Exploring the Future of Truck Driver Recruiting

TrackFive recently had the chance to sit down with industry expert Bill Davidson, CEO of Swish Advertising. This exclusive conversation, centered around “Exploring the Future of Truck Driver Recruiting,” was recorded so that it could be shared with recruiters, agencies, and carriers who are looking to level up their recruiting in 2024.

During the session, we discussed the current truck driver recruiting market, recruitment best practices, and how AI will affect the industry in the coming years. You can read the transcription or watch the full video to gain valuable insights into the industry.

00:00:19:21 – 00:00:25:01

Allison

So, since this is recorded, do you mind giving a little bit of an introduction of who you are, a little bit of your background, credibility, and then what you do now and the goal of Swish Advertising.

Bill

Well, great. So just to give you a little bit of history about Swish Advertising, we were established about eight months ago.

00:00:25:01 – 00:00:41:25

Bill

I have a very long tenure in the recruitment advertising space. I worked for an agency. I was president of that agency for about 23 years. Through a recent acquisition, I decided it was kind of time to do my own thing.

00:00:41:25 – 00:01:09:22

Bill

So we specialize in quite a few different verticals. One of those verticals is transportation. I ran the transportation and logistics division for my past agency and worked with probably over 75 different trucking clients in my tenure there. And then health care, retail call centers, STEM. So we’re really across the board. College universities, we just started a division doing that.

00:01:09:25 – 00:01:38:18

Bill

So exciting stuff happened here. A lot of growth, a lot of investors, and we got big plans to release them in the States. We also have a presence and a relationship with Brand Advance Group, which is the largest global agency in the in DNI space. With that partnership, we have offices out of Manchester and London, England, small spaces within their offices.

00:01:38:18 – 00:02:08:25

Bill

I mean, we have plans for global growth. I’m actually speaking at an event in London in July in front of 2000 HR professionals on employee brand, employer brand, employee value proposition, DENI and how it’s so crucial for organizations.

Allison

That’s incredible. Big things coming for 2024 for you.

Bill

Absolutely. Very excited.

Allison

Okay, great. Well, let’s just jump right into it.

00:02:08:25 – 00:02:36:27

Allison

So the first question I kind of want to start off with is, what is your take on how recruiters in the transportation space specifically can better develop their driver recruitment strategy to attract and especially retain the qualified drivers? What would your insight be there?

Bill

So I think the key is you got to remember this is a sales organization, any recruiting department is a sales organization.

00:02:36:27 – 00:03:05:25

Bill

So for me, in any business, it’s know your company, know your industry, and know your competition. So, especially in transportation, know the difference between a Freightliner and a Navistar. These are things that are crucial. When you’re having that conversation with that driver, you know, and any relationship, it’s about trust and communication.

00:03:05:25 – 00:03:29:29

Bill

So, if no trust and communication are established, then the relationship is going to fail. Same thing on a telephone call. The key, too, is this is huge for organizations that I see that are extremely successful is when you have a driver on the phone, don’t send that link to the application. Take the time to get the verbal application.

00:03:30:01 – 00:03:49:28

Bill

It’s like anything else. When somebody says in sales right, if you don’t ask for the order again,  you’re not going to get the orders. So, that just gives that opportunity for that driver not to fill that application out and get hit by another ten other recruiting recruiters from different organizations.

00:03:49:28 – 00:04:13:04

Bill

I think it’s really crucial to know your competition, and the key in any organization, I think, is honesty. If you’re not honest to the driver, if you can’t get them home every weekend and they’re looking to get home every weekend or they’re looking for a local position and you try to sell them on something, are you going to be home three or four days a week or something like that?

00:04:13:06 – 00:04:30:20

Bill

That relationship is not going to last, and that driver is not going to stay. So that’s kind of my take on that.

Allison

I think that personalization aspect, even just having them on the phone and taking the time with them, I mean, it’s rare nowadays, unfortunately, compared to just a couple of years ago.

00:04:30:22 – 00:04:51:26

Bill

Yeah, I think that to your point, that’s a good point, is getting to know what their needs are. Like anything else in our organization, what are your pain points in the driver, what are their pain points? What were their pain points in that other organization? Why is that? Why are they on the telephone with you right now?

