Driver to Driver - A Stokes Trucking Podcast
Driver to Driver - A Stokes Trucking Podcast
Episode #13 - UTA Legends panel
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On this episode of Driver to Driver, we play the Utah Trucking Association Legends Panel from UTA convention in St George, UT. You can find individual segments at the following time stamps.
- Intro to Episode #13 - 00:33
- Legends panel w/Rick Clasby, executive director of UTA - 5:39
- Jack White, President of Alpha Transport - 17:27
- Duane Braegger CEO of Tramcor - 24:24
- Dan England, Chairman of the Board, CR England - 36:36
- Val Stokes, founder and owner, Stokes Trucking - 46:15
- Jeff England, CEO of Pride Transport - 57:31
- Don Ipson, CEO of DATS Trucking - 1:07:12
Welcome to driver, to driver, a Stokes trucking podcast on driver to driver. We will discuss everything related to trucking. And put a stokes trucking spin on it stokes trucking doing the right thing since 1979.
Intro to Episode #13
MarkThanks for downloading. Another episode of driver to driver. I'm your host mark lover. I'm joined by my co-host again,
Gracegrace logger.
MarkAnd we're going to try and keep this sorta short and quick and to the point, This is our 13th episode. In this episode, it's the UTA legends panel. So Utah trucking association, we had our state convention in St. George about a month ago, and they had a legends panel or they had six different trucking company owners. some were the founders, some took over the family business at one point in time. I found it very interesting. It was, it was really funny. So that night, after our dinner, Val, and Julie, and me and your mom and, Brant king and his wife, and there was, I think it was, uh, a gentlemen from utility trailer. They were over at Valen Julie's house and they were talking about the legends panel and, uh, and Brandt says, Man somebody should have courted that and your mom was like he did. So, I'm, I'm glad I did. I'll warn you right now. The audio is a little rough and can be sorta hard to hear. I did my best to adjust where I could to either bring the audio up. So it was a little louder or push it down. So it wasn't. Blowing your speakers out. but there's a lot of good information in here, I, especially if you're a trucker, maybe an older trucker in Utah, you'll really enjoy it. it's kind of funny. Two of the larger trucking companies in Utah represented CR England, which of course has a very large truckload, refrigerated and pride transport.
GraceI never knew they were both based in Utah.
MarkYeah. Both are, and both are based in salt lake and they are two brothers that own those, own, those two companies. Jeff who owns pride actually left CR England and created pride in 1979. same year as Stokes So there's a lot of parallels there for us. Val is on the legends panel. and a lot of you have heard his, his beginnings, but, I think this is going to be really interesting to a lot of people. Grace, I'm sorry. You're not going to get a lot of time.
GraceOh, no
Markon this episode. But you got to get to work, making me a graphic for an ad. We're going to have a Spotify ad. We're going to try doing that for some marketing here in a minute. So grace is going to help me with the, with the graphics for the ad. we'll be back in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what we're going to do. I got a little bit of an idea, but I'm not positive. Probably a guy from Warner and I'm hoping Mike and I are going to interview. Mike Larson's finally gonna make it on the podcast. We're going to interview Beau Bates, who is the equipment manager for the Utah state football Aggies.
GraceHmm. Imagine having our name be an alliteration. Phoebe,
MarkI think I that's one
Graceknow is a nickname.
MarkI want to Ask him It's one of the things I want to ask him when we get them on a podcast. He's from Hawaii originally and he's Polynesian. so I'm, I think.
GraceHis name is
Markhis name is not Bo, but
Graceprobably more complicated for the majority of people to say
Markit's what idiots like me can pronounce his bow. Cause I'd just butcher it. If he told me what his real name was. so, um, I'm kind of excited to get him on. the phone. I'm really excited to get football season started. I got Mike all wound up talking about football today at the office. So much fun. It's so much fun. And his hot button is. Either BYU or Boise is better than Utah state. And it's like he goes from zero to a hundred two seconds. It's so much fun. And Jimmy knows it's coming like Mike, can't see Jimmy cause Mike's monitors are in the way. And Jimmy's looking at me and he's like, he's just shaking his head now. Like, what are you doing? You're going to give him a hard anyway. Enjoy the UTA legends panel. I hope, I hope you'd take some little pearls of wisdom out of there. Like I did. The very first thing you're going to hear is my interview with Rick. CLASBI talking about the legends panel and how they came up with the idea, and then we're going to roll right into the legends panel. So this is it for me and grace on this episode. Next time you hear from us, it's going to be episode 14 of driver to driver and Stokes trucking podcast. Make sure to rate and review Tell your friends about it. Other truckers. If, if you're a driver, tell them about it, I hope you really enjoy the legends panel from UTA and we'll be back in a couple of weeks. Grace.
GraceLet's roll.
Legends panel w/Rick Clasby of UTA
MarkSo I felt pretty fortunate that I grabbed my recorder and, and recorded the, uh, the legends panel. Down there at St. George, can you talk a little bit about where that idea came from? I don't know who came up with it, but it was great. I, I loved it. I thought it was, there's all kinds of little pieces of wisdom in there.
RickYeah, it was awesome. I agree with you I, I, sometimes when you're the party planner, you don't get to go and hear, all of the different events, but, but I made it a point to be to that one. And I, I can tell you how that came about. was we were looking for. Uh, keynote speaker, you know, that, that speaker that really kicks off the convention during the breakfast session on Thursday. And we had batted around a few ideas. and, Todd Hanson who is the host of story Trek, was presented and And we started visiting with him about this idea that everybody has a story. And that telling those stories are important and that we've learned from uh, those stories and, and the things that people, how you know, those lessons learned. So uh, it was during a convention committee planning meeting, and I don't remember exactly who it was, but somebody said, well, we probably have a lot of stories within our own industry and within our leadership or past leadership. And we immediately started identifying folks. That would be interesting to hear a little bit more about how they got started and how they do their business. And, you know, in Many most of the cases they were family owned businesses. And So there was that family dynamic and history. And so it it was really fun to get with those guys. I I started. Calling folks on the list two or three months in front of the convention. And without exception, everybody I called was excited, and honored, and in most cases, humbled, by the invitation. but none of them were hesitant about it. They, they all wanted to be part of the panel and willing to be part of the panel. And, and We're excited about. the opportunity to tell some of their stories. it was wonderful. I mean, we had this, you know, we had folks, that own. You know, CR England, with hundreds and thousands of tractors and trailers and, employees all across the world. And and then we had a bow in all with his his company. And what's going on in Northern Utah there and what you guys do. And it, it, it's amazing, although there's there's kind of a difference in size. of company. The story is oftentimes very similar, How they got started, and what they, what they believe in and what's necessary for their company to succeed. And so it was, it was really a great panel. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
MarkYeah. I hope we. Continue to do something along those lines going forward. I, I was fascinated by it, of course, being in management of helping Val with management of Stokes. Um, I, I take little pearls from people all the time to use later on, and I was really fascinated by it. Our most popular podcast episodes have been. Those story episodes. You know, I, we usually try and have some type of theme and we usually try and do some kind of safety, something, you know, our safety managers on quite often, but the most popular ones have been the ones where I'm just talking to one of the drivers and he's, he's just. Telling his story or things he's seen. And of course, anytime I have Val on, you know, Val, he always, the very first time I ever had him on, he he's like, well, I don't know what you want to talk to me about.
