Standing Out: A Podcast About Sales, Marketing and Leadership
Standing Out is a show created to help individuals and companies improve their sales & marketing outcomes, as well as their leadership development. Each episode we have an expert who has a unique perspective on sales, marketing and/or leadership providing insights from his or her experiences. And we throw in a few laughs from time to time. Be sure to hit Subscribe wherever you listen to our podcasts.
Standing Out: A Podcast About Sales, Marketing and Leadership
The Long Haul to Health: Michael Lombard's Guide to Truckers' Well-being
Join us in our conversation with Fitness Coach, Michael Lombard, pushing past perceived limits and embracing growth. This story is one of rigorous transformation, a testament to what's possible when we break through mental barriers and commit to wellness, even in professions known for their sedentary demands—like trucking.
A word about our sponsors:
Sponsored by SPI Logistics. If you're looking for back-office support such as admin, finance, IT, and sales as a freight broker - reach out to SPI Logistics today! Learn more about becoming an agent here: https://success.spi3pl.com/
Standing Out is a sales, marketing & leadership podcast powered by BETA Consulting Group, created to highlight best practices from industry leaders with incredible experience and insights! The goal is to entertain, educate & inspire individuals & companies to improve their sales, marketing & leadership development outcomes.
What's up everybody and welcome back to another episode of Standing Out. I'm Trey Griggs, your host, so glad to have you with us today. We're going to have a great show today. Can't wait to get to it here in just a little bit. Hope your spring and Q1 is ending well, or Q2 is starting well. Can't believe it's already April. It's unbelievable how fast the year is going. But hope it's been a great 2024 for you. Remember it's the Kobe year, the Mamba mentality. It's Kobe year, 2024, everybody All right.
Speaker 1:So let's get a few things out of the way. First of all not really out of the way. These things are important. So got to give a shout out to our friends over at Reese Across America, so excited to be syndicated on their radio program now every Tuesday night at 6 pm Eastern time. So if you're listening to us on Reese Cross America Radio, thank you so much. If you want to hear us on your car ride home or when you get home, be sure to tune into Reese Cross America Radio to hear Standing Out every Tuesday night at 6 pm Eastern time. What a great organization. Love working with them. Can't wait hopefully, hopefully this year towards the end of the year, to document the whole process for carriers as they drive up towards Banger Maine and up in that area up there where the wreaths are all made and all of them are delivered from by truck drivers all across the country. It's going to be a great time. In fact, that event is December 14th and if you'd like to participate in that, it's not too early to sign up for that. Take your team, take your family, go and place wreaths on the headstones of fallen soldiers. So just an incredible experience to remember the past and look forward to the future and really honor our veterans, teach the next generation about the sacrifices that they made.
Speaker 1:Also want to talk about the Broker Carrier Summit. Real quick. That's going to be April 22 through 24. That is coming up here in just a couple of weeks. It is not too late to sign up for that. It's going to be great, especially if you're a carrier out there. Listen, this is a chance to meet brokers who truly want to take care of you, give you consistent freight, help you grow, help you get off the load boards a little bit and create true partnerships. So it's a small investment to find the right partners to work with. Be sure to sign up today at brokercarriersummitcom and if you use the coupon code BETA B-E-T-A, get 10% off your registration. And we'd love to see you in Kansas City in April for the Broker Care Summit. It's going to be a great event. Looking forward to that, I'm going to be emceeing it. If you are coming to the event, make sure you come and say hello when you come to the event, come on, introduce yourself.
Speaker 1:And finally, I want to give a shout out to our sponsor, spi Logistics. I'll tell you what if you're a freight broker and you're tired of just having your MC, you're tired of the back office stuff, or maybe you're currently an agent and you're not happy with where you currently are, make sure you reach out to SPI out of Vancouver, british Columbia. Good guys up there in northwest Canada or I guess, western Canada, northwest United States area They've got the technology systems and back office support to help you succeed. Check them out at successspi3plcom Again, successspi3plcom. Let them know that you heard about it right here on Standing Out and make sure you give them a call. It's a great opportunity to stay in your lane and just get all that stuff you don't like doing just off your plate, especially if you're a freight broker and you're just tired of your MC.
Speaker 1:All right, everybody, it is time to bring our guests on today. I'm so excited to have this guest on the show. I got a chance to meet this guy recently, hear about his story. I've been watching him from afar for a while, incredibly impressed with his journey, and today we get to talk all about that. So please welcome the fitness coach.
Speaker 2:Lombard Fit Motor Freight and an Orange Theory Fitness trainer, michael Lombard Dude.
