carrier track weekly?
What would you say on those?
SPEAKER_02 (23:10):
Definitely on-time delivery performance.
Definitely, you know, what'stheir profit per load per
customer, per driver, per unit?
So really looking at their PL.
I think so many times that thisfo this industry carriers just
focus on just kind of theday-to-day, getting the right,
getting the truck loaded,getting it delivered on time,
but they don't watch the profitmargins level.
Like, what's my true cost afterall expenses, right?
(23:32):
Fuel cards, right?
For fuel, driver pay, the wholenine yards.
They don't really look at thaton a weekly basis as they
should, at least a lot of thecarriers I've worked with over
my career.
So I think that's because ifthey're able to see in real
time, and not only weekly by theday in real time, what's their
true profitability?
It's easier to make a pivot toyour business than if you look
(23:55):
at the end of the week or evenat the end of the month, right?
You're not able to be proactiveand shift, hey, you know, this
lane or this type of commodityis not as profitable as if, you
know, versus something else,right?
So I think that's the biggestthing that's caused a lot of
carriers to then, you know, gobelly side up is that they don't
have that visibility in terms ofhow profitable I am as a
trucking company, that by thetime they figure it out, it it
(24:17):
to turn the business around andget, you know, more be more
profitable, it it's too late.
Like I was talking to someonenot long ago, they didn't
realize they were losing 15grand a month.
Why?
Because they were dependent onrunning their accounting in one
their payroll in one system,managing their dispatch in
another, then they had to loginto their factoring company for
(24:38):
another, they're trying to mergeand combine reports.
Obviously, at the end of the dayyou're merging and trying to
compile reports, things aregonna get lost.
So they they they they wererunning blind.
And and so whenever theyimplement a solution that kind
of centralized all thosesystems, all those processes
into one system, they were ableto look that for the last eight
months they were they wererunning, uh losing 15 grand a
(24:59):
month.
And so they were at that pointable to make course correction
and go back to your point wetalked about earlier about being
proactive than being reactive,and and they're on their way to
turn this ship around.
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Nice.
Yeah.
So if a company feels stuckright now, maybe they're more
experienced.
And what's first the firstoperational audit they should
probably conduct?
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
Definitely dispatch.
They need to see how much timeis it taking for a dispatcher of
planning the loads, findingloads, whether that's you know
in the spot market or on loadboards.
They need to look at how muchtime they're spending
communicating with the driver,basic load status updates and
load assignments, but also youknow, the time it takes to
retrieve those documents fromthe drivers.
Are they doing it through textmessages?
(25:43):
Are they going through emails,then having to go through and
download and upload before theycan attach it to a customer's
invoice, right?
So that's that's the first thingI would say is is looking at the
time it's taking in dispatch andthe communication of your
drivers for load status updatesand as well as any dot load
documentation, but then alsoimmediately look in terms of how
long is it taking us to invoice,right?
(26:04):
An invoice, whether you'reinvoicing directly to a customer
or your factoring, they're stillneeding to get the delivery
documents consolidated, attachedto the invoice before it can get
out to the factoring company ordirectly to the invoice.
So again, a direct impact to thecash flow, right?
The sooner they can get thatinvoice out, the faster they get
paid.
So those kind of work in tandembecause you could have a very
(26:24):
efficient dispatching processall day long, like the best,
most efficient dispatchingprocess in the world.
But if you're not as efficientin accounting, you you're just
not doing yourself any favor,right?
Because you got to get it, yougot to get paid, right?
You gotta get payrollcalculated.
So I would say definitelydispatch first, but immediately
looking at your accountingprocesses and how efficient you
(26:45):
are should be key indicators onwhat you can improve and then go
from there.
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
That's awesome.
Great, great tips there.
I mean, I think that's gonna bevery useful for a lot of people
that are listening uh on apersonal level after you know
(27:22):
working in this industry andseeing so much behind the
scenes.
What's uh one thing that yourespect more now uh about
tracking?
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
I think I even have a greater appreciation of how
hardworking every person is,from a dispatcher to the person
in finance to the owners tooperations to the drivers.
I have even a greater respectthan when I first came in here
into this industry that I havetoday.
It's it's in it's incredible.
I have a lot of friends andfamily in different industries,
and I'll say the the grit, thegrind, the commitment to that
(27:55):
folks have in this industrybeing the backbone of America is
absolutely incredible.
Yeah, so I it it it just didanything when I first came to
the industry, it's just kind ofdoubled or tripled down on kind
of the appreciation to have onthe hardworking folks that we
have in the space.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
Yeah, same here.
You realize that man somethingthat was invisible or that you
didn't really think about youknow, it's it's a lot there, and
it's kind of like driving a53-foot trailer or a set of
doubles or triples.
People see you in the cab, butthey don't realize how much is
behind that truck driver.
Um yeah, you can they don't movelike cars.
(28:31):
No, they no, they don't.
SPEAKER_02 (28:32):
They they definitely don't, and I think it's
important for folks.
You know, if you're in theindustry, it's often over times,
it's often overlooked.
If you're by a truck stop or ifyou're getting gas or you see a
driver, just tell them thankyou.
It goes it really goes a longway.
I think drivers are so oftentaken for granted and don't get
the kind of recognition thatthey deserve.
SPEAKER_00 (28:48):
But uh yeah, yeah, and there's been a lot of bad
players too.
So I get it.
I mean, but like in the longrun, there's a lot of good
truckers out there, a lot ofgood people in the industry that
are still trying to do a lot forthe country, do a lot for just
mankind, you know.
So let's keep it moving, right?
We had a lot of good uh peoplereach out.
(29:09):
You put out a great post there,and I wanted to get some of the
comments.
I think we got some here.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Appreciate it.
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Let's see what we got.
Says, as a person, I'd love toknow your favorite work event or
customer story that's stuck withyou over the years.
You know, probably we got alittle bit talk about that
backstage where you're sayinghow there's a great networking
event that's going on or cominggoing on this weekend.
(29:37):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (29:38):
So I would say, you know, that one of the favorite
events is is the truckloadcarrier association's annual
conference that this weekendwill be in Orlando, but that
conference is always great forrelationships, right?