00:04:51:26 – 00:05:15:03

Bill

Obviously, they’re looking for another. The candidate is looking for another position. So, what are the pain points? Find out what those pain points are, and if you can address those pain points, you know obviously that they’re a good fit.

Allison

So now, in the transportation industry, it’s kind of well known that there’s a large turnover rate, and why that is, you know, nobody can really pinpoint down.

00:05:15:03 – 00:05:38:03

Allison

Everybody has different opinions on that. But, what are some ways that you think trucking companies can compete for talent, but then also, more importantly, retain their current staff? I know you said honesty. I’m sure that that plays a role in this, but is there anything else that you think?

Bill

Yeah, actually, I think the biggest mistake most carriers with high turnover, and like I said, I’ve been in this business.

00:05:38:03 – 00:05:56:27

Bill

I’ve seen carriers, you know, on the LTL side that have a 50% turnover rate. And obviously, that’s a different business model. Then I’ve seen on the drive van signs carriers that are in the 40 to 60% on the turnover rate, and then I’ve seen the same types of carriers with the same freight in the 120 range, 100 to 120.

00:05:57:03 – 00:06:20:16

Bill

And then I’ve seen really bad ones at 220. So, I think we see organizations that have very low turnover rates. Some of the things that they do is all departments are on the same page, right? So recruiting is working with operations and safety and all these different departments.

00:06:20:22 – 00:06:49:24

Bill

So that everybody and all operations are on the same page. So, a new hire that comes in when they’re going through the onboarding process needs to know that everybody is on the same page with them in the organization. Of a lot of great carriers, one of my dearest friends, who has been a client for over 20 years at different organizations, his organization implemented a recruiting memo manual.

00:06:49:24 – 00:07:12:14

Bill

And that manual consistently changes. But they have regular meetings with all these different departments so that everybody’s on the same page. And those types of organizations are the ones that tend to have lower turnover. Also, some carriers have driver liaisons. So, when a driver is angry, yes, maybe it can be time consuming, etc..

00:07:12:17 – 00:07:42:25

Bill

But let’s say that driver is sitting in the truck and its he or she’s son’s birthday and you don’t get them home for that birthday. He or she is is fuming right? That driver is going to be on that phone on their mobile phone, looking for a new job ultimately. But if you’re able to know – it’s it’s an old adage that I always say to my clients, if there’s a problem and I don’t know about the problem, I can’t come up with the solution.

00:07:42:28 – 00:08:23:06

Bill

So see it’s the same situation with the driver, I don’t know there’s a problem. So I think there needs to be consistent communications internally with sending out messages, checks, surveys, things like that. Just to find out where your temperature is on your existing fleet.

Allison

I think that builds trust, too, right? So the more communication, over communication, perhaps from the carrier side to the drivers, the drivers will feel like they can actually say that they need to be home for their son’s birthday or whatever that may reason be. There might not be any nervousness there, I’m guessing.

00:08:23:09 – 00:08:44:23

Bill

Yeah, absolutely. And it’s important, if you can’t get them home, tell them you can’t get them home, but you’re going to try everything. Operations needs to try to manage your needs. To be honest, Operations needs to try to do with everything humanly possible they can to take care of that need. So, I think that’s extremely important.

00:08:44:25 – 00:09:03:15

Bill

Or, when they’re setting up their route that day, or whatever it is, they kind of have to time it and make sure that that individual’s going to get home.

Allison.  

So, I’ve asked similar questions of this to other people and everybody has great insight, but you’re the only one that has said this.

00:09:03:18 – 00:09:28:19

Bill

About just the over communication and even the handbook, the onboarding handbook, I think that’s really great. I’m glad that you brought that up with you. How would you say that these companies can build a brand online without focusing on specific things like pay rates? I feel like everybody falls to pay rates, naturally.

00:09:28:19 – 00:09:48:08

Allison

So, what are some other ways that they could build a well-known brand?

Bill

So, for example, we did a project that was a company, a very large company that was going to spend off about a year and a half ago, and they invested over a half a million dollars in employer and employee brand strategy and EVP strategy.

00:09:48:10 – 00:10:08:06

Bill

It is so important, organizations don’t realize this, and I consistently have these arguments with C-suite, I would say, because those that know me in this industry, I’m going to tell you what’s on my mind, and I’m going to tell you I’m not going to juggle around and be a yes-man, and I’m going to tell you what’s up.

