E-Commerce Freight for Small Carriers: How HTL Builds Supply Chains

Amy Chavez

–

June 17, 2026

Most brokerages look at e-commerce and see thin margins.

Xander and Kanon looked at e-commerce and saw an entire supply chain nobody was building properly.

In this return episode of This Week in Trucking, Xander Hassan and Kanon Acker from Hassan Transportation & Logistics (HTL) are back — and a lot has changed since the first time they sat down with us. They’ve gone from a general brokerage that could move anything to a focused operation designing full supply chains for e-commerce brands, connecting parcel, freight, warehousing, and last mile delivery into one system.

If you’re an owner-operator, small carrier, or small brokerage trying to figure out where the next opportunity lives, this conversation lays out the playbook.

https://youtu.be/3G3BjrGx46Q

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Episode Highlights

From General Brokerage to Supply Chain Design

“We stopped chasing everything and started building something specific.” — Kanon Acker

Since their first episode, HTL has tightened its focus around parcel, e-commerce, and warehousing. Instead of trying to move everything for everyone, they now design supply chains for brands — one point of contact, one strategy, one flow of data.

“We don’t force freight into a system that it doesn’t fit in. We build the system around the freight.” — Kanon Acker

The shift wasn’t planned. Their existing shippers were already trusting them with LTL and truckload, but struggling with parcel — rates, visibility, carrier limitations. HTL stepped in, studied the problem, and built their model around it.

Today they handle parcel rate optimization, carrier diversification, warehouse placement, and last mile strategy. The full flow from order to doorstep.

Why HTL Makes Money in E-Commerce When Other Brokerages Don’t

“We’re not chasing margin per shipment. We’re building margin per customer.” — Kanon Acker

Most brokerages see e-commerce as label reselling. And there’s no money in that.

HTL makes money by controlling the relationship across the entire supply chain — parcel, line haul, warehousing. The margin isn’t in any single shipment. It’s in the system.

They also run with minimal overhead by design. Larger competitors with 20–30 employees carry overhead costs that force higher pricing. HTL’s lean structure lets them offer pricing that’s hard to beat — which is why they keep hearing “it’s too good to be true.”

How Small Carriers Can Get Into E-Commerce

“Smaller carriers with 1 to 5 trucks aren’t going to be competing with UPS and FedEx. But where they are winning is in first mile, middle mile, final mile, and dedicated routes.” — Kanon Acker

This is the part every owner-operator and small carrier should pay attention to.

E-commerce isn’t one lane. It’s an entire network. And inside that network, there’s room for small carriers doing:

Warehouse transfers Final mile runs Regional DTC distribution Dedicated routes for e-commerce brands

HTL has worked with 1–5 truck carriers who built consistent revenue doing exactly this. The key is finding where you fit in the network, not trying to compete with the big parcel carriers.

Drayage: The Opportunity Nobody’s Explaining Well

“The most important thing in drayage is getting it out of the port. You don’t want it sitting there.” — Xander Hassan

Xander walked through a live drayage operation — trucks pulling up, pallets coming off in 30 minutes, everything staged and efficient. For carriers thinking about pulling their first container, he breaks down what matters: pre-pull strategy, chassis access, warehouse proximity, and speed.

The longer freight sits at a port, the higher the risk — theft, fees, delays. Carriers who understand drayage timing and build relationships with warehouses near port facilities can carve out a real niche.

The Craziest Freight Theft Story of the Year

“That guy is in jail right now.” — Xander Hassan

A $650,000 load was supposed to go from New Jersey to Charlotte. Instead, it was redirected to a warehouse in Ventura County, California — by someone who hacked the BOL system and called the driver directly.

The driver who actually picked it up, Ming, called Xander a month later asking to get paid. That’s how they found it.

The FBI was already involved. The warehouse had fraudulent leases. Inside they found 12 other stolen loads from major companies, fentanyl, AK-47s, and people living inside the facility.

The person running the operation? A man in a Colorado state federal prison with a smuggled cell phone.

HTL got every single item back. Not one carton missing.

“Don’t panic if something bad happens. Calm down. Take a couple breaths. I thought my life was over. It wasn’t.” — Xander Hassan

How HTL Vets Carriers and Prevents Fraud

Xander’s approach to preventing freight theft:

Require pictures at pickup — truck, trailer, driver ID, license plate. Put a $150 penalty in the confirmation for non-compliance Use DAT company search and company credit checks Vet your shippers too, not just your carriers — Xander got burned by a shipper he met at a conference whose business was designed to never pay carriers Trust your gut — if something feels off, walk away

“You can’t sell to somebody you don’t know.” — Xander Hassan

Small Brokerages and Small Carriers Growing Together

“Good carriers don’t really stay small if they’re consistent — unless they absolutely want to.” — Kanon Acker

HTL started small carriers on a couple loads. When they executed consistently and communicated well, HTL kept feeding them more volume. Now those carriers run dedicated freight across multiple lanes every week.

The formula is simple: execute, communicate, and don’t give anyone a reason to look elsewhere. That’s how small carriers grow organically through broker relationships.

“Uncertainty creates demand for good partners.” — Kanon Acker

Cold Calling Isn’t Dead — But It’s Evolving

“The cold call is not dead. The people that answer cold calls are slowly dying out.” — Xander Hassan

Xander still makes cold calls. He also cold-approaches people in grocery stores when he spots contractor logos on their shirts. He researches prospects on LinkedIn before calling. And he reverse-sold a lending company rep who kept calling him — teaching the guy how to actually pitch.

His sales approach: be a real person, understand who you’re talking to, and stop panicking when someone picks up the phone.

On LinkedIn, HTL’s strategy isn’t to go viral. It’s to be visible and bring value. They’re even developing a logistics cartoon mascot — Sir Hauls A Lot — to make their content stand out.

Tariffs, Uncertainty, and Staying Focused

“Let the bigger guys worry about the tariffs. As small businesses, we need to be focusing on expansion and being more diligent on who we’re working with.” — Xander Hassan

HTL’s take on 2026’s tariff uncertainty is practical: adapt. Switch modes of transportation. Move freight to e-commerce. Explore intermodal. Focus on what you can control.

“Uncertainty creates demand for good partners. It’s actually opened up more conversations for us.” — Kanon Acker

Cash Flow Keeps Small Logistics Companies Alive

Whether you’re a one-truck carrier waiting on a broker check or a small brokerage managing cash flow across multiple customers, the gap between expenses and payment is where businesses get stuck.

Xander said it himself — if you fall behind on cash flow, keep everyone in the loop. Communication buys time. But having a financial tool that closes the gap buys stability.

Bobtail’s financial tools get you paid same day on loads you’ve already hauled. No hidden fees. Real support. So a slow-paying customer doesn’t shut down your operation.

Check out Bobtail’s financial tools for cash flow →

Talk to our team about your operation →

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions: E-Commerce Freight, Drayage, and Small Carrier Growth

Can small carriers with 1–5 trucks get into e-commerce freight?

Yes. Small carriers aren’t competing with UPS or FedEx, but they can build consistent revenue in first mile, middle mile, final mile, and dedicated routes within the e-commerce network.

What is last mile delivery in trucking?

Last mile is the final leg of delivery — from a warehouse or distribution center to the customer’s door. Think of the Amazon package going from a local warehouse to your house.

What is drayage and is it worth it for small carriers?

Drayage is moving containers from a port to a nearby warehouse or distribution center. It can be profitable for carriers who understand pre-pull strategy, chassis access, and warehouse proximity. Speed is everything — the longer freight sits at a port, the higher the risk and cost.

How does HTL make money in e-commerce when other brokerages don’t?

