January 10, 2024 • 42 mins
This week on the H&M Trucking Podcast, we dive into how H&M Trucking came to be. We’ll visit with founder Randy Mueller to hear about how the company started from the ground up. Vice President Dale Cook will join us to talk about how the company grew and changed over the years, and President James Fonda stops by to share his vision and outlook for the company going forward.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
What's up everybody and welcome to another episode of the H and M Trucking podcast.
I'm your host,
Marcus.
Thank you so much for being here today.
This has been such a fun ride at this point and there's nothing to be worried about.
We're not going anywhere.
But I wanted to take this opportunity on a very special episode to say thanks to everybody that has either attributed to this podcast in some way,
(00:24):
shape or form by coming on it or working behind the scenes or,
or just listening to it because without you,
we couldn't do it.
All those people that click,
subscribe that click download every single week.
You're the reason that we're here and you're the reason that we keep,
get to keep doing what we're doing.
So,
what's up on this episode?
What are we even gonna cover?
Well,
(00:44):
I'm gonna get to that,
hold your horses.
One thing I've noticed is that H and M is a very special company.
I've been doing this for more than a year.
Ok.
We've got at this point which I don't know when this episode is going to air.
So this might be double this amount by the time you actually hear this episode,
but we've got more 30 episodes in the bag for the H and M Trucking Podcast right now.
(01:08):
And we've got 18 episodes of unplugged OTR the podcast that happened before we started the H and M Trucking Podcast.
That means we're more than a year in and things are rolling very smooth and it's uh really in,
in part.
And mostly actually thanks to the H and M employees that come out there and do such a great job every single day for the company,
(01:32):
whether you've come on this podcast or you've just listened,
uh,
my hat is off to you,
my friend,
we couldn't do this without you.
So every single time you click download,
you're doing me a favor and I greatly appreciate it.
So,
what are we getting into on this special episode special is always a funny word.
You know,
I like to say to people,
(01:53):
my mom thinks I'm special and they always laugh and I think it's because they don't know if we're talking about the good special or the other special.
I know that it's the good special.
But if people have listened to me talk,
sometimes they wonder.
So this is the good special.
This is an awesome episode that we've got planned for you today.
Uh,
and,
and I'm not going to sit here and babble for any longer before we get into it.
(02:15):
How did H and M start?
What happened?
When was the seed planted and watered?
And when did it blossom into this giant field of corn that is H and M trucking today?
Well,
we're gonna tell that story for the first time ever on this podcast.
We are going to talk to the owner and founder of H and M Trucking Randy Muller.
(02:36):
That's the M from H and M,
it's right here on my hat.
It's the blue one.
Muller.
That's what it stands for.
Just in case you were wondering,
he's the guy that's responsible for getting this thing off the ground and turning it from a grain company into the trucking fleet giant that it is.
Today.
We're going to talk to him about how that happened.
We're also going to talk to executive vice president Dick Cook who's been with the company for,
(03:01):
I think going on 30 years at this point.
That's a long damn time and almost the entire lifetime of the company.
We're also going to talk to company president James Fonda who has been here for,
I,
I believe like six or seven years if my math is correct and uh things have changed greatly since James came on.
(03:21):
So we're gonna get perspective from each one of those individuals and I'm so stoked about it.
There's not gonna be any host content,
none of the breaking news or Bambi reports or Winner Driving safety notes,
anything like that in this week's episode.
We are just talking about the history of the great company that is H and M trucking.
So let's get into it from Omaha Nebraska to whatever lane you're driving.
(03:47):
This is the H and M Trucking podcast.
Your host,
Marcus Bridges.
Up here on the H and M Trucking podcast is executive vice president of H and M Dale Cook.
Dale.
We appreciate you being here today.
Good to be here.
(04:07):
How are you bud?
Uh You know,
I can never complain.
Uh,
I get to do this for a living.
So it's,
it's a good day when I'm,
when I'm talking to you,
Dale,
for sure.
We've got some really interesting insight on the history of H and M thus far in this episode and I wanted to bring you on because I know you've been with the company for a long time.
Uh,
can you talk a little bit about your history with H and M,
(04:27):
how'd you find the company?
How did you start working for it?
And,
uh,
what positions have you occupied along the way?
Well,
let's see,
I'm going way back here,
you know,
29 years ago.
So,
uh,
started here in 1994.
Um,
out of college.
I was a commodities trader,
a broker and I dealt with Mr Muller.
Randy Muller,
(04:48):
our,
our owner,
our CEO and I was talking to Randy off and on for about nine years,
maybe 10 years.
And the way I came to work for H and M was the company I was working for sold out and I had an option to move to Kansas City or San Francisco from the Omaha area.
And my young Children,
(05:08):
I kind of decided I really wasn't interested in doing that.
So I happened to mention to Bert Geer who was,
you had my position way back was our vice president at the time working for Randy.
And he and Randy kinda started this trucking company.
And,
and bet said,
I said to bet,
uh,
I,
I think what I told him was,
hey,
uh,
if you hear of anybody looking for a good trader,
(05:29):
let me know.
And,
oh,
about 15 minutes later I hung up the phone and,
and,
uh,
15 minutes later my phone rang and he said,
well,
what would you think about coming to work for Hanson Muller?
And I went,
you know,
grain Company?
Sure,
I can do that.
And he said,
well,
how about an interview?
I interviewed that same night,
I guess I remember I was wearing shorts and I,
(05:49):
I was,
I've been,
was planning to go golfing and kind of figured maybe a job was more important,
went over interviewed.
They offered me the job and,
and,
and I said I'd give it a go for a while.
And here I am 29 years later.
So one of the very few times in history that work was actually more important than golf.
If,
if I'm an example.
Yeah.
Well,
in my case,
for sure.
(06:10):
Yeah.
So did you come on to the company in the current capacity that you're in right now as the executive vice president,
you said somebody else was working in that spot?
So,
what,
how did they bring you on in what capacity?
Well,
they,
they brought me over.
Um,
they kind of,
I don't want to say they tricked me,
but I kind of thought maybe I'd just be a trader and be trading.
I don't know,
oats in South Dakota or something,
(06:31):
but they had something else in mind,
which was um they kind of were looking for a secondary leader in the,
in the hopper,
you know,
in their,
in their hopper company at the time.
And we were running approximately 21 owner operator trucks when I started working here 21.
So you can see we've grown just a little bit.
I,
you know,
uh yeah,
it was,
you know,
(06:51):
our whole office was about the size of one of our conference rooms.
And so,
yeah,
when I,
when I started working,
it was just in a dispatch capacity.
Uh back then you didn't have salesmen and planners and,
and CS Rs.
It was just,
you were a dispatcher and you did all those functions.
And so I started out sitting next to,
you know,
a guy who worked here 30 plus years uh Steve Nelson or Tiny as everybody know,
(07:17):
tiny,
tiny,
retired just several years ago and tiny and I started sitting next to each other and we developed a lifelong friendship.
You know,
he's more of a brother than he was a guy I worked with.
But,
yeah,
it was great.
We,
we just hit it off and,
and we were,
you know,
we,
we batted things back and forth off each other and enjoyed each other's company every day and gave each other a hard time and swore at each other.
(07:39):
And,
you know,
to this day,
I think we,
we do that when we have phone calls.
But yeah,
we just,
we had a little fun from there.
It was probably,
I was here six months or so when I kinda became more of the,
the,
the lead dispatch role and it,
it kind of progressed from there as far as what functions I've done at H and M trucking.
I can remember uh well,
(08:00):
Mr Miller always called me macgyver.
You know,
there were,
there wasn't many jobs that I didn't get involved with,
but in an official capacity,
I became a dispatch manager.
Then I was the Hopper dispatch manager and Bert was still here.
And uh and then I became,
uh you know,
vice president when,
when Burt left about,
oh my goodness,
19 years ago,
something like that.
(08:22):
So,
yeah,
it was about 10 years before I became vice president and,
and I functioned in that capacity of vice president or general manager or operations manager or whatever it is.
But I,
I wore a lot of hats during that time when,
when we'd lose a safety director,
I became safety director for whatever period of time until we got someone going.
I functioned as,
(08:43):
uh,
you know,
accountant or controller.
A couple of times when we transition from one controller to another.
I've worked in the shop area and break down.
Shoot,
I,
I busted tires a couple of days when we were short shop guys just because I'm a dumb farm kid,
knew how to swing a Wed Jammer.
Um So,
so I,
there's not much or,
or there,
there are very few parts.
(09:03):
I,
I'll,
I'll describe myself as my dad always described me.
I didn't know I knew a little bit about everything and didn't know shit about anything.
OK?
If I can use that word.
So IIII I kind of function in that capacity all the time.
People still,
they walk to my desk and asked me question that I shouldn't know the answer to,
but sometimes I do and I think that's why people come,
(09:24):
you know,
are drawn to my desk occasionally.
Got it.
Uh Jack of all trades if you will.
And uh that I love the Macgyver reference.
But II,
I just want to let everybody know that uh is,
is younger than the Macgyver generation macgyver was your uh your,
your run of the mill TV star that could get you out of any sticky situation with the ball bearing in a rubber band.
(09:45):
And,
uh,
it sounds a lot like you could do that for H and M Dale.
Well,
it was,
it was not,
not by choice,
but sometimes by necessity that I,
that I did some of those things,
but it always seemed to work out.
We,
we,
we muddled our way through it and hopefully we were productive and profitable during that time.
I think so.
I mean,
the growth from 21 trucks to well over 200 at this point is uh proof in the pudding.