I've met, I've gone to it forover 10 years, won't make it
this year, unfortunately, butover 10 years in that that that
conference is the best conf oneof the best conferences I've
(30:00):
ever gone to, whether you're youknow drivers, insurance
companies, telematics, thetrucking companies, brokers.
I've built such a network offriendships, genuine friendships
at that conference, than I haveat you know some of the others,
right?
I think it's a great conferenceto get to know folks.
And like we were discussing, youknow, it is a relationship-based
industry.
So you don't ever know who youmight run into that they may be
(30:23):
of help to you, but also you'dbe able to help help to them.
And I think that's important asI always tell folks that are new
to this industry that you stepinto it the first time, get to
know folks, you know, make areal a friendship with them
because you never know when yourpaths will cross and you'll be
able to help each other.
And I think that's pretty muchremarkable.
As I have not come across anyonein this space where if I needed
something or they needsomething, it just it's it's
(30:44):
it's really cool to be able to,you know, pick up the phone or
stay in touch with someone whereyou can be a value to them and
vice versa.
So that would be, I say, I wouldsay one of my favorite events.
There's also the Broker CarrierSummit is a great organization.
It's it's a fast-growingnetworking event that I've
attended twice that I think it'sis is really good for folks that
are either new to the space orhave been around and want to
(31:05):
just expand their network andget to new folks is another
great one to attend.
SPEAKER_00 (31:09):
Nice, yeah.
Yeah, big up to DanielleSpinelli from Descartes, reaches
out there, so that's good.
Um, did you have another one youwere able to find?
Yeah, no, I had anotherquestion.
SPEAKER_02 (31:19):
So someone had sent me a message and asked, so how
uh how will Supreme Court rulingon tariffs affect small carrier
adoption when it comes to AI andTMS?
I think you know, I don't thinkthere's any effect with tariffs
that has a direct impact on AIand TMS, so to speak.
(31:40):
If anything, I think it's ifthere was any effect should be
is on AI and TMS companies toreally double down on making
sure their solutions are able tobe easily adapt to uh ever
market change uh changingconditions in the market, right?
And so I think if anything, AIand TMS companies in this space,
what they should be doing ismaking sure their system is
(32:01):
configurable and able to adapton a dime to meet the trucking
company's needs.
Because if they have a systemthat kind of is is confined and
locked in into one set way, if atrucking company needs a pivot
or diversify their modes oftransportation, right?
They may be truckload generalfreight today, but they may see
an opportunity to get intooversize LTL freight, oversize
(32:23):
or LTL freight tomorrow, theyneed to have a solution to be
able to adapt to those marketconditions and adapt to those
that truck company's new line ofbusiness or mode of
transportation they're trying toget into.
I think that's the bigopportunity that AI and TMS
companies need to double downand look into so they can better
serve their companies.
I've seen too many folks in mycareer in this space implement
(32:45):
tools and make actually businessdecisions based on the tools
that they have being limited,which limited the trucker
company's opportunity to expandand adapt to market conditions
that ultimately led to thedownfall.
So I think that's something thattrucker companies should be
looking at their technology thatthey're using today and the
change of the market and reallylook long term.
Hey, as the market pivots andchanges, from a technology
(33:07):
standpoint that we have, let'sjust say TMS was part of that
question.
How easy is it to adapt if wewere to expand our line of
business or get into a newmarket that we previously didn't
serve?
I think that's a big opportunitythat TMS companies should really
look into.
SPEAKER_00 (33:19):
Nice.
Yeah, yeah, appreciate that.
Looks like it Brad Little putthat on there.
Yeah, from Trucker Buddy AI.
So nice, nice job.
Yeah, we got this.
We've got a great show you'reable to put out for the
listeners.
Man, I'm really glad you're ableto come on the show, take this
time out.
So, some I guess personalreflection.
Yeah, you've probably seen a lotof change in the industry over
(33:40):
years.
What do you think the truckingleaders need to know right now
for patience, adaptability,discipline, and innovation?
I mean, those are some each oneof those are different topics,
but where do you think theindustry is headed over the next
few years?
SPEAKER_02 (33:53):
It's definitely headed to be more technology
driven.
But you know, over the next fewyears, I think this freight
recession we have been in overthe last several years that
we're kind of, you know, on thetailwind end of things getting
more stabilized.
Of course, not we don't knowwhat the future holds in terms
of, you know, other externalfactors that could impact it.
But I think where it's headed istech uh truck companies to be
more technology focused, right?
(34:14):
I think my prediction is betweentechnology improving, whether
it's TMS and really AI being anew component just in general.
I think over the next two tothree years, trucking companies
that are not utilizingsophisticated advanced TMS and
AI technology are gonna be leftbehind.
The ones that are doubling downon technology, making the
investments now, refiningprocesses with and with those
(34:35):
tools that they're implementing,have implemented or will
implement are gonna be the onesthat are gonna have the
competitive advantage.
And the ones that are not aregonna have to step aside.
So that's where I kind of seethings.
I've seen kind of thatprogression and more now in the
last two years than I've everseen before.
And I think now with the AIrapidly you know developing and
getting better and uh new phasesof AI being rolled out, I think
(34:59):
that's gonna really accelerateand force truck companies to
make that decision.
Do we invest technologies andtools now or do we do we pull
away from the market?
Because if they're not gonna doit, their competitor is.
If their competitors doing doingit, then it's gonna put their
them out of business.
SPEAKER_00 (35:13):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, we see theinvestments from the
competitors.
So yeah, if you're not playingthe game, unfortunately, then
the game will affect you aswell.
So yeah, yeah, great advicethere.
And so in closing, uh Ryan,well, it's truly been thoughtful
and conversation.
I hope we covered a lot a lotthat the listeners wanted to to
(35:33):
hear, and then sort of you knowthey can also feel like a, you
know, there's advice here,there's value, like you said.
So we want to increase that asmuch as we can.
So to a lot, there's a lot ofnoise out there in trucking
right now, but for rates,technology, innovation.
But at the end of the day,strong operations still come
down to clarity, discipline, andleadership.