HTL doesn’t chase margin per shipment. They build margin across the entire customer relationship — parcel, line haul, warehousing — as one integrated system with minimal overhead.

How can small carriers build strong broker relationships?

Execute consistently, communicate proactively, and don’t give anyone a reason to look elsewhere. HTL started carriers on a few loads, and the ones who delivered reliably now run dedicated freight every week.

How do you prevent freight theft as a small brokerage?

Require pickup photos (truck, trailer, driver ID), use DAT company search for vetting, check company credit, vet shippers as carefully as carriers, and trust your gut when something feels off.

Is cold calling still effective in logistics?

Yes, but it’s evolving. The people who answer cold calls are aging out of the industry. Research your prospects, be authentic, and use LinkedIn for visibility and relationship-building alongside phone outreach.

How are tariffs affecting small logistics companies in 2026?

Tariff uncertainty creates demand for good partners. Small companies should focus on what they can control — adapting transportation modes, exploring e-commerce and intermodal, and being diligent about who they work with.

How can small carriers and brokerages manage cash flow during growth?

When expenses hit weekly but payments take 30–60 days, the gap can stall everything. Bobtail’s financial tools let you turn unpaid invoices into same-day working capital so one slow-paying customer doesn’t shut down your operation.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel so you never miss conversations like this one. Drive safe, everyone.

Full Transcript

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:08:08
Unknown
tell me that story again about that guy with the dog food. And I told him and he's like, that's not real. I said, no, it's real because that guy is in jail right now.

00:00:08:08 - 00:00:08:19
Unknown
So,

00:00:08:19 - 00:00:24:05
Unknown
Welcome back to this Weekend Trucking. I'm your host, Amy. Today we've got Zander and Cannon from Hazen and Logistics. The last time they were on, we got into freight theft, fraud and broker carrier relationships. Today we're talking e-commerce,

00:00:24:05 - 00:00:28:00
Unknown
Duke fulfillment. And how hasn't transportation and logistics

00:00:28:00 - 00:00:29:23
Unknown
has grown since the last time we

00:00:30:01 - 00:00:31:10
Unknown
But before we dive into it.

00:00:31:11 - 00:00:34:13
Unknown
Don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you never miss episodes

00:00:34:15 - 00:00:39:17
Unknown
and conversations like the one we are about to have. Zander cannon, welcome back to the show!

00:00:39:19 - 00:00:41:08
Unknown
Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here.

00:00:41:09 - 00:00:56:10
Unknown
So last time you were here on the

00:00:56:11 - 00:01:18:06
Unknown
Again, thank you for having us. So last time we were on. I think it's safe to say that we were still kind of proving the model that we wanted to make successful. So since then, we've really tightened our focus specifically around parcel e-commerce and warehousing. So we've gone from being a general brokerage that can move everything.

00:01:18:07 - 00:01:31:01
Unknown
Even though we still can. But now we're kind of transition to a little bit more of a hybrid model. So we like to focus on where parcel freight and warehousing all work together for the good of a supply chain.

00:01:31:04 - 00:01:38:09
Unknown
I guess the biggest shift would be that we're we're not just moving freight anymore, we are actually designing supply chains for customers, you know.

00:01:38:10 - 00:02:12:10
Unknown
So in other words, we stop chasing everything and started building something specific.

00:02:12:12 - 00:02:13:23
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

00:02:14:01 - 00:02:16:15
Unknown
kind of funny, actually, because

00:02:16:15 - 00:02:34:08
Unknown
it wasn't really a plan to get into it. It's just, you know, we got into e-commerce because our customers kind of pushed us there, you know. So we had shippers trusting us with their LTL and truckload, but they were struggling with parcel more specifically rates, visibility and carrier limitations, things like that.

00:02:34:09 - 00:02:49:19
Unknown
So we stepped in, kind of took a look at it, and we kind of built our model around that. So today, for example, we're able to help with things like parcel rate optimization, carrier diversification, warehouse placement, last mile strategy.

00:02:49:19 - 00:02:55:17
Unknown
Really the full flow from order to doorstep. We try and make as seamless as possible.

00:02:55:17 - 00:03:03:01
Unknown
Can you explain to me specifically? Because probably our audience does know what last mile means.

00:03:03:03 - 00:03:10:19
Unknown
last mile, the best way to kind of think of last mile is when you think of, you know, one of the hundreds of packages that you might get in a year from Amazon,

00:03:10:23 - 00:03:18:21
Unknown
that last one from the Amazon warehouse close to where you live, being delivered to your door, that's last mile shipping.

00:03:18:23 - 00:03:39:01
Unknown
Okay okay okay. Got it. And also in one of our conversations, one of my conversations with Zander, he had mentioned that you guys found an innovative way to simplify direct to customer logistics. Can you give us a little walkthrough of how you did that, how you got the first steps going?

00:03:39:06 - 00:03:49:12
Unknown
So we simplified it by becoming essentially a single layer over everything. So instead of and this is how almost all brands operate. So they manage multiple vendors.

00:03:49:14 - 00:04:07:08
Unknown
Different aspects of their freight, different warehousing, everything like that. So instead of the brand managing all of these different aspects of their supply chain, we step in. We connect parcel freight and warehousing into one system with one point of contact, one strategy, one flow of data. For them.

00:04:07:08 - 00:04:16:02
Unknown
What's been most successful is the analogy that I love to use is that we don't force freight into a system that it doesn't fit in.

00:04:16:03 - 00:04:18:16
Unknown
We instead build the system around that freight.

00:04:18:19 - 00:04:29:23
Unknown
I like that. I like how I liked how you guys are thinking since the last time I was editing. Actually the episode for for your conversation with Caroline.

00:04:29:23 - 00:04:43:12
Unknown
I think one of the things that we mostly got out of the past conversation was also, what were you doing different to other brokerages? And one of these things is, is us thinking right now, most brokerages won't really get into

00:04:43:14 - 00:04:44:07
Unknown
e-commerce

00:04:44:09 - 00:04:45:12
Unknown
because of the margins.

00:04:45:12 - 00:04:51:09
Unknown
And you mentioned that last time. So can you tell us how it works and why you're making money in e-commerce?

00:04:51:10 - 00:04:56:09
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'd love to. Yeah. So and this is kind of the most interesting part about it. I think

00:04:56:13 - 00:04:59:01
Unknown
brokerages, whether they're small, mid, large,

00:04:59:02 - 00:05:01:02
Unknown
you know, when they look at e-commerce

00:05:01:02 - 00:05:11:22
Unknown
from the outside it looks like it's just a label reselling operation. So for brokerages that are just reselling labels there's not really any money in that.

00:05:11:23 - 00:05:34:19
Unknown
So we make money by controlling the relationship and we add value across the entire supply chain. So it's not on a shipment level, right? So once we're involved in parcel line haul, warehousing, the margins, not one piece, it kind of becomes the margin of that entire system that we have put into place. So we're not chasing margin per shipment per se.

00:05:34:23 - 00:05:39:07
Unknown
You know, we're more so building margin per customer, you know. So we're kind of looking at

00:05:39:09 - 00:05:45:02
Unknown
bigger picture. And that's been how we've been successful in doing it.

00:05:45:04 - 00:06:00:22
Unknown
For our audience of owner operator, small carriers that have maybe one, maybe two, maybe five trucks who've only ever hauled a full truckload freight. Is there a way for them to get involved in e-commerce or DTC fulfillment?

00:06:01:00 - 00:06:11:08
Unknown
Yes, absolutely. And I'm really glad you asked. So 100%. They can definitely get involved in e-commerce do this for film it, but it's not in the way that people typically think. You know,

00:06:11:11 - 00:06:19:19
Unknown
smaller carriers with 1 to 5 trucks, they're not going to be competing with UPS and Fedex. Right? It just doesn't make sense. It's not the same scale.