(10:09):
Uh If you will now,
can you talk to me a little bit about the uh how the company kind of took shape as you were working up through?
I mean,
going from 21 trucks to over 200.
I it's not something that happens overnight.
Obviously,
this has been a work in progress 30 years in the making.
Talk to me a little bit about how you've seen the company grow over your tenure with it.
(10:31):
Well,
I mean,
I think I can even go back because,
you know,
I,
I was working with the company when they started uh Bet gear.
Uh who came to,
came with Randy and started the company.
Bet was always an employee,
but he was a very integral part of how H and M trucking got started.
What they did was he had been working for his dad Carol Gear in Hold Ridge,
(10:52):
Nebraska and he came to Omaha when he and his dad kind of couldn't see eye to eye anymore with the way their company was going.
And he got together with Jack Hanson and Randy Muller,
the of Hanson Muller.
And they decided they were going to start a,
uh,
small brokerage company.
And,
and I think they start out just simply doing brokerage.
It was Burt sitting in a room by himself buying and selling freight that simple.
(11:16):
And from there that progressed to,
of course,
Randy and Jack had some capital.
They decided,
well,
maybe in their,
with their grain business,
they would,
they'd buy 10 or 12 trucks and trailers and then they'd have kind of built in capacity in order to haul their own grain.
That's sort of how they,
they hit the ground running as a real trucking company with their own authority.
(11:37):
Then they kind of moved on from that.
That didn't work super well because I'll pick on Randy and Jack,
you know,
the grain business,
they always wanted to pay the as little amount of money as they could and they'd offer freight from,
you know,
Colorado to Omaha hauling weed in and,
and it just didn't pay that well.
And so they,
they kind of transitioned from there to hauling for other people from there.
(11:58):
They,
they kind of decided they wanted to get,
they sold the tractors and trailers and,
and,
and we're dealing with owner operators and,
and that's sort of where I come into the picture is where they're,
they're just,
you know,
having owner operators and hauling for,
you know,
I,
I was working for a company called Cereal by-product out of Chicago and was,
you know,
trading feed ingredients,
anything from uh wheat middlings to corn,
(12:19):
to oats,
to soybean meal,
those type items.
And so that the company at that point was,
was growing and,
and they were adding,
and once I came on,
we were,
we were also adding a few more dispatchers.
I think at that time,
our staff was about six people and of those six people,
one was doing accounting and one was doing safety.
And then we added a couple more dispatchers and,
(12:41):
and those guys,
we,
we just continued to grow that and what we opened up our business to was,
we did a lot of brokerage.
Uh You know,
now we started JFL.
It's almost like we've gone full circle,
but we were very similar to JFL at that time because we take owner operators and we'd actually run them,
we call them outside carriers and we just run them full time,
(13:01):
keep,
keep loads in front of them.
We charge 10% for our brokerage service and we were basically just providing brokerage service to both owner operators that release to us and outside owner operators and that just continued to grow.
So we,
we probably peaked out with that type of business somewhere around 80 or 90 trucks that we were running full time with those 789 people.
(13:23):
Um,
it was,
it was a pretty efficient business at the time from there.
We,
we,
we started to just started with bands a little bit.
That,
that was all.
But we had a driver,
a hopper driver who couldn't run hoppers anymore.
Bonnie Bonnie Bodett,
it was his name,
Bonnie Bodett and Bonnie was 60 years old and the dust he couldn't take in his eyes.
(13:44):
So we decided we'll,
we'll rent a van trailer and keep running.
Bonnie and from there,
well,
then we,
we started getting a few more guys that wanted to pull vans and our van business became,
you know,
started growing.
That would have been,
oh,
late nineties,
you know,
we started adding more band trucks and then we'd lease rider trailers and we,
(14:05):
we were paying those guys a per rate per mile.
You know,
I'm thinking back now,
I think we used to pay them 70 cents a mile.
Ok.
Now we're,
I don't know,
a dollar $40.50 dollar 60 to the,
to our runner operators now.
But so,
so that,
that just kind of continued to grow.
And then pretty soon we decided,
well,
you know,
maybe,
maybe we want to buy our own tractors and start pulling our own equipment.
(14:29):
We start buying hopper trailers.
Uh We,
we'd lease those out or rent those out to the hopper drivers.
We,
we started accumulating more and more equipment pretty soon.
We had 15 company drivers and that 15 company drivers turned into 30 we really drug our feet with the Hoppers for a while.
And then pretty soon we started getting some company hopper drivers and it just continued to snowball and snowball and snowball.
(14:52):
And now to the point where,
you know,
we only run 3540 owner operators.
You know,
we're,
we're mostly just a,
you know,
we're looking at 230 or 40 company trucks.
So we,
we kind of flipped over that,
that,
uh,
business plan from being a dispatch service to being a asset based company.
And now that transitioned over a lot of time,
(15:12):
it was around 2000 when Randy sold the grain business and we became full time to the trucking world and Randy is just gonna be retired and,
you know,
retirement didn't work for a guy with Randy's makeup.
Uh,
it wasn't very long.
We had a desk for him in the office.
He kind of let us keep doing our thing quite a bit of the time.
We added some very important people in our business like,
(15:35):
uh,
Joe Hunter in our shop,
Chuck Radke,
which you,
you may have heard that name,
Jeremy Hardison,
a couple of guys who were very,
very important parts of our company.
And so,
you know,
67 years ago when,
when we happened to lose both of them to heart attacks,
there was some transition there.
That's when I got more involved with the vans at that time where,
you know,
they had a little more assistance where Chuck had taken over ours as our van manager,
(15:59):
Shar Arthur was functioning or sorry.
Tiny Nelson at that time,
was functioning as our dispatch manager for the,
for the uh hoppers sha took over there when,
when uh Chuck and Jeremy both left us unexpectedly,
Brian Cornett became involved and we just continued to grow this thing.
And,
uh,
you know,
gotten over this point,
we are now,
(16:19):
I can still remember six or seven years ago.
And as James Fonda entered the picture,
you know,
Randy came to me and he said,
what do you think?
And I said,
my,
you know,
we've got to have a sustainability plan and,
you know,
Randy's not gonna live to be 1000 you know,
and,
and we didn't want to sell the company and,
and then when James came to Randy and said he would be interested after,
(16:41):
you know,
being Randy's,
son-in-law James sat down next to me and,
and he knew very little about the trucking business other than what he learned from Randy,
you know,
over dinner to,
to where we are now where we've,
we've taken that spotlight or that focus off of me and tried to,
tried to shine it toward James is,
you know,
I'm six,
I'll be 63 years old pretty quick.
I'm not going to be here another 100 years either.
(17:03):
So we're trying to get to that younger group of people and,
and really transition to keep this thing rolling.
It's so cool.
Thank you so much for,
for recounting that history.
Uh,
so eloquently Dale and,
and something that you said in there really stood out to me,
you guys were,
were basically running Hoppers and then you made a concession for a driver that you wanted to keep running that just couldn't do Hopper anymore.
(17:26):
And all of a sudden uh fast forwards a few years and you've got a van division that is kind of a,
a,
I guess I would say a microcosm of the culture there at H and M.
One thing I always hear from the drivers is H and M cares about us and they will make concessions to make sure that we are happy and that,
that sounds like it's been happening since before H and M was the H and M that it is today.
(17:51):
And I just think that's uh that's such a great aspect of the company.
They're team oriented,
they're driver focused and,
and family oriented as well.
And I just can't say it enough how great I think that is for,
for all of the employees that work at H and M much appreciated.
It's,
it's um II I spout this all the time around here.
There are the three most important things in a trucking company are number one culture,
(18:15):
number two,
culture and number three culture and if we do the right thing,
the right thing happens,
I think you're doing the right thing,
Dale.
Uh,
we're up against the clock here,
so I'm gonna let you get back to it.
I know you're a busy guy and,
uh,
I just really appreciate the time.
This is gonna be great.
I can't wait for this episode to air because,
you know,
we haven't dug into the history of H and M yet very much and,
(18:37):
uh,
this is just gonna be a fantastic episode for all your drivers out there that might not know about the history of the company.
So,
thank you kindly for being here,
sir.
We really appreciate the time.
Pleasure talking to you.
All right,
Dale,
that's Dale Cook,
executive Vice president of H and M Trucking.
(18:58):
Joining us next on this very special episode of the H and M Trucking podcast is Company President James Fonda.
Uh James,
thank you so much for being here.
Hey,
how are you?
I'm doing great,
man.
Uh,
really enjoying getting a little bit of a feel of the history for H and M in this episode,
we've already talked to Randy,
kind of got the origins of the company and where it all started from.
(19:20):
And uh I kind of wanted to pick that right up with you and talk about your involvement in it and,
and kind of where the company's come and gone since you got involved and uh where you see it going in the near future as well.
Well,
when I came in,
to be honest,
I think Randy was actually on the,
on the prowess of selling the company.
I just had a gut instinct that it was gonna happen.
(19:41):
So I approached him and said,
hey,
how about I jump ship for my time,
my father's company and uh come,
come work at H and M and see what,
what,
what truck was about from there.
It's uh you know,
I spend a lot of time learning all parts of the company working in all parts of the parts of the company to understand trucking as I was very green at the,
at the time,
(20:01):
that was November 20th of 2017.
Since then,
you know,
we've kind of gotten our,
you know,
I would say uh really started stretching my legs about two years.
Then,
you know,
then,
then I was II I joke with radio.
I said I was blessed with the opportunity of that,
of getting to have uh the 2020 post COVID uh life of running company.