(35:55):
So I appreciate you sharing yourperspective and experience.
SPEAKER_02 (35:58):
No, I appreciate it.
Ray, thanks for having me on.
It's been it's been great.
And yeah, look forward to anyother questions that may folks
may have after this after thispodcast, and happy to answer
anything or you know, buildagain, build a new connection.
SPEAKER_00 (36:10):
Awesome, excellent, exactly.
Same here.
So if you like what you see,like what you hear out there,
please share it with someone.
If you have a question oranything that you want to share
us, let us know.
We appreciate that.
So we'd love to hear yourfeedback, leave a review as
well.
So stay sharp, stay out there,stay, stay alert for all the
changes that are coming about.
And we'll see you next time.
It's truck and ray, and that'sdelivered.
Welcome back to That's Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray.
And today we have a conversationsomething that every carrier is
feeling right now.
That's change.
Change in the freight market,change in technology, change in
expectations.
My guest today is Ryan Agnello.
Ryan has uh has spent yearsworking closely with carriers
across the Midwest, seeingfirsthand how fleets operate,
(00:20):
where they struggle, and whatseparates companies that adapt
from those that stall out.
Today we're digging into whatfeels different in the trucking
industry right now, what fleetsare you know having trouble with
leaking money and withoutrealizing it, um, what a Martin
courier really looks like in2026 and how AI fits into all of
(00:41):
that.
Ryan, welcome to the show.
Joe, how are you doing?
Hey, good, Ray.
How are you doing?
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, not bad.
Right, yeah.
Um it's always good when it'snot a blizzard up here in
Minnesota.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
You know, come on down to Texas, we'll welcome
you.
It's it's a lot warmer, Ipromise you.
SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Man, I love it.
Yeah, Austin sounds great downthere.
I keep hearing a lot of greatthings about that and have quite
the journey in the industry.
They say once you get in thisindustry, you don't leave.
Um, so we're glad to have you.
Um, how did you get into thetrucking industry in the first
place?
SPEAKER_02 (01:15):
Oh, you're exactly right, Ray.
So you don't you just end up andstumble in this industry, right?
You you know, it just it's justit's one of those things, right?
I started out uh going on 13years ago.
Um, you know, I was I was goinginto college, I was working
several jobs, and you know howit is, you know, you know, three
jobs trying to manage yourincome and everything like that.
(01:36):
So I found an opportunity towork for a uh transportation
management system and techsupport and knew nothing about,
you know, I knew computers, butyou know, not to support uh
technology nonetheless, but sawthat opportunity there with set
hours, you know, more of astable income, you know.
Um, so from there I uh took thejob and uh joined in tech
(01:56):
support and quickly fell in lovewith this industry from
interacting with folks in thisindustry, business owners,
dispatchers, folks in theaccounting, drivers.
And I quickly learned somethingthat I didn't expect about the
truck industry is that it's themost hardworking, passionate,
motivated, determined grind ofpeople that is unlike any other
industry I'd worked inpreviously.
(02:17):
And so I quickly fell in lovewith it and uh told my boss at
the time that I wanted to moveinto sales and so quickly
transitioned from working intech support and implementation
and training to sales, andthat's and been been in it
since, right?
Um, but I think what'sinteresting is that with this
industry is that no matter howlong you've been in it, a
(02:38):
person's been in it, or a shortum and how long people have been
in it, the one thing that that Ilove the most is the
relationships, right?
So a relationship-basedindustry, I like getting to meet
new folks like yourself, and umthat's the one thing that's kept
me in the space is knowing thatbuilding long-term relationships
that'll last a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, building thoseconnections, I mean, you value
those over a period of timebecause uh the information that
you can obtain from just meetingsomeone uh can go a long ways.
I mean, um, yeah, so likewise,you coming on the show.
Thank you for doing that.
Uh, so when you first beganworking closely with fleets, uh,
what surprised you the mostabout the trucking companies
(03:18):
currently running day-to-day?
SPEAKER_02 (03:20):
Yeah, when I first came in the industry, really, I
think it was the manualprocesses for a lot of these
folks, right?
I I would argue that what I'velearned in when I first came in
the industry thattransportation's always been
behind the curb when leveragingtechnology to manage your
business, um, regardless of youknow their size or how long
they've been in the industry.
So that was one thing thatsurprised me the most.
(03:40):
Um, and I I would argue, evenstill to this day, right, as
long as I've been in this space,is that you know, they have a
way of doing it and it's workedfor them, which is great.
But I think there's so much moreopportunity, and I know I'm sure
we'll talk more about theopportunity I'm seeing in the
marketplace and the changes I'veseen in the last 12 years that
are going on.
But I would say the the biggestthing I was shocked by is the
(04:01):
the spread, the good oldspreadsheets uh to run
everything from dispatch toaccounting to safety and
compliance and fleetmaintenance.
I think that's the one thingthat shocked me the most by
entering this industry.
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
Nice.
I mean, so you know, you seepeople doing stuff because it's
habitual and it's probablyeasier to do that versus to try
to learn something new.
I mean, that's uh that's a hardthing to do, a pain point, and
you got to spend money to investin these systems.
They're not cheap.
So no, I can I totally get that.
So you're in sales and you gotto help them feel comfortable
with that.
(04:31):
I mean, the market shift.
What would you when you kind ofzoom out?
What would you say feelsdifferent about today's market
compared to a year or two ago?
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Yeah, so as you you know, you well know the freight
recession that's gone on and thelingering effects of as this
industry recovers.
I think the the biggest changeI'm seeing now in more recent
time, I would say in the last 18months and really going into
2026 is the focus aroundstrategic sustained growth,
right?
Trucking companies taking a stepback and you know, trying to get
(05:00):
out of you know, survival mode,but taking a step back and
looking at processes on how canwe prepare ourselves for growth.
And and growth can look a littledifferent to a few different
folks, right?
Trucking companies.
Growth can be, you know,expansion of the fleet, adding
more fleet uh trucks to theirfleet.
