SPEAKER_00: 0:23

Welcome back to That's Delivered. I'm your host, Truck and Ray. And today we have a conversation something that every carrier is feeling right now. That's change. Change in the freight market, change in technology, change in expectations. My guest today is Ryan Agnello. Ryan has uh has spent years working closely with carriers across the Midwest, seeing firsthand how fleets operate, where they struggle, and what separates companies that adapt from those that stall out. Today we're digging into what feels different in the trucking industry right now, what fleets are you know having trouble with leaking money and without realizing it, um, what a Martin courier really looks like in 2026 and how AI fits into all of that. Ryan, welcome to the show. Joe, how are you doing? Hey, good, Ray. How are you doing? Thanks for having me. Yeah, not bad. Right, yeah. Um it's always good when it's not a blizzard up here in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_01: 1:19

You know, come on down to Texas, we'll welcome you. It's it's a lot warmer, I promise you.

SPEAKER_00: 1:23

Man, I love it. Yeah, Austin sounds great down there. I keep hearing a lot of great things about that and have quite the journey in the industry. They say once you get in this industry, you don't leave. Um, so we're glad to have you. Um, how did you get into the trucking industry in the first place?

SPEAKER_02: 1:38

Oh, you're exactly right, Ray. So you don't you just end up and stumble in this industry, right? You you know, it just it's just it's one of those things, right? I started out uh going on 13 years ago. Um, you know, I was I was going into college, I was working several jobs, and you know how it is, you know, you know, three jobs trying to manage your income and everything like that. So I found an opportunity to work for a uh transportation management system and tech support and knew nothing about, you know, I knew computers, but you know, not to support uh technology nonetheless, but saw that opportunity there with set hours, you know, more of a stable income, you know. Um, so from there I uh took the job and uh joined in tech support and quickly fell in love with this industry from interacting with folks in this industry, business owners, dispatchers, folks in the accounting, drivers. And I quickly learned something that I didn't expect about the truck industry is that it's the most hardworking, passionate, motivated, determined grind of people that is unlike any other industry I'd worked in previously. And so I quickly fell in love with it and uh told my boss at the time that I wanted to move into sales and so quickly transitioned from working in tech support and implementation and training to sales, and that's and been been in it since, right? Um, but I think what's interesting is that with this industry is that no matter how long you've been in it, a person's been in it, or a short um and how long people have been in it, the one thing that that I love the most is the relationships, right? So a relationship-based industry, I like getting to meet new folks like yourself, and um that's the one thing that's kept me in the space is knowing that building long-term relationships that'll last a lifetime.

SPEAKER_00: 3:18

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, building those connections, I mean, you value those over a period of time because uh the information that you can obtain from just meeting someone uh can go a long ways. I mean, um, yeah, so likewise, you coming on the show. Thank you for doing that. Uh, so when you first began working closely with fleets, uh, what surprised you the most about the trucking companies currently running day-to-day?

SPEAKER_02: 3:43

Yeah, when I first came in the industry, really, I think it was the manual processes for a lot of these folks, right? I I would argue that what I've learned in when I first came in the industry that transportation's always been behind the curb when leveraging technology to manage your business, um, regardless of you know their size or how long they've been in the industry. So that was one thing that surprised me the most. Um, and I I would argue, even still to this day, right, as long as I've been in this space, is that you know, they have a way of doing it and it's worked for them, which is great. But I think there's so much more opportunity, and I know I'm sure we'll talk more about the opportunity I'm seeing in the marketplace and the changes I've seen in the last 12 years that are going on. But I would say the the biggest thing I was shocked by is the the spread, the good old spreadsheets uh to run everything from dispatch to accounting to safety and compliance and fleet maintenance. I think that's the one thing that shocked me the most by entering this industry.

