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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be.

Scott Lewton and Richard Donaldson here with you on Supply Chain now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey, Richard, how you doing today?

Good, Scott.

Can't complain on a Monday.

Although the world is doing all sorts of great, great stuff.

But we'll leave it to our conversation into that.

But awesome.

How you doing?

Wonderful.

Wonderful.

You know, I think as the summer temperatures and humidity start to rise, it just makes us all do crazy things.

But we'll save that for later.

Folks.

Welcome to the Buzz where every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time, we discuss a variety of news developments across global supply chain and business news that matters is what we like to call it.

We've got a terrific show here today.

We're going to be talking about port volumes on the west coast, the metal supply chains and how global conflict impact them, what the younger generations say about the trucking industry, all that much more.

And Richard, in just a minutes, one of our faves will be joining us.

Romel Watley with Truck and Hustle.

Should be a great addition of the Buzz here today, Richard, huh?

Yeah, Absolutely.

And you know, just speaking of Romel a little earlier in the green room, I mean, great story, great origin story.

And I think also, I mean, he really, his tale I think should inspire a lot of people to revisit potentially what trucking and logistics is going to be like over the next 10 years.

Yes, well said.

Like all superheroes, he does have a great origin story, doesn't he, folks?

Stay tuned as Ron Mel Watley with Truck and Hustle joins us in just a second.

So a couple before we get going.

Number one, hey, give us your take in the comments like Trisha here.

Trisha, appreciate what you and Amanda do behind the scenes.

Happy Buzz day.

She says.

So give us your take in the comments.

Whether you're tuned in via LinkedIn, YouTube X, Facebook, Twitch, no matter.

Let us know what you think.

We'd love to hear from you.

And if you enjoyed the show today, we'd love for you to share it with a friend and your network.

They'll be glad you did.

And hey, Alan Jacques, really enjoyed our seafood dinner last week.

And hello to you, my friend from beautiful Montreal, if I'm not mistaken, Montreal, Alan Jacques.

Okay, Richard, before we bring in our outstanding guest here today, we've got three things to hit.

I believe Three things up.

First, I want to talk about with that said, which we dropped over the weekend.

Now this edition spotlighted the late great Fred Smith.

The founder of FedEx passed away over the weekend at the age of 80.

Now, he was born in Marks, Mississippi.

Marks, Mississippi.

I think it's like two or three thousand people there.

And he served with distinction in the Vietnam War.

He came back.

He founded FedEx in 1971 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

But then he moved the company to Memphis a couple years later, mainly for better weather.

We were just talking about and geographic proximity.

And we all know the rest of the story.

Built a 90, almost a 90 billion behemoth that would certainly shape how global supply chain works from overnight delivery to real time tracking, which is one of their innovations, handheld scanners, one of their innovations and much, much more.

Richard, we lost a titan in over the weekend, huh?

We did.

You know, he lived a full life and it's one of those moments too.

It's always sad to see someone like that, you know, pass.

But at the same time too, just like you were saying, the reflection on what he's done and his impact and quite frankly his legacy, you know, is going to go on into decades.

And it even lends itself into the conversation we're about to have with Rahm because, you know, Fred, you know, created one of the legs of the transportation logistics industry that we see domestically that's still being innovated, still going to be relevant for the next 30 years.

No beyond.

Right.

So in that sense, I think his legacy will be for innovating.

And again dovetails right into Rahm's conversation around aviation is going through automation, transportation, delivery logistics is going through innovation.

We've got robotics, we've got AI.

But he literally ushered in the whole aviation, transportation, logistics leg of the industries.

And for that, you know, we have to thank him for that.

And we'll always be reminded of him every time we get a delivery.

That is right.

And there's so many anecdotes, so many anecdotes.

But folks, check out with that said, where we talk about some of the impact and legacy that he leaves with us.

And you'll find all of our upcoming live events and a whole bunch more.

And I think Trisha, as always, has dropped a link right there, folks.

Check that out.

Sign up and subscribe.

Okay, let's see, two more things I want to get to before we got our outstanding guests.

Richard, I'm going to coin a little little thing here, the RD report.

Richard, you've got eight fingers and Two thumbs on what's going on out in the industry, especially like from a supply chain technology standpoint and high finance, if I said that right.

One supply chain news story that you are intently tracking lately.

So super simple.

Based on today's guest and episode, Robotics in delivery and transportation.

We are now seeing the robots Tesla, Elon Musk pulling out and saying he's got delivery trackers now fully automated with robotics.

A literal robot carrying a package to your front door.

You know, people see drones, but I think that's something that is real right now.

Now, because within the next couple years the advance, if we go, go to Boston Dynamics website, see the evolution of robots over the last 20 years.

I'm sure people have seen those YouTube videos.

Now Elon's got his own versions of those both.

He's sending them to Mars in the next year or two as well as now putting them in the delivery vehicles to then complete that last 10ft to drop something off at your door.

That to me is the hallmark of the era we're about to enter.

And it's exciting, it's thrilling, it's scary.

I mean all the things that come with it.

But boy, and I can't wait to get Rom's take on that because I don't think it decreases the need for truckers and drivers so much as it augments them.

And I think that's one of the biggest things that I would highlight in all this is I think people get adversely afraid of these things that are.

We're just going to incorporate into our lifestyles 100 years from now.

It's going to be commonplace.

Man, I like it.

I like your vision of the future.

I want to pick up on one thing you talked about the trip to Mars.

Yeah.

Late last week.

You know, I live on YouTube these days.

I love the niche content.

And I ran across a video that talked about what that journey would be like for the astronauts or the travelers.

And I was all for it.

It was all exciting until they told me that all water is recycled and reused.

And I'm afraid I'm out, Richard.

I'm out.

So I'll save that trip for other people.

Could have my seat.

And this is where the robots come in because they don't need that.

