Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:10
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast where we interview experts in driver recruiting. We provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to help you level up your recruiting game.

00:10 - 00:37
Aaron Craddock: Hello. I'm Aaron Craddock, the host of the Hire Truckers podcast. And, today we have Randy Scheel on. Randy is with Hightower Advertising, and he has been in the driver recruiting space for 33 years. He's been in roles, from dispatch to terminal manager to director of recruiting for over 7 years, before he transitioned into the market marketing side of things with Hightower advertising agency.

00:38 - 01:21
Aaron Craddock: Today, Randy is in the role of director of customer support, sales, and vendor relationships at Hightower. And Randy is also a good friend of mine, that I've known for several years. And one of the reasons I was excited about having Randy on the show today is that he really embodies, just the giving spirit, which is one of our core values and kind of approaches every client relationship that they have at Hightower just on building that relationship and adding max value to the client, not necessarily what Hightower gets in the short term, but really, really, really focuses on that. And I think we've kinda seen that, just with Hightower success this year in in a down market. So, thank you, Randy, for coming on the show today.

01:21 - 01:25
Randy Scheel: Glad to be here, Aaron. It's I'm excited to be part of this. Thank you.

01:25 - 01:45
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. So I'll I'll dive directly into questions. So one of the biggest things we're hearing right now is just from directors of recruiting is what is the industry doing? Where is it going? And sometimes we hear, you know, kind of an element of fear just based on what happened, with spot rates this last year.

01:45 - 01:50
Aaron Craddock: And with that context, what are you hearing from the fleets you're talking to right now in the market?

01:50 - 02:32
Randy Scheel: You know, so it's kind of been a mixed mixed bag for us. We've got some of our customers that have actually done okay. They're in some of the the types of freight that's seen a little bit of need and and growth, so we've got a couple of our fleets actually adding some trucks in the next month or 2, which is, given how this year has gone, is is, you know, I tell them every time I'm like, keep that news coming. We we love to hear the exciting stuff. But there is also a lot of uncertainty, carriers in general just not really knowing for sure when the the improvements really happened, but it doesn't feel like, you know, it's, you know, the chicken little sky is falling by any means.

02:33 - 03:16
Randy Scheel: And where we saw people scaling back, cutting budgets throughout, actually from the start of the year, it felt like by the end of summer, things had kind of just stabilized and reached kind of the point where people said, okay. We we've cut the budgets as far as we can cut them. And, and so now they're, you know, the good carriers, I think, are really looking at what's my turnover gonna be like through the holiday months, because there's always that uncertainty when Thanksgiving hits, when Christmas hits, how many of those drivers are are checking out and and find other opportunities. And so, you know, above and beyond all things is you still gotta be thinking of, okay. I gotta maintain my fleet.

03:16 - 03:23
Randy Scheel: I've gotta make sure I got good drivers in the pool ready to go because, this thing can change at any moment.

03:24 - 03:41
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Is it something our fleet is saying when they anticipate things ramping back up in terms of, marketing spend on recruiting, like, going into next year? Like, did I expect it in q 1, q3, q2? I mean, what are what are you hearing about that?

03:41 - 04:08
Randy Scheel: And, again, that's probably you asked 10 different carriers, you're gonna get probably 6 or 7 different answers has has been my experience. And I think, more than anything, there's some that say, hey. By the end of Q1, we expect to see, things going back. And I don't think anybody's really stepping to say, hey. This when this turns around, it's gonna go rampant again and buckle up.

04:08 - 04:37
Randy Scheel: I think the general trend is that people feel it's gonna be a slow positive growth, more so than just all once the key gets turned on and then, you know, hang on for dear life because, freight's going fast and furious. I think it being an election year gives it a little bit of a positive outlook because people wanna get voted back into office or they wanna get voted into office, and as a result, going in with a slumping economy, certainly not a way to do that.

04:37 - 04:57
Aaron Craddock: So you've been through being in the industry for over 33 years, you've been through a few of these cycles. So what have you seen, recruiting departments do during these cycles to kinda set them up for that next growth opportunity, that next season to pick up more market share? Yeah.

04:57 - 05:02
Randy Scheel: And and, you know, I should note, I probably I started when I was 3 years old. Is that fair?

05:02 - 05:03
Aaron Craddock: That's right.