(20:24):
Yeah,
nothing was easy in 2020 especially not in the transportation industry.
So can you talk a little bit about the vision of the company,
Randy kind of shared his,
his vision of the company,
uh you know,
from its inception.
But I assume,
you know,
when,
when new leadership takes over uh the vision of the company changes a little bit obviously you guys are growing,
(20:44):
you know,
H and M's been growing and is still growing.
Uh What's,
what's your vision moving forward?
James for H and M and,
and how big do you expect the company to get?
Well,
I'm sure he talked to you about the great,
the grain side of the company.
Uh Originally the,
the fucking,
I was just there to move to a grain size.
So at the time,
(21:05):
as far as it now,
it says everything I've built with all along with our teammates Bulldog and JFLEFC and the,
the sporting company of H and M uh has really been about giving it a baseline for a strong future and the ability to continue growing and,
and be uh uh it's kind of a little force come to,
(21:25):
to reckon with uh in the years to come.
Did you ever expect it to get to where it is at this point?
I,
I know when I asked Randy that he was kind of a little surprised.
I think that the company grew as fast as it did.
Uh Has that surprised you?
Especially with the challenges of COVID and a tough freight year this year in 2023.
So it surprises me.
No,
because that was always my goal.
(21:46):
Uh It was just how do you,
how do you get it done?
It's not just uh from a,
from an equipment stand up boy but from a customer standpoint to um to a personnel standpoint a few years,
the beginning kind of reorganizing and getting uh people in correct position and,
uh,
you know,
kind of doing a little switch a room and a lot of things to make,
(22:08):
to make sure that we had a,
a solid foundation to grow up on that transition is pretty much,
you know,
minus Cor Creeks here and there pretty much complete.
So now,
now,
you know,
you have the right people to position that,
you know,
and if you go out and buy,
buy,
you have the capacity on all fronts to be able to meet the,
meet the needs of that for sure.
(22:29):
And you talked about the foundation of the company and getting people in the right spots.
How important is it to make sure that you've got all of those bases covered with people in the right spots before you can really move to that next step of,
of growth like you're talking about.
Well,
I think you're,
you're a,
you're a perfect product of that,
aren't you Marcus?
(22:51):
I don't know,
I'll leave that up to you to decide James.
If you say yes,
then the answer is yes,
my friend,
I hope.
Yeah.
You know,
it's,
uh,
you know,
if you don't have the right people,
the right things,
then you can't have your,
uh,
you have to,
you can't focus on,
on what's the big picture,
right?
So it's,
um,
you have to have the people that are willing to get down and nit pick and,
(23:14):
and really,
uh,
fine tune things.
So that's true across all,
all the entities.
So,
uh,
and,
uh,
and,
you know,
you can't grow unless you have people downwind of you that are strong enough and capable enough to,
uh,
uh,
not even,
you know,
just be capable but will willing to,
to do that work because sometimes it's not fun.
Right.
It's not the sexy work.
(23:35):
Yeah.
You know,
that is 11 aspect of my job that goes underappreciated is I feel like I kind of do have the sexy work.
Uh That's,
you know.
Yeah,
exactly.
It's been,
it's been nice,
man.
I've really enjoyed it and I think that that's something that I see as,
as a constant with H and M employees.
I've talked to so many of them now,
both in-house and here on the podcast,
(23:57):
drivers and staff members alike from the office and everybody likes their job.
I mean,
that's,
that's huge.
And you've talked to me directly about how hard you've worked on the culture of this company.
I it's,
it's phenomenal to see where it's come and,
and,
and obviously where it's headed.
But I think that culture is,
is so important and having a job that you like to go to and you don't get up in the morning and hate yourself before you end up there.
(24:22):
Um These are all things that are,
are necessary for a company that's as successful in H and as H and M,
in my opinion.
All right,
like,
you know,
I,
I know what it's like now I wake up and do something.
Right.
Every everybody does.
So if,
if I could create an environment that,
that's inviting,
that you want to be there,
you want to be the,
the team members you want to work with,
you don't have the toxic uh relationships,
(24:44):
you don't have that one.
You know,
you,
you just,
uh everybody,
you know,
everybody gets to the disagreements here and there.
That,
that's not what you're not gonna prevent that ever.
But it's about everybody is on board.
The common goal.
Is there anything else that you would like to say to uh staff members or drivers,
you know,
with regard to the company's history or the company's future before I let you go,
(25:06):
the history,
uh uh Randy,
I'm sure gave you enough context uh going forward.
Uh You know,
like I built a strong base,
strong sales team,
strong,
um you know,
and,
and,
and evolving,
uh everything I say,
everything's evolving,
right?
All fronts.
And with that said that,
that,
that will give us uh opportunity for future growth and,
(25:26):
and uh to say where,
you know,
where do I wanna end up?
Well,
I don't know,
like,
uh I've got a number in my head but uh you,
you gotta have those dreams to keep pushing yourself.
We'll just,
we'll see where it goes.
Well,
great stuff from me,
James.
I really appreciate it.
I can count on one finger the number of company presidents that would join me from lunch for an interview on this podcast.
(25:49):
Uh You are the one.
So we really appreciate you taking time out and uh give my apologies and my best to whoever's sitting across from you right now.
Uh because I just stole seven or eight minutes of their lunchtime from you,
So really appreciate it.
Yeah.
Alright.
Alright,
thanks James.
(26:10):
When it comes to talking about the history of H and M trucking,
there's one man that we need to make sure that we get a little bit of time with and we're lucky enough to have him join us today.
It's owner and founder of H and M Trucking,
Randy Muller.
Randy.
Thank you so much for being here this morning.
Glad to do it,
sir.
So take me through a little bit of the origins of H and M trucking.
(26:34):
How did it start?
And how's it come to where it is today?
Well,
uh back in uh the year uh uh 1980 I started a grain company.
We're buying and selling grain and uh as it progressed,
we decided uh in uh 87 that we needed to have some of our own trucks.
(26:54):
So um rather than just hire other companies.
And uh so we have a,
a person that started it to run it for us.
And what was ironic is that he uh started it,
we had owner operators pulling their own hopper freighters.
And uh as it progressed,
they uh were able to find freight that was better freight than what we were able to offer.
(27:17):
And so they became very much independent of each other and not reliant on each other as it went along.
Uh A few years later,
they uh in addition to having the hoppers,
they were hauling feed ingredients.
We um started using drive ants,
buying drive vans and hauling a dry and freight.
And it progressed and progressed.
(27:37):
Well,
fast forward,
I was only spending probably a couple hours a week most uh with the trucking company because I was involved with the grain company.
And in the year 2000,
I sold my grain company,
my part of the ownership of it and uh quite frankly,
didn't have much to do.
And I thought I'll just get a little more involved with the,
(27:58):
the trucking company and that was in the year 2000.
So,
uh we,
I got,
I got more involved.
Uh We moved along and we still were owner operator involved and not any company,
trucks to speak of except some drive and trailers and some uh hoppers.
Well,
fast forward to 2008,
(28:18):
the trucking industry went into a dilemma.
A freefall and family trucking companies everywhere were failing and our owner operators were failing.
Uh We couldn't pay him enough.
Well,
finally it got so destitute that um I thought,
man,
this is not a sustainable,
how bad it is.
And we started to buy some of our own trucks,
(28:39):
tractors.
And as we did what I experienced in the beginning,
we were able to find drivers even though we weren't very professional or didn't have much experience in it.
And uh as we went along and continued to buy more trucks and tractors,
the real limiting factor was,
(29:00):
can we get enough qualified drivers?
And I tried every option from calling competitive trucking companies and ask them how they were reaching out through the social media or through newspapers or through billboards.
And,
uh,
man,
we just weren't having the,
the results we needed at all.
And it was um anywhere from finding the wrong drivers to drivers that just didn't stay very long.
(29:25):
And so approximately six years ago,
my,
uh,
Jane Fonda and Grant Stanley,
uh we were discussing it and they started a company called Bulldog and Bulldog was gonna be a social media company.
They'd had experience with this uh subject.
And,
uh,
when they started it,
(29:46):
I was about the biggest critic slash doubting Thomas.
You can have,
I thought we tried everything and I,
I really didn't believe it was gonna be a bit different and I continued to fund a little money into it to help support it.
And all of a sudden they learned a little bit more that's being Grant and James about how to structure it and,
(30:07):
um,
we,
uh,
started having better results and to the point where I started believing in it and,
uh,
it wasn't,
it's not magic.
You still got to get there and pound the phones and give the drivers the potential drivers,
the,
the things they need.
They're not just gonna,
uh,
come,
uh,
without knowing it's the right destination for them,
our company,
(30:27):
but the point is they know,
uh,
bulldog,
they designed it with the hot buttons.
That's what I call it to where they know what the driver really wants to need.
So approximately three years ago,
Grant and James decided they'd reach out to some other carriers and see if they'd wanna uh subscribe to it and uh use Bulldog.
(30:49):
And the amazing thing is they were skeptical just as they should have been by and large.
I don't think they've lost a single customer they've developed and that's quite a testimonial.
I,
I really don't think they've lost to one then what they did is they uh started a podcast that focuses on communicating with the driver with telling them what the company is doing and then they emphasize safety on it so that we know we're getting messages to them.
(31:18):
And uh I believe that's about 50 hours a year is what the podcasts are.
But the thing that's unique about Bulldog,
it's not a cut and paste.
They designed this product specifically for the customer that the trucking company that uh is uh paying for it.
It's,
it's very unique to that company and focused on them so that they're not just homogenized,
(31:41):
a part of uh identical to others.
