WEBVTT - 12-19-25 America's Truckin' Network 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.760 This is America's Trucking Network with Kevin Gordon. 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.320 Welcome Moore, thanks for tuning in on this Friday morning. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:24.919 Well ATN is now back on its familiar surroundings. But 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.160 I gotta tell you, leaving that gay Lord opry Land 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:34.920 Resort and Convention Center area was really tough to do. 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:38.040 You know. They always say it's great to be back home, 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.840 but honestly, I could have spent a few more days there. 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:46.600 Our room overlooking the atrium, and that atrium is about 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.880 the size of a football field or more, and it's 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.479 in an oval shape and you look across and you 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.400 can see the other rooms with their balconies overlooking the 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.560 area down below. You saw all these plants, waterfalls, ponds, 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:06.839 bridges over the different water features and everything. As many 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.880 plants as you can imagine. It was like being in 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:16.440 a junk well basically an arboretum more or less conservatory 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:20.120 if you will, some of these spectacular conservatories that are 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:21.320 around in different cities. 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.280 And just the whole atmosphere. 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.640 With it being around Christmas, with the lights and the 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:32.040 music that they were playing and listening, you know, opening 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.520 the doors to the balcony and listening to all the 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.039 people having fun everything that you can imagine, I mean 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.640 all the different shops and this was just our atrium. 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.840 There are two other atriums that are just as large. 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.080 And this complex down there was just absolutely massive, and 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.600 from one area to the other, just walking around, the 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.760 beauty of the whole thing was just incredible. 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:57.080 But again, you know, they say it's good to get home. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.680 Yeah, it is good to get home, But like I said, 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:01.880 I could have hung out there a couple more days. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.280 We got to use weekly jobless claims fall as seasonally 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:11.000 volatility persists. The number of Americans filing new applications for 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:15.200 unemployment benefits fell last week, reversing the prior week's surge 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:19.800 and suggesting the labor market conditions remained stable in December, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.360 which is what we were been saying all along, and 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:26.480 especially with the numbers spiking last week, and we mentioned that, okay, 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.919 all right, it's spiked last week, but went down dramatically 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.280 the previous week, and then when you look at the 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.480 moving average that it only changed like by two thousand jobs. 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.440 So you know, it's not like there's I mean, it's 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.760 kind of like a seesaw, but not anything's you know, 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:45.120 major variations over the four week period of time. Week 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.760 to week, it jumped a little bit, went down considerably. 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:51.720 The week before, initial claims for stated unemployment benefits dropped 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.360 thirteen thousand to them seasonally adjusted two hundred and twenty 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.440 four thousand for the weekend in December thirteenth, the Labor 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.320 Department set on Thursday. Economists polled by RUTTERS had forecast 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:04.920 two hundred and twenty five thousand claims for the week, 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.960 so pretty much, you know, just one thousand off, economists 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.960 say President Donald trump sweeping tariffs have caused an unexpected 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:18.200 shock for businesses who have responded by pulling back on 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:19.720 increasing headcounts. 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:21.400 I get this, all right. 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.160 A survey of five hundred and forty eight chief financial 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:30.320 officers spanning firms with one to more than one thousand employees, 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.760 conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Atlanta 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:43.120 in conjunction with Duke Universities Fuqua School of Business showed 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:47.680 on Wednesday they continue to cite tariffs as a top concern. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:52.280 All right, evidence my question? What evidence are they seeing? 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.480 What can they specifically point to in terms of what 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.400 the tariffs are doing in terms of them holding back 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.520 on their head count Other than maybe they're not so 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.760 sure of their business and they don't have their finger 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.720 as on the pulse that they should, in my opinion, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.480 The claims data covered the period during which the government 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:18.640 surveyed businesses and nonfarm payroll components of December employment report. 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:24.839 Nonfarm payrolls increased by sixty four thousand in November. Bureau 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.920 of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday, December's employment report will 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:34.839 be released on schedule in January. Now what's interesting here 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:36.960 is when they get into this. Now, I heard this 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.360 number the other day and I was like, what are 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.919 Because we keep hearing no fire, no hire, no fire policy. 