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 - 00:18
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Erin Craddock. And today, we have Sarah Kate on with us. Welcome, Sarah Kate.

00:19 - 00:20
Sarah Kate: Hey. Thanks for having me.

00:20 - 00:41
Aaron Craddock: And so Sarah Kate is currently at DB Schenker as the director of recruiting. She's been there about 6 months now. She's been in the industry around 8 years in different recruiting leadership roles. She's been at Knight, Martin, and Ozark prior to DB Schenker. And I'm super excited.

00:41 - 01:22
Aaron Craddock: We've been trying to coordinate for like a year to, have have Sarah Kate on and, you know, this industry can be challenging and we can all get really busy. But I really appreciate her carving out the time today to add value to everyone in the industry. And that's really our goal today. As we're as we've thought through and prepared for this is, you know, how can we help directors recruiting, recruiters, and executives just thrive in this industry and and enjoy it, as hard as it can be at different times. And, so that's what we're here to do today is just chat a little bit about the industry and hear a little bit of Sarah Kate's story and just add as much value to you guys as possible.

01:24 - 01:27
Aaron Craddock: So first of all, Sarah Kate, how did you get into transportation?

01:29 - 01:52
Sarah Kate: Happenstance. I was trying to get out of the pharmacy field. I was just kind of it's burnout. It was becoming, not really corporate because we're corporate here, but, just taking the the people part out of out of the the the medications and things like that. So my sister-in-law at the time said that I would be a great recruiter.

01:53 - 02:21
Sarah Kate: And I told her absolutely not. There's no way I could be a salesperson. But then, you know, after interviewing and and kind of hearing more about it, it it became a lot less sales y to me and a lot more of you're giving people a future and opportunity and, seeing what you saw in the carrier that you were with at the time. And if you believed in them, it was much easier to recruit the drivers. So I took a leap of faith.

02:21 - 02:39
Sarah Kate: And about 2 weeks in after I trained and onboarded, absolutely fell in love. And the industry, I felt like, gave that same that same sentiment back. They welcome you in like family, and then it's just it I never looked back from there.

02:39 - 02:51
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Yeah. I same way kinda stumbled in the industry. But I I don't think 2 weeks in, I was not like, oh, this is amazing. Like, I think 2 weeks in, I was like, what did I get myself into?

02:51 - 03:00
Aaron Craddock: Like, in terms of just I didn't even understand just all the lingo and, I mean, I love the people aspect of it. And for me

03:00 - 03:21
Sarah Kate: the acronyms and then the the competitive nature, being I I only have brothers. So just being competitive was was kind of in my upbringing. And then having terminal managers have expectations of you saying, like, you have to hit this number. You have to hit this number. So then it was a challenge.

03:21 - 03:52
Sarah Kate: And I'm not I'm not putting down. I'm not putting down though for will you accept this challenge. So, that was that was part of the driving force too was seeing the people who were succeeding and mimicking exactly what they were doing and trying to learn more and more and more. So that competitive nature probably was a bit of that 2 week in because you'd get these emails of who's the best every week, and you just wanted to to be that person.

03:52 - 04:10
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. What's your why, like, to like, that makes you you know, this is a hard industry, but, like, what makes you wanna get up and go to work every day, like, in in this, you know, challenging competitive industry? I mean, I know, you know, part of it, you said you enjoy the competition, but what what else is your one?

04:11 - 04:36
Sarah Kate: My family is probably the biggest piece, for me. I'm not a stay at home parent type. That's just not my not my forte. I love to work and I like to to find new ways to, figure stuff out. And so having having very successful parents myself, they kind of ingrained this in in my upbringing.

04:37 - 05:11
Sarah Kate: And so that challenge of my older brother just constantly trying to, you know, be the best that we can be. And then showing that to my kids, showing my kids what hard work and dedication can get you if you choose to go that route. I mean, if they want to be a mailman and be the best mailman there ever was, do that if that makes you happy. So for me, it was recruiting and then it was, you know, how much more can I learn? How much can I do in this space?