And so today,
their uh podcast is a,
a sort of a hidden secret that wasn't planned and they just keep adding services such as that,
I don't know what I'd do if we didn't have Bulldog was recruiting it with a pod bed.
I really don't know where we'd start to try to keep our trucks full because it's enabled us to grow.
(32:04):
And so I'm very proud of what they do.
I'm,
I'm really not the owner of Bulldog at all.
Uh But I sit there like I am and I'm so proud of what they,
they've accomplished because it's truly a premier product in Mack.
And,
and I'd recommend anyone to listen to Grant's story.
I believe that if they listen to Grant,
there's nothing to hide,
(32:26):
it's just a superior product.
And that's sort of my uh statement about Bulldog.
I enjoy it and anyone could call me a one or two.
Well,
I really appreciate that,
uh Such kind words for me there,
Randy,
uh about the podcast and I'll tell you I'm having so much fun doing it.
Um I've learned more about the trucking industry than I ever thought possible and I've met some very great people along the way.
(32:51):
Uh You mentioned James,
of course,
uh He's been instrumental on this podcast we couldn't do it without him and you,
but I want to take it back to,
to H AND M for just a little bit because uh I really want to dig into,
to the origins of H AND M.
Did you imagine back in 1980 when you started the grain company that 20 short years later,
(33:13):
uh you'd be out of the grain business and into the trucking business.
Not at all.
No,
I didn't.
And I would say that most good things that happen,
uh in my opinion,
aren't that specifically designed?
They just evolved and it just sort of happened and uh as I spent more time with it,
I enjoyed it and I saw where I could add some value and um collaborate and we tried to get the best people we could to help run it and um it just keeps like everything,
(33:44):
just keep throwing uh a little uh what I call encouragement at it and uh some assets and uh yeah,
we're about 250 trucks.
That's amazing.
Uh And,
and 250 trucks and growing if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah.
Yeah,
we are.
But right now,
uh the markets are,
are pretty tough in our industry.
So we're just sort of seeing our spike in the ground.
(34:06):
But yeah,
we're continuing to grow a little bit.
What's behind the culture of H and M.
Um you,
you guys have a lot of drivers that have stuck around for a long time,
very experienced uh every driver that I talk to,
talks about the culture and why they like driving for H and M.
Um those reasons are pretty consistent.
It's always said that it's because they feel like family at H and M and not a number.
(34:30):
Can you talk to me a little bit about the uh the mindset behind that and how you guys propagate that culture?
Well,
I,
I think that the thing that we do is first you gotta just simply do what's right and you can't look at the manual totally on.
Yes or no.
Although it's important you have the similar protocol but you gotta do what's right.
Number two,
(34:50):
if somebody calls and we're swamped and don't have time and say we'll get back to you in 20 minutes or the following day,
it's imperative that we do that.
There's nothing worse than someone saying I'll get back to you.
That doesn't,
I,
I just can't emphasize that enough.
I believe those are really the two things that are,
(35:11):
are key to me and,
um,
but just getting back to doing the right stuff and,
and,
and just hard,
sweat,
scratching and biting and,
and just making things happen.
It's,
it's,
it's really not anything unique to any business.
It's all businesses in that way.
Just go for the little things and the big things evolve for sure.
(35:32):
Now it's,
it really is,
uh,
eye opening to me because another thing I hear from a lot of the H and M drivers is they talk about other companies,
uh,
dangling sign on bonuses in front of prospective drivers,
which is not something that H and M does and what the drivers tell me is,
you know what I've figured it out.
I'm hip to it.
Now,
if there's this,
(35:53):
uh,
sign on bonus dangled in front of you,
you can know that you're not gonna be happy at that company.
And I don't know that that's,
uh you know,
that,
that stands true across every company that offers them.
What I do know is that when your drivers get to H and M,
they get through orientation,
they get out there on the road,
they feel valued and they feel like they are,
(36:13):
as I said before,
part of the family and I just can't,
uh I can't say it enough how many times that's come up on this podcast and to be a fly on the wall in that situation and just see from the outside in how this all comes together is,
uh,
is really cool.
And I gotta tip my cap to you,
Randy and everybody there at H and M it,
(36:33):
it doesn't seem like 43 years is long enough to build H and M trucking up to where it is right now.
So phenomenal job to you and everyone involved uh for coming from where you came from.
The thing that I feel good about is,
I think a lot of the drivers when they come in for orientation are truly surprised that it is the way it was described over the phone.
(36:58):
I think a lot of times you go to companies and once they get there,
they're very disappointed that it isn't the way it was,
uh,
stated over the phone when they,
uh,
were heard,
uh,
about a potential company.
Yes,
I agree with you.
And,
and that's another thing I've heard before.
A lot of bait and switch going on out there.
And,
uh,
it,
that never is a,
(37:18):
is a formula to make a driver happy in the long term,
in my opinion.
But let's not forget,
I'm a podcaster.
Not a,
uh,
I don't run a trucking company.
So.
Right.
But I,
I think that's true and that's true.
And so what we try to do is keep new,
uh,
new equipment,
which was very difficult during the supply chain shortage.
But we are finally getting caught up with new equipment.
(37:40):
That's imperative.
It's just,
it's too expensive to run old equipment for us.
And,
uh,
because of reliability delivery,
downtime,
the cost of fixing old equipment and it's just,
uh,
new equipment is horribly expensive,
but it's still the better avenue for us.
Yeah.
And the drivers love it.
Let me tell you,
uh,
they are,
they're all about those new shiny trucks.
(38:01):
And,
uh,
one of my favorite things on the podcast is when I hear a driver.
Tell me about how he likes to keep the truck clean.
Oh,
this is a new truck,
man.
I like to keep this thing clean.
I like to keep it looking good.
I know you like to hear that because,
uh,
that means when it comes time to sell that truck,
it's gonna be in good shape,
you're gonna get a good,
uh,
good value for it.
Yeah,
we uh,
feel that,
(38:22):
uh,
when we take our trucks and sell them,
uh,
I,
I really believe we get 20% more than the other trucking cabbage with a similar truck because of the way they're kept up.
It doesn't surprise me at all.
They look beautiful.
I got to sit in a brand new one when I was out there in Omaha over the summer.
And I think I need one of those seats for,
(38:42):
uh,
for doing this podcast because those things is one of the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in Randy.
Yeah,
it is,
it is their home,
you know,
when they're away from home.
So we wanna make sure that they're comfortable.
Absolutely.
Well,
listen,
we all need to be proud of what we do and,
uh,
with good equipment that,
that makes a difference for both us at H and M as well as the drivers.
(39:03):
I bet I could totally see that.
Well,
listen,
I know you're a busy guy and,
uh,
we're running up against the clock here,
but I want to get,
see the floor real quick.
I always let the drivers say anything.
They want to,
their fellow drivers and anybody at the front office staff,
I feel like it's only appropriate to,
to extend that same courtesy to you.
So,
the floor is yours,
Randy.
(39:24):
Uh,
anything you'd like to say to,
uh,
the employees at H and M today?
Well,
I'd like to thank everyone.
Uh,
it's,
uh,
they've given,
uh,
everything for H and M.
They worry like we worry,
it's very intense work.
We have to keep the customer happy.
We have to keep the driver happy.
We want to keep our employees as happy as we and it's a balancing act and uh we all have to be on the same page and uh I can't thank them enough.
(39:50):
They all work so hard and a lot of times they don't get the recognition we'd like to give them,
but I can assure you,
we appreciate everything they do and you can feel it.
It absolutely radiates throughout the entire company.
That's Randy Moller,
owner and founder of H and M Trucking.
Randy.
I really appreciate the time today and hopefully we'll get you back on here sometime in the future.
(40:13):
It's fine.
Thank you so much and thanks everyone.
Well,
how about that?
We've got a podcast on the history of H and M Trucking and,
uh,
that was one of the most fun podcasts that I've done.
Not to take anything away from all the driver profiles and the fun conversations that I have with staff members from H and M.
(40:36):
But I really have grown to love this company,
as you might imagine.
I'm uh in it every single day.
I'm talking about the ins and the outs and the fine details that keep this mammoth of a trucking fleet moving forward every single day and to be able to hear from uh the men responsible for not only bringing it from the ground up to where it is today,
(41:00):
but the ones that are also responsible for keeping it moving forward every single day into the future.
Uh That was just a great experience for me.
I'm a little bit of a history buff.
You can find me watching a World War Two documentary from time to time.
I love me some band of brothers,
stuff like that.
So listen,
if we're gonna get into history,
I'll sit down and grab a warm cup of Joe and we can have a chat.
(41:22):
All right.
Uh Thank you for tuning in to the history of H and M trucking episode.
Uh As I said,
I had a great time making it and I want to send out a huge thank you to Randy Muller,
Dale Cook and James Fonda for coming on and making this episode.
Uh Such a fun one for me to do.
Don't forget to click like and subscribe.
(41:42):
Uh All that stuff is still very important.
Even though I'm just sitting here gushing about how much fun I had making this episode.
Uh,
the real nuts and bolts still do matter.
So make sure you click that subscribe button if you want to know when each episode is airing.
Uh,
again,
we air on Wednesdays at 5 a.m. central time.
So it's always there for you right in the middle of your week to get you through that hump day.
(42:05):
We've got some great episodes planned coming out here in the future.
So just strap in and get ready.
Uh It's all you drivers out there listening.
Thanks for what you do.
Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down and uh stay fresh cheese bags.
(42:26):
Thank you for listening to the H and M Trucking podcast.