00:10:08:08 – 00:10:34:19

Bill

I think it is so crucial, whether it’s trucking, health care, or retail within an organization, to have that strong employer brand and that strong employer value proposition going past pay, Right? Pay every carrier; we pay the most. You know, we see these ads online, make 150 grand a year, operators are making 300, you know, growth net to the trough, you know.

00:10:34:22 – 00:10:53:28

Bill

Be careful about pay in any vertical. I’ll say this just for an example. I had sales reps who left their jobs making a quarter of a million dollars a year to come work for me because they believed in the vision of the company at half the rate. So, it’s not always necessarily about money and pay.

00:10:54:00 – 00:11:15:22

Bill

So, I think it’s where is the career growth within the organization? Where is the pay growth within the organization? But not saying that in the messaging. What’s the safety? What kind of safety standards do you have as an organization? What type of corporate culture do you have in that organization? I hate that cliche.

00:11:15:22 – 00:11:37:03

Bill

You’re not a number here etc., you’re not a truck number. But, they want to feel part of an organization that is good to them. That’s why that employer brand is so important in those propositions: what are your key corporate cultures, and what differentiates you from the competition?

00:11:37:06 – 00:12:02:20

Bill

I think a lot of carriers lack that, and it’s sad because those are the ones typically with high turnover.

Allison

That makes sense. I’m going to pivot questions here a little bit. A couple of months ago, I went to a staffing convention or conference, I guess I should say, and one of the questions that actually was brought up was from a recruiter, and they were talking about employer branding.

00:12:02:20 – 00:12:22:11

Allison

And she goes, I just don’t know. I understand the need for employer branding. We need it, but our higher-ups don’t want to hear it. So, what would you say to recruiters who know that they need the employer branding put in place and the investment there, what would you say to them who want to bring it up to their managers or the C-suites?

00:12:22:14 – 00:12:50:05

Bill

That’s a great question. Okay. We’ve done a lot of focus groups on return on investment, a strong ED, and an EVP program. This is a crazy number and a DENI strategy. Now this is organizations outside of transportation a little bit. But, you see about a 23% better retention rate, one with an EBITDA, which is what all C-suites is looking at.

00:12:50:05 – 00:13:12:06

Bill

And I know this is a high-end conversation.

Allison

That’s OK; I think that people want to hear it.

Bill

When an EBIDTA perspective which is bottom line with the CEO, CFO, and COO of a major organization want to see you see an 18% increase in EBITDA, right. Well think about this. Yes. Not immediate return on investment of any employee brand, employee brand or EVP program.

00:13:12:09 – 00:13:33:29

Bill

You know, typically, you’ll see a return on investment 12 to 18 months out. But it’s there, and the numbers are there to match. This is what we do all the time for our clients. They come to us and say, Kid, that question a million. We can’t sell it to the C-suite.

00:13:34:01 – 00:13:58:01

Bill

When I start showing those numbers and the analytics and the numbers behind why it makes sense, believe me, it opens a lot of eyes.

Allison

That’s great. So, look into the statistics, the data there. There’s data there.

Bill

I think that’s why, you know, as a CEO, a COO of a company, a CFO of a company, president of an organization, it’s all about numbers, right?

00:13:58:01 – 00:14:18:14

Bill

It’s about making your money. And I think a lot of times, they don’t see their immediate ROI. And transportation, that hire is tied to revenue because of the truck. And that’s a lot different than health care and retail because we can’t say we hire a nurse, and that’s tied directly to revenue.

00:14:18:14 – 00:14:44:27

Bill

That empty truck in there against the fence we know is losing X amount of dollars a day. That investment in advertising to get that driver in the truck obviously is the return on investment. So, I see where a lot of companies struggle, but I can also show you that we, in my past life, worked with over 300 major organizations implementing strong EB any EVP, and those organizations, the numbers don’t lie.

00:14:44:28 – 00:15:10:13

Allison

That’s great, that’s great. We here have just invested a little bit into what EVP is, employer branding, and what that is. And there’s so much to it, and it makes you realize how complex but how important it is, right? Not only are you building the brand for bringing people on, but it’s just brand awareness and just getting the good intention behind the company, right?

00:15:10:14 – 00:15:36:23

Allison

The goals are more clear.

