SPEAKER_01: 0:25

Welcome back to another episode of That's Delivered. I'm your host, Truck and Ray. And today's episode is one I'm really excited about. It's about something that actually improves life on the road for drivers. I recently had the chance to meet with a person that I think is doing a great job with that. He's going to be on the podcast with us. And he also got a chance to give me a tour of his facility. And we got I got to go through it in person. And I knew he had a great store for many people to be able to enjoy. And that's why I wanted him to come on the show and talk about it today for truck drivers and also for passenger cars as well to enjoy. So this place is going to do things I know for not just today, but for the future and beyond. And I think the food is is beyond standards for a truck stop. Is going to be one you're going to want to put on your list. And uh the kind of innovation that drivers have been asking for for some time. Um, I wanted to welcome to the show Johnny with uh Duck Stop Travel Center. Thanks for waiting backstage to be on the show. Wanted to give you an intro. I wanted to make sure people knew about what you guys are doing over there at the duck stop. I mean, man, tell us about it. How did you get started with all this? I mean, it's a huge process to get a store up and going for truckers out there. Uh, why don't you tell the listeners how you got it all started?

SPEAKER_00: 1:47

Well, first, Ray, I have to tell you it it takes a village, and we're a bunch of bunch of old ducks that got together here, and we've used all of our experiences from a lot of different paths to try to put something like this together that tries to meet the total needs of the trucker. And I hate to say this, but we we had a go old school. A lot of us we grew up and we were really pretty privileged to be able to eat in good restaurants, and a lot of us growing up also found ourselves eating at truck stops when we were very young. I remember asking my dad many, many years ago, dad, why are we eating in a truck stop? He said, he said, son, you want the best food, you go to a truck stop because they know what they're doing. Now, things have changed, and the big company, big companies, they want to take over and kind of tell us how we want it and how we should eat it. And unfortunately, they've taken away that home-style quality product that that somebody will cook and actually take pride in serving. It's not some institutional company that just will sell the same food to 5,000 of the restaurants thinking it's gonna be a different result. So we brought back old school type kitchen, maybe a little bit more technologically advanced, obviously larger. In the case of our duck stop travel center in Hodgkins, we have a seven-figure kitchen because there's some of us here, it and it takes a team. There's no I in team, you know that. And there is one of our members ran a very successful. It's I hate to call it a quick service, but it was a quick service restaurant that was a high-quality operation. He was the number two guy for 32 years, and he's now seen his company, it was sold, and now they are able to make more money by changing the products and making them cheaper. Instead of being bringing something of higher quality, they bring something in that's a little cheaper. Long story short, the the the thesis behind what we believe will be our success here is number one, quality, the quality of the whole operation. We have 14 private suites, private bathrooms on the first floor for all the truckers, so that they can go to the bathroom. Like anybody else has to go to the bathroom with dignity, with honor, and respect. We feature Charmin home toilet paper, not that professional stuff, though stuff people pay the top dollar for at their own home, so that you can feel at home when you're at our facility here. Our second level has 14, excuse me, 12, 12 individual showers and two private bathrooms, and a very spacious trucker's lounge where they can relax, enjoy, sit back, plush booths, a lot of room, no one's on top of each other. And you throw that in with a laundromat and an opportunity for the truckers to be picked up while they're either dropping or picking up a load to do laundry, relax, eat, just take a couple minutes outside the tractor in a very clean, spacious operation.

SPEAKER_01: 5:58

That's pretty amazing. The spacious bathrooms with the showers, you show those to me, and then you said that they can have their their headset tied into the TV. I mean, that's you can't well.

SPEAKER_00: 6:09

You might want to read a book, you might be doing your paperwork. You don't need somebody blasting Rambo on one side and some real sad news on the other. So you want to listen, put on your ear pods, listen to whatever program you're interested in while somebody else can relax and just take a deep breath and enjoy their food, or just enjoy the a few minutes of peace that we're we're all desperate to find every day, right?

SPEAKER_01: 6:39

Yeah, you talked about how you want to bring the dignity back and help the truck driver to feel right at home.

unknown: 6:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 6:46

Well, we're we're we're trying to do that. We have, like I said, the luxury of a a brand new operation, and the only way you keep it brand new is to polish it and keep it clean literally 24 hours a day, or it'll get behind you. Unfortunately, someone wants to do something to kind of ruin it for everybody else, but you know what? We get past the graffiti, we fix it. They want to do something else, we get rid of it, and we give people back what they want is uh respect and uh safety and security.

SPEAKER_01: 7:24

Absolutely. Hey, I think you guys are doing a great job with that. I mean, the amenities there are just amazing, and the food to add to that. I mean, the food you got coffee. I mean, wow, I mean, uh, you blew me away with the sandwich you gave me. Uh it was uh I think it was a burger.