00:06:19:21 - 00:06:25:12
Unknown
But where they are winning is in first mile, middle mile, final mile and dedicated routes.

00:06:25:18 - 00:06:29:11
Unknown
we've seen 1 to 5 truck fleets build consistent revenue

00:06:29:14 - 00:06:38:06
Unknown
doing warehouse transfers, final mile runs and regional DDC distribution. That's really kind of where they can come in and make the most impact,

00:06:38:06 - 00:06:42:21
Unknown
because e-commerce isn't just one lane, it's an entire network in that network.

00:06:42:22 - 00:06:47:10
Unknown
There's so much room for small carriers to fit into it just because

00:06:47:10 - 00:06:57:06
Unknown
sometimes it is split up. You know, one shipment by first, middle, final, you know, but then there are other situations when it's just the final mile portion of it as well.

00:06:57:06 - 00:07:03:05
Unknown
So there's so many different areas in this kind of space that smaller carriers can definitely fit into.

00:07:03:06 - 00:07:06:02
Unknown
And we've worked with smaller carriers and they fit in very well.

00:07:06:02 - 00:07:34:07
Unknown
I think this is a great time to mention to our audience and everyone watching. If you are a small carrier and you're delivering loads and waiting weeks to see the money on those loads, that's a problem you do not have to be dealing with. That's why most carriers are using a financial service to help them see money. The same day, with no hidden fees and top tier customer service, I will leave for you the link for Bob tails factoring service in the description of this video.

00:07:34:07 - 00:07:39:15
Unknown
you had mentioned final mile delivery. You very beautifully explained it to me.

00:07:39:15 - 00:07:45:05
Unknown
Is that already established and working right now in HTL?

00:07:45:06 - 00:08:04:03
Unknown
Yes. Yeah, yeah. So it is established and working right now. And it's something that we've been putting a large focus on scaling. You know, we have been successful in the model that we put into place. It's been proven. So now it's just a matter of scaling it. You know, as as large as we would like for it to go

00:08:04:03 - 00:08:08:12
Unknown
because the demand that's coming from the e-commerce brands,

00:08:08:12 - 00:08:13:03
Unknown
coming because they want more control over their supply chain and a better overall customer experience.

00:08:13:03 - 00:08:22:06
Unknown
We can get into rates and things like that. But when it becomes an argument on rates, then it's just it's rarely ever a good partnership, you know? So

00:08:22:10 - 00:08:33:07
Unknown
coming into another topic, which I'm trying with all my might to start wrapping my head around because I'm used to speaking with small carriers, 1 to 2 trucks, maybe.

00:08:33:07 - 00:08:34:11
Unknown
Then I've gotten

00:08:34:11 - 00:08:38:09
Unknown
through networking for the podcast. I've gotten to talk to many

00:08:38:09 - 00:08:39:09
Unknown
dredge people,

00:08:39:09 - 00:08:41:17
Unknown
and this is another expansion you were

00:08:41:19 - 00:08:46:10
Unknown
talking about for carriers and for me, who've never pulled a container.

00:08:46:10 - 00:08:51:01
Unknown
What should they know before getting into it? And is it worth the investment?

00:08:51:05 - 00:09:07:13
Unknown
yeah. Well said. I mean everything you mentioned on Final Mile, it's something very innovative that Canon's been working very hard on. I'm still trying to catch up with learning some of this stuff. So getting to learn from Ken and with his knowledge in this industry is probably the best training that I could get on it.

00:09:07:13 - 00:09:08:03
Unknown
So

00:09:08:05 - 00:09:24:19
Unknown
kudos to you, man. Really proud of you. But yeah, when it comes to dredge, I mean, it's just like any other thing. E-commerce is autonomous. I call them micro margins. I mean, when you put micro margins on things, there's no way other people can touch your pricing. And I can say that confidently just due to the fact that I've seen the numbers.

00:09:24:19 - 00:09:28:03
Unknown
It's just we get the response. It's too good to be true,

00:09:28:03 - 00:09:37:12
Unknown
there's room where you think about a company of 20, a company of 25, and I'll get to the drainage part. But you think about companies of 30. The overhead

00:09:37:17 - 00:09:43:02
Unknown
is what they're paying for in their margin. We have very minimal overhead and we design the company that way.

00:09:43:03 - 00:09:54:15
Unknown
To touch to your point on the expansion to get those more staff members, of course, we want a sales team, and I'm actually meeting with somebody tomorrow to help me discuss how to pull those people together. And I had them pulled already,

00:09:54:15 - 00:09:58:05
Unknown
and it's pulling them into what I call a referral program,

00:09:58:07 - 00:10:04:13
Unknown
you'll be able to teach them about the logistics industry or if they know maybe a little less, give them more,

00:10:04:13 - 00:10:06:15
Unknown
at the same time bring on those type of customers.

00:10:06:15 - 00:10:06:21
Unknown
So

00:10:06:21 - 00:10:23:10
Unknown
getting to the part kind of the point of that is that it takes a lot of time to get these big opportunities. And we just did a bid and working with this customer for three years. I talked to her every week and she never has anything for me, but she's very nice and I like talking with her and she's funny.

00:10:23:10 - 00:10:49:09
Unknown
And I went and visited her and she was great. She showed me the warehouse. I wasn't allowed to take pictures. I was like, this is the real deal. I mean, this is really cool. And, you know, the dredge side of it was there. It was happening. As I was there, I could hear the trucks coming down the road, and they were just pulling up to the back of the thing, and it was just so efficient the way the doors open, the trucks pulled up, drive drivers were ready to go in 30 minutes.

00:10:49:09 - 00:11:06:00
Unknown
The guys were staged. They were pulling the pallets off. They were getting that guy out of there and seeing that and seeing what actually happens on the ground in the warehouse. I'm not saying nobody's seen it, but I saw it. Live action. When you talk about the most important things in dredge, it's getting it out of the port.

00:11:06:02 - 00:11:12:13
Unknown
You don't want it there because right now there's other companies in those port that work for foreign entities, different areas.

00:11:12:13 - 00:11:19:15
Unknown
The more it sits in there, the more time there are people that could find out what's there that go and steal it. That's a big problem in this country all around the country. Now,

00:11:19:15 - 00:11:21:05
Unknown
pre-poll is a huge thing.

00:11:21:06 - 00:11:22:17
Unknown
Pre-poll and

00:11:22:18 - 00:11:28:18
Unknown
most brokers and I call it broker blindness is that they don't ask their current dredge provider. Well, where do

00:11:28:23 - 00:11:38:03
Unknown
park your assets? If you've got 75 chassis you have a warehouse. And then okay, well now we have a place to pull the containers whenever we want to, and we don't even have to pay for the extra space.

00:11:38:04 - 00:11:40:12
Unknown
I think some brokers right now are using

00:11:40:12 - 00:11:46:06
Unknown
a carrier, and then had their customer lease a warehouse, but now they're paying for something they don't

00:11:46:10 - 00:11:56:20
Unknown
the drainage side of it is efficiency. And I will go back on this double brokering thing that everybody keeps saying that word and it shouldn't exist because it doesn't. It's really co brokering it's partnership.

00:11:56:20 - 00:12:04:23
Unknown
It's making sure these drainage containers that we're working on, we're working on 50 to 60 out of the Jersey port. If there are any carriers that can get competitive rates, we'd love to see

00:12:05:03 - 00:12:14:18
Unknown
You know, we work with another partner. I openly tell my customers I work with the three PL, and my pricing is fair because those micro margins, when you talk about 50 to 60 containers a month,

00:12:14:18 - 00:12:16:15
Unknown
I don't have to have a 20% overhead.