Bill

You can see that we have a very strong marketing department. Our social media is really disrupting. We are getting incoming phone calls from a brand perspective, and that’s showing our brand as a company. And that’s how we feel and intentionally look. I work for an organization that is bought out by private equity and then sold to a large billion-dollar company.

00:15:36:26 – 00:16:10:09

Bill

And to me, it’s so important that corporate culture of that feel, that family feel, knowing that I have an open door, that you can come into my office whether you’re working whatever position in the organization. And it’s important to feel that type of family culture. And you know, as an organization, it gets hard. Libby Sartain wrote a great book from Southwest Airlines.

00:16:10:11 – 00:16:37:28

Bill

HR From the Heart, I believe it’s called. Wonderful book. How she implemented that corporate culture, that EB, throughout the organization and kept them as a family feels as large as Southwest Airlines was. I Met Libby many times. I think she’s retired now. Wonderful, wonderful person.

Allison

I’ll take note of that.

00:16:38:01 – 00:16:57:09

Bill

HR From the heart.

Allison

HR From the Heart. I wonder if we have it here at our library. I have to check.

Bill

Got to look at it.

Allison

So, you kind of mentioned social media, but I want to change the direction of that. How do you see social media’s role in recruiting truck drivers? Social media has evolved quite so in the past couple of years.

00:16:57:11 – 00:17:21:17

Allison

So, mobile marketing as SMS push campaigns and then radio campaigns and just social media and in general, what do you have to say about those for recruiting?

Bill

Huge, social media. It is a known fact that 86% of active job seekers go to social media and check out your blog.

Allison

That’s wild.

Bill

And people don’t realize it. Social media is huge.

00:17:21:19 – 00:17:42:25

Bill

Before a candidate applies for a job, and this is across all verticals, I would kind of pinpoint on trucking.  So, you look at it, a potential candidate has 17 to 22 touch points before they apply for a job.

00:17:42:27 – 00:18:04:26

Bill

And what that means is they’re going to look at your social media presence. They’re going to look on chat boards. They’re looking on Reddit, believe it or not. They’re looking on Twitter. They’re looking at all your different social media platforms to see what your company is. So many companies do not use social media properly, whether it’s trucking or whether it’s to keep consistently posting.

00:18:04:26 – 00:18:27:17

Bill

We’re hiring, we’re paying on social media. A company comes to your your social media, a candidate comes to your social media pages to really, truly find out what your company’s about. So, you know, all this highlighting, we come up with strategic content strategies to keep all of this to work well for candidate engagement.

00:18:27:17 – 00:18:54:24

Bill

So, it’s tremendously important. Yes, absolutely. Text push messaging and text messaging work extremely well. We have a very high conversion rate on text messaging. There’s a lot of tricks with that and a lot of regulation. So, you have to make sure that you’re not just spamming.

Allison

I think that the biggest concern is the spamming. People feel like they’re just bombarding you.

00:18:54:27 – 00:19:28:20

Bill

It is. We have about a 5% conversion rate on text messaging for our clients, and it’s implemented some certain tricks and AI technology behind that. That has really helped us tremendously to get a high conversion rate. We know that traditionally it’s 1% or 2%, so we’re seeing good things with text. As far as radio and as far as XM, etc. those types of properties, billboards, I think it’s for an overall brand strategy.

00:19:28:23 – 00:19:51:19

Bill

Again, you’re not going to get ROI on radio campaigns, and you’re not going to get high ROI on billboard campaigns, but companies that put aside a specific amount of dollars just for brand. Right? And I did this for a very large carrier, about 8000 trucks that we had a pocket just for brand. There were no ties into 10th Street hires, etc.

00:19:51:19 – 00:20:17:27

Bill

Eventually, we saw the number of hires going up by about 20 22%. Some months, 20%, and some months, 22% because of those branding initiatives. I think it’s overall consistency over more media strategy. You have to look past the ROI sometimes because you don’t necessarily see it, but it’s there.

00:20:17:27 – 00:20:53:22

Allison

It all kind of goes together and cores into one, it seems like.

Bill

Absolutely.

Allison

So, 2023 brought AI, and everybody was just talking about AI. There’s a lot of excitement and yet concern around AI, I feel like in the transportation industry and just a lot of industries, not just transportation. How do you foresee emerging technologies impacting the future of transportation recruitment, whether it be this year, next year, or the years to come?