Speaker 1:This song is you will never know. You will never, ever know. Dude, this song is a banger man. What's up, bro? Oh, there's nothing better.
Speaker 2:You know it's kind of trucking related because it's called the Hammer. You know we call the left lane the Hammer Lane, that's right. Drop the hammer.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's awesome, man. Dude, it is so good to have you on the show. Man, I've been looking forward to this episode for a while, Been watching you from afar for a long time and just incredibly blessed to now get to have you on the show and talk about you, what you're doing I mean you're doing some exciting things. I want you to take a moment and just give everybody just a little intro into who you are and what you're doing, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, brief synopsis, I guess, to cover who I am. Number one, yeah, glad to be here First. I freshened up for it too, by the way, for all the men watching.
Speaker 1:I know you did.
Speaker 2:Clean shaven is Botox.
Speaker 1:Look at this.
Speaker 2:Just want to give that quick little uh, you know fashion tip for the dudes out there. But a little bit about myself. Um, originally from uh, connecticut. Uh, I went to high school Waterbury, connecticut, graduated, joined the Marines uh, was in the Marines for four years, got out, went to school, played lacrosse in school. After college worked at Enterprise, ran a car. Then I worked at a warehouse for three years. That's where I started kind of getting into more of the logistics side of things. But during that course of time I also lost track of my weight, my lifestyle stuff like that, and then I moved to kind of crunching this all together.
Speaker 2:I eventually got my CDL, had moved to Texas and started trucking. Essentially, trucking is when I also started getting really dialed in on health and fitness. That's where I started making a huge turnaround. I had started getting healthier before I got over the road. I had lost some weight for my wedding. But then, getting over the road, I saw some statistics that were daunting and I saw that this new career could cost me, you know, essentially a lot of my life and you know a healthy lifestyle. And I did everything I could to change that and essentially and I drove over the road for three years. For a year and a half of that time I did own my own truck and I, you know, produced a lot of content related to what I did fitness-wise over the road.
Speaker 2:Unfortunate circumstances, I was backed into with my truck and so I was down for a while, kind of hemorrhaged money, went back out, tried to make some more money and it just wasn't playing out for my family's decision moving forward and I ended up being able to break even, fortunately, sell my truck and from that point on I essentially said I'm going to dedicate everything I do. I'm going to jump into the fitness industry, essentially full-time with Orange Theory and then also full-time with what I'd like to do. That's the rebrand of my company. I had an LLC when I had my own truck and I've rebranded the company to branch out as Lombard Fit Motor Freight, which is a tie off of my family's company. So, even going back a little bit further, what kind of puts my heart into the freight and the trucking industry is a. It's where I come from. I'm a product of the trucking industry. My family started Lombard Brothers Incorporated in 1923. They were bought out in 1984. They were a victim of the Motor Carrier Act in 1980.
Speaker 2:So I grew up with my grandfather who was a driver who was also part owner of Lombard. So it's something I've always grown up with and so that's what I feel like. I kind of live my life believing that my ancestors are looking down and watching, know and watching the things that you, you know, that you, that I'm doing, and hopefully you know I. Just if I'm going to you know, every day I wake up, I want to know that what I do, I want those people to be wherever they are in the universe, wherever they are in the ethos or whatever, they're looking down and saying, ok, it was worth it. And so that's why I've just dived in full force. I haven't shut the door on.
Speaker 2:You know, whatever it takes when it comes to having a carrier or possibly driving a truck again, I'll always keep the CDL, get a DOT physical, but I'm lasered in. I'm going to focus on the present. You know, focus on the present and just go day by day. So that kind of You're a legacy guy. I love that. That matters to you. Think about your family's history and you really brought it full circle. I went to the University of New Haven. Living down there is a good time. New Haven's like a miniature Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. It really is. Yeah, it's a small town with a lot of good character.
Speaker 1:It's a good comparison. Sally's is right there. I think Pepe's is right there.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, went to Pepe's, stood in line at Pepe's and got the pizza there and that was really good. So, out of Connecticut, that's a good spot to be up there, that's for sure. You know. It's good that you had the experience driving this truck because obviously that's going to help as you think about truck drivers, and we're going to dig into that a little bit more in just a little bit. But before we do that, a couple of things. First of all, we appreciate you being from the show. What, what, uh, what are you thinking?
Speaker 2:oh, I don't know because I got.
Speaker 1:I got this uss constitution mug, I am a mug guy you can't have too many mugs in my opinion, but the water bottle is dope. I mean, it's a hard decision. I get it, yeah, I gotta get a water bottle.