So we can kind of offload our exploration a little bit to these AI driven things which lends itself into like a science fiction, I mean people should be petting their science fiction, you know, stories right now on how robots evolved into space at this juncture of humanity.

I like it.

I Like it.

Okay, stay tuned, folks.

Stay tuned.

Got a lot to get into your day.

Hey, Lucky, tuned in from South Africa via YouTube.

Great to see you.

I was just in Cape Town a couple weeks ago.

We were just talking about South Africa.

One of our dear friends, DC is there, doing some great things.

Great to have you here.

Lucky and Robinson from Spain.

Hey Robinson, great to see you.

What part of the country are you tuned in from?

Look forward to your perspective.

All right, one more thing.

And folks, Richard, we're all about sharing resources here.

Love to share resources, folks.

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Okay, Richard, I'm excited about this guest here.

I think you and I both are.

I wish we had about an hour in the pre show.

We needed an extra hour in the preshow today, didn't we?

At least.

At least.

And we needed about three hours just to have the full conversation we're about to have.

So true.

But we never get what we want.

But folks, we got a great addition to the buzz.

I want to introduce our guest here today, Rommel Whatley.

He's a visionary founder of Truck and Hustle, a full scale brand that began as a podcast but is now one of the leading media platforms and business communities dedicated to elevating entrepreneurs and transportation logistics and supply chain.

I'm telling y' all, Rommel has built a movement, truly built a movement that bridges that gap, that critical gap between the street hustle that we all pride ourselves on and that boardroom strategy.

So please join me in welcoming Rommel Whatley, founder of Truck and Hustle.

Hey.

Hey, Rommel.

How you doing?

Good afternoon, gents.

I made it back to the show, Scott.

I made it back.

Well, that is right.

I was thinking the last time we had connected and Richard, I don't know if you caught this, but on national Supply Chain Day, we had an outstanding live show featuring movers and shakers across industry.

And Rommel, you were our leadoff hitter.

You're our Otis Nixon of that live stream, huh?

When you guys sent over the.

The clip I saw, I was in the introduction and everything.

I said, oh, man, that's VIP treatment right there, man.

I appreciated that.

I love it.

I love it.

Hey, we try.

We try.

And Richard, we're all in for a treat here today.

We got some great stories, we got some great voices.

I look forward to learning from both of y' all.

And of course, we've got a great audience, which really is.

Makes all the holistic value triangle.

I think it's made something up there, Richard, that makes sense of geometry and all.

Absolutely.

Let's do it.

Let's envision that there's a symbol there.

All right, let's make it.

Let's make it happen.

All right, that's where we're going to start, folks.

If you love pizza, you're in the right spot today.

Look at this picture here.

I wish I had this in my kitchen.

It's National Detroit style pizza day here on June 23rd.

This is the pizza.

And Detroit style pizza is known for having a sauce on top, just like you see in this picture here.

So it begs a question, though.

Furious debate all around the globe, really, certainly here in the states, about your favorite pizza style.

Detroit, Chicago, New York, and plenty more as long as you don't include pineapple in your pizza.

Hey, I'm all good.

All good.

So I want to ask you, Rommel, what's one of your favorite pizza joints?

Yeah.

So first of all, I love pizza.

I don't know who doesn't?

So I lived in Buffalo, New York for about three years and there is a place called Lenovo's.

Anybody who's watching right now, and if you've been to, you know, upstate New York, you probably have heard of Lenovo's.

It's legendary.

It's probably been in existence for over a hundred years.

But they make the most amazing pizza, man.

And I mean, the food in Buffalo in general is just great.

Like, yes, it is.

You know, the buffaloing has originated there.

I don't eat meat anymore, but the anchor bar is there.

That's where get the Buffalo wing from.

But the pizza, I don't know what it is about Buffalo, New York, but I don't know if it's the water, but man, that pizza, Lenova's or it's really something special.

In fact, a friend of mine and I, we plan to go back just to get the pizza.

Really?

Seven hour trip just for pizza, man.

It's Crazy.

All right.

It must be to die for.

Richard.

All that sounded delicious in my ears.

From Romel.

How about you, though?

Where's the place to go?

Well, there is a little spot in San Francisco, and I'm just completely blanking on the name.

But I'll think of it as we're going through the episode, and I'll type it in here.

But it is a classically trained.

It's a.

Almost like a Michelin star chef.

And he has built this custom pizza place in San Francisco where he has the four or five different ovens required to create everything from Detroit style or thin style.

Classic Italian margherita pizza.

And all of his pizzas wins awards.

So you can go in there and kind of sample them all at once.

But I'll tell you, I'm a sucker for the classic, right?

Just the classic pizza pie, thin crust, almost.

New York has taken that to a new level.

But the Italian Italians kind of own that award since they're very fastidious about how they make a margherita pizza.

And you have to be certified to even do that to me.

You know, that's the apex of pizza, right?

It's going old is new, new is old kind of thing.

Love it.

And I could hear you pronounce that ten times a day.

Richard, you really nailed that with margherita.

But I would just add, oh, that sounds delicious.

Antico pizza here in Atlanta is wonderful.

They have.

They have something called the diavola.

I think I said that right.

And it's spicy.

It's delicious.

But as a throwback, Rommel and Richard, when I grew up in Aiken, South Carolina, Mr.

Gaddy's was the place to go.

Good pizza, video games, old projection, big screen tv.

That was the place.

So I missed the days at Mr.

Gaddy's.

All right, Rommel and Richard, now that we are all starving, as I think Amanda says, but before we carry on.

I heard you guys talking about Fred Smith earlier.

Definitely a OG in the space and basically, like, invented overnight delivery.

Did you guys ever hear the story of him with gambling, like this last $5,000?

Yeah, yeah, but tell it, tell it.

And people need to know that basically.

I don't know exactly how it goes, but I know I was reading once and basically, like, FedEx was almost going broke, and he had like $5,000 left in the business.

And he went to.