RickYeah
Markand it's the
Rickthat
Markyeah, it's the episode. Everybody wants to listen to her. The ones that Val's in talking about the origins of Stokes, you know, where, when he started driving and what that was like, and that's what I'm most fascinated into. So
RickYou know what? Nope, I I, this is just a quick little snippet, but, when I left the department of transportation I went to work for a brief time in Phoenix area. And. And a close friend of mine was a consultant for that company. And then I made, I made a comment I said, you know, I I'm at a point in my life where I just don't need to wear a uniform every day or, a logo every day I, I'm kind of excited about not, not having that. as part of my, my routine and he laughed at me and, and, uh, and then I came here and I have to tell you that That there's nothing that makes me more proud than to have the touch trucking association logo on a shirt or pat or something that I'm wearing because inevitably somebody asks, you know, what, what are you doing? Oh, are you a lobbyist? And You know, those kinds of questions. And as I sit here in this building and I look out of my door, I can see pictures of all of the presidents of this association. clear back to 1932. And of course, I don't know all of those people many, many way before my time, but I know most of the latter, Leaders of this industry and of our association and, and the stories behind those pictures are, are incredible. an example, I had a chance to interview Gene England two years ago for his 100th birthday, Well, it's not quite two years ago, cause he's just now 101, but, but we celebrated his hundredth birthday and I got to interview him and and hear how he got started. And, and I mean clear back to world war two, his efforts there and, and you're right. the, Those personal stories and the. the things that these individuals have learned and the character and the principles that are important to them. it just does, it fills me with pride. And and I love going to the legislature and saying that I'm Rick CLASBI and I I represent the Utah trucking association and, and they'll go to a golf tournament. and Senators and representatives will say, oh, that's Rick, he's the trucking guy. And, and uh, I love being the trucking guy. You don't, you know, we recognize, drivers of the month and drivers of the year, every year. And, it, in those stories behind who those people are and, and the struggles and the strifes and the successes, It's just a really good. bunch of people. it's cliche maybe, but the salt of the earth and highway heroes and all of those terms are accurate They're real.
MarkYeah. Yeah. They all have a really good story that like everybody, it was, so it was so funny that Todd was. At the convention, because that's, when I, when we started doing this, that was kind of, my thing was got something to talk about. You put a microphone in front of them, they're gonna, you know, w w we will come up with something to talk about, and that's the way it's been. Every, everybody I've brought in to interview everybody I've talked to over the phone. Everybody has a really good story. Everybody does. If you just.
RickYou know, and Todd, for example, as He was standing up there telling his story. And of course I met with him beforehand. and We talked about, you know, what would be appropriate And if there were any areas, that he should avoid and just the preparation type work and to learn that, although I'd never met him before, we were both from the same, town. we both went to the same high school. We knew the same people, you know, our circles were so close. And we had very many of the same stories or experiences because of that. And that was a lot of fun. And in fact, that at one point he was talking about some guys that were picking on him that were a couple of years older than him and then afterward I went and I said, I bet I know those same guys. Uh, and He acknowledged that I probably did. And uh, and, uh, and I just hope that one of them wasn't me. uh, you know, I made sure that it wasn't me. So, and He clarified the, no, we were good. So yeah, it's it's amazing how far apart we can be as human beings and how close we really are. as human beings.
MarkWell, I can't wait for everybody to listen to the legends panel from, uh, the UTA convention in St. George. And thank you so much for joining me and recording a little segment to put at the front of that. I'm really excited to get out there. thanks so much for taking time to join me
RickYou bet. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun and Congratulations for what you're doing. I think it's right on. a well done.
good afternoon. I'd like to welcome y'all to this meeting of the annual convention. I'm Danny handsome. I'm with a simpler trucking company in salt Lake city. I actually started in the trucking industry in 1981, watched the careers of these people and thoroughly enjoyed it. And, uh, when I started out as a tariff clerk and, uh, many people that knew with that, and then moved on to becoming a one, two B. AICC practitioner, which was even more go on now and went to work for a company that's gone bankrupt and gone this afternoon. We're going to listen to the stories of six, six men who are going to talk about their experiences, their growth within the industry. They've all been filters throughout the state and throughout the nation. And of all certainly as members of the association support executive committee and have served as members at several minutes, served as members past presidents, I'm honored to serve with the Utah trucking association and to be a part of with what's going on. Uh, we're gonna take a few minutes and each one of them, I'm going to introduce it first and then we'll start down here. We've got, uh, Don Ipson with DATS trucking. We've got Jack White Alpha transport. Duane Braegger with Tramcor. Okay. We got Dan E.ngland went with the ,C.R England. Jeff England with, uh, pride.. Transport Then we're going to finish with Val Stokes, Stokes Truckin.g Now they're all going to give us some information on the industry and their experiences.