05:03 - 05:17
Randy Scheel: Otherwise, it ages me. But, no, More than anything yeah. And our the business, the economy are always very cyclical. And and, unfortunately, I have been through a number of these cycles. And the one thing that's always proven to be true is that it always comes back around.

05:18 - 06:28
Randy Scheel: So mainly the one of the best things you can be doing with your staff now is really taking time to pay attention to the small details, so doing the training, making sure that people have all the tools necessary. So if you're using an applicant tracking system, 10th Street, DriverReach are 2 of the examples, common in our industry, make sure that your staff knows all the full functions of how to utilize those tools because sometimes we take it for granted in the heat of the battle, you've got everybody coming on board and you don't really realize you may not have trained them through all of those systems properly. But even paying attention to the small details. I'm a big believer, you know, I'm I'm probably a little old fashioned in that I still believe the phone is is our most valuable tool in recruiting, but make sure that that people know how to use the phone, how to answer the call, how to, you know, all the the Zig Ziglar types of smile when you answer the phone because people hear that through your attitude, and how you respond to them. But really taking and then I think also, look at the messaging that you have for your company right now.

06:28 - 07:14
Randy Scheel: So one of the things that's really helped us this year is that we've talked with a lot of our customers, and and we're doing a lot of website projects right now, because this is a time when there's a little bit more extra time to pay attention to those things. And, you know, check back and look at the last time your website was built, and in some cases, people will be shocked and it was 6 years ago or 10 years ago or even possibly longer. So it's a good time to take a look at that, and also just, you know, social media has become a big part of of our world today. But look at your messaging. We're doing a lot of work with videographers right now, so we're building a lot of library content, so both with video and photography.

07:14 - 07:33
Randy Scheel: We've done a couple here in just the last few weeks where, you know, we're setting our customers up for the next, not only 6 months, but probably the rest of the year that we'll be able to pull from those materials. But, again, when this gets really busy, those are the small things you don't have time to deal with, and now is a great time to really take advantage of that.

07:34 - 07:58
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. That's something I've seen, Randy, as well is just and that's both on the marketing side, the different marketing companies that are doing recruitment advertising and different vendors. And then also on the fleet side is you kinda have this 2 different camps. You have the camp that's just cutting, cutting, cutting. Like, let's cut as much as we can and not really invest.

07:58 - 08:34
Aaron Craddock: And then I'm seeing, you know, other fleets and other companies really invest in websites, in content, in doing things differently. And I'm seeing that, I think, a lot in companies that are just really, really financially sound. And I know that's one thing Hightower is focused on is just running a financially sound business. And we we see that on the fleet side as well, the fleets that are well capitalized and can continue to invest in this cycle. They're viewing this as a time to invest more in content, invest in that new website, and and and do that.

08:34 - 08:44
Aaron Craddock: And so that's not that's not a service we provide to our clients, but I'm just seeing that I'm seeing them do that, across the board. So, Yeah. And I think, you know, too

08:44 - 09:52
Randy Scheel: and and I learned early on in my career, and it was a case where we had a lease purchase program, and we had a list of, I don't remember, 50 trucks or whatever, and once we had got all those out into the fleet and filled them all, the president of the company just demanded that we cut the budget because we don't have any more trucks, so what are you spending any money on? Well, when the trucks 2 months later came back and we had the need, it cost us more to get that program going again than had we just maintained a minimal budget just to keep the word out there. So it's kind of the same holds true in the market we're in today. You know, we certainly don't want people to extend themselves beyond, the budget that's available, but you can't forget that advertising and especially advertising for the best drivers. So in my opinion, the drivers that have years of experience don't make a change after the first phone call, and that change may happen 3 to 6 months down the road.

09:52 - 10:20
Randy Scheel: So marketing's a lot about looking on down the road in in what you're prepared for. So the budget you cut today affects your next month and the month after's results, and so that's one of the things we try to help work with our customers on is making sure that, hey. We we understand you got a cut, but let's try to maintain at least this going for here and this going for here, so that you're not caught off guard if this does change quickly.

10:22 - 10:28
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. What are what are you seeing in lead cost, with that, like, with marketing right now, like, the last couple months?

