An Owner Operator From A Broker’s Prospective

Jared Flinn: You're listening to the bulk loads podcast, your number one resource for everything bold freight trucking. Jared Flinn: Hey, guys. Jared Flynn with the Bulk Loads podcast. Got Tyler in here with me. What's going on? Well, for you YouTube viewers, you are seeing something brand new for the very first time. Yeah. A new backdrop. Tyler Allison: Yeah. We've anticipated this for a long time. But, yeah, we got a hopper trailer back here, the back end of it. The Cornhusker guys, Cornhusker 800 guys have been, so gracious enough to work with us on getting this custom made specifically for the bulklets podcast. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Thank you, Jeremy Barnhill, especially for making this a, dream come true, you know, reality. We were talking about it, and, they came together and custom fabricated Yep. The back skin of this. And this idea we had got it was last fall, some guys went out and visited Pocock Trucking. Yeah. Pocock Trucking there in his office, and they saw that he had something like this. Yep. Jared Flinn: And Joe, specifically, our podcast guru, took a picture and sent it and was like, hey. If we did this, this would be awesome. So, yeah, thank you again, Jeremy Barnhill, for putting this together. Man, we hope you like this backdrop. I am super excited about this. But, yeah, you all are now seeing this for the very first time. And, this is the conference week, so we're actually gonna pack this thing over to the conference as well. I think we're it'll be a good, photo op. Tyler Allison: Yeah. I think a lot of people are gonna just they're just gonna like to go up to it, look at it, touch it. But, yeah, I think we're gonna get some pretty cool photos in front of it. Jared Flinn: Can we get some more chicken lights on there? Tyler Allison: I'm sure we could. No. I think ship it Jared Flinn: back to Jeremy. Just, like, just layer like, lines Tyler Allison: and lines. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Yeah. Chicken lines. So, yeah, again, thank you, Cornhusker, for, providing this for us for this, man. We are super thankful and look forward to seeing you this week Tyler Allison: Yep. Jared Flinn: At the Bulk Freight Conference. Before we talk more about that, though, we always wanna do a truck feature. And, Tyler, I'll let you Tyler Allison: Yep. So this week, we got, Top Notch Transport LLC with, Justin Parentau Parentau. I think that's how you say his name. Parentau. Parentau. And he man, he's got a slick Kenworth there pulling the end dump trailer. He's out of Maryland, it looks like. And he has been a bulk list member since 2021, so a couple years now. Tyler Allison: So, Justin, we thank you for your support and just being a member with us on bulk loads. You got a slick ride. Jared Flinn: Yeah. I love the, I always love just the different patent schemes. I love all the different ones, but, man, this one's unique. It's kinda got that was that that black bottom on there? A little bit of a classic look on the on the truck. Yeah. Yeah. Good looking truck. So awesome. Jared Flinn: Well, today's podcast, I'm gonna bring on Frank Provost. He is actually a local owner operator. They he lives west of here. You'll hear the podcast away. He's actually a, father of one of our employees and father-in-law of one of our employees. Tyler Allison: Jared, this is turning into a family affair. We've got a A family Let's see. We've got a set of brothers in here, and we got, Adam and Christina, and then we got Nick and Sierra, again, husband and wife. So it's really cool to see that, you know, this is a real working family atmosphere, and it's cool that, Frank was able to come on and share his side of the story. I love this episode. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Frank has been in the industry for a while, and he has really lived and breathed all different sides of the business from company driver to owner operator, to freight broker, back to owner operator. And he really walks through kind of what he's learned through this. Yep. And this is a really good one to give you just a different perspective. I think not all, but there has there are people in this industry, they've mainly mainly they've only been an owner operator or mainly only been a broker or mainly they've been a shipper, but haven't done all all of them or a combination of both. So I think this is gonna be a, give you just a little bit different perspective, about how this, about how this can translate both and, you know, make it, I guess, more well rounded more than anything. Tyler Allison: I thought it was, it was really funny whenever he was talking about, like, he he was gonna switch over from trucking to go into the brokerage side, Jared Flinn: and he was Tyler Allison: like, dude, I'm gonna be the best broker out there. Like, I'm gonna be for the carrier. I'm gonna give him the best rate possible. You know, I'm gonna make a low margin. And then he explains that's not how, you know, it works once he actually got into it. So I won't spoil it, but it it's really cool to hear both perspectives on that. Jared Flinn: Yeah. So with that said, here is my conversation with Frank Provost. Frank, thanks for coming on the Bolt Close Podcast. Frank Provost: Thanks for having me. Jared Flinn: I didn't realize until we met a little bit ago, but, Nick, our head of operations, is actually your son-in-law. And I don't know why Nick didn't even tell me that, that, you guys you know, that your daughter what's your daughter now works for us, Sierra, as well. But, thanks for coming in and, being on the show. Frank Provost: Well, I appreciate you having me. Nick's a great guy. I met him. Oh, goodness. I can't even remember when I met him. It seems like a couple years ago, and time flies when you get older. So excuse me. Sierra, she comes from a a wide verse of different things. Frank Provost: So she's a good girl, hard worker, and, I think she'll do you good. Yeah. Jared Flinn: Well, we're so blessed to have your daughter, Sierra, working with us. Sierra's, on our insurance side. She's one of our back end CSRs. And then if you don't know, Nick Matheny is our director of operations, head of our kinda team, employee development. So a lot of times, if you're calling in with a complaint, he's usually the guy on the front lines to handle those, but most of our customer service. But, Nick put me in contact with Frank. Frank, is an owner operator, but more than that, you've worked on all sides of the table, and that's what we're gonna dissect today, really little about your story, but really gonna pull out in this episode. You know, sometimes people think that, we're trying to get everybody to be, you know, from an owner operator all to a big time fleet, and that's not the goal at all. Jared Flinn: And that's what Frank's gonna unpack today, but really talking about, you know, relationships, being an owner operator, working as a broker as well, and kind of the plus and minuses and really how all this works together in the community of trucking. But to kinda set the stage, Frank, talk about how you got into trucking, from the very beginning. How long ago was that? Frank Provost: Oh, dear Lord. I was in my early twenties. I'm now almost 50. You know, I give a little little depth there. Jared Flinn: Did you find trucking or did trucking find you? Frank Provost: I found trucking and it was basically because I was at a dead end job. And long or short of it, even though you're working 7 days a week or whatnot, knowing I'm getting paid at that time, it was going for, I think, about 15¢ a mile as a company driver. You just put in the work and it was 3 times as much of my paycheck is what I was making. So that's kind of how I went in and I talked to my father-in-law. And he was living in Missouri here, and I was in Arkansas at the time. And he said, well, why don't you go over to IWX? And so at that time, you know, they were up and coming, you know, got a lot bigger from what their history was. I went over there and passed the