Speaker 1:Water bottle it is. It's on the way. Man, we appreciate you being on the show today. That's a pleasure. Also, we learned a little fun fact about you you posted recently you just recently set a record for yourself, a new PR for a mile. You ran a mile in under five minutes. Dude, that's just. That's sick. That's crazy. Like I've never even come close to that.
Speaker 2:It's impressive method this, set it and forget it method uh, on the treadmill, which I think if I was doing it on a track, I could possibly move even a little bit quicker, especially during the, during the last legs. So, yeah, that was uh, I, I don't know, I had it in me that day, it must have been sunday's guinness, because it was the day after st patrick's day and uh, but it just goes to show like and I've been saying this a lot to the people I coach, I've been saying a lot to anybody out there you know I used to be in the mindset of thinking that you know things were, you know things are unattainable or I can't do this. Like there's, your mind will always set limits for yourself, like I'll never be able to do this. Even when I got behind the wheel of the truck, I knew I was like you know I'll never. I want to be in shape, but I know I'm never going to run a marathon. I know I'm never going to do this.
Speaker 2:But then, after reading the Goggins book and like just learning more about myself, like you find out that limits only exist in your, in your mind, and essentially you can. Once you tear those away, you can run a five minute mile and if I can, if I can do it, I'm not special, I'm not in the NFL not doing anything. I'm not special. I'm not in the NFL not doing anything. I'm not on a track team, I'm not. You know I'm not being paid money for sports, but you, I can still do it. You know it's like if and if I'm able to, anybody can. It's just you have to put in the work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, what I love about your story, too, is like some people think that somebody who is in shape or who is fit has always been in shape or always been fit. They don't realize that you went through a period where you weren't in shape, you were out of shape, you were overweight, your cardiovascular was not healthy and you just decided to make a change. I think that's what's really important for people to understand is that being healthy and being fit is truly a choice and anything outside of that is pretty much an excuse. Now there are some people with physical limitations. We get that but even in that case, you can eat healthy. You can still be healthy even if you have some limitations. But all it really starts up here, it all starts in the mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there was a point to where I would wake up, go to the warehouse when I was working in New Haven and it would take me like a full hour to be like fully waken up, to get like that brain fog away to where I'd be finally alert.
Speaker 2:So I'd have to wake up like earlier, and then by the time I got to work I was still coming out of it and then by the end of and then by the end of the workday, which you know 10, 11 hours long, you know you're absolutely exhausted, but you know the reason why I was exhausted is because as soon as I went home, I would just go home and sit as opposed to.
Speaker 2:But once those habits started to change and once you started moving a little bit more, you find that fog starts to release itself. That's, that's the biggest thing, that's kind of the biggest part of like why I really value what I think I bring into the fitness industry and the game in general is not only having gone through a major transformation in my lifestyle but also living it in the people I'm trying to help the most, like within the trucking industry, because I know what these guys are thinking, I know their lifestyle and I've done more than just drive-in too. I've done it on the open deck side, so I know that some freight is a little bit easier than the other, but I've done it on kind of both sides of of the of the ball, Like when you said you got to unlock your mind.
Speaker 1:It's like you just had to plan for it, cause I remember you were telling me about this that you have your 10 hour break and you want to get eight hours of sleep, so that left you with two hours to do something. So that's a 45 minute run, or that's a walk or whatever it is, with a shower and a meal or whatever, like you just had to plan for it. You know, and more than likely I would also say, think this I bet a lot of out there, just because they get in this habit, they stop their truck and then they get on their phone and they start scrolling through social media or trying to entertain and kind of get off their get their mind off of it, where a good walk or a good little jog or something like that would serve a much better purpose in that time. But it's just a matter of just kind of planning and making that decision about doing something different walking around the truck yard, just you know, as long as, as long as you can, or the truck stop, and taking laps, whatever it is, it's possible. You just have to choose to do it.
Speaker 1:I think that's the main lesson that you're sharing with people, which I'm excited for you, man, because I just want to see you in front of more carriers. I want more people to hear about what you're doing. I'm excited for you to be at the Broker Carrier Summit in a couple of weeks talking about driver health. That's going to be a great time. What can people expect from you whenever they see you in person, man? Like? What are you going to share with them? What are you going to do, oh man.
