Speaker 2: 0:05

Welcome to Das Delivered, the podcast where we explore journeys of professionals making a difference in the transportation and logistics industry. I'm your host, trucking Ray, and today we're joined by two incredible guests from Aladdin Capital Incorporated Emily LeBritain, a marketing expert with a deep understanding of how to connect with trucking and transportation community, and Frank Wilson. He's the head of Aladdin Safety Practice and a former Arizona State Trooper with 20 years of experience in law enforcement. Emily and Frank come from different professional backgrounds, but they share a common goal helping truckers and fleet owners succeed. Emily drives the marketing efforts, making sure that the industry knows what Aladdin offers, while Frank works directly with carriers to ensure safety and compliance on the road. Today we'll learn about their journeys, the work they do and how Aladdin supports a trucking community. So let's get started. So, emily, let's start with you. What initially drew you into as a career in marketing and transportation? We'll have you speak on that and tell us a little bit about yourself there.

Speaker 1: 1:21

Awesome, yeah. Well, first off, I want to say thank you so much for having us on the podcast. We're really excited to be here, yeah. So how did I get started in marketing? So kind of an interesting story. So my dad's an accountant and growing up I was like I just want to be just like my dad. I love business, I love how business works. So I went to college for that, started my accounting classes and quickly realized oh my God, this is so boring. I cannot sit and stare at numbers all day. So I knew I still wanted to do business. So I kind of popped around and I fell in love with marketing. We get to have fun, still be in business, drive revenue and help people at the end of the day. So that's kind of kind of how I got into marketing. That's pretty.

Speaker 2: 2:03

And you know, families help each other and give each other ideas of what they could possibly do, and that's great. You admire your father. So, man, great job. You made the best with it, Made it your own Now. Just pivoting a moment in your career you led to specialize in the transportation industry. What led to that? Any movements or that you can recall or moments, Excuse me.

Speaker 1: 2:28

Yeah. So I was definitely like looking for a different job where I can. You know, like I said my, one of the things I love about marketing is that you can make a difference, you can help people. You know, hey, you have a pain point, we can help you solve it, and that's something that I firmly believe in. So, yeah, I was, you know, out there just kind of like seeing, seeing what's out, and that's something that I firmly believe in.

Speaker 1: 2:46

So, yeah, I was out there just kind of like seeing what's out, and I came across Aladdin and I was like, okay, what's Aladdin? It's a trucking company. And I'm like, oh, excuse me, I have to say a trucking support company. And I love that because, at the end of the day, like we I mean, we all saw in COVID how important the transportation industry is to the economy and these people are working hard every single day. They're busting their butts to go out there, do what they love to do, deliver loads, put food on the table, put roofs over the family's head. So I'm like I want to help these people. So, yeah, and I spoke with Aladdin and next thing, you know, almost two years later, I'm here.

Speaker 2: 3:19

So that's pretty awesome. Marketing isn't easy, it's not straightforward. That's pretty awesome Marketing isn't easy, it's not straightforward. Some might think.

Speaker 1: 3:32

But what were some unique challenges that you've encountered in your industry? Dive into that. So my background came from a true B2B. I started in the tech space and also in the recruiting space as well. So we're speaking with the CEOs, the HR, the CEOs, like the HR people. But you know, our audience at Aladdin here like really differs. We work with a lot of owner operators or we work with a lot of fleet owners mainly owner operators, depending on what service. So these guys are completely different than like a true B2B. It's kind of speaking to them as a consumer.

Speaker 1: 4:01

Also, and I thought was interesting is, you know, like I said, owner operators. These guys are in their trucks all day, so they're not sitting there reading articles. They don't have time to research on stuff. They're getting bombarded with phone calls, emails, especially with all the spams right now. So it's like how can we reach them where they are while being relevant and popping up so that they want to engage with us? So that's kind of the challenge that you know, to this day we're still overcoming as this industry continues to change, as we've seen over the past two years. It's, you know, really meeting them where they're at. So learning that and I love it. I mean, I feel like we go back to some more of like the grassroots, like guerrilla style marketing versus digital marketing, like billboards being at events, holding events Again. That's stuff that really went away during COVID, but now we're bringing it back. So it's kind of interesting to see how everything is cyclical at the end. So it's fun, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 4:54

Yeah, man, thank you, man, you broke that down and helped everybody understand that I mean that journey. There's a lot of effort put in there, you know. So, frank, I'm going to look at you a little bit. You had a completely different background. What inspired you to become a state trooper? We'll start with that. You know. I mean, that's a great job in itself. A lot of work involved. I mean, man, tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 3: 5:17

Well, when I was 17 years old, I joined the Marine Corps. I got married when I was in the Marine Corps. I was an infantry Marine. When it came time for me to end my initial enlistment, I kind of came to a decision that my whole family's in the military, came to a decision that I would like to have a family someday. And, you know, stay home a little bit more. It's pretty hard to tell your kid hey, heck of a baseball game, I'll see you next Easter, because we used to go away for six months at a time, and then just the wear and tear in your body when you do it. And so let's be completely honest. What do Marines do when they get out of the infantry?

Speaker 3: 5:52

I don't have a lot of skills that transfer to a civilian work environment other than you know. Integrity, mission accomplishment, all these other things that are great, but you don't have any letters after your name. Mission accomplishment all these other things that are great, but you don't have any letters after your name. I needed a job, and so I started to pursue law enforcement, looked around, started to go to college, was taking 26 credit hours, I was going to take a dual major and luckily the highway patrol said, hey, we kind of like it. It felt like a good fit. You get to kind of be on your own, you get to work in a variety of environments and do all kinds of different things. And so I joined Arizona Highway Patrol and I stayed there for 20 years.