driving test, and away she went. Drove team for, oh, gosh, 3, 4 years. Frank Provost: Got in the office, did office work on different several different levels. And here we are today. I tried the lease operator, with my own setup. I've bought the lease program. I actually bought it, which a lot of guys, you know, it's a dead end thing. You're just a high priced company driver, you know, with all the other responsibilities. Jared Flinn: Which we just talked about on the previous podcast. Right. Frank Provost: Yeah. And it's like, why do you do that? But anyway, I succeeded and, bought the truck. And then here I am, I decided to start my own company and, we're running forward as much as we can. We're almost at the 2 year mark. That's awesome. We're on our own MC. Jared Flinn: Well, Well, I'm gonna kinda go back and then we'll kinda maybe dance back and forth, but, it's interesting you said that you were doing something else, but trucking, you know, was the the the pay was a little bit more there. We tend to find more people, you know, they graduate high school wherever they don't go right into trucking unless you're generational. But like so many people that I found over the years, they were usually in one trade or industry, and that industry either closed or something happened, but there was always an opportunity in trucking. And then so they got in trucking and usually stay there. It almost sounds like that's Frank Provost: that's kind of what happened. You start out in it and it's all the bigger paychecks or it's whatever fantasy you decide to go ahead and put forth. And I stayed in it because it's a bigger paychecks. And once you go back to something else, it seems like you got to start off the bottom because you've already committed so much and lost so much at the same time. So you just kind of stay in what you're doing. You found your niche, so to speak. Yeah. Whether you want it or not. Frank Provost: So you Jared Flinn: got on with IBX? IWX. Oh, IWX. I'm sorry. IBX. Frank Provost: Yep. Jared Flinn: And just for those, though, that don't know, and, apparently, I don't, talk about what that company does. What how big are they? What do they haul? Or at that time, what were they doing? Frank Provost: At that time, IWX, Indiana Western Express, they were hauling produce and, they were just getting in when I got there with, Walmart's accounts. Okay. They already had Kroger accounts, Safeway accounts, so forth, so on. And they're getting away from a lot of the brokered stuff. And then they just start building trucks. At that time, I think they only had 300 trucks when I got in the office. And they're based where? Springfield, Missouri. Okay. Jared Flinn: Right here. Frank Provost: Yep. And, right off Kearny, near guard. But in any case, then they started getting into HAZMAT. And the last I heard before, they were bought out by, I think it's WFX. They were really into hazmat transporting. They still got the relays that go back and forth to Springfield and Kingman, Arizona, over in Edinburg, Indiana. And that was a that was a good thing for a lot of people because the relays, you didn't have to really commit to anything other than a trip to a terminal back from a terminal. And so, yeah. Frank Provost: And then I guess now they do background checks, passports, so forth, licensing or something or other. Jared Flinn: So when you got hired on there, you were actually a team driver? Frank Provost: I was a team driver. Yes. Talk about that Jared Flinn: a little bit. That's something we don't ever talk about, which is it's not really common in bulk, trucking Yeah. As it is in some of these others, but really kind of break that down even for somebody that has no idea what that is. Frank Provost: 2 people to a truck, everything that you pretty much need, clothes, hygiene products, things to go with pastimes and whatnot, and you guys take turns driving. With the regulations now, I guess it's about the same as what they used to be. But when the truck stops, it's either for fuel or you're switching drivers. Sometimes there's a little bit of lag in there. You go take a shower or whatnot, but that truck's always running. Jared Flinn: And And the benefit of that, from what I've always heard, I mean, a lot of times I know a good friend of mine, he works for Gilster, over in Illinois, and they run all teams. But I think it a lot depends on the company and what product you're moving, but, I mean, you got that, basically that fixed asset, but by keeping it moving, you know, with 2 drivers, you're actually, you know, getting more productivity out of that asset. You know, by having revenue out Frank Provost: of it because of timeframes. Yeah. You got less timeframes for transit or or whatnot. And a lot of times we go ahead, we'd pick up in in California in produce season. And then from there, we could be in Detroit because that was one of the main places, literally in a day and a half, Jared Flinn: one of Frank Provost: the days. And then we deliver, and then we go on again. The great thing about IWXO, honestly was it really didn't matter how you cut it. You were always home pretty much a day and a half, 2 days a week, period. Oh, nice. So your team driver, your solo really didn't matter, because it's a main thoroughfare. 44 is the main thoroughfare for east and west coast for the most part. Yeah. Frank Provost: Unless you, you know, you go down to Texas or whatnot, which is, you know, to each their own. But that's why we got home so much, and that's why I stayed there for 7 years. Nice. So I Jared Flinn: was gonna say with a team driver, you probably get to know somebody really well too. Frank Provost: So Or you get to know ins and outs of things you didn't wanna know. Jared Flinn: Hey. I mean, usually, you're literally sharing a bunk with a person. I mean, when he's in there when you're not, and you're in there when he's not. So Frank Provost: You think because they got 2 beds, you can go ahead and have your own bed and stuff. Well, you got safety stuff there that you can't do anything unless you have cargo netting and I still don't even think it's safe, but you're always on that bottom bunk. Okay. So they got their stuff. And if they're the boss, they think they have claims over it. So all your stuff is secondary. You know, they got the nice pretty bed. Then when it's your time to sleep, you got to roll out quilt or sleeping bag or something. Frank Provost: And then you can, you know, it's, Interesting. So you Jared Flinn: were there how long before you, and then what did you switch into? Frank Provost: I was there for about 7 years. Team drove for, like I said, 3, 4, 2, 3. I don't know. A couple of years there. And then I went into the office. I started out just doing kind of, like, appointments and stuff, just the meaning meaningless tasks, so to speak, to get trained. Jared Flinn: Now, was that something I want to ask? Because like I said, was that something that they saw in you that they wanna promote you or you asked to be in, or how did that even happen? Because that that sounds like something that would be an upgrade for someone to wanna go in and do. Frank Provost: You know, the funny thing about that is is, being a new truck driver and you just kind of went with the pole, you know, went with the punches and whatnot, had the big radio and so forth. So, I was speeding a lot. I got a lot of tickets. So how this happened was, I came home one day and the wife mentioned some different things. And so I called the office and, I said, hey. You guys look for anybody in the office? Because they usually go and promote or however you want to look at it from the driver because they got more experience, you know, how things actually work. Yeah. And they said, yeah. Frank Provost: And then the day later, I got a disqualification notice in the mail. I didn't have a license anymore. So that's kinda how that worked out. And then I worked in there. Like I said, I did I did produce. I load the trucks. It wasn't just load the trucks. It was know how much your pallet weighs, know how much each case of peppers, broccoli with ice, so forth and so on, how much you could stick on a pallet, how to load the trailer, because the drivers, they didn't load the trailers. Frank Provost: We told them how to load the trailers. You know, time constraints, appointments. Hey, something ain't getting loaded here. Can you change it over here? And then, you know, get some trucks loaded as fast as possible. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Your job is really to make it as easy as possible so that driver is not going to have any hiccups. Yeah. Frank Provost: Exactly. And that truck's running soon. It's rolling. Because time is of the essence. It's money. Yeah. And, from there I went to they had everything broke up in sections of the, of, you know, the states. So I went from produce up in Salinas, down to the valley, down to Nogales. Frank Provost: And then I went up and I started dispatching trucks for the Northwest, apples, pears, and so forth and so on. Then they moved me over to what they called the relay board. And like I said, it's just terminal, terminal. But that's a feat in itself because you're trying to get 2 people that may or may not know each other get along. And there's just there's just a lot of drama that you gotta try to push to the side to get the job done, you know, and then I did a little bit of driver manager and drove for a little bit more, you know, so I did that aspect for a little bit before I got into anything else. Jared Flinn: You had a stint. You were saying that you did go work for a brokerage too, Genpro. Frank Provost: Yes. Jared Flinn: Which some people probably know, but they're based just south here in Nixa and, probably one of the largest produce brokerages. Right? Am I? Frank Provost: They're they're pretty large, honestly. I'd say at least in the top 15, I mean, with as much as they run. They're based out in New Jersey, Rutherford, New Jersey. And a guy named Robbie Goldstein owns a company, and he I think he's a second or third generation owner of that company. Jared Flinn: Mhmm. Frank Provost: They got a lot of stuff to go to the Bronx. And then this office out at Nixa, it was started up back in 08, I believe. Yeah. Because that's that's about the time I started with them. And it just so happened that the guy that started I used to work for at IWX. Uh-oh. He was one of the bosses at IWX as well. Jared Flinn: Oh, okay. Frank Provost: Yeah. So, I worked for him for about 4 years and then just kinda pitter pattered on different things and worked for a couple of different people. And here we are today. And then, you know, I mean Jared Flinn: I want you to talk about that because, you know, not all drivers go into brokerages, brokerages as drivers, but I mean, you've kind of lived both sides of that, but talk about maybe the experience that it gave you when you were on the brokerage side. And did you view the brokerage any different? You know, there obviously we know this industry that, you know, there could be tension sometimes and Yeah. And stereotypes Frank Provost: Yes. Jared Flinn: Of brokerages. But, yeah, talk about when you went into that role, kind of how that changed or how, how that was different. Frank Provost: It was different to the point of, I was already, a lease owner operator that was leased to a company. And I saw at that time, and this was a couple of years prior to that, how it seemed like you were quoted a certain mile, you know, rate per mile for whatever it is you were going to go ahead and do, but it would never go ahead and tally out at the end of the week, no matter what you did, no matter how you haggled. So when I went into brokerage, I thought, I'm going to help the driver. You know, I'm going to do everything I can to help the guy trying to, you know, do this this commerce stuff in America because it relies on 60 to 70 percent of owner operators, you know, small ones Mhmm. To go ahead and move the freighter. Just isn't the Warners or the Thrifts. It's us little guys. I Jared Flinn: say that all the time. Right. Owner operators make up the way the majority Frank Provost: Exactly. In the industry. Jared Flinn: Almost 90%. Frank Provost: Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot. And, they're really hard on the guys too. It really doesn't matter what asset. You can have our reduction rather really hard. But going back to the question, I was going to help the guys out. So you had it Jared Flinn: in your mind like, hey, I lived and breathe it. I'm going to sit on this side table and actually do what nobody's ever done before. Frank Provost: Right. And it's if there's a 1,000 mile haul and it's paying $3,000, I'm gonna give every dollar I can to that while trying to make, you know, whatever margin that is that's been told to me. That's that's really not how Jared Flinn: you do it. Frank Provost: We're just going to nip that in, but that's not how you do it, because we're all here on a two way street. Without the middleman, which is a broker, unless you're really lucky, you're not going to find a shipper, you know, as far as an over the road type thing. If you're into grain or something, you can always go ahead and, you know, get your get your niche in a lot easier, because I have done grain. Yep. So your middleman is your broker because they have all the contacts, they have the freight agents, and they have the customers. So how you go ahead and work this is say, you know, fuels at such and such. We'll call it $3 a gallon even though it's not. Well, the you're going to need x number amount of dollars to run this 500 mile load. Frank Provost: Well, in your mind, you're already thinking I need $4 a mile because I'm an owner operator and I got this really nice truck. That's not really the case because you're going to need that broker down the road, and you're not going to try to get all your money in that one load because you're gonna go broke before you go broke. Jared Flinn: What do you mean by that? Well, hey, guys. I'm in the middle of this book. It's called the Business Secrets from the Bible by Rabbi Daniel Lupin. And what I found fascinating is he talks about the Jewish culture and many of y'all know the Jewish culture, in in a lot of eyes that they're very successful business wise. He breaks down some of the secrets, but one of the secrets he breaks down is in the Jewish culture, they focus and specialize in what they're good at, and they actually, subcontract or hire out what they're not good at. A perfect example is many Jewish people, they don't work on their own cars according to rabbi Daniel Lupin. He said that they hire a mechanic for that because they can spend more time focusing on their traits and what they're good at, to make money. And he goes he says the same about mowing grass and some of these others. Jared Flinn: And, again, the principle of it is, are you focused on doing what you're good at, and your god given trades and more importantly, what what's gonna grow your business. So my encouragement to you today is, you know, focus on what you can be good at and subcontract those other tasks that you cannot, be good at. You know, our services, we pride ourselves on focusing on the skills letting owner operators and small business focus on what they're doing growing their business. So we can handle everything from getting truckers paid quicker, getting their insurance, helping them find loads, and now permitting. So, again, this isn't a plug for our business itself, but in your business, figure out what you can specialize in, what you're good at, and maybe let go of those things or tasks that you're not good at to grow your business. So hope you like this tip. God bless. Frank Provost: You need to, you need to go ahead and be profitable. Yep. But you can't go ahead and get your 4 or $5 a mile off that one load. It's not gonna happen. Nobody's gonna hire you because in a sense, that's what you're doing when you get a brokered load, you get hired. So you have to have a two way street. You have to kinda know what the rates are anyway or what you're doing. So when you go ahead and