SPEAKER_00: 4:34

Nice. I mean, so you know, you see people doing stuff because it's habitual and it's probably easier to do that versus to try to learn something new. I mean, that's uh that's a hard thing to do, a pain point, and you got to spend money to invest in these systems. They're not cheap. So no, I can I totally get that. So you're in sales and you got to help them feel comfortable with that. I mean, the market shift. What would you when you kind of zoom out? What would you say feels different about today's market compared to a year or two ago?

SPEAKER_02: 5:02

Yeah, so as you you know, you well know the freight recession that's gone on and the lingering effects of as this industry recovers. I think the the biggest change I'm seeing now in more recent time, I would say in the last 18 months and really going into 2026 is the focus around strategic sustained growth, right? Trucking companies taking a step back and you know, trying to get out of you know, survival mode, but taking a step back and looking at processes on how can we prepare ourselves for growth. And and growth can look a little different to a few different folks, right? Trucking companies. Growth can be, you know, expansion of the fleet, adding more fleet uh trucks to their fleet. The others could be maximizing the volume and profitability of my existing fleet that I have today, but taking a step back and identifying areas that they can improve and automate from dispatch management to the communication with their drivers to how they're managing their books from an accounting standpoint and calculating payroll, all the way down to kind of you know, safety and compliance and being proactive of routine servicing of their equipment versus being reactive. So I'm seeing I've seen a big pivot in carriers, taking a step back, wanting to focus on strategic sustained growth. And what does that look like for me? Right. And so, you know, the conversations, you know, doing this for as long as I have speaking of thousands of carriers and working very closely with hundreds and hundreds of them is you know, that focus looks may look different for ABC trucking versus one, two, three trucking. So, what does strategic sustained growth look like for me? And I think that's a big conversation for a lot of folks uh preparing for rates to continue to increase, the overall industry getting back to more of a consistent, predictable level playing field, and you know how how to better position themselves. So as the market continues to upswing, how am I myself as a truck company, how am I going to be best positioned for that? And so that's what I'm seeing a lot of. And I think it's really, you know, needed. Um, it's necessary. And I think it's really encouraging to see kind of uh this industry embrace technology uh from a you know an operational standpoint. Um, of course, as you know, the adoption of ELDs kind of I think in 2017, beginning of 2018, really kind of ignited companies to be interested in technology to really run their business. I think that was the first stepping stone. And I think really this this prolonged freight recession that we've been in has really kind of ignited it on a whole nother level I'd never seen before.

SPEAKER_00: 7:27

Yeah, I mean it's huge. I mean, you think about all the different companies that are at play and they're trying to keep that margin going versus it gets so tight, you know. When when the hidden costs and the operational gaps get really tight like that, what is the the biggest hidden cost inside a carrier operation that most people don't talk about?

SPEAKER_02: 7:50

You're exactly right. You hit you hit the nail on the head there, right? With the hidden gaps and understanding truly what's what's my profit margin, I would I would say not taking into account truly the how profitable they are. I would say not taking account the driver pay. I mean, really their cost after, and I wouldn't say I think it's not really the hidden cost to operate when it and talking about impacting their margin, but I think it's the lack of connected systems from fuel purchases, right? Driver pay all the way down to the true cost to run per mile and any accessorial charges, I think, and then obviously um maintenance not being taken into account when running a PL and understanding how profitable I am uh a truck company could be. So I think the the true hidden cost is really of having disconnected systems and reports, trying to manually consolidate those and merge them in together to understand my margin, I think is what um a lot of carriers overlook because when you have different disconnected systems and you have different disconnected reports, when you run your data, anytime you do anything manually, there's a lot of room for human error, right? So I think that's the ultimate hidden cost to a carrier is having those those different data points in separate disconnected systems and not being able to centrally have them in a centralized system. I think is the true hidden cost because not everything's run together. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00: 9:12

Yeah, I mean, there's a lot that even in 2026, people are still probably doing manually. So, I mean, try to get those things changed over, like you mentioned, that lack of data visibility or clear visibility is also going to be something that I think a lot of companies are gonna have to try to fix long term because they could it could probably hurt them in their projections. Exactly, exactly. What separates reactive fleets from proactive ones? What would you say?