SPEAKER_00: 7:42

Our burger is six dollars and seventy-five cents. It's exceptional. We're about to now that we've been working on our deliverable times so that someone can can get their order very quickly and get what they've ordered. That's a big deal. We're about to start advertising and we're going to roll out with a first bite guarantee. If it's not extraordinary, you can give it back to us. If it's just another product that you find from that same institutional supplier who sells to everybody, so if it tastes bad at one place, it's gonna taste bad everywhere. It's the same food. So we take pride in sourcing different items. Our coffee is Lavatsa. You've got a same family that's been brewing, and we are buying a branded coffee just the way we sell that branded synergy mobile gasoline that a lot of the truckers know when you're in a pinch and it's cold and that thing doesn't want to turn over, or you are trying to prevent some long-term maintenance issues, that fuel is better for you, and that fuel costs more. Top tier. We got top tier, top tier synergy fuel, exactly. And whether it's fuel or lavatta coffee, our ice cream that we serve, soft serve, is a 10% butter fat, and we took out the air.

SPEAKER_01: 9:15

Oh, the ice cream, the ice cream, that's right, right. That was delicious. Tell us about that. How did you come up with that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:22

Well, I uh I actually I contributed to the to the ice cream, but I befriended a third generation custard maker and out of out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. His name was Ron. And he, after many years of friendship, said, Listen, if you're gonna do something, you better do it right. And he gave us the recipe, and the actual supplier who makes this specification to his actual recipe. So we have a top-tier product, we're selling 10 ounces for$4.99, a Sunday for like$5.49, and a Sunday with chunks of brownies in it for$5.99. I mean, you can't get a shake at any competitor today for that type of price. So whether it's the beef or the burger at$675, our French fries are cooked in beef tallow. They travel well, truckers move. They're just not gonna grab the fries and stick them in their mouth. They're gonna get back in the rig and they're gonna move somewhere, or we're gonna have to deliver to them whether at the yard, and they have to be hot. So that's a special fry cooked in beef tallow in order to give back the taste that's been lost with all these oils and the same oils that kind of give us all a little heartburn or stomach issues.

SPEAKER_01: 11:00

Yeah, that beef tallow is a new thing that people are trying to bring back as well. That was taken away and kind of cheapened the way the food was made. Now it's bringing that quality back, it's gonna be amazing for a lot of people, not just for their uh digestion, but also for the taste. No question about it.

SPEAKER_00: 11:18

We our matrix is simple. We bring in a better quality product, we think we're gonna do more business, we pay more, but we make it up in volume. So we're not looking to sell 50 sandwiches, we're looking to sell 250 sandwiches, we're not looking to sell 30, 40 cones a day, we're looking to do a couple hundred. We're on the ramp of exit 22 on 294. We are the new Hodgkins Oasis. We, in fact, purchased 50% of the ramp coming off from the north in order to facilitate our customers for a drive-thru for drive-through lanes. We have three lanes, two today that a customer waits in, and one that they escape. And we have enough room that we've already engineered three more lanes. So three is unheard of, six is just out of the just you know, out of the park. No question about it.

SPEAKER_01: 12:24

Yeah, you you guys are changing the game for sure. I mean, raising the bar, great competition to for the free market to see that, you know, like you said, if if it's just the run of a meal burger, uh, then everybody's gonna have that. But if you raise that bar, then they'll see the difference. So great job doing that. Yeah, did you talk to drivers out there that for the planning for all this? I mean, how did you guys know that this was needed?

SPEAKER_00: 12:47

Well, long before we we found our first site, we had to find and try to find our first customer, and that was the American driver who's out there taking his life in his own hands every day with all these crazy people out there. And we went to diners, we went to truck stops, we went rig to rig sometimes, just asking questions and taking back the feedback from the trucker who wanted something safe, more than anything else, wanted something clean and something of quality. So if we can't really explain the business model and what has made us successful so far in less than a minute, it's just too complicated to understand, right? It's simple. Convenience, quality, products, no matter from the fuel to the coffee to the meats, etc., the cheese that we use, our our cheddar cheese melts. It sweats. It's not something they could take a bolt torch to, and it's still sitting there in the same manner before you try to melt it. And that's unfortunately this cheap food that everybody wants to sell, that they think short term they're going to make more money, and then they just go out of business because people are not interested. So, and the big deal is the cleanliness. Uh, doing what we're doing with the uh Sherman toilet paper and the cleanliness makes a lot of difference. We got people their jaws drop, not only when they walk in the door, but especially when they walk out of our private bathrooms. So you're not washing hands next to anybody, you're not going to do your business with anybody. We have special lights so that you're not even disturbed when you're in there. There's a red light above the door, a green when it's open, a red light when it's occupied. So no one is even disturbing you when you're just trying to have a moment of peace.