Please leave a review,
subscribe and connect with Marcus over at the H and M Trucking social media channels and if you're considering a job at H and M,
find us at HM trucking.com until next time,
stay safe and ahead of the curve drivers.
What's up everybody and welcome to another episode of the H and M Trucking podcast.
I'm your host,
Marcus.
Thank you so much for being here today.
This has been such a fun ride at this point and there's nothing to be worried about.
We're not going anywhere.
But I wanted to take this opportunity on a very special episode to say thanks to everybody that has either attributed to this podcast in some way,
(00:24):
shape or form by coming on it or working behind the scenes or,
or just listening to it because without you,
we couldn't do it.
All those people that click,
subscribe that click download every single week.
You're the reason that we're here and you're the reason that we keep,
get to keep doing what we're doing.
So,
what's up on this episode?
What are we even gonna cover?
Well,
(00:44):
I'm gonna get to that,
hold your horses.
One thing I've noticed is that H and M is a very special company.
I've been doing this for more than a year.
Ok.
We've got at this point which I don't know when this episode is going to air.
So this might be double this amount by the time you actually hear this episode,
but we've got more 30 episodes in the bag for the H and M Trucking Podcast right now.
(01:08):
And we've got 18 episodes of unplugged OTR the podcast that happened before we started the H and M Trucking Podcast.
That means we're more than a year in and things are rolling very smooth and it's uh really in,
in part.
And mostly actually thanks to the H and M employees that come out there and do such a great job every single day for the company,
(01:32):
whether you've come on this podcast or you've just listened,
uh,
my hat is off to you,
my friend,
we couldn't do this without you.
So every single time you click download,
you're doing me a favor and I greatly appreciate it.
So,
what are we getting into on this special episode special is always a funny word.
You know,
I like to say to people,
(01:53):
my mom thinks I'm special and they always laugh and I think it's because they don't know if we're talking about the good special or the other special.
I know that it's the good special.
But if people have listened to me talk,
sometimes they wonder.
So this is the good special.
This is an awesome episode that we've got planned for you today.
Uh,
and,
and I'm not going to sit here and babble for any longer before we get into it.
(02:15):
How did H and M start?
What happened?
When was the seed planted and watered?
And when did it blossom into this giant field of corn that is H and M trucking today?
Well,
we're gonna tell that story for the first time ever on this podcast.
We are going to talk to the owner and founder of H and M Trucking Randy Muller.
(02:36):
That's the M from H and M,
it's right here on my hat.
It's the blue one.
Muller.
That's what it stands for.
Just in case you were wondering,
he's the guy that's responsible for getting this thing off the ground and turning it from a grain company into the trucking fleet giant that it is.
Today.
We're going to talk to him about how that happened.
We're also going to talk to executive vice president Dick Cook who's been with the company for,
(03:01):
I think going on 30 years at this point.
That's a long damn time and almost the entire lifetime of the company.
We're also going to talk to company president James Fonda who has been here for,
I,
I believe like six or seven years if my math is correct and uh things have changed greatly since James came on.
(03:21):
So we're gonna get perspective from each one of those individuals and I'm so stoked about it.
There's not gonna be any host content,
none of the breaking news or Bambi reports or Winner Driving safety notes,
anything like that in this week's episode.
We are just talking about the history of the great company that is H and M trucking.
So let's get into it from Omaha Nebraska to whatever lane you're driving.
(03:47):
This is the H and M Trucking podcast.
Your host,
Marcus Bridges.
Up here on the H and M Trucking podcast is executive vice president of H and M Dale Cook.
Dale.
We appreciate you being here today.
Good to be here.
(04:07):
How are you bud?
Uh You know,
I can never complain.
Uh,
I get to do this for a living.
So it's,
it's a good day when I'm,
when I'm talking to you,
Dale,
for sure.
We've got some really interesting insight on the history of H and M thus far in this episode and I wanted to bring you on because I know you've been with the company for a long time.
Uh,
can you talk a little bit about your history with H and M,
(04:27):
how'd you find the company?
How did you start working for it?
And,
uh,
what positions have you occupied along the way?
Well,
let's see,
I'm going way back here,
you know,
29 years ago.
So,
uh,
started here in 1994.
Um,
out of college.
I was a commodities trader,
a broker and I dealt with Mr Muller.
Randy Muller,
(04:48):
our,
our owner,
our CEO and I was talking to Randy off and on for about nine years,
maybe 10 years.
And the way I came to work for H and M was the company I was working for sold out and I had an option to move to Kansas City or San Francisco from the Omaha area.
And my young Children,
(05:08):
I kind of decided I really wasn't interested in doing that.
So I happened to mention to Bert Geer who was,
you had my position way back was our vice president at the time working for Randy.
And he and Randy kinda started this trucking company.
And,
and bet said,
I said to bet,
uh,
I,
I think what I told him was,
hey,
uh,
if you hear of anybody looking for a good trader,
(05:29):
let me know.
And,
oh,
about 15 minutes later I hung up the phone and,
and,
uh,
15 minutes later my phone rang and he said,
well,
what would you think about coming to work for Hanson Muller?
And I went,
you know,
grain Company?
Sure,
I can do that.
And he said,
well,
how about an interview?
I interviewed that same night,
I guess I remember I was wearing shorts and I,
(05:49):
I was,
I've been,
was planning to go golfing and kind of figured maybe a job was more important,
went over interviewed.
They offered me the job and,
and,
and I said I'd give it a go for a while.
And here I am 29 years later.
So one of the very few times in history that work was actually more important than golf.
If,
if I'm an example.
Yeah.
Well,
in my case,
for sure.
(06:10):
Yeah.
So did you come on to the company in the current capacity that you're in right now as the executive vice president,
you said somebody else was working in that spot?
So,
what,
how did they bring you on in what capacity?
Well,
they,
they brought me over.
Um,
they kind of,
I don't want to say they tricked me,
but I kind of thought maybe I'd just be a trader and be trading.
I don't know,
oats in South Dakota or something,
(06:31):
but they had something else in mind,
which was um they kind of were looking for a secondary leader in the,
in the hopper,
you know,
in their,
in their hopper company at the time.
And we were running approximately 21 owner operator trucks when I started working here 21.
So you can see we've grown just a little bit.
I,
you know,
uh yeah,
it was,
you know,
(06:51):
our whole office was about the size of one of our conference rooms.
And so,
yeah,
when I,
when I started working,
it was just in a dispatch capacity.
Uh back then you didn't have salesmen and planners and,
and CS Rs.
It was just,
you were a dispatcher and you did all those functions.
And so I started out sitting next to,
you know,
a guy who worked here 30 plus years uh Steve Nelson or Tiny as everybody know,
(07:17):
tiny,
tiny,
retired just several years ago and tiny and I started sitting next to each other and we developed a lifelong friendship.
You know,
he's more of a brother than he was a guy I worked with.
But,
yeah,
it was great.
We,
we just hit it off and,
and we were,
you know,
we,
we batted things back and forth off each other and enjoyed each other's company every day and gave each other a hard time and swore at each other.
(07:39):
And,
you know,
to this day,
I think we,
we do that when we have phone calls.
But yeah,
we just,
we had a little fun from there.
It was probably,
I was here six months or so when I kinda became more of the,
the,
the lead dispatch role and it,
it kind of progressed from there as far as what functions I've done at H and M trucking.
I can remember uh well,
(08:00):
Mr Miller always called me macgyver.
You know,
there were,
there wasn't many jobs that I didn't get involved with,
but in an official capacity,
I became a dispatch manager.
Then I was the Hopper dispatch manager and Bert was still here.
And uh and then I became,
uh you know,
vice president when,
when Burt left about,
oh my goodness,
19 years ago,
something like that.
(08:22):
So,
yeah,
it was about 10 years before I became vice president and,
and I functioned in that capacity of vice president or general manager or operations manager or whatever it is.
But I,
I wore a lot of hats during that time when,
when we'd lose a safety director,
I became safety director for whatever period of time until we got someone going.
I functioned as,
(08:43):
uh,
you know,
accountant or controller.
A couple of times when we transition from one controller to another.
I've worked in the shop area and break down.
Shoot,
I,
I busted tires a couple of days when we were short shop guys just because I'm a dumb farm kid,
knew how to swing a Wed Jammer.
Um So,
so I,
there's not much or,
or there,
there are very few parts.
(09:03):
I,
I'll,
I'll describe myself as my dad always described me.
I didn't know I knew a little bit about everything and didn't know shit about anything.
OK?
If I can use that word.
So IIII I kind of function in that capacity all the time.
People still,
they walk to my desk and asked me question that I shouldn't know the answer to,
but sometimes I do and I think that's why people come,
(09:24):
you know,
are drawn to my desk occasionally.
Got it.
Uh Jack of all trades if you will.
And uh that I love the Macgyver reference.
But II,
I just want to let everybody know that uh is,
is younger than the Macgyver generation macgyver was your uh your,
your run of the mill TV star that could get you out of any sticky situation with the ball bearing in a rubber band.
(09:45):
And,
uh,
it sounds a lot like you could do that for H and M Dale.
Well,
it was,
it was not,
not by choice,
but sometimes by necessity that I,
that I did some of those things,
but it always seemed to work out.
We,
we,
we muddled our way through it and hopefully we were productive and profitable during that time.
I think so.
I mean,
the growth from 21 trucks to well over 200 at this point is uh proof in the pudding.
(10:09):
Uh If you will now,
can you talk to me a little bit about the uh how the company kind of took shape as you were working up through?
I mean,
going from 21 trucks to over 200.
I it's not something that happens overnight.