05:12 - 05:20
Sarah Kate: And letting them see that the hard work eventually paid off and we're afforded the things we have in life because of that.

05:20 - 05:46
Aaron Craddock: This is, this is something in the pre call we talked about a little bit that I wanna hear a little bit more about. One of the things I asked you is what questions, like, do directors recruiting ask each other? I can't remember the exact way you phrased it, but it was like, how do you stay sane or alive or whatever? Like, just this. It can be hard with the pressures, like, in a down market, like, when, you know, you if you you're having a cut budget and potentially cut teams.

05:47 - 06:02
Aaron Craddock: And then, you know, when the market's really, really competitive and you're wanting to grow your fleet, that can be, you know, equally hard. Like, there's never, like, a status quo. Like, it like, it's just smooth sailing now forever. We've got it. We figured it out.

06:02 - 06:06
Aaron Craddock: So how how do you personally, Sarah Kate, stay sane?

06:07 - 06:44
Sarah Kate: I will say the relationships I've built, whether it was coworkers that recruited alongside me, whether it was previous leadership, the friends I've made in the industry. Because when you try to talk trucking to someone not in trucking, and and I think you probably have an understanding of this, Erin, they don't get it. It's it's it's very different. And and coming from someone in medical, I said this I said something similar in the medical field, but people did understand to a t to to to us, in a sense. Whereas transportation, it's it's very different.

06:44 - 07:25
Sarah Kate: It's very unique. And so having those friends that you can call and reach out to, whether it's you had a bad day or you need help with things and the people that I've met throughout the years and built very close relationships with, I can text them, I can call them, I can, you know, reach out to them. We kinda follow each other's lives and and each other's success stories in some cases. And taking an idea and bouncing it off of them and taking a problem and bouncing it off of them, getting someone else's perspective. That has been probably one of the the biggest things to keep me sane.

07:25 - 07:51
Sarah Kate: And the other one is not taking it personal. You mentioned, you know, downsizing. I've been very fortunate to work for, carriers that I never had to lay anyone off. I never had to, you know, make a decision like that. Letting people go, I think I cried my first time, not during that process, but it it was after the fact and, just just not taking it personal and realizing it was a business decision.

07:53 - 08:28
Sarah Kate: And relaying that that to, you know, my team as well is, hey. We we have a job to do. And at the end of the day, if we we've done everything that we can, it's let go and let God at that point. So that's, that's probably my biggest ways to keep me sane is, is the relationships that I've built and keeping, keeping those close to where not only like can I reach out to them, but it's a two way street? They can reach out to me and it's not always, it's not always take, take, take.

08:28 - 08:39
Sarah Kate: It's a give, it's a take, it's a balancing it, balancing act. And we all just roll in it together. So that's that keeps me sane most days.

08:40 - 09:22
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. And that's one thing I feel like you've done really well in the industry is just networking and building those strong relationships and, you know, the focus on helping, you know, helping those people. You know, it's not just always calling to ask for something, but you should do a really good job encouraging your team and then just encouraging peers in the industry. How like, for somebody feeling stuck, let's say they've only been in the industry a year or 2, like, new to director of recruiting, like, we've had a couple on the show recently, that, you know, came they were in HR or some role, and then they just came into transportation. How do you get connected with other peers and can you trust, you know, people at other companies and similar roles?

09:22 - 09:25
Aaron Craddock: Like, what's kind of your philosophy and methodology on that?

09:26 - 09:52
Sarah Kate: 2 things on that one. 1, getting connected with people. You've gotta be willing to reach out. You gotta be willing to the conferences, I think, the the the folks that put those conferences on, they want to introduce you to your peers, and you have to be willing to to reach out to them. But the the second question that you asked, and and this is just gonna be me being real, not making friends here.

09:52 - 10:07
Sarah Kate: People can lie. People can be mean. People can be hurtful. That gut intuition, it usually doesn't lie. And you are gonna find someone who you're not their cup of tea, and they may not be your cup of tea.

