1
00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,360
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, this is Lee Clasgow and we're Talking Transports.

2
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bloomberg Intelligence Talking Transports podcast. I'm your host,

3
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,800
Speaker 1: Lee Clascow, Senior freight transportation logistics Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence,

4
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,919
Speaker 1: Bloomberg's in house research arm of almost five hundred analysts

5
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,079
Speaker 1: and strategists around the globe. Before diving in a little

6
00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 1: public service announcement, your support is instrumental to keep bringing

7
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,159
Speaker 1: great guests and conversations to you, our listeners, and we

8
00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: need your support. So please, if you enjoyed the podcast,

9
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,319
Speaker 1: share it, like it and leave a comment. Also, if

10
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,199
Speaker 1: you have any ideas for a future episode or just

11
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,640
Speaker 1: want to talk transports, please hit me up on the

12
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,159
Speaker 1: Bloomberg terminal, on LinkedIn or on Twitter at Logistics Lee.

13
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,080
Speaker 1: Now on to our episode. We're delighted to have Dan

14
00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,120
Speaker 1: Wallace with us today. He's President and chief executive Officer

15
00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,360
Speaker 1: of Track Intermodal. Prior to joining Track in twenty twenty,

16
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,520
Speaker 1: Dan held a series of executive management positions at leading

17
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:03,640
Speaker 1: international companies, including Xpiel Logistics and Brambles Limited, where he

18
00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,360
Speaker 1: spent more than two decades in global leadership roles. Dan

19
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:12,520
Speaker 1: completed the senior Executive Program at London Business School and

20
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,399
Speaker 1: holds a master's degree in Business administration from Australian Graduate

21
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,920
Speaker 1: School of Management together with a master's degree in political

22
00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,480
Speaker 1: science from Australian National University. Dan thanks so much for

23
00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:25,959
Speaker 1: joining the podcast today.

24
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,199
Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, layam delighted to be here.

25
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,039
Speaker 1: So for those that are maybe not familiar with your company,

26
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,200
Speaker 1: Track Intermodal, can you give us a little background about

27
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,400
Speaker 1: what exactly is that you do over there?

28
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,399
Speaker 2: Sure so, Tracking to modily is the largest provider of

29
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,640
Speaker 2: marine and specialty chassis in North America and for the

30
00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 2: uninitiated as chassis very simply if you think about the

31
00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,360
Speaker 2: container ships that come into the ports and the cantinas

32
00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,960
Speaker 2: that come off those ships at the ports being then

33
00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,920
Speaker 2: alight it onto one of our units and attached up

34
00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,000
Speaker 2: to a power unit and tiken either a rail ramp,

35
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,200
Speaker 2: a warehouse or their end destination. So the chassy is

36
00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,760
Speaker 2: an essential part of the supply chain. And as many

37
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,520
Speaker 2: people say in the industry, you know, nothing moves without wheels,

38
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,120
Speaker 2: and the wheels are on the chassis. So in terms

39
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 2: of tracking, the MADL track was started in nineteen sixty eight.

40
00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:21,360
Speaker 2: Its first iteration was Interpool which was founded to lease

41
00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,200
Speaker 2: marine containers, and then in nine point eighty six Track

42
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,040
Speaker 2: Lease was formed and with a pool of thirty five

43
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,960
Speaker 2: thousand jazzis, that was when they started actually leasing chassis

44
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,639
Speaker 2: to the industry. In two thousand, they bought trans America

45
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,000
Speaker 2: and became the largest provider of chassis in North America

46
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,880
Speaker 2: with one hundred and seventy five thousand units available. In

47
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,440
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen they added Track Services and the Mobile Service Units,

48
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:48,880
Speaker 2: which is providing repairs and maintenance for the chazas that

49
00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:51,080
Speaker 2: are out there on the road. And in twenty twenty

50
00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,520
Speaker 2: one we acquired Track Tire Services, which is used to

51
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,920
Speaker 2: retread tires and provide the tires for our fleet of

52
00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,000
Speaker 2: chassis around the country.

53
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,519
Speaker 1: Do you do you manufacture that the chassis or you

54
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,280
Speaker 1: just lease them out and rent them out in sell them.

55
00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,640
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, that's right. Part of being in business

56
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 2: and being decent added or half decent addit is knowing

57
00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:11,320
Speaker 2: what you're not good at it. And we would not

58
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,240
Speaker 2: be good at manufacturing chassis. We've got at leasing them.

59
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,000
Speaker 2: We're good at providing them to our customers. We have

60
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 2: repair facilities through our service centers and now six hundred

61
00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,960
Speaker 2: marine locations that we partner with our vendors, but we

62
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,480
Speaker 2: do not manufacture them, just lease them.

63
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,519
Speaker 1: Is there like one or two major manufacturers of chassis

64
00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:32,640
Speaker 1: it that you buy from or are there?

65
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:33,200
Speaker 2: It? Is?

66
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:34,440
Speaker 1: It a fragmented business.

67
00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 2: That's actually pretty interesting. So up until twenty twenty one,

68
00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,480
Speaker 2: ninety six percent of the world chassis were manufactured in China,

69
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,080
Speaker 2: and then in twenty twenty one there were tariffs and

70
00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,720
Speaker 2: countervailing duties to the chain of two hundred and fifty

71
00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:56,000
Speaker 2: percent put on those chassy manufacturers because the feeling was

72
00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,640
Speaker 2: that they had been you know, there wasn't a fair market,

73
00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,920
Speaker 2: and basically that took China off the board overnight. So,

74
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,000
Speaker 2: you know, the free market filled that demand need with supply,

75
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,720
Speaker 2: both through American manufacturers and through some other large scale

76
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,240
Speaker 2: manufacturers that repurpose some of their activity to come into

77
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,360
Speaker 2: the United States market. Ran On from Brazil is one,

78
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:21,120
Speaker 2: Hyundai is another one, and so they provide the units

79
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:27,240
Speaker 2: in conjunction with the with the domestic manufacturers and also CIMC,

80
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,800
Speaker 2: which is you know, which is an international chasis provider

81
00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:32,480
Speaker 2: which operates in multiple markets.

82
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,840
Speaker 1: Right, Can you talk about you know, who are your customers?

83
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know our customers are we have over

84
00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,719
Speaker 2: six thousand of them, and it starts with the steamship lines,

85
00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,280
Speaker 2: so you know they work with us when they're going

86
00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,400
Speaker 2: to bring their product into this country, and then we

87
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,359
Speaker 2: partner directly with the terminals, also with the ports, the

88
00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,920
Speaker 2: trucking community and the NBA c CS and the VAC

89
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,240
Speaker 2: so at every point in the supply chain, our our

90
00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,720
Speaker 2: set is used and all those people are our customers.