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.799 We are seeing weekly unemployment claims basically within the range 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.280 of what they say is a normal average anywhere from 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.720 two hundred and ten thousand per week up to two 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.760 hundred and fifty thousand, and it's all varied within that 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.200 range over these last several months and going even back 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.320 to last year. So in terms of the number of 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:07.400 people filing from those aren't going up, and so how 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.200 this number came up. And they're saying that although the 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.440 unemployment rate was four point six percent in November, all right, 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:18.200 four point six percent three months ago was four point 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.920 one percent, then they jumped at the four point two, 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.479 then to four point three, and now they've elevated to 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:25.720 four point six. 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.960 Based on what what evidence? Where are they seeing? And 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.520 quite honestly, where are they getting their numbers? Now? Get this? 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.160 Although the unemployment. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.880 Rate was four point six percent in November, the highest 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:44.200 in September of twenty twenty one, it was distorted by 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:49.280 technical factors related to the forty three day government shutdown, 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.599 which caused the BLS not to publish the jobs rate 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.480 jobless rate for October, the longest shutdown in history, prevented 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:03.280 the collection of data from households needed to calculate October's 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:08.160 unemployment rate. Well, if you don't have the data, if 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:12.280 you don't have the accurate information, why publish it and 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:16.720 why put it out there? Back during the previous Trump administration, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:23.880 we discovered how many people embedded in government dislike Donald Trump, 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:30.040 how many of them dislike Republicans in particular, dislike Republicans 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:34.040 Donald Trump in particular, and how they did their best 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:37.560 to undermine his presidency. And I got to ask the 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.359 question here with these Bureau of Labor statistics, are the 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:42.679 right people in there? 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.960 Because if they don't have the data. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.159 If they say they didn't collect enough data and the 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:52.120 numbers are not necessarily accurate, why the hell would you 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.920 publish it? Because you know, the spoon fed regurgitators in 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.640 the mainstream media are going to glom on to any 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.680 negative information and push that narrative out there. And I 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.840 got to tell you, America's truck and network has been 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.880 way ahead of the curve on this. I have been 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:15.000 saying pretty much since Liberation Day, back in April to 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.080 second and maybe even before then. 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:18.720 I'd have to go back and look. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.920 But the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream meet us 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.880 since twenty fifteen when Donald Trump came down that escalator 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:29.480 in Trump Tower, ninety some percent of the coverage of 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.760 him has been negative. When he won the presidency, they 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:34.880 didn't even think he was going to win, so the 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.400 polling there, the lies that the media told us then 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.760 as far as the rate of their polls and everything 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.880 were wrong. And then all during his presidency, all they 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:52.360 did negative coverage ninety some percent, and the narrative hasn't 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.520 changed even up to this point. And so with ninety 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.320 some percent negative coverage of not only the individual, of 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.760 his economic policies and so on. No wonder there is 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:05.960 a bad taste in people's mouth in terms of what's 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:06.360 going on. 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:07.480 As far as the economy. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.880 We had four years of out of control inflation nine 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.120 point one percent in one year and about four point 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:19.840 three percent on average through the entire Biden administration. And 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.160 now all of a sudden, people are concerned about affordability. 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.840 People are concerned about inflation when it's half of what 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.720 it was, less than half of what it was during 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.719 the Biden administration. And I've said all along, I think 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.920 the spoon fed regurgitators of mainstream media are trying to 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.680 talk down this economy and create a recession. They are 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:44.319 trying to manufacture a recession because of their lousy journalistic instincts. 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.040 And so when they publish a number like this, and 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.800 you know, the people in the government, again, I'm not 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.720 so sure how many of these people. 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:53.760 Are really in faith. 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.160 And if you're and if you're trying to downgrade the economy, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.880 you got to not particularly like the country, because if 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:06.440 that's bad, then people are going to suffer. Policymakers at 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:10.120 Federal Reserve last week US Central Bank overnight rate interest rate, 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.920 they cut it by another twenty five base point. We 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.800 know all about that tap it hiring is causing long 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.360 without touts, routes abouts, I should say, of unemployment. And 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.680 those numbers basically are staying about the same. They're up 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.240 and down a little bit. So this weekly job was claimed, 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.400 it fell, and it's been falling. It's been within a 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.600 relative range. But I wonder where in the hell they're 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.000 coming up with this four point six number. And I 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.679 guarantee you, guarantee you, I'm going to go out on 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.800 land here. I'm going to predict the next one comes 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.240 out that it's closer to four point two four point 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.880 one coming up, we're going to be talking with Mitch. 