and take this load, yes, you may want that, that money, but you need to look at the overall picture of the week on how this is going to play out, what areas you're going to run-in, what kind of freight you can get out of there, and you need to kind of balance it. Frank Provost: Because the brokers are gonna tell you it's, we'll say going to Georgia, it's only a dollar 10 to come back out for a broker truck coming back to Southwest Missouri. And in your mind, that's not a fact. It should be just about the same as what you went down there for, because fuel is the same. Yep. I've heard it a thousand times. So you try to even it out. So that way you come in with these 2 loads. You're going to come in with, say, your your, operating costs are going to be 2.15 a mile. Frank Provost: Well, anything above that is your profit. So you're gonna try to come out as high as you can based upon that bottom number you need to operate. So we're going to call it 2.80 a mile, you know, for the whole turn. So with that being said, it's a, it's a working relationship that you need to develop with these brokers. And these brokers also have to have a working, relationship with you as well and not trying to drain you of all your money. So I think I got off course here. Jared Flinn: No, no, you're hitting it right on the head. And I think, man, probably everybody listening to this is now gonna be really glued in. But what you're saying is, first off, when you took that role again, I hear I hear what you're saying. Like, I'm gonna give every dollar I can to that owner operator. Right. But what I also heard is, like, it's not possible because you you can't get that $4. Otherwise, you as the broker aren't gonna be moving that load either. Frank Provost: Right. Exactly. You're gonna be out of business. That lane's gonna go to somebody else. And 9 times out of 10, it's gonna be cheaper. So just because the brokers do have, we'll say the pivot point of all the money. Yeah. Jared Flinn: The negotiating power, I guess, in a way. I'm not saying that carriers don't, but like, they're the ones sitting there figuring out the market, you know, on both ends from the shipper to the carrier. Frank Provost: Yeah, exactly. Well, the brokers will say, we'll go back to Atlanta, back to Southwest Missouri. And they're pushing that load for a dollar 10 a mile. Well, in all reality, they probably only got about a dollar 30 in there, if you're lucky. Now that's 20¢ on profit, you know, you know, based upon miles and so forth, but they don't have a lot of money in that particular lane either. And then they have to worry about margins for their side for businesses. So when I would go in there, I would go ahead and look at the lane. I would go ahead and look at how many loads because I had access at that time. Frank Provost: And based upon what they the bosses wanted, I would go ahead and start out just a little bit below that and then see. Because like I said, the profit margin isn't always well, I think it used to be like 15%. That's what they were allowed. Let's see. Jared Flinn: You said they were allowed. I think Frank Provost: I heard, and I may be wrong on this, so, but I heard there was like a governing thing, just like realtors only get like 11% or something along that line. But it's not every sale that one sale could be 7%. Jared Flinn: Well, this is Frank Provost: the same way in brokerage. One sale or one load could be 7%, and the next one could be 20. So it all averages out, and that's what you need to worry about, your average Mhmm. While servicing customers, whether it's you as a carrier servicing a broker or a broker servicing the shipper. It's it's all it's all averages, and it needs to be a two way street. So I would work from that point, find out who the good guys are and then go either at the rate that they want it, which I try not to. I used to get in trouble quite a bit. Go a little bit above because if you, if you got a little bit above on your selling it to the carrier, you'd always get a better guy. Frank Provost: Right. And so it's just a working relationship. I don't know if I answered the question. Jared Flinn: No, I think you answered it right. And I think most people understand that, but maybe for that listener out there that is trying to understand, maybe they're new to the industry and don't understand why the rate out of, again, Atlanta coming to Southern Missouri is a buck 10, you know, versus a headhaul going down there at either 3.50 or Right. Frank Provost: You're right. I should have hit on that, for that particular lane. And there's hotspots in America. Anywhere in Florida, there's a lot of freight going down there. Well, there might be freight coming out. It might be tied up by brokers. It might be tied up in other realms, but it's not gonna be as much freight as how many trucks there are. So it's supply and demand. Frank Provost: So if you got a lot of people wanting this one thing, we'll say Elmo on eBay. Can't find it. All of a sudden, there's a 1,000 people want this Elmo, and you only got 5. Who's going to pay the most? That's right. Okay. Just like who's going to go cheapest to get a load. I was Jared Flinn: gonna say it's the exact opposite. Right. If you only got 5 of these down there and everybody wants Frank Provost: it, Jared Flinn: it's going to be a race down to get it done. Frank Provost: Exactly. How cheap do you want to run? And there's Florida, there's Georgia, there's, certain parts in Texas. You know, you got New York, anything off the east coast, going back to the Midwest, all the way to the West Coast. It's cheap because there's a lot of trucks. It's just the way the business is. Jared Flinn: Talk about when you were, especially at the brokerage GenPro and working with these drivers, because a lot of times, you know, you'd find an owner operator and they'd pretty much be loyal to you. Right? Frank Provost: Yes. Jared Flinn: I mean, you're running that guy every day, and I'd like what you said earlier. Like, you gotta be thinking, you know, you're weak planning and all that, and that's where that broker is in there figuring all that out. So you as the owner operator hopefully aren't worried about, hey, if I can get out in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm gonna be able to get out of there. You know, is broker gonna take care of me and get me out of there? Frank Provost: Right. Jared Flinn: Did you ever I mean, even as a broker, I guess maybe answer that a little bit. Frank Provost: I wish I could call myself a broker, but I think that'd be addressing it incorrectly. My official title was what you see a lot now, logistics coordinator. Yep. I worked underneath the broker. I sold all the load. I sold a lot of loads to owner operators and companies. Jared Flinn: Okay. Frank Provost: So that way it doesn't get confusing. I was a broker because I wasn't. Jared Flinn: Yeah. We'll talk about so, I mean, that was your stint at at at GenPro. What happened after that? Frank Provost: I dispatched for a couple places. They just want me to dispatch their trucks to get loads for them. So I worked the other side as a carrier to get some loads for them at the best profitable rates you could. I'd also I'd work under somebody else, and I would broker loads, you know, whatever I could and the best carrier with the best price that they would be happy with. And, at that time, I was, brokering loads for Meijer's, Spartan Foods. And a lot of it came out of McAllen, Texas and so forth. I do that and that's majority of what I did till I just didn't anymore. I ended up going to the oil field after that and started running tanker truck. Jared Flinn: Oh, nice. Frank Provost: And did that for a couple years and did grain. Grain was great, honestly. I'm not sure what the rates are with Grain as far as now, but as far as the people Yep. They're just a good group of guys at the co ops. Yep. You know, at the, for the most part of the fields, you can have that cantankerous one here and there. But I actually really miss hauling grain just because of the people. Jared Flinn: Well, I think, and, honestly that it's, what's always drawn me into this industry. I grew up in ag, so, but even just working in the industry, I always I'm biased to say that, man, the people you work with in this industry just to seem they're all is they're all salt of the earth type people, I think, that I that you deal with. And so I've always been biased about promoting it. But I think also sometimes that can create more people wanting to get into it and actually having more people in grain. Yeah. And that could have a negative consequence on Yeah. On the supply I mean, on the truck side. Frank, I want you to talk about, for our listeners, again, like the when you talk about these different roles and relationships, and you can be on all sides, but how did you make sure and represent yourself, whether you were an owner operator working for a broker, or you were on the broker side working for, you know, serving an owner operator, making sure that you had those relationships within good standing. Jared Flinn: But can again, I guess what I wanna get across here, you know, when we're looking, we know the market's up and down and up and down, Frank Provost: and currently sideways. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Sideways. And currently, it's still pretty pretty rocky for a lot of people out there. But we know that it if you've been in this for any amount of time, it's gonna rebound back up. Frank Provost: Yeah. Jared Flinn: But how can you be, you know, I guess, how can you be planting those seeds today so when it does go back up, you're reaping the rewards? Frank Provost: Professionalism. Being, being courteous and not so much, it is, but it isn't. When you go ahead and take a job, it's just like anything. It's like when you tell your wife you're gonna go ahead and mow the grass or you're gonna take the trash out. It's just like when you take a load, I'm going to take this load and do everything I can within reason to do it correctly, fairly, safely, and most professionally for you. Because that in turn does me. Because once I establish that, I don't have to worry about yeah. I'd say you do a couple loads. Frank Provost: You don't have to worry about that later because now you've started to establish where you're a solid guy, you're a solid carrier. And if there's anything communication is just vital to everything. It doesn't matter how many apps or how many GPSs. Talking to that person is what really matters. And the saying goes is if I was brokering a, you know, a load to a guy. I'm here for you. You're doing me a service, and I'm gonna do everything I can once we agree to make this as easy as a go as, you know, we possibly can. Yeah. Frank Provost: And that's how everything works. It's it's character. Honestly, that's all Jared Flinn: it is. When we were at, the Mid America Truck Show back in March, we had an owner operator actually that we run an Airbnb. And one night, his client of ours, he come by and sat with us. We were watching March March Madness and having a cocktail. Yeah. But he started talking about running for these certain brokers and how this broker made him mad because they did this, and he found out that this broker was paying somebody else a higher rate on the same lane. But he went down this whole But, anyways, I I say all that, the next day, I was talking with a colleague about that conversation that he was talking about, and he said, Jared. He goes, what I hear more than anything is, like, a lot of these owner operators, they just wanna be heard, and they they wanna make sure that, you know, they're being valued. Jared Flinn: They wanna make sure that they're they're being valued as, the service that they're delivering, you know, from the brokers. And again, that sounds simple, but it makes sense. Like, this guy, he was just he was upset because and it didn't really have to do with the rate. It had to deal with that he felt like he was being taken advantage of. And I think that's what I hear a lot in the industry, and it was right reason. Like, hey. If am I being taken advantage by this rate that I think is not fair or lower than I expected? Or is somebody else getting a better rate or better treatment than me? And I think I mean, we think about this all in life. It's like having a you know, if your kid's like, what do you do here? You're playing favorites with him and not me, or you you like him better than me. Jared Flinn: It's like, no. That's not the case. But talk about that in the industry. How do we do a better job maybe on both sides if you're, you know, a broker given a low debt carrier or even an owner operator, making sure that you're not thinking of being treated unfairly. Frank Provost: The thing I do both as a carrier and when I work for a broker is I have a number stuck in my head, and a lot of this boils down to this. They're going to ask you, what do you think if they don't go ahead and just put it out there? Or you're going to, depending upon the bureau there on the other side of the table, you're gonna ask the carrier, what do you think? And it all boils down to what you agreed to, period. And it's not just a one stop. I'm going to call in, get this load. Oh, we're doing it for $500. And then I find out Joe Schmoe did it for $800. I understand your frustration, but that's when you go ahead and take into account what did I do wrong. And for the simple reason, a lot of it has to do with research and your bottom dollar. Frank Provost: Of course, there'll be times, you know, people are in a pinch and the broker, you just wanna for lack of a better description, you just wanna rape their brokers because that's what they've done to the carriers. So what I try to do is I'll put that out there in conversation first. You know, if, say, this load's worth $800 that we're talking about, I'll go ahead and put it in a conversation and I'll start a whole spiel about this is this lane, this is this lane, your rate's probably about here as far as what you guys with your shipper. And I'm not going to be off at 50 to a $100 honestly, on, on some stuff. And I'm going to go ahead and explain to them, Hey, we're a working relationship. I may be, you know, a new guy here. I may be the first time you ever talked to me, but this is what you get. And I just kind of stamp it all out. Frank Provost: I try to ask all the questions because of my mistakes in the past. I'm not putting this on all the carriers, and I know they want to be heard just like I want to be heard. They want to be recognized for the job that they do. That comes in time. You have to make a so called brand for yourself. So it's like when I go ahead and call, we'll say Mega Corp up, hey, this is Frank. Hey, Frank, what's going on? You know, and it's because I've established that rapport. I've established that communication. Frank Provost: I've required that communication. You know? And the rest of it, I just put out there if if I have any qualms about it. They're either going to get mad or they're not. You're either going to take the load or you're not. You'll find something better down the road. And maybe that's not somebody you want to be associated with anyway. Yeah. You're Jared Flinn: not gonna make everyone happy. Frank Provost: No. You're not. And you're just gonna do the job you can, and it comes in time. I got, like I said, several brokers that, you know, just know me by name, by voice. I had carriers the same way. I got a state patrol that DOTs me down in Alabama. He sees a truck. Hey. Frank Provost: How you doing, Frank? You know, it's we're all here to play a part, and some of us have bigger attitude problems than the rest, but we all try to get along, and that's how you get heard. Yeah. Honestly, it throw in we're all mad about something, more often than not, especially in this day and age. But you need to go ahead and put it in good value, and I'm probably not doing it. So, you know, I'm I'm talking to my kids right now. You gotta have a concise idea. You gotta have a middle, a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it all has to make sense. And