The others could be maximizingthe volume and profitability of
(05:22):
my existing fleet that I havetoday, but taking a step back
and identifying areas that theycan improve and automate from
dispatch management to thecommunication with their drivers
to how they're managing theirbooks from an accounting
standpoint and calculatingpayroll, all the way down to
kind of you know, safety andcompliance and being proactive
of routine servicing of theirequipment versus being reactive.
(05:43):
So I'm seeing I've seen a bigpivot in carriers, taking a step
back, wanting to focus onstrategic sustained growth.
And what does that look like forme?
Right.
And so, you know, theconversations, you know, doing
this for as long as I havespeaking of thousands of
carriers and working veryclosely with hundreds and
hundreds of them is you know,that focus looks may look
different for ABC truckingversus one, two, three trucking.
(06:06):
So, what does strategicsustained growth look like for
me?
And I think that's a bigconversation for a lot of folks
uh preparing for rates tocontinue to increase, the
overall industry getting back tomore of a consistent,
predictable level playing field,and you know how how to better
position themselves.
So as the market continues toupswing, how am I myself as a
truck company, how am I going tobe best positioned for that?
(06:28):
And so that's what I'm seeing alot of.
And I think it's really, youknow, needed.
Um, it's necessary.
And I think it's reallyencouraging to see kind of uh
this industry embrace technologyuh from a you know an
operational standpoint.
Um, of course, as you know, theadoption of ELDs kind of I think
in 2017, beginning of 2018,really kind of ignited companies
(06:50):
to be interested in technologyto really run their business.
I think that was the firststepping stone.
And I think really this thisprolonged freight recession that
we've been in has really kind ofignited it on a whole nother
level I'd never seen before.
SPEAKER_00 (07:04):
Yeah, I mean it's huge.
I mean, you think about all thedifferent companies that are at
play and they're trying to keepthat margin going versus it gets
so tight, you know.
When when the hidden costs andthe operational gaps get really
tight like that, what is the thebiggest hidden cost inside a
carrier operation that mostpeople don't talk about?
SPEAKER_02 (07:27):
You're exactly right.
You hit you hit the nail on thehead there, right?
With the hidden gaps andunderstanding truly what's
what's my profit margin, I wouldI would say not taking into
account truly the how profitablethey are.
I would say not taking accountthe driver pay.
I mean, really their cost after,and I wouldn't say I think it's
(07:47):
not really the hidden cost tooperate when it and talking
about impacting their margin,but I think it's the lack of
connected systems from fuelpurchases, right?
Driver pay all the way down tothe true cost to run per mile
and any accessorial charges, Ithink, and then obviously um
maintenance not being taken intoaccount when running a PL and
(08:08):
understanding how profitable Iam uh a truck company could be.
So I think the the true hiddencost is really of having
disconnected systems andreports, trying to manually
consolidate those and merge themin together to understand my
margin, I think is what um a lotof carriers overlook because
when you have differentdisconnected systems and you
have different disconnectedreports, when you run your data,
(08:30):
anytime you do anythingmanually, there's a lot of room
for human error, right?
So I think that's the ultimatehidden cost to a carrier is
having those those differentdata points in separate
disconnected systems and notbeing able to centrally have
them in a centralized system.
I think is the true hidden costbecause not everything's run
together.
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot that even in 2026,
people are still probably doingmanually.
So, I mean, try to get thosethings changed over, like you
mentioned, that lack of datavisibility or clear visibility
is also going to be somethingthat I think a lot of companies
are gonna have to try to fixlong term because they could it
could probably hurt them intheir projections.
(09:10):
Exactly, exactly.
What separates reactive fleetsfrom proactive ones?
What would you say?
SPEAKER_02 (09:19):
Processes, right?
Structure, processes, andorganization, right?
So those what I've seen iscarries that are being more
proactive, not only in terms ofjust maintaining the service and
equipment to maximize theiruptime, but also obviously being
proactive in terms of howthey're interacting with the
customers for load statusupdates and being consistent
with the communication,providing them visibility.
(09:41):
But I think uh one thing that'soften overlooked that needs, you
know, that I'm having moreconversations for and that us as
an industry really need to talkmore about is is driver
retention, right?
Making sure that drivers aretruly valued and appreciated and
taken care of, not only in termsof you know benefits and pay,
but also their overall healthand promoting uh driver health
(10:02):
and wellness and well-being, Ithink is something that we need
to you know bring to theforefront.
But back to your question, Ithink that's something that you
know, carriers that are treatingthe drivers well and promoting
driver health and well-being, Ithink are um long term, they're
gonna have a better driverretention rate, right?
They're they're they're moreproactive and jumping ahead of
(10:23):
um issues before they ariseversus the reactive ones.
Anytime any business is beingreactive, you know, you're
you're running in the businessversus running the business.
And I think carriers that arebeing proactive are always gonna
be positioned for whatevercurveball comes their way.
As you know, in transportation,right?
Everything can be blue skies andsunny outside, and you know, one
(10:43):
accident or one insurance claimreally can just derail an entire
truck and company or one youknow, loss of cargo or fraud of
any sort.
So I think that the ones thatare positioned and being more
proactive are are really able torun the business versus running
in the business.
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Yeah.
What what do you think makes itbottleneck down to driver
retention, making sure thedriver feels is it competition,
or would you say it's you know,maybe social media has something
to do with it what would yousay?
SPEAKER_02 (11:13):
I think it's a little bit of everything,
definitely competition, butcompetition is obviously, as you
know, has always been there.
But social media obviously hasits play, right?
Anytime a carrier can putthemselves out there and
recruiting drivers and thebenefits and perks is always
gonna stand out, you know,better than their competitor.
They may not be doing that,highlighting it.
But one thing I think we talkwith several business owners
with driver retention, I thinkone thing they, you know, we've
(11:34):
got carriers have got to do abetter job on is treat those
drivers like family.
Generally know, be interested inwhat's going on in their
personal lives, generally get toknow who their spouses are, who
their family is, you know, treatthem like family.
I I just got back from a trip inIndianapolis, and you know, just
like you know, any uhcentralized trucking hub, you
(11:54):
know, the trucker company has,you know, their competitors
right next door to them, andthey have a 99.5% driver
retention rate for the simplefact that they genuinely treat
their drivers like family.