SPEAKER_01: 14:59

Wow. Yeah, that's I mean, your bathrooms are amazing, immaculately clean, and you don't have to worry about oh, I gotta go in and clean up after somebody. You got a great staff that just takes care of that. I mean, that I I mean, every time I go in there, I feel good. So, anybody out there looking for a clean bathroom, this is the place to go, you know. The uh the Duck Stop Travel Center. You can even go on your website, kind of take a look at what's going on about with those bathrooms. If you haven't been there, I mean you can see the fries, your website is beautiful. Got the hot dogs, you got the coffee. Let's talk about the liquor a little bit too, man. You even got a top shelf liquor set up, don't you?

SPEAKER_00: 15:36

Well, we've got a a liquor banner type up type of operation, and we have been very fortunate. We've been dealing, we actually this travel center is in two towns. We're our building is in Hatchkins and the trucking facilities are in countryside. So we took two towns, put a deal together, and we have been able to uh secure the licenses to even sell liquor through our drive-thru windows and under the pumps. So, again, it's maximum convenience, a real cheap price. Our Tito's today is$18.99. Everybody down the street is right around$21,$24. So we're again low margin, high volume, and that's how you make it up. It's just that simple.

SPEAKER_01: 16:30

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 16:31

Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m., we're rolling out with a breakfast sandwich, six dollars and seventy-five cents, two cage-free brown organic eggs. We're talking the wagyoo of egg. These these bad boys cost twice as much as any egg out there. And why are we paying twice as much? Because it's probably four times as good. Not twice as good, probably four times as good for you. And it tastes good. That's right. With cheddar cheese on either a ciabata or a bagel or a gigantic croissant finished with either a pork belly that we caramelize, ham off the bone, or chicken sausage, turkey sausage. And then we're going to be uh also rolling out shortly with a steak sandwich and steak and eggs in the morning for breakfast. That steak sandwich will be under ten dollars, and it's real steak, not horse meat.

SPEAKER_01: 17:42

That's amazing. I love it. I mean, you got a great sense of humor and you got a great lease on life. I think you're doing a really great job. I mean, how did you come about to be the great guy that you are today? I mean, many people don't know about all the things going on behind your store, but just give us a little piece about yourself that people you can share that say, hey, you know, this is what makes you who you are.

SPEAKER_00: 18:03

Uh Ray, I gotta tell you, it's not my store, it's it's our store. And like I said at the opening, it takes a village to do this. It's more than one walk of life that is got us to where we're at here, and with the rollout that we are going to be experiencing over the next three to five years. We have the real estate, we have the construction know-how, we have the restaurant expertise, the gas and oil expertise. So it really is not one party here, it's a group of people, or as I mentioned to you up front, we're just a bunch of old ducks that are experienced. And we first of all know what we want and what we would want for our own families. And this is the kind of quality food and the kind of safety and quality that we would want for ourselves and our families. So, why should our customers be second fiddle? So someone else can make more money? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01: 19:12

Yeah, I can tell, man, it's it really makes up who you are. I mean, it's this is not just something you're doing for a grand opening. This is the way you like to deal with people in general, and we need a lot more of that today. And like I said, you know, it's not just you, but it's a team of you and a village, and I'm sure that's the way it's been for you, probably for most of your life, where you're able to be a part of a great community and you see that it actually works. That's good.

SPEAKER_00: 19:36

Well, I I can tell you, I personally take pride in not being the smartest man in the room here, that there are people around me and around us that are smarter. And that's what it takes today. Very smart, good people to to execute uh anything successful, it takes time. There's no quick get rich, quick scheme here. Those are all you know, short thoughts, and people end up going out of business or disappointing a lot of customers. And you can only disappoint a customer once, it's just that simple.

SPEAKER_01: 20:16

Yeah, and it's catching on. Um, many people are turned off by the greedy corporations, and they see them just steamrolling people and just to get the money, and maybe people got to go to them for now, but they're looking for solutions out there to maybe just you know try to do something else better. I mean, uh, we got a lot of big companies out there like Amazon, and and people just, you know, it is convenient, but we still love the local stores, the local people that provide those services, those small independent companies. We hope that that doesn't go away. And what you're bringing is going to be huge. I mean, what's the future look like for what's your vision? You guys have any plans for any more travel centers?

SPEAKER_00: 20:59

Well, right now we have about 19 more locations that we're dealing with the communities, just as we dealt in this community, these two communities, to welcome us. They now can touch us, see us, taste us. And the the it's not the same struggle of telling you we have a dream. The fact is, you now can experience the dream yourself. And we don't sound like a bunch of used car salesmen telling you how good the food's gonna be. All you have to do is taste it, and you'll know yourself whether it's a quality product. People today are smart, they know the difference between a pig and a poke. They put up with a lot of things because there aren't many options. I could tell you anybody can duplicate this. It isn't hard. Just you're gonna have to look long, not short, and you're gonna have to offer a lot of quality because the cousin the consumer today is demanding it, wants it, thirsts for it.