00:12:16:15 - 00:12:19:14
Unknown
I can go down to 6%. Still make sense for me on a small scale.

00:12:19:14 - 00:12:20:12
Unknown
Then over time,

00:12:20:14 - 00:12:21:08
Unknown
efficiently,

00:12:21:08 - 00:12:28:10
Unknown
the drainage will start to move even more into the field of those warehouses. You ask them, hey, you want 25,000ft²?

00:12:28:10 - 00:12:37:23
Unknown
Why wouldn't you take 75? Bring everything over? With foreign affairs going on with the war going on, bring all of your things here internally, whether we're going to be manufacturing here at some point.

00:12:37:23 - 00:12:56:07
Unknown
So dredge pulls the last vein into that warehouse, and then it goes what I call the arteries of the country. I mean, you've got the major highways that go all the way to California, but then you've got the veins that trickle down the middle of the country. And that container has to start from one of that oval around this heart.

00:12:56:07 - 00:13:03:08
Unknown
So we are taking in product that we don't necessarily know what's coming in till it gets to the port. And we're trusting people at the port.

00:13:03:08 - 00:13:13:18
Unknown
Another thing about dredge, make sure you vet your carriers and they know what they're doing when they say they have 76 chassis, and you go on the SCA and the only have four, you're going to have some capacity issues.

00:13:13:19 - 00:13:14:21
Unknown
I mean, tell you that much.

00:13:14:21 - 00:13:24:13
Unknown
But it was something that I made sure to do. We got the right partners. And these partners, they're all three plus and they all competitively priced. Because I'm very transparent about my margins.

00:13:24:14 - 00:13:27:10
Unknown
I know Canada is to as well with the e-commerce side of things,

00:13:27:13 - 00:13:35:00
Unknown
that's what puts us apart. So the dredge proximity to the warehouse, you want to be close to the port, turn it into a DLC.

00:13:35:01 - 00:13:38:02
Unknown
Just let it sit. Don't do anything to it. So.

00:13:38:02 - 00:13:55:23
Unknown
Yeah. And speaking of warehousing, this was part of a conversation on the last episode you were on. You said you had a lot of warehousing capacity across the US. How does the warehousing side feed the transportation side, and how does that create opportunities for carriers you work with?

00:13:56:01 - 00:14:10:04
Unknown
That smile because it's partnerships. People forget this is a people business. I mean, I've worked with Marriott for eight years in. The best thing I learned was how to make sure an 87 year old woman had everything she needed for the week that she was there, and I did everything I

00:14:10:06 - 00:14:13:08
Unknown
Those relationships are built through following up with warehouses.

00:14:13:08 - 00:14:36:07
Unknown
Even if you don't have an opportunity, just asking questions, learning the business. Because what you'll find is the warehousing side of things is totally wrapped in with the carriers. And unfortunately, right now for the carrier market. And, you know, I'd ask for somebody to kind of contest this. It's tough because you are if you are a solid carrier, and we have 3 or 4 really solid carriers that I've been working with Kansas, been working with

00:14:36:09 - 00:14:40:17
Unknown
five years with other companies to and we just we like working with them and they do great

00:14:40:19 - 00:14:58:06
Unknown
The problem is and we'll get into it. It's these bad actors that are ruining it for these these great carriers. And it's not that we don't want to work with them. It's very tough for us to work with them, because a brokerage of two under five years of business and one of the highest risk industries in the country, they're not going to give me funding.

00:14:58:07 - 00:15:03:11
Unknown
They're generally going to not really want to work with me if I don't have a factoring company. To your point, your company bobtail,

00:15:03:11 - 00:15:13:02
Unknown
it's something I wish I knew when I first started and I watched that video of us cannon, and we've grown a lot since that time as people is what's really great. And

00:15:13:02 - 00:15:15:20
Unknown
you asked, how do we get those relationships with warehouses?

00:15:15:20 - 00:15:24:01
Unknown
We are very public on LinkedIn. We are always making sure that whoever wants to watch whatever we're doing at least know somewhat what we're doing,

00:15:24:01 - 00:15:30:13
Unknown
and we make sure that we treat people with respect, that we speak to carriers, warehouse workers, port workers. It's tense industry

00:15:30:13 - 00:15:33:17
Unknown
and it can get tense. But our partners are

00:15:33:19 - 00:15:41:12
Unknown
basically warehouses. I type into cloud ChatGPT and I say, okay, give me can you give me competitors in similar warehouse this in the local area.

00:15:41:12 - 00:16:00:18
Unknown
Boom. I've got 20 other options. So now strategically if a customer says, hey, I want to be in Birmingham, Alabama, and I've got a warehouse that's in a specific city that his building is next to, technically, I can put it in his backyard. So when you're strategically doing it like that, you're making it very hard for somebody to say, no.

00:16:00:18 - 00:16:08:06
Unknown
I honestly, we're working on a couple things right now where we're working on some warehousing for a smaller space. It's going to be utilized. It's more or less a DLC

00:16:08:06 - 00:16:16:12
Unknown
and, you know, purchasing land and maybe building something out of shipping containers, like might actually be a good idea. It's cheap, it doesn't cost much,

00:16:16:14 - 00:16:18:17
Unknown
there's so many innovative ways to warehouse.

00:16:18:17 - 00:16:22:19
Unknown
And I'm loving since the last meeting that we've really dove into it. So.

00:16:22:21 - 00:16:33:03
Unknown
Yeah, I do see how your wheels are turning and how you like expansion. I really enjoy that. For the people who are watching and have not watched

00:16:33:03 - 00:16:39:16
Unknown
the last episode with Xander and Cannon, I will leave the link in the description for you guys to watch and enjoy.

00:16:39:16 - 00:16:51:00
Unknown
But one of the terrible, tragic and very interesting parts of our conversation with them last time is because they bring us great horror stories, unfortunately.

00:16:51:01 - 00:16:54:22
Unknown
So if you have anything to share with us

00:16:54:22 - 00:16:58:11
Unknown
Oh yeah. And thank you for bringing it up because I couldn't wait to talk about

00:16:58:13 - 00:17:00:23
Unknown
I had I had a beer with a buddy the other day and he said,

00:17:01:00 - 00:17:09:07
Unknown
tell me that story again about that guy with the dog food. And I told him and he's like, that's not real. I said, no, it's real because that guy is in jail right now.

00:17:09:07 - 00:17:09:22
Unknown
So,

00:17:10:00 - 00:17:13:12
Unknown
I mean, we caught him and it was a horror story until it wasn't.

00:17:13:14 - 00:17:16:22
Unknown
more so in a serious note, you know, it happened again. And

00:17:16:23 - 00:17:22:23
Unknown
know mental health is a very big thing. I take it very big. And I'm a big advocate of it. I mean, the, the, the

00:17:23:01 - 00:17:24:19
Unknown
shit I went through with that stuff is

00:17:24:19 - 00:17:28:17
Unknown
pretty surreal that there are dangerous people out there that are doing this.

00:17:28:17 - 00:17:50:03
Unknown
And we have families, we have people to protect. And it's scary when this happens. But each time with the right partnerships, the right teams, the right vetting, the right thorough investigation, we figured out the second truck to we found it. They somehow I don't even know how they did it. Still, I know how they did it now, but they redirected it from new Jersey.

00:17:50:04 - 00:18:00:22
Unknown
It was supposed to be new Jersey to Charlotte, North Carolina, and they redirected it by hacking the Bell System and duplicating it, calling the driver, redirecting him to a warehouse

00:18:01:00 - 00:18:03:14
Unknown
Ventura County in California over the weekend.