Speaker 2:Well, I can't wait to go to a city of champions, by the way, that's right, let's go, that's right. So I'm excited to go back there and be able to have the face-to-face conversations with people, because it's one thing, you know, I have my show, I have my TikTok and there's infinite number of things I can say and I can blast stuff on Twitter and stuff I could put it out there, but that stuff is just going out there into the universe and if somebody sees it, I'm, you know, I'm lucky, essentially If only somebody's the only people who can see it, or people who may maybe follow me. So what I'm looking forward to the most is getting that face to face with people, because, you know, we were both just at the Mid-America Truck Show and I got to see certain people that I might know them online too, but they don't know much about me and being able to get that face-to-face with somebody who works for a carrier, especially if it's somebody in their recruiting department or if it's somebody, or especially because there's brokers there too, people who work for logistics companies, having the, because the thing is with the internet where right now I'm being authentically myself, and stuff like that, but the internet still comes with a layer of kind of a little bit of a layer of rose-colored lenses. I can present myself online as whoever I want to be, but in person it's very hard to fake that. So I can put on a front on my show and talk the talk on the internet.
Speaker 2:I can put on a front on my show and talk the talk on the internet, but until I get there in person and people see me and I felt that actually at the Mid-America Truck Show Somebody saw me in person. They were like wow. They were like I can't believe how good you look in person, talking about how in shape I had looked. There's another dude giving me this compliment Respect, but that's what I can't wait for them to see is like see me in person, hear my story. I could show them the pictures to be like oh, this is me hauling this combine, it's me hauling me this. Hey, this is how I live my lifestyle. And then seeing the value of hold on, wait a minute, look at this guy, look at his energy level.
Speaker 2:I want this for my drivers because the entire crux of it, what I want to explain to people, especially at the Broker Carrier Summit, is, as I got more and more elite and in shape over the road is the more and more I got involved with driver advocacy and being like. So the more I was doing for myself, the more I was like putting in health and fitness wise, the more I was, and you think that it's time consuming and it takes a lot of energy, but then the more my mind freed itself up from brain fog and distractions and needing to decompress to where wow, now I have this excess energy. I want to give it to making content, getting involved with organizations, going to the Mid-America Truck Show, doing this, going to these events. That's the thing is, the more healthy I got, the more I wanted to be like. We need to fix this and that's what I think the overall trickle down effect is is if we can get more drivers on this wagon, you're talking about more drivers who are more involved in advocating either for their business or, if they're driving for a company, they're more likely to stand up as opposed to just quitting, because that's the thing we have a retention issue. So overall, the health and wellness of America's drivers will have a direct reflection of bettering the industry overall, the healthier they get.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm wearing the first form t-shirt and the guy who has the podcast. He says it all the time Personal excellence is your number one. Rebellion. Becoming the best version of you is the only way we can win as a society, and that's what I'm looking forward to being able to tell, because this is an industry where it's probably not being it's not being talked about enough and it's and this is an industry where it's probably not being talked about enough. And this is on all sides, from the broker and carrier side, because you've got brokers who are locked into chairs on the phones. They're miserable. And you've got drivers who are screaming on the phones and they're hurting just as bad. But when you start that one thing, then it trickles down and starts to change, and I can't wait to have those conversations with the type of people who are going to be there.
Speaker 1:Well, your story is incredibly inspirational and I can confirm in person you're 100% legit, and so I'm excited for that. So if you're listening to this, if you care out there and you want to hear Michael in person, make sure you sign up for the Broker Care Summit. It's going to be a great event. I also want to talk about this, too. You were recently featured in Newsweek. How the heck did you pull that off.
Speaker 2:Oh man, it's got to be friends in high places it is. It's related to the trucking industry and building a network and a community. I'm good friends with one of our good friends who's at the show, gord McGill. He's originally from Canada, longtime trucker, driven in four countries. He's done time on the Outback. He did four seasons on the Ice.
Speaker 2:This is a true, true blue guy. Recently was hauling logs ice road trucker. Yeah, he's, he's legit and he's got the pictures and everything back it up. He's got a great show called voice of gourd. Uh, talking about a lot. He's had great guests on, like steve vascelli, author of the big rig. He's had on michael belser who wrote sweatshop on wheels. He's had some good guests and Gord and I connected on Twitter.
Speaker 2:He's been writing for Newsweek for a while and he knows another woman. This woman, batia. She goes on Fox Business a lot and she reached out to me. So, like Gord, I think retweeted something, because I recently gave a presentation to Hayes County bus drivers in Texas on health and wellness and Gord had shared it to his network and bus drivers in Texas on why they on on health and wellness and Gord had shared it to his network.
