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Troy: Alright hello and welcome truckers the date is April 1st and you’re listening to the 51st episode of Big Rig Banter. I’m your co-host Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host Lenay Ruhl,
Troy: And hey everyone, I just want to take a minute and give a special shout out to all the professional drivers out there. You’re the ones keeping America moving during this challenging time.
Lenay: And Pilot Flying J wants to say “thank you” as well. To show their gratitude for all you do they want to give you more rewards and more points. It’s called “Push For Points” and it can get you to four points faster while you’re racking up those hard-earned miles. That’s right, you can reach four points per gallon after only six qualifying fills. “Push For Points” is available only through the Pilot Flying J app for a limited time only.
Troy: It’s as easy as one, two, three. Here’s how it works. Step one, push the “activate” button in the app at the beginning of each month. Step two, fill your tank with at least 75 gallons of diesel, and then step three, sit back and watch your point balance grow faster than ever before. You’ll increase your earning level after each commercial diesel fill over 75 gallons, from one, to one and a half, to two, to two and a half and so on. You’ll be earning four points per gallon for the rest of the month after six qualifying fills.
Lenay: And what can you do with all those points? Well, your rig’s not the only thing that needs a fill-up, right? When you get hungry or you need a tasty beverage, you can redeem points for in-store savings on the essentials, as well as merchandise for you and your rig. And when you pull in to park for a while, you can redeem points for a reserved parking spot and Wi-Fi credits at participating Pilot and Flying J locations.
Troy: And again, from Pilot Flying J, thank you for all you do, drivers. And stay safe on the road. See terms and conditions at pilot flying j dot com slash app (PilotFlyingJ.com/app).
Lenay: Alright and if you guys haven’t noticed, I might sound like I’m a little far away. I’m actually on the phone and Troy is calling me since we are working remote due to all non-essential businesses being shut down here in Pennsylvania. How are you today, Troy? I miss you!
Troy: I know I miss you too! It’s been weird not seeing you for like, what? We’re going on like a week now that I haven’t even seen you.
Lenay: Yeah, I think this is the second full week at home actually.
Troy: Geez. See I lose time here. I’m in the basement, I’m cooped up, there’s like no windows and I don’t know, days might have gone by while I’m down here, like recording. I do have a cool little set-up going. We posted a picture of it on Big Rig Banter, so I was really proud of that. But yeah, we’re gonna make sure we’re getting this podcast out to you no matter what, but, before we get into anything, we both just want to extend our thanks to all you truckers out there dealing with everything that’s going on. We really appreciate it. I even sent a video out to thank you truckers so feel free to comment on that on our Big Rig Banter social media. Comment using the hashtag #BigRigBanter. We would really appreciate it.
Lenay: Yeah definitely know that things have not been easy for anyone in the country but especially for you out there on the road. So, we definitely want to hear from you and really, again, extend out thanks.
Troy: Yeah and so we definitely had a completely different topic scheduled for our episode 51 but with everything going on we felt it was important to focus on the covid19 and coronavirus and how it’s affecting the trucking industry and luckily we were able to talk to someone who is on the frontlines and is impacted by that. We have a really awesome interview coming up.
Lenay: Yeah so Troy you got to interview Sergio Josephino. I know we’re gonna listen to the interview but, what was the biggest takeaway you got from what he said?
Troy: I think it was just the seriousness, and we talked about it in the interview a little, this cautious, information. So, the importance of taking things seriously while still keeping a level head. I think that’s the biggest thing right now. There’s a huge spectrum of people that don’t even think this virus is a real thing, or that it exists, and then there’s people that think it’s the end of the world coming in the next to or three days. I think finding that balance and taking a cautious approach and digesting as much information as you can. It definitely is affecting a lot of truckers and Sergio talks about that and how it’s affecting his business specifically. Towards the end I want you listeners to really make a point of listening at the end some of the positive things he’s seen after all this.
Lenay: Yeah we could definitely use some positives, right? Let’s give that interview a listen.
