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 - 00:23
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Aaron Craddock. And today, we have Melissa Johnson with Usher Transport. She's the manager of recruiting over there. Melissa, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:23 - 00:25
Melissa Johnson: Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

00:26 - 01:08
Aaron Craddock: The, yeah, I really enjoyed our our pre call chat that we just had, and I'm excited to dive more into this. So the topic of our episode today is gonna be overcoming obstacles and everyday challenges. And so, Melissa has a lot to share with just different different things she's been through in her life, and and and we all have, you know, different things we've been through and different challenges and obstacles. And a lot of times when we look back on it, like, it ends up being the biggest blessing in disguise and and just makes us shapes us into who we are today. And so I'm excited to hear more about who Melissa is and also how she got into driver recruiting in the transportation industry.

01:08 - 01:18
Aaron Craddock: So we'll kinda start with what obstacle did you have, Melissa, early in your childhood that we talked a little bit about?

01:18 - 01:51
Melissa Johnson: Sure. So I come from a background of being a foster home child. So that, entails at a very young age that I was passed around from home to home, group home to group home, foster home to foster home, being in the system. So that is not a normal childhood growing up, but I am here today, and I've learned over the years that certain things in your background can shape who you are gonna be today if you allow that to happen. So, yep, just the background of being in and out of foster care and not your average kiddo growing up there.

01:52 - 01:53
Melissa Johnson: Mhmm.

01:53 - 02:02
Aaron Craddock: I think you said that there was a word for that, like like a foster foster kid that that's in the system. Yeah. And I hadn't heard that before.

02:02 - 02:27
Melissa Johnson: Yeah. So majority of us are known as trash bag kids. It sounds horrible, but, you know, we don't come with suitcases whenever we're going from home to home usually. So a lot of us just travel around with a a new trash bag from whatever home we're getting transferred out of and going into. So your belongings pretty much just go into a black trash bag or a Walmart or a Kroger's plastic bag, and that's how you get from point a to point b.

02:27 - 02:36
Aaron Craddock: So is it pretty common to have to bounce between homes, like, when you're in foster care? And, like, like, help me understand that a little bit better.

02:36 - 02:58
Melissa Johnson: Sure. So I can't speak for everybody's experience, but from mine, it is pretty common. And the kiddos that I grew up with in that foster care group home setting, it is pretty common. So a situation happens at one home where another kiddo needs to come in and another kiddo needs to be removed, and then you're you're basically just bouncing around. I was involved in the state of Indiana, Floyd County and Clark County.

02:58 - 03:09
Melissa Johnson: So for me, it was, it was always a little bit of bouncing around. You'd stay a few months here, a few months there, and you just had to get used to the idea that this wasn't your your permanent home. It was just temporary.

03:10 - 03:22
Aaron Craddock: So in that, like, how did that how did that shape who Melissa is today? How did that shape who you are today, just bouncing around and having that instability in your childhood?

03:22 - 03:42
Melissa Johnson: Sure. So I think for me, it really made me a little bit more compassionate towards others relating with different people that I've met over along the way. Not every kid is the same. Not every kid is, you know, going through the same situation. So for me, it really made me resilient in everything that I did.

03:42 - 04:13
Melissa Johnson: A lot of times, if you read statistics on foster kids in any child in in the state of any sort, you know, our success rate isn't considered the best if we're on a little line. So I did graduate, which was a big accomplishment. I do have my GED, which isn't very common in my world that I grew up in. I think that it really just helped me to realize that I can do anything that I set my mind to. I don't have to let my past determine what my future is gonna gonna look like.

04:13 - 04:19
Melissa Johnson: And, I've been able to relate to a lot of kids who are going through those same situations. So

04:19 - 04:25
Aaron Craddock: So your past doesn't define who you are? Not at all. However, it shapes who you are.

04:25 - 04:26
Melissa Johnson: It does. Yeah.

04:26 - 04:40
Aaron Craddock: So how has that translated, like, into your work? Like, I know you were in the insurance insurance industry for a number of years and then got into transportation about 2 years ago. How has that how has that shaped your journey in the corporate world?