Jack White w/Alpha Transport
And so we're going to start with Jack as being the first one list. Can everyone hear me? well, it's pretty easy for me. Uh, the fact is that everyone in this room is a legend to me. I've seen so many great, great mans in the circumstantial. Uh, I guess it starts back when you were a kid and you started growing up and this has been an influence in your life. And so I think the biggest influence of my life, of course, I'm sure everyone agrees. It's been our parents. We've always been so lucky to have parents that brought us along and told us what's right, what's wrong and answered that you might've been by some other people too, that help us, you know, you've got your coaches and leaders in your church and fellow people that you work with. Those are all great mentors of what we do. I started in this business in 1966. Wow. So that goes back a while. I went to the university of Uta,h graduated with BS and management and got out and worked in the family business. In Tooele Utah, we were ready, mix asphalt all the kind of company did that first till about 1980 and living a lot of other things. But ./in;$general I've worked with some great people, some of thethose guys or. I had a great manager by the name of Doug Fife, Uh, Doug Fife was a great mentor of mine. But he wasn't the only one. Uh, like I said, I played sports in college and we have great coaches and all great teammates, and we learned how to do things with the teams and, uh, relied on, uh, people within our organization to help us. And I think that's what kind of, uh, kind of helped me along in my life and, uh, I don't where else you could really start because. I think really the great matter is the people that sit around you every day and show you the, how we do business. And some of the things they do. Uh, we're a fairly small company right now. We've got about a 70 or 80 units and 150 trailers. We're in seven States now all a little bit, uh, in Phoenix Vegas. Through Idaho a little bit in Washington and Oregonand of course Salt Lakewere kind of sped up. My son-in-law just walked in. He's the manager. And he told me to go relax and go somewhere actually right on target. So being in the business for, I started in 1989 with two trucks and we drove to this point. Darn happy to be wherever we at. And we made it through COVID and I think COVID is a big deal. Anybody have any questions? We're pretty simple kind of guys. What percentage of your operation is a liquid and what percentage is driving? We sold the dry man vision about three years ago. Three to four years ago. So all of it right now, we're a hundred percent liquid. We do have some management, we lease them out and do some logistics, but I would guess that we're probably about 10% logistics and the rest of the solid Nichol fuels. Yeah, we're always looking for drivers. anybody have any drivers? I guess I'm going to ask you since your first Jack. Is, you know, what are some of your favorites, things about the trucking industry and what impact you think the industry itself has had on you or family members or whatever. We've been very fortunate to be able to make a living with it. Today's world. I think that's pretty good. Uh, we just, it's just the meeting and the great people we have are all very honest. They're all hard workers. Uh, Let me get up early in the morning. We go late at night. Sometimes we worked all night so that we can go the next day. And, uh, I guess that's probably about for some of the things we do. And then, uh, I don't know what else I can say on that. Really? Yeah. I just want to know how you put that on your ELD. What does that part? We only had two of those at a time he never works enough consistent days that he has to put down any of them uh, um, great partnerships in your life, uh, business partnerships. What, what made those business partnerships successful? Uh, I think we learned to develop each other's skills and, uh, concentrated on them. Some of my partnerships, um, uh, uh, they had a really fruitful, most of them were of course, in a petroleum industry, but our partnerships also extend to our, to our customers and we've created them as partners. And we want them to think of that. And also we always make an alarm. Our vendors as partners too, because without that kind of a partnership, I think that's a big deal (no fix need to edit out the mic). But you, do you learn from your partners with you in certain lessons? Mark you probably know some of my partners, uh, Jardine petroleum was one of them, a great friend of ours, and we just had lunch with him about two weeks ago. You know, you see people all the time, go through that, probably back at myself a bit harder than before. we've had a lot of good partnerships. Uh, I guess the only thing you could really say, Danny, is that we're just really, really fortunate. Did anyone else like to ask a question
Duane Braegger w/Tramcor
But the next one person we're going to have to listen to is a Duane Braegger from tram core. And we'll go from there. Well, I'm like a Jack. I know that there's, as I look out over the congregation, there's a lot of legends out there as I have worked in and been associated with all of you over the years. Um, We were all asked the same questions, eight questions. So I'm going to try to focus on what we were asking as much as I can. Um, I was born in Willard, Utah. I've lived there my whole life. Everybody knows where that is. Right. Cause it's the port of entry of Willard Bay. So. It's more than Willard, Utah. That's where we started our business. Um, I remember, uh, my dad bought his first truck in 1970. Of course my brothers and I, my two brothers and I were still in high school. Um, and I remember when we build our first shop, it was a 50 by 30 shop and I was so excited. To be able to roll a creeper on a floor it's that are rolling in the dirt out of my dad's driveway to service our first two or three trucks. So, and we still have that shop today. We don't use it when we store our, uh SUV's in it. And so, um, some of my answers when I was younger and growing up, and even now, as I've always had animals, horses, love snowmobiling, and, uh, We always had a farm. My parents have about two acres there in the middle of Willard. And, uh, when my dad ordered his first truck, as I mentioned in 1970, he had a contract with just the one truck. He ordered it from Peterbilt. And that was back when Peterbilt had a factory in Oakland, California. Some of you guys might remember that factory back then, and I still remember. Our salesman, at Peterbilt, his name was Mari Clayton and, uh, Paul and bud Smith of course, on Peterbilt at that time. And, uh, you are so as my brothers and I are so excited for this new truck that my dad was going to get. And we knew when he was coming home when he flew out to get it. And so he brought him home in the middle of the night. He parked it out in front of the house. And it was supposed to be kind of a real, pretty gray color with a Robin egg blue Stripe in it. When we walked out there and it was army green and just a flat army green color, you know? And so Peter Bell screwed up on the paint color on his first truck. And, uh, we were quite discouraged about that, but just kind of a funny story. Um, And then later our, our yard turned into, uh, instead of a little farm yard with all kinds of animals. We tore down the stables and all the majors and everything, and it'd become a truck parking lot, out behind my dad's house. And we had I think, 12 trucks when we moved out of, of Willard and all the neighbors were really happy to see us go after we bought our property in far West. And, uh, My dad real quick. Uh, I attended box elder high school, my brothers and I, and as we, as each one of us got out of high school, we started driving the truck. He figured out real quickly that we were a lot better truck drivers than we were going to be students. So he put us to work in a pretty early on driving truck. Uh, I remember. One of the, one of the impactful things that I remember about, uh, my leadership in our businesses. My dad passed away when he was exactly my age. He went to a job site out in