SPEAKER_01: 22:10

Nice. Yeah, I like that. I mean, I'm really glad you came on the show to me. That's why the podcast uh that I do what I do is you know, it's not just for me, it's uh individuals that make it all possible. Um, you're you're delivering. That success, you're delivering the experience, and also you're changing the future. So, yeah, like you said, not just yourself, but your team, please keep it up, encourage each other to keep going, keep pushing forward. That this is not for nothing, that this is gonna be great for the community. Like you said, I mean, you got 19 more locations you're working with. And just imagine when all that energy is uh out there in the Chicago area, uh, that's gonna really help things out a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 22:49

Well, we're also going to be hiring hundreds of people and offering unbelievable opportunities, financial opportunities for management, like any small business offers people that uh you can't work without a team. You can't work without a crew. And like I said, we've got a lot of a lot of growth potential. We're looking for the smartest of the smartest. That's all. We don't want to work with anybody as smart as us. We want to work with people smarter than us, and they're out there. What are they missing? Opportunity. That's all. We're offering opportunity. That's what we're bringing to the table. We want smart people to come back to us just as we want a very smart and educated consumer who knows what they want. We want that woman to feel safety when she gets off her rig, and she knows she's not going to be bothered. And there are people around her that will make sure that she's safe, the rig is safe, and she's safe. As simple as that sounds, it's difficult sometimes.

SPEAKER_01: 24:04

Really nice. Create that safe environment. Thank you. Yeah, especially for women in trucking. It's a huge you know, individuals that need to take care of their families that want to go to work feeling unsafe, and you're providing that. So um that's a huge area to improve in. Thank you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:22

Well, Ray, it's been a pleasure talking to you today.

SPEAKER_01: 24:25

Yeah. Uh-huh. So just kind of wrap things up. What do you want to give or uh to let people know? What would you take a moment to put out put out there for truckers and those listening right now that this travel center, what you guys are trying to do is going to make changes, what they can anticipate for the future. Uh, what would you put out there for them as a message for them to listen to right now?

SPEAKER_00: 24:48

We're looking for your business. We're hoping to give you the safety, the dignity, and the quality that you've been looking for. We work very hard and we are very focused on the customer experience. Sometimes you're not going to make everybody happy, but it's a numbers game. If a thousand people say, My God, this is amazing, and one or two people say something's wrong, you gotta go with the number. But we will take those one or two people and try to turn them into believers of our duck community here. So it's all duck nation here. We're gonna we've got a lot more building to do in Illinois before we go to other states, so that as you're passing through the state of Illinois, you'll know you'll have a lot of options and a lot of quality if you want to give us the honor of letting us take care of you.

SPEAKER_01: 25:46

Yeah, you're you're doing a great job with it. I mean, that location too is gonna help out so many truck drivers. I mean, you're right across the street from the catch facility, one of the largest distribution centers in the world. So you're helping out just UPS and this and it's also environment right there. So a lot of drivers come through there, and you're gonna be able to be there and help them out when in their time of need, when they need something. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 26:08

Well, we thank you, Ray, and thank you for giving us an opportunity to let your listeners understand that there are more options out there than they think. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 26:21

Yeah, and Johnny, you're one of them. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing this with us. Uh, it's refreshing to have someone out there like yourself and your team to build something that truly is respected and for drivers to take time and feel comfortable there and the quality of life on the road. I mean, those hot dogs and those burgers, ice cream, coffee, great showers, great place to just lay back and relax. I mean, your staff, you know, every time I come in there, they're happy, very welcoming, great hospitality. So keep it up, keep up the good work, man, all the way down to the toilet paper.

SPEAKER_00: 26:54

Thank you very much. I mean, uh, Ray, there aren't many people who will take pride in being America's number one bathroom to go number two.

SPEAKER_01: 27:08

There we go. That's the stuff right there. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, keep that up. Yeah, that's that's awesome, man. That's something that'll stick in your mind for sure. That you know, to be number one in America for something that's always gonna be number two. So, yeah, yeah. So, as always, you know, thank you guys for listening in. And if you like what you hear, like what you see out there, go to duckstoptravelcenter.com. That's gonna be the best place to see what's going on here. I'm gonna get a uh sneak peek before you step into the store and and wait and you know, uh, and get that anticipation up. Hey, look forward to this. Anything new that's coming in the Chicago area, Illinois, uh, it's gonna be great. So thank you so much for being on the show. And also please don't forget to subscribe, like, and also tell someone else about the experience when you go to the store. Share that with them how the the duck stop is helping improve the life out there on the road. So until next time, keep on trucking, and that's delivered.