WEBVTT - America's Truckin' Network 1-7-26 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:09.520 This is America's truck and Network with Kevin Gordon, one. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.760 Of the more Thanks for tuning in on this Wednesday morning. 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:15.880 You know, last week we started seeing. 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:17.880 Well, in the last couple of weeks, we've been seeing 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.040 you know, the news in review looking back in the past, 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.360 some of the top stories and where things were in 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:28.760 terms of what they had expected at the beginning of 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:30.920 the year, where they were versus the end of the year. 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.560 Now this week we're starting to see stuff about well, 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.919 what is twenty twenty six going to bring? And you know, 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.839 based on their estimates for last year, I'm not so 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:42.959 sure that we can really depend on those. But what 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.680 you can depend on is at N because we have 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.440 been right more often than they have been right. But 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:51.800 let's just go. Let's play the game and see what 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:56.200 they have to say. Market uncertainty to follow trucking into 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.840 twenty twenty six. Now, Eric Starks, the chairman of FTR 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:05.440 Transportation Intelligence, he's having his predictions in here. One of 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.679 the things kind of skipped to the chase here. I 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.520 think the best case scenario would be a flat market 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.919 into quarter one, but you could see noticeable softening quarter 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.880 one into quarter two if we start seeing substantial layoffs 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:24.360 and consumers pulling away. Well, we haven't seen any examples 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.360 of that so far. We haven't seen any hint of 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.360 that happening based on what we've seen as far as 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.400 retail sales, what we saw as far as gross domestic 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.399 product in the third quarter, and we're also anticipating now 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.000 what we're going to be seeing the gross domestic product 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.839 in the fourth quarter coming up here in the next 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:48.880 few days. Complicating outlooks starts note is a lack of 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.080 capacity of certainty on how long stable environment would need 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.320 to be in place to instill calm in the marketplace, 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.200 not going to require any time at all. Once they're 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:03.120 are standard, once the playing field is known, and once 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.400 people know what's going on, it will go pretty rapidly, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.520 because let's not forget the fact that we are rugged individualists, 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.400 not the crazy crap that we're getting out of Mondani 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.000 in New York that we want to have collectivism and 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:16.360 all that. 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:18.000 It's a story for another day. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.639 He suspects business will remain cautious on investing, especially when 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:27.880 it comes to equipment and technology. Yeah, centering around interest rates, 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.640 which we should see a break in that come May 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.920 when the new FED chairman is installed, and hopefully this 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.079 guy will be a supply side economist and get the 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:42.000 economy moving with lower interest rates. And I may want 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.720 to interject here that our interest rates are twice what 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.760 they are in other developed countries. So if we get 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:54.240 those down, we'll see an economic boom and businesses expanding, 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:59.120 employees getting hired, and so on. This could contribute to 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.920 tough for operation conditions in the first part of next year, 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.760 according to him. Chris Rogers, head of supply chain research 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.360 at S and P Global Market Intelligence, let me see 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:13.160 the story of terrorists. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:14.160 Is over, he says. 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.040 We still have to have a decision from the Supreme 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:23.880 Court about the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs that 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.160 President had implemented, whether they're legal. They're going to make 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.400 that determination, and if they're not, what will replace them. 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.359 There's a whole lot of national security tariff reviews still 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:40.080 going on, covering electronics, medical supplies, machinery, and critical minerals. 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.280 I will be very disappointed with the Supreme Court if 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:47.120 they're stupid enough to rule against the Trump administration, because 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.920 by all accounts, these terroifts have been good. They've been 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.480 a good generator for the American public plus, it levels 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.360 the playing field, it makes it more fair trade instead 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:58.360 of just free trade. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:03:59.880 And they ought to understand. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:02.400 And you know, I got to tell you, you know, 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.160 when it comes down to law and it comes down 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:10.600 to interpretations. I have seen on a personal basis and 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.640 with clients that I've had in the past, that you 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:15.960 can have all the facts on your side, and you 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.120 can even have the law on your side, but when 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.839 it comes to certain decisions, certain people, like Kentucky Supreme 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.520 Court several years ago, took a look at a situation 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.599 that was clearly being violated by a non governmental. 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.080 Entity that was collecting taxes. 