Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome back to another episode of that's Delivered. I'm your host, Trucking Ray, and today we have an incredible guest joining us, someone who isn't just a powerhouse in the trucking industry, but is also a advocate for the industry. She's the owner of Porch Dogs, a professional driver, a member of the FMCSA Women in Trucking Advisory Board, a passionate ambassador of the CMV drivers. You may have seen her on social media where she shares her videos of life on the road, and she's also doing some serious work with the Next Generation Trucking Association. I'm talking about no one other than Kelly Lynn McLaughlin. Kelly Lynn, welcome to the show. Let's get started from the beginning. Kelly Lynn, thank you so much for taking this time out to help others in the trucking industry get an idea of what it is that you do and how you've been helping others with all the many industries expertise in the industry that you've been able to accomplish. So thank you so much. Was trucking always in the cards for you?

Speaker 2: 1:13

No, not at all. I got into it by accident and literally I got talked into being a marching band logistics coordinator because somebody thought that I could, you know, just be a jack of all trades. I don't, I don't even know how that happened, but, um, it was really hard work. And the guy that was we would rent um, a tractor and one of the band dads would drive this tractor around and I was managing him and like 80 other volunteers and all of these trailers and, you know, props and all that kind of jazz, and finally, and he said, nobody gets in my truck. And finally, after a year, I was like dude, you know, like I'm kind of your boss and I do want to ride in that truck. And that was it.

Speaker 2: 1:59

You know, I took one ride and I was like man, I wish I could do this, and probably like a lot of other people, I thought it was a man-only job and he was kind of a man-only man kind of guy. But he said to me he's like you can do this. He's like all you need to do is go get your license and then you could drive a truck. It wasn't that easy, but hearing him come out of his, hearing that advice come out of his mouth was just. It was life-changing. Actually, His name is Jason Myers and I always tell his story.

Speaker 1: 2:35

I love it. That is a great story. Do you remember your first solo trip? Maybe?

Speaker 2: 2:49

solo trip maybe? Um, yeah, it was, it was, it was awful is what it was. I mean, like I just wanted to like stop, quit, cry, throw up. I it was. I was driving for schneider and um, and like I, you know, I just I had a hard time even finding the trailer I was supposed to pick up. I was terrified, going to the customer, I was afraid of going into the wrong entrance. I went into the wrong entrance like not even their entrance, somebody else's entrance. I was terrified of getting somewhere that I couldn't get turned around and I was going to stuck and have to call for help and in the end I got there more than 15 minutes late and they turned me away. So I had to call and say I failed on my very first load.

Speaker 1: 3:35

It was, yeah, it was yeah, hey, you got to those stories, I think. Help everyone know that. Hey, you're human, things happen. And then the signage for trucking, I mean it's just not great at all. It's kind of horrible. You got those little signs down at the bottom down there and and they're not very accurate. So that's just, it's probably not just that stop that you did. It's probably more like that out there.

Speaker 2: 4:00

So yeah, it was yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:16

But luckily I'm one of those people that I don't like to end on a bad note. You know and I don't enough You've seen a little bit of everything what was one of the wildest, most unforgettable experiences that you want to share over the road. Maybe you got something you remember there.

Speaker 2: 4:34

Well, one of the wildest sorry, I'm going to adjust my camera because things are sliding in my movie truck but I think one of the craziest I know you want, like, like that really happened.

Speaker 2: 4:47

So I was driving to louis, I was driving in louisiana to a walmart facility. It was hazy, it had been raining, the you know like the drainage ditches on the sides of the road were all full of water and it was just one of those go slow kind of days, right, and I, um, was going slow but I didn't have a lot of visibility, and up out of the haze showed up like this giant branch that was going, that was across the road and I was, and I just I couldn't stop in those wet conditions very quickly, right. So I was like, well, I'm just gonna go over it, I'm gonna try and go slow. But it turned out that it actually wasn't a branch, it was an alligator and and I saw part of it flip up in the air so I could see its belly. And it was just one of the moments like you're like, did that really happen to me? Like, and it's already in the side mirror in the rear and you're like was that really an alligator?

Speaker 2: 5:55

Oh man, because it was like six feet long, Right so. But then after that I saw a bunch of baby alligators along the road. You know so like clearly they were moving into a newly wet area. And but I tell you what, when I got to the Wal-Mart facility, I didn't want to get out, because almost all the Wal-Marts have like a green area that they're supposed to leave available for wildlife or wetlands or whatever. Right, yeah, and I don't want to be anywhere near something wet wow, what a cool story.