They say he went to Vegas and bet 5,000 on the blackjack table and basically came back with like 27 or $30,000 and used that money to buy fuel to keep the planes going and that, you know, the business almost went under.

And based on that bet, I don't know if this is like, I think people have substantiated and said it's a true story.

But like that hustle, grit, determination, and not letting anybody tell you, no, man, I don't know if it's a smart thing.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest somebody else go out and do that.

But, man, that's hustle, man.

Take your last 5k and go to Vegas and come back with 25 and get the business going again.

I love it.

And you know what?

I love the anecdote.

But you know what?

It's only legendary if you win.

If you lose, it ends a different way.

But that's a great call out, Romel.

And I'll tell you, this guy, there's so many stories related to how he did business and his journey and the culture, the purple power culture that he really, really was protective of.

But we lost a titan, Scott.

And this kind of dovetails into Ramel as we kind of queue up his ability to start talking about his next generation of innovation.

Right?

But Fred really encompassed at that time frame what entrepreneurs really need to learn from.

It's that vision, it's that focus, it's that dedication.

And it's, you know, come hell or high water, because the world, quite frankly, as an entrepreneur, is stacked against you.

And you don't realize that till you start getting into this.

But most of humanity doesn't like changing the status quo.

He was radically changing the status quo, and therefore he had to go to the extremes to do it and everything.

He had a lot of luck.

Right.

Based on that story.

And that's another thing about our entrepreneurship that we don't always talk about, which is we always want to think like, oh, hard work, dedication.

Yeah, sure, absolutely.

You need that.

But you also need a lot of luck.

Right?

Right place, right time.

That's right.

I'm a big believer in creating our own luck.

We'll probably touch on more.

More of that.

Great call outs there, Richard and Rommel.

All right, let's start with a story that probably wouldn't make Fred Smith happy.

I don't know.

It's my hunch.

It's my hunch.

As reported by trucking, dive tariffs are really hurting business opportunities for cargo truckers and freight movers at the Port of LA and probably other places.

Port of Los Angeles, I should say.

Executive director Gene Soroka said in a press conference about 10 days ago that, quote, if you're a trucker who was hauling four or five containers a day prior to these announcements back in April.

Today you're likely hauling two or three loads, end quote.

In May, the port said they had about 17 canceled sailings, meaning that about 225,000 containers didn't show up as expected.

Overall cargo volumes at The Port of LA were down 5% year over year in May when compared to 2024 and down 19% when compared to the month prior of April.

So Rommel, your general thoughts of what we're seeing volume wise?

Yeah, so you know, the port of LA is the, the largest port in the Western hemisphere.

So I assume it's a true indicator of what' going on throughout the country and obviously that's a huge hit.

So you know, the carriers that I know that pull out the port, they may pull, you know, two containers a day, you know, three if they're lucky.

But when it goes down from two a day to like two or three a week, that's a huge problem.

And that's what you know, we're kind of facing here.

It's really tough.

It has not improved and it will not improve.

Obviously this is due to everything that's going on right now with China and so forth.

I'm sure we'll kind of get into that, tariffs and everything.

But it's not good.

It really affects the small business owner, the trucker, and it affects the end user which us, the consumer the most.

Well said.

Well said, Romel.

And you know, it's ongoing ripple effect and I think as we get deeper and deeper and we'll see what deal and what negotiations, how everything evolves.

But you find new ways.

I think we all find new ways of how we're all impacted as consumers, as professionals, you name it day by day.

Richard, your thoughts on the story here?

Well, it's both thought and then kind of a follow up question to Romel because I'm really curious about his take given he's kind of the expert in the room right now on logistics and kind of the transportation industry where it's going.

But I think these data points, points are interesting in time frames, right.

And if you look at the comparative data, it's about a year before, maybe, you know, a year or a month before.

But I'd like to really look at is the ebbing flowing of all this supply chain stuff.

Right.

Because to me this is a period that is, it sucks and we're going through it like shipping was during COVID Right.

Went almost next to nil.

But it all bounces back eventually, right?

I mean commerce is commerce and it will come back.

Right now how it will come back I think is sort of the operative question here.

But I look at the short term is just saying like this is awful, but at the same time I view 12, 24, 36 months out and we're going to be back to normal.

And more importantly, which is something I'm dying to get Rommel's take on, is I think the macro economic indicators are such that we're going to have insuring manufacturing over the next couple decades.

How is that going to impact all of us here in the US economy?

I mean, we have short term pain, but I think the long term prospects are really, really good right now, more so than they have been in quite 30 or 40 years.

So I take the negative news of the LA report and say, yeah, temporarily that's kind of bad.

But the long term, 20 year perspective is actually outstanding to pick up on.

Richard, if you got your crystal ball handy and it's plugged in, it's calibrated, what's it telling you?

Right?

Big things coming.

So first I hate to call myself an expert because I'm a far from expert.

There's plenty of people who get that title.

They do a lot more research and a lot more work on these data points.

But just kind of my outlook and what I see, I mean obviously with the ports, we'll have to look over the Next, I guess 60 days in August, we'll kind of revisit what's going on with the tariffs there because they have the pause now, right, to see how that kind of impacts everything.

But it's still just a ton of uncertainty regardless because it's just something new every day.

Right.

So we really don't know.

And I think a lot of people just are uncertain.

The retailers are uncertain with the orders and so forth.

So everybody's just kind of throwing our hands up and trying to figure it out.

I'm just going to double down on that.

We're still trying to figure out what the problem is.

All right.

We still hadn't fully defined the problem and we'll see if the latest deal sticks and then what's in that deal.

But that's a great call out.

Ramil, finish your thought there.

Yeah.

And I mean, obviously, you know, I think it just shows that China is a problem for us.

China has us in a headlock, right.

And they've had us in a headlock for some time now.

And what you just now called out, Richard, you know, the near shoring, you know, kind of with Mexico.

That's going to be really big for us.

And I think a lot of, I mean, it's right now it's the biggest imports are coming from Mexico already.