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.760 Play the interview I had with Mitch Davison. He is 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:54.080 the head of all of Rush Truck Center's collision centers 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.400 throughout the country. I'm Kevin Gordon, America's truck in Network 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:08.240 seven hundred WLW. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:05.679 Seven hundred and WLW. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.600 I'm Kevin Gordon as America's struck in Network. I have 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.040 a pleasure of speaking with Mitch Davison. He is the 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.760 director of collision centers for all of truck enterprises. He 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.720 is located out of the New Bronzefelle's location down in Texas, 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:24.200 and as part of the trade show itself, there was 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:30.559 a collision competition at one of the local the Nashville 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.720 Body Shop, and so tell us a little bit about that. 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:37.560 And of course this being now here in Nashville as 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.560 opposed to being in San Antonio, there was a whole 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.320 lot of logistics involved in getting us here. 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:43.800 Correct. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.000 Yeah, so typically this competition takes place in San Antonio 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:52.120 every year. The original competition was kicked off in Nashville 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:53.960 back in the end of two thousand and six, so 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:57.640 we returned here for our twentieth anniversary this year. But yeah, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.520 like you talked about our body shop competition, so we 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.160 have it's split into two categories. We have a body 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:08.640 repair section and a paint competition as well. Five of 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:10.960 our top body guys and five of the top paint 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:14.240 guys all come to compete, and those guys test for 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.839 full day Saturday or I'm sorry, full day kick. We 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:20.920 kicked the competition off Sunday morning. They test for a 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.520 full day Sunday and a full day Monday. Like we 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.480 were discussing a little while ago, we kicked competition off 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:32.319 a little early on our side because customer uptime is 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.200 a huge goal of ours, and we do have to 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.200 take care of that competition over at the body shop because, 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:40.840 like you said, no, we don't have a hard to 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:42.480 get a paint booth in your back pocket and move 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.000 it across town to spray. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.720 Some paint in the middle of a convention center. 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.920 So we shuttle those guys over to the body shop 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.520 and the five of them compete for paint and the 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.800 five four body and we want to give a huge 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.959 shout out to our main support vendors for the collision 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:01.199 center competition. 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.880 Three M puts on the body repair competition. 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.360 They create the written test that these guys qualify on 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.200 in the middle of the year and then bring in 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:17.439 a handful of judges and take care of the entire 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.920 body repair competition. And then on the paint side, we 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.560 have our paint manufacturer Exalta. Those guys do the same 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.160 with a written test that the paint guys qualify on 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.200 and come in once again with a handful of judges, 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.120 one judge per competitor over there, because they're watching a 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:40.160 lot of process procedures, how they're using the products or 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.480 they using the correct products. All that good stuff so 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.480 it's a it's a sight to see. I'm glad you 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.000 were able to get over there a little bit on. 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.800 Yeah, that was a blast on Sunday being able to 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.360 get over there to see that, because again it's well 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.440 my first time and i've i'm not been aware of that, 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.199 but to watch these technicians work through that and to 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:04.600 see how the competition develops. The competition this year was well, 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.080 one of the fenders they had cracked off the corner 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.400 and the punch two holes in it, and you have 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.640 to repair that and then get it ready for and 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.640 then the final product do they actually painted or is 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:16.079 it just. 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.200 On the body side. So this year three M put 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.160 together a few different practicing I'm not practicing, but the 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:28.200 few different different smaller competitions inside the main praetition. So 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.720 they did some plastic repair, they did fiberglass fender repair, 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.520 and like I said, three M gives them a toolbox 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:37.880 with all of their available products in it and gives 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.520 them free rein, so they're watching that the correct products 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:44.160 are selected, that those products are used correctly. They're judging 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.920 the final repair on all of those parts and pieces 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:51.760 that they use. And on our paint side, we had 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:57.400 two big fiberglass double hump rear drive fenders, and those 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.720 guys this year they changed it up. They were given 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.200 our three remain Rush colors, so they needed to prep 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:04.480 that fender, and. 