SPEAKER_02: 9:42

Processes, right? Structure, processes, and organization, right? So those what I've seen is carries that are being more proactive, not only in terms of just maintaining the service and equipment to maximize their uptime, but also obviously being proactive in terms of how they're interacting with the customers for load status updates and being consistent with the communication, providing them visibility. But I think uh one thing that's often overlooked that needs, you know, that I'm having more conversations for and that us as an industry really need to talk more about is is driver retention, right? Making sure that drivers are truly valued and appreciated and taken care of, not only in terms of you know benefits and pay, but also their overall health and promoting uh driver health and wellness and well-being, I think is something that we need to you know bring to the forefront. But back to your question, I think that's something that you know, carriers that are treating the drivers well and promoting driver health and well-being, I think are um long term, they're gonna have a better driver retention rate, right? They're they're they're more proactive and jumping ahead of um issues before they arise versus the reactive ones. Anytime any business is being reactive, you know, you're you're running in the business versus running the business. And I think carriers that are being proactive are always gonna be positioned for whatever curveball comes their way. As you know, in transportation, right? Everything can be blue skies and sunny outside, and you know, one accident or one insurance claim really can just derail an entire truck and company or one you know, loss of cargo or fraud of any sort. So I think that the ones that are positioned and being more proactive are are really able to run the business versus running in the business.

SPEAKER_00: 11:22

Yeah. What what do you think makes it bottleneck down to driver retention, making sure the driver feels is it competition, or would you say it's you know, maybe social media has something to do with it what would you say?

SPEAKER_02: 11:36

I think it's a little bit of everything, definitely competition, but competition is obviously, as you know, has always been there. But social media obviously has its play, right? Anytime a carrier can put themselves out there and recruiting drivers and the benefits and perks is always gonna stand out, you know, better than their competitor. They may not be doing that, highlighting it. But one thing I think we talk with several business owners with driver retention, I think one thing they, you know, we've got carriers have got to do a better job on is treat those drivers like family. Generally know, be interested in what's going on in their personal lives, generally get to know who their spouses are, who their family is, you know, treat them like family. I I just got back from a trip in Indianapolis, and you know, just like you know, any uh centralized trucking hub, you know, the trucker company has, you know, their competitors right next door to them, and they have a 99.5% driver retention rate for the simple fact that they genuinely treat their drivers like family. And I think if you treat them like family and show genuine interest in them, but also you know, provide the health and the benefits and perks to help retain those drivers, it'll go a long way. But one other thing that carriers often overlook when working with their drivers is that, yeah, you could treat them well, you could provide them with great benefits, you can truly value them and establish genuine relationships with them. But oftentimes it's overlooked is the day-to-day job of a driver, right? What tools are you providing your drivers to really help them do their job well and better? I mean, so as simple as equipping a driver with an actual mobile app to receive their load assignments and dispatches and communicate with dispatch goes a long way. It eliminates drivers having to use third-party apps, text messaging, go through emails, trying to, you know, figure out the pickup and delivery locations of the stop, having a call or text dispatch where they're at, right? If you can provide a driver a simple app that does all those things in one central solution, it makes the driver's job day to day much simpler and easier to do. And not only are you making the driver's workload more efficient and better, but also you're getting in the back office all the same updates and details that you'd normally need from two, three, four, or five other external third-party tools. If you had one centralized app that can do all that, it's also driving the back office to be more efficient as well.

SPEAKER_00: 13:44

Amazing. I mean, isn't that crazy? Just like a love-hate relationship. I'm sure the cost of keeping a driver is so expensive, but yet also people have a deep respect for what truck drivers do. Um, so I mean, it's hard to keep that balance. I'm sure you probably also feel that too, being in sales. Um, what would you say uh the similarity of being a sales individual you know background versus trucking? People say, you know, hey man, you guys are you guys are getting spoiled out there.