And I think that's really the future.

I think Mexico is really our future.

I'm a data guy.

I love to look, but I love contextualize.

Right.

And so manufacturing grew in the United States Post World War II, where the United States became the manufacturing powerhouse right up until we decided somewhere in the 60s and 70s and 80s to go, oh, we're going to start outsourcing this stuff.

Right.

That's what we're seeing shifting now after 30, 40, 50 years of outsourcing going, whoa, time out, let's bring it back in.

That's what I'm calling out.

There's an ebb and flow.

If I look at the historical macroeconomic trends and if I kind of take that analysis and apply that to where we are today, I actually think we're at an inflection point where you're going to see manufacturing start to show up in the United States, therefore catalyzing all of our economy, all of our jobs, all of our revenues in a very, very positive way.

That's the goal.

Right.

The end goal is to bring manufacturing back domestically.

But how long does that take?

Right.

That's really the problem, you know, and the biggest challenge is how long does it take for that to happen.

Yes, all of that.

And Richard, I like your practical optimism, but also I think there's a tremendous opportunity while we're challenging what's going on in our trade partnership with China.

I think at the same time, I would rather have seen more investment doubling down on our allies, whether here, north, across North America, and deepen those ties and deepen those relationships and in Europe and elsewhere.

But we'll see how it plays out from here.

I appreciate both of your perspectives, Richard, and Rommel and I tend to be practically optimistic, too.

So we'll see.

Let me bring this in from Karai.

Karai, wonderful to see you.

I've got a little announcement we'll be making here shortly, so stick around.

We'll get your take on a couple of things, too.

But Karai says number of freight vessels from China has sharply declined.

Seventeen ships canceling trips in May 2025, which, as he mentions, is at 225,000 lower containers.

Weekly vessel arrivals are down 44% compared to last year, reducing that need for trucking services.

That's right.

Lucia tuned in from Mexico.

Great to see You, Lucia and Muhammad from Pakistan.

Wonderful.

Great to see you, Muhammad.

Love to get Yalls take on this.

We got to move.

Richard and Rommel, we could spend an hour talking about this story and to Richard's point, kind of the bigger macro trends that.

We'll circle back.

We'll circle back.

I want to get over to this next topic that's also tied to global trade.

Let's talk about the metal supply chains.

The metal supply chains.

So here as reported by Chemistry, world conflict, trade disputes and more have continued to disrupt global supplies of metals, including those precious rare earths.

So military spending continues to grow which has increased metals demand.

Export restrictions, especially by China has become quite a card in negotiations as we've all heard, heard and seen.

For example, tungsten used in a variety of military applications.

Did you know China controls over 80% of the market?

Prices for tungsten have increased some 375% since the beginning of 2024.

Now that 80% is actually low when you look at other metals markets and rare earths.

Now, China does not have a monopoly on the mining per se of rare earths, but China has essentially cornered the market when it comes to processing rare earths and they are using that leverage in negotiations.

So I want to pick back up here and Karai, I going to have a comment for us.

I can't wait.

But Romel, let's get back to you.

Your thoughts on these high stakes trade games in the metal supply chain market.

Again, it goes back to China having us in a headlock, man.

I mean, you know, like you just now pointed out, 80%, right.

They control 80% of the imports and then the processing is even more important part.

Right.

So it's like we really are truly dependent on China for this stuff, whether it's copper, tungsten or any of these rare earth metals.

So that's a problem.

We need to figure out how to fix that.

And I think that that's what, you know, that's what this is all about out right now.

Romel, I think we're going to keep that headlock is going to be an ongoing analogy.

I love that.

Are you a fellow really quick before I get Richard way in, did you grow up on wrestling?

Yes, absolutely.

All right.

We'll compare notes later.

All right, Richard, back to this headlock.

But here as it applies to the metal supply chain, your thoughts?

So, and I think Rommel touches on something that's again, as you dig into it and find out what China's done successfully is, you know, taken over the manufacturing or refinement of raw materials, in this case, metals.

Right.

It's another piece of the manufacturing puzzle.

But I think there's also something that's kind of the hidden little, you know, elephant in the room, which is pollution associated with the refinement of metals.

One is the strip mining.

Okay.

We all kind of know that there's only so many ways to extract iron ores, metals up from the earth, but the refining is still a really dirty, polluting process.

Right.

And one of the things that China doesn't care all that much about is that kind of pollution, at least currently, and has.

So I think another reason we've outsourced that to some extent is we just wanted it out of sight, out of mind.

Unfortunately, we have a tendency of doing that in the United States.

And I think if we had innovation around how to ecologically refine metals in a more sustainable way and bring that in sourcing into the United States again, you would find a resurgence of metal refinement within the North America, if we could do it in a cleaner, more efficient way.

And I think of companies like Aqua Metals now, Redwood Metals, you know, that are focusing on the refinement in a cleaner way, of battery batteries in particular, but they are the early warning indicators and shots across the bow to China that we're going to revisit how to actually refine metals, change that in a cleaner way.

And I would bet every day on the United States over China in that innovation game, if you came to manufacturing and producing at scale.

Yeah, China's got us right now.

Right.

But when it comes to the actual innovation side of the equation, the United States still has an edge.

And I think that's where we're going to key into the manufacturing this stuff for the next 20 years.

So, again, I'd bet long on the United States refining and innovating metals more efficiently.

And I always love to talk about space.

We got unlimited space metals that we're going to be pulling down to earth periodically, quick.

That's right, that's right.

And, you know, to your point, we've got to break up this leverage and this headlock, as Romel's called.

We're going to have to lean into that.

And I think whether it's rare Earths or whether it's nuclear power, I think we got some exciting, innovative new chapters that we're going to uncover.

We shall see.

But.

Well, there's a footnote, Scott.

I'm not going to let you go on that one, because you just said it.

You said, nuke power, man.

I can't I can't avoid.

There's an entire episode.

Right, right.