Speaker 3: 6:29

During my career I stayed on the road the entire time. I had no urge to go into chasing felons, I had no urge to do super high end criminal investigations. I just wanted to go ahead and stop people that were driving unsafely on the roadway. I wanted to interdict narcotics. I wanted to investigate big giant collisions where people were seriously injured. I started to notice that there are a bunch of these big trucks driving around and, heaven forbid, when they're involved in collisions people got hurt. And so I started. That kind of started to spark my interest a little bit. Okay, why are these trucks doing this? Ok, that kind of morphed itself into OK, it's now time to get out of the highway patrol. It's time to start a new chapter in my life. Through different reasons, with the family and whatnot.

Speaker 3: 7:15

I had grown up in South Dakota up until I was in third grade, and so we decided my wife and I decided we were going to move up north, and we did. I retired from the highway patrol, began to kind of bump around a little bit, worked at a state agency here, decided that wasn't a good fit, went to go work for a multibillion-dollar organization Trying to doing the same thing that I do now similar. Right. I started to realize something. I'm never going to change their operating procedures. They've made a billion dollars. Let's keep doing it.

Speaker 3: 7:46

These bigger companies, the Walmarts of the world, the FedEx of the world, the UPSs of the world they have 100 of me on staff that are well-trained, chapter and verse in federal motor carrier safety regulation. The little guy doesn't get that opportunity, even a guy that's only got 100 trucks. Guess what? To pay somebody just to do my job is going to be pretty cross prohibitive and you start to get smaller than that. It's impossible. But still held to the same standards, whether you're Walmart or Frank's Freight, it's all the same. So that's what led me to Aladdin, because they presented me the opportunity. Hey, start this department, let's run with this department, kind of make it how I think is going to work best for everybody. And luckily we've been, I'd like to say, relatively successful, especially I don't even have to qualify this. We're extremely successful helping out industry, maintain compliance.

Speaker 2: 8:40

Wow, I mean, that's great, man, and thank you for your service Doing that. I think you're very well qualified for a lot of jobs, man, and uh, I'm glad you kept pursuing something and, uh, something you're passionate about. You know, um, like, say, emily, she got the family background and and then you're also pushing forward on things that mean deeply to you. So, uh, it it helps out in that was passion, it helps out in the industry. Man, people can read it and they can feel it. So, man, big ups to you guys. Uh, great teamwork. Uh, was there a moment that you decided to transition from law enforcement, uh, to working in trucking and safety that you recall, maybe like a story or event that took place that you want to share with us?

Speaker 3: 9:25

I did, or had the opportunity, however you want to look at it was the victim of. I went to a lot of serious injury collisions up into involving death. A lot of them did involve a bunch of motor vehicles. It's not one specific instance, I'll just call it what it is. It was personal. It's extremely personal to me that we decided that, hey, we always wanted to move.

Speaker 3: 9:50

I worked in metropolitan Phoenix. There's 6 million people, the hustle and bustle. I watched Phoenix grow. We moved there. When I was in sixth grade I went away, graduated high school, went away, came back and just watched it get bigger and bigger and bigger. It's not going to stop. My wife and I wanted to move to a more rural area with seasons we kind of like rain so we moved and we moved to South Dakota and that's just about it, but there's just been, unfortunately. I've been involved in the investigation of hundreds of collisions involving fatalities.

Speaker 3: 10:25

I worked in the West side of metropolitan Phoenix for 20 years. That's between Phoenix and LA. Anybody who's ever done anything in the trucking industry realizes that there's one or two trucks on I-10. Our traffic flow on the West side of metropolitan Phoenix is about 275,000 cars a day on I-10. They go through a certain point. Six lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, the whole nine yards. Just like California, just like the East Coast, minneapolis has traffic, just like Dallas. We are a full-blown metropolitan area. That wears on you a little bit just trying to go from A to B, and so we moved here, live on a farm now, have animals, everything's good, shovel, snow.

Speaker 2: 11:07

That's snow again, right.

Speaker 3: 11:09

But no water burger, so I'm still very upset over that, so we're fine.

Speaker 2: 11:15

Oh man, what about so? So, whether it was an inspection, an accident scene or a lesson you think is important for today's drivers, what would you? What would you tell those individuals out there on the road that's driving, whether it be in a semi or even just in their pedestrian car?

Speaker 3: 11:30

Well, it's anything. Anybody operating a vehicle on the roadway we all are on these roads. Think about what's important now. What's important now is operating your vehicle, whether it's a tractor, whether it's a moped. What you're doing now is most important. Don't be distracted, don't be the influence of an outside chemical stimuli, whether it's alcohol, whether it's illicit drugs, whether it's prescription drugs. Okay, don't drive in the road when you're so dang, I'm tired. You can't hardly stay awake If you forget where your car keys are at because you're that exhausted. What kind of a good idea is it to get in something that's metal and capable of traveling at 80 miles an hour? That is going to heaven. Forbid get involved in a collision and hurt yourself or others. That's the big thing.

Speaker 2: 12:22

Yeah, those distractions, man. It has been increasing, not just for passenger cars but even for professionals. What do you think we can do to combat that? Just keep increasing awareness? Or how can we fight back as an industry?