Speaker 1: 6:33

I mean, man tragedy does also help for the animals out there. I mean, they're always getting the brunt end of the trucking industry and they do make a lot of interesting stories, interesting stories for other people to watch out for. And thanks for sharing that. Yeah, my other, my other like moment in trucking was.

Speaker 2: 6:58

It was like the week after everything shut down in the United States during COVID and I went from being one of you know millions of vehicles on the road to being the only vehicle on the road for hours Sometimes. I never passed and it was like I tried to explain it to somebody. It was like aliens had sucked up all the humans. They were just gone, their vehicles were gone, the people were gone, the movement was gone, the stores were closed and yet there were a few of us that were still out here delivering toilet paper. There was people still right.

Speaker 2: 7:42

Yeah, but the beautiful thing about it was that it truly was peaceful and I and I felt that safety on the road that you don't get with four wheelers, the private person cars yeah and and I didn't have to worry about them doing erratic things or something unsafe.

Speaker 2: 8:05

I didn't have to worry about congestion. I made remarkable time to my customers. Of course, I wasn't allowed to come in and use the bathroom or wash my hands or any of that stuff, but it was the beautiful part. It was the beautiful part and all of the animals that previously had been, you know, like staying away from the highway because of all the vehicles, they were back out and so there were birds everywhere and there were animals standing alongside the road. I guess what it would look like. Maybe if there were no humans, the animals would feel free to take over again.

Speaker 2: 8:43

If there were no humans the animals would feel free to take over again.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Yeah, you found that peace amongst tragedy or amongst you know a lot of people's. You know fear there's also, you know, a lot of peace. That comes with finding out that you know there's other things to look at, that you don't have to get caught up in the fear. So you found that peace while you're out there on the road. That's great. Um, yeah, thanks for sharing that, because, yeah, I was out there too, driving around. I had to deliver coke coca-cola, so everybody got to have that, you know, and that sugar water. Yeah, so, man, that's that's yeah. I mean, they told me that was essential. I was like, huh, I don't get it, but I guess I guess it's essential. Was there a moment where you thought about giving up or you thought, hey, you know I've done enough of this, I want to do something else? What kept you going? Because I know you're still going.

Speaker 2: 9:53

Well, probably that desire never to end on a bad note, right, I just, I just, you know, I don't know, maybe I'm one of those people that just can't go to sleep at night if I didn't leave it right, and so that really keeps me going. I love the challenges with truck driving. I find a lot of other things really boring now, and driving a truck and all of the challenges and problem solving that come with it every day have really kept my brain active. They, you know they, provide happy moments and I do focus, you know, cause it can be hard, it can be lonely, it can be, you know, hard on your mental health, it can be hard on you physically, hard on your soul, um, and I try and find one happy moment every day. There's got to be something good in every day. Even on the worst day, there's got to be a good thing.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 10:53

And I started out in marching band 350 kids and chaos and a very specialized trailer with hoists and lifts and ramps and all that kind of jazz completely out of my bailiwick. Then I moved into, I needed more training, so I went to Schneider, I did dry van Um, I became a trainer, was a trainer for years, um. And then I moved into specialized equine so I did horses. I loved dealing with the horses Super smart athletes were the types of horses like in and out of O'Hare, going to different shows, going out, in and out of quarantine, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2: 11:35

And now I'm doing hazardous materials and it's a completely different type of equipment than I ever thought I would be doing which is the really long end dumps that lift like 40 feet in the air, single and double roll-off trailers with really icky stuff in them, and so just you know, like the whole problem solving logistics of how do you get that up in the air and what kind of surface are you on and how is it loaded and what is the wind like, and and then what's in it, like, how do you have to put? What kind of PPE do you have to wear to deal with what's in it Like? How do you have to put? What kind of PPE do you have to wear to deal with what's in it and the environment that's around you? I mean, that'll keep you on your toes for sure.

Speaker 1: 12:15

Yeah, yeah, that's no lie, that's the truth. Oh, wow, that's a great window to what your day is like. I mean even just getting the paperwork right. I mean for a hazmat, the freight won't move if that's not done Right. I mean that's yeah. Thanks for doing that, Thanks for.