Obviously,
this has been a work in progress 30 years in the making.
Talk to me a little bit about how you've seen the company grow over your tenure with it.
(10:31):
Well,
I mean,
I think I can even go back because,
you know,
I,
I was working with the company when they started uh Bet gear.
Uh who came to,
came with Randy and started the company.
Bet was always an employee,
but he was a very integral part of how H and M trucking got started.
What they did was he had been working for his dad Carol Gear in Hold Ridge,
(10:52):
Nebraska and he came to Omaha when he and his dad kind of couldn't see eye to eye anymore with the way their company was going.
And he got together with Jack Hanson and Randy Muller,
the of Hanson Muller.
And they decided they were going to start a,
uh,
small brokerage company.
And,
and I think they start out just simply doing brokerage.
It was Burt sitting in a room by himself buying and selling freight that simple.
(11:16):
And from there that progressed to,
of course,
Randy and Jack had some capital.
They decided,
well,
maybe in their,
with their grain business,
they would,
they'd buy 10 or 12 trucks and trailers and then they'd have kind of built in capacity in order to haul their own grain.
That's sort of how they,
they hit the ground running as a real trucking company with their own authority.
(11:37):
Then they kind of moved on from that.
That didn't work super well because I'll pick on Randy and Jack,
you know,
the grain business,
they always wanted to pay the as little amount of money as they could and they'd offer freight from,
you know,
Colorado to Omaha hauling weed in and,
and it just didn't pay that well.
And so they,
they kind of transitioned from there to hauling for other people from there.
(11:58):
They,
they kind of decided they wanted to get,
they sold the tractors and trailers and,
and,
and we're dealing with owner operators and,
and that's sort of where I come into the picture is where they're,
they're just,
you know,
having owner operators and hauling for,
you know,
I,
I was working for a company called Cereal by-product out of Chicago and was,
you know,
trading feed ingredients,
anything from uh wheat middlings to corn,
(12:19):
to oats,
to soybean meal,
those type items.
And so that the company at that point was,
was growing and,
and they were adding,
and once I came on,
we were,
we were also adding a few more dispatchers.
I think at that time,
our staff was about six people and of those six people,
one was doing accounting and one was doing safety.
And then we added a couple more dispatchers and,
(12:41):
and those guys,
we,
we just continued to grow that and what we opened up our business to was,
we did a lot of brokerage.
Uh You know,
now we started JFL.
It's almost like we've gone full circle,
but we were very similar to JFL at that time because we take owner operators and we'd actually run them,
we call them outside carriers and we just run them full time,
(13:01):
keep,
keep loads in front of them.
We charge 10% for our brokerage service and we were basically just providing brokerage service to both owner operators that release to us and outside owner operators and that just continued to grow.
So we,
we probably peaked out with that type of business somewhere around 80 or 90 trucks that we were running full time with those 789 people.
(13:23):
Um,
it was,
it was a pretty efficient business at the time from there.
We,
we,
we started to just started with bands a little bit.
That,
that was all.
But we had a driver,
a hopper driver who couldn't run hoppers anymore.
Bonnie Bonnie Bodett,
it was his name,
Bonnie Bodett and Bonnie was 60 years old and the dust he couldn't take in his eyes.
(13:44):
So we decided we'll,
we'll rent a van trailer and keep running.
Bonnie and from there,
well,
then we,
we started getting a few more guys that wanted to pull vans and our van business became,
you know,
started growing.
That would have been,
oh,
late nineties,
you know,
we started adding more band trucks and then we'd lease rider trailers and we,
(14:05):
we were paying those guys a per rate per mile.
You know,
I'm thinking back now,
I think we used to pay them 70 cents a mile.
Ok.
Now we're,
I don't know,
a dollar $40.50 dollar 60 to the,
to our runner operators now.
But so,
so that,
that just kind of continued to grow.
And then pretty soon we decided,
well,
you know,
maybe,
maybe we want to buy our own tractors and start pulling our own equipment.
(14:29):
We start buying hopper trailers.
Uh We,
we'd lease those out or rent those out to the hopper drivers.
We,
we started accumulating more and more equipment pretty soon.
We had 15 company drivers and that 15 company drivers turned into 30 we really drug our feet with the Hoppers for a while.
And then pretty soon we started getting some company hopper drivers and it just continued to snowball and snowball and snowball.
(14:52):
And now to the point where,
you know,
we only run 3540 owner operators.
You know,
we're,
we're mostly just a,
you know,
we're looking at 230 or 40 company trucks.
So we,
we kind of flipped over that,
that,
uh,
business plan from being a dispatch service to being a asset based company.
And now that transitioned over a lot of time,
(15:12):
it was around 2000 when Randy sold the grain business and we became full time to the trucking world and Randy is just gonna be retired and,
you know,
retirement didn't work for a guy with Randy's makeup.
Uh,
it wasn't very long.
We had a desk for him in the office.
He kind of let us keep doing our thing quite a bit of the time.
We added some very important people in our business like,
(15:35):
uh,
Joe Hunter in our shop,
Chuck Radke,
which you,
you may have heard that name,
Jeremy Hardison,
a couple of guys who were very,
very important parts of our company.
And so,
you know,
67 years ago when,
when we happened to lose both of them to heart attacks,
there was some transition there.
That's when I got more involved with the vans at that time where,
you know,
they had a little more assistance where Chuck had taken over ours as our van manager,
(15:59):
Shar Arthur was functioning or sorry.
Tiny Nelson at that time,
was functioning as our dispatch manager for the,
for the uh hoppers sha took over there when,
when uh Chuck and Jeremy both left us unexpectedly,
Brian Cornett became involved and we just continued to grow this thing.
And,
uh,
you know,
gotten over this point,
we are now,
(16:19):
I can still remember six or seven years ago.
And as James Fonda entered the picture,
you know,
Randy came to me and he said,
what do you think?
And I said,
my,
you know,
we've got to have a sustainability plan and,
you know,
Randy's not gonna live to be 1000 you know,
and,
and we didn't want to sell the company and,
and then when James came to Randy and said he would be interested after,
(16:41):
you know,
being Randy's,
son-in-law James sat down next to me and,
and he knew very little about the trucking business other than what he learned from Randy,
you know,
over dinner to,
to where we are now where we've,
we've taken that spotlight or that focus off of me and tried to,
tried to shine it toward James is,
you know,
I'm six,
I'll be 63 years old pretty quick.
I'm not going to be here another 100 years either.
(17:03):
So we're trying to get to that younger group of people and,
and really transition to keep this thing rolling.
It's so cool.
Thank you so much for,
for recounting that history.
Uh,
so eloquently Dale and,
and something that you said in there really stood out to me,
you guys were,
were basically running Hoppers and then you made a concession for a driver that you wanted to keep running that just couldn't do Hopper anymore.
(17:26):
And all of a sudden uh fast forwards a few years and you've got a van division that is kind of a,
a,
I guess I would say a microcosm of the culture there at H and M.
One thing I always hear from the drivers is H and M cares about us and they will make concessions to make sure that we are happy and that,
that sounds like it's been happening since before H and M was the H and M that it is today.
(17:51):
And I just think that's uh that's such a great aspect of the company.
They're team oriented,
they're driver focused and,
and family oriented as well.
And I just can't say it enough how great I think that is for,
for all of the employees that work at H and M much appreciated.
It's,
it's um II I spout this all the time around here.
There are the three most important things in a trucking company are number one culture,
(18:15):
number two,
culture and number three culture and if we do the right thing,
the right thing happens,
I think you're doing the right thing,
Dale.
Uh,
we're up against the clock here,
so I'm gonna let you get back to it.
I know you're a busy guy and,
uh,
I just really appreciate the time.
This is gonna be great.
I can't wait for this episode to air because,
you know,
we haven't dug into the history of H and M yet very much and,
(18:37):
uh,
this is just gonna be a fantastic episode for all your drivers out there that might not know about the history of the company.
So,
thank you kindly for being here,
sir.
We really appreciate the time.
Pleasure talking to you.
All right,
Dale,
that's Dale Cook,
executive Vice president of H and M Trucking.
(18:58):
Joining us next on this very special episode of the H and M Trucking podcast is Company President James Fonda.
Uh James,
thank you so much for being here.
Hey,
how are you?
I'm doing great,
man.
Uh,
really enjoying getting a little bit of a feel of the history for H and M in this episode,
we've already talked to Randy,
kind of got the origins of the company and where it all started from.
(19:20):
And uh I kind of wanted to pick that right up with you and talk about your involvement in it and,
and kind of where the company's come and gone since you got involved and uh where you see it going in the near future as well.
Well,
when I came in,
to be honest,
I think Randy was actually on the,
on the prowess of selling the company.
I just had a gut instinct that it was gonna happen.
(19:41):
So I approached him and said,
hey,
how about I jump ship for my time,
my father's company and uh come,
come work at H and M and see what,
what,
what truck was about from there.
It's uh you know,
I spend a lot of time learning all parts of the company working in all parts of the parts of the company to understand trucking as I was very green at the,
at the time,
(20:01):
that was November 20th of 2017.
Since then,
you know,
we've kind of gotten our,
you know,
I would say uh really started stretching my legs about two years.
Then,
you know,
then,
then I was II I joke with radio.
I said I was blessed with the opportunity of that,
of getting to have uh the 2020 post COVID uh life of running company.
(20:24):
Yeah,
nothing was easy in 2020 especially not in the transportation industry.
So can you talk a little bit about the vision of the company,
Randy kind of shared his,
his vision of the company,
uh you know,
from its inception.