Draper, uh, got up one morning. I think it was a Monday morning. Um, got ready. Went, went down, uh, to oversee the job we had about 15 or 20 trucks going on to this job site. And he had a massive stroke on the job site and never came back home. And so that was impactful to me because I ended up being the one that, that was going to move the company forward. I was talking to Rex about that today. I can kind of feel how it is when your dad just leaves and he's still very much involved in the business. And so that was a time in our company where we had to do some restructuring in our office and a few things. But, uh, I think it made me a better leader and, uh, you know, my dad was a great influence on me and, uh, in my leadership abilities, he taught me how to treat people and how important it was to treat people the way you want to be treated. Um, the people that were influential in my business, uh, where I got down to here, uh, my dad, of course, my wife. Um, my wife raised our family because the first 14 years, I guess I drove truck, then of course it was over the road and I was gone quite a bit. So I really have to think my wife for raising our family and all of our children. Uh, so I was involved in that. My mom bless her heart. Um, she. She was the bookkeeper and, uh, caused a lot of stress in our family. I remember my mom and dad arguing, and every time dad would say, we need to buy a new truck because I got this customer, I got this work I needed to do. And my mom had sandwiches, paint off a truck, and I don't want you to buy another truck, you know? So it was always that battle back and forth with them. But my mom is 89 years old. And when we have our Christmas party for our company every year, she always wants to give a speech, uh, in front of all of our employees. So we get all of our employees and their wives together, and my mom gets up and gives a speech. But as of late, I've had to censor the speech because, you know, as they get older, they don't have filters. And she said she has gotten up and embarrassed my brothers and I several times in front of our whole company. So bless her heart. She's still a, still a big part of the company. He still owns a little bit of stock in our company as well. Um, one thing about my dad, um, early on a lot of our drivers, uh, nicknamed him the wagon boss. And a lot of them right up until the day he died, still calling wagon boss, since he was the one that was always out there, kind of making sure the trucks were where they needed to be at the right time. Some memories of my, my father, um, questions that we have is, you know, how, how, how do you keep a family business and all of, you know, that have family businesses. And I think as I think this, I look out there it's most of us, I think, you know, at one time or another have family businesses or our family businesses and. I think one of the things that we've always tried to be diligent about as our board of directors meetings and have everybody involved. So everybody knows the direction the company's going, than there's no surprises to anyone. And then, you know, to treat each other with respect, I think that's, that's a big thing. One thing I will say about family businesses is. You're not going to find anybody, at least in our family that works harder than the family members. Cause they're always, if the job's got to be done, it doesn't matter if it's in the middle of the night or when it is, they're going to be out they're driving and getting the job done. And so that's, that's been a blessing for our family. Um, one of the questions, well it's what would you say to somebody that was thinking about getting in the business? And I put the first thing that came to my mind is don't do it. And then I got thinking about, you know, our business and really, um, it's been a blessing for our family. We've, uh, we've had a lot of our family members that have made a good living in the business. Uh, we have a lot of friends in our trucking family, which is every one of you. That means so much to me and to our family as well. And so the trucking industry has been great to us and to our family. And to the many employees that we've employed over the years. Um, the other thing I think that's important, it helps to make a company successful is, um, to have a good rapport with law enforcement. And that's one of the things in the Utah trucking industry that. And I'm so proud about is, is the law enforcement, um, and, and all the people that were involved in with regulations and those kinds of things. We have such a great relationship with them, and that's very important in a company that you have that relationship and a good reputation. Now that means a lot to us. Um, the other thing is, uh, networking like what we're doing down here at this convention with our, with our friends and with other carriers. I think I've learned more from. From all of you, as we visited and talk and talk about best practices and those things that we're all involved in. than I have any other, other place. Um, the camaraderie with others is so important to me. Um, and then the last question they ask us, I think was, uh, what, what advice would you give to someone that was getting into our industry? And I, and as I look back on our industry, and since, just since I've been involved, I mean, I remember in the early eighties, when we got our first computer and my dad, I remember my dad looking at it and go, how's this thing work, you know? And then I remember getting our first fax machine, you know, and it was just amazing to him that these kinds of things, you know, the way they worked. And so. When you look back in the eighties, doesn't seem like it's been that long, but look where we've, where we've came to now. And I think the biggest thing is staying up with technology. It's been hard in our industry. It seems like every time you turn around, you just get new telematics and get it all set up and somebody walking through the door and telling you they got something better. Right? I mean, it's just, it's it's mind boggling. And, uh, in our industry, I think that's something that we have to do. You know, we have to do that to stay competitive, to step with technology. Um, and then, um, as far as being a good leader, one thing I've learned about being a good leader has to be exactly that a good leader. And I think a our facility, you know, like when I've loved to our shop doors and there's big signs that say no parking, you know, I think once it's going to be a minute, I'll just jump out of my truck. And I think, no, I need to be setting a better example to our employees because the next day I'm going to have to reprimand somebody to park there. Right. So I think as a leader, it's so important that we're, that we set a good example to those that work work for us and that work with us and, you know, to lead out. Um, one last thing I want to just say, uh, in closing for my remarks is, um, I think back of when Scott was, was present and, uh, we built the building. And when I say we, I mean, everybody in this room, um, I remember the meeting we were in and, and we were, we had all the money in the bank of the association and we were, you know, we were kind of set that money aside to build a building someday, but we really didn't. No, nobody had really made the decision. We were going to do it well. Then when this opportunity came to us, thanks to Dan and his family. Um, as I've watched all of us pull together and, and do what we did with that building, it just, it just made my, I looked at, you know, the association, what we could accomplish in it, what a, what a wonderful thing it was to be able to have that building paid off before we even moved into it. And to me, that showed the kind of commitment and strength that there is in this trucking industry family here in the state, Utah. And it makes me feel good to be a part of that. And I just want to thank each one of you for all that you've done and for your continued support and the association trade association, I wonder sometimes, uh, where we'd be without it. We've been members for many, many years. So thank you. thank you very much.