91
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,960
Speaker 2: The bulk of them are the steamship lines and the

92
00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:08,440
Speaker 2: motor carry community.

93
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,919
Speaker 1: Right and they and they are customers who I guess.

94
00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: Chassis pools that is that.

95
00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:15,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's two ways of doing it really, you know,

96
00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,400
Speaker 2: at the risk of oversimplifying it, but basically you have

97
00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,159
Speaker 2: a chassis pool, which is where multiple providers put oursets

98
00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,320
Speaker 2: into a pool and people draw on the pool as

99
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,080
Speaker 2: needed and then pay as they use. Or you have

100
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,279
Speaker 2: what's called the term lease arrangement, which is where you

101
00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,000
Speaker 2: would come to me to say Lee and say I

102
00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,839
Speaker 2: need a thousand chassis and I want them for five years,

103
00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,320
Speaker 2: and we would agree a rate that you pay every

104
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,560
Speaker 2: day irrespective of how often you use them. So you know,

105
00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,880
Speaker 2: there's two real models of taking the product to market,

106
00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,800
Speaker 2: but within those within pooling and termally, so there's multiple variations.

107
00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,200
Speaker 2: So you know, we're in the business of saying yes

108
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 2: to our customers, so we flex both of those models

109
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,760
Speaker 2: to come up with something that is best suited for

110
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:57,880
Speaker 2: their individual needs.

111
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,880
Speaker 1: And so in the chassis world, are most chassis either

112
00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 1: leased or they're used through the pool as opposed to

113
00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,279
Speaker 1: you know, like a company owning them.

114
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, mostly least or through the pool. Since twenty fifteen,

115
00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,240
Speaker 2: you've seen a rise in what's called what's referred to

116
00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,320
Speaker 2: an industry as trucker wheels, you know, where the truckers

117
00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,680
Speaker 2: provide their own wheels at the ports, and they can

118
00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,640
Speaker 2: do that either through acquiring chassis, but normally they do

119
00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,000
Speaker 2: it through leasing chassis. So they lease them from the

120
00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,640
Speaker 2: inner model equipment providers such as ourselves, you know, and

121
00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,640
Speaker 2: then when they turn up to pick up the box,

122
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,200
Speaker 2: they have their own chassis with them. You know, in

123
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,760
Speaker 2: the past, you know, there was probably sixty forty pool

124
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,719
Speaker 2: to term lease. Now it would be I would wager

125
00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,080
Speaker 2: you know, it would be the reverse of that, So

126
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,440
Speaker 2: you know, sixty to seventy percent would be provided through

127
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,080
Speaker 2: the term lease or the truck of providing their own

128
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,840
Speaker 2: and thirty to forty percent through the pools.

129
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:59,800
Speaker 1: Right and so so TRACK in a model, you know,

130
00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,320
Speaker 1: are there do you have competitors? Are you, guys pretty

131
00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,359
Speaker 1: much the dominant player across the country?

132
00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:05,040
Speaker 2: Is it like?

133
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:06,919
Speaker 1: Are your competitors regional?

134
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:07,560
Speaker 2: Is there?

135
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,000
Speaker 1: You know, how does that work? What's the competitive landscape

136
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,160
Speaker 1: in the chassis industry?

137
00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,160
Speaker 2: You know, in the marine chassis industry there's three large

138
00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:19,680
Speaker 2: intermodal equipment providers. There's ourselves, a d C l I

139
00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,040
Speaker 2: and flex Evan, and then there are a series of

140
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:29,400
Speaker 2: other providers smaller in scale but no less significant. And

141
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 2: then you know, depending on how you define the market,

142
00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,720
Speaker 2: you can include people that aren't their own chassis and

143
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,080
Speaker 2: the small mother and MoMA pop providers if you like.

144
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:41,720
Speaker 2: But basically on the pooling side of things, there's three

145
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,000
Speaker 2: large players, of which TRACK is the largest for the

146
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:49,280
Speaker 2: provision of marine chassis the domestic side, so that's for

147
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:53,000
Speaker 2: the fifty three foot chassis, which is for the movements

148
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,640
Speaker 2: internal to the country. Basically DCLI is the largest provider,

149
00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,160
Speaker 2: but the TRACK is certainly active in that market and

150
00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,480
Speaker 2: growing and looking to grow more.

151
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,200
Speaker 1: Right, And so you know, when someone's deciding to go

152
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,720
Speaker 1: with one of these, you or a competitor. I mean

153
00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,080
Speaker 1: the chassis themselves, are they relatively commoditized or do you

154
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,320
Speaker 1: guys do something special to your chassis besides maybe the

155
00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,080
Speaker 1: color that that people are like, oh, you know, we

156
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,120
Speaker 1: want to use a track chassis because of X Y Z.

157
00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, look, we compete

158
00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,600
Speaker 2: for our business every day, like it's not guaranteed, and

159
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,400
Speaker 2: we compete on safety, service and quality. You know, we

160
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,160
Speaker 2: are the market leader. We're never the lowest priced, but

161
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:42,280
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that we're not the best value because

162
00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,240
Speaker 2: you know, people want the certainty of knowing that they

163
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,959
Speaker 2: have site a safe, high quality unit to go out

164
00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,240
Speaker 2: on the road. They you know, the big loss for

165
00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,360
Speaker 2: our customers is when they stall out because of a

166
00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,840
Speaker 2: problem with their equipment and they can't move, you know.

167
00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,120
Speaker 2: So and also navigating the ports can be complex, and

168
00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,720
Speaker 2: navigating the supply chains can be complex. As you know, LEA,

169
00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,160
Speaker 2: there's no one model that's consistent on all the ports

170
00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,960
Speaker 2: or terminals or rail ramps across North America, so there's

171
00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,840
Speaker 2: different operating models for all different markets. We help our

172
00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:18,600
Speaker 2: customers navigate that with dedicated customer service team and that's

173
00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,560
Speaker 2: greatly appreciated. You know, the end result of all that

174
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,800
Speaker 2: work is how sticky are your customers? What's your attention like?

