In this episode, we chat about our experience at the Great American Truck Show 2019 and share some takeaways from the official launch of the Trucking For Millennials Podcast.

We were able to capture over 100 Gigs of audio and video content and had over 15 conversations with leaders from all aspects of the industry.  We will be sharing the full conversations in the coming weeks but in the meantime we wanted to provide you with a sampling of the conversations we had.  Listen for millennial rants, raves, and seasoned perspectives from experienced industry leaders.

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Michael: So what are your thoughts on the millennial generation?

GATS attendee: There are only two kinds: rock stars and bums.

Michael: Welcome to trucking for millennials, where we engage with the future of freight happening now. My name is Michael Clements.

Aaron: And I'm Aaron Dunn. And we're here to help trucking and logistics professionals stay up to date and ahead of the curve as our industry evolves. 

Michael: We're connecting with every step of the supply chain as part of our mission to increase transparency and provide world class freight solutions.

Michael: What's up? Welcome to the second episode of Trucking for Millennials where we just got back from the great American Trucking show in Dallas, Texas. What's up, Aaron?

Aaron: What's up, man? What's up? We're back. 

Michael: Man, we are back on the air and it was so cool this past week to go spread the word about our podcast to get it out of the box.

Aaron: Yeah, yeah, it was fun. I never launched a podcast in that way before. Typically, you know when you launch podcast, it's such a digital product you know, you're just like sharing it on, you know, your socials and all your stuff. But we had business cards, we had trash cans…

GATS attendee: What is the little trash can for?

Aaron: For your cup holder in your vehicle.

GATS attendee: Oh really?

Aaron: Yeah.

Aaron: We had backpacks…

 Michael: Mind if I ask you a question? What is your opinion of millennials?

(attendee laughs)

No answer? Take a bag no answer.

Aaron: There's not a better place to launch it than the Great American Truck Show.

Michael: No, it was wonderful. And it was right here in our own backyard. Just 120 miles west of us in Dallas. What a terrific trip. And really those trash cans…what a hit man. Like whenever we got those I had no idea that we would be gone through half of them in the first hour and a half we were at the show on Thursday.

Michael: That was a definite surprise.

Aaron: They didn't really come to the podcast. They came for the trashcans and then stayed for the podcast.

Michael: They definitely did. Hey, and you know what? That just makes me think our listeners, I'll tell you what, if you go like, subscribe and listen to our podcast, shoot us an email and I will personally send you a trash can from the Trucking for Millennials podcast.

Aaron: That's really nice of you. That's a great idea. We only have a few. They're collector’s items, at this point.

Michael: I have a thought we're going to have to get a few more of those made. 

Aaron: There's literally like three left. 

Michael: So what these things do is they go in your cup holder in your vehicle, and it has a little shut door on it and everything. They're terrific for anybody that's on the road.

Aaron: Yeah, if I mean, if you're like me, I have gum wrappers all over my, over my car. 

Michael: So all of our truckers out there that are listening, you need one of these trash cans. So go like, subscribe and shoot us an email and let us know you did it. And we're going to send you a trash can for that truck. 

So man, really it was a great show. Overall, we got to have some great conversations, talk to some terrific people. What do you think you're going to be most excited to share? What do you think our listeners are going to get out of the shows that we have from the guests that we were able to interview?

Aaron: Man, as we look over here on our whiteboard, we've got, like 15 conversations 13 ish conversations. And I'm looking at the names, we made some great connections with people there. You know, from all aspects of the industry, I mean, from, you know, service to FreightWaves, you know, industry leaders in freight markets, stuff like that…trucking companies, health and fitness.. I think I think there's a bunch of great conversations bunch of great info from so many people just talking about how they've made a career in trucking and logistics and how much opportunity there is. You know, one thing that I really liked about Kyle and I's conversation, Kyle is a co-host of one of the FreightWaves podcasts. And he said trucking and logistics is a merit based industry, meaning that you get out what you put into it. And, you know, if you put in good quality hard work, you're going to get good quality return. I have no doubt there's people who work really hard, but still aren't providing an adequate amount of value to get the return back. So, you know, it's about not just how much you work, but the quality of that work. And we had that conversation a little bit about, you know, how it's a merit based system. And I really enjoyed that conversation, I think, I think that's going to provide some value and make people realize that, you know, it's, it's up to you if you're if you're going to make it and if it's, if we're talking to a younger person in trucking and logistics, the opportunity’s there. It's not that there's a bunch of barriers to entry in this in this industry, because it's pretty wide open. It's about what type of work you put in and whether or not you're willing to do that.