Dan England w/CR England
Our next speaker will be, uh, Danny with C.R England. Thank you, Dan. It's a pleasure to be here. Uh, I need to start out with a couple of apologies, uh, to my, this fellow here to my left when I was about 10 year old, 10 years old, like hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. And, uh, uh, it was, it was an accident. I want to know why his head was in the way of my bat. I, but anyway, I apologize but I'll also apologize for, um, Without your knowing, taking your 59 Chevy convertible white with red interior. And went joyriding, uh, without you knowing. So here, you know, like 60 years later, I apologize for those things, but you need to apologize to me for a couple of things. I was like four years old. We live in plain city and he and his buddies. Uh, they were, they delighted in harassing me and, you know, we lived just across the street from the cemetery and he's buddies. They, they get out and roll up and roll around and, and, uh, like I was afraid they were going to get hit by a car. And so I'd be crying and carrying on and begging the lead down the road. Course a car came by once every three days, you know, something like that. And then, uh, you need to apologize to me for the time you filled my sleeping bag with rocks, and then told me to go jump on my sleeping bag. So there are things going both ways here. Uh, you know, I, we had great upbringing in our family, wonderful, uh, mom and dad loved us and, uh, dad. Course. He was still alive at 101. Um, he, but our mom of course, like most homes was, was the center of our home. So we lived, uh, I was born, I wasn't born in plain city. I was born in Ogden but we lived in plain city for a few years. And then, Ogden then on the salt Lake, um, I eventually graduated from skyline high school. Went on to be, to the U got a BA degree there in political science and then went to law school and graduated. Uh, from law school and practiced for a few years, uh, um, with a couple of different firms, I, I served an LDS mission in Germany. And so that's a little bit of, a little bit of my background. Uh, you know, my first experiences in trucking were like, I'm sure most of yours washing trucks, loading and unloading trucks. Uh, any chance I got driving the trucks around the yard, even though I might've been 14 years old or whatever. Chris, my dad was just telling me the other day about his first trip, but buying himself at 14, uh, where he hauled a a hundred, a hundred pound bags of potatoes up into Wyoming and, uh, and drunk, laid it over, run inside, I think. But, uh, no that was another story. But anyway, you know, I had no pressure to go into the business. It was a. Uh, never felt any of that. And then I have four sons now who, who run our business and I never gave them any pressure to go in the business, but, uh, they all chose to do it now. Um, so what I'm doing now is I'm mostly retired. I mean, I I'm on several meetings a week, but, uh, I have other interests that, that consuming grandkids, uh, church, I enjoy road biking and, uh, We bought a little farm. So I bought me a pair of Carhartt overalls so olden life for me, my friends or my kids think that somebody new moved in with my wife. Uh, but, uh, anyway, it's, it's a great life, uh, you know, in terms of the most impactful thing that happened to, to us and trucking, and to me was back in 1980 when the industry was deregulated. A lot of you here will never remember that, but, uh, You know, rates, uh, before 1980, you could go get rate increases like this 5% of the shot or, or more. And, uh, when the deregulated uh, the first thing that happened is there was a great influx of new carriers and what's the first thing they did. It lowered the rates and, uh, 90 out of the largest 100 trucking companies in the country went out of business over the course of the next five, 10 years. And so that was a real learning experience. I mean, it impacted us, even though we are one of the small carriers we had, uh, when I went to work for our company. And I, like I said, I practiced law. I went to work for a company in 1977. At that time we had 175 trucks and, um, it was a tough time. And so we had to kind of, um, and I go through a process of renewing ourselves and, uh, And defining what we want it to be. And that was at that point that we realized that we needed to get serious about the way we managed this business. We set up accountability systems, set goals, accountability systems. Um, most of our employees, including our drivers were, uh, were bonused and that, and so we set up these sort of systems that have carried us forward. Uh, with some tweaks and changes here and there, but, uh, through until today. And so I think that period of time, which was very difficult, whether you, when you wonder whether you were going to survive, actually strengthened us. So, um, little bit like some of the things we've seen in COVID um, some of the keys to running a family business, uh, gosh it's easy. It's easy running a family business. This is all you've got to do. One build a successful business, very profitable, where the most capable employees and family members work in the most important positions and where there, where there is harmony in the family. He's. And so I've given you the answer, uh, you know, it's, um, It's no wonder that so many businesses, family businesses fail like into the third generation beyond, uh, my sons are, are the fourth generation and we've got some fifth generation or so come along before too long. But, uh, some of the things that we've done that we, I think has really helped us is have having a very conventional organizational structure where everyone reports to someone else. We don't have it, uh, you know, uh, one brother running, one part business and other running another part of the business and kind of operate autonomously that conventional organizational structure with a CEO and on down through the organization has worked well for us. We've had a few rules that we have lived by the religious leader to be on our executive committee. You must have a college degree. Uh, the kids who come up in the business that they must work away for two years after college work somewhere else, uh, they must, uh, and there must be a job available when they come back. Uh, we, our succession is, is, is it's been a unique thing, but I think it's been a great blessing to us. Um, there was only one family that ever succeeds one generation to the next. So we bought out my uncle years ago. And then, uh, bought out my dad and then I we're in the process of buying out my three brothers. And so it's my family and license that are the successors of the business. Uh, and in that way, I think we've maintained very good, uh, family relations. Uh, you don't have people who maybe aren't working in the business who feel like they ought to have a piece of the action, even though they may be an owner some degree, but are not working in the business. And don't feel like they're getting the rewards of working in the business. So we've, uh, that's, that's worked well for us. Um, in terms of lessons learned, um, uh, emulating others is the best form of flattery. When you see others doing things well, learn all you can about them. I remember as just a young man going to some of the truckload carriers, association, conferences, and here and ATA, and kind of sidling up to very successful carriers and asking questions and learning and finding out what I could, um, understanding the basics equipment utilization, having enough qualified drivers, uh, being ready to competitive and control your costs. Pretty, pretty fundamental things. Don't let the, uh, uh, the pressures of work seriously interfere with your family life. That's easy to say another thing to do, uh, but the way you've got to have balance and enjoy the journey, you know, take it from us in front of this room. Uh, a career can go by pretty quickly and, uh, the things that are the things that are most important to us at this point in our lives things that are most important to you in your lives, regardless of how old you are. So the thing I love things I love about trucking is it's somewhat entrepreneurial. I love the fact that it's a family owned businesses. I love the fact that we can talk together and work together, help each other. And I especially like the fact that it's an essential business and that's it. They're so important to all of us and appreciated all of them so far.