175
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,240
Speaker 2: You know, we've been doing business with our biggest customers

176
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,280
Speaker 2: for thirty to forty years. In most cases, our attention

177
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,760
Speaker 2: rate is very, very high. So we think we've got

178
00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,000
Speaker 2: the combination right. But again, you know, we have to

179
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,560
Speaker 2: make sure that we're listening to the market. Market dynamics

180
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:45,320
Speaker 2: are changing a lot. You know, you look at something

181
00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,160
Speaker 2: like the rise of e commerce. You know, sixteen point

182
00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,880
Speaker 2: four percent of retail sales last year, you know, forecasted

183
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,520
Speaker 2: to grow thirty two points business to business, you know,

184
00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,559
Speaker 2: retail sales as you go out to twenty thirty, twenty

185
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 2: forty in that timeframe, you know, and that puts particular

186
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,520
Speaker 2: challenges on the providers because you know the customer's expectations

187
00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,920
Speaker 2: around e commerce. You know, they want the unit delivered,

188
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,719
Speaker 2: they want whatever they want to be able to order

189
00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,520
Speaker 2: it online, have it delivered to their door fast, and

190
00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,520
Speaker 2: if they don't like it, send it back for free.

191
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,720
Speaker 2: And that puts unique pressure on the supply chain and

192
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,600
Speaker 2: requires participants in the supply chain to know to be

193
00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,920
Speaker 2: able to meet that requirement and that's particularly important for

194
00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,280
Speaker 2: our retail customers. So you know, we're constantly thinking about

195
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,000
Speaker 2: how we can get faster, how we can get better,

196
00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,120
Speaker 2: and how we can help them win.

197
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,840
Speaker 1: Right, And so you know, you buy these assets, you

198
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,000
Speaker 1: lease them out. What's the average life of one of

199
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:41,840
Speaker 1: these assets?

200
00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,240
Speaker 2: Well, so it used to be around thirty to thirty

201
00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,880
Speaker 2: five years, but now you know, in a late two

202
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,480
Speaker 2: thousand and land twenty and eighteen, we started what's called

203
00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,800
Speaker 2: an upgrade and refurbishment program and that's where we actually

204
00:10:57,840 --> 00:10:59,720
Speaker 2: take the asset and strip it down to the frame

205
00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,679
Speaker 2: and pair it so we can reuse those assets. Now

206
00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:04,959
Speaker 2: we can get an additional thirty five years of life.

207
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,960
Speaker 2: So well, I feel like the capital you still have

208
00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,960
Speaker 2: to make a material capital investment, but it's less than

209
00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,320
Speaker 2: buying a new shassy. So you know, the units, if

210
00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,360
Speaker 2: you buy the good quality units and maintain them in the

211
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,240
Speaker 2: right way that we do and then put them through

212
00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,160
Speaker 2: that program, and we have a very detailed process that

213
00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,520
Speaker 2: we go through to assess the candidates to decide which

214
00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:26,440
Speaker 2: way they need to go, whether they need to be upgrader,

215
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,640
Speaker 2: where they need to be referved. You can keep those

216
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,960
Speaker 2: units out on the road more or less indefinitely. And

217
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,080
Speaker 2: of course you know when you do scrap them, we're

218
00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:40,760
Speaker 2: able to recycle or recover one hundred percent of that asset. Yeah. Yeah,

219
00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,040
Speaker 2: so it's a good model in that sense.

220
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,880
Speaker 1: So when these assets are deployed in pools or in

221
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,320
Speaker 1: other people's fleets, do you track them or do you

222
00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:51,680
Speaker 1: have the ability to track them?

223
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,079
Speaker 2: We invest a ton of time and money into our

224
00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:01,240
Speaker 2: software and we process one point eight million EEDI transactions

225
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,679
Speaker 2: every day, So we receive a bunch of information from

226
00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:10,360
Speaker 2: a bunch of different locations, ports, terminals, truckers, customers, steamship lines, everyone,

227
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,240
Speaker 2: and we synthesize that that data and we use that

228
00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:19,000
Speaker 2: for our fleet planning, our invoicing, building maintenance and repair,

229
00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,960
Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera. We have custom built software which

230
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,640
Speaker 2: is called Helix, which is our management program which absorbs

231
00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 2: all that information. And we have a long history on

232
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:37,640
Speaker 2: the innovation around technology and it goes back to in fact,

233
00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,319
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety nine, believe it or not, Track one

234
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,559
Speaker 2: a World Smithsonian Award for pul Stat, which was customized

235
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,440
Speaker 2: software that they built for tracking chassis and containments. Yeah,

236
00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:50,720
Speaker 2: so who would have believed that right the chassy industry

237
00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,760
Speaker 2: at the forefoot logical innovation. But there you go. And

238
00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,080
Speaker 2: then in twenty thirteen, you know, we introduced easy book,

239
00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,600
Speaker 2: which is my bile booking done on the app, and

240
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,720
Speaker 2: then to twenty seventeen tracks elect and now we're big

241
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:08,640
Speaker 2: into artificial intelligence. We've deployed AI to track our vendor activity,

242
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,240
Speaker 2: make sure that we're not being over invoiced, to make

243
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,920
Speaker 2: sure that the repairs have been done the right way

244
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,760
Speaker 2: for the right price, giving our vendors visibility on that

245
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,920
Speaker 2: as well. And also we have a program called safety

246
00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,160
Speaker 2: Mojo which we use to ensure that our product is

247
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,040
Speaker 2: safe and our operators are safe. So we're big on

248
00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,160
Speaker 2: technology and that's and plus you know, obviously we have

249
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,800
Speaker 2: a large portion of our fleet which is GPS equipped,

250
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:36,120
Speaker 2: so that we partnered with a major provider there on

251
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,040
Speaker 2: the telematic side of thing, and that can tell you

252
00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,680
Speaker 2: not just where the units are and how long since

253
00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,360
Speaker 2: they've moved and all that, but whether they moved under load,

254
00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,520
Speaker 2: the number of hard breaking incidents and all that. So

255
00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,120
Speaker 2: there's a lot of investment on the technology around the

256
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,679
Speaker 2: management of the pool because our business is keeping those

257
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,520
Speaker 2: assets spinning and making sure that they're being effectively utilized.

258
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,560
Speaker 1: And if you're not using GPS, I guess you're using

259
00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:59,680
Speaker 1: like OURFID or something like that.