10:07 - 10:42
Sarah Kate: At the end of the day, you have to choose whether you are gonna continue to extend that that kindness to them, or you just cut them out of your lives completely. But guard not really guard your heart in in transportation, but guard yourself. Because at the end of the day, you don't wanna lose your credibility because you're someone who always goes after someone else. Right? Like you want to, you wanna be that person that people can come to no matter if they don't return that favor, if that makes sense.

10:43 - 11:06
Sarah Kate: So it's it's definitely one of those networking is it's hard if you're not a people person. At some of the conferences, we've met people who they're very quiet, very shy, and it took sending them a text or giving them a a phone call, just an impromptu one for them to say, oh, like I can actually text you. Absolutely. Like text away. Because I was the same way.

11:06 - 11:34
Sarah Kate: I used to be terrified to reach out to our safety managers. And I sent one a message, I think on LinkedIn the other day and just, just told him I was like, you are a legend. You're a legend that I was terrified to go to. And so now seeing like where he's in, like, I think close to retirement age and I used to be terrified to reach out to him. And then here I go send him a message on LinkedIn to thank him for all he did years ago.

11:34 - 11:43
Sarah Kate: So just willing to be authentic and, and be personable with, with folks, it goes a long way, especially in this industry.

11:45 - 12:04
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. I think there was a season in my life where I tried to like shape shift and like be a different person in different little groups. Because I've always been friends, you know, with all different people across different groups. But sometimes I think I lost lost myself in it. Almost did too much of it in terms of, like, I just gotta be me, and be authentic.

12:04 - 12:27
Aaron Craddock: And and that's one thing, you know, I've known since since we met each other several years ago, is just you're authentic and you shoot straight. And I, yeah, I just love that. Like, just the direct. I think we need we need the directness in our industry. Just because I mean, I mean, we're dealing with, you know, a lot of dollars, a lot of people's livelihoods, like like, we and we have to get a lot of things done really quickly.

12:28 - 12:52
Aaron Craddock: And but then just, yeah, being authentic. And and I kinda learned, like, as I'm in the industry, like, there's, like, a little, you know, a little, like, we can all get along and and support each other. And but then, yeah, everybody kinda has their people that they relate most to, and and that's okay. Yeah. So, yeah, it's been it's just been cool to see, you know, thrive at at several different companies.

12:52 - 12:57
Aaron Craddock: And then I I think, you know, the sky's the limit where you are now at DB Schenker. So

12:57 - 13:02
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13:28 - 13:46
Aaron Craddock: today. We talked a little bit about this on, like, how do you survive in the industry question. But how do you maintain a work life balance? Let's say let's say even just in this season, like the last 6 months that have been a little more challenging getting, you know, getting into a new role?

13:46 - 14:31
Sarah Kate: Well, one, having a conversation with your family, your support system at home before you take on a role like this. Making sure everyone understands the changes, the, that are gonna have to happen on the phone, the home front. Our oldest daughter, I mean, she's been, she's been great, at kind of stepping in and getting them to where they do their chores before we get home. But that that part, it has been a struggle, simply because more hours go in before and after work sometimes. And so if it's getting up earlier in the morning and then logging in later in the evening, that has been a shift.

14:32 - 14:59
Sarah Kate: But again, we had the conversation prior to me taking the role of this is going to be a challenge. And then to the support system, you know, a lot of people don't want to ask for help. They don't want to ask, you know, their, their parents to, to watch the kids or anything like that. When you travel or you got out of town and I have a very good support system. And so for me, I think of it as my parents love their grandbabies.

14:59 - 15:42
Sarah Kate: So me asking them like, Hey, do you want to, they love it. They're like, I wish you would ask me more. And I'm like, you can have them when you want them just, just come get them, you know? And so having that, that ability to say, Hey, I need, I need some help picking them up, or I need some help doing this, that whatever the case may be. And, and then also getting to take your spouse on trips with you, if you're driving somewhere and they can go off and, you know, mountain bike or whatever, while you're, you're working, in the office that that has helped a bit too, because one of the trips we were able to do that and the kids stayed home and that helped a ton with that work life balance too.