Speaker 2:And I got an instant. I got a DM on Twitter from this woman saying, hey, do you want to do you want to write something about you know, uh, being staying healthy over the road as a truck driver? And I was like absolutely. And then it, and so it just like popped out of the blue, so it literally it's kind of, you know it's through a network, you know people call it networking, but it truly was kind of like manifesting, like speak, I kind of spoke it into existence, you keep speaking it, and eventually something came out and I was able to put it out there on a large, on a large platform.
Speaker 1:It's so awesome. There's a lot of truth in that and the speaking speaking it into existence, and I read it today. It's a great article and I was just excited to see that. I did not know that man Like you're. You're kind of a humble dude, like if I was publishing news week. I might mention it from time to time, so I haven't heard that from you. It's pretty impressive. You're a part of the FreightX crew on Twitter. You're part of the Please Advise crew as well. I got the hat on today. Also, by the way, sister actually bought this shirt. She thought it'd be hilarious and it's one of my favorite shirts now and I figured, with us talking about driver health, this could, this could definitely be, uh, be something that people can relate to. If you're old enough I don't even know are you did you watch the goonies growing up? I don't even know how old you are, man. Are you too young for the guineas? Oh no, I mean. I mean I'm 34.
Speaker 2:I know All right, it's close.
Speaker 1:Botox for men. Botox for men.
Speaker 2:No, I think the first time I probably watched the Goonies I was probably like I remember watching it as like a little kid on a TV like you know, a tube TV. Oh yeah, one of those I've definitely.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I've watched it man, they came out like in 85. So it was definitely on replay for you, that's for sure. I was a kid when it came out. But all good stuff, all right. So, listen, we got to pause for a second here because every day on the show we like to have some little fun and play some games, all right. So today we are playing a game called Wavelength. All right, michael, here's how it works. We're going to put up a banner up on the screen. It's going to have a category and a letter. So it might say food M, for example, and we have to try to think of the same word that starts with M, that's a food related word, and see if we can get on the same wavelength. So we'll see how many of these we can get the same, see if we can be thinking on the same wavelength here on these different categories and letters. Got it? Make sense.
Speaker 2:Is it going to give us a food and a letter?
Speaker 1:Well, it's going to give us a category like food or music or song or movie, and then a letter, which is the first letter of that, and then we just have to try to guess the same word. There's no right or wrong answers here. We just have to be on the same wavelength, that's it. That's the whole game, all right. So we'll see how many we can get correct. I think we've got eight categories, so we'll see. Here we go, let's try it First. One First category is a movie that starts with G. Okay, this should be easy.
Speaker 1:We what it is okay, so three, two, one. Goonies. Goonies, that's right. Here we go. One for one baby, one for the same wavelength. That might have been a freebie, but I like it all right. A famous actor whose first name starts with a j oh okay, first famous actor. First name starts with j. I got one. You have one. Okay, I have one as well. I have one as well. Let's see if we're on the same one. You ready, three, two, one. Jude Law, john Travolta. Oh, we did not get that one, correct.
Speaker 2:You said Jude Law. Is that right, jude Law? Yeah, I've been wanting to rewatch Gattaca for a while, which is another crazy movie if you haven't seen it, which especially in today's world one.
Speaker 1:No, I've not seen that one. Oh, that's, that's a must watch. Recency bias, though, got you right there. You know you were thinking about jude law. That's a good one. I don't know why I came up with john travolta, it's just first thing came to mind. All right, here we go. Next one. So we're one for two.
Speaker 1:Let's see, we got a food that starts with a d, food that starts with d. I've got one. Okay, I've got one. It's not okay, it's.
Speaker 1:This isn't appropriate for what we're going to talk about, but I got one as well. Are you ready? Here we go. Three, two, one. Doritos. Oh, both unhealthy, both unhealthy, but Doritos, that's a good one. Doritos are kind of, they're addictive. It's not good. Donuts as well. All right, we're one for three. My friend, that's all right.
Speaker 1:Here we go a tv show that starts with I got one. That's a tough one. You got one already. Okay, I got one as well. Mine's old school is yours old school, it is. Oh, we might be on the same page. Okay, three, two, one. I love, I love lucy, let's go. Let's go two for four. All right, this is, this is going well. This is actually better than most of the ones. Oh, this is the last one, only five. Okay, so we got a chance here to pass or fail. We can pass with this one or we fail. If we miss it, here we go. Last one, last category is a popular song. A popular song that starts with f. Oh, this is gonna be tough. Popular song okay, I got one, but it is kind of old.