SPEAKER_02: 14:14

Well, I would I would argue sales is is is not easy, right? Especially in the transportation space. But I think it's all it all comes down to right, it's the value that you bring. No matter what part of sales for what other company in the entire transportation logistics industry that you you're a part of, it's all about the value that you can bring, not only to the trucking company, but also what value can you actually bring to their drivers, right? You know, trucking companies want to work smarter, not harder. But it's you know, it's my job obviously to bring that value to them so they can set their business not only up for success, but also providing the tools that the that ultimately benefit their drivers. And I think you know, it's again all about that relationship and having that rapport and that conversation and getting to know each and every person that I interact with, right? Because you know, every no trucking company is the same. They could be similar, but what's unique to let's say ABC trucking and versus their competitor dynamistry can be completely different. So it's all about getting to know every trucking company's needs and you know what's valuable to them and important, but also you know, what's their vision? Where do they want to be in the next phase of their you know company's history? You know, what's those milestones and making sure that I'm aligned with that and providing solutions that that meet those goals. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_00: 15:25

You know, because a lot of people aren't just thinking about today, they're thinking about down the road. What does my life look like? What do I want to still be here or invest the time? Maybe they're expanding their family. You never know. I mean, there's a lot of things going on out here. Speaking of which, uh, AI, the real impact versus industry noise, you know, we can't avoid the topic. Where do you see AI actually using being useful in the trucking industry right now?

SPEAKER_02: 15:51

Yeah, you're exactly right. I I love technology, but AI is certainly an overused buzzword from a lot of companies I see, not only in the space, but uh in my personal life, right? It's everywhere. I mean, if you watch the Super Bowl this year, I mean how many AI-related you know companies did you see have ads this year? So, but it it's certainly AI is certainly a real thing and it's certainly here to stay, but it's how is it gonna be used, but also be able to be real world applicable, specifically for the trucking industry. And I what I would say is that, you know, not to get in the weeds with AI because you you get me down a rabbit hole, but you know, a lot of the AI buzzword and hype that's on the market from a lot of providers in the industry is is is generative AI, right? Where the future really is the next phase of uh in my opinion, the next phase of AI is really with a gentic AI, being able to proactively make suggestions to kind of reduce debt head or find optimized routes or uh you know make suggestions that a human being normally would make that would be you know more profitable or more efficient. So I think it's important for a lot of folks, because I have this conversation every day with folks, is to truly look at whatever piece of technology you're looking at, whether it's TMS, whether it's ELD, whether it's telem, you know, any other telematics, really look is the AI comp piece that they're promoting, is it is it native to their solution or is it dependent on a bolt-on? Anytime any solution has a bolt-on AI component to be able to provide AI capabilities, it's not gonna be as in-depth and then thorough and as advanced as if you have a solution that's just been natively written from the ground up to have AI in it because AI is gonna consistently change and consistently evolve. And anytime that you have a piece of technology that's dependent on a third-party built-on AI tool on it, it's truly not getting all the data and visibility to be able to make true real world suggestions. So that's the thing is you know, filter through the noise when you see AI this, AI that it's it's up to someone to really dig deep and see, hey, is this really gonna apply to the real world, right? Is it really gonna help me as a trucking company? Is it really gonna help my team be more efficient? Um, but the big thing is, you know, you want to be able to utilize AI to reduce deadhead and optimize your routes and your load planning. And so, you know, my opinion is that AI shouldn't necessarily be looked at as a tool to replace people, it should be more of an assistant to help people do their jobs better. Because as you as you and I said initially at the beginning of this call, this is a relationship-based industry. So if I'm working, let's say I'm a dispatcher at a trucking company, and my company can provide me with a tool that helps kind of reduce a lot of the admin planning work, and I can be on the phone spending more time talking with drivers, talking to customers, providing them updates, that's gonna provide that carrier with a whole nother level of customer service that they hadn't ever experienced. So I that's kind of my outlook on AI. It's certainly here to stay. It's just kind of like that next generation of the internet. Everyone said, Hey, the internet's gonna, you know, make people dumber, it's gonna make people, you know, lazy. But I would argue it makes actually people more efficient and more knowledgeable because you're able to just search the World Wide Web for anything that you want. So AI is definitely here to stay, but there's definitely a clear distinction between what AI is hype and what AI is actually gonna be provide value in the real world.