10:29 - 10:58
Randy Scheel: The cost per lead has just plummeted, which is it's great. I mean, right now, we're in a, an advertiser's market or or the carrier's market. So, you know, for example, where we saw a direct lead for social media be 20 to $25, when things were tough, those are now under they're they're in single digit cost per lead amounts right now for a lot of our customers. So, you know, there's drivers out there that are looking. It's just that there's not as much need.

10:58 - 11:02
Randy Scheel: So as a result, that's really reduced those costs down considerably.

11:02 - 11:20
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. And that that even further supports, like, just continuing to at least keep a budget in place and maybe even stretch if you can because then you can build that build that database, like, in in your applicant tracking system. So then you can hit them. They already know about you, and you can hit them when things come back.

11:21 - 11:48
Randy Scheel: No. And that's a great point. I think people underestimate, you know, there's a lot of great tools, there's drip marketing, there's a lot of ways that you can maintain contact with those drivers, but, yeah, it's not kinda like kinda like the market. You know, when you think of stocks, everybody talks about when the market's high, you should sell everything and and, you know, buy when it's low. Well, we can never time that, but right now, you're able to get leads at extremely low cost.

11:48 - 12:19
Randy Scheel: And and I in my opinion, and I've worked with a lot of great recruiters, and I've worked with customers that have have the best recruiters that are out there. They're never even if there's limited need, they're never not going after the best driver candidates that are in their their database. So it's even more above than what the drip marketing and all those extra tools do. The best recruiters are the people that are, every few weeks, just reaching out with a phone call saying, hey. How's everything going?

12:19 - 12:45
Randy Scheel: How's your dog, Sparky? And, just kinda keeping your your name and and that conversation going, and I think that's where this time, it gives you that opportunity to identify those best driver candidates. And the best thing you can ever say as a carrier is like, hey. I don't have any trucks available, but we've got a waiting list, which sends a great message to those candidates, in advance when you really do.

12:45 - 12:52
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Because it because it may be too late just you've been through a few of these cycles when it heats back up to get that good driver.

12:54 - 13:20
Randy Scheel: Yeah. Definitely will. And and because they're ultimately, people have things going on in their lives that we have no impact over, and and whether that could be something, you know, it it is a tough market right now, and and there are some carriers that are really struggling. There are some carriers there's been some recent purchases in the in our industry. So you we never know when that good driver is gonna finally say, I can't take this anymore.

13:20 - 13:37
Randy Scheel: I've gotta make a change now, and you've gotta be prepared. So so yeah. And and I think that's where the good recruiter knows that, hey, I've got this candidate that's a level candidate. And when they're ready, I'm gonna be ready to to bring them on board and get them a spot in a truck for us.

13:38 - 13:55
Aaron Craddock: So with thinking of motivation, that's one of the things we talk about on the show is just how do you maintain motivation with your team. How would you recommend a director of recruited recruiting with their sales or recruiting team invest in their team to provide that motivation?

13:57 - 14:33
Randy Scheel: Well, for 1, this this has gotta be and it it goes regardless if this is recruiting any position in trucking, dispatch, customer service. Things can really grind. And and so more than anything, we sometimes forget that this has gotta be a position that we enjoy doing, and we've gotta make it fun. And I think sometimes people get concerned that they don't have the budget or that they're not able to to do the right things, and and we're not talking you buy people all expenses paid trips or you don't have to do the big dinners. Sometimes it's just simple small things that you do.

14:34 - 15:43
Randy Scheel: Sometimes even to taking you know, one of the things I did with with my recruiters in my, former life was that we had a it was just a it was a tough environment, we were really struggling, and and I went out and I bought, 25 pairs of the wackiest socks you could ever imagine. I mean, the kind some of them had the, you know, the individual toes like a glove for your feet, and so we had to sock it to them Tuesday, and so I had everybody open up their socks and put on their socks, all at the same time, and and any time following, if we kinda I could sense that there was just a grind. I'd say, hey, tomorrow is, is socket to them Wednesday, wear your socks, and people would wear those socks and they take pictures and they'd send them to me, but because you felt so silly about it and and people would ask, it was just a small little thing that would lighten you up. And I'm not promoting that everybody goes out and buys socks, but it's just, again, an an example of something that you can do that's very simple, that just shows the staff that, hey.