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.680 But they looked at it from the standpoint that, well, 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.040 gee whiz, if they've got to go back and refund 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.400 and do that and these other not only that particular county, 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.440 but like eighty eight other counties in Kentucky, that would 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.360 be a headache and a nightmare. So they just took 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:54.480 a pass on it and said well, and their determination 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.040 was that you know, everybody knew based on. 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.960 What the law was, that they were wrong. 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:06.160 But the comment from the Supreme Court was, well, the 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.640 Institution did the good faith effort in following the law 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.040 and I'm telling you. From that point on, I kept saying, 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.440 you know, I'll tell you what next time. I you know, 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.400 if I ever pull up to a stop sign and 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.120 I rolled through it and I get pulled over, I'm 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.120 going to tell the cop. Hey, look, I made a 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.880 good faith effort to stop there. Oh, I made a 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:29.240 good faith effort to keep my speed not overspeeding. And 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.080 you know, with that kind of method, maybe I could 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.480 get by with it now. But this is what their 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.800 ruling actually said, that they had made a good faith effort. So, 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.560 you know, politics aside and whatever, what's good for the country. 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.680 These tariffs have been good for the country. If the 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:46.680 Supreme Court knows what's best, they will go ahead and 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.000 side with the Trump administration. Just one man's opinion there, 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.280 and of course, you know I have an opinion. I'm 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.159 not afraid to use it. SMP Global in twenty twenty 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:59.000 six outlook side of these legal challenges surrounding Trump's use 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:04.320 of the i EPA, which again is International Emergency Academic 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.000 Powers Act in settlling terraiffs, specifically as it relates to 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:12.440 implementation of Section two thirty two duties. This Section two 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.640 thirty two provisions of the Trade Expansion Act empowers the 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.920 use of levies to address imports that are deemed a 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.680 threat to national security. Trump has used this rule as 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.039 the basis for most of the tariffs, and I think 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.360 he's dead on as far as that's concerned, but the 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.080 legal interpretation has been challenged. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:33.800 With the ongoing cases. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.640 Working their way through the courts, legal determinations are expected 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.120 to be finalized in early twenty twenty six. Trade policy 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.400 that has nothing to do with terriffs also expected to 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.920 remain in flux as twenty twenty six arrives, according to Rogers, 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.880 and of course that is Chris Rogers, head of supply 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:55.440 chain research at S and P Global Market Intelligence. He's saying, 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:58.800 the big one is that we're watching, obviously, is to 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:03.880 negotiate renegotiation in the United States Mexico Canada agreement. He said, 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.240 that's going to be going on throughout next year and 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.320 should be completed ahead of the US midterm elections. But 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.840 I wouldn't take that for granted, and then we have 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.480 the deals being signed elsewhere in the world. Talks about 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.080 in this article rule crackdown, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.800 Administration stepped up enforcement of English language proficiency for truck 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:30.320 drivers and titaned scrutiny on issuance of non domiciud commercial 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:36.520 driver license threatens long term removal of capacity from the market. 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.160 While safety stands at the forefront of the effort. The 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.200 net result could be smaller driver pool that puts upward 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.720 pressure on freight rates. This according to Jason Jason Seedel, 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.800 managing director of the investment banking firm TD Cowen. Now, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.320 the purpose of that of cracking down on the non 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:02.800 domiciout English proficiency and these CDL mills and getting rid 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.640 of incompetent drivers and drivers that don't have the skill 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:11.920 is a safety issue and keeping insurance rates low, keeping 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:16.160 the American public safe and cause less deaths on the highway. 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:21.000 And if it pulls out excess capacity and freight rates 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.840 start going up a little bit so that these companies 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.080 can make some money and get things back on a 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.960 level playing field, that will be good for the economy 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.960 as well. So they're kind of taking this approach as 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:36.960 though it's going to tighten scrutiny and capacity will be 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.240 taken out of the market. Well, do you want over 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:40.880 capacity or you want safety? 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:41.480 You know? 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:46.000 I just people keep taking out the human element in 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.360 terms of these decisions and what is possibly going to 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.440 cause havoc around the war, around the trucking industry, and 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.480 as far as safety on the highway in terms of 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.559 historic norms. Title notes that the that over the road 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:03.800 trucking demand tends to be softer following the holiday season. 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:06.400 Of course, we'll see how things pick up in the spring. 