Michael: Millennials can definitely carve out a career in the transportation industry in an abundance of different roles. And that was something that was very transparent after attending the conference and chatting with people from all across the industry.

Aaron: Yeah. What about you? What are some, you know, takeaways or reactions that you had, that you're kind of excited about or that you might have been surprised about?

Michael: I think the one of the things that I really love the most is that if you're asking the question, you're going to get the answer. And so as we were asking folks what they thought of millennials and millennials in the transportation industry, well, let's just say we played the tune and there were a few different songs that were sung.

 Michael: Okay, so I just like to know what are your thoughts on millennials…the millennial generation. 

 GATS attendee: Oh, the generation today? No, you don’t really want me to say… because they suck. They have no concept of thinking for themselves…no respect. It’s like everything from the 70s you can't fly today. Everything from holding the door open for a lady or showing respect to an old person or family values. Everybody's out for number one.

Michael: You know, I love the feedback that we got. Sometimes you had to encourage people to let their guard down and to really tell you what they think. And those individuals usually, after you asked the second time for it, they really were relentless and let you know what they thought of millennials. But I thought it was exciting and really nobody hurt my feelings, even though there's plenty of millennial bashing. I don't think all of the people that we interviewed are gonna be eating avocado toast anytime soon. But I definitely think with the conversations that we had, I was fairly enlightened by some of the things that I heard and really the people that did the millennial bashing, most of them would have decent advice to give millennials.

GATS attendee: Selfies… all this stuff… you know, massive communication… talking to people face to face is gone. Like everywhere you turn around… I’d say a scale of one to 10 you see more people with cell phones… little kids or cell phones, you know, babysitter. Bottom line is technology is taking over. You know, that's what it feels like. So yeah, yeah, I don't like this generation at all. 

 Michael: You have any advice for millennials? 

And so I really have a you know, over the course of our show, we're going to be releasing those clips and over time and I really can't wait for our listeners to hear some of the comments that we got back but this will be a pretty common question that we ask people as we see them what they think of millennials and we just really want to get the word out about what the difference of opinion is and also how brute that opinion can be directly to a millennial is there looking at them in the eyes. But you know, all in all, it was in good fun. We met some wonderful people, but I think that's what I'm gonna be most excited to share with our listeners is just some of the different opinions that people have across the industry.

 Aaron: Yeah, and you're right in that those opinions are definitely can be polarizing. If especially on the on the bashing front, because you're like, oh, my goodness, I didn't realize but I think I think some people just have an idea of millennials in their head, and they didn't even realize or make the connection that you or I, the person asking the question would follow on, you know, fall under that demo. They just, you know, they just went off, you know, they just had it in their head and decided to, to let us know, because like you said, you asked the question, so it just kind of deserved it at that point. We deserved an answer. 

Michael: Um, it was funny too, as we spoke with other millennials, and we spoke with others. You know, it really seemed like the ones that were in their 30s, younger 30s, that were millennials that we asked that question to…they didn't want to be associated with younger millennials. And I thought that was actually a neat takeaway, how the older millennials say, “Oh, no, no, I know I'm in that group, but that's not who I am.” And you know, just five years ago, we were in that group, me being in in my, you know, maybe in 31 right now. So, like, I don't know, I get the feeling that this younger, younger group of millennials, they're not really much different than me or you or anybody else that's in their younger 30s. But what I do feel like is that this younger generation of millennial and this older generation of millennial, there's a lot of similarities there. But there's one common denominator and that was something that I heard tradition is that we just need to listen to the older generation and I don't think… it doesn't matter who you are, unless you're, unless you're a fool, then you don't listen to advice. You don't listen to those that can really mentor and help you. So really one of the key takeaways and I think all millennials can understand this, whether you're in trucking or no matter what industry is, just listen to your elders. Listen to those that are older than you and try to take their advice. 