260
00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,280
Speaker 2: Each unit has an individual code, you know, so that

261
00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,480
Speaker 2: that's what's interesting about this compared to some other pools

262
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,600
Speaker 2: that operate. You know, you can identify each individual unit

263
00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,320
Speaker 2: where it is, and that's done through a variety of methods,

264
00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,200
Speaker 2: mainly via technology. You know, in some cases it can

265
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:23,160
Speaker 2: be you know, simply recording the units, but the number

266
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,760
Speaker 2: of the units. But we know where every individual unit

267
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 2: is in our fleet at any point in time, you know.

268
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,000
Speaker 2: And there may be some very small exceptions to that,

269
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,520
Speaker 2: but that level of asset control is not a problem

270
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,160
Speaker 2: for us, right.

271
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,880
Speaker 1: And so you know, obviously we're in a higher interest

272
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,880
Speaker 1: rate environment. I'm assuming that impacts leads phrase. Can you

273
00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,680
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, how higher interest rates have impacted

274
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:46,280
Speaker 1: your business?

275
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that there's a number of ways.

276
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,760
Speaker 2: Obviously you've got cost pressure, right, you know, so your

277
00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:54,600
Speaker 2: vendors are coming to your saying, hey, we're playing more,

278
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,600
Speaker 2: the parts are more, labors more, and you've got to

279
00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,360
Speaker 2: have the discussion about price with them. M and N

280
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,680
Speaker 2: discussion about price with our customer. But for me, the

281
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,800
Speaker 2: main thing is consumer confidence. And you know, if you

282
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,240
Speaker 2: think about the silo of the immediate silo in which

283
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,800
Speaker 2: you operate and think about the broader supply chain, I

284
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,280
Speaker 2: think the big lesson over the last three to four

285
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,520
Speaker 2: years has been just how potent a high inflationary environment

286
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,360
Speaker 2: can be in impacting consumer confidence. And if consumer confidence

287
00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,560
Speaker 2: goes down, And if you look at GDP, it's forecast

288
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,160
Speaker 2: to be two and a half points in the US

289
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,880
Speaker 2: this year. Last year was two point eight, year before

290
00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,120
Speaker 2: it was two point nine. That's not going in the

291
00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:39,440
Speaker 2: right direction. And that's what pulls product towards our shores

292
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,160
Speaker 2: and that's what drives our business. Now. There's a strong

293
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:47,440
Speaker 2: correlation between chassis growth and the growth of GDP, and

294
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:52,880
Speaker 2: that coefficient as well established also for containers. So so

295
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,240
Speaker 2: we need we need global trade to grow, you know,

296
00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,840
Speaker 2: and high inflationary environments, in my opinion, don't help that.

297
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 2: But that bank said, we believe in the American consumer,

298
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,600
Speaker 2: we believe in global trade. We think it's up into

299
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,800
Speaker 2: the right So therefore we're very bullish about the future

300
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,040
Speaker 2: growth prospects of our company.

301
00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,400
Speaker 1: And I'm just curious if I wanted, for whatever, for

302
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,520
Speaker 1: strange reason, by a chassis, what does the chassis cost?

303
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,280
Speaker 1: Are you talking about tens of thousands of dollars? Fifty

304
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 1: thousand dollars? Like? How much does the chassis cost?

305
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:28,760
Speaker 2: Roughly? I know, roughly between twenty and thirty thousand, depending

306
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,480
Speaker 2: on the type, depending on the type, you know, depending

307
00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 2: on the age, depending on the specifications. You know, the

308
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,720
Speaker 2: real answer to your question is it depends. But they're

309
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,480
Speaker 2: not cheap, right, so you know, they're not as cheap

310
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,920
Speaker 2: as some other products that people purchase. The scale. So

311
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,240
Speaker 2: you know, if you wanted to go out and buy

312
00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,440
Speaker 2: a chassy, maybe you can do it. If you wanted

313
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 2: to go out and build your own chassy pool, you know, Lee,

314
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 2: you may have to sell one of your seven or

315
00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:54,560
Speaker 2: eight houses to get stuff.

316
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,560
Speaker 1: You know, you did mention in Fleetion that costs are higher,

317
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,600
Speaker 1: so that twenty to thirty thousand dollars. What would have

318
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,560
Speaker 1: that been like before the pandemic?

319
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,399
Speaker 2: Well, don't forget we talked before about how the provision

320
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,200
Speaker 2: of chassis in the market changed when China was taken off.

321
00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,040
Speaker 2: So that happened to coalesce with a time of peak

322
00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,520
Speaker 2: demand as you remember twenty one to twenty two, so

323
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,879
Speaker 2: COVID basically shut everything down. After everything opened up, a

324
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:28,200
Speaker 2: wave of volume hit the US ports and so that

325
00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,199
Speaker 2: hit everybody, Chassi providers included, you know. Suddenly, you know,

326
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,760
Speaker 2: volume was up thirty to thirty five points year on year.

327
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,400
Speaker 2: People wanted to buy chassis, but the people that made

328
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,920
Speaker 2: the chassis were no longer able to make the chassis

329
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,600
Speaker 2: in a way which was cost efficient, so there was

330
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,280
Speaker 2: a gap in the market. The market was capacity constrained,

331
00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:47,640
Speaker 2: so the price of chassy, to answer your question, doubled

332
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,679
Speaker 2: in that period. Oh wow, yeah, it hasn't gone back now.

333
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 1: So ten years ago you could have bought one from

334
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,879
Speaker 1: ten for ten to fifteen thousand.

335
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:03,720
Speaker 2: Speaking in broad terms, lub Yeah, roughly, but now no chance. Yeah.

336
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,400
Speaker 1: So is there any government, Barty that regulates chassis?

337
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, look there, I mean, the government is obviously heavily

338
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,480
Speaker 2: involved in regulating everyone that operates in the support chain.