But I assume,
you know,
when,
when new leadership takes over uh the vision of the company changes a little bit obviously you guys are growing,
(20:44):
you know,
H and M's been growing and is still growing.
Uh What's,
what's your vision moving forward?
James for H and M and,
and how big do you expect the company to get?
Well,
I'm sure he talked to you about the great,
the grain side of the company.
Uh Originally the,
the fucking,
I was just there to move to a grain size.
So at the time,
(21:05):
as far as it now,
it says everything I've built with all along with our teammates Bulldog and JFLEFC and the,
the sporting company of H and M uh has really been about giving it a baseline for a strong future and the ability to continue growing and,
and be uh uh it's kind of a little force come to,
(21:25):
to reckon with uh in the years to come.
Did you ever expect it to get to where it is at this point?
I,
I know when I asked Randy that he was kind of a little surprised.
I think that the company grew as fast as it did.
Uh Has that surprised you?
Especially with the challenges of COVID and a tough freight year this year in 2023.
So it surprises me.
No,
because that was always my goal.
(21:46):
Uh It was just how do you,
how do you get it done?
It's not just uh from a,
from an equipment stand up boy but from a customer standpoint to um to a personnel standpoint a few years,
the beginning kind of reorganizing and getting uh people in correct position and,
uh,
you know,
kind of doing a little switch a room and a lot of things to make,
(22:08):
to make sure that we had a,
a solid foundation to grow up on that transition is pretty much,
you know,
minus Cor Creeks here and there pretty much complete.
So now,
now,
you know,
you have the right people to position that,
you know,
and if you go out and buy,
buy,
you have the capacity on all fronts to be able to meet the,
meet the needs of that for sure.
(22:29):
And you talked about the foundation of the company and getting people in the right spots.
How important is it to make sure that you've got all of those bases covered with people in the right spots before you can really move to that next step of,
of growth like you're talking about.
Well,
I think you're,
you're a,
you're a perfect product of that,
aren't you Marcus?
(22:51):
I don't know,
I'll leave that up to you to decide James.
If you say yes,
then the answer is yes,
my friend,
I hope.
Yeah.
You know,
it's,
uh,
you know,
if you don't have the right people,
the right things,
then you can't have your,
uh,
you have to,
you can't focus on,
on what's the big picture,
right?
So it's,
um,
you have to have the people that are willing to get down and nit pick and,
(23:14):
and really,
uh,
fine tune things.
So that's true across all,
all the entities.
So,
uh,
and,
uh,
and,
you know,
you can't grow unless you have people downwind of you that are strong enough and capable enough to,
uh,
uh,
not even,
you know,
just be capable but will willing to,
to do that work because sometimes it's not fun.
Right.
It's not the sexy work.
(23:35):
Yeah.
You know,
that is 11 aspect of my job that goes underappreciated is I feel like I kind of do have the sexy work.
Uh That's,
you know.
Yeah,
exactly.
It's been,
it's been nice,
man.
I've really enjoyed it and I think that that's something that I see as,
as a constant with H and M employees.
I've talked to so many of them now,
both in-house and here on the podcast,
(23:57):
drivers and staff members alike from the office and everybody likes their job.
I mean,
that's,
that's huge.
And you've talked to me directly about how hard you've worked on the culture of this company.
I it's,
it's phenomenal to see where it's come and,
and,
and obviously where it's headed.
But I think that culture is,
is so important and having a job that you like to go to and you don't get up in the morning and hate yourself before you end up there.
(24:22):
Um These are all things that are,
are necessary for a company that's as successful in H and as H and M,
in my opinion.
All right,
like,
you know,
I,
I know what it's like now I wake up and do something.
Right.
Every everybody does.
So if,
if I could create an environment that,
that's inviting,
that you want to be there,
you want to be the,
the team members you want to work with,
you don't have the toxic uh relationships,
(24:44):
you don't have that one.
You know,
you,
you just,
uh everybody,
you know,
everybody gets to the disagreements here and there.
That,
that's not what you're not gonna prevent that ever.
But it's about everybody is on board.
The common goal.
Is there anything else that you would like to say to uh staff members or drivers,
you know,
with regard to the company's history or the company's future before I let you go,
(25:06):
the history,
uh uh Randy,
I'm sure gave you enough context uh going forward.
Uh You know,
like I built a strong base,
strong sales team,
strong,
um you know,
and,
and,
and evolving,
uh everything I say,
everything's evolving,
right?
All fronts.
And with that said that,
that,
that will give us uh opportunity for future growth and,
(25:26):
and uh to say where,
you know,
where do I wanna end up?
Well,
I don't know,
like,
uh I've got a number in my head but uh you,
you gotta have those dreams to keep pushing yourself.
We'll just,
we'll see where it goes.
Well,
great stuff from me,
James.
I really appreciate it.
I can count on one finger the number of company presidents that would join me from lunch for an interview on this podcast.
(25:49):
Uh You are the one.
So we really appreciate you taking time out and uh give my apologies and my best to whoever's sitting across from you right now.
Uh because I just stole seven or eight minutes of their lunchtime from you,
So really appreciate it.
Yeah.
Alright.
Alright,
thanks James.
(26:10):
When it comes to talking about the history of H and M trucking,
there's one man that we need to make sure that we get a little bit of time with and we're lucky enough to have him join us today.
It's owner and founder of H and M Trucking,
Randy Muller.
Randy.
Thank you so much for being here this morning.
Glad to do it,
sir.
So take me through a little bit of the origins of H and M trucking.
(26:34):
How did it start?
And how's it come to where it is today?
Well,
uh back in uh the year uh uh 1980 I started a grain company.
We're buying and selling grain and uh as it progressed,
we decided uh in uh 87 that we needed to have some of our own trucks.
(26:54):
So um rather than just hire other companies.
And uh so we have a,
a person that started it to run it for us.
And what was ironic is that he uh started it,
we had owner operators pulling their own hopper freighters.
And uh as it progressed,
they uh were able to find freight that was better freight than what we were able to offer.
(27:17):
And so they became very much independent of each other and not reliant on each other as it went along.
Uh A few years later,
they uh in addition to having the hoppers,
they were hauling feed ingredients.
We um started using drive ants,
buying drive vans and hauling a dry and freight.
And it progressed and progressed.
(27:37):
Well,
fast forward,
I was only spending probably a couple hours a week most uh with the trucking company because I was involved with the grain company.
And in the year 2000,
I sold my grain company,
my part of the ownership of it and uh quite frankly,
didn't have much to do.
And I thought I'll just get a little more involved with the,
(27:58):
the trucking company and that was in the year 2000.
So,
uh we,
I got,
I got more involved.
Uh We moved along and we still were owner operator involved and not any company,
trucks to speak of except some drive and trailers and some uh hoppers.
Well,
fast forward to 2008,
(28:18):
the trucking industry went into a dilemma.
A freefall and family trucking companies everywhere were failing and our owner operators were failing.
Uh We couldn't pay him enough.
Well,
finally it got so destitute that um I thought,
man,
this is not a sustainable,
how bad it is.
And we started to buy some of our own trucks,
(28:39):
tractors.
And as we did what I experienced in the beginning,
we were able to find drivers even though we weren't very professional or didn't have much experience in it.
And uh as we went along and continued to buy more trucks and tractors,
the real limiting factor was,
(29:00):
can we get enough qualified drivers?
And I tried every option from calling competitive trucking companies and ask them how they were reaching out through the social media or through newspapers or through billboards.
And,
uh,
man,
we just weren't having the,
the results we needed at all.
And it was um anywhere from finding the wrong drivers to drivers that just didn't stay very long.
(29:25):
And so approximately six years ago,
my,
uh,
Jane Fonda and Grant Stanley,
uh we were discussing it and they started a company called Bulldog and Bulldog was gonna be a social media company.
They'd had experience with this uh subject.
And,
uh,
when they started it,
(29:46):
I was about the biggest critic slash doubting Thomas.
You can have,
I thought we tried everything and I,
I really didn't believe it was gonna be a bit different and I continued to fund a little money into it to help support it.
And all of a sudden they learned a little bit more that's being Grant and James about how to structure it and,
(30:07):
um,
we,
uh,
started having better results and to the point where I started believing in it and,
uh,
it wasn't,
it's not magic.
You still got to get there and pound the phones and give the drivers the potential drivers,
the,
the things they need.
They're not just gonna,
uh,
come,
uh,
without knowing it's the right destination for them,
our company,
(30:27):
but the point is they know,
uh,
bulldog,
they designed it with the hot buttons.
That's what I call it to where they know what the driver really wants to need.
So approximately three years ago,
Grant and James decided they'd reach out to some other carriers and see if they'd wanna uh subscribe to it and uh use Bulldog.
(30:49):
And the amazing thing is they were skeptical just as they should have been by and large.
I don't think they've lost a single customer they've developed and that's quite a testimonial.
I,
I really don't think they've lost to one then what they did is they uh started a podcast that focuses on communicating with the driver with telling them what the company is doing and then they emphasize safety on it so that we know we're getting messages to them.
(31:18):
And uh I believe that's about 50 hours a year is what the podcasts are.
But the thing that's unique about Bulldog,
it's not a cut and paste.
They designed this product specifically for the customer that the trucking company that uh is uh paying for it.
It's,
it's very unique to that company and focused on them so that they're not just homogenized,
(31:41):
a part of uh identical to others.
And so today,
their uh podcast is a,
a sort of a hidden secret that wasn't planned and they just keep adding services such as that,
I don't know what I'd do if we didn't have Bulldog was recruiting it with a pod bed.