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.000 Now prep that they had to do the primer correct. 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.599 They sanded it down, primed it, got it ready in 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.400 good condition to paint, and they were given, like I said, 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:19.640 given our three Rush colors and free reign creativity. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:20.680 Do what you like. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:22.960 I heard that end of it when I was there, 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:24.600 but I had to leave early to come over here 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:25.560 and set the booth on them. 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:27.200 And one of the guys came by. 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.320 I think he I think he told me, well, he 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:30.960 didn't know whether he was in the finals or not. 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.480 But the fender that he did had the Rush logo 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:37.560 on it and it was I think a reddish it 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:42.240 was the and it they knowing what the product was 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.239 beforehand and seeing this afterwards is phenomenal. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:50.520 Turned out phenomenal. I mean splitting. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:56.160 Hairs to to rank these competitors, and I keep mentioning, guys, 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.760 we do have a female who competes in our paint 0:14:58.760 --> 0:14:59.560 competitions too, has. 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:00.760 Been here to last four years. 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:01.200 Uh huh. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.400 She is also not an entry level technician anymore. 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.120 But she came to us very young, and so it's 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.240 awesome that she's made it four years in a row. 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.120 I'm probably gonna keep refer in all of them as 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:14.680 guys just. 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:16.200 Right, exactly exactly. 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:18.200 Yeah, So it's awesome. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.920 They were yeah that she would be and and you know, 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:23.840 maybe you can talk to her at some point and 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.840 then maybe down the road, I'd love to talk to 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.200 her on air during the regular regular you know, away 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.080 from the show so on, because I don't think we 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.960 have enough time to get everybody involved here. But I 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:37.240 was very surprised to see that because that is not 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.000 and we've talked with a number of people in the 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.080 trucking industry. I've talked with a number of people in 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.960 the trucking industry over the years, and this is one 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.400 of the things that that most people that the trucking 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:52.360 industry is not the normal career path that you would 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:54.200 in the past was. 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:55.120 Expected for women. 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.120 But there are more and more and they are thriving 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:03.200 in this business. So to let people know about that, 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.440 I think is just opens up a whole host of 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.600 abilities or career paths for women. 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:17.320 Absolutely, the trade is an awesome one to get into. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.640 I think the trades are making a turn back around again. 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.440 College was pushed, you know for many years, and the 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.360 trades kind of fell off, right. But I think the 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.320 trade there's a lot of people have come to the 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.640 realization that the trades are an awesome place to be. 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.360 I don't have to go to college for four years 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.440 if I don't want to. I can learn on the job. 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.800 I can make good money. But back to your point, 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.680 the women coming into the industry, we are seeing it 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.680 more and more, and we have customers that like that. 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.640 They find them slightly more detail oriented in some situations. 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.560 So it's worked out. It works great for us. 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.160 I'm talking with Mitch Davison. 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.880 He is the director of collision Centers for Rush Rush 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:04.680 Enterprises out of New Brunsville run run phil Fells, Texas. 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:09.160 And that is again when I've talked. 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.280 To a lot of people throughout the trade show and 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:17.359 how many of them are in the business because a 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:21.119 relative or a frame of a father where it was 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:25.159 involved in the business. And so this is now a 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.280 situation where you have the females coming in. They are 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.600 the trail blazers, if you will. I'm sure they don't 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.280 like being called that. They just want to be one 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.920 of the boys basically exactly. But the mere fact that 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.879 that's available and people know about that, I think is 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:43.840 important as well. 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.600 It is, And like I said, you know, it's great. 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.200 We have quite a few women coming into the industry now, 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:54.119 whether that be service or body shop. So definitely a 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.159 field to keep in the back of your mind. Even 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.240 it's not reserved just to the old guys anymore. Yeah, 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.119 that the guys that you know are leaning over the 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:04.520 engine bay with cigarette hanging. 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:04.920 Out of their mouth. 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:09.560 It's not the old days, it, you know, We've come 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:10.200 a long way. 