15:42 - 15:56
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. That's awesome. The, yeah, I can relate to the, like, asking parents to do things. Like, I always feel like I'm inconveniencing, but, you know, my parents have given the same feedback. They're like, we want you to ask more.

15:56 - 16:08
Aaron Craddock: It's just funny how we how we work. So so one of the things we talk about is marketing trends. And so what we're seeing, like, in driver recruitment marketing, what's working in marketing right now?

16:11 - 16:37
Sarah Kate: It's funny you ask. We we had a conversation earlier today, so it's changing ever. Ever changing. I think that that should be the the theme of transportation as a whole. But especially with marketing trends, because you see, you know, speed to contact, speed to contact is, is one of the the most important things in, getting the the driver's interest level up.

16:37 - 17:31
Sarah Kate: And so AI has been a big player in in a lot of the on the vendor side of how quickly we can we can get that that person contacted. And so that's been a tool of, I think the marketing piece is, 1, how quickly you can get that marketing out there, but 2, how you're doing it. You know, years ago, if I would have mentioned that we were hiring drivers via Facebook, I think I would have been laughed out of the industry because there was, you know, no way, no how. And then as the years, you know, progress, it's, you know, we're we're converting leads from Facebook directly into our ATSs. But I don't think there's there's one key way to do it, because we are we're we're marketing to multi generations.

17:32 - 17:54
Sarah Kate: So if if you're, you know, 60 plus and you don't have a social media, how are you hearing about these companies? And then if you're marketing to the 20 to 30 and social media is your life, you're not looking at these job boards. You don't even know what these job boards are. So one, how quickly? 2, where are you reaching out to?

17:54 - 18:23
Sarah Kate: And 3, is your content organic? Is it what people want to see? You just take a may a sign that says Merry Christmas and slap your logo on it, or do you take a picture of your driver standing around a Christmas tree with their their families? Or, one of the things we did, our previous carrier, a driver, decorated their truck for Christmas and had a reef on it. And we're we're putting that driver in front of that truck.

18:23 - 18:44
Sarah Kate: That's the things that people would want to see. They want to know that they're coming somewhere where it's it's not just, like, slap your logo on it and go. It's we care about the family piece. We care about the driver piece. And so I think I think taking, you know, a combination of all those things and what you put out there is what you get back.

18:45 - 18:57
Sarah Kate: I think that's probably where we see the most success, is is just making sure that what we're putting out there represents what we do for our drivers day in and day out.

18:58 - 19:06
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. What do you see, like, just as you've experimented with different AI tools or things like that? Like, where do you see where do you see AI going?

19:07 - 19:45
Sarah Kate: I am not the biggest fan of AI. And mainly for me, it's because, you know, we always say that truck drivers can see a lie from a mile away or they can they can sense when someone's fake. And so it's very hard to create that personable experience via AI. And, and demographically as well. Do you get your AI tool to where they know it's a Southern driver who may want someone with a Southern personality, or if it's a Northern driver and no offense to my friends up north, but they want someone who's more fast paced and and direct.

19:46 - 20:50
Sarah Kate: And so I don't I don't think AI would ever be able to recreate that piece of it. I think there is there is beauty in AI and automation and and things that that make the process quicker. Because I think while speed to contact is important, time to hire is also important. And so that, that automation piece is great for that, but you can't take away that personable interaction because once the driver is on the hook, as we say, and, and you, you get them brought in, they're dealing with people in orientation, they're dealing with their driver managers, they're dealing with safety and those are all people personable things or or or parts of the industry that they're going to experience post the recruiting process. And so if if they don't feel that being loved, hugged, and held onto at the beginning, in my opinion, I think it's I I don't think you're gonna have as many people that want to come on board because they're like, and this is just a computer.

20:50 - 21:00
Sarah Kate: You sent that same message last month that you sent this month. Where is the, hey, Erin. How are you? It's just, hey, Erin. What ZIP code?