You've got it like I'm talking nuclear batt batteries.

Nuclear.

In the cars.

Nuclear.

And transportation.

Nuclear.

And data centers.

My former life, I'm seeing nuclear mini packs being built for all the data centers at Microsoft, Facebook, Google.

There's a whole episode there.

Scott, on that one.

I'm with you.

And Rommel, you agree?

Yeah.

And it's also just a national security issue, right?

Yeah.

Right.

China's like a.

They're a military country.

Right.

And they're doing this for use.

Not only for export, they're doing it for use.

So they're going to produce it faster, they're going to produce it cheaper, but they're also producing it to use it.

Whereas, you know, and they don't care about losing money.

Money to do it.

Right.

So we just got to up our game, man.

That's right.

Gotta put them in the.

The double suplex.

Scorpio making up some wrestling moves.

All right, really quick.

This is a related note and a related opportunity.

So, folks, tomorrow, Tuesday.

That's right, Tuesday, June 24th.

Hard to believe we're almost at the end of June.

In a special edition of the bridge, I'll be welcoming in retired general John Allen who's done some big things in the U.

S.

Government and the one of a kind guru korakoze was just in the comments for an important topic.

Get this in chaos we create bridging the critical raw materials gap through strategic convergence.

Folks, join us tomorrow at 2:00pm Eastern Time as we dive more into these topics we're just talking about with Rommel and Richard.

Okay.

And Trisha's dropping a link right there.

You're one click away from joining us.

And bring your voice.

We'd love to get your take in that live session.

All right.

We got so much more to get into.

Richard and Rommel.

We're going to have a.

Gosh, we do need that three hours, Romel.

We're going to have to get both y' all to clear your calendar.

I want to get over to this next topic of the now generation.

The now generation, which this is what we like to call them here because the next generation doesn't work because they're already making an impact.

Interesting read here from transport topics.

It shared highlights from a recent TCA event that featured young professionals doing big things in the trucking industry.

Now, some of the key takeaways that the article shared from the panel discussion.

If I got that right, and this is all kind of from the young professionals in industry point of view, what they're looking for, number one, employee experience and enhanced employment.

Employee experience and culture is as important as compensation.

How about that?

Flexible, supportive and collaborative working environments are critical.

No dictatorships are allowed.

And I like this last one here.

Mental health resources are being expected more and more.

And the article pointed out, you know, as these professional truck drivers spend so much time isolated, right.

That having access to mental health resources that can talk through challenges, that's a great, makes a lot of sense to me at least.

So Rommel, you, as we've established, you are really plugged in to the space, your take on those key takeaways and others.

I never thought I'd see the day where they were prioritizing mental health, you know, when speaking about truckers and just experience.

But that is a great thing.

That is a great indication of where the industry is going.

And you know, as you said, man, the industry is evolving.

As more young people come into it, they're going to bring the things that are important to them into the industry.

And the industry just has to adapt to that.

So I think it's really good that the tca, they have this group of young professionals that are bringing up these topics and ultimately, man, they just want the same experience as everybody else, right.

Like if Google has like the pickleball court in the premises, they want one too, man.

It's like they want to have, be able to have fun, have a good culture, mental health, they want to touch on the same topics.

And I mean, I think it's well needed and I think it's good that they're finally addressing and stuff like that in this industry.

Well said, Romel.

You know, Richard, he makes a great point.

I'm a proud Gen Xer.

As I was making my way and reading through that article, I'm like, I want that, I want that, I want that.

And I bet our team members here at Supply, we want the air table.

In the driver's lounge also.

That's right.

Richard, your take on what these young professionals and modern current generations are demanding?

Well, I don't think it's the demand so much as just a fact of the Internet base based society.

Right.

Their expectations are different.

Right.

So I don't actually view them as demanding anything.

I think it's just these are the table stakes and how you supply a good working platform, serve someone, whether it's trucking, whether it's aviation, whether it's, you know, medical and in this case, I think the big differentiator here is going to be satellite connectivity is going to be usher in a whole level of connectedness where a lot of the root causes of the mental issues.

If we want to talk about that topic that I surmise from trucking is being alone.

Right, right.

Being on the road, being alone.

But now if all of a sudden I'm connected via Starlink and I have instant connectivity, I can do zoom meetings, you know, while driving, not that you would do that or study while I'm driving or pull off the road and have FaceTime chats, you know, instantly from my cab.

That changes the whole dynamic around how to be aware and connected.

So I think inadvertently we're just again at an inflection point where the whole logistics trucking world is going to change for the better.

Right.

And it's going to address a lot of the issues that have been plaguing the legacy aspects of that.

So I think we're, you know, again, I think these demands shouldn't be looked at as like demand so much as that's just how business is done these days.

That's the expectation around a good infrastructure.

That's a great call out, Richard.

And I would just add Rommel.

And Richard, you know I mentioned I'm, I'm a big fan of YouTube.

I love exploring all kinds of niche subjects and there are some great YouTube channels that is told from the truck driver's perspective.

It's like a daily diary.

You'll find them everywhere on YouTube.

That is a tremendous learning opportunity.

Kind of speaks to what Rommel and Richard, both of you were alluding to.

And until we really put ourselves in those shoes, the critical Rommel.

What's the latest?

It's almost what 75% of all freight is carried by our professional truck drivers.

I mean critical, critical industry.

Until we really seek to understand and empathize with what they go through.

From how tough it is to find safe, well lit parking space.

Right.

To just the dangers of all those other crazy drivers.

Do we got to really understand as we continue to try to figure out what's next for this critical industry.

Your final thought there, Romel?

Yeah, I think you hit it right on the head.

It's all about empathy and understanding and just asking the right questions and really giving the drivers a seat at the table.

Right.

To just really understand what they're going through on a day to day basis.

Because it's a lot.

It's a lot.

It's very stressful being out there on the road and having to contend with like you said, just other traffic as well as do your job and get your job done effectively and efficiently.