Speaker 3: 12:39

You cannot regulate common sense. Common sense is an uncommon virtue. You cannot regulate common sense. Common sense is an uncommon virtue. We, on a personal level, each driver, we're all guilty of some form of distraction. We have to. On an interpersonal level, you have to determine whatever outside stimuli is affecting you, whatever distraction. You still got to concentrate on driving, operating your vehicle, and so I just think we just keep trying to tell people, hey, do this, do this, and hopefully maybe it'll take effect. Hopefully they don't have to learn from something bad that they see or something that they experience in. It's kind of like we all know cheeseburgers are bad for us, but we're still all going to do it. It's just you can eat a cheeseburger three times a day, or maybe just eat one sparingly. I'm not the one to talk to about cheeseburgers. I'll eat cheeseburgers till I fall over, but realize there's a risk reward in this. When you're operating a vehicle, there is no acceptable reason to be distracted. There isn't, none, yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:39

Yeah you're right.

Speaker 2: 13:40

Being balanced, making sure that, hey, you know I see the bigger picture here that I could actually do a lot of harm versus the good that you're trying to get out of the cheeseburger or that other thing that you have to try to give your attention to, whether it be a cell phone, a message or something. It can wait, I think. That reminder putting those on those billboards out there on the road, even if it's just an information board, letting people know, hey, why they're riding, look at that, we're on to you. We know you're probably on your phone, so I'll just put it down for now and you can wait. So, uh, just kind of switch over into joining um Aladdin capital. Um, you know what was some of the things that a typical day looks like for you and head of marketing, emily, we'll switch back to you marketing.

Speaker 1: 14:26

Emily, we'll switch back to you. That is a very good question. So every day is completely different, which is, you know, another reason why I wanted to jump into marketing. You know I'm over here maybe helping a sales rep. You know, make sure that they can get to a customer. Or you know I'm working with, for example, the safety team making sure that A if there's a new law enforcement or I shouldn't say law enforcement that's out or something with compliance that has changed.

Speaker 1: 14:49

I'm getting it out to our customers and then maybe on the factoring side, if anything changes on our end with our software, saying, hey, here are these changes. So making sure that the customer and client experience is seamless and best as possible on that end. And then also making sure I'm doing what I can for all the departments to help them bring on new customers, get the brand awareness out there, get, you know, aladdin in front of people's minds. So if they say, hey, I need help with, you know, getting my invoices paid, I need help with my compliance, I need a new truck. Today's great, I have the opportunity to talk to you today and tomorrow I may have some meetings and Wednesdays I may be heads down on some digital marketing stuff and it looks different, which is awesome. It's really project based, but it all goes towards one big goal of, you know, just helping truckers better operate their business.

Speaker 2: 15:40

And you know, yeah, yeah, you got a great personality real, real bubbly personality and I saw you at the truck show. You got a great personality, real bubbly personality.

Speaker 1: 15:48

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 15:46

I saw you at the truck show. Thank you, yeah, yes, it was great to be able to connect with you, so yeah, I was so excited when you came.

Speaker 1: 15:53

I was so honored.

Speaker 2: 15:53

Yeah, my honor is all mine. So, yeah, you know, I think about Aladdin Capital Service and the impact Far from those who might not be, you know, those who are not familiar with Aladdin Capital. Does the trucking and transportation business kind of look for your services or you kind of got to go out there and just hit the ground running for those who may not be familiar?

Speaker 1: 16:26

How can you help them break into what services you provide? Yeah, so basically, I mean, we're super, I should say, easily to access, like through our website and everything. But you know the services that we provide are, you know, financial and compliance support. So if you're like, hey, I need help with getting my invoices paid, I need help making sure that cash is flowing through my business, or, yeah, throwing for my business, we have factoring. So I don't know if your audience knows what factoring is or if you want me to break that down. Okay, yeah, basically it's. You know I'm a tracker, I haul my load. Once I deliver my load, I send the proof of you know, delivery to my factoring company. They approve it, they say it's awesome. We send you the money within 24 hours and then we take that invoice. We invoice your customer so we handle the collections on that end and then you're on your merry way. So you know, instead of having to wait 30, 60, 90 days to get paid, we pay you within 24 hours. You don't have to worry about that and then you're on your way to your next job. So that's, factoring is extremely helpful, especially with owner operators.

Speaker 1: 17:27

A small guy starting up Because, let's face it. Owning a trucking company is not cheap and you guys need to keep working. So that's factoring. We do equipment leasing, financing for class eight vehicles, and then we do compliance and safety. And compliance really is a big umbrella for IFTA filing, irp setup, ifta license setup, plate renewals, permits, safety like what Frank does UCR excuse me renewals, usdot updates, 2290 filings. So we're kind of like a one-stop shop. That's our goal for financial compliance support. But yeah, so if anybody needs us, you know, you can Google us, you can, you know, find us at any local truck show where we're actually spoiler. We're launching our Instagram and TikTok today, so we're going to be more on social media. That's like one of the goals going forward. We're going to be all across the internet. So yeah, you know it's, it's right now. We're accessible, but I want to become more accessible to people.

Speaker 2: 18:31

So let's do it. Uh, tell me about the leasing. Oh, man, you know guys want to buy the nicest and best stuff, but uh, it's probably not the best idea. Walk me through a little bit of that.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Uh, for the leasing, um, when they pick out their equipment um, is that one of the first things they have to do? Okay, yep, so they pick out their equipment and, like the first thing we talked to them about and like, just because of how the industry is right now, how much do you have to put down? We do have a percentage that we do require and when the industry is a little bit tougher it's a little bit higher to making sure you know that we all get paid, but, yeah, making sure you have that money to put down A and then B. Another thing that's really important for us is that you have two years of CDL driving experience under your belt. So those are the two main stipulations and, obviously, looking at your credit, are you able to pay bills back at the end of the day, you know, are we going to get paid on our end? So, yeah, those are the main things. I the end of the day, are we going to get paid on our end? So, yeah, those are the main things. I will say.