339
00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,520
Speaker 2: I mean, the main ones are for us of the

340
00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,600
Speaker 2: Federal Marti Carrier Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation,

341
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,600
Speaker 2: you know, and these regulations cover the safety standards, maintenance,

342
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,800
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. So you know, basically the way

343
00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,199
Speaker 2: it works is the federal authorities set the baseline, but

344
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,399
Speaker 2: then the state and the local authorities can add to it,

345
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:40,919
Speaker 2: so you may have weight limits in certain places, you know,

346
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:46,439
Speaker 2: you may have emission standards, additional road taxes, all that

347
00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:51,680
Speaker 2: sort of stuff. But basically, long story short, the FMCSA

348
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,280
Speaker 2: and the DAT they hold mart carriers responsible for ensuring

349
00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 2: that any chassis day hall is safe and fit to operate,

350
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,439
Speaker 2: and their responsibilities when they get the asset is to

351
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,320
Speaker 2: do the pre trip inspection. Our responsibility is to make

352
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,200
Speaker 2: sure that we have a unit that complies with all

353
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:13,080
Speaker 2: relevant regulations and laws, and we do that when we

354
00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,680
Speaker 2: do that religiously, and we actually hold ourselves to a

355
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 2: higher standard than what the government sets because safety is

356
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,760
Speaker 2: obviously such a critical part of our industry. We do

357
00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,679
Speaker 2: also get impacted by the Federal Maritime Commission. They do

358
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,440
Speaker 2: not have jurisdiction out Associs, but they do have jurisdiction

359
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:39,159
Speaker 2: over the ocean carriers, and so sometimes there can be

360
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:44,840
Speaker 2: matters which are considered by the Effremcy which potentially could

361
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 2: make us an impacted party as well as well as

362
00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,919
Speaker 2: other people like the railroads. The railroads and the RAH

363
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,240
Speaker 2: ramps are under the jurisdiction of the Service Transportation Board.

364
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,879
Speaker 2: So there's plenty of regulation, more than enough to go

365
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,520
Speaker 2: around in my humble opinion, and plenty of government supervisions.

366
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I would say your chassis are pretty. They're

367
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,600
Speaker 1: like a blue I saw a couple of mine display

368
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,240
Speaker 1: at t PM last month.

369
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,159
Speaker 2: Thank you for saying that. Like you know, as I

370
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,479
Speaker 2: said to you beforehand, being in the chassy industry can

371
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 2: be tough at parties, but you know, once you once

372
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,280
Speaker 2: you convert someone to the industry and they start to

373
00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:22,520
Speaker 2: understand it. You know, I often get phone calls from

374
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,199
Speaker 2: people saying, man, those blue chassis are everywhere. You know,

375
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,800
Speaker 2: I'm driving along. I'm just I'm driving along them. So

376
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,840
Speaker 2: all one there's another one, you know, And so yeah,

377
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,520
Speaker 2: we're all a bit tragic like that. In the logistics

378
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 2: and supply chain industry, we like things that actually move

379
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,800
Speaker 2: product around. So the chassis are definitely definitely fitting into

380
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:40,320
Speaker 2: that category.

381
00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: Goes down well, absolutely, And so you know, when a

382
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,720
Speaker 1: chassis has to come in from meetenance, what's like the

383
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 1: number one thing that you know, I guess goes wrong.

384
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,200
Speaker 2: You know, the tires are the ones that get warn

385
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,600
Speaker 2: the most, right and then it's lights and breaks, you know,

386
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 2: in that order. But you know, the biggest, the biggest

387
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,879
Speaker 2: we think about. Tires are the biggest cost item, you know,

388
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,280
Speaker 2: but it can be market specific. So if you think about,

389
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 2: you know, the chassis that operate in the central region,

390
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,520
Speaker 2: now they pick up you know, they operate in really

391
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,520
Speaker 2: tough conditions, you know, so they've got the snow, the ice,

392
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 2: the dirt, you know, and and that erodes the frame,

393
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,440
Speaker 2: which can mean that they're there their useful life is

394
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 2: actually longer before they have to be you know, there

395
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,399
Speaker 2: have there has to be a what we call a

396
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,640
Speaker 2: major repair or a referbor upgrade, which we discussed earlier.

397
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 2: But but you know, the big thing in our industry

398
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,240
Speaker 2: is tires. You know, they're out on the road, they've

399
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 2: been driven a bunch of miles under load, and the

400
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,119
Speaker 2: tires have to be absolutely right for the unit to

401
00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:41,200
Speaker 2: be safe. So that's the number one that's the number

402
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 2: one area of focus for us. Right.

403
00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,000
Speaker 1: Can you talk about what what is track select?

404
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,679
Speaker 2: Track Select is, So it's a it's a pool of

405
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,240
Speaker 2: premium chassis which are you know, it's basically white glove service.

406
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 2: So you know, if people want a specific type of shows.

407
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 2: If they want to guarantee you about availability, if they want,

408
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 2: you know, a certain dimensions in certain locations at certain times,

409
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 2: then they can access it through Track Select Track selects.

410
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 2: Not in every market. You know, we follow the demand

411
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 2: of our customers and so you know, in some markets

412
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,040
Speaker 2: it's not there. But if they want it where they

413
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,640
Speaker 2: can have it and we'll put it there. Gotcha?

414
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,000
Speaker 1: And I guess you know, I know you're a private company,

415
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 1: but who are you? Are you on by private equity?

416
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,000
Speaker 1: Is it a family business?

417
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,280
Speaker 2: No, We're owned by Stone Peak Infrastructure Partners, who are

418
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 2: the larte independent infrastructure player in that asset class. They

419
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,480
Speaker 2: bought Track in March of twenty twenty. I joined in

420
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 2: July of twenty twenty. And you know they've since grown

421
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 2: to have seventy six. At the time they had twenty

422
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 2: billion assets, twenty billion in assets under management. Now they

423
00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,240
Speaker 2: have seventy six, you know, so they're growing rapid lead

424
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,479
Speaker 2: and they've been fantastic for us, Absolutely fantastic to work with.

425
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:10,439
Speaker 2: Very committed to building better companies and investing in companies.

426
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 2: I mean, they hold you to account for the appropriate

427
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 2: return on capital, but they move quickly. They're willing to

428
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,640
Speaker 2: support management provided you to what you say you're going

429
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 2: to do, and you're doing a timely fashion. Is excellent

430
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,919
Speaker 2: governance around that. But it's been a massive source of

431
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,240
Speaker 2: competitive advantage for us because we have limitless access to

432
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 2: capital and we can move faster than our competitors into

433
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 2: a new space and make money. And so the partnership

434
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 2: has been been very, very effective in my opinion with them.

435
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:41,439
Speaker 1: And I guess, how do you and how do your

436
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,639
Speaker 1: owners define growth? Successful growth for the company? Is it something?

437
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 1: Is it a two x GDP? Like what are you

438
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 1: guys trying to do?

439
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 2: Well? I think that you know, as I say, we're

440
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 2: privately held, so you know, we don't disguise their financials.