Val Stokes w/Stokes Trucking
Yeah. Uh, tell us a little bit about you. Hi everyone. I've got some notes here. If you can hear me shuffling paper? I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd be able to wing it. Um, first thing I gotta do is get some disclaimers out of the way. I'm not a legend, I guess. I think they must've got at least five guys figured out and then thought, well now, huh? Who else should we get loose? The oldest guy. Anyway, when, when Rick hit me up about this, I thought, wow. I have known a lot of legends and looked up to a lot of legends in charge. And worked alongside all. I don't know, but I, I really did feel like I was one, but nevertheless here I am, um, just thinking about as a young guy, really intrigued by trucks and trucking, you know, I see it. Dawn stock, you dropped gold buy or pride truck or a compact truck wow, cool trucks. And they work. And so I, I looked, been intriqued and looked up to you guys in trucking all my life. I was born in Brigham city and I grew up, up in the little tiny town of Plymouth by the Idaho Border that was back in the days before there was an I 15 up that way. And so are, we were right on Highway 91, which is the main North, South or out. And, uh, there was a Plymouth service station right there on the highway and our house was the next one over. So I was pretty close to that highway. Those trucks that came up and down that highway. And there was just enough of a Hill there that those guys going South that use their engine brakes coming down through there I see those and look at those things. And sometimes those, those trucks stop over there at the Plymouth service. And as a boy, I was a regular over there. And so I'd go out and put an eyeball on those trucks while those guys were inside and doing whatever, whatever they were doing. I just as far back as I can remember, I have been intrigued by big equipment. And heavy trucks. Later when I was in high school by slash we were poor. And so I had many jobs, but one of them was. Uh, working nights and weekends for the enriches sentence at the crossroads truck stopped at 21. Some of you may know, you remember that serviced a lot of trucks you know, it was, everything was full service in those days. So I was taught about it. Uh, to take care of a truck driver and his equipment truck drivers got a lot of respect in those days. Didn't in many ways that's kind of gone by the wayside. It's unfortunate, but this is a funny memory probably, but I do remember changing a tire on a Dixon diamond truck there. One evening in the summertime I got him all squared away and. He pulled out just as it was getting dark. His trailer was all lit up. And I thought, man, I wonder where that guy's going to be in the morning. And those kinds of thoughts, just always wanting to see what was around the next bend that we were older over in the next Hill is as some of the things that have kind of drove me, you know, into trucking. My uh, My wife's dad co-signed with me to borrow the money to buy our first truck. It was a 1979 Cabover Freightliner, and I bought it from joining Verson and talked about a legend in the trucking industry. John was, John was our salesman until he retired a year or so ago. But anyway, Um, you know why that was in the days when it was 55 miles an hour and things like that. And, uh, as, as Dan mentioned, you know, trucking deregulated. And, uh, the price of fuel jumped a lot right after I got that truck. And we were just broke all the time and I was just too ignorant to realize it to boneheaded and luckily my wife had a job to keep groceries on for us but all coming up through that time that time, I was he helped along by like I said the legends that I looked up to that went ahead uh, okay. You know, like I knew the excitement and every once in a while, if I was stuck somewhere, I call those guys. And if they'd given me a load, I can walk in there and visit with Dick for a minute, give you a signed bill of lading and leave with a check. And that was pretty important sometimes, you know, to be able to do that. And, uh, I hate to mention names is, you know, how that goes, but some of them that have come to my mind is, uh, our late friend, Mike period, open don't get emotional when I was young. I really looked up to mine and I think go hang out with him and just spend hours, you know, BS him with him in his office. And he probably wonder, thought, man, pick it up. if I ever needed help with something or needed a loan in a crazy place, if he didn't have one, he helped me find one. And just a lot of people like that. Um, I worked for, uh, Delta indoor for awhile and veteran was really good to me. He mentored me and helped me a lot. And a lot of these guys who would help to be to, um, double questions that he's had here. Uh, Oh, So Sharon impactful experiences as a leader. And I don't, I can't think of one experience, but I think it's just a, to me it's more culture than evolve. It's evolved over a long time. And it's just about having relationships as has been mentioned, not just with our customers, but with our managers or partners. Jason May be. Um, in our business, I don't, we're not a family business. Well, I guess we are it's Julie and I, but there's no other family members. We have some young guys who are our partners that manage our business. And it's just important to have relationships with them and with our employees, all of our employees, but also with our vendors. And that's been mentioned too. Um, I've always said to our vendor partners, you know, thanks. I don't know what we do with that. I don't, and we've got some legend vendors amongst us. We've had our. Same old insurance agent for 14 years. His name's Fernando, uh, uh, you don't, especially at a time like this, everything's in short supply and a great relationship with a vendor to be a really good thing in times like this. Um, The one had said this to advice to those getting in the industry. My first impulse was also don't, you know, get into bottled water. So that's been covered. Uh, no, I just say, and Dan mentioned this too. Just look and watch and listen, look at the, the legends that have gone before us. Or the guys who were successful doing it right now? No, I don't know how to articulate this, but think poorly of them look up to them with a wire and then utilize it. Um, I don't, there isn't a person up here who if a young guy was coming up to him and said, Hey, can you help me with this? Wouldn't bend over backwards to help. And I think that's a really cool thing about. Youth are in our association. Um, white marker marks in Nebraska, maybe even he says the culture, there is the exact opposite. It's really cutthroat, super competitive, and nobody wants to help one another. I'm glad that we don't, uh, work in an environment like that. Um, nuggets of wisdom or what can we do going forward? I think. Uh, support the association and all of us, but our association leaders, especially needing to be active in politics as we've heard this morning. And we can't just sit around and wait for things to happen. We need to be proactive. Um, some of them, you probably know that, uh, why, why did you Julie, most of last year was fighting brain cancer and that was a really daunting and difficult, but yet wonderful experience for us. We, you know, our friends and neighbors up in Treemont and we had a lean. Huge outpouring of love and compassion and support from them. But within this group, we got the same thing from a lot of people and not it wasn't just one phone call at one text message. It was weekly. Or every other week checking on us and it was really humbling and I'm just really grateful that I can be a part of a group like this. And I hope John who got a picture of me sitting up here with these DPI's. Someday. I hope I can show that to somebody out of state and then tell them who these guys are and they might think I know um, I think if we just look out for one another and look for somebody who's struggling or, or needs a helping hand, giving them a hand up, that is a. One thing we, like I said, we went through last year. We learned that money stuff or happiness. It's love and compassion and relationships. I think that's all I have to say.