that's how you're heard. Frank Provost: Not raging, not throwing fits. That's how it is. Yeah. And that's how actually how it should be in a lot of different things in life, not just trucking. Jared Flinn: Yeah. That's good. When I kinda land the plane here, a couple more questions. You know, you wore many different hats over your career. Yeah. I never Frank Provost: realized you're crooked, but I tried to. Jared Flinn: I like heavy I I love that you're in here today, and, you're still an owner operator today running a a reefer. Talk about the mindset. Have you ever had, have have there ever been thoughts of growing into a fleet size or have you always enjoyed just being having that owner operator, which there's not a right or wrong to this answer. I just like, has it been have you been better? Has it been better for you just to be I should say, Jess, as an owner operator versus having 5, 6, 10 trucks? Frank Provost: I always wanted to get bigger. Money, of course, always is derivative of why you do anything. But my big thing was, is I wanted to start something, one for my family, so you could have that that guarantee that they're alright. You know, so you're providing something that they can go ahead and and stem from. And then I wanna do it because of here we go with the owner operator stuff, want to be heard, to where I thought I was treated unfairly or whatever. I got my pride hurt. So I was gonna go ahead and try to hit on those topics and try to create an atmosphere for lease operators, owner operators, whatever the case may be, company drivers. Yeah. Frank Provost: And that's what I wanted to do. And if I wanted to pay an outrageous rate for Missouri on insurance, I could have already done it. I just I chose not to. I chose to wait. But I just wanted to create a better atmosphere and actually hear what the guys are, you know, complain about and try to make it better for them. Because whatever hat I was wearing at the time, it doesn't matter. It doesn't you know, I was always trying to be 150% for the company because they're employing me. They saw something in me. Frank Provost: That's why they gave me a job. But I also wanted to be a 150% on whoever I was servicing, whether it be a company driver, whether it be a carrier, whether it be me as a carrier for the broker, I just I wanted to always give it because it was always taught to me, if you're not given a 150%, why'd you get up? And that's how it should be for everything you do in life. So coming back to the question, I wanted to give 150% and try to create that atmosphere where stability, you can come in and talk about, hey, I got this problem. Hey, my records, or hey, my benefits or my runs, and not have a big confrontation, get it fixed for whatever they wanted, which I think a lot of people actually try to do that too. They come with they want a bigger idea to take place, to take care of people. They wanna help people. Honestly, I know it's just a job and you you got the other benefits to it. I just wanted to do my part and help. Frank Provost: It's honestly what it boils down to. Jared Flinn: Yeah. I love that. How can we do better as an industry in trucking in general? Frank Provost: You know, that that's a really hard question. And the first thing I'm gonna come up with is rates because of the site I'm on. I understand there's supply and demand. I really do. But there needs to be some more consistency, and it's not on the lower end. Because like I said, this is a two way street, and your middleman needs to make money, your shipper needs to make money, and the carrier needs to make money. Well, at the end of the day, and here comes a personal owner operator complain, the owner operator is the last person to get any money. And here, you got the shipper that goes to the broker. Frank Provost: There's a cut because the freight agent's getting 3%, 3 to 5%. 6%. And so they're getting a cut off that. So now the broker is trying to go ahead and get in that ballgame to go where he can make money anywhere from 1% to 15% on the average of all their loads. And then you got the trucker. Well, now you got well, that's the leftovers of what this guy's trying to you know, the broker is trying to go ahead and make his profit. Now you've got the leftovers of this and he's trying to make stuff. Well, then of all the other ins and outs, because the trucker is just driving traffic, mandatory rest breaks that can't come out of the sleeper, you can't do anything else officially, Mhmm. Frank Provost: But now you got all these other services. Here, let me go ahead and do your IFNA because you haven't taken the time to go ahead and figure it out. Let me do your permits. Okay. Well, because you've again, and I'm I'm at fault for this too. It's just stuff to make it easier to flow, to keep things correct. Because on the other end of the driving, if you don't have anybody else in your solo, you're doing the maintenance yourself. You don't have a lot of time, and then you got to make sure the maintenance is right. Frank Provost: Yeah. And you know, from there. So, and everybody's got their hand out. Now for instance, I should be able to walk into anywhere as a paying customer and get something fixed. Well, that's not the case. It's just like a a car dealership. You have to go ahead and schedule an appointment. Okay. Frank Provost: Well, they schedule the appointment, and now it's a week later before that appointment's actually been honored even though it's a week prior. Well, you've already been gauged down 3 days, and now you've got double the time off. You're not doing anything. You're just throwing money out the window to pay for the other stuff to keep everything rocking. And this is a true story. I'm waiting on it right now. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Because you guys currently, as we're recording this, I think Nick said that, that your truck's down or you have some Frank Provost: My trailer's in the shop. Oh, your trailer. Okay. It was supposed to be worked on on Tuesday. I drove back I drove by on Friday because I wanted to see. I want to be involved with what takes place. So further down the road, I don't know what happens. And whether I fix her myself is neither here nor there. Frank Provost: I just want to know how the workings of it. Friday, it was sitting out in the parking lot. Nothing had been touched. And what seemed funnier is I called before showing up. Hey, how's everything going? You know, just Mr. Chipper. Yeah. Because that professionalism. Frank Provost: Oh, everything's great. Yep. It'll be next week. Okay. Why? Oh, well, he had to pull a guy off. You always get that. And between the time lags on everything, people with their hands out in everything, the fines for everything, Carr cuts you off, you get the fine because you're professional. Yeah. Frank Provost: So I can see part of this, and I can't see a lot of this. But that's my complaint as an owner operator on how to get better kinda. Jared Flinn: So almost, I mean, maybe just, you know, we don't want more regulations, but better transparency on? Frank Provost: I can see the transparency. Yes. Because you do have those and this goes back to lanes, you know, that And I Jared Flinn: guess maybe I think about this, I'm just throwing Frank Provost: a, Jared Flinn: a curveball out there, but just, like, making sure that there's not gouging, you know, you know, like fuel stations can get in trouble if they price gouge, Frank Provost: you know. If they get caught. Jared Flinn: Yeah. If they get caught, jam prices up. I mean, same thing with, you don't want somebody, you know, taking a massive cut out of a load that, you know, if they can get by with it, you know, like there's gotta be maybe some transparency that, hey, just because they can do it doesn't mean they should. Frank Provost: No, I agree. And that's where the rest comes in with greed and all your moral problems. But yes, there needs to be more transparency to a degree to where it's it's a it's a better level playing field. Now I understand capitalism, and I understand the