00:20:53:24 – 00:21:15:26

Bill

Absolutely. So Gary Vee says, well, I watch a lot of game videos. If you’re not using AI every day, or learning about AI every day, even if you’re not using it, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Artificial intelligence, Great topic. The buzzword today. You know, AI, it’s going to take over the world, the Terminator.

Allison

It’s going to take my job.

00:21:15:26 – 00:21:49:06

Allison

I think it’s the big fear.

Bill

It’s very interesting. One of my investors, a very dear friend of mine for over 25 years, runs a VC firm out in California, and all they’ve invested in is startup AI companies. So I am privy to a lot of AI before mainstream folks know about it. This technology now, they have machines that can actually valet cars and show a 40% increase in capacity when they’re parking cars.

00:21:49:08 – 00:22:15:12

Allison

Wild

Bill

In technology, that’s wild, Yes. It’s an interest I think is going to affect recruiting and trucking potentially maybe three or four years down the road. And sales there is AI right now, and it’s probably about 24 months, the company I invested in is about 24 months away. But this technology actually has a live salesperson. They’ll call you, Hey, Bill, how are you?

00:22:15:15 – 00:22:40:28

Bill

This is John from X, Y, Z Corporation. I’m not interested, John. Immediately, I understand you’re not interested in a 30-second phone call. But what we do here is this. Apple’s starting to roll out this technology a little bit where they’re calling if you go to an Apple store and look at a specific product and or fill out, you have an Apple account and log into the Apple account, they will have this contact your hey, this is John from Apple Store.

00:22:40:28 – 00:23:06:14

Bill

So it’s a little bit more lower level. It’s not where it’s full sales. So why not implement this in our recruiting? Eventually, it might get implemented. Now I don’t believe that it’ll take recruiting jobs away or sales jobs away. There’s a human factor to that, you know, in sales or recruiting and trucking. But I think that it will help operations.

00:23:06:14 – 00:23:28:02

Bill

It will help you streamline a lot of processes behind the scenes for these trucking organizations. So it’s very interesting. Now, we use it consistently. I’m really super excited about our service that we’re doing for Lead Gen. Right now, we implement crazy AI on the back end, and I don’t want to give too much away to my competitors, but it’s really good stuff.

00:23:28:02 – 00:23:56:05

Bill

We’re doing it. It’s crazy. So very excited about it. We use it consistently on a daily basis, internally in a marketing department.

Allison

Yeah. I think more is to come with AI, right? Like I know that there’s a lot going on with A.I. in the job descriptions. I know there were some legal talk. I think there’s some incident that happened in New York specifically, but I know that it’s not done.

00:23:56:06 – 00:24:15:21

Allison

You know, the conversation of AI and job descriptions, for example, that’s not done, and that’s going to continue for years to come.

Bill

It’s kind of disturbing. I’m going to give you my honest opinion about it, where kids can write college papers. And it’s like, what is it doing to our youth? I don’t want to get too much on that because it’s full off topic.

00:24:15:21 – 00:24:46:10

Bill

But for me, I use it just basically to make sure my grammar’s right.

Allison

I’m a little bit more professional, maybe, you know.

Bill

Little things like that. Look, I’m not perfect.

Allison

Me too.

Bill

I’ll make those. So that’s what I’ll use it to do, but I’ll just say grammar, but you know it’s a wild journey. So, it’s interesting not to get a lot to get a little off-topic.

00:24:46:10 – 00:25:08:23

Bill

They’re actually building robots, war machines, in China right now.

Allison

I’ve heard this. I’ve heard it’s much more than just writing papers. It’s much more.

Bill

But I truly believe AI’s only as smart as you make it. You still have to input a lot of the data and stuff into it. It’s a work in progress.

00:25:08:23 – 00:25:25:15

Bill

But we’ll see. You know, we’ve gone through these phases in life. While this is the next new thing in trucking, this is the next new thing. And this is going to take over the world. I remember the autonomous trucks. This is it; we’re going to lose all our jobs. We don’t even have the infrastructure for that.