Speaker 1:Come on Okay here you go, michael, come on, come on, send it to you. I don't know, it's going to be a miracle if we get this, but I got it. It's old school. I'm shooting it your way right now. Come on, come on universe. I can't even think of a song that starts with F, isn't it at this? But I got it. So it's old school. I'm shooting it your way right now.
Speaker 2:Come on, come on, universe I can't even think of a song that starts with f, isn't it put you on the spot?
Speaker 1:I know I mean there's a million of them, but right like it's, it's not, not easy, not easy oh, my god, I got.
Speaker 2:Am I drawing a blank? Oh, I'm like under pressure.
Speaker 1:As long as it's, it is it's pressure, that's for sure, that's for sure. And the fact that I'm, like you know, putting it is it's pressure, that's for sure, that's for sure. And the fact that I'm, like you know, putting pressure on you, that I have one, probably makes it worse, cause you're trying to think of yeah, this is so old school, this is like hippie old school, like seventies and eighties. Rock, rock, like it's. It's one of the songs that, like, I can't get out of my head. Now, that's it. So I was just playing in my head. Now got a real cool guitar lick, got a unique voice, stoner I'm trying to think.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I can give you clues or not.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure what the rules are in this game, but I can't.
Speaker 2:Even I'm trying to think of, like I'm even trying to think of, trying to think of like old bands.
Speaker 1:The artist's initial is TP. Does that help at all? Tp? It doesn't help, only making it worse. Only making it worse, all right. Well, how about if I share the song I was thinking of and you can just confirm or deny? If this is the one you were thinking of, all right, so we'll just go ahead. So the song is Free Fallin' by Tom Petty.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, is the one you were thinking of. All right, so we'll just go ahead. So the song is free falling by tom petty. Oh wow, that's all I was like the first thing that came to mind, which I don't even know, it's a song, but the first word that came to mind was fergalicious.
Speaker 1:Fergal, is that a? Is that a song? I know that, fergie. I think fergalicious is a song. I think I think it might be. Maybe we get some help from our producers to confirm or deny if that's a song that's like the first thing that came to my mind was oh, it is so, it is a song. It is a song you had. You would have had, that would have been. That would have been epic if we had gotten that one. That would have been, would have been good content yeah that would have been pretty dope, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:That would have been been sick, but uh, all good, okay, also, um, we like to have a random question of the day. Why not have a little fun on the show? So here's today's random question of the day, and it is how long do you think you would survive in a zombie apocalypse?
Speaker 2:hmm, time for it. Well, oh well, I I is an answer like my like, probably the the rest of my natural born life?
Speaker 2:I would like to think so, huh you know, I don't like there's that, that movie, zombie land, I think, with um, that kid and woody harrelson. I don't think so. Huh, you know I don't like there's that movie, zombieland, I think, with that kid and Woody Harrelson. Yeah, I don't know if you had seen that one. I forget that kid's name. He's the kid from Superbad. They were in that movie. One of the rules, one of the rules you need to survive the zombie apocalypse, is cardio and cardio. And I think if I can travel a long distance over time, like if I can go a long distance over time and get myself enough distance, I can hopefully, you know, continue to get myself, you know, toward, towards safety so if you ever needed a reason to be in shape, that's the reason to survive the zombie apocalypse and I do have, and I do have a cdl and I could drive, you know, 10 speed, I could drive an 18 speed.
Speaker 2:So like when all this stuff, when all the electric stuff goes down, like I'd hope I'd be able to get into a big truck up, armor it with, you know, with the boys, and we're able to just mow down, you know, mow down the zombies.
Speaker 1:That's right. I'm going to say, I'm going to say this I think that I could. I I'm going to say this I think I could last for a while as well, because I hate running, but I can run. I'm a basketball player, so I can run, but I hate the idea of just running. I've ran two half marathons. I haven't ran any fulls. I don't know if I want to, didn't really enjoy the halves that much, but I love playing basketball and love running, so I might make it too. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know if I don't know about my whole natural life, but I could probably make it for a while, and especially depending on where it starts like, depending on where I go.
Speaker 2:I mean, like you know, I'm in central texas. Yeah, I'm south of a city, but you figure you had you head out to open land or whatever you head out, you know there's got to be some bunkers in west texas, somebody's right out there is this like the bear thing.
Speaker 1:Is this like you don't have to be able to outrun a bear, you just have to be able to outrun the person who's behind you? Is that kind of how this works out with zombies as well? You just got to be faster than the guy behind. So see, you're faster than me, you outlast me Eventually they'll catch me, but you'll keep going, so maybe that's kind of the way that is. All right, michael. So we you a quick question Do you think there are certain changes that can be made by organizations or establishments in the industry to better support the health of our truckers, whether it be like OIDA or these organizations like TCA or ATA, or truck stops themselves? Like you know what about truck stops having fitness facilities available, showering facilities, got restaurants, of course, like maybe it's the type of food like what do you think would really help out to help truckers?