So it's really important.

And Richard, as I've learned, I've been watching this flatbed truck driver, kind of a startup channel.

And it's not just driving, man, this guy's got to get down.

He's got to strap everything down.

There's a lot of risk at stake, a lot of work.

It really has been an eye opener, but it's been fascinating.

And empathy or Richard, as we lead with empathy, I think we're going to find a better way.

Way.

Your thoughts?

Yeah.

And not only a better way, but just an evolved way.

And I think Rael's kind of, again, we talked about this, the green room.

We're going to get to it in a second here in his origin story.

But I think, you know, if we look at what you're talking about, these YouTube channels, I mean, I see no difference between, you know, the truck driver showing his lifestyle as a digital nomad.

Because I really think now they are digital nomads in the same way.

I look at a channel with someone who is a maritime sailor who shows all those incredible clips of sailing around the world or being a shipping around the world world or quite frankly, the industry I'm in now in aviation.

Right.

A pilot who's able to traverse the whole world and transport not only packages and cargo and people.

So truckers are in a unique position where I think they can really embrace the digital nomadic lifestyle in a way that most people cannot.

And I think that's a huge pull.

If I were kind of doing the, you know, pun intended here road show to entice people to revisit this style of trade.

Right, right.

It would be like, have you ever wanted to be a digital nomad?

Right.

This is your ticket to that.

And it's probably the easiest one to get into.

It's still a lot of work.

Getting your CDL is not a trivial thing.

And I think that's.

Ramel can speak to that.

But everyone gets their driver's license.

Like, oh, I can go drive a truck.

No, you can't.

I'm sorry, but you cannot.

Well, Richard, as you're describing that and using some great visuals, for some reason, I heard a Johnny Cash song in your response.

I don't know.

We'll see if AI can help us nail it down.

But Ramel.

Now one final thought before we move on to this innovative fourth story.

Since you're.

I think I haven't earned a cdl.

I don't think Richard has earned a cdl.

I think you're the only one here.

It is difficult to get that CDL right.

Yeah, it's challenging.

I mean, it's not like driving a car at all.

It definitely takes some time.

It's just, you know, obviously the length of the truck, the weight of the truck, learning how to stop, how to shift.

I mean, now there's automatic, so you don't have to really know how to work the gears anymore.

So it's a little bit easier from that aspect.

But ultimately, just really safety.

Right.

And just learning how to control and navigate with this very large vehicle, you know, on roads that weren't built for very large vehicles as the toughest thing because the infrastructure hasn't adapted to the size of these trucks, especially when you go into more urban areas and so forth.

It's very, very tough.

So that's when you really, really have a challenge.

You get to see where your skill level is at.

So.

Yeah.

But let me jump in again, Ramel.

And I think you're living proof of this.

And I.

And I want to say that I think what you said is absolutely 100% correct.

But I also think there's a lot more to it than most people don't realize.

Driving is just one piece of the puzzle.

And in fact, I would say, ironically, probably the smallest one piece.

Now, you also got, like you said, safety, maintenance, engines, regulations, like planning, because you're on the road, you are the captain of that land yacht, and you've got to be able to troubleshoot everything by yourself in a highly remote environment where you live most of the time.

So it's not just dry.

I mean, how do you plan for that?

How do you make sure you don't run into issues?

How do you have all the safety and backups and stuff, even that kind of logistical workflow?

Planning is a new skill that I think is unique to truckers getting their cdl.

I would absolutely highlight that.

I mean, it's way beyond just driving driving.

That's right.

And these are a lot of real time decisions.

Right.

You don't.

You can't even plan.

You have to just adapt in the moment and figure things out.

We're gonna come back, I promise, to this topic with our last topic of the day.

I want to share a couple quick comments.

Nadeem is back with us from Saudi Arabia.

Nadim, great to see you.

He talks about the IRU Academy.

Geniwa is doing a great job training young professional drivers.

Wonderful.

That blind spot is very critical.

That's right.

And that could be the driving blind spot.

Or the more generic blind spots that we all have in this journey.

And Muhammad kind of turns the question around.

How does a truck industry perceive young truck drivers today?

That's a great billion dollar question.

We'll try to maybe hit some of that in the last segment here today.

But really quick, I got to get this four story in Ramel and Richard, this is fascinating.

Now that picture there you're seeing is mocked up.

It's not, not a real, real life picture.

It's kind of a rendering.

Thank you.

Who said that?

Rendering?

R.

That's right.

Rendering.

Man.

I'm getting a vocabulary.

Listen here today.

All right, so really cool ideas for in play for making trade across the US and Mexico border even easier as reported by the Wall Street Journal Here, here.

A $10 billion project that aims to essentially create a dedicated elevated train lane for trade across the border while it's picking up steam, pun intended.

Texas based Green corridors received permits from the US government to build a 165 mile pathway that will be used, as you can see in this rendering, by self driving shuttles hauling freight between Laredo, Texas and Monterey, Mexico.

Why there?

Well, here, did you know the Port of Laredo handled more than 3 million truck crossings just coming into the US in 2024?

And that up almost 30% from 2019.

Major gateway for importing auto parts, electronics, appliances, automobiles.

Now, will the southern self driven, cargo focused version of the L train work?

Romel, your thoughts there?

I mean, I think it's an amazing concept.

I mean it's like the future.

It's like looking at the Jetsons, man.

It's like the Tesla of, you know, just moving freight.

And I think it's a clear indication of where we're kind of going.

I think Mexico is our number one trading partner.

I think this administration, Trump is really behind it obviously with approving these permits.

And I think this company is really innovating and I think this is going to be really big.

Cool.

I like that.

I like that, Richard.

So same thing.

I mean, it's just this is another kind of example of innovation come to life.

It's also necessity.

Right.

The biggest driver, again, we got to kind of step back for a second is we got 8 billion people, folks.

That 8 billion is up from 2 billion just 100 years ago.