00:18:03:20 - 00:18:15:21
Unknown
They told me they loaded them up and they said, oh, yeah, truck number, trailer number. I gave them the ID three times before they loaded the wrong truck, and it was some hijacked truck by a guy named Ming who spoke no English.

00:18:15:21 - 00:18:30:17
Unknown
And he called me. A month later, I was looking for this truck. Hey, man, I haven't been paid. Like, who are you? And he's like, I'm Ming. I'm like, oh, well, Ming, what did you take a truck with us? He's like, yeah, I picked up the one in new Jersey. I'm

00:18:30:19 - 00:18:34:03
Unknown
oh my. And I call my customer because I told her I'd find it.

00:18:34:03 - 00:18:36:15
Unknown
She told me I'd never find it and I found it. But

00:18:36:15 - 00:18:48:17
Unknown
I called her and said, I think I found it. I got to figure out some of it speaks Mandarin because I don't know what this guy is saying, but they repositioned him 76 miles from his house. That's how exact that they're getting with these like they are.

00:18:48:17 - 00:18:55:08
Unknown
They are making sure that they vet these people and they find where they do it. So he goes back to the warehouse.

00:18:55:09 - 00:19:01:07
Unknown
tell him, like, you have to go back to the warehouse. I'm using ChatGPT and it's going Mandarin to him. I don't know what it's saying, but it's.

00:19:01:07 - 00:19:16:11
Unknown
He's like, yes, warehouse. I'll go back to the warehouse. So he drives back the warehouse. I'm sitting in this chair and I'm just like 45 minutes go by and I'm like, okay, an hour he gets there and I just. He calls me and I pick up the phone. He's like, just screaming and yelling at the manager there. And

00:19:16:11 - 00:19:19:19
Unknown
the manager picks up the phone and she's like, hey, this is a so-and-so.

00:19:19:20 - 00:19:34:02
Unknown
And I'm like, yeah, so what's going on exactly? She's like, well, this gentleman came in here last week and he dropped off a truck. And unfortunately, the four leases on the on the warehouse, they're fraudulent and we didn't catch them. And now the FBI is involved.

00:19:34:04 - 00:19:39:02
Unknown
Here's a number. Call cargo cats, which great organization if you're stuck in this situation.

00:19:39:07 - 00:19:48:19
Unknown
Great people over there. But so I call them they said we know where your stuff is. We just want to get the guy that's doing this. And I said, okay, well, let me know what's going on. So

00:19:48:23 - 00:19:59:09
Unknown
what had happened was when Ming dropped it off, there's video of these guys immediately translating it into another stolen truck they took from another yard just across the street, like they broke into it and stole

00:19:59:15 - 00:20:20:08
Unknown
So they took $650,000 in retail costs to Camarena, California, right near the border, and had it there with 12 other loads with different companies. I shouldn't even say like big name companies. And there was a lot of stuff. They found fentanyl, they found AK 47 seconds. The people were living in there. I mean, it was insane. And I got a call

00:20:20:08 - 00:20:23:04
Unknown
from Kenny, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

00:20:23:04 - 00:20:41:14
Unknown
That's the sheriff. That great guy. Really funny too. He's like, hey, man, like, are you looking for shoes or are you looking for shelves? Is there something I was like, yeah, I am actually like, well, it's in this warehouse. Bivins called you, right? I was like, yeah, you called. I'm with the FBI right now. They're doing a siege of this place, and I hear people screaming in the background, like busting people down.

00:20:41:14 - 00:20:53:14
Unknown
And I'm like, okay. It was like, you need to come pick it up. So I'm like, all right, fine. So I went back to the shipper and I said, listen, you guys screwed this up. You got to help me do this. So it was cost a good bit of money to get back. So he sent the drivers out there.

00:20:53:15 - 00:21:09:18
Unknown
The first driver gets there, he calls me frantic. He's like, hey, man. Like there's a guy with an AR 15 basically walking up to my truck. I was like, just open the window and say, Kenny, just say Kenny. And he goes, Kenny, Kenny! And Kenny is like, oh, you're good. I hear him in the background. So he goes in and they don't have Forman there.

00:21:09:18 - 00:21:28:07
Unknown
There's nobody there. So all the police officers and I agents who if you look it up, it was a big thing. They loaded it up. Awesome. Sheriff's department and the stuff that they couldn't hold there anymore, they freely took it to a facility three hours ahead of secure facility so I could pick it up at any time I'd like.

00:21:28:08 - 00:21:29:04
Unknown
And

00:21:29:10 - 00:21:33:11
Unknown
it was insane. And that was the craziest thing I've ever been through.

00:21:33:13 - 00:21:41:16
Unknown
We got it back. It came back. Not one thing was stolen, not one carton, not anything. And it was trashed into the back of the truck.

00:21:41:18 - 00:21:44:17
Unknown
no claim we got it back. It was persistent,

00:21:44:20 - 00:21:49:12
Unknown
it happened a third time now, through a shipper, which I can't name, but we're working on it.

00:21:49:12 - 00:21:56:13
Unknown
We came to a resolution, but there is fraud to answer the question that was asked prior because I love that story. But the

00:21:56:13 - 00:22:14:04
Unknown
it's gotten worse and nobody cares. And that's the problem because people say, oh, it's terrible. All right, well, let's start really getting some agents and task force to start shutting these bad actors down. The guy that was running this, guess where he was located in a Colorado state federal prison with a smuggled cell phone.

00:22:14:04 - 00:22:28:22
Unknown
He got in. He would call me, and, yeah, he would call me, and I would wonder, I'd be like, why is he talking so quiet all the time? And he's in a jail cell. And I didn't realize that. So they investigated the whole thing. They figured out who this guy was, and I don't know what happened after that.

00:22:28:22 - 00:22:31:13
Unknown
I never heard anything else, but I got my stuff back, so.

00:22:31:15 - 00:22:34:04
Unknown
A few episodes back I had

00:22:34:09 - 00:22:47:10
Unknown
J.R. Elrod from Bar Transportation, and he was writing a book on trucking. I think it's a novel. I think you have a lot of content for a novel to. This is insane.

00:22:47:13 - 00:22:48:16
Unknown
Quite insane.

00:22:48:16 - 00:22:50:00
Unknown
Talking about vetting,

00:22:50:00 - 00:22:51:23
Unknown
we've had Dale parks also

00:22:51:23 - 00:22:55:03
Unknown
with great tools for vetting carriers. If you have any suggestions,

00:22:55:03 - 00:22:57:02
Unknown
our audience is open to it.

00:22:57:04 - 00:23:03:22
Unknown
Take pictures. These guys get freaked out with pictures. Even if you're faking taking pictures of the truck before they load up and makes them think

00:23:04:00 - 00:23:11:03
Unknown
also, the pictures are great for marketing, for your LinkedIn, for your small business. People love watching good things happening when bad actors are not involved.

00:23:11:05 - 00:23:16:09
Unknown
would say vetting wise you can pay all the money you want, but the problem is the screwed up.

00:23:16:09 - 00:23:32:00
Unknown
A long time ago when they started letting people sell MCs to other people and they didn't check on the business licenses. So the problem is, and I've been speaking with Ken about it, I could be speaking to a carrier that we've been working to for 4 or 5 years. All of a sudden he gets desperate for cash. He sells it for 20 grand.

00:23:32:01 - 00:23:38:04
Unknown
Now this guy has got it hostage. I don't even know, but he has the proper paperwork and he has to sign over from the person that got

00:23:38:06 - 00:23:39:13
Unknown
When you ask, how do you

00:23:39:15 - 00:23:48:18
Unknown
pictures? ID, license plate? I don't care what the driver says. I put it on all my cons $150. If there is no pictures

00:23:48:19 - 00:23:55:11
Unknown
and I should make it more, I should make it 500 bucks because if they don't take pictures and they just say, you know, if you I'm not doing it,

00:23:55:12 - 00:23:58:04
Unknown
that I think they're stealing it from me, you know.