Jeff England w/Pride Transport
More elaboration here. As I said, I think everything has been said here that, uh, is important. Uh, except some of the things Dan said he can't play or so thinking of legends, I can't. I can't verbalize what I feel that the uh, I shouldn't be here, but I want to talk about a couple of three real, uh, legends that I believe in this industry they have since passed on, except for my dad, my, my grandfather, uh, was a pioneer, as you all know, was a pioneer in the trucking industry. And they started out in the Heartland plain. So you thought, I don't know how many of you are to here have ties to the place, but, uh and my grandfather was in those days, in those early days from these thirties, he had, he had to provide for his family. And the only way he could. Well, the trucks they came the way he was providing for his family. And like, my grandfather was. He was one of those guys that would he'd do anything to help anybody out. He was such a kind, a nice guy. He just loved to work with people when he had a chance. My dad and my uncle bill, uh, also, uh, in their teen years. Began driving the truck for my, and my granddad. And this was, uh, they were the story then started the tail there. Uh, My dad and my uncle were falling over to rock Springs or somewhere over there. Then they had a detour on the road and, uh, cause they run off this needs or the road is not quite secure enough. They actually kicked off the trailer up the bed, 10 wheel truck. And uh, they spent the night. Picking those spuds up, put it back in the truck, back on the truck. They were, this happened somewhere at green river oil. And, uh, they were there the whole night trying to load that truck and they didn't have there wasn't a car in that violent. Can you imagine where we have today? Not one truck going by over there. That's so that's, uh, uh, the legend, the legends, if you will, because I want to honor to, uh, Crile, uh, well, my, my, uh, Dad. And my uncle were in school doing those kinds of things. Uh, my dad and my granddad continued to operate his trucking business, doing whatever it was necessary to provide for his family. Uh, interesting story and, uh, Um, we've, we've heard, we know about stories now after thoughts and since the presentation today, stories are so important to everybody. And, um, I wanted to tell a little story or a story about my, my dad, uh, when he served, while he was serving in the military during, during the second world war, uh, he. You said he sold cigarettes, they did get irrational cigarettes. He would sell his cigarettes to whoever revived when he got home. Uh, he had enough money to where they could put some money down upon their drug. And, uh, that was the beginning of CRS. England's in son. Which is my history. That's, that's where I came from. This is through that, uh, that, that relationship, my granddad, during that time had me driving truck before I was driving a car. And at that time, Yeah, you could get a license night hall at 14 years old. And I was driving truck at that time. It was only drivable, but Utah never gave us any problem with that. Um, so, um, then during, during my high school days, which I. I graduated from art in high school during those years. And in high school, I would work at, worked for her, my dad and my uncle, uh, as most of them is done here. Do what says this, or you wash trucks, work on trucks, trucks, uh, unload trucks and, uh, I also it's driving on weekends and, uh, after school and during summer, during those high school years. Um, and then I also spent may, maybe not many of you would know this, but, uh, I think Eric grandad was known as the potato King at one time. Uh, he, uh, rent went into Idaho. This was when they were together and see our name with that sentence. Uh, my granddad spent well, they lived in several different locations in Idaho. Why trust American falls. And he was there, uh, packing spuds for, for my dad and my uncle truck picked California and Arizona and other places. And during those days, and of course I did those things and necessarily things that we talked about, I eventually became, um, moved into operations and became an operations manager. And then for a short period of time, I drove three or four years over the road. And, uh, then. In 19, 1967, 76. I had this crazy urge as I walked back. Uh, it was, it was crazy. And same with this time. Well, I had to search that own my own truck. And, uh, so I went to my dad and, uh, told him what I wanted to do. And he wasn't, I don't think he took my series, but anyway, in 1976, I bought my first truck that I had been working for my father and, uh, And, and that was kind of the start of my, the end of my relationship with CRN, England, my dad's company. And over the next three or four years, I bought. Another three tracks and then ultimately 1979, uh, left CRN start trying to try and transport and knit. Most everybody here has expressed, uh, we have not having been blessed to be, to have such good people as mentors. Uh, Obviously my grandfather built that and then having a loving wife who supported me through those years when we were starting off on her own. Um, but that athlete that my grandfather taught with was the same ethics that my father left for bill that was treat people, decently, uh, integrity and honesty in running your business. Above all the fair, uh, if the relationships you've had. So, uh, there, there's still stories about pride transport to be told, but we, I would say this, that we, we have had we've been successful because we had those ideals and goals that I've talked about. And, uh, so we've been blessed, uh, find success in this business. And again, as I mentioned, that sort of thought, or the RA ATA speaker this morning talked about, uh, various associations around the country and then the heart of any of it. That, uh, that are, that have this kind of dissipation in this organization. And so the networking that we have here is so valuable and, uh, I look for a year to being there. Relationships and learning new things. very much appreciate that.