Troy: Alright I’m here with Sergio Josephino the president of NVS Transportation. Sergio how are you today?
Sergio: I’m doing well sir how about yourself?
Troy: Good, I appreciate you coming onto the show obviously these are some tough times and I guess very…uncharted territory would be a good way to put it for most people. Obviously, it’s impacting the trucking industry and I guess my first question would be how’s the virus impacting the industry as a whole? What are you seeing? You’re on the frontlines so I’m sure you have a better pulse on it than most people.
Sergio: Yes sir, so, you know, it’s tricky in how it’s affecting some people just because it seems like nobody really knows what’s going to happen. So, that can be very troubling. Our main commodity here is car hauling so it’s not something that people direly need in order to survive and so, you’ve got certain aspects of the car hauling industry that have come to a halt for a week know which are rental cars. If you had rental cars, it’s really just been a week where you couldn’t deliver them. You’ve got dealers closing early. Maybe people aren’t buying cars. We really don’t know the numbers yet. So, another thing is drivers. You’ve got drivers that are trying to hustle and make as much money for now, and then you’ve got some drivers that are just scared to even go out. So, it’s truly affecting the industry because I guess we’ve all just got our faces to the news just trying to see what’s next.
Troy: And you touched on it a little but how it impacted you specifically? How have your daily job duties changed? I know we talked a little bit off-air of you making phone calls to different places and trying to roll with the punches I guess if you want to put it that way.
Sergio: Right, absolutely. I’m trying my best here. So, how has it affected me? Number one, it’s very worrisome, right? I guess it would be for anybody. How can I say it? Basically, we can already see that our sales have been hit hard. Just in this past week we have shifted from concentrating in maximizing our sales, to trying to figure out survival for the next two weeks, month, whatever it may be. Obviously, me, as responsible for everybody here, it’s got me extremely worried. We’re remaining positive and as far as rolling with the punches, we’re call haulers like I had mentioned. However, I’ve been calling around to previous companies and people that I’ve worked with to help with groceries. Number one, because that would be our survival method. Number two is if we can help, we want to help.
Troy: Do you think the industry was prepared for something like this? When I’m thinking of this, I’m thinking of certain states or locations that will get a blizzard, and that kind of brings things to a standstill, but this is almost like a blizzard that hit the entire world at this point. I’m sure everything grinds to a halt and slows down. Do you think the industry was prepared for something like this?
Sergio: I’m going emphasize, absolutely no one was prepared for this. In my personal opinion and what I’ve seen over the past year is everybody was investing heavily in their company, in the software, in the trucks which would be their equipment and their people. Nobody was investing in preparing for something like this. Truthfully, I don’t think I know any company who really can afford a month of some downtime let alone a month. I really don’t think anybody prepared for anything like that. You know, this will be the true test of who will be here for the long haul.
Troy: Let’s go back to the virus. What are some precautions that you’ve done or seen to help prevent the spread of the virus? I was just reading an article this morning on one of the trucker websites about the use of hand sanitizer and how they’re being asked to use hand sanitizer before they hand over any paperwork and it might seem little like that but I’m sure all these things add up to preventing the spread of the virus.
Sergio: Correct, so our industry now, and not everybody but most – everybody is using software now for the delivery apps and we told all the drivers here, don’t let anybody grab your phone when they sign it. We’ve always just handed over the phone and allowed them to sign it and get their name. You put your name down. You know you don’t need to be within five to six feet just like the CDC warns. We’ve been just trying to be smart and figure out how we can still have these drivers keep rolling and distributing. You know we’ve got customers that need things transported so we’re trying to just juggle doing our job and being as safe as possible. Obviously, truckers can’t really wash their hands in their truck so every chance that you get you’re gonna wash your hands. Yes, you’re gonna carry the sanitizer, stay away from everybody and maintain distance and another thing is to only head into a store or truckstop or do anything extra unless absolutely necessary. If you don’t have to do it, avoid it.