00:23:58:05 - 00:23:58:15
Unknown
So

00:23:58:18 - 00:24:05:15
Unknown
vetting wise though I use dat it's been great using company search when we actually look in I can check company credit to as well.

00:24:05:18 - 00:24:20:03
Unknown
Vetting your shippers is big now too. And I'm not saying that because in the logistics industry it's excitement and acceleration. When you get a lead, when you get a bid, when you get these different things, it's all hands on deck, but you skip certain steps and I'm guilty of it.

00:24:20:04 - 00:24:35:02
Unknown
I skip this step very recently and I should have seen it, but I went to a conference and I physically met this person. And a month later, you know, cannon did a great job getting it to where we needed to get it. But he has a thing going on that I can't talk too much about

00:24:35:05 - 00:24:44:20
Unknown
But his intention when he started the business was to never pay his carriers, and it's been about two years. So when you run 3 to 5 loads a day to California from Maryland and you look at that bill

00:24:44:22 - 00:24:50:02
Unknown
I really should watch what I say because I'm really mad at this guy, but it's just just be careful, you know what I mean?

00:24:50:03 - 00:24:52:10
Unknown
And when you when you're careful, what I mean

00:24:52:12 - 00:24:57:08
Unknown
trust your gut. If it's something that's not right, then don't do it. But there are ways around

00:24:57:13 - 00:25:01:03
Unknown
Don't panic if something bad happens. If something gets stolen,

00:25:01:05 - 00:25:02:02
Unknown
immediately

00:25:02:02 - 00:25:07:09
Unknown
calm down. Just take a couple of breaths. My first I thought that was it. My life's over. I can't figure this out.

00:25:07:09 - 00:25:07:23
Unknown
In no

00:25:08:01 - 00:25:09:20
Unknown
Vetting carriers. There's great carriers out

00:25:10:01 - 00:25:27:08
Unknown
Unfortunately, companies like ours being small were target to these bad actors. And to be honest, because I'm a very transparent man, it gives me the heebie jeebies sometimes posting up a load every time I do it, and I don't want to be in that situation. I'm not putting my my clients in that situation.

00:25:27:12 - 00:25:36:15
Unknown
There's there's customers that work with us that they move a lot of truck every day. I refuse to be the reason why we lose a different partnership and a different means of shipping.

00:25:36:15 - 00:25:44:08
Unknown
but it's just you could be as good as you ever could be at this. And I think I'm really good at it. And I know canon is very good at it, but these guys are getting good.

00:25:44:08 - 00:25:50:14
Unknown
They read books, they read, they're probably gonna listen to this and be like, who's this Zander guy? Bring it on. I mean, you're not taking any more of my trucks,

00:25:50:15 - 00:26:00:17
Unknown
it baffles me every time I have a conversation with someone for sure you're sorry have taken the number one place for now.

00:26:00:19 - 00:26:03:09
Unknown
we try to exhort everyone to

00:26:03:11 - 00:26:04:08
Unknown
be vetting

00:26:04:08 - 00:26:11:16
Unknown
and be double checking and be taking pictures. We we talk about this to since Caroline around the podcast take pictures of everything.

00:26:11:16 - 00:26:17:00
Unknown
Also on our last conversation you were talking about tariff uncertainty.

00:26:17:00 - 00:26:30:06
Unknown
Now that we're more into 2026. How do you feel the market? What are you feeling? Do you feel the market flipped the way you expected? Did you think we would be where we are at right now?

00:26:30:08 - 00:26:47:18
Unknown
mean, I just this tariff stuff was very panicky, and I think it was more or less more for the manufacturer distributor that's actually making these products. When it comes to the logistics side of things, adapt. You have to switch modes of transportation, you have to move the warehouse and you have to move to e-commerce. You have to move to intermodal.

00:26:47:18 - 00:27:05:09
Unknown
If you have is a great way to pick up cash flow with a factoring company, because most companies have assets. And factoring companies, as you know, won't work with most companies that work with other three plus without the consent of the customer and written and that's that's that's a protection there. And it's a great protection. Frustrating one for me.

00:27:05:10 - 00:27:05:23
Unknown
But

00:27:05:23 - 00:27:09:06
Unknown
it works because that's exactly how you do get things go wrong.

00:27:09:06 - 00:27:17:09
Unknown
I think really when it comes to the tariffs, it's a it's a political issue right now and there's nothing we can do about it, but we can adapt.

00:27:17:11 - 00:27:21:14
Unknown
not going to comment on what I think these tariffs are or where they're coming from, because I know nothing about it.

00:27:21:14 - 00:27:22:06
Unknown
But I know

00:27:22:06 - 00:27:39:02
Unknown
how to put things down from point A to point B. Just get it to point B, the United States, let's get it here and then we'll worry about it. They let the bigger guys worry about the tariffs. As small businesses, small brokerages, we need to be focusing not one of them expansion, but being more diligent on who we're working with, what we're working with.

00:27:39:02 - 00:27:55:12
Unknown
Because when someone calls you with a 50,000 square foot warehouse thing, but then they they say keywords like, oh, it's just really cruddy material. And then you find out it's like gasoline and buckets and stuff. You're just going to throw that into a warehouse? No, you're going to get someone hurt. Someone's going to get killed. You know, you got to think about that stuff.

00:27:55:12 - 00:28:02:12
Unknown
And I'm not saying larger companies do that because they definitely don't neglect, but they don't see it happen because they're moving so fast.

00:28:02:15 - 00:28:13:09
Unknown
as you can tell, with my wheels burning in my brain right now, logistics has done this to me. But it's really just given me the idea of if I'm doing things the right way and I'm doing them ethically.

00:28:13:09 - 00:28:18:15
Unknown
And even when you get behind on cash flow, which I know we're talking on, and I have some great points on that for small businesses,

00:28:18:16 - 00:28:29:22
Unknown
you have to keep everybody in the loop on what's going on. If everybody knows what's going on, nobody's wondering what I'm doing because they know I'm working on it, and that lets me relax a little bit and get my job done.

00:28:29:22 - 00:28:37:16
Unknown
I just want to piggyback on the tariff thing just real quick. And there's some that I, I like to say and it's not just for tariffs. I mean this market is so,

00:28:37:16 - 00:28:50:11
Unknown
so up and down it always has been. But you know no matter what's going on whether it's tariffs you know or crackdowns on CDL, whatever the situation is you know uncertainty creates demand for good partners.

00:28:50:11 - 00:28:58:21
Unknown
You know. So it's actually opened up more conversations for us because that's when customers really need guidance. You know, they need a true partner in those situations.

00:28:59:01 - 00:29:02:16
Unknown
You have led me perfectly into my next question. Kevin.

00:29:02:18 - 00:29:05:08
Unknown
One thing we took most

00:29:05:08 - 00:29:06:17
Unknown
in the comments, also from

00:29:06:19 - 00:29:07:15
Unknown
Our last video with

00:29:07:19 - 00:29:08:06
Unknown
is

00:29:08:07 - 00:29:12:06
Unknown
how small brokerages and small carriers grow together,

00:29:12:06 - 00:29:14:08
Unknown
which is something you don't really

00:29:14:08 - 00:29:17:15
Unknown
hear in conversation when you're talking about brokers and carriers.

00:29:17:15 - 00:29:22:11
Unknown
Could you give us a real example of a carrier relationship where

00:29:22:11 - 00:29:24:03
Unknown
this actually played out?