SPEAKER_00: 19:02

Yeah, and also maybe it can help people follow their passions. Something that seemed impossible before. Maybe they can actually get it accomplished with without you know their cost being so high and then take them out so quick. You know, I know cost is important for every industry and every profession. So now you can probably follow your dream a little better. So yeah, that can be a throw.

SPEAKER_02: 19:25

Yeah, and that thing with AI is natural language, right? Imagine, you know, I I'm not I love reports, I love dashboards, I love spreadsheets. Like that's just it's all fun. But imagine if you're a trucking company, instead of having to run different reports and filter and try to merge them between the two because no reports 100% what you're like. You know, one thing I'm excited about with this industry is the natural language aspect of AI, where imagine if you wanted to run, hey, what's my you know, profitability for this truck for this range for this customer? You're able to just type in as you naturally would say in a conversation or how your thoughts are, you plug it in the solution, and that report and data or dashboard that you look for just appears right in front of you without having to kind of filter your own, you know, include or exclude different details. It just comes right in front of you. And I think that's the real great advantage and benefit that's coming down with the AI that's you know out on the market today and that's coming out in the next you know months, and I wouldn't argue less than a year for sure, is if you're able to just naturally run reports and data that you normally would have to kind of merge and blend reports that doesn't give you 100% what you're like. So that's what I think is really exciting, and I think that's really gonna be a game changer for trucking companies because at the end of the day you know, not everyone is a report wizard, right? Or an Excel wizard, right? And so I think that's something to look forward to.

SPEAKER_00: 20:37

Yeah, yeah, it definitely takes two different types of individuals. Some people are really good at throwing wrenches, some people are really good at making spreadsheets and making those work and easy to understand. So, yeah, it is a different mindset. Mixing the two, I'm not saying it's impossible to cross those over, but the mindset of, like you said, doing something you love is a whole different world there. So I hope that AI can continue to complement humans and make them more successful and feel you know better about the job that they're doing. So great advice there. Maybe advice for drivers and fleet owners. Let's bring it back to people listening for owner operators, small fleets. If someone's out there running and just a you know a few trucks, what operational mistakes should they avoid early on? What would you say?

SPEAKER_02: 21:21

Yeah, early on, the most common mistake I've seen them is not putting in the foundations of a solution to manage their business, right? I think the the bottleneck I see, the biggest mistake I may I see make is that they're losing spreadsheets and you know manual processes to manage their business to keep their kind of cost level, their overhead operating costs low, right? Because any piece of technology is gonna come with a cost. But the way to look at it is really the other the right way to look at it is the investment, right? Investing in your business for the long haul. So what that looks like, let's say, you know, you're a startup carrier with a fleet of three, four, five trucks, most commonly they're gonna be using, you know, managing their dispatches on spreadsheets and they're communicating with their drivers through text messages and emails. And and then typically the biggest mistake I see is you know, when they get to around that 10, 12 truck mark, like, hey, I need technology, whether it's a TMS or an you know accounting system, that's great. But then they create a bottleneck for themselves because their their volume is much higher than if they would have implemented systems very early on at three, four, five trucks, right? And so not only are they trying to Implement tools and processes to accommodate the maturity of their business, but they're also still have a business to run, right? The business doesn't stop, the freight doesn't stop just because they're implementing tools and processes and streamlining those with technology on the market. So, and what they result into by running on spreadsheets in their early years is they think, hey, we added two, three, four, five trucks. I need to hire another body in the office to accommodate that new, you know, that increased volume. So what happens at that point is that their margin uh profit margins shrink. They're not running as profitable as they could if they had the right processes and technology in place that managed the entire back office for their business. And so that's the most common mistake I make, is because then at that point, when they look at a new piece of technology when they've matured to 12, 15 trucks or so from spreadsheets, then their investment level and new technology and the time it takes to migrate over is much higher than if they would have started off with the right system very early earlier on in the company's history.