I really don't know where we'd start to try to keep our trucks full because it's enabled us to grow.
(32:04):
And so I'm very proud of what they do.
I'm,
I'm really not the owner of Bulldog at all.
Uh But I sit there like I am and I'm so proud of what they,
they've accomplished because it's truly a premier product in Mack.
And,
and I'd recommend anyone to listen to Grant's story.
I believe that if they listen to Grant,
there's nothing to hide,
(32:26):
it's just a superior product.
And that's sort of my uh statement about Bulldog.
I enjoy it and anyone could call me a one or two.
Well,
I really appreciate that,
uh Such kind words for me there,
Randy,
uh about the podcast and I'll tell you I'm having so much fun doing it.
Um I've learned more about the trucking industry than I ever thought possible and I've met some very great people along the way.
(32:51):
Uh You mentioned James,
of course,
uh He's been instrumental on this podcast we couldn't do it without him and you,
but I want to take it back to,
to H AND M for just a little bit because uh I really want to dig into,
to the origins of H AND M.
Did you imagine back in 1980 when you started the grain company that 20 short years later,
(33:13):
uh you'd be out of the grain business and into the trucking business.
Not at all.
No,
I didn't.
And I would say that most good things that happen,
uh in my opinion,
aren't that specifically designed?
They just evolved and it just sort of happened and uh as I spent more time with it,
I enjoyed it and I saw where I could add some value and um collaborate and we tried to get the best people we could to help run it and um it just keeps like everything,
(33:44):
just keep throwing uh a little uh what I call encouragement at it and uh some assets and uh yeah,
we're about 250 trucks.
That's amazing.
Uh And,
and 250 trucks and growing if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah.
Yeah,
we are.
But right now,
uh the markets are,
are pretty tough in our industry.
So we're just sort of seeing our spike in the ground.
(34:06):
But yeah,
we're continuing to grow a little bit.
What's behind the culture of H and M.
Um you,
you guys have a lot of drivers that have stuck around for a long time,
very experienced uh every driver that I talk to,
talks about the culture and why they like driving for H and M.
Um those reasons are pretty consistent.
It's always said that it's because they feel like family at H and M and not a number.
(34:30):
Can you talk to me a little bit about the uh the mindset behind that and how you guys propagate that culture?
Well,
I,
I think that the thing that we do is first you gotta just simply do what's right and you can't look at the manual totally on.
Yes or no.
Although it's important you have the similar protocol but you gotta do what's right.
Number two,
(34:50):
if somebody calls and we're swamped and don't have time and say we'll get back to you in 20 minutes or the following day,
it's imperative that we do that.
There's nothing worse than someone saying I'll get back to you.
That doesn't,
I,
I just can't emphasize that enough.
I believe those are really the two things that are,
(35:11):
are key to me and,
um,
but just getting back to doing the right stuff and,
and,
and just hard,
sweat,
scratching and biting and,
and just making things happen.
It's,
it's,
it's really not anything unique to any business.
It's all businesses in that way.
Just go for the little things and the big things evolve for sure.
(35:32):
Now it's,
it really is,
uh,
eye opening to me because another thing I hear from a lot of the H and M drivers is they talk about other companies,
uh,
dangling sign on bonuses in front of prospective drivers,
which is not something that H and M does and what the drivers tell me is,
you know what I've figured it out.
I'm hip to it.
Now,
if there's this,
(35:53):
uh,
sign on bonus dangled in front of you,
you can know that you're not gonna be happy at that company.
And I don't know that that's,
uh you know,
that,
that stands true across every company that offers them.
What I do know is that when your drivers get to H and M,
they get through orientation,
they get out there on the road,
they feel valued and they feel like they are,
(36:13):
as I said before,
part of the family and I just can't,
uh I can't say it enough how many times that's come up on this podcast and to be a fly on the wall in that situation and just see from the outside in how this all comes together is,
uh,
is really cool.
And I gotta tip my cap to you,
Randy and everybody there at H and M it,
(36:33):
it doesn't seem like 43 years is long enough to build H and M trucking up to where it is right now.
So phenomenal job to you and everyone involved uh for coming from where you came from.
The thing that I feel good about is,
I think a lot of the drivers when they come in for orientation are truly surprised that it is the way it was described over the phone.
(36:58):
I think a lot of times you go to companies and once they get there,
they're very disappointed that it isn't the way it was,
uh,
stated over the phone when they,
uh,
were heard,
uh,
about a potential company.
Yes,
I agree with you.
And,
and that's another thing I've heard before.
A lot of bait and switch going on out there.
And,
uh,
it,
that never is a,
(37:18):
is a formula to make a driver happy in the long term,
in my opinion.
But let's not forget,
I'm a podcaster.
Not a,
uh,
I don't run a trucking company.
So.
Right.
But I,
I think that's true and that's true.
And so what we try to do is keep new,
uh,
new equipment,
which was very difficult during the supply chain shortage.
But we are finally getting caught up with new equipment.
(37:40):
That's imperative.
It's just,
it's too expensive to run old equipment for us.
And,
uh,
because of reliability delivery,
downtime,
the cost of fixing old equipment and it's just,
uh,
new equipment is horribly expensive,
but it's still the better avenue for us.
Yeah.
And the drivers love it.
Let me tell you,
uh,
they are,
they're all about those new shiny trucks.
(38:01):
And,
uh,
one of my favorite things on the podcast is when I hear a driver.
Tell me about how he likes to keep the truck clean.
Oh,
this is a new truck,
man.
I like to keep this thing clean.
I like to keep it looking good.
I know you like to hear that because,
uh,
that means when it comes time to sell that truck,
it's gonna be in good shape,
you're gonna get a good,
uh,
good value for it.
Yeah,
we uh,
feel that,
(38:22):
uh,
when we take our trucks and sell them,
uh,
I,
I really believe we get 20% more than the other trucking cabbage with a similar truck because of the way they're kept up.
It doesn't surprise me at all.
They look beautiful.
I got to sit in a brand new one when I was out there in Omaha over the summer.
And I think I need one of those seats for,
(38:42):
uh,
for doing this podcast because those things is one of the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in Randy.
Yeah,
it is,
it is their home,
you know,
when they're away from home.
So we wanna make sure that they're comfortable.
Absolutely.
Well,
listen,
we all need to be proud of what we do and,
uh,
with good equipment that,
that makes a difference for both us at H and M as well as the drivers.
(39:03):
I bet I could totally see that.
Well,
listen,
I know you're a busy guy and,
uh,
we're running up against the clock here,
but I want to get,
see the floor real quick.
I always let the drivers say anything.
They want to,
their fellow drivers and anybody at the front office staff,
I feel like it's only appropriate to,
to extend that same courtesy to you.
So,
the floor is yours,
Randy.
(39:24):
Uh,
anything you'd like to say to,
uh,
the employees at H and M today?
Well,
I'd like to thank everyone.
Uh,
it's,
uh,
they've given,
uh,
everything for H and M.
They worry like we worry,
it's very intense work.
We have to keep the customer happy.
We have to keep the driver happy.
We want to keep our employees as happy as we and it's a balancing act and uh we all have to be on the same page and uh I can't thank them enough.
(39:50):
They all work so hard and a lot of times they don't get the recognition we'd like to give them,
but I can assure you,
we appreciate everything they do and you can feel it.
It absolutely radiates throughout the entire company.
That's Randy Moller,
owner and founder of H and M Trucking.
Randy.
I really appreciate the time today and hopefully we'll get you back on here sometime in the future.
(40:13):
It's fine.
Thank you so much and thanks everyone.
Well,
how about that?
We've got a podcast on the history of H and M Trucking and,
uh,
that was one of the most fun podcasts that I've done.
Not to take anything away from all the driver profiles and the fun conversations that I have with staff members from H and M.
(40:36):
But I really have grown to love this company,
as you might imagine.
I'm uh in it every single day.
I'm talking about the ins and the outs and the fine details that keep this mammoth of a trucking fleet moving forward every single day and to be able to hear from uh the men responsible for not only bringing it from the ground up to where it is today,
(41:00):
but the ones that are also responsible for keeping it moving forward every single day into the future.
Uh That was just a great experience for me.
I'm a little bit of a history buff.
You can find me watching a World War Two documentary from time to time.
I love me some band of brothers,
stuff like that.
So listen,
if we're gonna get into history,
I'll sit down and grab a warm cup of Joe and we can have a chat.
(41:22):
All right.
Uh Thank you for tuning in to the history of H and M trucking episode.
Uh As I said,
I had a great time making it and I want to send out a huge thank you to Randy Muller,
Dale Cook and James Fonda for coming on and making this episode.
Uh Such a fun one for me to do.
Don't forget to click like and subscribe.
(41:42):
Uh All that stuff is still very important.
Even though I'm just sitting here gushing about how much fun I had making this episode.
Uh,
the real nuts and bolts still do matter.
So make sure you click that subscribe button if you want to know when each episode is airing.
Uh,
again,
we air on Wednesdays at 5 a.m. central time.
So it's always there for you right in the middle of your week to get you through that hump day.
(42:05):
We've got some great episodes planned coming out here in the future.
So just strap in and get ready.
Uh It's all you drivers out there listening.
Thanks for what you do.
Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down and uh stay fresh cheese bags.
(42:26):
Thank you for listening to the H and M Trucking podcast.
Please leave a review,
subscribe and connect with Marcus over at the H and M Trucking social media channels and if you're considering a job at H and M,
find us at HM trucking.com until next time,
stay safe and ahead of the curve drivers.
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