And I think if you treat themlike family and show genuine
interest in them, but also youknow, provide the health and the
benefits and perks to helpretain those drivers, it'll go a
(12:15):
long way.
But one other thing thatcarriers often overlook when
working with their drivers isthat, yeah, you could treat them
well, you could provide themwith great benefits, you can
truly value them and establishgenuine relationships with them.
But oftentimes it's overlookedis the day-to-day job of a
driver, right?
What tools are you providingyour drivers to really help them
do their job well and better?
(12:36):
I mean, so as simple asequipping a driver with an
actual mobile app to receivetheir load assignments and
dispatches and communicate withdispatch goes a long way.
It eliminates drivers having touse third-party apps, text
messaging, go through emails,trying to, you know, figure out
the pickup and deliverylocations of the stop, having a
call or text dispatch wherethey're at, right?
If you can provide a driver asimple app that does all those
(12:58):
things in one central solution,it makes the driver's job day to
day much simpler and easier todo.
And not only are you making thedriver's workload more efficient
and better, but also you'regetting in the back office all
the same updates and detailsthat you'd normally need from
two, three, four, or five otherexternal third-party tools.
If you had one centralized appthat can do all that, it's also
driving the back office to bemore efficient as well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
Amazing.
I mean, isn't that crazy?
Just like a love-haterelationship.
I'm sure the cost of keeping adriver is so expensive, but yet
also people have a deep respectfor what truck drivers do.
Um, so I mean, it's hard to keepthat balance.
I'm sure you probably also feelthat too, being in sales.
Um, what would you say uh thesimilarity of being a sales
(13:42):
individual you know backgroundversus trucking?
People say, you know, hey man,you guys are you guys are
getting spoiled out there.
SPEAKER_02 (13:51):
Well, I would I would argue sales is is is not
easy, right?
Especially in the transportationspace.
But I think it's all it allcomes down to right, it's the
value that you bring.
No matter what part of sales forwhat other company in the entire
transportation logisticsindustry that you you're a part
of, it's all about the valuethat you can bring, not only to
the trucking company, but alsowhat value can you actually
(14:12):
bring to their drivers, right?
You know, trucking companieswant to work smarter, not
harder.
But it's you know, it's my jobobviously to bring that value to
them so they can set theirbusiness not only up for
success, but also providing thetools that the that ultimately
benefit their drivers.
And I think you know, it's againall about that relationship and
having that rapport and thatconversation and getting to know
(14:34):
each and every person that Iinteract with, right?
Because you know, every notrucking company is the same.
They could be similar, butwhat's unique to let's say ABC
trucking and versus theircompetitor dynamistry can be
completely different.
So it's all about getting toknow every trucking company's
needs and you know what'svaluable to them and important,
but also you know, what's theirvision?
Where do they want to be in thenext phase of their you know
company's history?
You know, what's thosemilestones and making sure that
(14:56):
I'm aligned with that andproviding solutions that that
meet those goals.
That's perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (15:02):
You know, because a lot of people aren't just
thinking about today, they'rethinking about down the road.
What does my life look like?
What do I want to still be hereor invest the time?
Maybe they're expanding theirfamily.
You never know.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsgoing on out here.
Speaking of which, uh, AI, thereal impact versus industry
noise, you know, we can't avoidthe topic.
(15:22):
Where do you see AI actuallyusing being useful in the
trucking industry right now?
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
I I love technology, but AI iscertainly an overused buzzword
from a lot of companies I see,not only in the space, but uh in
my personal life, right?
It's everywhere.
I mean, if you watch the SuperBowl this year, I mean how many
AI-related you know companiesdid you see have ads this year?
So, but it it's certainly AI iscertainly a real thing and it's
certainly here to stay, but it'show is it gonna be used, but
(15:50):
also be able to be real worldapplicable, specifically for the
trucking industry.
And I what I would say is that,you know, not to get in the
weeds with AI because you youget me down a rabbit hole, but
you know, a lot of the AIbuzzword and hype that's on the
market from a lot of providersin the industry is is is
generative AI, right?
Where the future really is thenext phase of uh in my opinion,
(16:13):
the next phase of AI is reallywith a gentic AI, being able to
proactively make suggestions tokind of reduce debt head or find
optimized routes or uh you knowmake suggestions that a human
being normally would make thatwould be you know more
profitable or more efficient.
So I think it's important for alot of folks, because I have
(16:33):
this conversation every day withfolks, is to truly look at
whatever piece of technologyyou're looking at, whether it's
TMS, whether it's ELD, whetherit's telem, you know, any other
telematics, really look is theAI comp piece that they're
promoting, is it is it native totheir solution or is it
dependent on a bolt-on?
Anytime any solution has abolt-on AI component to be able
to provide AI capabilities, it'snot gonna be as in-depth and
(16:56):
then thorough and as advanced asif you have a solution that's
just been natively written fromthe ground up to have AI in it
because AI is gonna consistentlychange and consistently evolve.
And anytime that you have apiece of technology that's
dependent on a third-partybuilt-on AI tool on it, it's
truly not getting all the dataand visibility to be able to
make true real worldsuggestions.
(17:17):
So that's the thing is you know,filter through the noise when
you see AI this, AI that it'sit's up to someone to really dig
deep and see, hey, is thisreally gonna apply to the real
world, right?
Is it really gonna help me as atrucking company?
Is it really gonna help my teambe more efficient?
Um, but the big thing is, youknow, you want to be able to
utilize AI to reduce deadheadand optimize your routes and
(17:38):
your load planning.
And so, you know, my opinion isthat AI shouldn't necessarily be
looked at as a tool to replacepeople, it should be more of an
assistant to help people dotheir jobs better.
Because as you as you and I saidinitially at the beginning of
this call, this is arelationship-based industry.
So if I'm working, let's say I'ma dispatcher at a trucking
company, and my company canprovide me with a tool that
(17:59):
helps kind of reduce a lot ofthe admin planning work, and I
can be on the phone spendingmore time talking with drivers,
talking to customers, providingthem updates, that's gonna
provide that carrier with awhole nother level of customer
service that they hadn't everexperienced.