Michael: What is your opinion of millennials?

GATS attendee: I can't answer that. 

Michael: You can't answer that? 

GATS attendee: No, I think they’re sweet. I'm gonna say, I work with everybody. So you can't say something bad about one group of, you know, as opposed to the other ones. I think you got good and bad in all of everybody right?

 Michael: So what kind of advice would you give to millennials?

 GATS attendee: Listen, they don't pay attention or listen. You know that song, “Can’t Nobody Tell Me Nothing?” That's millennials and we can tell you a lot.

 Michael: Is it always going to be applicable? No, but what they can give you is insights into the industry and just because they may not know something about a computer doesn't mean we should shut them out completely. So I really took from that is that we do need to listen more as a generation but overall, I thought that the answers we got back, although some more funny and some were rude, I thought that overall, our generation is respected.

 Aaron: One thing that I really enjoyed was, you know, you'd ask somebody's opinion on millennials, and they'd give it to you and then you follow up and you'd say, you know, “What advice do you have?” And a lot of it would be constructive. It would be constructive stuff. You know, one thing that I did enjoy doing was listening to all those people that were older than us that have more experience than us and get their understanding and their wisdom that they've accumulated over years within this industry. And I think that's, you know, that's kind of what we're here for. We're Trucking for Millennials, it's Trucking for Millennials podcast, but we don't discriminate based on age, we just, you know, that's just a way that we introduce our generation to logistics and trucking as a whole through this podcast. And the best way that we can do that is kind of being on both ends and interacting with the older generation extracting that wisdom and, and and seeing what their insights are that we can draw from as you know, we're we've we've got a skill set within technology or what have you, whatever our generational strengths are. We can, if we can infuse our own generational strengths with the strength of the past generations. There's no telling what kind of impact the millennial generation will have on the industry.

Michael: I think that's a great takeaway. And based on some of these great interviews we have now we got some clips for our listeners to check out. And you're going to hear more about what we learned that the show this week.

GATS attendee: I would say there's never been a better time to get a truck. Because the ability to stay connected with your family, your loved ones, your friends. I mean, FaceTime was not really a thing that was just starting. And that was before the unlimited data. Now, if you want to see somebody you get on FaceTime.

Michael: What advice do y'all have for the I guess the younger millennials that are wanting to get into trucking? 

GATS attendee: Don’t be afraid to use your hands. That's what this structure is built on.

GATS attendee: Well, how do we get more women in the industry? So 12 years ago, carriers would tell me “Oh, we don't care the gender, the age or the ethnicity of a driver. We just want a good driver. So, you know, you can talk about women all you want, but we just want a good driver.” And then I come back to them and go, “But are you attracting women? Are you…Do you understand what women look for in a carrier? Is your equipment accommodating? Is your safety environments. 

GATS attendee: For sure. Yeah. So that's kind of what I learned by studying in a little bit is like, this isn't a millennial generational gap thing or misunderstanding. It's not a Gen X or Gen Y, but it's just a generational gap. as people get older, change becomes harder, and it becomes harder to then understand why this generation likes this thing. “I don't get it,” right? Well, it's just because you don't accept change.

GATS attendee: This guy says no, you should. You do the things that you have to do while are you young. That's why you're a millennial. You're young. And it sets up the pathway so that when you're a bit older, you can be home every night. They haven't even scraped the surface of what the potential is, as far as in the trucking industry is like, “Hey, I just finished school. I know what I want to do. This is where I want to be.” They don't understand that it's a it's a it's not point A to B. That's not. It's abcdefg. We have a whole lot of zigzagging between you and I'm saying millennials. 

GATS attendee: Again, as long as you keep them engaged and you have a good culture, you make it feel like they're that they're part of something rather than just doing a job. 

Katie: Hi, this is Katie at PDQ America. Remember to subscribe so you don't miss fresh perspectives on what's happening in the industry. You can follow us on social media @pdqamerica. And if you'd like more information about our show, send an email to podcast@pdqamerica.com.