Speaker 2: 12:39

But the other thing is like it really provided some insight to me and like what does the other side like? I had always worked on like the animal or the delivery side, right from the warehouse to the distribution center or to the vendor. But what does it look like on the back end of the manufacturing side? You know all of the hazardous products that we produce, we generate as a society. Or you know, like when you know your doctor's taking off his rubber gloves and he's throwing it and the has-been right, like what happens to all that? Who handles it? And then even just like when you change your oil and your vehicle, like where does? And you someone's recycling that oil? We hope, where does that go? How does it get recycled? What does it look like in its next life? And so that's been like a real interesting journey too.

Speaker 1: 13:41

No, I love that. Yeah, that's great man. So it looks like you're smiling and just having fun and having a blast with it all. I mean that's a great example for a lot of people out there, not just in trucking but also. I mean the realities of trucking are real. I mean there's nothing you can fake about it. And I was wondering what your advice would be for the next generation. You know, because trucking isn't easy and sometimes people want that easy money. There's definitely some hard days out there. What were some of the toughest situations you could share with people and how you got through them? You know those long hours maybe, or dealing with breakdowns or challenging deliveries. What would you say to them to keep pushing forward? I know you have that theory. It's in on a good note.

Speaker 2: 14:27

I really like I have heartstrings for the next generation because I started when I was 50. All of my careers have been like a 10 year segments and so I know that at 50, I'm at the end of my working career, I'm not at the beginning of it, and I've just learned so much. That would have been really cool to know early on, even though I had some other really cool things. So I think one of the things that I would tell my students is I was like don't be afraid of the word no. You know like if you want to go do something, just don't all you ask, because you never know you might get a yes or maybe or if, then go to this, but just don't be afraid of the no right, because that holds you back internally.

Speaker 2: 15:15

And I think that's one of our, you know, especially for women. You know like we don't like to do anything until we know everything about it. Typically not every woman's that way, but we like to be prepared and know that we can handle it. Like even when I went to CDL school, I told them I'm like I'm not paying you any money and it was five grand to go to CDL school. I'm like I'm not paying you any money until I know that I can do this double clutch thing that everybody keeps talking about. I'm like I don't know what that is, but I know how to drive a standard.

Speaker 2: 15:45

But I heard it's not the same thing. But until I know I can do that, I'm not paying you any money. And they actually put me with a trainer, put me in the yard and around and around until I could do the double clutch. And then I was like, okay, we're in, I could do this. And you know, like I would say to other people you don't, you don't have to do that, just get in there and try it, that's great advocating for it, it's perfect, that's great.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Advocating for yourself, that was great. I mean standing up and not letting them just take your money and getting frustrated and being like man, why did I do this in the first place? Now I'm out of that money. So yeah, you're a go-getter. I see it. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 16:27

Yeah, but I also don't like to fail, which is like I'm not doing this, I'm going to fail, right. So the other thing to kids I would say is like there's three and a half million drivers out here, there's a heap of companies and staff and industries that support this industry, that feed into it so that we could do our driver job. So that's a plethora of career opportunities for anybody right, and there's something for every stage of whatever stage of life you're in. Right, there's room to grow. Granted, there's fewer professional opportunities to stay in the driving seat.

Speaker 2: 17:12

Most our professional career path usually takes us out of the seat, and I've worked really hard to stay in the seat and to fight for more opportunities for professional development for drivers in the seat, if that's where you want to stay. But you can come and you can go out of the seat. You can go do other things. There's a lot to learn about business. There's a lot to learn about manufacturing, cross-border trade, the law, business, just the legal entities and how does money move between all of these entities. There's just so much opportunity, so much opportunity, so much opportunity, so much opportunity. I wish people talked more about how, how many people actually work in this industry and what are those jobs look like. But you know there's a few places like that Texas A&M they have, you know, like a transportation Institute that that does that and I know there's other universities out there that have logistics and transportation built into their curriculum.

Speaker 1: 18:16

Perfect. That's nicely said. I mean that's a lot of reason why I started a podcast. I tell people when they're coming into the industry that when you get your CDL, man, it's worth the value of a million dollars. I don't know if a million dollars has the same weight nowadays, but the value that you get from it, you know it's huge. It's not just an income but the weight that it carries. I mean the value of people understand. You know, like you said, raw materials and what happens with it. But that CDL, that license, has a value that will carry you through the rest of your life. Like you say, you can get out of the seat or you can get back in the seat, as long as that seat's there and you have rights to it legally. You know you did your part, you got your license and then own it right, yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:07

But you do have to stay clean and you have to stay safe. Right, yeah, but you do have to stay clean and you have to stay safe yeah, unfortunately, the general public doesn't realize that about us, how clean and safe we are and the high standards that we are held to.