SPEAKER_00: 23:17

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, good capital is good investing in your company and making sure the infrastructure is set up right from the from the jump. So yeah, great advice there. What metrics would you or should a carrier track weekly? What would you say on those?

SPEAKER_02: 23:33

Definitely on-time delivery performance. Definitely, you know, what's their profit per load per customer, per driver, per unit? So really looking at their PL. I think so many times that this fo this industry carriers just focus on just kind of the day-to-day, getting the right, getting the truck loaded, getting it delivered on time, but they don't watch the profit margins level. Like, what's my true cost after all expenses, right? Fuel cards, right? For fuel, driver pay, the whole nine yards. They don't really look at that on a weekly basis as they should, at least a lot of the carriers I've worked with over my career. So I think that's because if they're able to see in real time, and not only weekly by the day in real time, what's their true profitability? It's easier to make a pivot to your business than if you look at the end of the week or even at the end of the month, right? You're not able to be proactive and shift, hey, you know, this lane or this type of commodity is not as profitable as if, you know, versus something else, right? So I think that's the biggest thing that's caused a lot of carriers to then, you know, go belly side up is that they don't have that visibility in terms of how profitable I am as a trucking company, that by the time they figure it out, it it to turn the business around and get, you know, more be more profitable, it it's too late. Like I was talking to someone not long ago, they didn't realize they were losing 15 grand a month. Why? Because they were dependent on running their accounting in one their payroll in one system, managing their dispatch in another, then they had to log into their factoring company for another, they're trying to merge and combine reports. Obviously, at the end of the day you're merging and trying to compile reports, things are gonna get lost. So they they they they were running blind. And and so whenever they implement a solution that kind of centralized all those systems, all those processes into one system, they were able to look that for the last eight months they were they were running, uh losing 15 grand a month. And so they were at that point able to make course correction and go back to your point we talked about earlier about being proactive than being reactive, and and they're on their way to turn this ship around.

SPEAKER_00: 25:31

Nice. Yeah. So if a company feels stuck right now, maybe they're more experienced. And what's first the first operational audit they should probably conduct?

SPEAKER_02: 25:45

Definitely dispatch. They need to see how much time is it taking for a dispatcher of planning the loads, finding loads, whether that's you know in the spot market or on load boards. They need to look at how much time they're spending communicating with the driver, basic load status updates and load assignments, but also you know, the time it takes to retrieve those documents from the drivers. Are they doing it through text messages? Are they going through emails, then having to go through and download and upload before they can attach it to a customer's invoice, right? So that's that's the first thing I would say is is looking at the time it's taking in dispatch and the communication of your drivers for load status updates and as well as any dot load documentation, but then also immediately look in terms of how long is it taking us to invoice, right? An invoice, whether you're invoicing directly to a customer or your factoring, they're still needing to get the delivery documents consolidated, attached to the invoice before it can get out to the factoring company or directly to the invoice. So again, a direct impact to the cash flow, right? The sooner they can get that invoice out, the faster they get paid. So those kind of work in tandem because you could have a very efficient dispatching process all day long, like the best, most efficient dispatching process in the world. But if you're not as efficient in accounting, you you're just not doing yourself any favor, right? Because you got to get it, you got to get paid, right? You gotta get payroll calculated. So I would say definitely dispatch first, but immediately looking at your accounting processes and how efficient you are should be key indicators on what you can improve and then go from there.

SPEAKER_00: 27:13

That's awesome. Great, great tips there. I mean, I think that's gonna be very useful for a lot of people that are listening uh on a personal level after you know working in this industry and seeing so much behind the scenes. What's uh one thing that you respect more now uh about tracking?