441
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,960
Speaker 2: But it's in general, without stay and obvious it's about

442
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 2: profitable growth. But it's not about growing just for the

443
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,240
Speaker 2: sake of growing. You know, we're not interested in going

444
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,719
Speaker 2: and doubling our sides and halving our margins. We're not

445
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 2: interested in that. You know, we want to grow in

446
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 2: a way which is margin margin accreative. We're not. Also,

447
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 2: we don't equate growth with just adding more assets. You know,

448
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,200
Speaker 2: otherwise you know, you could go out and buy loss

449
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,679
Speaker 2: making companies and you bolt them on and call yourself

450
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,439
Speaker 2: the biggest. And frankly, I think in our space, in

451
00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 2: the logistics and supply chain space, particularly in transportation, there's

452
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 2: been a bit of that. That's not how we measure ourselves.

453
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 2: You know, our strategy is very simple. It's to grow

454
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,199
Speaker 2: our business, but it's to grow our business profitably. So

455
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,879
Speaker 2: you know, we we have we understand fully the growth imperative,

456
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,600
Speaker 2: but we need to we need to do it in

457
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,600
Speaker 2: a way which is margin accreative. And you know, we

458
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,199
Speaker 2: feel that we've done a reasonable job on that, but

459
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 2: we can always do better.

460
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 1: You know, you mentioned you know the impact of tariffs

461
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,200
Speaker 1: in your industry. You know how it impacts the cost

462
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:02,439
Speaker 1: of your equipment. Obviously you can't not look at a

463
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 1: newspaper without seeing tariff in the headlines, on again, off again.

464
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,439
Speaker 1: You know, thread of tariff, actual tariff, reciprocal tariffs. So

465
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 1: how how do you see you know this, I guess

466
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 1: more protectionist administration impacting the chassis game.

467
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. And look, it's just been

468
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 2: such a bizarre time, hasn't it really when you think

469
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 2: about it, like it's yeah, so China, Canada and Mexico

470
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:38,399
Speaker 2: are forty two percent of the United States importance. You

471
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 2: know that like, they're responsible for forty two percent of

472
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 2: what's important into this country. And at the moment, it

473
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 2: looks like there's going to be tariffs on all of them,

474
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 2: you know, and now what's important if you think about

475
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 2: China first and foremost, you know, the tariffs that were

476
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 2: imposed in twenty eighteen, they actually came out to about

477
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,040
Speaker 2: twenty one percent across all the items, you know, and

478
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 2: then when you look at you look at the volume,

479
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 2: the volume in twenty four, twenty three, twenty four was

480
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 2: pretty much back to twenty nineteen levels pre COVID, So

481
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 2: you know, people were able to absorb that know, I

482
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 2: think and our feeling was that if and by the way,

483
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 2: you know, when President Trump put them in, President Bidom

484
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: never removed them, they were still able to recover that volume. So,

485
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,400
Speaker 2: you know, we felt that at that level the consumer

486
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,159
Speaker 2: was willing to absorb. But you know, I think if

487
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,439
Speaker 2: you go and put another ten percent on top of that,

488
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 2: you know, that could be problematic. Another twenty percent that

489
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 2: could be problematic. If you throw on to that fines

490
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 2: for non US manufactured ships coming into the ports that

491
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,360
Speaker 2: could be in some cases, if you just look at

492
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 2: the fleets of the large shipping lines and the number

493
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 2: that were manufactured in China of the capacity that they have,

494
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,159
Speaker 2: simple math tells you that could be in the hundreds

495
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 2: of millions, if not billions of dollars. You know, that

496
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,600
Speaker 2: will have an impact, in my opinion, and it's hard

497
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,240
Speaker 2: to see, frankly, how those policies don't have an upward

498
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 2: inflationary effect. And we took before about inflation and its

499
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 2: ability to impact consumer confidence and just deplete demand overall,

500
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,880
Speaker 2: which would cause volume issues for our industry. So that's

501
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 2: the first one you know that there is, I think

502
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 2: a very real risk of an upward pressure on inflation

503
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 2: and then downward pressure on volumes. But really the big

504
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 2: thing is uncertainty, and that's what I'm saying at the moment,

505
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,920
Speaker 2: and from talking to other CEOs in the present environment,

506
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 2: it's just very difficult to know exactly what's going to happen,

507
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 2: and that CEOs can get fired for a bunch of things,

508
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 2: but they can definitely get fired for bad capital decisions.

509
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,199
Speaker 2: And I think what you're seeing at the moment is

510
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,959
Speaker 2: CEO is pulling back a little bit from deploying capital

511
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,560
Speaker 2: because they don't want to be trapped on the wrong

512
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 2: side of a capital call. You know, they need there

513
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,080
Speaker 2: to be a little more certainty about what the future

514
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 2: environment looks like before they're willing to make, you know,

515
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 2: the level of investment that they might in the past.

516
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:13,719
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that they won't make it. I'm not

517
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,240
Speaker 2: saying that it won't come back, but I'm saying it

518
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 2: could be delayed. And when those sorts of things happen,

519
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 2: and that puts operating pressure on everyone into suppotcham because

520
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 2: you need those projects to go ahead, because you need

521
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 2: fresh investment for fresh growth, fresh development opportunities. An environment

522
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 2: where that's pulling back a little bit, that can be harder.

523
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,919
Speaker 2: So you know, the long answer to your question, I

524
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 2: just gave you the short answers to things. You know,

525
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 2: downward pressure on volume, you know, and an uncertainty leading

526
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 2: to hesitancy and deployment of capital.

527
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: And then you know, for you guys, you know, are

528
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: your leases short term or one year in nature? Are

529
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 1: they like longer term so you're a little more protected

530
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: from the near term volatile.

531
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 2: They're longer in nature. So you know, we were pivoted

532
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 2: pretty strongly into the term lease segment, you know, in

533
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 2: twenty one twenty two around that time, and the deals

534
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 2: that we have long term deals, so that gives us

535
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 2: a little more certainty and it means that our performance

536
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 2: is less volatile than some others who didn't make that

537
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 2: same choice. So now trying to navigate their way through

538
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 2: pretty tumultuous market.

539
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: Right outside of the inflationary challenges and uncertainty, you know,

540
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 1: what are the other issues that are on your dar?

541
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 1: At least as a release to the chassis market and

542
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,080
Speaker 1: track intermodel.

543
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:46,719
Speaker 2: It looked The first thing I'd say is just, you know,

544
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,200
Speaker 2: despite it all, there's a sense of optimism. You know,

545
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 2: we certainly went into twenty five feeling like it was

546
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 2: going to be better than twenty four. Right twenty four

547
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 2: you had like this long convoluted downturn in the freight

548
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:01,800
Speaker 2: markt you know, I think it was twenty seven months

549
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:07,239
Speaker 2: of consecutive contraction, and people felt and still feel that

550
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 2: twenty five will be better than twenty four, you know.