bidding wars, and this is how you make money and the side gigs. I get it all. But as far as just this certain, this certain field that we're dealing with, load boards, brokers, carriers, there has to be something that's a little bit better. And I'm not sure what it is, but throw more regulations on as they do, that's not gonna work. You need to enforce the ones you got. Frank Provost: Yeah. I mean, you really do. It's like the brokers decided to start because fraud all of a sudden this year came into it to be a real problem. I don't know. It's some epiphany. I'm not sure what, because it was a problem back in the day. It's always been a problem since they deregulated. But in any case, moving on. Frank Provost: Yeah. Well, now they just made it harder. But, more thorough, I kind of got it after it happened. A new guy, like, with a new MC couldn't just go out and just get any load. It came to a point where you'd have some go ahead and take a chance on you. And then others would say, well, you need a DOT inspection. And then it went from 1 DOT inspection to 2, to 3. And now the latest one that I've heard is I called up for a load the other day, and the guy says, well, you don't have 5 trucks. Frank Provost: What's 5 trucks got to do with going on 2 years on an active MC with no freight guard reports? Oh, we gotta have 5 trucks. No. No comment on that click. Wow. Yeah. They're making it really hard, and they're wondering why. Jared Flinn: But I bet 2 years ago, that wouldn't have been the case. I mean, if as bad as, you know, the freight market was so out of whack, you couldn't find trucks. I mean, it didn't matter whether you had 1 or Yeah. Frank Provost: That just floored me. When I got into it, I was hauling grain just before it. I came over and leased with the company, and and I was I was getting on a load board just looking for loads because I was saying, well, I've been on each side of the field. You know, I'll go ahead and get what I need, and I need above, we'll call it, you know, 215 a mile. So I need anything above that. So I'll try to go ahead and stay at 280, 290, you know, close as I can. And I'm getting like $5 a mile on long runs. You know, 7, 12, 1500 miles. Frank Provost: I'm getting $5 a mile. It's like, dude, where did this come from? I'm on it. And it was really far out because, you know, place I was leased to, they were they they were just staying with the same old, same old. I was like, why don't you guys go get the money while you can? Well, because we got customers. Well, Frank didn't get it, you know, slap in the forehead. He was out there chasing the money. And, I finally learned that value really quick. And consistency is is better. Frank Provost: Do it with you can, but don't jeopardize the future relationships. Otherwise you'll be out. Jared Flinn: Frank, got one last question and we'll end it here for those newbies out there, maybe company driver looking to go out on their own. You've lived and breathe all of this. Someone may be thinking about getting into trucking. We have a lot of people that subscribe to this podcast that just wanna learn more about trucking, but maybe have a a aspiration to get into it. What What would be your advice to them? Frank Provost: Oh, dear Lord. What would be my advice? Be consistent as far as your record keeping. Don't let it lapse. It's hell, honestly, to try to catch back up. Long story there. If you could make sure you get your load boards, of course, naturally, cause I made that mistake many years ago. Ask questions. Don't be that guy that has a better story than the next. Frank Provost: Just ask questions. It's not gonna hurt anything. It's not gonna nobody's gonna think you're stupid because you don't know, and it's gonna save you 1,000 of dollars down the road because of fines, because of something you didn't do. Just make sure you're knowledgeable. Ask around to several different people because like brokering, like carriers, you're looking for the best rate. It goes the same with trying to do it yourself. Don't stick with just one insurance person. Go to several, you know, just like you do in your personal stuff. Frank Provost: And general conversations don't cost money, and you can find a lot of information out just by having conversation. I found a d o a DAT load board. I called them the other day, and I was asking different things about their plans. And I already knew it, but I was just making sure because I hadn't used them in a month. And, this girl said something. She's a sales girl, And she's going, oh, a grainage. Yeah. Well, blah, blah, blah, blah. Frank Provost: I've come to find out she was remote remote. And it was just the the point of this is it was just through conversation that it was thrown out there, and you picked up on it. It's a little tidbits of information that you can get and start to build off of that to get more information just in case you don't know something or you're unclear. Yeah. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Don't be afraid to ask the question. Frank Provost: Don't be afraid and don't be that guy that knows everything. You've never lived. This. There's only one guy. Jared Flinn: Amen to that. Yeah. Well I do have actually one last question that, I said at the beginning of our conversation about your son-in-law, Nick, and Sierra Yeah. On that. But, yeah, we'd just love to get your thoughts. You know, they've been married for a little bit now and working here. I absolutely love them to death, but, Frank Provost: Yeah, they're good kids. Yeah. Yeah. I like the fact that Nick doesn't chase the money like I did. I'm glad he has focus around home time because that's what Sierra wanted, because Sierra didn't have it. Because I chase she craves that. And Nick has the mentality of, I want to be home. I'll be with my wife. Frank Provost: I want to be with my dog. I want to go hunting. I want to have fun. I want to go boating. All the stuff that, yeah, I want to go. I'll get to it next week. I'll get to it next month when I have, you know, time because I was a truck driver. So I'm glad he has that grounding, and he can provide that to Sierra because that's what she wants. Jared Flinn: Yeah. That's awesome. Frank, provost, man, thank you for taking the time out of your day to to drive up here. Thank you for coming on on the vocalist podcast, and, god bless you. Appreciate it. Frank Provost: Thanks for having me. Jared Flinn: Yeah. Tyler, I think being a host of this podcast, I get more and more out of it myself and and learn so much. I think, like, selfishly, I love doing these podcasts because I'm growing myself by having these guests on Yep. And learning from them. I didn't even realize, IWX was here in Springfield. I probably should know that, you know. I know Frank, he talked to me like, yeah, it's a local based here. And, but then and then I think they got bought out or merged with WFX, Western Flyer. Jared Flinn: Yeah. WFX. Yeah. The Western Flyer Express, and, it was really interesting. Tyler Allison: Yeah. I think Frank just kinda amplified what we've heard before. And, Jared, what you have, kinda talked about many times on this episode, is just, like, at the end of the day, you know, just trying to have that equal relationship to where it's win win win for everyone in the industry. You know, every all sides of the table has to make money. How do we do it fairly and respectfully? That way everyone can kinda strive in the in the business. Jared Flinn: Yeah. It's interesting, when you talk about fairness because there's, like, there's there's not a set definition on fair. Yeah. People want to be treated fair. Frank said that at the very end on being treated fair, and I think that's something we always have to kinda think in mind when we're interacting because, yeah, I've said this all the way back from my Bartlett days. We all have to benefit. Everybody has to win. If someone doesn't win or benefit, then it's not gonna continue. Tyler Allison: Yep. Exactly. Jared Flinn: You know, so when you're working with owner operators, owner operators working with