Speaker 1: 19:31

A lot of the guys that we have come through dealerships. So they go to a dealership, they pick out their truck and the dealership may say, hey, you need to finance this, we got a lot in. So we don't typically help somebody. If you were to come to me and say, hey, I'm Ray, I want to start a trucking company. I want to haul X, y, z. What do you think I should haul with you know, we will help you if you need that, but that's not where our main service lies. We, you know you. You would say, hey, I have this truck, I want to purchase it. I need help purchasing it at the end of the day, thanks.

Speaker 2: 20:00

So that sounds like a good experience Get people in the feet, get them going on the road, get them doing the things they need to do to take care of their families. So I just kind of switch over to the compliance part. Frank, what does a typical day look like for you when you get a phone call or you get a new customer? Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 3: 20:20

Well, they're very different scenarios. Let's talk about if we get a new customer, whether it's a pre-existing company or whomever okay, new customer, we're going to begin a short conversation with them. We're going to answer their questions. If they have them, we've tried to make getting their carrier files up to compliance as easy as we can for them. We can do all these things electronically. As long as I have some certain pieces of information, as long as I got a med card, so as I got your driver's license, okay. As long as I have some certain pieces of information, as long as I got a med card, as long as I got your driver's license, okay. As long as you have a personal email address or what you're going to use to set up your company, and as long as you have a cell phone, we're good to go. We're going to start building all these FMCSA required portals. Let's not devvy into it any more than that. We're going to start building everything electronically via DocuSign. The good thing that we like about DocuSign is it's either going to be right or it's going to be wrong and it's time stamped, okay. So now the feds have treat, treat, they will treat that as authorized electronic communication, signatures and the like Okay, we're going to help you make sure that you fill out, once you filled out, that DocuSign. Once it comes back to us, it's going to be reviewed right, it's audited. When I look at it, once my team gets it, they know what to look for. I've trained all of them on what to look for the basics 10 years of CDL, history, convictions, previous employers, that type of thing. Once we get that, we file it. We're going to ask you for some more information so we can build all your carrier files.

Speaker 3: 21:47

This is a collaborative effort between us and industry. We don't want industry to think that, oh, frank's taking care of my safety, I don't need to do anything else. No, the feds have bought off on this system where I'm a force multiplier for lack of better words. I will help you stay on the road, make money, haul your loads. I'll take care of all the back office stuff, but I'm only as good as the information I get.

Speaker 3: 22:11

I don't know if you get a new truck. I don't know if you have a roadside inspection. I don't know if you hire new drivers okay, so you have to tell me these things. I'll do the big three requirements that you have to have before you can operate a vehicle, even for yourself. Okay, we're going to make sure that you're enrolled in drug and alcohol testing. Am I a consortium? No, I'm not Okay. Do we have people that we can recommend to you? Yes, okay, we're going to get the documentation that's required to put in your files showing that you're in a drug consortium.

Speaker 3: 22:34

We're going to conduct that pre-employment clearinghouse query. We're going to conduct that pre-employment driving license history. We're going to put those into your files Yearly. Those have to be updated at a minimum. Your're at Clearinghouse. You're at NPR? Okay, you're going to continue to send me documentation that I asked for, right? So I do spend a lot of my day helping out new industry doing that, making sure that they get that initial stuff set up. Okay, Another huge bunch of people that I talk to is when they get audited.

Speaker 3: 23:12

It does appear that I have a large amount of clients who like to call me on Friday when their audit's due Monday, or their audit was due the 6th and they're calling me on the 7th. Now we get into a different animal completely with the feds. It's kind of like mom If you ignore her, mom's going to get really mad at you when they get mad at you.

Speaker 2: 23:29

Guess what?

Speaker 3: 23:29

You're still going to turn in what they originally wanted. But now you're going to have to say you're going to basically write them a letter saying I'm sorry and this is what I'm going to do, not to do this again. Okay. So we will help industry through that process, but again, it's a collaborative effort. I'm only as good as the information that I get. I can't make up stuff for you. I can't predate stuff.

Speaker 3: 23:55

These are three things that you were supposed to have before you start driving, even for yourself Be enrolled in the clearinghouse, have a driver's license check on file and be subject to drug and alcohol testing, with a proper pre-employment hearing analysis conducted. Okay, so that's kind of what I do. I talk to people all the time just explaining federal motor carrier safety regulations to them.

Speaker 1: 24:22

Wow, and so either for either of you, maybe tell the listeners out there, how does Aladdin position itself to stand out from the rest of the crowd in the industry when it comes to compliance and business service providers? So I will say that I think Aladdin actually has a really unique angle compared to other compliance and factoring providers, unlike other people. Like we were actually founded by a fleet owner and trucking industry professional. So one of our owners he used to own a trucking company. He's worked with that and then also a lot of people on Frank's team. Like we have ex-safety managers, ex-safety directors, ex-dispatchers, dispatch managers A few of the guys that work at our company used to be carriers and haul some loads.

Speaker 1: 25:14

So we have people that were actually in like the shoes of our customers. So because of that, we're able to take their insight and experience and apply that into our solutions. So that's how we kind of like market ourselves as industry experts. Because we've been in your shoes. We know our tagline is we know that the road, we know the road that you're on, we understand what you've been through, we know your challenges and we know your wins and we're here to help you overcome your challenges and celebrate your wins even more. Yeah, and I would say Frank is a true attestment to that, you know, especially the fact that, like he came from enforcing compliance and I was helping others maintain their compliance to shows that, you know, like what he's learned in the trucking industry or through his years in the industry, he's he's taking that, he's helping apply it and make make these great customized solutions for our carriers to stay compliant and have that peace of mind at the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 26:06

And peace of mind is huge. Frank, maybe tell us a little about that. That DLT compliance.