15:43 - 16:12
Randy Scheel: I'm in here with you. What, you know, what do we need to do? But I think supporting them, again, going back to the training, just spending time, I'm a big believer on listening to the phone calls. And so not only is it important to share, hey, here's areas you can improve, but I think also people need to be reminded that you're doing this really well. And sometimes we're very poor at handing out the positives because trucking comes at us so fast.

16:12 - 16:39
Randy Scheel: And again, regardless of the position, sometimes it's just stopping by somebody's desk to say, hey. You know what? I just overheard you talking with that driver, and and I really respect how you handled that call, and you really let that individual walk away feeling good about themselves. So sometimes just those little small pieces, and and we forget it ourselves, especially, recruiting directors, operation directors. You may not get the positive praise yourself, but sometimes you gotta turn that back to say, hey.

16:42 - 16:46
Randy Scheel: I gotta make sure that my staff knows that I appreciate the work that they're doing.

16:46 - 17:04
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. One of the things so the, the 2 things that kinda stick out just from recently what you said are ask about their dog, Sparky. I thought that was a great one. And then, you know, the sock idea. I can just as an example of what what you can provide to your team.

17:05 - 17:39
Aaron Craddock: Because and one thing I've heard is express appreciation, then double it, then you're just getting started. And so that's you're you're never doing enough of it even when you think you are. And and it's really the little things. It's it doesn't have to be a massive, you know, financial incentive or things like that in a tight market, but it's just reminding people that you care about them. And that's and I think you covered that on the driver's side with the Sparky, you know, asking about their dog or their family, you know, what they're going through because, you know, they're real people with real lives, and I wanna talk about it.

17:39 - 18:05
Aaron Craddock: And then, yeah, with any of your staff, whether you're the terminal manager, dispatcher, recruiting leader, marketing leader, those are all really good points. Today's sponsor. Do you hire truck drivers in hard to fill areas, or do you need help creating efficiency in your recruiting department? You're not alone. With 50 plus years experience, TruckingClik specializes in data driven strategies, industry leading customer experience, and custom solutions that'll get you to your goal.

18:06 - 18:32
Aaron Craddock: Trucking clicks is your go to place for high quality direct leads at scale. Visit trucking clicks.com or call 512-982-0816 today. So next question that that I ask everybody on the show is just what's one book you've read in the last year? And so this is a little selfish just because I'm always trying to read read new books and grow. So what what's one book you've read in the last year that's had had an impact on you?

18:33 - 19:54
Randy Scheel: So I'll I'll bypass Field and Stream because as as those who know me, I'm a big outdoors person, but a book and I'll just state, one of the books I've read that in general, has made a huge impact on me goes way back, to Southwest Airlines and Herb Kelleher, and he wrote the book called Nuts, and and it kind of goes right in line with what you just said, Aaron, with appreciating people. And I read that book early on in my trucking career, and I've read it again since. And and just a little summary of that book is that Southwest Airlines' original philosophy was we don't care about the customers as much as I care about my employees. And if I treat my employees well and I take good care of them, everything else falls into place, and so there's a lot of different examples used throughout that book that, you know, it's airlines and and a lot of things that aren't totally like trucking, but really when you dug into the nuts and bolts of what that article was or the book is about, it's just something that's always settled with me that said, you know what, if if I take care of my people, and in my world today, it's if I take care of my customers, because sometimes it's not always gonna be, you know, it's not always about profit, it's about doing what's in the best interest of them.

19:55 - 20:15
Randy Scheel: It's always doing in the best interest of the driver because we we sometimes forget that the people that are making us, delivering all the freight, doing all the great things for us are the ones that sometimes get forgotten. So so anyway, that that would be one of the probably the one book that I keep going back to more and more in my career than than anything else.

20:15 - 20:18
Aaron Craddock: That's great. Yeah. I haven't read that one. I'm gonna have to add that to my list.

20:19 - 20:54
Randy Scheel: It's when he talks about even how they started the company and the little unique things that they did. And, you know, one of the things that stands out to me too is when they interviewed people, the more creative that people were, the more that they stuck out. So, there was somebody who brought their resume as as a paper bag, and, you know, how they kind of built their whole culture on creativity. And even though that book was written well before social media, Facebook, everything else became part of our world, there's a lot of it still applies today.