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:11.640 US Bank Corporate Payment Systems Jeff Pate, manager of Transportation 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:16.559 US Corporate Payment Systems, says fleets that embrace artificial intelligence 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:21.840 and ring efficiencies should do a little bit better. And 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.560 I think that is important as well. When you implement 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:30.600 certain areas of artificial intelligence and get those get more 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.760 efficiencies within the trucking industry, that will pay off. Also, 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:42.280 they talk about possible industry cooperation. Let's see there is 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.440 much greater emphasis on collaboration and transparency on both sides, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:51.240 leveraging data and technology to make smarter, faster decisions instead 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:55.040 of focusing solely on price. So a lot of estimates 0:09:55.120 --> 0:10:00.280 going into twenty twenty six and coming up we're going 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.800 to be talking to in relating to this. As far 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:09.400 as the CDLs and illegal aliens obtaining CDO license, we're 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.600 going to be speaking with Mike Kucharski, co owner and 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:16.600 vice president of JKC Trucking, and then I will get 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.800 into a little bit of our predictions from ATN. I'm 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:25.000 Kevin Gordon, America's Trucking Network seven hundred WLW a's America's 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:29.640 Trucking Network. My guest is Mike Kucharski. He is co 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.720 owner and vice president of JKC Trucking, has over thirty 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:38.640 years experienced. JKC Trucking is the largest refrigerated trucking company 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:40.839 based out of Chicago, Illinois. 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:42.959 Welcome to the program, Mike. 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:44.880 Nam program again, thank you. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:51.320 Now, as if a three year freight recession, increasing cargo theft, 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.880 cyber attacks pushed to during the prior administration to convert 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.920 the EVS weren't enough, or some of the other EPA 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.560 restrictions that were there, if that weren't enough, Now we 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.880 have to deal with illegal aliens obtaining CDLs and in 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:14.280 many cases unable to demonstrate English language proficiency. So welcome 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.520 to the trucking industry in twenty twenty six. 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.600 Yes it is. You know what's what's happening out there is? 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.839 How is this number one? The trucking industries is overregulated, 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.400 a very hard industry. But you know what's happening out 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:27.719 there with. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:32.240 These non domicile drivers and illegal driving these trucks, you know, 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.120 is eye opening and concerning because this is a is 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.840 a serious safety crisis on American roads and pretending. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:40.880 It isn't happening. No longer is that option. 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.880 Because the trucking industry runs on trust from a from 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:49.719 a safety standpoint, this kind of enforcement, you know, matters, you. 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:50.520 Know, thinking about it. 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.000 Every every morning we put our kids on the school buses, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:55.760 millions of commuters had to work in their cars, millions 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:57.760 of families will be traveling up for the holidays. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.520 They and they need they need trust. 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.520 And the professional is driving eight thousand pound trucks around 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:07.679 them that they can read roadsigns or safety commands and 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.480 reacting to emergency commercial This. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.480 Isn't about you know who someone is or where someone 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:13.959 is from. 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:18.640 It's about whether they're qualified safety, safety operating heavy equipment. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.640 On public grows exactly. And the question, well, actually it's 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.080 this kind of started. I guess over the last couple 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.400 of years they were talking about I guess at some 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.120 of these trucking shows talking about the English language proficiency. 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:37.480 That was was a reason for out of service being 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.360 put out of service, but wasn't enforced during the latter 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:45.920 years of the Obama administration. But at that time there 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.720 wasn't this invasion from the southern border, so some of 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.800 these were a lot, I guess more, fewer and far between. 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.319 But now once we have this invasion from the southern 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.800 border under the last administration, this has exploded. And then 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:05.880 you have states where like California and I think you're 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:10.360 in Illinois, that they can actually gain the system, find 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:15.360 somebody that will certify them, sign the documents falsely, and 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.320 issue a driver's license. It just makes things a whole 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:19.960 lot worse. 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:20.600 It does. 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:23.080 It does, And I'm glad you brought the English proficient 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.600 language because back in the nineteen seventy two is when 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.040 they made the law saying that English proficiency costruck drivers 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.440 should English's language. 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:33.040 You must speak English. 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:35.600 That was in the seventies, right, And then twenty sixteen 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.360 a Bottle orginistation change that role a little bit saying, look, 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:40.439 you don't have to be proficient in English, but you 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:45.199 could use a device like a Google Translate to to 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.960 communicate with law enforcement and everybody else. 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.080 And that sounded great. 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.719 But what they what they did is they took that 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.640 and they twisted it completely different way. And the drivers 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.240 that are out there right now speak very little English. 