Speaker 3: 26:11

I think that there's a lot of people that are going to this documentation, our requirements, all these rules and regulations. If you have time and you want to read 590, some odd pages written in legalese, knock yourself out. Okay, there are people that will provide you with the required documents. There's very few, and now we start paring it down just a little bit more. All right, there's very few that'll maintain those files for you, ie data retention. There's even fewer that are actually going to say hey, you know what, ray? I mean, this medical card is not current. Thanks for giving me your medical card from 2024. Good for you, I need your current one.

Speaker 3: 26:57

Okay, hey, this annual inspection? Right, this was conducted on a peterbilt. This vehicle list you're giving me says you own a kenworth. Which one is it okay? Ok, this MCS 90 you have on file, this is for insurance policy seven. How come you now have insurance policy three? You get what I'm saying. So we're one of the very, very few. I'm basically, when you send me your documentation, me and my bunch we're looking at it, we're making sure it's compliant. You're ready for an audit? Ok, whether it come from a state level, a federal level or heaven forbid if you're involved in a collision? No-transcript. That's what I think is a bigger difference with us. I mean, there's lots of people send you the paperwork. You can print the paperwork out. Did you fill it out right?

Speaker 2: 27:46

Yeah, and it comes down to it. They're looking at everything. They want you to dot the I's, cross the T's and then, because, like you said, lives are involved, or property damage as well, the value of things are so expensive nowadays. Who's going to pay for that right?

Speaker 1: 28:01

Yeah, the value of things are so, so expensive nowadays. Who's going to pay for that, right? Yeah, and I'll I'll add on to that too, like with our IFTA services, like one of the great things that we do as well. Like Frank said, you can submit your miles and your fuel and people will take that data that you give them and do do your tax. You know calculations based off of that.

Speaker 1: 28:15

We actually sit there and, like you know, bless the hearts of the people because they're staring at spreadsheets all day, not why I want to be an accountant, but, um, you know they're actually going through and they're making sure, okay, so you said that you did this many miles and X. You know they compare it to everything and they pull out if anything stands out that's not right and they correct it. Cause, at the end of the day, we want you guys to, you know, make sure you're staying compliant having, make sure you're staying compliant, having it done correctly. We're not just going to do it because we want to get paid, like, we actually want you to get it done correctly. So that's one thing that really makes us stand out on that side as well.

Speaker 2: 28:47

And it sounds like trustworthiness means something and value that some other places you know they're going to they're going to struggle with that because they've gotten so big. So I don't know if that's probably something, that niche effort that happens when the companies take those principles and make them part of their core values. I mean that's going to be good, that's going to hopefully that our customers can see that and believe in it and also, hearing what you guys are saying, maybe they'll make a switch.

Speaker 1: 29:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll say one last thing about, like, the niche thing. Like, as Aladdin continues to grow, we still provide, like the small business, personalization and customization and a trustworthiness to our customers. Like that does not get lost on us. And I will say specifically like Frank, I mean he's done a great job on that. Like Frank, I mean he's done a great job on that. Like his team has continued to grow and he's very much so made sure that every single person underneath him follows the same processes and the same like, has the same ethical outlook as he does as well. So, which is which is important?

Speaker 2: 29:52

Yeah, we definitely want you guys to grow, Keep doing what you're doing. So, yeah, that's huge. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, that's great. So I mean, as from the marketing perspective, how do you educate clients on the importance of safety and compliance without overwhelming them? I mean, it seems like there's a lot of little intricate detail. How would you help those individuals?

Speaker 1: 30:13

So I will say one good thing that I don't know a lot about safety and compliance in the weeds, as Frank is, I can take what he's telling me and I can pull it to a higher level. So what I can understand if I'm like, if they can, if I can understand it, they can understand is kind of the basis that I go off of Um. So, yeah, like Frank and I, we sit down. He tells me you know the upcoming um, for example, the clearinghouse rule, final two, we talked about that. Okay, so how is it going to affect them? What are the consequences? What do they need to know today that they need to start putting into action?

Speaker 1: 30:46

So we take the information, we put it in blogs that are always going to be on our website, so if people ever need to go back to that content, they can find it. We're constantly. We have a shameless plug. We have a monthly newsletter for all of our customers and people in our community as well. So we're constantly giving them up-to-date stuff and that's where we'll keep highlighting hey, if you haven't seen this, make sure to check it out.

Speaker 1: 31:09

We'll send you know some customer service announcements if needed on social media, and in the past we actually even held events like specifically around the Clearinghouse Final Rule too, like let's get everybody in the same room, all of our customers, and let's talk about what are the concerns, what are their questions about this, so that way, when it goes into effect, they're not being pulled over on the side of the road and heaven forbid they don't have a load with them and they can just continue on with the rest of their day.

Speaker 1: 31:35

So we kind of our biggest thing is we really try to make sure that we are promoting proactive safety management measures and, like you know, frank and his team are amazing and keeping me definitely in the loop on that Because, like I said, I know compliance enough to be dangerous, but I cannot tell you all the weeds. So, yeah, just kind of taking that, bringing it to a high level and just keep making sure we're staying in front of their mind and having, you know, the opportunities for them to speak up, ask questions, all that fun stuff, Nice.

Speaker 2: 32:08

I say, frank, what about trucking companies looking to improve their safety ratings? I know it's hard to even approve or improve reviews for companies. What are some practical tips that they could take for now, maybe even in the future, to help them get better ratings?