20:55 - 21:04
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. So in doing the pre call, planning for the podcast, one of the things you mentioned is you have a trip coming up. So what are you doing in the next couple weeks?

21:05 - 22:09
Randy Scheel: Well, next week I'll be actually on vacation, and and I own some property in Missouri, so I'll be, deer hunting in in Missouri. And it's also bow season in Iowa, so I split my time on weekends or evenings, before work or I'm out in a tree stand, so it's just a fun time. I was out Saturday morning, for example, and people that hunt for deer know about the rut, which is when the breeding season occurs. Saturday, I probably had one of the funnest mornings I've ever had in my life with more than 10 different bucks chasing does all around me and hearing bucks fight, watching a buck tear up a tree, almost having a shot at a really big big bodied mature 8 pointer that, we had a stare down for about, 3 minutes with me at full draw, and and the sun was at his back, and you could see the vapors. It was in the thirties, and you could see the vapors of mist coming out of his nose each breath.

22:10 - 22:16
Randy Scheel: It was just a really cool cool morning. And, even though I didn't fill a tag, it it was worth the whole season for me.

22:17 - 22:38
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Yeah. One of the things every time I get to talk to you about about hunting, because I I don't I don't do a lot of hunting, is just just hearing your admiration for nature and getting out there and then just appreciation of the animals and, and God's creation. And, it's just so cool. And then and then also, it's just a way to yeah.

22:38 - 22:58
Aaron Craddock: When things are hard in transportation, which it gets that way, there's hard times in the growth seasons and hard times in the in the down seasons. It's, you just continue to communicate how much of just kind of a healthy outlet it is just to get outdoors and get in nature and admire the nature and and the animals and God's creation. It's just really cool.

22:58 - 24:28
Randy Scheel: Well, I think too you talk about motivating people, and and my plug to everyone is we may not all do our passions for our work. There may be things that we do that are a passion outside of it, but my big push to everybody is is volunteer in your communities. You know, I'm a Lions Club member here, and and there's Lions Clubs virtually in every state, almost every town, city, and across the country and across the world, but, you know, the Shriners, the Kiwanis groups, there's all kinds of opportunities, your churches, where I think it's important when you, you know, when times get tough, anytime you can give back a little bit, it gives you those positive outlooks that you need, and sometimes that's where the grind can really get people down. And and, you know, my problem is and and I live outside a small town, so I can't say no, and I'm pretty active with a lot of different groups, but it's amazing how many times I've had a down day with work, but then you go to a meeting or you go to an event. You know, we did trunk or treat for our Lions Club on Halloween night, and, you get us walk around and take pictures of all these cute little kids dressed up in some unique costumes, and they're they're just special things that I think sometimes we have to remember there is life outside of our careers, and and, hopefully, someday when we all retire, we still have other things to do besides wonder what we're gonna do to fill the hours of the day.

24:28 - 24:32
Randy Scheel: So, if you can volunteer, I strongly encourage you to do that.

24:33 - 24:42
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Yeah. That's, I find that the seasons I'm the most stressed are when I'm focused on me. Like, all me, me, me. You know?

24:42 - 25:11
Aaron Craddock: What's happening with the growth of my company or what's happening with this area of my life? But but the moment I turn it around and focus on, you know, giving giving to some organization or just serving somebody in the conversation, which, Randy, that's what I see you do really well consistently just in the industry at work is just, serving and investing and speaking into people and and encouraging them. Then your whole day turns around. Like, you might you know, the numbers may still be down. Recruiting may be more challenging still.

25:12 - 25:18
Aaron Craddock: You have the same fires, but it just it just changes that mentality. And so that's something I really appreciate about you.

25:18 - 25:20
Randy Scheel: Great. Thank you very much.

25:20 - 25:31
Aaron Craddock: Well, this is, this is gonna wrap up this, today's episode with Randy Scheel, on the HireTruckers podcast. Again, I'm Aaron Crowdock, the host, and I hope you all have a great week.

25:32 - 25:34
Randy Scheel: Alright. Thank you very much, Aaron, for having me on.

25:34 - 25:46
Aaron Craddock: Thank you for joining us today. Our goal with the Hire Truckers podcast is to provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to level up your recruiting game. If we added value, take a few seconds to share this with your network. Have a great week.