21:00 - 21:11
Sarah Kate: Right? Like, that's you see that more often instead of that personable, how are you? How's your mom in them as as you hear so often in the south?

21:12 - 21:48
Aaron Craddock: One of the things that I noticed just early on, like, partnering with you, at another fleet was that, like, just your team, like, adored you. Like, and, you know, the like, everybody I'm not saying everyone, but you just had high buy in from your team, like, in a short period of time. And and and building that, like, is it you know, can be can be a challenge and not, you know, not everyone has that. So my question around that, why is it important to not only be good at what you do, but also to be good at the people part?

21:49 - 22:12
Sarah Kate: I think people don't realize that recruiting is a one one is the the melting pot of transportation. We, we deal with each and every department, whether directly or indirectly. And then we impact each department directly and indirectly. And so just recruiting in general, you have to be a people person. I mean, that's, there's no other option out there.

22:14 - 22:47
Sarah Kate: And I love people. We used to joke about it growing up. You know, you have a people person, but when you have a group of people that are people persons, are they people persons or people people? And so that's something that's always stuck in my head is we wanna create an environment of people people that love interacting, that that love collaborating. And we may have the best of the best on our team, but if the team doesn't get along, that dynamic is not gonna work.

22:47 - 23:48
Sarah Kate: You're gonna have people climbing on top of each other to get to that top spot instead of building each other up in that pyramid to where the team sees success. And I think that's been part of, you know, how how we try to construct teams and then how we try to maintain teams is is making sure that it's it's a cohesive and a collaborative whole. Because, you know, one one bad apple spoils the bunch, and you want you want you want people to have that buy in. You want them to see that their opinions are what drives the team forward because they're the ones doing the jobs. And so that to me is important is if you have those relationships and and you've built those relationships around that, it it makes the the job a lot less harder because you're just you're just existing together, working together.

23:49 - 24:19
Sarah Kate: And so it's, it's a lot less of a job and more like a, a family, if you will. And I think you spend so many hours with these folks. It's a lot easier to jump in and help each other when you all work as a family and not as, you know, this person cares about this and this person cares about that. No, we all care about doing this together. So I think that's probably why it's the most important at least as as far as, in my eyes.

24:20 - 24:30
Aaron Craddock: That's good. So you've, you know, had a lot of different roles, like, in a short period of time, like, a lot of a lot of success, in different recruiting roles. And

24:31 - 24:32
Aaron Craddock: how have you had

24:32 - 24:37
Aaron Craddock: to grow personally and professionally to get where you are today?

24:38 - 25:15
Sarah Kate: Well, as I mentioned before, I was a bit of a firecracker as a recruiter. One of my former bosses, still great friend to this day, would would tell you I was I was his favorite pain in his side, just because I wanted to push the envelope. We've got black and white hiring criteria, but then there's that gray. And there's I like to live in the gray and and, you know, push that envelope forward. And so learning how to communicate that, without, you know, being someone who's just gonna, you know, fly off the handle when they don't get their way and saying, show this to me.

25:15 - 25:54
Sarah Kate: Show me why we can't hire this driver. Show me why we can't do these things. And then again, that, you know, that, former safety director that I messaged, via LinkedIn not too long ago, learning the safety side, with my dad being in law enforcement my whole life, I understood the accident portion a lot better, coming into recruiting because I've seen the racks. I've seen the damage that 18 wheelers can do, when operated incorrectly. And so that was, it it was taking that safety mindset and applying it to the recruiting role.

25:54 - 26:34
Sarah Kate: So I knew this is something that we can push the envelope on, and then this isn't. So that was an easier challenge, I would think, versus the how to communicate, how to not be so not really passionate, but, stubborn if you will, because I do like to, when things are black and white, I don't like when we venture off into the gray and the driver's not qualified. Right? And then the second is is the people part is easy for me, like communicating with people and making friends. That part's easy for me.

26:34 - 26:50
Sarah Kate: It's the corrective counseling that's really hard for me. I don't like getting onto people. I don't like to tell people no. I just wanted to to all be, you know, rainbows and unicorns. So that part was very hard for me.