04:40 - 05:02
Melissa Johnson: Oh, gosh. I think for me personally, it has set a mindset in me that is just so engraved that I can just do anything that you throw me into. If I don't know it, I can learn it. I can I can really just do anything? So for me, it's been more of an experience of being able to step into something that I'm not familiar with and being able to overcome it.

05:04 - 05:21
Aaron Craddock: Do you think what what what advice do you have for other people in the transportation industry? Because it it can be a challenging industry and Yeah. We've had we've had some bumps the last couple years, in terms of it's been it been a more challenging freight market. What advice do

05:21 - 05:22
Aaron Craddock: you have to peers in

05:22 - 05:24
Aaron Craddock: the industry that are kind of in a hard spot?

05:24 - 05:43
Melissa Johnson: I would just say never get comfortable. You know, be willing to always learn and move. Be willing to bring people with you whenever you rise up or or learn something new is really good. So my boss over me, she's younger than me, and sometimes that can be hard for people to have someone who's a little bit younger than them over them. But she's taught me so much.

05:43 - 05:53
Melissa Johnson: Don't get left behind. Continue to learn. Continue to grow. Continue to know that it's gonna be a different day tomorrow. Every challenge is different and that you can ask questions.

05:53 - 06:10
Melissa Johnson: You know, if you don't know something, you can always find a way to learn. Chit chat with your peers, people that you work with, and don't be afraid to ask questions because no question is done, especially in this industry because there is so much to learn and every situation is different. Mhmm.

06:10 - 06:15
Aaron Craddock: Did it feel a little overwhelming when you came into it from coming from the insurance industry out of the gate?

06:15 - 06:24
Melissa Johnson: Oh, yeah. Definitely. I am still learning. There is so much whenever we come down to, like, DOT hours of service, etcetera. I have no idea about that stuff.

06:24 - 06:48
Melissa Johnson: That stuff really is just over my head, but I'm learning that it is okay to ask any question that you just don't know. So I'm all the time writing down something that comes across that I don't know that I feel like I can ask and really reaching out to your peers or people that you work with or even the truck drivers. You know? They are so smart. We have drivers that are professors, you know, fire departments, old police officers, etcetera.

06:48 - 06:51
Melissa Johnson: They bring a lot to the industry as well. Mhmm.

06:51 - 07:16
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. The reason I asked that is I remember getting in the industry, I think it was 14 or so years ago, and and just kind of stumbled upon the industry. And it was getting into marketing, which was the early days of Google Ads and Facebook Ads. And then also getting into a new industry because I'd never been in transportation, like simultaneously in a rapidly growing company. And, yeah, I didn't know, like the 1st 2 or 3 months, I was like, I don't know

07:16 - 07:17
Aaron Craddock: if I'm gonna make it.

07:17 - 07:21
Aaron Craddock: Like, I don't know, like, what an owner operator

07:21 - 07:21
Melissa Johnson: Yep.

07:22 - 07:22
Aaron Craddock: HAZMAT.

07:23 - 07:23
Melissa Johnson: Yeah.

07:23 - 07:50
Aaron Craddock: Like, just so many terms. I had no clue, what they were. And then and then Internet terms like like remarketing and cookies and websites, and that was all new to me. And I remember almost everyone I hired, like, in those early days, because, you know, Google Ads and things like that were so new. You could just see that look of paralysis, like, the the first 2 or 3 months.

07:50 - 08:34
Aaron Craddock: And and that's really what I've heard from anybody, director of recruiting or leading managing recruiting teams and recruiters just when it's brand new, because you're, you're not just learning the typical function of recruiting, but you're learning like just a complex industry. And so, yeah, that I think your attitude as far as like I can figure anything out and I'm gonna learn and grow. I think that's what that's what I hear in your story that kind of sets you up to be 2 years in and having a lot of influence in the industry. That's pretty cool. So I hear, like, how do you maintain because I'm sure not everything is rosy all the time.

08:34 - 08:41
Aaron Craddock: Right. Like, how do you maintain just a positive attitude? That's just, just from a little bit of time I've been on with you already? I just noticed that positivity.

08:42 - 09:03
Melissa Johnson: I get asked about a lot. I mean, for me, I spent a lot of time growing up just being angry and not understanding my childhood. And there was just really one day after I had my kids, I was like, I'm not gonna let anything else determine who I'm gonna be. I'm gonna set my mindset as soon as I wake up, and it's gonna be a good day regardless of every situation, and that's what I do. And it's easier said than done.