SPEAKER_02: 27:30

I think I even have a greater appreciation of how hardworking every person is, from a dispatcher to the person in finance to the owners to operations to the drivers. I have even a greater respect than when I first came in here into this industry that I have today. It's it's in it's incredible. I have a lot of friends and family in different industries, and I'll say the the grit, the grind, the commitment to that folks have in this industry being the backbone of America is absolutely incredible. Yeah, so I it it it just did anything when I first came to the industry, it's just kind of doubled or tripled down on kind of the appreciation to have on the hardworking folks that we have in the space.

SPEAKER_00: 28:08

Yeah, same here. You realize that man something that was invisible or that you didn't really think about you know, it's it's a lot there, and it's kind of like driving a 53-foot trailer or a set of doubles or triples. People see you in the cab, but they don't realize how much is behind that truck driver. Um yeah, you can they don't move like cars. No, they no, they don't.

SPEAKER_02: 28:31

They they definitely don't, and I think it's important for folks. You know, if you're in the industry, it's often over times, it's often overlooked. If you're by a truck stop or if you're getting gas or you see a driver, just tell them thank you. It goes it really goes a long way. I think drivers are so often taken for granted and don't get the kind of recognition that they deserve.

SPEAKER_00: 28:47

But uh yeah, yeah, and there's been a lot of bad players too. So I get it. I mean, but like in the long run, there's a lot of good truckers out there, a lot of good people in the industry that are still trying to do a lot for the country, do a lot for just mankind, you know. So let's keep it moving, right? We had a lot of good uh people reach out. You put out a great post there, and I wanted to get some of the comments. I think we got some here.

SPEAKER_01: 29:13

Appreciate it. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00: 29:15

Let's see what we got. Says, as a person, I'd love to know your favorite work event or customer story that's stuck with you over the years. You know, probably we got a little bit talk about that backstage where you're saying how there's a great networking event that's going on or coming going on this weekend. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 29:37

So I would say, you know, that one of the favorite events is is the truckload carrier association's annual conference that this weekend will be in Orlando, but that conference is always great for relationships, right? I've met, I've gone to it for over 10 years, won't make it this year, unfortunately, but over 10 years in that that that conference is the best conf one of the best conferences I've ever gone to, whether you're you know drivers, insurance companies, telematics, the trucking companies, brokers. I've built such a network of friendships, genuine friendships at that conference, than I have at you know some of the others, right? I think it's a great conference to get to know folks. And like we were discussing, you know, it is a relationship-based industry. So you don't ever know who you might run into that they may be of help to you, but also you'd be able to help help to them. And I think that's important as I always tell folks that are new to this industry that you step into it the first time, get to know folks, you know, make a real a friendship with them because you never know when your paths will cross and you'll be able to help each other. And I think that's pretty much remarkable. As I have not come across anyone in this space where if I needed something or they need something, it just it's it's it's really cool to be able to, you know, pick up the phone or stay in touch with someone where you can be a value to them and vice versa. So that would be, I say, I would say one of my favorite events. There's also the Broker Carrier Summit is a great organization. It's it's a fast-growing networking event that I've attended twice that I think it's is is really good for folks that are either new to the space or have been around and want to just expand their network and get to new folks is another great one to attend.

SPEAKER_00: 31:08

Nice, yeah. Yeah, big up to Danielle Spinelli from Descartes, reaches out there, so that's good. Um, did you have another one you were able to find? Yeah, no, I had another question.