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.400 But yeah, yeah, Gar are the days that you can 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.760 sit in the studio, do a show and spoke as cigar. 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.320 For God's sake, I got into this business way too late. 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.600 Now you're going to travel the country and talk to 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:22.320 guys like me. 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.000 All the time, well, which is a lot of fun. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.880 So yeah, but uh yeah, the industry has evolved considerably, 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:34.600 and the fact that the Rush enterprises values their customers 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:40.639 and values their employees as much to broaden this show 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.600 and the competition to all levels of the company is 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.960 just absolutely incredible. I'd like to pick this up on 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.919 the other side because I want to continue the conversation 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.600 and talk about you, how you got involved in the 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.880 business and basically how you got here. 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:57.679 Sure, and we'll talk about that coming up. 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:05.880 I'm Kevin Gordon America struck In Network seven hundred WLW. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.560 I'm Kevin Gordon, America, struck In Network, seven hundred WLW. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.600 Continue our conversation with Mitch Davison. He is director of 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.720 collision Centers for all of Rush Enterprises out of the 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:24.919 New Brunfels, Texas location, And we had talked earlier about 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.800 the logistics of getting everything up here. The mere fact 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.720 that not only as we talked about the vendors being here, 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:38.720 four hundred and forty different vendors who support this show, 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:40.399 that because of. 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.040 Their relationship with Rush Enterprises. 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.760 The fact that they pay for the event, the event 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.159 is completely covered by them, and that the amount of 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:53.320 money that they spend getting their vehicles here and all that. 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:55.879 So it's yeah, so of course I want to give 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:57.960 a huge shout out and thank you to all of 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:00.439 our vendors. You know, I know you guys are listening 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.160 to us right now, but me and Kevin are sitting 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:05.480 here on the trade show floor with dozens and dozens 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:07.840 and dozens of booths here from all of our vendors. 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:12.800 Like mentioned, all of these guys sponsored the event to 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:15.000 cover it. We're going to give away a ton of 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.159 cash and prizes to all of our winning competitors. This 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.840 even at three hundred thousand dollars worth of cashing prizes 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:24.679 to those guys tonight. So yes, if it wasn't for 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.399 our vendors, this event would not take place. So huge 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:29.800 thank you to those guys exactly taking care of them. 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:32.080 Talk about you a little bit here because a couple 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.840 of people have talked about your career path, So I 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.639 want to ask you, how did you come about getting 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:40.440 into the Did you start off this way? 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:41.120 Actually? 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:45.160 Know, I kind of fell into the automotive service side, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.919 where I made the majority of my career up to 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.040 this point with Toyota. So I come from an automotive 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:57.520 background and was introduced to Russian prizes and actually by 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:01.919 my now current boss, Victor Cummings, and we worked together 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.960 for probably a year trying to get me over to 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:06.840 the company and a position, and. 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:10.960 I finally was able to make the jump to the company. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:13.760 I have moved through a couple of different positions over 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.960 the last few years, which has been fantastic for me. 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:21.520 I've been able to really grow and apply myself and 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.800 you know, learn a ton. So I did not come 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.600 up in the in the heavy duty industry. I did 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:29.080 not come up at all in the collision industry. So 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:32.160 this has been a huge learning experience for me over 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:34.480 the last ten to eleven months now. 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:35.720 But it's been great. 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.359 The body shop side is a very tight knit group. 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:42.560 We still have over three hundred technicians in the collision 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:46.440 centers across the company. But it doesn't matter what shop 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.639 you walk into, they're all just like you've known them forever. 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:50.399 Uh huh. 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:52.960 So it's been great. So yeah, most of my experience 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:54.360 was from the automotive side. 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.159 That speaks well of rush enterprises. The fact that the 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.240 promoter and I keep hearing this from people over and 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:03.919 over and over again. The two things I keep hearing 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:08.040 promotion from within, working from the ground up, everything geared 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.160 towards the customer, making sure that the customer is satisfied, 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.679 that we take care of their needs, like not shutting 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:17.320 down your body shop on a Monday in order to 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.600 have a competition. You have it on Sunday in order 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:22.680 for people to get the competition. 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:25.320 Does give us one last day of downtime. But yeah, 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:28.040