Speaker 3: 32:24

Well, there's two schools to this. Okay, let's call it what it is. You've been in the industry for a little while. You've received your review Okay. Now it's your new entrant. We're talking about an audit, okay, and you've received a conditional rating Okay. Is that what you're kind of talking about?

Speaker 1: 32:40

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 32:40

Yeah, okay, you're not going to improve. Let's call it what it is. You are not going to improve a conditional rating until you're audited again. Oh, that's it. Okay, now can you, during the initial, the very initial once you've received your audit and you have a conditional, conditional rating that makes sense to you, a proposed rating of conditional Okay this is after the audit's done you have the ability to try and put safety procedures in place that would eliminate those violations that they found during the audit. So it's very, very small window. You've got 30 to 60 days to do that initial return back to the feds and then it can be a lengthy process.

Speaker 3: 33:21

I'm in one right now that it's been going on since november. Okay, okay, early november, and I mean, like the day we got the audit findings, we already knew what they were going to be because I had already ordered them. Hey, this is all the stuff I'd find wrong and I wrote it all down. We did the corrective actions in-house to fix those things. We're still receiving requests from the feds for stuff. I'll be absolutely honest with you. We've already sent this stuff into them. Not only do you send it to them, but they want you know what. I don't want to dig through all that paperwork that we sent, because we sent multi-bites full of carrier files to them. I just want to know about Frank's pre-employment P-test to them. I just want to know about Frank's pre-employment P-test.

Speaker 3: 34:01

One thing I sent that Guess what that does you. No good, You're going to send that just to him. Hey, I wanted to see his hours of service for January. I sent them it. You asked for it in the beginning. Here's just that. So we've been going through this process. So there is that side of it. If you get a conditional rating, you're going to get audited again. That's the only way it's going to go away. That's it, okay, other than that initial time period that they give you to adjust yourself. Okay, now is there some circumstances where they have petitioned the feds after the fact yeah, there is Right.

Speaker 3: 34:34

But it's conducive to you to try and respond within that initial period. Obviously, we'd rather have no wrong in the beginning, but you were found in violation. Correct that stuff, find, tell the Fed. You've corrected it. Hopefully you get that satisfactory rating. If you're unconditional, you're unconditional, that's all there is to it. So there's that side of the house. Now let's deal about just the roadside inspection side of the house, something called an inspection selection system, iss for short. Okay, it goes directly off of your SMS, which nobody on planet earth can figure out unless they have advanced mathematical degrees, because they use algorithms about when did the violation occur, what's the magnitude of the violation, all these other different things. So let's just put that aside. That's too complex.

Speaker 3: 35:15

The best thing you can do to help your safety score we're just talking about ISS is quality pre-trip inspection. Don't get stopped. And if you are stopped, you want a clean inspection. Okay, it's kind of like if you put oil in a cup of water. Okay, if you've got a small cup of water and you drop a drip of oil in there, guess what? You got oily water, right? Okay, so your cup was all your roadside inspections. Your drop of oil is your bad inspection. Now, if you had a gallon and a half of water with that same little drop, is it diluted? Yes, it is Okay. So you want to do a quality pre-trip inspection? So when you are stopped because you want to be stopped, you want a clean inscription that will dilute the bad inspection.

Speaker 2: 36:05

That's the key. That's the key. That's the key, and be consistent with it as well. That's key.

Speaker 3: 36:11

Now, you always want to be compliant. In the beginning you just got caught with a mistake. Unfortunately, that mistake holds a lot of value. It's going to stay on your record for two years, okay. So if you only have one stop in two years and it's bad, you're out of service because you unplugged your ELD, okay, and so you got an out of service order and you sat inside the road for 10 hours and you only have that one stop. Your ISS is going to be high for a little while. But now here's the other side of the coin. If your ISS, your inspection selection system props are not very smart.

Speaker 3: 36:42

Red, green and yellow, just like a stoplight, guess what? Red means Stop, yeah, stop. Yellow means I can think about stopping you. Green means just let them go on down the road, no reason, unless I see a violation. If I see something that's going to be a big violation, guess what? I'm going to stop you. I don't care what it is. So that's the only way you can try and improve your scores. Be compliant. Be compliant on the roadway, have your carrier files compliant but we're just talking roadway right now. Have your equipment maintained. How do you do that? Pre-trip inspections Secure your loads. Don't look at your cell phone, don't touch your cell phone and put your daggum seatbelt on.

Speaker 2: 37:29

Tell me about that. How do you touch the cell phone one? Give me some insights on that one.

Speaker 3: 37:33

You can't touch your cell phone If your cell phone is in your hand. If you're holding your cell phone, I know good there's a podcast. Your cell phone is in your hand. If you're holding your cell phone, I know good there's a podcast if you're holding your cell phone. It's kind of like if frank wilson's holding a water burger, we're going to assume I'm going to eat it. Right, if you're holding that cell phone, you're going to look at it.

Speaker 3: 37:50

Vis-a-vis, you are going to be distracted so a cell phone holder yeah, you know, you have it in your paw, you're holding it yeah you can have it turned away from you.

Speaker 3: 38:00

It doesn't matter, it's in your hand, you're going to use it. One touch, good to go. Okay, you answer a phone call, you do or not? That's fine. Now, that does not mean you get to have one touch and watch your YouTube videos. That's not what I'm talking about. But if you need to answer a phone call and goes to your Bluetooth, you know whether it your finger doesn't get you in trouble. Holding your cell phone get you in trouble.

Speaker 2: 38:22

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying that, so go ahead, emily.