So I that's kind of my outlookon AI.
It's certainly here to stay.
It's just kind of like that nextgeneration of the internet.
Everyone said, Hey, theinternet's gonna, you know, make
(18:20):
people dumber, it's gonna makepeople, you know, lazy.
But I would argue it makesactually people more efficient
and more knowledgeable becauseyou're able to just search the
World Wide Web for anything thatyou want.
So AI is definitely here tostay, but there's definitely a
clear distinction between whatAI is hype and what AI is
actually gonna be provide valuein the real world.
SPEAKER_00 (18:39):
Yeah, and also maybe it can help people follow their
passions.
Something that seemed impossiblebefore.
Maybe they can actually get itaccomplished with without you
know their cost being so highand then take them out so quick.
You know, I know cost isimportant for every industry and
every profession.
So now you can probably followyour dream a little better.
So yeah, that can be a throw.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah, and that thing with AI is natural language,
right?
Imagine, you know, I I'm not Ilove reports, I love dashboards,
I love spreadsheets.
Like that's just it's all fun.
But imagine if you're a truckingcompany, instead of having to
run different reports and filterand try to merge them between
the two because no reports 100%what you're like.
You know, one thing I'm excitedabout with this industry is the
natural language aspect of AI,where imagine if you wanted to
(19:24):
run, hey, what's my you know,profitability for this truck for
this range for this customer?
You're able to just type in asyou naturally would say in a
conversation or how yourthoughts are, you plug it in the
solution, and that report anddata or dashboard that you look
for just appears right in frontof you without having to kind of
filter your own, you know,include or exclude different
details.
It just comes right in front ofyou.
(19:45):
And I think that's the realgreat advantage and benefit
that's coming down with the AIthat's you know out on the
market today and that's comingout in the next you know months,
and I wouldn't argue less than ayear for sure, is if you're able
to just naturally run reportsand data that you normally would
have to kind of merge and blendreports that doesn't give you
100% what you're like.
So that's what I think is reallyexciting, and I think that's
(20:05):
really gonna be a game changerfor trucking companies because
at the end of the day you know,not everyone is a report wizard,
right?
Or an Excel wizard, right?
And so I think that's somethingto look forward to.
SPEAKER_00 (20:14):
Yeah, yeah, it definitely takes two different
types of individuals.
Some people are really good atthrowing wrenches, some people
are really good at makingspreadsheets and making those
work and easy to understand.
So, yeah, it is a differentmindset.
Mixing the two, I'm not sayingit's impossible to cross those
over, but the mindset of, likeyou said, doing something you
love is a whole different worldthere.
(20:35):
So I hope that AI can continueto complement humans and make
them more successful and feelyou know better about the job
that they're doing.
So great advice there.
Maybe advice for drivers andfleet owners.
Let's bring it back to peoplelistening for owner operators,
small fleets.
If someone's out there runningand just a you know a few
trucks, what operationalmistakes should they avoid early
(20:56):
on?
What would you say?
SPEAKER_02 (20:58):
Yeah, early on, the most common mistake I've seen
them is not putting in thefoundations of a solution to
manage their business, right?
I think the the bottleneck Isee, the biggest mistake I may I
see make is that they're losingspreadsheets and you know manual
processes to manage theirbusiness to keep their kind of
cost level, their overheadoperating costs low, right?
(21:19):
Because any piece of technologyis gonna come with a cost.
But the way to look at it isreally the other the right way
to look at it is the investment,right?
Investing in your business forthe long haul.
So what that looks like, let'ssay, you know, you're a startup
carrier with a fleet of three,four, five trucks, most commonly
they're gonna be using, youknow, managing their dispatches
on spreadsheets and they'recommunicating with their drivers
through text messages andemails.
(21:40):
And and then typically thebiggest mistake I see is you
know, when they get to aroundthat 10, 12 truck mark, like,
hey, I need technology, whetherit's a TMS or an you know
accounting system, that's great.
But then they create abottleneck for themselves
because their their volume ismuch higher than if they would
have implemented systems veryearly on at three, four, five
trucks, right?
And so not only are they tryingto Implement tools and processes
(22:01):
to accommodate the maturity oftheir business, but they're also
still have a business to run,right?
The business doesn't stop, thefreight doesn't stop just
because they're implementingtools and processes and
streamlining those withtechnology on the market.
So, and what they result into byrunning on spreadsheets in their
early years is they think, hey,we added two, three, four, five
trucks.
I need to hire another body inthe office to accommodate that
(22:22):
new, you know, that increasedvolume.
So what happens at that point isthat their margin uh profit
margins shrink.
They're not running asprofitable as they could if they
had the right processes andtechnology in place that managed
the entire back office for theirbusiness.
And so that's the most commonmistake I make, is because then
at that point, when they look ata new piece of technology when
they've matured to 12, 15 trucksor so from spreadsheets, then
(22:45):
their investment level and newtechnology and the time it takes
to migrate over is much higherthan if they would have started
off with the right system veryearly earlier on in the
company's history.
SPEAKER_00 (22:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, good capital is goodinvesting in your company and
making sure the infrastructureis set up right from the from
the jump.
So yeah, great advice there.
What metrics would you or shoulda carrier track weekly?
What would you say on those?
SPEAKER_02 (23:10):
Definitely on-time delivery performance.
Definitely, you know, what'stheir profit per load per
customer, per driver, per unit?
So really looking at their PL.
I think so many times that thisfo this industry carriers just
focus on just kind of theday-to-day, getting the right,
getting the truck loaded,getting it delivered on time,
but they don't watch the profitmargins level.
Like, what's my true cost afterall expenses, right?
(23:32):
Fuel cards, right?
For fuel, driver pay, the wholenine yards.
They don't really look at thaton a weekly basis as they
should, at least a lot of thecarriers I've worked with over
my career.
So I think that's because ifthey're able to see in real
time, and not only weekly by theday in real time, what's their
true profitability?