Speaker 1: 19:23

Yep, yep, yeah, social drinking and all the social activities that other people get to have. I'm limited, you know, and I don't want to jeopardize my income for my family and ability to be able to provide for my family, so I totally association. You get to work with young people in the industry. You said that they mean a lot to you and your heart goes out to the next generation. What drew you to supporting that organization? Some of the current fundraising goals that you have set up, or maybe the start of education that that's laid out for young ones as an option? Can you expand on that?

Speaker 2: 20:18

so I, somewhere along the line, I heard about this high school Patterson High School in California that had a truck driving diesel mechanic training track for the kids in high school. And you and I know that, like from the time you're 18 to 21, those years, for many years, it wasn't available to go get your CDL unless you just wanted to drive in state, and that wasn't even an option that most people knew about. They just kind of thought you had to wait until you're 21 to be old enough to go to CDL school to become a truck driver. So we lost kids from the time they graduated from high school to from the time that are 21 in this industry and then all of a sudden, lo and behold, it's a bunch of old people out here. Right, you know, and and I really I like working with young kids and technology has been moving so fast just in the in the decade that I've been in here, the technology and the equipment and the science that goes into my tractor and my daily life has really evolved and those young kids get it and it's easy for them, right, and um, I I just felt like I wanted to support that, that thought process, and and I ran across a woman named Lindsay Trent and she was starting this new nonprofit next Next Gen Trucking and we were at conferences and we get to talk it and I'm like, oh, that's so cool. That's something that I think about. I really support these kids. And she was talking about the curriculum from Patterson High School, which I'd heard about how they were doing some studies and how to develop it and share it with other high schools studies and how to develop it and share it with other high schools and it's been really amazing to see that organization organization grow over the years and become self-sufficient. Right, they have enough donors and sponsors and they've developed a curriculum to share. They are right now. I was just recently. I became aware of their. They're celebrating innovators in the industry that are providing opportunities for these young students and really capitalizing on this.

Speaker 2: 22:46

Back to the trades kind of thing that United States has been missing for so long and it's sad that people got into their thought process that trade work was for the kids that weren't smart and couldn't go to college. But that is so not true, because these kids, you know, they have to learn business skills. They have to learn how to make the right decision when nobody's looking. There's so few mentors out there when you're out there on your own like, who are you going to look? They have to learn business skills. They have to learn how to make the right decision when nobody's looking. There's so few mentors out there when you're out there on your own, like, who are you going to look to to get help Right? And it's. It's just a complicated industry and you're really held to a high standard and so and it's a career and you can build the business and you can hire other people and it's really well for yourself.

Speaker 1: 23:33

Can you make a lot of money? Yeah?

Speaker 2: 23:38

And learn and yeah, so, anyway. So if the industry is going to survive and it's going to survive, well, we need this next generation of technology. Go getter independent thinkers that have a whole life ahead of them and can really think outside of the box and do even better things for this industry. I think you know the young generation. They lead us forward. Yeah, they do a good job, man.

Speaker 1: 24:11

Keeping us on our toes, don't they?

Speaker 2: 24:13

Well, and as parents, they definitely keep us on our toes. I'm not really challenged. They're like you know. They challenge my thought process and the way that I do things and and open my eyes up to new ways of doing things and yeah, yeah, you hit the nail on the head there.

Speaker 1: 24:31

So now you know you're also a member of FMCSA Women of Trucking Advisory Board. What does that board do? Why is it important for the trucking industry? Can you tell us or enlighten us as to what that's like for you as well?