Speaker 1: 38:28

I was going to say I'll back one thing up on. You know, frank said the pre-trip inspections. I was just at a safety conference on on Friday and they had the state troopers were going through, you know the inspections out of service, not out of service, and they did top five for each. Nine out of the ten of them could have been prevented by pre-trip inspection. It's like blinkers not working loads not 15 minutes, 20 minutes in the morning. You're going to save that? How many hours fines? All that that would come from, maybe an out-of-service order or what have you.

Speaker 2: 39:11

So yeah, so, man those inspections and distractions are going to get you if you're not behaving correctly. Good tips there, guys, going to get you if you're not behaving correctly. Good tips there, guys, putting it out there for people to please stay aware out there on the road, so that they can keep on rolling that there's nothing really getting in your way, so that you can continue to provide for yourself and your family. So what are some of the misconceptions Maybe let's touch on that for truckers about compliance and safety. You know people think they're okay, but I know the cell phone is one of them. You know they're thinking they could touch it once and that's good, good advice. But what about some other things that people get caught up in that you see?

Speaker 3: 39:51

Well, that's pretty simple. First thing is law enforcement is not out to get you Okay, we're out to get violations. We are not picking on you. You probably did something wrong and we're out to get violations. We are not picking on you. You probably did something wrong and we're choosing to enforce the statutes to its fullest. Call that what it is Right now. What are the three things that are most lacking with pretty much everybody? And it's very simple. It's those three big three. I call them Even as owner operators, even as a one-man shop, or even as FedEx, it does not matter.

Speaker 3: 40:25

Everybody, before they get behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle on the public roadway, shall have pre-employment drug testing with negative result. Shall have a full pre-employment clearinghouse query on file, a pre-employment, before operating a vehicle. Motor vehicle records basically just your driving history. In law enforcement we can pull up your driver's license status. You, me, emily, we don't have that ability. So we have the ability to run an MVR that queries those state databases that have all your previous violations in them. That's the only way you really know if your driver's license is valid or not. Even your own, you don't know. You could have hit the wrong button and said that you got caught driving at Daytona International Speedway the wrong direction and you received 87 tickets. You didn't know this. If that's what the record shows, that's what the record shows. That's what law enforcement is going to see on the side of the road is there any way to clear some of that stuff up?

Speaker 3: 41:26

If it is an, erroneous violation yes, Then you contact the issuing agency or your state driver's license issuing agency. That's from a motor vehicle side of the house, right? There is no way to fix a bad pre-employment drug test unless you talk to your doctor and maybe there's some exigent circumstances. Don't try and be a doctor. Didn't stay in a Holiday and express last night, All right. The clearinghouse right. That is very easy and there is a policy, there's procedures that the feds talk about how you clear up erroneous drug and alcohol violations that were put in there.

Speaker 3: 42:02

For one thing whoever entered that information in Frank's clearinghouse account? You have to show proof. Hey, here's his positive drug test. You have to present that. That proof has to be in the clearinghouse. They don't have that proof? I just don't get to say Frank's a bad driver. No, I have to be able to show. Hey, here's his bad urinalysis. He took on February 14th 2025.

Speaker 2: 42:29

I like it, thank you, and hopefully people aren't dealing with that, but if they are, they know that they have options to help themselves out there. So the industry specific knowledge versus general marketing experience when it comes to marketing a business like Aladdin Capital, how important is it that you be industry specific knowledge, like we're saying? We mentioned that niche. How important is it that you really narrow it down?

Speaker 1: 43:01

It is extremely important, like kind of like I mentioned at the beginning is you know, you need to know where to find your audience, where they are. That and B. You need to be relatable and relevant enough for them to want to click on your ad, open your email, answer your phone number, read your article. You need to be able to be how do I say this Solving a pain point for them. I'm going to put that in words for a second, but yeah, so it is extremely important because, like I said, you know, trucking, like what we do, is technically B2B, but at the end of the day, when you're working with owner operators or small fleets, it's really B2C because they're they're one guy, they're one consumer and they're the way they're engaging. Information is very consumer-like versus. You know, if we're working with bigger fleets, we can talk to them more B2B because their CEO, their CFO, has time to go on the internet, do some research, you know, open my emails, all that fun stuff. So it is extremely important. And I would also say, like, specifically with factoring, there's so many factoring providers out there that you need to be specific on. Hey, we're going to help you tackle this challenge. We're going to help you with this because I know, like the shoes, I know the road you're on. We've been in your shoes before. We can help you. And that's something that's going to help you stand out Because, at the end of the day, you know, like right now, specifically, like people are very focused on their factoring fee slash rate because the industry isn't. You know, it's not great right now. We're going through some tough times. So, yeah, customer service is huge. It's huge, like we got to make sure that we are definitely getting the money to our people in a timely manner and we're doing it in the most seamless process possible for them so they don't see any hiccups. So it is extremely important and, like I said, it just all goes back to like knowing where to meet your audience.

Speaker 1: 44:50

At the end of the day, I will say, when I first interviewed with Aladdin, I took a lot of the B2B stuff that I used in the past and I said, okay, so we're going to have, you know, our two owners. We're going to have our leadership team. You guys are all going to be posting on LinkedIn. And they laughed at me and I was like what's so funny? And they're like truckers don't use LinkedIn. And I was like ah, now I understand. I mean, excuse me, they do, I don't want to just say that, but that's not the main social media platform that they're on. So it's like, okay, I had to pivot. At the end of the day, you might not see owner operators just hanging out on LinkedIn because, at the end of the day, that's not where they really look for a job or for their loads.