09:03 - 09:18
Melissa Johnson: It really is. It takes a lot of silent prayer and a lot of, chit chatting with God about, you know, how my day is gonna look like. And there's plenty of obstacles that come up, and I don't wanna get the the attitude that I'm always positive. I'm definitely not. I have my moments, but I choose to stay positive.

09:18 - 09:26
Melissa Johnson: I choose as an everyday choice to be kind and positive and take every situation as something that maybe I can learn from it.

09:27 - 09:38
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Do you find that, like, when you help others, like, when you serve, that that kinda helps, like, when you're having a bad day or kinda in a rut? Does that kinda help you get out of it?

09:38 - 10:05
Melissa Johnson: Yeah. So in my industry, I am constantly talking to drivers who are looking for work or, you know, even talking to our drivers that I currently work with. And I feel like if I can bring them to a point to where I can make them feel comfortable about, you know, hey. We don't have anything open right now, but I'll keep up with you. So that helps me a lot just knowing that I'm taking them from point a to point b to c to d and then getting them, you know, sometimes, you know, getting them into the into Usher as well.

10:05 - 10:16
Melissa Johnson: So it works out great. But, yeah, definitely helping chitchat with drivers because a lot of them come from different backgrounds as well, and some people just call it just chitchat. So I enjoy that. Mhmm.

10:18 - 10:22
Aaron Craddock: And, I I think you said you guys are around it's about 300 drivers?

10:23 - 10:25
Melissa Johnson: I think so, give or take. Yeah. Pretty close.

10:26 - 10:29
Aaron Craddock: And, and how many recruiters you guys have?

10:29 - 10:30
Melissa Johnson: Just me. So

10:31 - 10:34
Aaron Craddock: Just you? Yeah. And so how many how many are you bringing in a month?

10:36 - 10:43
Melissa Johnson: I wanna say about 3 or 4. I mean, it's not a huge total big amount, but we are consistently slowly growing. So

10:45 - 11:07
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. That's a lot a lot of conversations and, a lot of listening. And and that's one thing I hear often from from recruiters that tend to be successful is, like, not forcing your agenda. Like, a lot of times people just wanna talk and yeah, and just need to be heard. So that's pretty cool that you can listen and empathize with what they're going through.

11:07 - 11:17
Aaron Craddock: Because without without truckers, we don't have Right. You know, everything in this office came on a truck at some point. Everything in our home, they keep America moving. So Yeah.

11:17 - 11:37
Melissa Johnson: I think that's one thing that I learned early on coming into the industry. I had it in my head. You know? Everything just kinda showed up on my shelf or gas was just in the pump, but I had no idea until I started that, you know, it is everyday people making all these motions move, giving us everything that we need. And they're on the road all the time devoting a lot of time away from family as well.

11:38 - 11:39
Melissa Johnson: Mhmm.

11:39 - 11:49
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Similarly, when I got into this industry, like, my my wife, like, I was like, I was pointing at every truck, like, oh, I've worked with them. I don't know who that is. Oh, look at what they're hauling. Yeah.

11:49 - 12:02
Aaron Craddock: Like, look at what that that trailer, like, I know that manufacturer. And I didn't, I just, I don't know. I'd, my whole life, I just, I I knew there were trucks around driving and, you know, as a kid, I would

12:02 - 12:03
Melissa Johnson: Yeah.

12:03 - 12:27
Aaron Craddock: Get them to honk, you know, on road trips. And yeah. But I didn't I didn't understand. And then it's almost like once I got into the industry, just my eyes were open to how much is going on around everywhere and just And then I transitioned pretty quickly to stopping at primarily like truck stops. Like, just when we're on road trips.

12:27 - 12:35
Aaron Craddock: Like, I love stopping at the different different truck stops and and just, yeah, just seeing what, drivers experience.

12:36 - 13:00
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13:00 - 13:03
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13:06 - 13:18
Aaron Craddock: today. Back to the the foster care thing, like, is that is that still a need, like, for for families to help with with foster kids? And and how would you encourage people to get involved in that? If so?