Speaker 2: 24:47

So the Women of Trucking Advisory Board was created. Its charter was created out of the MSAC, the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, which is part of FMCSA, which is part of US Department of Transportation, and they really MSAC. Is this committee under FMCSA? Is this committee under FMCSA? They really saw a need for some leaders in the industry to give our government some ideas and some feedback on what best practices look like in the industry to be able to support women in the industry and bring more women into the industry, especially those that are like in minority groups, like women of color, native Americans, single mothers that are trying to get into the industry. And what does that look like to support somebody that has children at home? Still, and what is, you know, a harassment-free training environment look like? And so we were tasked with. We met for a year and a half and we were tasked with different topics and there were 16 of us on this panel and they were women that were from all scopes and you know we had African-American women in trucking association founders, myself as a trainer and a carrier driver. We had owner operators on it. We had women who owned trucking companies, women who worked for Native American, whether it be from, you know, like a trucking association and carrier versus driver perspective or an owner operator perspective. It could really vary. But in the end, this group Women of Trucking Advisory Board was putting together recommendations for FMCSA to take to Congress to put into place and fund different recommendations to help women in the industry, and we spent a lot of time talking about safety. We spent a lot of time talking about how to afford the cost of coming into the industry and getting those skills and also, you know just how to support minorities how do you reach them, how do you support them, how do you help them get into the industry if they want to have mentorship, all that kind of thing. So, as a result of that, I'm now on a peer review committee for FMCSA.

Speaker 2: 27:55

When I was on WOTAP, there was a study that was done in 2022, I believe about sexual harassment and assault in the industry. It was for every driver and the thing that was interesting to me was that women did have a high rate of sexual assault, but men also had a high rate of assault, but it was more of the violent side, not sexual assault. Right Like physical encounters was something they had to deal with. Assault, right Like physical encounters was something they had to deal with, and but nobody in the group was happy with the survey. They felt like it didn't get to enough people. The the respondents were very few, so it couldn't be a very good representative of drivers three and a half million as a whole.

Speaker 2: 28:47

So, um, one thing out of out of the WOTAP recommendations was for FMCSA to do another study, and so I'm on the peer review committee with that with several other technicians, and it's a four-year study. It's going to be much more comprehensive and really like oversample for those groups that are hard to reach. So I'm optimistic that we're going to get better results on what is the working environment like for drivers and then we can know how to approach some of the challenges and we'll have real solid data to be able to talk about. You know what is sexual assault and harassment look like in our industry and how can we you know, yeah approach those challenges. So that was a direct result out of WOTAB.

Speaker 1: 29:43

That's great work. I mean that's a lot of areas that it touches, not just in the work field, but also when those individuals are at home, making people feel safe. I mean that's huge. So thank you for that work and continue to do that. I think that's amazing. Those people need someone to advocate for them. They need to know what their rights are and be able to make that change for the industry to be better. Just because stress is at work doesn't mean we got to just let it plummet. You know we can, uh, we can elevate each other and lift each other's you know work environment up to to where it's something that we can enjoy. You know it's uh, um, you, you're, I see you smiling, um, I see you talking about your day. We want everyone to feel like that. I mean that's uh, that's a great feeling.

Speaker 2: 30:33

The words that you say, they kind of resonate with me. That's why I was, that's why I was smiling, cause you know, like you want to be able to, you want to go to work and you want to put eggs in your basket, right. And so what you were saying I was like, oh yeah, that's, that's, yeah, that is kind of what I think.

Speaker 1: 30:49

You know, like I like I want to be putting eggs in my basket, and I want people to be able to come into this industry and grow and you know and feel good about themselves and about the job that they do, Right back at you. Great illustration with the eggs in the basket.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Yeah, it's almost Easter.

Speaker 1: 31:14

Yeah, there you go. Oh, it's almost Easter, yeah, there you go. Oh, maybe egg prices might go up even more. Huh, yeah, well, hey, like I got chickens in my house. What was that?

Speaker 2: 31:25

I was like. You know like it used to be. I was telling somebody, you know, like if you were king and you were going to give a king a present, you'd give him a pineapple, but now it's eggs. If you want to, king, and you were going to give a king a present, you'd give him a pineapple, but now it's eggs.

Speaker 1: 31:40

If you want to give somebody something really valuable, you give them eggs, yeah, and decorate it too. Wow, I get it. That's awesome, you know, I think about the education part of it. I mean we want to also help people. See if you could help those four-wheelers or passenger cars, or what have you the need for safety on the road or the relationship that they have between cars and trucks? What are some of the common mistakes you see in passenger vehicles people need to know about? Um, let me give you a moment, give you the time that you can share some advice with individuals and say, hey, appreciate you out there, but uh, here's some, here's a better way.

Speaker 2: 32:22

Maybe you know well, everybody knows just, you're not supposed to be on your phone and driving. I mean, like they know that they just don't you see that a lot. Oh yeah, I mean, didn't you, I mean don't you. I mean everybody does it.