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.720 And if you want of these videos, there's drivers out there, 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.440 truck divers making videos of all other truck drivers talking drivers, 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.720 troopers talking to these drivers, and they speak very little English. 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.280 And if they do speak English, there's they don't understand 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.720 a word or they're giving the completely wrong answer. Ian 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.560 this is you know, this is alarming because you know truckers. 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:19.400 Truckers are the. 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.400 Heartbeat of the American economy and the supply chain. You know, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.680 a truckers only move at least only seventy percent of 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.000 all the goods nationwide. You know, because of the scale 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.640 and responsibility trucking, his formula recognized as a critical infrastructure 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:34.720 to something America relies on every day. 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.680 Well, and we saw the example this past summer. We 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.200 saw that hard genders sing who did that illegal you 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.080 turned down in Florida, and then another guy by the 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.160 name of Josh and pret saying no, I don't think 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:53.240 they're related, but had that crash he was under the 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.760 influence and rear ended a bunch of cars out in 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.520 California and when these fiery crashes happen, and then of 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:04.560 course it gets people's attention. But going back to what 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:10.640 was it in April that President Trump did the executive 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:15.840 order demanding that English language proficiency be there and that 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:23.120 the CDL licensing process be regulated. Sean Duffy then issued 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.920 a proclamation that this was going to be enforced, and 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.680 then it was supposed to go into effect or whatever 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:33.120 in June. This guy gets pulled over in July in 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.480 New Mexico. They did the English language proficiency, let him go, 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.800 he didn't pass, and then a month later, in less 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.240 than a couple of weeks later, causes this accident down 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.520 in Florida. So this is something that the Trump administration 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.640 has been working on, but there needs to be some 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:54.640 cooperation with the individual states and possibly some legislation from 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.680 Congressman and senators to put some teeth to some of 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:58.400 these laws. 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.760 Correct, correct, and the whole main the goal of this 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.720 is is two things. Number One, safety for all the 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.360 commuters on the road are family. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.840 Members, mothers, fathers, daughters that you know children. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:14.760 And two, protecting American jobs and ensuring the integrity of 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.560 our workforce is absolutely centre. Look, my primary concern is 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:22.440 always going to be who's behind the wheel. Example, law 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:27.400 abiding truckers pay for training, insurance, and compliance, and when 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.520 others cut corners, it undercuts the trucking and undercuts the 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.080 truckers doing the right thing every day. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:35.800 You know, if you look up this. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.480 Year, about twenty thousand trucking companies or studior last year 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.440 have gone out of business. You know, these truckers are 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.000 killing the American dream and truckers. You know, for for 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:51.800 small business, for small trucking companies like mine, Enforcing enforcement, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:56.480 keeps things honest and fair and protecting the jobs of 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:57.800 law abiding citizens. 0:16:57.920 --> 0:16:59.960 Well, American jobs first. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.640 Basically levels the playing field, so everybody's playing by the 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.359 same rules. My guess is Mike Kucharski. He is co 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:10.080 owner and vice president of JKC Trucking. So I guess 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.760 the problem I have is trying to figure out how 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.679 in the heck a company would hire somebody who doesn't 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:22.960 have the qualifications. That's going to shoot up your insurance rates, 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.720 that's going to put the public at risk. How do 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.280 you sleep at night? How do you go through this 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.399 and know that you're actually with a ticking time bomb 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.679 out there, and then when this happens, it gives a 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.840 bad reputation to all truckers. You know, used to be 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:41.760 in the dad and my wife talks about this a 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:43.760 lot when we're out driving. She said, you know, it 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.920 used to be that the best drivers out on the 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.720 road were the truck drivers. And once in a while 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.679 you see somebody that really doesn't seem to be that 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.760 good of a truck driver, but that ruins it for 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:58.840 the thirty or so out there that. 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.359 Are correct, correct, correct, you know, I mean, I mean, 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.480 it's crazy what's happened in this country. Let me let 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.600 me explain to you what's happening and how these people 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.360 are maybe paying a picture of how these people are 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:11.160 getting licenses. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:12.320 You know, these people are coming to. 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.920 Stays like California, where they've set up these trucking companies, 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:20.280 well truck driving schools that they'll pay to go to 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.560 this school. This school will quickly push them through, and 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.320 they're getting grants from the government to obviously, uh train 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.960 these drivers usually and then when these drivers get a license, 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:36.560 they're brought to a trucking company or a truck lease 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:41.359 program where they take these drivers and they say, look, 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:43.680 we're gonna lease to a truck, a trailer. 