00:29:24:05 - 00:29:46:19
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And we've done this with with a number of smaller carriers and us being a small brokerage, we, we like to, to give other small, you know, partners a chance because, you know, that's how we started. You know, someone had to give us a chance as well. You know. So we had a smaller carrier that we started with on just a couple loads.

00:29:46:20 - 00:29:54:13
Unknown
We wanted to make sure that they could run them reliably, get them there on time and that there weren't any issues, you know, on the back end either.

00:29:54:15 - 00:30:01:11
Unknown
They executed every single one of them consistently. They communicated well, so we kept feeding them more volume.

00:30:01:13 - 00:30:06:08
Unknown
now they run dedicated freight for us, you know, multiple lanes every single week, you know, so

00:30:06:13 - 00:30:14:12
Unknown
good carriers, in my opinion, they don't really stay small if they're consistent, unless they absolutely want to stay small, like that's their goal.

00:30:14:12 - 00:30:17:16
Unknown
But I don't run into that too to often. Yeah.

00:30:17:21 - 00:30:35:14
Unknown
and then to piggyback off that too as well. I mean, I know the carrier talking about can and they do it without any issues because we pay them fairly. We give them the rate that they ask for. And if we don't like the rate okay, that's fine. Let's work on it. Let's not just say no. I mean the amount of times I post up a load and someone's like, right, right, right, right.

00:30:35:14 - 00:30:57:20
Unknown
I'm like, well, I don't even know what you drive, man. You can't pick it up. And Honda. So, you know, like it's one of those things where if you just find the right partners like three plus to work with and it's not double brokering, it's double brokering. If you negligently throw a load out there to a three PL, you don't know and you just need to move it because like if you go to that three PL and you say, hey, where are you seeing the numbers on this rate?

00:30:57:20 - 00:31:03:09
Unknown
What's the fuel surcharge on this? Because I know we got a 30% hike in two weeks. I mean, it's insane.

00:31:03:09 - 00:31:10:00
Unknown
And the guys that can't answer those questions we're not working with because it's like, you got to either learn those type of things, which we still are,

00:31:10:00 - 00:31:18:08
Unknown
it shows me the validity of your hustle. It shows me that you're going to be able to get this truck picked up in an hour when we don't have an hour.

00:31:18:08 - 00:31:27:03
Unknown
that's the type of partners we have. We've had the same ones from the beginning. We keep it as small pool, just like our shippers keep a very small pool. That was a slight cold call jet.

00:31:27:05 - 00:31:33:05
Unknown
it's it's one of those things where if you have the right partners like Jason Kyle Dalton

00:31:33:07 - 00:31:35:02
Unknown
at one point, Harrison but he's a nut.

00:31:35:03 - 00:31:50:23
Unknown
He's a good buddy of mine. He's crazy. I couldn't work with him anymore, but I love him and I hope he watches this. But these are guys that we also worked with when I worked at TCL, the best training I could have ever gotten in anything. It was just mayhem all day. And cannon was sitting right there with me.

00:31:51:02 - 00:31:57:19
Unknown
you know, it was a different time where it was a little less, you know, you could be a little bit more harsh in my, my broker that I worked

00:31:57:21 - 00:32:08:21
Unknown
He was harsh on me. I screwed things up and I gave him a little pushback. But it was because stuff like this, if you screw up on your own, it's a whole different thing than if you have TCL backing you with the great attorneys they have.

00:32:08:22 - 00:32:09:06
Unknown
So

00:32:09:06 - 00:32:10:09
Unknown
I mean, it's just important.

00:32:10:09 - 00:32:11:16
Unknown
because I think partnerships

00:32:11:17 - 00:32:15:06
Unknown
is really just so huge. Like Ken and I our partnership I mean

00:32:15:07 - 00:32:23:16
Unknown
it's simpatico and like the guy is he's churning over there, I'm turning over. We check in twice a day, and then we have a phone call over here once, and there were aligned.

00:32:23:16 - 00:32:26:13
Unknown
And, you know, as we grow as a company, it's just only going

00:32:26:17 - 00:32:29:13
Unknown
be stronger. Like, I mean, there's no other way but up.

00:32:29:15 - 00:32:34:16
Unknown
all this to say that the basis of all this is communication.

00:32:34:16 - 00:32:37:14
Unknown
You will not work with someone who is not open

00:32:37:20 - 00:32:40:12
Unknown
entering your calls or answering your questions.

00:32:40:12 - 00:32:41:11
Unknown
On the last

00:32:41:11 - 00:32:50:20
Unknown
episode, you also mentioned you were having a bajillion cold calls a day to build your rep team. Can you tell us where you are at with that?

00:32:50:20 - 00:32:51:19
Unknown
What's your sales team

00:32:51:21 - 00:32:53:01
Unknown
looking like right now?

00:32:53:01 - 00:32:54:09
Unknown
What's actually working for

00:32:54:15 - 00:33:00:14
Unknown
So actually had a very interesting conversation. I got a lot of I'd love to connections around Charlotte. Another thing I'll touch on,

00:33:00:16 - 00:33:18:15
Unknown
she made such a good point. He said the cold call is not dead. The people that answer the cold calls are slowly dying out. The people are dying out, or they're retiring, or they're moving on to other opportunities, which leaves the door open for some somebody younger to come in and they simply just don't.

00:33:18:16 - 00:33:35:20
Unknown
People weren't on the are on the phone anymore, honestly. And I generally notice this when I do make connections with certain people. They are CEOs because they are people that know when they started the business. I always have to answer the phone. It's like when my grandmother calls, that phone is answered. I don't care what I'm doing, you know?

00:33:35:21 - 00:33:43:04
Unknown
I mean, it's the same thing, but that's just years and years of them having to do it, that it's natural. Now they just do

00:33:43:08 - 00:33:52:08
Unknown
pivoting back to the mount of calls. Yeah, I mean, I was hammering calls, but then I had weeks where I knew I was like not doing what I was supposed to be doing because it was just like, I'm not getting any results.

00:33:52:08 - 00:33:54:02
Unknown
I can get anybody on the phone. But then

00:33:54:02 - 00:33:54:16
Unknown
you start

00:33:54:16 - 00:34:07:20
Unknown
calling those leads a week later that you call the week before you wait. Okay, maybe I should try a different extension. Then I get to that different extension. Who the hell is Anna? But and is really nice. And she just told me who the qualifying contact was. I've been calling the wrong number for a week, so now I'm juiced up.

00:34:07:20 - 00:34:14:09
Unknown
I want to get more. So really, it's finding the quality of leads in seamless AI. I'd love to tag them in this. You know,

00:34:14:09 - 00:34:14:23
Unknown
our

00:34:15:01 - 00:34:29:18
Unknown
him and I have butted heads before about certain things, but he's a great rep and he steered us in the right direction. He made things right on some things that we need some help with and empathetic to a small business and how we feel, which is exactly what I look for in a partner, and that's what can listen to partner.

00:34:29:19 - 00:34:44:06
Unknown
We pull our leads from them through by intent. I'm still learning how to use it, but you type in words like supply chain, e-commerce, and whenever somebody searches it, it tracks an IP address that's on a domain and it says, hey, somebody at this company was looking for this.

00:34:44:06 - 00:34:47:17
Unknown
It'll tell you whether it's a strong, weak or low signal.

00:34:47:19 - 00:34:53:08
Unknown
to be honest, it's a great system for a larger company, which we hope to be maybe a little larger. But

00:34:53:08 - 00:34:54:00
Unknown
LinkedIn,

00:34:54:00 - 00:34:55:06
Unknown
I mean, that is the key.