00:25:25:15 – 00:25:49:19

Bill

And nor is the United States ever going to invest that type of money. So my personal opinion is we are 15 or 20 years away from seeing that. And the accidents. Uber shut down its programs in self-driving cars because of accidents. So that’s the most.

Allison

What is some advice that you have for recruiters to enhance the application process?

00:25:49:22 – 00:26:15:10

Bill

Well, again, I think it’s about, you know, being honest, knowing your business, identifying the pain points of potential candidates as they’re calling. If you get to know what the pain points are, that’s when you can address the specific pain points. So, if the driver calls in and says, look, you ask, Mrs. Jones, let me ask you a question.

00:26:15:15 – 00:26:38:14

Bill

What was, why are you looking to leave your other company? You know, the pay is awful. They promised me that I was going to run 3000 miles a week. I was getting 1500 miles a week. You know, they told me I was going to be getting home every weekend. I wasn’t getting home every weekend. So now you’re identifying, and I think the biggest problem recruiters have is they talk too much sales, same thing.

00:26:38:16 – 00:26:56:26

Bill

Too much. Right? Listen. All right. That’s what you need to learn is to listen. Don’t go out there and, we’re the best thing since sliced bread. And we can do this, and we can do that. Listen to what that driver’s pain is, right? And learn anything like in sales. The consultative sales approach that we have as an organization.

00:26:57:01 – 00:27:21:01

Bill

We want to be an extension of their human resource department or their recruiting department because we listen to what the company’s pain points are, and then we address the pain points. So, addressing, and any good selling, look I’ve trained, I used to run a boardroom with 250 sales reps that I trained and the same thing recruiting. It’s about learning what the pain points are.

00:27:21:01 – 00:27:55:07

Bill

The key is, don’t sell them something you don’t have. So, it’s better to walk away from that driver than to BS them. And then when they get into orientation, they’re like, you promised me this and that. So I think it’s, again, honesty, learn what their pain is. And, you know, again, my dear friend says to me, she says to me all the time, make sure they fill out the applications.

00:27:55:07 – 00:28:31:25

Bill

Don’t let them off the phone by sending in the link. She’ll know I plugged that for her.

Allison

You’ve been in this industry, the transportation industry anyway, for 25 years, you said. What do you think’s going to go on in the next five years?

Bill

So, I think we’re in an interesting situation. So the past actually, you know, I was in Chicago, Indiana, I was in Atlanta, Dallas, the past few weeks, meeting with several C-suite executives, COO, CEO, president, two presidents of different trucking companies.

00:28:31:25 – 00:28:55:01

Bill

So really, it was a good time to get a fresh perspective on what they’re kind of seeing. What we’re kind of seeing. So, obviously, we know this is probably one of the worst freight markets we’ve seen in quite some time. It reminds me a lot of 2008, where we kind of saw things where it was more of a processing job. The trucking companies that worked with Swift back then.

00:28:55:01 – 00:29:22:26

Bill

At the time, I remember Scott Maldonado and I talking the VP of recruiting out there. Will Tasha was VP of recruiting as well. They didn’t even need drivers. They had to shut down the school because it was that terrible. And they really could handpick the drivers that they wanted. I mean, obviously, 2009 to 2010  totally changed that where it was more of a drivers market instead of a carriers market.

00:29:22:26 – 00:29:46:06

Bill

And I think we’re in the same situation. Well, there’s a lot of factors to this. I mean, the Fed inflation rates are up to about 7%, and interest rates are up to about 7%. Consumer goods is down a bit. And then we’ve also seen consumer spending staying pretty steady. Kind of worries me. We’re about $82 trillion in debt, I believe credit card debt.

00:29:46:08 – 00:30:13:24

Allison

Oh wow.

Bill

I saw that and was I was blown away.

Allison

But people know how to survive, you know.

Bill

Yeah, 100%. And then, you know we have an election coming up? I think that is going to make a major dent one way or another. I don’t want to get into politics, but I think if things go a certain way, I think we can kind of see things tremendously change for the economy.

00:30:14:02 – 00:30:30:25

Bill

I do think we’re in a recession, as much as nobody wants to say it. I do think we’re in somewhat of a recession. I do think we will probably pull out, and I know a lot of carriers are going to get mad at me about this. I was in the finance business for many years. I worked on Wall Street prior to being in advertising.