Speaker 2: 45:28

So so yeah, so what advice would you give? You know? Final thoughts and advice what advice would you give marketing professionals? I know you don't want to give a lot of the secret sauce, but look at the transition from the niche industry to life and trucking, like trying to find those individuals, like you said, getting them to click on it, to read it, to know about what it is you offer because you have a great service. I mean, you guys have the passion, the desire and you know, I think maybe they'll get that from this podcast and see that and feel that. So what advice would you give professionals out there for marketing?

Speaker 1: 46:07

My main advice is definitely like do your research. I would say, you know, not only Googling stuff online, but go talk to actual people who have been truckers before. Like I said, it's great that we have ex-carriers, ex-flea owners, on our team. So when we had, you know, aladdin had separate from Aladdin when they had this trucking business, you know, a lot of the stuff I learned from was, I should say, mistakes or things that they learned from. Like, oh, we learned that we needed a safety provider because X Y Z. We learned that we needed help, we needed a factor, because of X Y Z. We learned that we needed somebody to do our EFTA because of X Y Z. So, learning that kind of their experiences firsthand, I was able to take that and run with it. And also, you know, going to industry events, go networking. I mean you don't have to, you don't have to have a booth, but go walk around and network. That's something that that's huge.

Speaker 1: 46:58

Listen to podcasts like yours. Hear experiences firsthand, because at the end of the day, you know I'll take tech, for example. I mean you can Google like, what is a CTO's pain points? Oh, their tech's not working, Great, we can help you work it better. But I feel like a trucker's is very unique, specifically unique to their business. You know where you're hauling, what you're hauling, what you're using to haul. For all that, we take that stuff and it's like kind of a formula and we put it in and that's how we give you your best customized solution. So, yeah, I would just. I would just say go out there, do your research and understand what it means to be a trucker at the end of the day, Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 47:36

I mean, a lot of truckers are out there and they drive, believe it or not. They're on TikTok Twitch playing video games with a driving truck on video games.

Speaker 1: 47:46

I know it's crazy.

Speaker 2: 47:48

Oh man, when I figured it out I was like, wow, this is a whole new, another world out here. This way it could be free to the real life. They can actually enjoy trucking in a simulating type. So, yeah, they're out there. Frank, what about you? What advice would you give? Final thoughts and for maybe truckers or trucking companies out there to stay proactive with their safety and compliance? What would you say to these individuals? Some things you want to say.

Speaker 3: 48:14

Well, the big thing is and we already kind of touched on it you want to eliminate as best as you can having roadside inspections. Is there good that can come of it? Yes, there is. Could you find a mistake? That would possibly the reason why, from a law enforcement point of view, we do it is we can find a violation to get a limited collision. That's our thing.

Speaker 3: 48:34

From the industry side of view, it takes all your time. It takes how much you can drive. It's going to, at the end of the day, end up costing you money. So a couple of things you can do A do proper pre-trip inspections, trying to eliminate the number of times you're going to get stopped. That does not mean drive around the scale house, okay, but what that does mean is all right.

Speaker 3: 48:53

Don't spend your time and effort trying to reroute yourself. Do a pre-trip inspection, get stopped, okay. They'll eventually stop stopping you because you'll get that green light and you're boring, right. The other thing is is either A take the time and effort that it takes to become knowledgeable about the file retention requirements and the actual requirements under Federal Motor Carrier State Regulation for compliant carrier files, okay, or do your research and ask for somebody to help you, because that's what my team's here for, that's what Aladdin's here for. All right, we can take some of this back office stuff off your plate and allow you to A work within Federal Mortgage Carrier Safety Regulation guidelines or service so you can work more and then spend more time at home actually enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Speaker 2: 49:39

Yeah, absolutely, you're awesome. So, before we wrap it up, where can listeners go to learn more about Aladdin Capital and the services you offer? I know you have a website, but I want to put out there what they should look for or where they should go.

Speaker 1: 49:56

Yeah, yeah, no, I would just say go to our website, which is wwwaladdincapcom, or they can call in to our direct sales line if they have any questions, which is 539-252-3346, or find us on any social media under Aladdin Capital Inc. So yeah, they can find us on those different avenues.

Speaker 2: 50:22

So get in touch with Frank. That's something that happens after the onboarding, so they'll probably be happy to talk to you as well. Give them some of that relief. So that's good, it's real good, all right. Well, we got it. We got it done. We got some good information out there.

Speaker 2: 50:38

I know it was kind of hectic getting it going here, but we did it, and that's another testament to about you guys as well, your determination. I can see that and I'm hoping for great things in the future, and if anybody is out there looking for a great team to be behind them, I think you guys are the ones that emulate that. So I'm glad I ran into you guys. So appreciate it, emily and Frank both of you for sharing your thoughts and insights. It's clear that marketing and safety go hand in hand when it comes to running a essential trucking business. You provide this service, and your expertise helps ensure that truckers not only stay compliant, but also know that they can navigate the industry with confidence. So thank you for joining us today. Anything else you want to let the listeners know about Aladdin or the website? Anything you guys want to say before we sign out?

Speaker 1: 51:28

No, I just said the fact that we're just the fact that we're honored to be here and we're excited to partner with you and hopefully, more to come.

Speaker 2: 51:36

Awesome, sweet. I look forward to the future. Thank you so much, guys, for the details and if you guys like what you hear, like what you see, thanks for listening in you can always send us a review, send us a comment if you want to be on the show. We look forward to it. So any other expectations you guys have for us, we want to hear it, we want to know about it. So, thank you so much. Be sure to subscribe like and until next time, keep the big wheels turning and stay safe out there on the road and remember that's delivered.