26:50 - 27:23
Sarah Kate: And because I am such a people person, you know, letting someone go just completely destroys your heart, especially when they've done things that you've asked them to do, and it still just didn't work. It just wasn't working out. And so that was that was a big challenge for me is, and I think still is to this day, is is coaching people in a in a negative way. You just want a team of rock stars that you never have to say is doing anything wrong, and that's just not realistic. That's that's never never gonna be the case.

27:23 - 27:53
Sarah Kate: There's always gonna be room to grow. And then the last thing I think is is being willing to to learn all the things, being willing to see the safety side, being willing to see the account management side, being willing to see the dispatching side. And once I once I had the training in in all the different areas, it just clicked. And I was like, this is this is full circle recruiting. This is full circle transportation.

27:54 - 28:26
Sarah Kate: And then taking that and and applying it to how I recruited. And then also how I trained my teams is you have to see the big picture. You have to see how, what you tell this driver impacts each and every department. And so that in of itself, I think was a pivotal moment in my career is once once that moment happened, it was like, okay, I'm learning now. How do we grow?

28:27 - 28:41
Sarah Kate: So that was and if I remember correctly, it was when I was at Martin that that that officially just clicked in my head, and I was like, okay. I think I'm ready for the future.

28:41 - 28:57
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Did you all like, always want, like, a leadership role or to be in a director type position? Or how did that Absolutely not. So some people are always gunning for that. So I'm just curious, like, what so how did that how did that kinda play out?

28:58 - 29:24
Sarah Kate: So I got my first, leadership role when I was 20. It was a horrible idea for whoever, promoted me into that role at a young age. Everyone was older than me. I was the youngest one, in that department, and I knew right then and there, like I will never ever go into a leadership role again. And then fast forward into the pharmacy field, I had applied for a role just to be like a, like a, a lead.

29:25 - 29:41
Sarah Kate: And then in transportation, I was happy being a recruiter. I loved it. I loved winning. I loved, you know, striving to be at that top spot. And when I was at Martin, my boss at the time, one of the reviews was, because it didn't apply for a team lead role.

29:41 - 29:52
Sarah Kate: And I was like, I haven't been here long enough. You know? I I just don't feel like I I deserve that role. And, he was like, you're already doing it. You're already teaching.

29:52 - 30:07
Sarah Kate: You're already you're already trying to help your peers. Like, why wouldn't you? And so I left there and and went back tonight and that's that's where it started. It was, you know, a team team lead role over a small group. Then it was over the big group.

30:07 - 30:41
Sarah Kate: It was putting processes together. And that's where I learned if you want to help implement change and and make the process easier, you can only do so much at at ground level where you're doing the job. You have to eventually move up if you want to make the changes that are gonna help those people. And that's that's where it clicked for me there and just moving into those roles. And I fell in love with helping people, and teaching people something that I loved so much.

30:41 - 31:02
Sarah Kate: And seeing other recruiters that enjoy the same part of it that that I enjoy, that's, like, that's another part of my why right there. Like, just watching people see success, and love what they do. I mean, you can't ask for better. I mean, it's just it's a very fulfilling, very fulfilling role.

31:03 - 31:16
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. One thing John Maxwell says all the time is, like, leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. And so as you were talking through that, I was just trying to think about how does Sarah Kate have so much influence. And and 2 things stuck out to me.

31:16 - 31:37
Aaron Craddock: It's the just the loving, like, and caring for people, like being a people people or a people persons. And to that part, the people and then and then the job too. Like, loving trucking. Because I don't think you can fake either one of those things and have influence. Like, I think they have to be.

31:37 - 31:58
Aaron Craddock: And so they're just kind of in your DNA. Like, you're created to be in this role at least for this season and this time. And, yeah, and you just keep stepping into it even though it's uncomfortable. I actually didn't know that. Like, I just assumed it's like Sarah Kate came in and wanted to be, like, commander of all recruiting universe.