So our population globally is not shrinking, it's not slowing down.

So trade is going to, to be ever present in all of our lives.

We're getting denser and denser and we're gonna have to move more and more and more stuff So I view this as, you know, just another indication of the density of transportation and logistics and again, a highlight of the opportunity if you wanted to get into this.

And again, I kind of come back to Rommel's even origin story and saying, you know, you can come into this thinking you're being a truck driver, but oh my God, there's so much other stuff to apply yourself to in transportation and logistics once you open that door and take a peek inside.

So I think, I mean, you could be an innovator working on something like this just from your logistics background.

How cool is that?

Yeah, and that's another thing.

That's a great point.

This is going to create a bunch of new job opportunities which is really good for the industry.

That's just another thing to really, really highlight.

So I think the future is bright and I'm looking forward to seeing how this thing kind of develops.

Completely agree.

And you know, I think kind of going back to what both of y' all have mentioned at various points, I think we've got some innovative infrastructure projects coming up that this is a great example of and kind of in the bigger picture.

I am hoping and praying and given a lot of thought to, you know, in light of all the challeng we've touched on here today.

And there's plenty more.

Right.

We also would happen over the weekend and we're still waiting to see how those US strikes on Iran, what's next?

Lots of talk about the Strait of Hormuze attempted to be closed.

That's more challenging than what it may sound.

But all the more reason to continue to find ways of leaning into North America and leaning into these wonderful relationships we have and finding new ways of.

To your kind of point, Richard, getting more done, getting more done in innovative ways.

And who knows, knows as we lean more into that, who knows what's around the corner.

So we shall see.

But interesting.

Y' all, check out the Wall Street Journal.

Check out these renderings.

There's a lot more about the project here.

But I think if I read this right, I think construction is right around the corner, if I'm not mistaken.

We'll see.

Okay, Richard and Rommel in the last bit of time here today.

And this kind of is going to mirror our pre show conversation which I should have recorded between Richard and Rommel.

Rommel, let's use this question as kind of a guide for this last segment.

You've got your finger on the pulse of the transportation and then some, especially the entrepreneurs making big things happen.

What's a couple of topics that drivers or brokers or other transportation pros are really dialed in on right now.

I mean, I think we kind of were talking about it today.

I think near shoring is like the biggest opportunity that I think a lot of people are thinking about how they can get a piece of that.

Whether it's, you know, brokers, carriers and just really understanding, you know, relations and how to gain some of that market share and working with Mexico.

Mexico, you know, for a lot of people, they just don't understand like the complexities of it and you know, they're trying to figure it out.

I think that's something that a lot of people are really thinking about because it's obviously like the kind of the future.

Yes, I like it.

Market share.

Spoken like a true entrepreneur.

Richard, in terms of his response there, your thoughts on some of the things we've talked about in terms of the priorities of professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders in the transportation logistics industry?

Richard?

I'm not sure I need to guess at it.

We got a leader and an expert here in ra, right?

That's right.

I mean he's literally the, I mean, I want to say the voice poster child and the voice of a new generation of logistics and trucking professionals that I mean, I mean, I'm pretty sure I've got the most gray hair here and I'm pretty sure, Ramel, I got you by a few years, right?

I can't tell how young you are, but you look pretty damn young, dude.

All right, you look like you just came out of high school for God's sake.

Okay, I'm jealous.

So you're all jealous here.

But I think this goes back to the question that someone asked, which is how are young professionals seen within this sort of quasi legacy industry?

And I think that goes back to your question, which is this is huge opportunity for people who are really looking at, you know, what do I do with myself in this new world?

And a lot of people are, oh, I'm going to go into technology.

Well, shoot, I spent 25 years doing that and doing recruiting and now I've shifted over into aviation, a completely different world.

But now my eyes opened up and I'm sitting here going, oh my God, if you've ever thought about being a pilot, now's the time.

And let's just be honest, a truck driver is just a land based pilot, right?

Their salaries are a lot higher than what most people realize.

The opportunity is going to increase, I think dramatically over the next 10, 20 years, not go away.

And I think the source of Technological innovation is another place where, like, again, Romel, look at his story.

He comes in thinking he's going to be a driver.

Next thing you know, now he's a podcast influencer, deep thinker in the area of the space.

Right?

Like, who would have thought of that?

But that's what I'm talking about, the opportunity here.

Like, if you are poised, motivated, and want to get into something that you can sink your teeth into that a lot of people aren't looking at, I'd be looking at this whole industry as an opportunity moving forward, especially for the younger generation.

And I asked Romel if that's true or not.

Yeah, I agree with that.

I think that this younger generation needs to reimagine this industry.

The trucking industry is very antiquated.

There's still, like, a lot of innovation that needs to be done.

They're still doing things on paper, right?

Like, there's still tons of innovation, tons of opportunity, and tons of places where you can kind of figure out a niche for yourself and get involved in the industry, whether it's driving the truck or whether it's, you know, somewhere within the processes of, you know, whatever you want to.

To do.

So I think, you know, the younger generation is extremely important in this process.

And I think that if, you know, we can find a way to make it incentivize the youth to get more involved by kind of highlighting all these different opportunities and, you know, speaking on it, making it a little bit more interesting, a bit more sexy so they can understand that, hey, like, everything that you want to do outside of this industry is in this industry as well.

And you can apply your skills to this industry and help grow this industry, because this is the future.

Right?

Like you said, everything that's sitting in front of us, these microphones we're talking on, the headphones that you have on Richard, it all came via a truck.

And it's all supply chain, it's all logistics.

So if there's any industry to get and become a part of, is this one.

Hey, really quick at a time, we have.

I want to get Muhammad's point in here.

Digitization through technological innovation would be the game changer in trucking industry.

That's right.

And Muhammad's also the one asked about how the trucking industry perceives young truck drivers.

Really quick, Ramel on that.

Do you see as you're talking to folks hiring managers or folks building fleets, running fleets, what have you.