Speaker 2:Like what could we do as an industry or what could organizations do to really make a change? Yeah, I mean, it's got to be a team, team effort here and and I know that this might sound and rubs people the wrong way, but you have to look at it as you know people over profit. Sometimes you have to realize who's driving your revenue, who's bringing it in, how do things? How do things move and when you're on the current course of things, when it comes to the retention issue in the trucking industry and just how the current conditions are and the current status quo, it is almost on a crash course, especially with the combination of autonomous probably coming onto the scene. We're headed towards issues that could very well people probably said it couldn't happen a hundred years ago, with steel riots and the labor uprisings of the industrial revolutions. But the thing is, if we don't do the right things now, we're looking at a similar crossroads coming in the future if we're not taking care of our people, especially drivers, and I mean from all corners of things. It needs to be, it needs to be dialed in as a first thing, needs to be dialed in as a first thing, like when you, when you join the military, for example, especially for people who joined the military, like I did during OEF and OIF, you know full well that at any time you could probably be killed, like you, you know you're willingly signing up for that and that needs to be, that needs to be told to. Like drivers need to be told that at CDL school, you know drivers need to be told that in general is like, hey, this is actually what the job does. So they need to know that up front because that definitely puts a little bit of fear in them. But from the top down, like when it comes to truck stops, you know truck stops are charging airport prices for not the best food out there. It's definitely usury. There's totally, there's 100 percent more than what they can do and they probably, you know, check some boxes by donating to a few charities or so much. But that's just you know, that's just talk right there. So I mean right from there, I mean what their food selections are, who they partner with, is definitely different. I'd like I'd be curious to see what truck stops or rest areas in Europe do, and because I've seen some, some footage of that. So on the truck stop side, for sure, but on the yeah, on the OIDA, ata, on the other sides of you know whoever's representing sex of the trucking industry.
Speaker 2:I mean it needs to be the main focal point, like it's the foundation of success, like a strong mind and a strong body is what's going to drive overall success and, from the top down, it needs to be ingrained into the culture. And when it comes to even and I bring them up again it comes to a company like Firstform, what's crazy about their company is what they instill onto their employees, down to their warehouse workers. I mean, they don't hire a cleaning crew for their facility. They don't hire a cleaning crew for their gym. The employees take care of everything around it. Their employees do it. Their employees are also kind of required to be in shape and have a fitness plan and it's just like that's it? Like what? What are companies doing? You know they want better drivers, they want this, they want these great drivers. Well, if your caliber of drivers you're bringing in are people who necessarily like and this sounds harsh, but people are walking resumes and if you meet somebody who clearly isn't able to take care of themselves, how are you, how are we to expect they're going to take care of this truck or take care of. You know, this load long-term, especially when, so to speak, and they need to realize that it will that fixing this will dial in on their retention. So, from from the company aspect, I mean they need to have part of their part of their HR department or something needs to be lasered in on, you know, guidance and you know coaching towards drivers on staying healthy and fit, because it could end up costing them money.
Speaker 2:I mean we just had a tragic accident here in central Texas of a cement truck that crashed into a school bus full of preschoolers in Hayes County. You know, one child passed away and a car hit the bus from behind and a gentleman passed away. The cement truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. What was his lifestyle like? These are questions we need to be asking. We see these videos on TikTok all the time people falling asleep at the wheel and that level of fatigue where, yes, the job has long hours. There was never one point over the road where I the job has long hours I had there has never. There was never one point over the road where I felt fatigued enough to where I had to pull off and I had six 700 mile days myself and I know exactly what it's like. So I mean it needs to be on the forefront of everybody's mind, because we only got one life, that and that's it.
Speaker 2:And if trucking is going to be your longtime career, if you don't do the hard things, if you don't take care of yourself, you could be putting yourself and others at risk 20 years down the road, when you're in your forties and fifties, when you're in the twilight of your life, and when that, when that happens, if it catches up that one, not off, that's that, that's that school bus right there. And I think that that's the big picture. That's the shock and awe that you know, oida, ata, any organization you know that we that's what we do at CDL drivers unlimited. We take it seriously with health and with health and fitness. You know that's that's what I do as a part of them and they need to realize that that's that's like it's right up there, you know, in the hierarchy of needs for employee development. It's gotta be a main bullet point, because if that's eliminated, when you remove the health and fitness from it, there's so many more problems that are come down and it literally cannibalizes everything around you when you're not taking care of those things, because things start to degrade everywhere else. And it needs to be a main focal point because we don't have any other options, the only other options, because that's the thing we have these events like you're having, broker Car carrier summit, all that stuff.