Speaker 2: 32:40

Like cars. You see truckers doing it. You see people on their bicycle looking at their phone while they're riding a bike. I'm like we just know that's not a recipe for success. The other thing that annoys the heck out of me is people who merge onto the highway without looking, without yielding. It's illegal, it's unsafe. I don't know why they think everybody else has to move for them if they're coming onto highway traffic. It's just not even common sense, like you're supposed to put out a book and merge in safely, like they'll give you a half of a second.

Speaker 2: 33:24

You know, yeah, it's like oh, there's a big truck there I can tell from my perspective, if they're checking their mirrors, if they've looked, if they've slowed down. And I try and give people like a little toot toot, like hey, there's other people around you, and like so many times they're like there's something back there, like yes, yes, just look wow, yeah it's, it's funny, but not funny. No, it's, I mean, it's funny because, it's so common sense that you know like they're just in their own little world, not paying any attention.

Speaker 1: 34:07

And they got a lot going on, but the road's not the place for it. You know that. Take a break from it. Enjoy the drive. There's a lot to see. Like you said, when you were out there in 2020 and you got to see the birds and you got to see all those wonderful things out there, that peaceful time that you found, You're able to reconnect with the road and your truck. That's beautiful. I mean, that's what driving was meant to be to get that independence. That's beautiful. I mean that's what driving was meant to be. To get that independence. Not to be on a train packed in with everybody else, but you're out there and you're in control of where you want to go and you know that was a lot of reason why people started driving, you know, got into cars, automobile was it locomotives or something?

Speaker 2: 34:51

Yeah, and a lot of the. You know like I spent a lot of time around rail yards now, because when I'm doing single and double, well, actually most of my product comes to the facility on a rail car and then gets put on my trailer into my dump. So, yeah, I spent a lot of time around rail roads too. I feel like we're all working together to move all of this stuff.

Speaker 1: 35:16

Yep, I'm going to try to get a pilot on the show to talk about what that connection is like too, how trucks play a part with the airline industry. I mean you got trains. I mean it's a huge industry of logistics. That's how things get from A to B. There's so many moving parts, like you said, so many individuals behind the scenes. So that's why a lot of reason why I'm glad to have you on the podcast to share your story. It's definitely inspiration about the road ahead too. I mean you think about that. You're involved in so many organizations and your efforts are not going unnoticed. What drives you to keep pushing for change? What's next for you? Any big projects or anything like that on the horizon? Anything you want to share?

Speaker 2: 36:00

Well, I think hope is what keeps me going right. You know, like that I can be part of the change and make this industry better, can be part of the change and make this industry better. And, um, and then I have. I have a daughter who just graduated from college with a commercial pilot degree, so she's also going into a transportation industry. When I was getting my CDL license, she was getting her driver's license, so we would have really interesting conversations about how to drive, what are the rules and stuff like this. And now we're having interesting conversations about, you know, getting into an industry that's highly regulated and it's very technical and it's very safety oriented.

Speaker 2: 36:46

What does that look like? What do you got to do to be prepared? And she is just now beginning. Like, what do you got to do to be prepared? And she is just now beginning. And so she's still like in the whole, like she's got her degree, she has her commercial pilot license and so, but she needs to go build hours and find an employer to do that. How do you choose an employer that's going to, you know, be a good fit for you, right? Not every employer, not every job is a great fit for you. So, um, anyway that I mean that just there's always something new. That's why I think that's what keeps me going. And you know, I've, I've got a daughter. That's like coming up behind me in the career world in a transportation industry, and so, yeah, I'm not going to give up yet. I want it to be better for her and everybody else.

Speaker 1: 37:36

Great job, mom man. That's huge. That's something to celebrate. Thank you for your contribution and also appreciate her work as well. Another woman at making changes in the industry. You know, like I said, if you could see it, you can believe it. So she saw herself in that, in that pilot seat. Yeah, that's, that's, that's great, you know. Awesome.

Speaker 2: 38:00

Big ups to you guys well, she, just so you know. Like she said, she wanted to be a stewardess, she wanted to travel and and her comment was, you know like? Why a stewardess, why a flight attendant, why not be the pilot Right? She proved stars.

Speaker 1: 38:21

That's a really cool story. Yeah, maybe I can get more pilots on the show too. I mean, they deliver, I do know a couple.

Speaker 2: 38:31

I know a couple of cargo pilots, if you want some connections.