551
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 2: That being said, the geo political uncertainty is increasingly an

552
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 2: issue that was enabled some of our customers to take

553
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 2: pricing actions, you know, which is their benefit. You can

554
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 2: see from some of the publicly reported numbers of the

555
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 2: large steamship lines that they've had, you know, some very

556
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 2: strong years. But you know, the prospect of ongoing conflict

557
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 2: on Colinadal, Europe, the Middle East, South Pacific again, you know,

558
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 2: that could be very problematic for supply chains that are

559
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 2: all interconnected. Certainly, one thing that's of interest was the

560
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 2: recent deal that was done on the ports in Mama,

561
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 2: you know, the Blackstone and MSc consortium that purchased those

562
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 2: ports for twenty two point eight. That's a big deal

563
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 2: and I'd be very interested to see what change, if any,

564
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 2: that's going to that's going to make to how things

565
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 2: work in that part of the world, which, as we

566
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,440
Speaker 2: all know, it's absolutely critical for access to the United

567
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 2: States market. And so that's that's a kind of a

568
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 2: wait and see moment, but that that seemed to come

569
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,960
Speaker 2: together pretty quickly to me, that deal, and it'd be

570
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 2: very interesting to see how they look to monetize that

571
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 2: level of investment, you know, in that part of the world.

572
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 2: I think the you know, obviously, technology is always front

573
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 2: of mine for me. I believe personally that artificial intelligence

574
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,280
Speaker 2: is going to change everything. I think that we're on

575
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 2: the cusp of change which will be as significant or

576
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,320
Speaker 2: more significant than the Industrial Revolution, although what a lot

577
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 2: of people don't remember is industrial revolution took ninety years.

578
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 2: You know, It's not going to happen overnight, but you are,

579
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 2: I think, going to see clear winners and losers come

580
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:03,560
Speaker 2: out of the AI revolution. Companies that have worked out

581
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 2: how to utilize it to their advantage, Companies that exist

582
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 2: now that didn't exist before because there was no need

583
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 2: for it, and companies that are rendered absolute, you know.

584
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 2: And I think that there's going to be plenty of them,

585
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 2: and that's going to put social pressure out there as well.

586
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of the workforce that was

587
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 2: available and reliant on seat industries and now finds itself

588
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 2: needing to do something else. Right.

589
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 1: The good news is you're always going to need a

590
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: chat here, right, that's it.

591
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 2: And you're always going to need mechanics, and you're always

592
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 2: going to need you know, a bunch of other roles

593
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 2: in our industry. And I think that in the past,

594
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 2: where there's been labor shortages, maybe they won't be so

595
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 2: pronounced in the future. You know, I think that there

596
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,160
Speaker 2: might be surplus labor, which could be interesting.

597
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: Right, And so you know you mentioned and you mentioned earlier,

598
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 1: you know how you're using AI more? Are you guys

599
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,000
Speaker 1: creating your own stuff or you like, how do you

600
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 1: leverage are using off the shelf?

601
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,160
Speaker 2: So we know we have our own capability. We actually

602
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,960
Speaker 2: have our own AI engineer employed a track in the

603
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:11,960
Speaker 2: model and we have had for some period of time.

604
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 2: We use what's called the proof of concept strategy, so

605
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 2: we look to have three or four things going at

606
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 2: any one time, and we move fast. We decide whether

607
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 2: or not it's going to work, and then if it

608
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 2: does work, we invest heavily behind it. And so you know,

609
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 2: the Roadstar AI was one of those things where we

610
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 2: could immediately see the benefits, so we accelerated the implementation

611
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 2: plan and the payback on that was three x what

612
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 2: we expected. But in the initial twelve months, you know,

613
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,240
Speaker 2: on the safety side of things, again, we rolled it

614
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:47,440
Speaker 2: out in an inn madal business, in the chassy business.

615
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,239
Speaker 2: Now we're going to put it in track tire. You know,

616
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 2: that's working fantastically well. Just giving us access to data,

617
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 2: to information, to predictive information that we didn't have before,

618
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 2: which is letting us continue to avoide best in class

619
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 2: safety and deal with all the challenges that we've got

620
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 2: in that area. But in my opinion, I believe the following.

621
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 2: I think that anything which is transactional eventually will be

622
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,920
Speaker 2: replaced by an algorithm. So you think about that in

623
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 2: your own business or any business, and you think about

624
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:25,799
Speaker 2: that if that premise holds the potential application, you have

625
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,120
Speaker 2: to understand that your company is going to look completely

626
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:32,799
Speaker 2: different in the future that it looks today. And if

627
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 2: it doesn't, there's going to be a competitor out there

628
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 2: that looks very different to you. And by that I

629
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:42,839
Speaker 2: mean the number of small AI driven companies out there

630
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,239
Speaker 2: with less than fifty employers that have a billion dollar

631
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 2: of sales is exploding. And so the old model of

632
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 2: big company loads of people, I don't think that's going

633
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 2: to be the one that dominates anymore. You know, there

634
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 2: may be pockets of it, but I think that people

635
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 2: will be looking to really get the markets down in

636
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 2: terms of ratio with employees to output. So I think

637
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,399
Speaker 2: there's going to be it needs to be done. We're

638
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,440
Speaker 2: fully committed to it, like we've been out on the

639
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 2: front edge of it. We've got a great chief information

640
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:20,160
Speaker 2: obviously here and we're trying to be really practical about it, Lee,

641
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 2: you know, like we're not doing it just for the

642
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 2: sake of a If there's value in it, we invest

643
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,520
Speaker 2: behind it. If there's no value, we stopped straight away

644
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 2: and go on to something else. But we're constantly churning

645
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 2: ideas and channing applications.

646
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,480
Speaker 1: So how did you end up getting into the transportation industry.

647
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,840
Speaker 2: Like everybody else in the transportation industry just through an accident?

648
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 2: Basically I didn't leave business school and say I know chassis.