Is there pause when it comes to.

To, you know, working with young truck drivers, or is the urge to fill those seats.

Just the dominant thing at play.

What do you see out there, Romel?

I think they embrace drivers of all ages.

I mean, the typical average truck driver is probably 45 to 50 years old and older.

Right.

So a lot of them are retiring.

So there's a big push to get younger people involved and in the seats.

So I think they definitely embrace younger truck drivers.

I think what they look at more so is they're looking at, you know, what they can track.

They're looking at their mvrs and they're looking at their driving records and how safe they are are and stuff like that.

They don't really care if you're young or older.

They just want to see, like, what's your safety record, how do you perform the job and how are you going to represent my company?

So as long as you have that, it doesn't really matter about your age.

That's, that's not important.

It's kind of like, Richard, what I heard there, a little bit has in Romel's response was kind of like insurance actuaries.

Yeah, right.

All the data that builds a predictive model of how folks are going to behave.

That's kind of what I heard there from Rommel.

Richard, your final thought before we make sure folks on a connect with you both.

I'm going to come full circle back to Fred Smith.

You know, I mean, we started with an innovator who really disrupted, when you think about it, how you were delivering a package, right?

It used to be by horse and buggy or at that point, you know, by a car.

And here comes this crazy guy saying, I'm going to get stuff overnight, you know, using airplanes, which is a new technology.

And let's be honest, he was young, he was an innovator.

He disrupted a legacy at that point, transportation, logistics industry, and just came at it with fresh eyes.

And I see the exact same thing here in the logistics and trucking industry, especially now, not 10 years ago, not 20 years ago, not 30 years ago.

But picking up on the comments that people have said in Ramel has also echoed, which is we're sitting at this technology's infusing itself into trucking logistics.

It is going to disrupt and that disruption creates opportunity.

So if I'm a young person today, I'm looking at this not just with like, oh, I'm just going to drive a truck.

It's like, man, I can go in here and I can disrupt an industry and then I will make that connective tissue.

Think, think about now showing up with your CDL to not just your Memphis, you know, FedEx port to pick up packages, but now a spaceport that Elon Musk has built and you've got things coming down from space.

You think I'm crazy?

That's literally going to happen in the next 10 to 20 years.

Literally.

Sure.

Right.

And so that's a huge change.

Let me get a couple of these comments in here.

Let's see.

Muhammad says younger generation, Gen Z and beyond, much more.

More tech pro.

That's right.

They teach us.

My three young kids teach me about technology all the time.

Nadeem really likes the topics here.

Today he's a certified trainer from the IRU Academy doing big things, training folks, moving freight.

Appreciate that.

Nadine, great to have you as always.

And this LinkedIn user, Amanda, let me know who this is, please.

Says with many young people today drawn to quick income and digital side hustles, how can we inspire and equip them with the right mindset to see long term value in sectors like trucking, especially as these industries digitize and modernize.

That's Angelina.

Angelina, great comments there.

I wish we had another hour to explore that from Angelina and others, but let's do this.

Romel and Richard, we'll have everybody back.

We'll keep these conversations going.

I want to make sure folks know how to connect with you both.

Rommel.

Starting with the cool things y' all are doing at Truck and Hustle.

I love it, man.

I tuned into my first live stream of yours not too long ago.

Y' all got some special in person events I think coming up.

You're all around the world, then some.

I love what you're doing.

How can folks connect with you?

Romel?

Yeah, so the easiest way to connect with me directly is on LinkedIn.

Rommel Watley, as my name is on the screen, you can find out all things Truck and hustle@truckandhustle.com Check us out on YouTube.

Truck and hustle to check out the podcast.

We have an in studio podcast, really high produced and we have just amazing guests from all over the industry just talking about, you know, their kind of origin stories and how they built their businesses or you know, kind of whatever they do and how they support the industry.

So check us out.

Bestplace truckandhustle.com or like I said, follow me directly.

Rommel Watley on LinkedIn.

I love it.

And Trisha's got your back.

Trisha's got your back.

Truck and Hustle.

Thank you Trish.

Right there, we got Rommel's LinkedIn right there.

Folks, you're going to love it.

And don't blame me when you get addicted to the conversations and the movement that Rommel is building and growing.

Okay, Richard, same question.

I wish I had that big, beautiful headshot of yours with.

It looks like you're in mid flight coordinating the, the angle of attacks and all, folks.

How can they track you down, Richard?

So simple just on LinkedIn is the easiest one for me.

So all my stuff's there, all my professional stuff's there and all the links to all my kind of various other things kind of go from there.

So it'll take you over to my aviation side.

Some of the stuff that I've written, you know, got my own podcast stuff in other areas there, but LinkedIn's easiest place to find everything for me.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Well, big thanks.

Rommel Whatley with Truck and Hustle.

Rommel, great to have you here.

Looking forward to your next appearance already.

Thank you for the invite.

I appreciate you guys.

This was was fun.

It was, wasn't it?

And Richard Donaldson, man, we're gonna have to co host more often, my friend.

Great to have you here.

Absolutely.

Always fun.

Always fun.

That's right.

All right, folks, big thanks to Rommel and Richard.

Big thanks to man and Trisha behind the scenes, helping to make it happen every single day.

As Trisha says, you can find and subscribe to Supply Chain Now.

Wherever you get your podcast, check it out.

Don't forget to check out Truck and Hustle.

Don't forget to connect with Richard on LinkedIn.

But most importantly, here's the most important home, right?

Take one thing right here.

You heard from Romel or Richard.

Take one thing, put it into practice.

Share it with your team.

Deeds, not words.

That's what it's all about.

We transform this industry.

And gosh, while challenges certainly everywhere, opportunities abound.

So with all that said, on behalf of the entire Supply Chain now team, Scott Luden, challenge you do good, give forward, be the change that's needed.

And we'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now.

Thanks everybody.

Join the Supply Chain now community.

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