Speaker 1: 38:35

Yeah, you know there's delivering people, delivering cargo. I mean it's huge and safety is paramount. Like you're bringing out there how you need to have that goal when you're out there to keep going. You know, finish strong, not have that feeling when you go home at night that I could have did better, you know. So, thank you, great example.

Speaker 2: 39:01

Our hours of service look like versus their hours of service, versus a train hours of service.

Speaker 1: 39:11

Isn't that a big difference? Awesome, talking to you too. Yeah, isn't that a big difference.

Speaker 2: 39:15

Did she give you some insight? It was awesome talking to you too. Yeah, I think you should have a little next-gen die-cast truck in your background.

Speaker 1: 39:24

Oh yeah, heck. Yeah, I'll have to talk to Lindsay. Huh, I might see her at Matt's. Oh I bet you will. I'm going to be going there this weekend, yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:35

This is the first year in 10 years I haven't been.

Speaker 1: 39:38

Oh, wow, so this will be my first year. Actually, I've never been.

Speaker 2: 39:42

Oh, it's awesome. I heard it's smaller this year than it has been in the past, just in its footprint size, but it is a great place to network. And be sure, and go by and say hi to Nicole Ward from the African-American Women in Trucking Association. Go by and say hi to the Women in Trucking booth. Lindsay, trent and NextGen are usually right behind them, yeah.

Speaker 1: 40:07

That's amazing. Yeah, I can't wait. So yeah, I'll go on your behalf, please do, yeah. So yeah, I'll go on your behalf, please do, yeah. You know, if our listeners could, you could leave a message, a piece of advice, a little more so, or some piece of wisdom, whether you're in trucking or thinking about getting in the industry, or just someone who you know who shares a road with truckers, what would you say?

Speaker 2: 40:35

I would you say? I would just say that there's lots of opportunity and an incredible journey in this industry. Don't be afraid, it's a great place to get involved.

Speaker 1: 40:52

I like that. I like that. That's good, because there's a lot of fear monger or people that want to get attention for social media likes or whatever attention, because they stir up that fear and they're like man trucking that looks dangerous, you see those accidents. You're like, oh my goodness. You're like I don't think I can do that. And they can, it's not. It's not like that, yeah. So thank you. Especially for women also too. We need more women. We need more individuals. We're stronger when we're together.

Speaker 1: 41:31

So I think the teamwork that we can push through and help everybody know that they're not alone in the industry or whatever you're doing in life. We can be there for each other. And I think that's a lot of reasons when I do my other show with my co-host, maddie G. We want to put out good energy, good positive energy, bring the attention to the industry, but yet at the same time say, hey, you know there's a lot of good here, industry. But yet at the same time say, hey, you know there's a lot of good here, yeah, and we can. We as humans have that stewardship that we can do of advocating for positivity. So great job. I think you're doing a great job. You get a trophy a triple crown for the work you're doing.

Speaker 2: 42:07

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 42:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:09

But you know, like you said, it's a team effort, it takes everybody, and you know, don't be a complainer, be a doer.

Speaker 1: 42:17

Yeah, yeah, absolutely so, Kellyn. Thank you so much for sharing your journey, your wisdom and everything you're doing in the industry. We need more voices like yours to keep lifting each other up in the trucking industry and shaping the future To everyone that's listening. If you want to support Next Generation Trucking Association, you can help us reach out with their goal that they're looking for. I think it's $10,000 that they're looking to get donated, so every little bit helps, so put something in the pot there. It also goes in a great place. Anything you want to say about the reaching the goal. Do you know any status or any updates? Where is that about?

Speaker 2: 42:56

reaching the goal. Do you know any status or any updates? Where is that? Well, I don't know where they're at with the goal, but I know March, March and November is when I always make my donations to NextGen Trucking and I just remember the Mid-America Truck Show. That's my time to donate to them. And then there's another big conference for women Accelerate Conference of Women in Trucking does in November and that's my other donation time. So it's a great organization and I put my money where my mouth is there you go.

Speaker 1: 43:23

There you go. That's great, and I'm sure you can follow Kellyanne on LinkedIn or any social media. For any other things that she's going to be advocating for or anything new on the horizon, you can keep up with her on social media. So, yeah, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to that's Delivered and leave a review. We also, if you want to be on the show, we're open to having guests on and celebrating their victory and sharing their story. So we'll catch you next time. Until then, stay safe out there on the road and keep delivering.