13:18 - 13:37
Melissa Johnson: Oh, goodness. Yeah. It is still a very growing need, which is unfortunate, but I'm happy that, there are still families out there that want to foster and want to do those those things because they can be very impact in the kids' lives even during the short period of time. I'm actually still friends with my, caseworker from the state of Indiana. We're still Facebook friends, and we and we chat.

13:37 - 14:16
Melissa Johnson: She had a big impact in my life just as a as a kid, you know, as somebody who I remember being there and wanting to help. So, unfortunately, the need is still there, but I am thankful that there are great people that you know, I'm friends with quite a few people that do foster care. And it's it's been a thought in my mind as well, but I think I'm gonna generally just go and speak and maybe just be a volunteer is in my future for right now to go into the homes and maybe just sit and chitchat with the kids and read with them just coming from foster care, going into foster care, showing that you you can be successful after, and it's not always gonna be like this. So yeah. Mhmm.

14:16 - 14:27
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Because if they believe if the kids believe they're only gonna Yeah. Like, they're not gonna graduate high school. They're just gonna be another statistic Mhmm. That can become, like, a self fulfilling thing.

14:27 - 14:51
Aaron Craddock: And so who knows, like even listening to this episode, maybe somebody will hear your story and be like, wow, I can, I can do more than I thought? And, and then that just has a ripple effect. Yeah. One of the other things we, talked about briefly was the the peak program Mhmm. That you went through at Usher Transport.

14:51 - 15:00
Aaron Craddock: And that sounds like that's something unique to Usher that your executive team offers. So tell me a little bit about what that is and and your experience with it.

15:00 - 15:41
Melissa Johnson: So that was a project that was put on by our CFO, and he kinda came up with an outline. You know, he has a few doctrines in his background as well. And so he built this whole program that was gonna be a year long program, and it actually stands for project for employee advancement and knowledge. So it was just a a way for people like me and people, you know, maybe in our billing department, etcetera, to come into a class setting program at least I believe it was once every month for a weekend. We would just go into a class setting where we learn about, how to better be in our our jobs or to listen better.

15:42 - 16:02
Melissa Johnson: And it offered, you know, a few things about I actually have it right here, about, like, emotional intelligence, planning a conversation, leading in a meeting, etcetera. So it was just really a way for you to better who you already are and learn to really magnify what you're doing on a different aspect.

16:02 - 16:08
Aaron Craddock: So what was what is something you learned, like, going through that that yeah. What's just what's something you learned?

16:08 - 16:38
Melissa Johnson: Oh, I learned so much. There was a lot about, like, writing emails. I thought it was a really good one about how everything is really just discoverable and you need to make sure that you are looking at your punctuation and how those things matter, and then, self identifying any issues that you have on yourself that you can better perform. So really discovering who you are at your workplace and what you can do to better who you are and where what you're doing and where you're going, etcetera. So it was a lot about myself discovery as well.

16:38 - 16:41
Melissa Johnson: I thought it was really good. Mhmm.

16:42 - 17:02
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. I I ended up getting thrust into leadership at an early age, early in my career and and and leading large teams. And and with that, I didn't have a lot of the emotional intelligence. And, you know, I actually thought, like, why are we doing this stuff talking about feelings? Like, let's just get the job done.

17:02 - 17:47
Aaron Craddock: And like, let's just talk about the task at hand. And then now I understand that's it. Like, it's the most important thing to understand the perspective of the people you're talking to, where they're pivoting, like emotionally and how they feel about it. And then something as simple that I still do today is like when I'm writing emails, like I have to go back and add like, hey, I hope you had a great weekend at the beginning or or hey, like like just those little things because especially in written communication, even if you don't intend it to come across a certain way, like people can interpret it completely different. And so like, why you can like sense the emotion and like see the facial expression as we're chatting right now, on video, if you're watching this on YouTube.

17:48 - 18:16
Aaron Craddock: So you yeah. But in written communication, you can't. And that, and so now most of my time leading teams is spent just talking through things and understanding people's perspective and how they feel about different team dynamics. And and I, and like when I, when I think of a good week, I'm like, it's when I did that well, not the task well necessarily. And, Yeah.

18:16 - 18:31
Aaron Craddock: So that, that emotional intelligence piece is pretty cool. Yeah. The, so when you got to the end of that program, you did a presentation, as as something. So so what was that what was that presentation on and kinda what did that result in?