It's easier to make a pivot toyour business than if you look
(23:55):
at the end of the week or evenat the end of the month, right?
You're not able to be proactiveand shift, hey, you know, this
lane or this type of commodityis not as profitable as if, you
know, versus something else,right?
So I think that's the biggestthing that's caused a lot of
carriers to then, you know, gobelly side up is that they don't
have that visibility in terms ofhow profitable I am as a
trucking company, that by thetime they figure it out, it it
(24:17):
to turn the business around andget, you know, more be more
profitable, it it's too late.
Like I was talking to someonenot long ago, they didn't
realize they were losing 15grand a month.
Why?
Because they were dependent onrunning their accounting in one
their payroll in one system,managing their dispatch in
another, then they had to loginto their factoring company for
(24:38):
another, they're trying to mergeand combine reports.
Obviously, at the end of the dayyou're merging and trying to
compile reports, things aregonna get lost.
So they they they they wererunning blind.
And and so whenever theyimplement a solution that kind
of centralized all thosesystems, all those processes
into one system, they were ableto look that for the last eight
months they were they wererunning, uh losing 15 grand a
(24:59):
month.
And so they were at that pointable to make course correction
and go back to your point wetalked about earlier about being
proactive than being reactive,and and they're on their way to
turn this ship around.
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Nice.
Yeah.
So if a company feels stuckright now, maybe they're more
experienced.
And what's first the firstoperational audit they should
probably conduct?
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
Definitely dispatch.
They need to see how much timeis it taking for a dispatcher of
planning the loads, findingloads, whether that's you know
in the spot market or on loadboards.
They need to look at how muchtime they're spending
communicating with the driver,basic load status updates and
load assignments, but also youknow, the time it takes to
retrieve those documents fromthe drivers.
Are they doing it through textmessages?
(25:43):
Are they going through emails,then having to go through and
download and upload before theycan attach it to a customer's
invoice, right?
So that's that's the first thingI would say is is looking at the
time it's taking in dispatch andthe communication of your
drivers for load status updatesand as well as any dot load
documentation, but then alsoimmediately look in terms of how
long is it taking us to invoice,right?
(26:04):
An invoice, whether you'reinvoicing directly to a customer
or your factoring, they're stillneeding to get the delivery
documents consolidated, attachedto the invoice before it can get
out to the factoring company ordirectly to the invoice.
So again, a direct impact to thecash flow, right?
The sooner they can get thatinvoice out, the faster they get
paid.
So those kind of work in tandembecause you could have a very
(26:24):
efficient dispatching processall day long, like the best,
most efficient dispatchingprocess in the world.
But if you're not as efficientin accounting, you you're just
not doing yourself any favor,right?
Because you got to get it, yougot to get paid, right?
You gotta get payrollcalculated.
So I would say definitelydispatch first, but immediately
looking at your accountingprocesses and how efficient you
(26:45):
are should be key indicators onwhat you can improve and then go
from there.
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
That's awesome.
Great, great tips there.
I mean, I think that's gonna bevery useful for a lot of people
that are listening uh on apersonal level after you know
(27:22):
working in this industry andseeing so much behind the
scenes.
What's uh one thing that yourespect more now uh about
tracking?
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
I think I even have a greater appreciation of how
hardworking every person is,from a dispatcher to the person
in finance to the owners tooperations to the drivers.
I have even a greater respectthan when I first came in here
into this industry that I havetoday.
It's it's in it's incredible.
I have a lot of friends andfamily in different industries,
and I'll say the the grit, thegrind, the commitment to that
(27:55):
folks have in this industrybeing the backbone of America is
absolutely incredible.
Yeah, so I it it it just didanything when I first came to
the industry, it's just kind ofdoubled or tripled down on kind
of the appreciation to have onthe hardworking folks that we
have in the space.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
Yeah, same here.
You realize that man somethingthat was invisible or that you
didn't really think about youknow, it's it's a lot there, and
it's kind of like driving a53-foot trailer or a set of
doubles or triples.
People see you in the cab, butthey don't realize how much is
behind that truck driver.
Um yeah, you can they don't movelike cars.
(28:31):
No, they no, they don't.
SPEAKER_02 (28:32):
They they definitely don't, and I think it's
important for folks.
You know, if you're in theindustry, it's often over times,
it's often overlooked.
If you're by a truck stop or ifyou're getting gas or you see a
driver, just tell them thankyou.
It goes it really goes a longway.
I think drivers are so oftentaken for granted and don't get
the kind of recognition thatthey deserve.
SPEAKER_00 (28:48):
But uh yeah, yeah, and there's been a lot of bad
players too.
So I get it.
I mean, but like in the longrun, there's a lot of good
truckers out there, a lot ofgood people in the industry that
are still trying to do a lot forthe country, do a lot for just
mankind, you know.
So let's keep it moving, right?
We had a lot of good uh peoplereach out.
(29:09):
You put out a great post there,and I wanted to get some of the
comments.
I think we got some here.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Appreciate it.
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Let's see what we got.
Says, as a person, I'd love toknow your favorite work event or
customer story that's stuck withyou over the years.
You know, probably we got alittle bit talk about that
backstage where you're sayinghow there's a great networking
event that's going on or cominggoing on this weekend.
(29:37):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (29:38):
So I would say, you know, that one of the favorite
events is is the truckloadcarrier association's annual
conference that this weekendwill be in Orlando, but that
conference is always great forrelationships, right?
I've met, I've gone to it forover 10 years, won't make it
this year, unfortunately, butover 10 years in that that that
conference is the best conf oneof the best conferences I've
(30:00):
ever gone to, whether you're youknow drivers, insurance
companies, telematics, thetrucking companies, brokers.
I've built such a network offriendships, genuine friendships
at that conference, than I haveat you know some of the others,
right?
I think it's a great conferenceto get to know folks.
And like we were discussing, youknow, it is a relationship-based
industry.
So you don't ever know who youmight run into that they may be
(30:23):
of help to you, but also you'dbe able to help help to them.
And I think that's important asI always tell folks that are new
to this industry that you stepinto it the first time, get to
know folks, you know, make areal a friendship with them
because you never know when yourpaths will cross and you'll be
able to help each other.