31:58 - 32:11
Sarah Kate: Not at all. And that's that's the thing is, you know, people say, like, oh, do you wanna try safety or operations? No. Thank you, actually, at all. You know, recruiting is that's my happy place.

32:11 - 32:41
Sarah Kate: Right? Like, that's that's where I like where I'd like to stay. I like doing the processing piece where where, you know, you try to figure out how to how to make things flow easier. And I think there's enough of that in the recruiting space that will at least keep me busy for, the foreseeable future. And then as as companies grow and, especially, you know, here at Schenker, we're we're looking to grow and figuring out the how to do that.

32:41 - 32:59
Sarah Kate: Right? Like, how how can we be better than we were last year? And I couldn't I I wouldn't say that I wouldn't go going back to being a recruiter. We actually sent out a blast today and we put the leads in my name so that everybody wouldn't be overwhelmed. And I sent it to one of the leads.

32:59 - 33:29
Sarah Kate: I was like, man, I miss being a recruiter because, you know, you just you just have all these people messaging about this job. And so I wouldn't say I would go back, but I think I wouldn't be as fulfilled now that I've seen what being a leader in transportation looks like. It's just, like I said, it's just it's it's it's that it's that factor of teaching people and seeing them love what I loved initially to that. I don't think I could replace that.

33:30 - 33:39
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. That's good. What should I have asked today that I didn't ask? Is there anything I should have asked so far that I've not asked?

33:40 - 33:47
Sarah Kate: I wouldn't think so. The only I was the only question was the initial one of, you know, what keeps you saying.

33:49 - 33:50
Aaron Craddock: And

33:50 - 34:12
Sarah Kate: I said relationships, like that's, that's, that's the key. You know, if there, if anyone's asked what the secret sauce is, is, is collaboration. It's that, that is the secret sauce to successful recruiting is figuring out what you're doing. If it works, keep doing it. Change it up.

34:12 - 34:49
Sarah Kate: And if it's not working, don't be afraid to reach out and say, look, I'm struggling. Help me. And like I said, when you build those relationships that aren't just a one way street that are always, you know, take, take, take, and a little bit of give that's, you're gonna see that a lot more people are are willing to jump on board, even if you're on a different ship, they're, they're jumping on board this, this lifestyle of making it to where all drivers matter and not just my company matters. It's it's every driver.

34:50 - 35:02
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Yep. End of the day, it's about the drivers that move everything around the world. I wouldn't ask about, say, around America, but we're talking globally.

35:02 - 35:22
Sarah Kate: Shuts down. Yeah. Yeah. We we see what happens when when the world shuts down even if for a brief moment. And truckers became as essential as doctors and nurses, and and and I think a lot of credit was not given.

35:22 - 35:32
Sarah Kate: I mean, we we gave them some. Right? It was, oh, finally got my toilet paper in, you know, thank a trucker, but it it was more than that. Like, it was it was your food. They were our lifeline.

35:33 - 36:03
Sarah Kate: You know, the ports were backed up. The the shelves were empty. And and I think they were the unsung hero after the dust settled. It was we went back to that normalcy, and they they just kept doing what they've always been doing. So I think that's that's a part that, you know, we have to do better as an industry and say, how can we do better to make every driver count?

36:03 - 36:13
Sarah Kate: And I mean, that's our that's our slogan here, is, you know, every driver counts, not not just some, not just the best, but but all of them.

36:15 - 36:25
Aaron Craddock: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time, Sarah Kate. I really appreciate you carving this time out, to speak to our you guys having me. And, yeah,

36:25 - 36:25
Aaron Craddock: I hope you have a

36:25 - 36:27
Aaron Craddock: great rest of your week.

36:27 - 36:28
Sarah Kate: You too. Thanks, guys.

36:28 - 36:30
Aaron Craddock: Thank you for joining us today. Our goal

36:30 - 36:31
Aaron Craddock: with the Hire Truckers podcast is

36:31 - 36:39
Aaron Craddock: 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.

36:39 - 36:40
Aaron Craddock: Have a

36:40 - 36:41
Aaron Craddock: great week.