00:34:55:06 - 00:35:11:13
Unknown
in our industry to try and hammer down. And I want to say a demographic, even though it's not the word, but the demographic of carriers, drivers, shippers, logistics, Facebook I haven't even gone on there yet, but I've been told four times in the past week that I should be on Facebook looking for carrier connections.

00:35:11:13 - 00:35:12:08
Unknown
And,

00:35:12:08 - 00:35:33:08
Unknown
you know, there's just a world of many things you can do to be creative, but on a very small scale. And I know that this is aimed towards smaller carrier services and things just don't quit. If you get run into a problem and you have no sales going on. Okay, get creative. I'm going to go to this place, Barnhart Manufacturing, and I hope tin wants to at least talk to me for five minutes.

00:35:33:08 - 00:35:51:11
Unknown
I'm not going to go cold solicit, but I'm going to go in there and I'm going to know who this person is. Hey, I saw you went to this X college. I went to this college. You know, that's really cool. Now we're having a conversation now she's like, well, what the hell is this guy doing here? And then I say, well, this is what I'm here for, but I'm a real person and I'm very good at what I do.

00:35:51:12 - 00:36:07:19
Unknown
I'm locally here in Charlotte now. I'm cold talking and I do that actually. When I go to the grocery store, I look for certain things on people's clothes. I look for contractor logos and things, and if I see them over in the line, I'll go up and I'll say, hey, do you like a red or white? I'm not good at this.

00:36:07:19 - 00:36:09:13
Unknown
And I'll start a conversation with them.

00:36:09:14 - 00:36:24:19
Unknown
The cold call. Yeah. It sucks. It's terrible. I don't like doing it, but I do it because I got the gift for gab, I guess. But when it comes to people, the logistics industry has forgotten that there are people behind these phones. And when you meet them, they're not the person that they're on the phone.

00:36:24:19 - 00:36:26:17
Unknown
So you can't sell to somebody you don't know.

00:36:26:18 - 00:36:39:08
Unknown
moving forward to what we are going to be pushing is getting in front of these people. The cold call is great, but if I can say, hey, if I can be in Phoenix next week, set up a meeting, my chances of closing went up 80%.

00:36:39:09 - 00:37:01:06
Unknown
to say on the, on the LinkedIn front because that is huge as well, right? I mean, it's the only social media platform that you can get on and you can share real insights and engage directly with the people you're trying to engage with. What I would say for other companies that maybe haven't started to push that, you know, that campaign yet, right, that the goal is not really to go viral.

00:37:01:08 - 00:37:20:21
Unknown
You know, it's very hard to go viral even if, you know, you're not a small company. So, you know, it's it's just as hard for us to write. But what we are trying to do is we're trying to be visible and we're trying to bring bring value. So visibility valuable. And that's kind of our our goal behind the LinkedIn side of things.

00:37:20:21 - 00:37:22:11
Unknown
And it's worked really well for us.

00:37:22:11 - 00:37:38:15
Unknown
Let's just say just add on the link and keep an eye on our page. We're coming out with a logistics cartoon. I'm working on it now with a marketing. Our mascot is our logo. His name is Sir Halls a lot. We're going to have dispatcher Dot who's going to be a different character I'm working on right now.

00:37:38:19 - 00:37:51:12
Unknown
but we're integrating this into our posts, into what we're doing because it logistics is tough. It can be fun sometimes too. And sir Halls a lot is your warehouse manager for HTL. So I mean it's cool

00:37:51:14 - 00:37:53:04
Unknown
Yeah. I will link

00:37:53:07 - 00:38:15:14
Unknown
HDL and your profiles in the description so people can find you. This has also taught me because I do most of my networking on LinkedIn. And at first I just had like generic messages I would send. And I started working out when I started talking like myself, like, this is how I network, this is how I speak, and this is who I am.

00:38:15:14 - 00:38:19:01
Unknown
And that's when the connection started flowing and going.

00:38:19:06 - 00:38:25:03
Unknown
those are all my questions for now. If there's anything else you would like to add, this is your moment.

00:38:25:03 - 00:38:46:06
Unknown
I mean I could talk all day and I get it from my mom, but like, it's, it's it's one of those things where this has been fun in the most terrifying way, being being a small business owner, for one. But in the industry that we can and I have trained in and what we've worked in and what we know, it is tough to get in front of the right shippers to take us seriously.

00:38:46:06 - 00:39:05:12
Unknown
And it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but with consistency and understanding, people say, understand your your person's business. Okay, well, they move things and I know what the product is. So there I understand who is this person and what did they do. And then I can really get down to what is bothering this person on a day to day basis.

00:39:05:13 - 00:39:15:06
Unknown
And where can I find I don't even call it a pain point. Where can I make his life easier? We're going to make her life easier or whatever, you know? I mean, whatever I can do for them at that point,

00:39:15:06 - 00:39:17:13
Unknown
it's it's the extra mile and I,

00:39:17:18 - 00:39:21:14
Unknown
I do that with the guys. The cold call me for lending 35 times a day.

00:39:21:14 - 00:39:41:11
Unknown
And the other day I actually like reverse sale. This guy, I was like, listen, you call me every three days and you say, hey, is this my name is Zander, and you have it in front of you. And I don't know what to tell you, man, but I offer sales coaching classes, which I am. I would like to put something out there on this, and canon works with me on

00:39:41:17 - 00:39:52:19
Unknown
I told him, I said, listen, what's your product? He said, oh, it's Benji lending or something. I said, hey, what's your name? He said, Dave, all right, well, you said it was Daniel. Dave. I was like, what? Dave? Whatever, man. So, Dave, I'm going to be you right now.

00:39:52:19 - 00:39:55:17
Unknown
Hi, how are you? Dave, this is Andrew with Benji lending.

00:39:55:19 - 00:40:13:20
Unknown
I was reaching out. I don't know, a lot of businesses like yours have trouble receiving funding, and I no business like mine. I always have that problem. Would you have 15 minutes next week? I know you're busy. Guy in logistics and 15 minutes next week. We can just talk about what I do, how I can be an asset to you, and where the negatives might come from us actually meeting.

00:40:13:22 - 00:40:14:16
Unknown
How does that sound?

00:40:14:18 - 00:40:24:03
Unknown
He's like, how'd you do that? I'm like, do you just take what it is? And you understand the person on the phone? I can hear you panicking that I picked up. You shouldn't be scared when I pick up the phone. Be ready,

00:40:24:03 - 00:40:26:16
Unknown
So, yeah, I mean, it's like that kind of stuff.

00:40:26:17 - 00:40:39:14
Unknown
I mean, it's it's important, like, I mean, that people know, like it's people like, if somebody calls me again and says, hey, we can get you 250 grand. No, you can't, man. Nobody can get me 250 grand right now in this industry.

00:40:39:16 - 00:40:42:01
Unknown
you can keep calling, you know? So.

00:40:42:01 - 00:41:06:15
Unknown
And and Amy, I just wanted to say thank you. You know, we appreciate you having us back on. It's been cool to see how much the industry is evolving, and we're excited to keep building right alongside it. So if anyone listening is navigating e-commerce or looking to simplify their supply chain, it's not an impossibility. We're here always, you know, so we'd love to open up a conversation with you.

00:41:06:17 - 00:41:11:03
Unknown
Thank you so, so much for coming on guys. I really appreciated this conversation.

00:41:11:03 - 00:41:19:13
Unknown
Lastly, for all our carriers and you're still watching, please remember I'll leave you the link to Bob Dylan's Factoring service in the description of this video,

00:41:19:13 - 00:41:33:13
Unknown
I'll leave you the link to Bob Dylan newsletter in the description of this video, so you can get the hottest lanes per equipment type every Monday directly to your inbox. Xander Cannon, Thank you so, so much again.

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