And I think that's pretty muchremarkable.
As I have not come across anyonein this space where if I needed
something or they needsomething, it just it's it's
(30:44):
it's really cool to be able to,you know, pick up the phone or
stay in touch with someone whereyou can be a value to them and
vice versa.
So that would be, I say, I wouldsay one of my favorite events.
There's also the Broker CarrierSummit is a great organization.
It's it's a fast-growingnetworking event that I've
attended twice that I think it'sis is really good for folks that
are either new to the space orhave been around and want to
(31:05):
just expand their network andget to new folks is another
great one to attend.
SPEAKER_00 (31:09):
Nice, yeah.
Yeah, big up to DanielleSpinelli from Descartes, reaches
out there, so that's good.
Um, did you have another one youwere able to find?
Yeah, no, I had anotherquestion.
SPEAKER_02 (31:19):
So someone had sent me a message and asked, so how
uh how will Supreme Court rulingon tariffs affect small carrier
adoption when it comes to AI andTMS?
I think you know, I don't thinkthere's any effect with tariffs
that has a direct impact on AIand TMS, so to speak.
(31:40):
If anything, I think it's ifthere was any effect should be
is on AI and TMS companies toreally double down on making
sure their solutions are able tobe easily adapt to uh ever
market change uh changingconditions in the market, right?
And so I think if anything, AIand TMS companies in this space,
what they should be doing ismaking sure their system is
(32:01):
configurable and able to adapton a dime to meet the trucking
company's needs.
Because if they have a systemthat kind of is is confined and
locked in into one set way, if atrucking company needs a pivot
or diversify their modes oftransportation, right?
They may be truckload generalfreight today, but they may see
an opportunity to get intooversize LTL freight, oversize
(32:23):
or LTL freight tomorrow, theyneed to have a solution to be
able to adapt to those marketconditions and adapt to those
that truck company's new line ofbusiness or mode of
transportation they're trying toget into.
I think that's the bigopportunity that AI and TMS
companies need to double downand look into so they can better
serve their companies.
I've seen too many folks in mycareer in this space implement
(32:45):
tools and make actually businessdecisions based on the tools
that they have being limited,which limited the trucker
company's opportunity to expandand adapt to market conditions
that ultimately led to thedownfall.
So I think that's something thattrucker companies should be
looking at their technology thatthey're using today and the
change of the market and reallylook long term.
Hey, as the market pivots andchanges, from a technology
(33:07):
standpoint that we have, let'sjust say TMS was part of that
question.
How easy is it to adapt if wewere to expand our line of
business or get into a newmarket that we previously didn't
serve?
I think that's a big opportunitythat TMS companies should really
look into.
SPEAKER_00 (33:19):
Nice.
Yeah, yeah, appreciate that.
Looks like it Brad Little putthat on there.
Yeah, from Trucker Buddy AI.
So nice, nice job.
Yeah, we got this.
We've got a great show you'reable to put out for the
listeners.
Man, I'm really glad you're ableto come on the show, take this
time out.
So, some I guess personalreflection.
Yeah, you've probably seen a lotof change in the industry over
(33:40):
years.
What do you think the truckingleaders need to know right now
for patience, adaptability,discipline, and innovation?
I mean, those are some each oneof those are different topics,
but where do you think theindustry is headed over the next
few years?
SPEAKER_02 (33:53):
It's definitely headed to be more technology
driven.
But you know, over the next fewyears, I think this freight
recession we have been in overthe last several years that
we're kind of, you know, on thetailwind end of things getting
more stabilized.
Of course, not we don't knowwhat the future holds in terms
of, you know, other externalfactors that could impact it.
But I think where it's headed istech uh truck companies to be
more technology focused, right?
(34:14):
I think my prediction is betweentechnology improving, whether
it's TMS and really AI being anew component just in general.
I think over the next two tothree years, trucking companies
that are not utilizingsophisticated advanced TMS and
AI technology are gonna be leftbehind.
The ones that are doubling downon technology, making the
investments now, refiningprocesses with and with those
(34:35):
tools that they're implementing,have implemented or will
implement are gonna be the onesthat are gonna have the
competitive advantage.
And the ones that are not aregonna have to step aside.
So that's where I kind of seethings.
I've seen kind of thatprogression and more now in the
last two years than I've everseen before.
And I think now with the AIrapidly you know developing and
getting better and uh new phasesof AI being rolled out, I think
(34:59):
that's gonna really accelerateand force truck companies to
make that decision.
Do we invest technologies andtools now or do we do we pull
away from the market?
Because if they're not gonna doit, their competitor is.
If their competitors doing doingit, then it's gonna put their
them out of business.
SPEAKER_00 (35:13):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, we see theinvestments from the
competitors.
So yeah, if you're not playingthe game, unfortunately, then
the game will affect you aswell.
So yeah, yeah, great advicethere.
And so in closing, uh Ryan,well, it's truly been thoughtful
and conversation.
I hope we covered a lot a lotthat the listeners wanted to to
(35:33):
hear, and then sort of you knowthey can also feel like a, you
know, there's advice here,there's value, like you said.
So we want to increase that asmuch as we can.
So to a lot, there's a lot ofnoise out there in trucking
right now, but for rates,technology, innovation.
But at the end of the day,strong operations still come
down to clarity, discipline, andleadership.
(35:55):
So I appreciate you sharing yourperspective and experience.
SPEAKER_02 (35:58):
No, I appreciate it.
Ray, thanks for having me on.
It's been it's been great.
And yeah, look forward to anyother questions that may folks
may have after this after thispodcast, and happy to answer
anything or you know, buildagain, build a new connection.
SPEAKER_00 (36:10):
Awesome, excellent, exactly.
Same here.
So if you like what you see,like what you hear out there,
please share it with someone.
If you have a question oranything that you want to share
us, let us know.
We appreciate that.
So we'd love to hear yourfeedback, leave a review as
well.
So stay sharp, stay out there,stay, stay alert for all the
changes that are coming about.
And we'll see you next time.
It's truck and ray, and that'sdelivered.
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