Speaker 2:People aren't okay with the status quo. If you go on LinkedIn right now, brokers aren't happy, Carriers aren't happy. The status quo is not right, but something that we can. If we change the status quo of how we view health and fitness out into this industry, you might start seeing people communicate better. You might start seeing people stick around a little bit better and advocate more. You might start seeing people come to broker carrier summit more to solve problems.
Speaker 2:Cause that's the thing when you are, when you are sick, depressed, mentally unwell, you know you're not feeling a hundred percent, You're not going to be in the right mind, you're not in the right mindset to advocate for yourself or for others.
Speaker 2:When you are in that right mindset, you're able to go to broker carrier summit and peacefully start to build relationships and kind of start solving problems. So that's what that's the thing at the end of the day being a sound mind and body is going, is going to help solve problems within the industry overall, and I think that that's what these organizations carriers and brokers need to know from the top down, and unfortunately, it does start with the individual. It shouldn't be up to these organizations to do it, it should be ingrained in us. But we can't blame the current state of affairs with drivers or even with brokers because of the environment that was just created post deregulation. But that's the thing is. The wake up call should come from the top down and be like hey, the extreme ownership they need to be like hey, we haven't been running things well, things haven't been going great. What can we do right now? Okay, we could probably start instilling lifestyle changes for the people within the industry and maybe start honing in on why that's so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd love to start seeing like a truck stop chain who will change their messaging on the windows and like encouraging positive environments, reminders to drivers, health food options, potentially workout facilities or just something to remind people to move. Maybe build a little walking track, just something, you know, just to start getting people to think about that like a loves or a TA or somebody, just to go out and say this is going to be a priority for us and we're going to invest in that. Because that idea of like people over profits or profits over people whichever way kind of you want to talk about it Never made sense to me, because when you invest in people, your profits go up, like things get better, right. So like invest in people. When truck stops are taking care of drivers, they're going to have more drivers coming to their truck stop, you know. It's like make it. Make it a destination that drivers don't want to miss.
Speaker 1:If they feel encouraged, they feel supported, they feel loved, they have some good options to purchase or healthy options to purchase, a chance to work out or just walk or do something like just make it easy and really like put you know, put our money where our mouths are. If we appreciate drivers and we really want to take care of them. Let's figure out a way to do it. I'd love to see a truck stop chain that would just be like. You know, this is our initiative, we, we're not going to stop until every truck stop is outfitted with this. I mean, that'd be incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, If there was a sign at every truck stop going to the bathroom that said average life expectancy for an average American is 78. Average life expectancy of a truck driver is 61. This job will remove years off of your life, Like if just that right there was just in front of every single bathroom. Eventually people are going to read that and they're going to start to think twice. They're going to say what do I need to do?
Speaker 1:Reminders, get off your phone, go move, take a walk on our track, whatever it is Just encouraging them to do that kind of stuff and remind them to do it. That stuff has to happen, I think, because it's unbelievable to me still that there's that, that disparity of 20 years life expectancy difference like that's crazy to me to even think about. That. That's just because you're driving a truck, so I love what you're doing, man. I'm so happy that you were out there and you decided to put yourself out there to help drivers full-time. I see big things on the horizon for you, man. I'm so excited just to be connected with you and thank you so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 2:It's great having you, man hey, no man, I appreciate it so much. There are a lot of big things to come. I hope to start keep raising awareness, raising some funds for it and getting it to the right people and really looking forward to the road ahead.
Speaker 1:We got to get you out of here with your song, man. This song is great, so we'll talk to you real soon, Michael. Thanks so much for being here, buddy, We'll see you. Oh, that's a good song. I know it's enjoyable. I love having Michael on the show. And make sure you're following that guy Lombard Truck. He's a special on social media doing some great work. Can't wait to have him at the Broker Carrier Summit. And again, don't forget to sign up for that BrokerCarrierSummitcom. Use the coupon code BETA, it's 10% off your registration. Hopefully you can get it in April. And until next time again, be sure to listen to us on We's Across America Radio every Tuesday night at 6 pm Eastern time. And thank you once again to our sponsor, SPI Logistics. Check them out at successspi3plcom. We'll see you guys in the flip-flop. Peace out.