Troy: Sergio I know you can’t really speak for every trucker but maybe give me the emotional temperature you’re seeing when it comes to some of the truckers you’ve been interacting with. Are people panicking or are cooler heads prevailing? Just from being in the trucking industry for the couple years that I’ve been in, I feel like truckers aren’t the type to completely panic and think the sky’s falling but I’m sure this is obviously a tumultuous time right now.
Sergio: Absolutely. You know the small amount of people I interact with – I don’t want to tell you anyone is panicking. I don’t think they’re panicking. From what I’ve noticed is, I see some people seeing this as taking mandatory time off for those who can afford it. Those who have got deliveries to be made. They’re still out there and rolling. I spoke to a company here that we work with and she said we’ve got freight to move and we’re gonna keep moving it. If the dealer’s closed and they allow us to drop it, we’re going to keep dropping it. We’ve got freight that we must move. I think everybody’s positive and everybody’s just trying to keep their trucks rolling because I think we all understand that we need these trucks to keep rolling. Just like the president said the supply chain must keep moving.
Troy: I think rightfully cautious would be a good word for it. I think a lot of these people are level-headed and I think it’s important to obviously be worried and cautious when it comes to something like this, but I also think taking a step back and taking a breath and analyzing and saying “okay, what can we do at this very moment and how can we push forward right now,” and I think a lot of it is just perspective at this point.
Sergio: Correct, correct.
Troy: Do you expect to see any changes in regulations or is there anything that you could see happening? I mean, we’re seeing different shutdowns and stuff, but I feel like the trucking industry out of anyone is one that can’t really afford to shut down completely in any capacity.
Sergio: Correct. So, we definitely hope we’ll see changes within the regulations. It’s so heavily regulated for the trucking industry and we’ve got so much to abide by, and it can be difficult per se, at times. So, we can see that they’ve already seen the necessary changes to make changes to a lot of states and the DOT has removed a lot of these regulations for the time being. I would hope so, but it’s hard to speculate on that. It’s going to be really hard to speculate but I would hope so, to be honest.
Troy: Sergio once again I really appreciate you coming on to talk with us. Let’s wrap things up on a high note though. What’s something positive you’ve seen since all this has been going on. I think that’s something really important to realize that there are going to be some positive things to come out of a scary time like this.
Sergio: I appreciate that question and yes, I do see something very positive. The true leaders are stepping up. They are doing what they have to do on something that’s just unprecedented and so I’m seeing true leadership in my opinion and I think that’s a great thing. I think it makes everyone feel at ease when you’ve got a leader leading you towards the right path.
Troy: Sergio once again I appreciate it. That’s Sergio Josephino from NVS transportation. Thank you so much for coming onto the show.
Sergio: Yes, Troy thank you very much, sir.
Troy: Awesome. Alright and thanks again to Sergio. He’s really given us some perspective on how the coronavirus is impacting the trucking industry. Once again truckers we hope you stay safe out there and we’re trying to do our part to provide some information and help you guys out as well.
Lenay: Yeah for sure, let us know, reach out to us on social media if you have any questions or comments and if you have some downtime be sure to leave us a review!
Troy: Alright Lenay, I think that wraps it up. I hope I see you. We’ll have to at least FaceTime this week or something. You got me to download that weird app, so I sent one…I don’t know what to call it.
Lenay: It’s a video chat!
Troy: Yeah, a video chat. We’ll have to stick with something I can manage more like FaceTime or Skype or Slack so…
Lenay: Alright.
Troy: Like we said, truckers we’ll keep you as informed as we can on what’s impacting the industry and once again, we thank you for listening. I’m your co-host Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And this has been Big Rig Banter
Music – Thanks for tuning in to another edition of Big Rig Banter. For your next job, check out AllTruckJobs.com, the premier online source for finding the best driver jobs in the country. Browse hundreds of positions by freight or driver type to get back on the road with confidence. Click subscribe to keep the conversations coming until next time on Big Rig Banter.