Don Ipson w/DATS Trucking
Thank you. And thank you for being here. You talked about license, where in the hell this kid. I mean, I don't, I don't want to fit in this environment and nothing. You know, you talk about legends and spill a genie a little bit. It's, you know, David three and guys that have gone before us and plowed this road for us so that we could do what we do in this business and do it so well. And I'm. Say the least I'm honored to be on this podium with these gentlemen today and respect every one of them very much, you know, a little bit more. I was born in, Panguitch raised in a house that didn't have central heat. It's 30 below zero outside. You wake up and see your breath. I can see my grandfather still making a fire and Potbelly stove in the living room. We got a wood cook stove in the kitchen. It was. A little bit, the country saw them home and my dad was a mechanic and he sings it in that song. How people come from counties far and wide to have their cars worked on, I guess dad. And he had an old ramshackle barn that he put together to raise their family. And that's kind of, my dad worked hard to. It was an old log house that with been added on and added on and he had a stucco, he painted the roof and it was, it was a lot of respect for him. I wish I had the ability to, I was lucky to bless to work in a garage and it went to work in Chevrolet dealership when I was 12 years old. And I worked with my dad and that had advantages and disadvantages. If I was a few minutes late getting from school to work, to sweep the garage. I didn't work for him, my boss, but he gave me hell if I wasn't on time. So it's, you know, it's, he, he taught me. I remember once we went to a cafe, it was next door to the garage. Somebody had taken us for a coffee break at three o'clock in the afternoon. And I heard a piece of pot. Yeah. We got back to the garage and he out, he said, what the hell are you thinking? Well, I was planning on paying for that bike. He said he took us there to have coffee. Have a drink and you are a pie don't you ever do that again? It's going to pay for it. He said we didn't intend to you paid for it. You, you embarrassed me. So I've never forgotten. That was, you know, my dad taught me, taught me how to work. And I think he taught me how to treat other people. I hope I was a pretty good student, but he, he worked out there. You, I got married right after the eighth grade picnic. I don't remember not being married to my cousin. Bless her heart. She didn't want to be related to, so my first experience in trucking it's one, I was probably eight years old. My brother Doug was hauling hay for the farmers and he took me with him. Each standing up on the seat, he put the truck in compound, start me down between the males and then he dollars, Whoa, stop. And I jumped off the seat and put it in. You get caught back out, same thing. But when you compound send me down to the furrows away away, that was kind of my first experience with, with trucking, uh, No. I was lucky enough and worked in shipper on, and we had a record and it was the only record between Richfield can add time. I was 16 years old running that record. I don't know, going on a couple of wrecks on called out on racks, the highway patrol, and it helped me get them hooked up Maine. Can you imagine doing that today is with a 60 year old kid. It's kind of amazing, you know, one of the things that impactful experiences we talk about. One thing I learned, I learned it, the dang, I learned it the hard way for boy trucking doesn't work it just, if you think you're going to run it and watch it and ever gain on that premise, he, it just doesn't work. And I, I I'm grateful for, you know, I've been in the trucking business, kind of like a fall. I went to Panguitch high school. I went to LDS business college. Right after high school, I left and went to work for mountain field supply in salt Lake. And I can remember the very day that it was a February day. It was colder than hell it was snow blowing and we're we mix it. The cement on the back of a dump truck and a cement mixer. We told her out of the matching places they'd dug up to either installed the heater, repair sidewalks, or stop downtown. And I don't remember looking around and thinking you'll Dawn, if you're going to raise a family as a married man who was expecting my first child, you better rethink your life's possibilities. So I went with the experience I'd had in the garage. I applied and transferred into the crotch and went to the school. And I worked for, went to work in the banking business when I got out of college. And I joked that I think I looked at the hardest thing that I did. To, you know, a smart, conscious banker. At one time I looked at the hardest thing there was to make a living was the trucking. And so I decided to go and you don't like that. Got the trucking business by default. I can come back to Panguitch to help take care of my dad who was in poor health. My mother died and dad was bullheaded. Wasn't good. Wouldn't come live with us. So I guess we had to go live with him. They'll take care of him. That didn't work out very well. He died a couple of years later and a food distributing business, and I sold it and I had an old camera truck that I bought from park Hawks. And so I kind of got into the trucking business by default and I was the King of poor boy truck. I didn't have the truck to us, broke us, broke on a storm and. But I worked hard. My family helped me. My boys were a bit by mice, a big by my side forever, and I'll be forever grateful to them. As hard as they work to help us get through 1988, my boss understands snow. Hire you to be a dispatcher for host transportation. He said, I'll buy your truck. And he didn't give me all the money it was worth and you come and start and dispatch helping me dispatch these tank trucks. And so I did that and I said, you know, we, we got him a couple of trailers and I had a trailer and I said, we had to go lease a truck and maybe we can keep doing what I can do. And we could. Makes them spend that money and that, so we did, Stan always had a pet phrase that when things that turns you turned it's out of worry about Amanda struck. So people are the most asked questions I have is where did that's what's that stand for? And actually it was the initial support of us that started it. But I'm grateful that the partnership that I've had with him, it's been very good. Like family, my wife, my, my sons have supported me through this. I can tell you that the, or it has been talked about before, but I think I have, I have an obligation to, to vendors that goes far beyond their Jessica partners. Basically my wife, Kyle cutaways here. You all don't kick back or what a dumb shit. And he is, I've come to him with some cockamamie story that I needed to borrow some money. And here's a handful of titles to some wrote down old trailers. Will you? And he always did that for us. Not only the sales trucks, they were our banker and I will be eternally grateful. To them for what they did for us. In other words has been mentioned, this is Randall, Austin. Randy's been babysitting me, telling me what a dip shit I am since 1982. And it's just this business. I never, you know, I was in banking business. I've never been around anything that worked as well. That says that. Partnership makes a business work like vendors and customers and our employees. You know, the toughest thing we have today to be successful in businesses are human capital and it it's priceless. Uh, we hold a lot of potatoes at one time, as it's funny, Jeff brought that up as we were hauling potatoes. People knew I'd been kind of screwed up as a trucking business. And I was hauling potatoes one way at a American falls and Blackfoot. What they didn't know was they were paying us to deadhead up there. So I wasn't as dumb as they thought it was. So, you know, advice to anybody getting into the business as you go to work, to build partnerships, that's the. You know, and it's a great, one of my favorite things about this business is how everybody works together. The vendors, customers, and end each other, we're helping back and forth and the business, we all help each other. We're not a cutthroat, we're not a cutthroat business. And, you know, advice to someone getting in the trucking business. I'm reminded of the story, told about Jacob Kimball back during the depression. It was somebody who science bank had told Ellie Kimball that, you know, you probably don't watch your language aligned to this. As a banker, during the depression, Jake olds looked at him and said, you know, this day and age, I don't think bankers ought to be given advice to anybody. So I don't think I'm in any position to give to people wanting to start a business. Any advice? I think that. But if I could give him any it's, you've got to protect your employees. You've got to protect your vendors and your word is your bond. And I'm just glad to be with you guys and thank all of you and the audience that are like friends, my family, and those people that have helped me. I'd like to thank all these gentlemen for being on this family and discussing really. What made them, who they are and how that we can all benefit from it. But I like them all one more hand Thank you for listening to driver to driver. Uh, Stokes trucking podcast. For more information on Stokes trucking, please visit our website Stokes trucking.com. You can also learn more about us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at Stokes trucking. The intro and outro music is I can't keep still. The bumper music between segments is fetch me another one, Both performed by the caffeine creek band Driver to driver is a frankfurter studios production