SPEAKER_02: 31:18

So someone had sent me a message and asked, so how uh how will Supreme Court ruling on tariffs affect small carrier adoption when it comes to AI and TMS? I think you know, I don't think there's any effect with tariffs that has a direct impact on AI and TMS, so to speak. If anything, I think it's if there was any effect should be is on AI and TMS companies to really double down on making sure their solutions are able to be easily adapt to uh ever market change uh changing conditions in the market, right? And so I think if anything, AI and TMS companies in this space, what they should be doing is making sure their system is configurable and able to adapt on a dime to meet the trucking company's needs. Because if they have a system that kind of is is confined and locked in into one set way, if a trucking company needs a pivot or diversify their modes of transportation, right? They may be truckload general freight today, but they may see an opportunity to get into oversize LTL freight, oversize or LTL freight tomorrow, they need to have a solution to be able to adapt to those market conditions and adapt to those that truck company's new line of business or mode of transportation they're trying to get into. I think that's the big opportunity that AI and TMS companies need to double down and look into so they can better serve their companies. I've seen too many folks in my career in this space implement tools and make actually business decisions based on the tools that they have being limited, which limited the trucker company's opportunity to expand and adapt to market conditions that ultimately led to the downfall. So I think that's something that trucker companies should be looking at their technology that they're using today and the change of the market and really look long term. Hey, as the market pivots and changes, from a technology standpoint that we have, let's just say TMS was part of that question. How easy is it to adapt if we were to expand our line of business or get into a new market that we previously didn't serve? I think that's a big opportunity that TMS companies should really look into.

SPEAKER_00: 33:18

Nice. Yeah, yeah, appreciate that. Looks like it Brad Little put that on there. Yeah, from Trucker Buddy AI. So nice, nice job. Yeah, we got this. We've got a great show you're able to put out for the listeners. Man, I'm really glad you're able to come on the show, take this time out. So, some I guess personal reflection. Yeah, you've probably seen a lot of change in the industry over years. What do you think the trucking leaders need to know right now for patience, adaptability, discipline, and innovation? I mean, those are some each one of those are different topics, but where do you think the industry is headed over the next few years?

SPEAKER_02: 33:52

It's definitely headed to be more technology driven. But you know, over the next few years, I think this freight recession we have been in over the last several years that we're kind of, you know, on the tailwind end of things getting more stabilized. Of course, not we don't know what the future holds in terms of, you know, other external factors that could impact it. But I think where it's headed is tech uh truck companies to be more technology focused, right? I think my prediction is between technology improving, whether it's TMS and really AI being a new component just in general. I think over the next two to three years, trucking companies that are not utilizing sophisticated advanced TMS and AI technology are gonna be left behind. The ones that are doubling down on technology, making the investments now, refining processes with and with those tools that they're implementing, have implemented or will implement are gonna be the ones that are gonna have the competitive advantage. And the ones that are not are gonna have to step aside. So that's where I kind of see things. I've seen kind of that progression and more now in the last two years than I've ever seen before. And I think now with the AI rapidly you know developing and getting better and uh new phases of AI being rolled out, I think that's gonna really accelerate and force truck companies to make that decision. Do we invest technologies and tools now or do we do we pull away from the market? Because if they're not gonna do it, their competitor is. If their competitors doing doing it, then it's gonna put their them out of business.

SPEAKER_00: 35:12

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, we see the investments from the competitors. So yeah, if you're not playing the game, unfortunately, then the game will affect you as well. So yeah, yeah, great advice there. And so in closing, uh Ryan, well, it's truly been thoughtful and conversation. I hope we covered a lot a lot that the listeners wanted to to hear, and then sort of you know they can also feel like a, you know, there's advice here, there's value, like you said. So we want to increase that as much as we can. So to a lot, there's a lot of noise out there in trucking right now, but for rates, technology, innovation. But at the end of the day, strong operations still come down to clarity, discipline, and leadership. So I appreciate you sharing your perspective and experience.

SPEAKER_02: 35:58

No, I appreciate it. Ray, thanks for having me on. It's been it's been great. And yeah, look forward to any other questions that may folks may have after this after this podcast, and happy to answer anything or you know, build again, build a new connection.

SPEAKER_00: 36:10

Awesome, excellent, exactly. Same here. So if you like what you see, like what you hear out there, please share it with someone. If you have a question or anything that you want to share us, let us know. We appreciate that. So we'd love to hear your feedback, leave a review as well. So stay sharp, stay out there, stay, stay alert for all the changes that are coming about. And we'll see you next time. It's truck and ray, and that's delivered.