18:31 - 19:03
Melissa Johnson: So my presentation was on, recruiting, obviously, and that went really well. You know? I put together a slideshow, which I've never really used, like, a, platform of doing, like, Canva and building. So it was it was a really good experience for me because I've had to watch a lot of YouTube videos to get it done. And so I I really just based it around, like, communication and chit chatting with drivers on how important it is to communicate with them as soon as they, like, apply during the application, chit chatting them with them through it, etcetera, and what goes into that.

19:03 - 19:49
Melissa Johnson: And I know, at the end, I thought it would be important to really just chit chat with the drivers currently that we have about why they enjoy being here at Usher and what led them here to Usher and why they would refer people to work at Usher. So I put together about 6 or 7 videos from current drivers and presented that as well. And it was just a a really a really eye opening experience to hear from our drivers about why they love working here so much, and it mostly is because of communication and because they feel like they are a part of something rather than, you know, having somebody as a driver number. Everybody's name is in my phone. Everybody's name is in everybody's phone that works here, not, hey, driver number 334 is calling you, etcetera.

19:50 - 19:56
Melissa Johnson: So, it was a it was a very good eye opening experience to even put that together to hear from our drivers about why they love working here.

19:58 - 20:08
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. So so if you had to pick, like, 2, like, 2 or 3 of those statements of, like, why specifically why drivers love working at Asher, what would that

20:08 - 20:31
Melissa Johnson: be? It would definitely be the culture. It's what was brought up a lot is that they feel like the culture of Usher is where they love to be because it helps represent them as well as a family oriented company being heard, being respected. So it that really popped up a lot about just being heard, being respected, people taking phone calls in the middle of the night if somebody just needs to chitchat as well. So that was really what it all boiled down to.

20:33 - 20:42
Aaron Craddock: And so that would have to come from more than just recruiting. So is that kinda systematized throughout the organization, whether it's dispatch, operations, maintenance?

20:43 - 20:58
Melissa Johnson: Yeah. I definitely couldn't say that I'm successful without saying everybody else here is the same way. I mean, it goes all the way from the COO, CFO. I mean, everybody with these titles, they don't operate like that. They don't they don't operate under a title.

20:58 - 21:04
Melissa Johnson: You know? They operate as, hey. My name is such and such, and I'm here to help. How can I help you? Mhmm.

21:05 - 21:32
Aaron Craddock: That reminds me of a story, like, when I was early in my career, my, well, one of the one of the main, developers that worked in our company that did web web development, like, came in the 1st day and was, like, being taught by a peer they thought, going through just here are some of the systems we use and all that. And then she found out later that it was, like, the VP of the entire division that had been sitting there all day. And she's like, oh, no.

21:32 - 21:32
Aaron Craddock: Like, I hope I

21:32 - 21:36
Aaron Craddock: didn't say the wrong thing. Like, complain about something.

21:36 - 21:36
Melissa Johnson: Yeah.

21:36 - 21:47
Aaron Craddock: So I just love that when you don't don't really know just that flat, flat leadership structure. I'm a big, big proponent of that. And that's hard when you have 300 drivers.

21:48 - 21:48
Melissa Johnson: You

21:48 - 21:51
Aaron Craddock: know, even just to maintain that, like across an organization.

21:52 - 21:52
Melissa Johnson: So

21:52 - 22:03
Aaron Craddock: that's pretty, that's pretty cool. What did you learn from the insurance industry that you've kind of applied and kinda taken into your role in driver recruiting?

22:04 - 22:27
Melissa Johnson: Oh, I'd say the biggest thing I learned is I really feel like we have 2 ears and one mouth for a reason. So you just need to really learn to sit back and listen to what some of these needs are and then repeat it back to them about, you know, what they had just said and and see how you can help them. So I think for me, the biggest thing that I took away was just trying to figure out how I can help them and listen to them.

22:27 - 22:34
Aaron Craddock: Well, thank you so much for your time, Melissa. I really appreciate you joining us on the Hire Truckers podcast today and look forward to staying in touch.

22:34 - 22:35
Melissa Johnson: Thank you.

22:36 - 22:48
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!