brokers, man, try to think about the put yourself in that other person's shoes Tyler Allison: Yep. Jared Flinn: And think about how how everyone can win and gain. Tyler Allison: Yeah. Exactly. Jared Flinn: So this is conference week. Depending on when you're listening to this podcast, it's either getting ready to start or it is in full progress. Yep. We have 100 of people driving and flying in. We are super excited. I think, I have to be careful not to think about this too much because I almost get emotional. Like, dollars to be here. So thank you for those that are coming in, finding their time and dollars to be here. Jared Flinn: So thank you for those that are coming in, finding a wish or and if you haven't yet, and maybe you're listening to this on Monday and you still like to come, we still have room. Tyler Allison: Yep. Jared Flinn: And we will make room for you. So Yep. If you think you can make it last minute, get a hold of us. We will get you a ticket. We want you to be here. We don't want you to miss out. So we will bend over backwards to accommodate if you still would like to come and can make it here. And I am saying this too. Jared Flinn: If you are even within driving range and can't make it for the whole event, again, I know it's a lot of time, but you can just come for a little bit. Let us know. We want you to come. If you can come in just Friday evening or excuse me, Wednesday evening, come in for that. If you come in just for a little bit on Thursday or just a Friday session, we wanna accommodate you. We want you to be here. I wanna meet you personally. So make sure do everything you can to make it to the bulk freight conference. Jared Flinn: You will not regret it. I promise. Tyler Allison: Yeah. Well said. Jared, if we have to open out the doors and have people sit in the hallway, we'll do that. I think this is gonna be a good time. And like you said, there are still a few tickets left. Go on bulk freightconference.com and get your ticket, if you have not done that yet. If you can't afford a ticket, you still wanna come, definitely contact us. You can just email podcast at bulkloads.com or just simply comment on this YouTube video, that you want to attend the conference, and we'll reach out to you and make sure you can do that. Jared Flinn: Yeah. All star lineup. Super excited. Yep. Before we get out of here, there's a couple of new updates that we're putting on the website. Tyler Allison: Yeah. We it's been a little while since we've kinda done an update or gave an update on what we're kinda working here on, specifically bulkless.com, our marketplace and and platform. We have a couple of cool things coming, and, one of them is we're actually a a while back, we had a rate calculator that was available to our podcast listeners and subscribers. We're actually embedding that into our website. Now I I can't tell you a target date, but I can tell you it's gonna be a few months. We're gonna actually get that embedded into the website. It's a slick. It's better than, you know, the Excel sheet. Tyler Allison: It's all built in, to where you can simply just type in your numbers, and it's going to basically, spit out, like, hey. You need to get at least this this rate to break even on this specific load. So I think it's going to help our members make, you know, more valuable decisions, and, they're gonna know their their rate and their cost. I think most of our guys do already, but it's just gonna be a handy tool to where it's right there. You're already on the website. You can just plug in your numbers and go. Yeah. Jared Flinn: I don't wanna speak too soon, but another project that we're working on is adding facilities. Yep. It's been something we've, talked about over the years, and I think, man, we were getting it into production. It's just amazing. You don't realize the development and all this stuff that has to take place. I think, most people know, but, man, when you're looking at just a a website or even an app, you think, well, I can just add this, and it it's it's Yeah. Far beyond that and far beyond my scope. I don't mess with that. Jared Flinn: We have a full staff. My partner, Matt, heads all that up and does a phenomenal job. But, yeah, we are also working on adding facilities. So just like kind of you see washouts on our website, we'll have a full list of all bulk facilities. It'll have updates on I mean, their addresses Yep. GPS coordinates, their hours of operation, and the best thing of all, and this is what I'm super excited about, it'll even have wait times. Tyler Allison: Yes. Jared Flinn: Up to date wait times on how, you know, current wait status. So, you know, for example, if you're looking at going down to the port of Catoosa, depending on which location down there, you'll be able to go on the app and see exactly what the current wait time is. So another way, just like we said earlier, we hope that this will help, your business make better decisions. Yep. So, yeah, if you know that there's gonna be a wait time down there, you can do things to prepare for that, maybe stop for fuel or just plan on times when it's not as busy. So, yeah, super excited. So be on the lookout for that coming out soon. And, again, we'll send more announcements out, not just through our Tyler Allison: Yeah. It's gonna be great. I'm super excited to get these features out. I want to thank you specifically for being a paying member because, this helps us put, you know, that membership back into building out more features and getting you more value on your membership. That way you can use more features and, you know, basically, just make informed decisions on how to grow your business. Jared Flinn: I've never said this before on the podcast, but my father-in-law, he was one of the one of the guys that helped start Sam's Club. And if you even know Sam's Club, part of Walmart. And one thing he always preached into me, and I think this is where I got just so much wisdom, before his passing. But when I started vocalist, he kept saying, always continue to increase the value of the membership. And I think that's one thing we always look at all the time. How do we keep increasing value? Yep. You know? And if we can keep increasing value, people will see, the value of the member and hopefully continue their membership on there. But, yeah, just, know that we are always trying to increase the, the value of your membership on there. Jared Flinn: Yep. So awesome. Anything else? Tyler Allison: I think that's it. Jared Flinn: Well, I'll close this in prayer, man. Looking forward to seeing all of you all, at the conference this week. It's gonna be a lot. I need to make sure and mentally prepare for it, but I'm super excited. Man, I'm I hope I get to actually, sit down and talk with, everyone that, that'll be there that I get a chance to. So awesome. Frank Provost: Well, I'll Jared Flinn: close this in prayer. Awesome. Father God, we love you, and we come to you today, just with open arms. Lord, we thank you for, just your many blessings, upon us and this community and this industry. Lord, this week, we pray over, people traveling in. We pray that, that just that they have safe travels, Lord, and that we get to interact with them. Lord, we know that we do all this for your glory, and not for ourselves. So, Lord, we put you first and foremost, in front of all, these people. Jared Flinn: Lord, for those that cannot make it, Lord, we just, pray a special blessing over them. Lord, that you protect and guide them out there. We, ask for protection over their businesses, over their families, Lord. Just kinda keep them all, in, in your prayers. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do in your heavenly and precious name. God bless. Last but not least, if you haven't, please make sure and subscribe. If you know someone else that can value from this podcast, please click the share button. Jared Flinn: We would love to get this out there and get more people, that know they get to know more about us and our mission and accomplish. So thank you very much. And as always, God bless.