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.480 H you're gonna work for us, You're. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.320 Gonna we're gonna deduct the payments every month from from 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.400 your paycheck. And on top of that, they say, look, 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.600 I'm giving you a truck and a job. 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.760 We're gonna give you loads to two haul. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:00.159 And these are like, well, these guys are like, this 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.159 is great, this is the full package. Let you know 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.360 where do I sign? And these guys all ten nine 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:09.240 ten ninety nine. Because truckers should be W two's unless 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.520 you are independent driver, so they put them in an 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:12.639 independent class, which. 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.480 Is, you know, rooting for independent drivers. 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.600 In my opinion, they're getting these jobs, getting your truck 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.679 and put on the road with very little experience. And 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.760 on top of that, these companies are also selling them insurance. 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:28.520 And shame on the insurance companies for you know, covering 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:30.400 these guys, because for example, if I are a driver, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.120 he needs to have two years of experience. These guys 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.359 have no experience. Obviously they have to I assume, you know, 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:39.840 I mean they're looking the other way and then giving 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:40.720 them licenses. 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:41.720 You know, So there's. 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.760 Insurance, and the insurance area is something to talk about, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:48.359 and we need to take a quick break here and 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:50.000 when we come back, we'll pick that up on the 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.639 other side of the break. Speaking with Mike Keacharski, co 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:56.320 owner and vice president of JKC Trucking, I'm Kevin Gordon, 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.760 America's truck in Network seven hundred w L. 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:02.119 We stayed in the rest of the country in the 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:04.160 Tri State O but I'm mostly claudy. They'll go down 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.640 to forty partly sunny Wednesday, a high of fifty three. Thursday, 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.320 mostly claudy with a slight chance of afternoon rain. Highs 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.080 in the lower sixties. Rain likely in the morning Friday. 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.080 Otherwise claudi hies in the mid sixties Nationally through Thursday. 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.520 Heavy mountain snow expected in the Cascades as well as 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:22.040 parts of the interior West in the Northeast State, which 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:25.640 are storm tonight bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain. Meanwhile, 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:27.840 well above average temperature scene from the Great Plains of 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.480 the Appalachians through Thursday. 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:36.040 This is America struck In Network seven hundred WLW. I'm 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:39.639 Kevin Gordon. Continuing our conversation with Mike Kacharski. He is 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.960 co owner and vice president of JKC Trucking, Before the break, 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.760 we talked about the insurance angle of this, where you 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:52.000 talked about how these drivers who are ill equipped, ill trained, 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.760 got some sort of I guess a pass or paid 0:20:55.760 --> 0:21:00.719 off the licensing bureaus and motor vehicles to get the license, 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.560 go to these companies, get hired to get a lease, 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:07.240 option to buy truck or at least i'm a truck, 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.320 and then provide the insurance for them. But the insurance 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:15.960 companies themselves are probably well, aren't less than reputable, and 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.600 they will have a bunch of policies out there like this, 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:22.040 and if one of them, you know, gets in a 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:26.080 major accident, then they just you know, go file bankruptcy 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:27.560 and go on from there. 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:29.040 Did I have that correct? 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.760 Correct? Correct? Yeah? So there's there's four people to blame. 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.119 Number one is that the driver getting the license because 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:37.160 he knows that he did not get enough training, got 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:39.639 pushed through to get a license too. 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.439 I blame whoever gives them the license, whoever part. 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:45.919 Of the DMV, like especially in California where they had 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:48.560 the giving seventeen thousand licensed to trug evers. 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:51.720 That had expired work V Size three to blame is 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:52.640 the insurance company. 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.160 How you mean How could these insurance companies hire these 0:21:56.200 --> 0:22:00.680 guys when they knew they have zero experience? And for 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.960 I blame the people that are giving them them the freight. 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:07.040 The shippers are giving them the freight that they're not 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.840 checking to because they're liable if they get an accent, 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.600 I mean they're they're partially liable to give to give 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:18.680 these drivers inexperience, brand new drivers freight. 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:20.840 I mean, we're living in a crazy world. 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:24.320 Now, you mentioned your drivers. You don't hire people that 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:27.880 have at least two years worth of experience. Now that 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:31.080 could be well, of course, you talk about somebody who 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.479 comes out of school, a rifidal school, they get the 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:39.119 CDO license, then they have to basically partner with another 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.840 person to where they shadow them or train them on 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:46.360