00:30:30:27 – 00:30:52:17

Bill

I don’t think we’re going to see much of a change this year. I think, too, that 25 will definitely bring some change. I do see that we’ll see an increase in freight. You know, obviously year end, you’ll see the retail of automotive as well. We’ll start seeing it pick up. But I think in 2025, we’re going to see it go back.

00:30:52:17 – 00:31:14:08

Bill

And I’m hopeful by 2025, we see things get to some sort of normalcy. So, I think over the next five years, we’re in good shape. Hey, we’ve been here before. Those that have been in this industry, the carriers that I have been speaking to, are seeing pretty steady freight, not massive decreases. You know, obviously, rates have now shifted. The spot market has been terrible.

00:31:14:08 – 00:31:34:23

Bill

I mean, so seeing a lot of owner-operators drop it, then all these different regulations are happening out in California, etc. You see a lot of these owner-operators dropping out, can’t afford their trucks, etc., because, you know, they were buying on the spot market of their own authorities. A lot of these carriers are really looking for company truck drivers.

00:31:34:23 – 00:31:59:01

Bill

So, you’re going to see a massive amount of these owner operators and small fleets fail. And that’s then going to put more drivers into the marketplace, which is really not good right now for recruiting departments because it’s more drivers and not enough freight. But eventually, I think things are going even out.

00:31:59:04 – 00:32:19:20

Bill

By 2025, we’re going to see steady increases, and I think we’ll be back to normal.

Allison

So you don’t think 2025 it’s going to be quick because, from my understanding, 2008 to 2009 was a relatively quick change there. You think it’s going to be a little bit more gradual this time?

Bill

Yeah, I think it’s seen gradual change.

00:32:19:22 – 00:32:42:11

Bill

Maybe last quarter of 24 into 25 and then start picking up in 25 then. Well, I mean, look, this is not what a lot of economists in the trucking business are saying, but we’ll see who’s right. I might be wrong. I’m not perfect.

Allison

Well, thank you so much for your time.

00:32:42:11 – 00:33:01:28

Allison

I know you’re so busy, but just the last question. I would love to hear what your goals are for Swish the next five years. It sounds you’re doing a lot right now, but what is this advertising’s goals in the next couple of years?

Bill

So, I think what our approach is is to be boutique. You know, we are a global boutique agency.

00:33:01:28 – 00:33:23:13

Bill

And one of the things that I can’t stress enough is I don’t want to be just a trucking specific agency. We’ve got quite a few now, probably cut it off in about 10 to 12 clients and then each different vertical. Ultimately, our goal is with our investors is to get to $100 million in seven years.

00:33:23:15 – 00:33:53:20

Bill

I think that’s very attainable. I have a sales staff of nine right now. Looking to expand our sales team. We’re looking at office space right now in the Midwest and Kansas City area and then out in California. That’s the growth plans for 2024 as well as maybe possibly expanding with our partnership program advance. So that’s the goal. I mean, and in each individual vertical, and eventually get it to private equity and then I want this thing to be a $500 million company globally.

00:33:53:21 – 00:34:21:17

Bill

So, that’s that’s my game plan. I’m a hard believer in Tony Robbins, I’m actually going to see him in an event down, only 100 individuals there. And he always says when you have the vision, the vision is already done. Now we have to figure out how to achieve it.

Allison

I love Tony Robbins.

00:34:21:19 – 00:34:42:11

Bill

Bob Proctor, Jim Rohn. I am actually reading a book right now, The Power of Positive Thinking.

Allison

Yeah. I just read that book last year. The Power of Positive Thinking.

Bill

Think Big, it’s another one. Steve Harvey always says, you read, those two books, you don’t need any other books.

Allison

Think Big. Okay. That’s not by the same author, though, is it?

00:34:42:18 – 00:35:01:25

Bill

I think it’s somebody else.

Allison

Well, thank you so much for your time. I know you’re so busy, but really, this is great. I think you’ve answered some questions in a way that we haven’t heard before. So I know our audience is really going to value your insight, and you have a heck of credibility.

00:35:01:25 – 00:35:15:27

Allison

So, I know that what they take from this won’t be taken lightly. They really do want it.

Bill

Absolutely. Thank you.

Allison

Yeah. Thanks,

Bill

Allison. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.

Allison

You too.

Bill

Bye now.

Allison

See you.