649
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:48,560
Speaker 2: You know, like I was working actually in Australia for

650
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:53,680
Speaker 2: Shell in their mining industry and Branbles at the time,

651
00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:57,200
Speaker 2: which was a large Australian multinational. It had an operating

652
00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:00,680
Speaker 2: division which was which worked on the mines, and I

653
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,560
Speaker 2: was in out back Australia at the time. My then

654
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,759
Speaker 2: girlfriend now wife was back in Sydney and I was

655
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:06,560
Speaker 2: lonely and wanted to go back and see her. So,

656
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 2: you know, I talked them into giving me a job

657
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,440
Speaker 2: back in Sydney and then I ended up staying with

658
00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 2: them for twenty years. Their largest division was the check

659
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,560
Speaker 2: palette business, which is you know, are the blue and

660
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 2: white wooden pallette, So you see every I think there's

661
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 2: four hundred million of those worldwide. But I was with

662
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:25,840
Speaker 2: them in Australia, then I was with them in Europe.

663
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 2: I came to the States. We bought a company called

664
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 2: if Co, which is reusable plastic crates. North America was

665
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 2: the fastest growing market. I ran that for five years,

666
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:42,360
Speaker 2: and then I went into XPO, which was a wonderful experience.

667
00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:46,920
Speaker 2: Fantastic company, great people, great business and large scale transportation,

668
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,359
Speaker 2: you know, and from there into Track. So more through

669
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,680
Speaker 2: accident than design. But I've had a fantastic career. I've

670
00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 2: got not a single complaint. You know, I've been extraordinarily lucky.

671
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 2: I've worked with fantastic people, been all over the world, compliance,

672
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 2: great industry.

673
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 1: So it's starting with love that it sounds.

674
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,319
Speaker 2: Like it's still going on, you know. That's a great

675
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 2: thing about love. It never really stops.

676
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 1: That's great. And what's what's the favorite thing about your

677
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,400
Speaker 1: job running? You know, being the CEO of Track and

678
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 1: the model.

679
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 2: It's you know, it's probably our used but definitely the

680
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 2: people that you made in the industry. People in our

681
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,480
Speaker 2: industry great great people. You know that you know you're

682
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 2: part of our industry. They're humble, hard working problem solvers,

683
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:34,640
Speaker 2: usually family oriented. They do anything for you. You know,

684
00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:36,799
Speaker 2: if you're brave enough to ask for help, they'll go

685
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 2: out of their way to support you. And they've got

686
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 2: a great sense of humor. You know, someone described in

687
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,480
Speaker 2: Tomatal to me as dirt, dust and roll exes, which

688
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,040
Speaker 2: I thought was pretty funny. You know, you can stand

689
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:49,960
Speaker 2: it out in a yard with someone you know, in

690
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,319
Speaker 2: the back of a paddock somewhere in rural Georgia, and

691
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 2: you know, then you find out that they own everything

692
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,480
Speaker 2: that comes in and out of that yard and have

693
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 2: done for ages and all the rest of it. So

694
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,720
Speaker 2: for me, the people being right, and the opportunity to travel.

695
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,799
Speaker 2: You know, I'm Australian originally. You know, I've been to

696
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:09,880
Speaker 2: over eighty countries. I've lived in three different comments comments,

697
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,440
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm just extraordinarily grateful for the extraordinarily

698
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 2: grateful for the opportunity I've had to get out and

699
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,319
Speaker 2: see the world. As part of my job, I make

700
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 2: great people.

701
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,799
Speaker 1: Wrong the line, do you ever ever travel to the

702
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 1: Tiger's Town?

703
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:26,399
Speaker 2: Very much? I have been to what do you remember

704
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:27,279
Speaker 2: the tigers Tyle?

705
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,719
Speaker 1: Oh, it's a bar, it's a bar not too far

706
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,239
Speaker 1: from my office outside of Princeton. And I know you

707
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:34,759
Speaker 1: guys are based in Princeton.

708
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: So well, if it's a bar in Princeton, I can

709
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,200
Speaker 2: categorically assure you have been there. You know. Yeah, that's

710
00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,480
Speaker 2: the other part of the intermodal industry that I like.

711
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,319
Speaker 2: I think that the you know, the social aspect is

712
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,439
Speaker 2: a big part of our life. It's a big part

713
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,040
Speaker 2: of my life. It's a big part of life here

714
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:49,359
Speaker 2: at Track.

715
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 1: And you know, I like, I like to ask my

716
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,360
Speaker 1: guests this about books because you know, a lot of

717
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,040
Speaker 1: listeners obviously they like to listen to podcasts, but a

718
00:38:58,040 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 1: lot of them like to read books as well. So

719
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,400
Speaker 1: is there a book about the transportation or a leadership

720
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,759
Speaker 1: industry that's kind of close to your heart that you've read?

721
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,560
Speaker 2: There is? It's Mackie Values the Prints. Now. I first

722
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 2: read it when I was a student, and I've had

723
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:14,840
Speaker 2: a copy with me all my life and I just

724
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 2: keep going back and reading it. You know, I think that,

725
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,480
Speaker 2: you know, it's people argue that it's all about real

726
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,400
Speaker 2: politic and it's a bit too too harsh, but I

727
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,080
Speaker 2: don't think so. I just think it's someone looking at

728
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:31,919
Speaker 2: the world with clear eyes and reciting it the best

729
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 2: way that they know how, in the form of advice.

730
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,400
Speaker 2: And I also think that there's a lot of stuff

731
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,799
Speaker 2: in there about humility, you know, and intellect, and those

732
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:42,600
Speaker 2: things certainly appeal to me. And you know that there's

733
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 2: one create in there that says, you know, there's no

734
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 2: other way to guard yourself against flattery. And I'm paraphrasing

735
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:51,880
Speaker 2: a little bit. But then by making people understand that

736
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:55,799
Speaker 2: telling the truth won't offend you, I think that that's

737
00:39:56,040 --> 00:40:00,239
Speaker 2: brilliant advice for any leader in any industry you or

738
00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 2: in any aspect of life. Frankly, now, if you're not

739
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,600
Speaker 2: creating an environment where people will tell you the truth,

740
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,759
Speaker 2: you're not a leader of anything. You know, You're just

741
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 2: it's just all about you and your ego and whatever.

742
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,439
Speaker 2: You know, if you really want to do something great,

743
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 2: you have to draw people along. I think I think

744
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:19,719
Speaker 2: that's a that's a good way of doing it. So

745
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 2: that's a book that I read when I was a boy,

746
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,319
Speaker 2: and I continue to read to this day, and I'd

747
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,320
Speaker 2: recommend it to anyone who fancies a career in leadership

748
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,240
Speaker 2: in any industry whatsoever.

749
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,799
Speaker 1: All Right, great Dan, thank you so much for your

750
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 1: time and appreciate your insights about the chassis industry and

751
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 1: learning more about tracking a model.

752
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:43,120
Speaker 2: Well, thanks a lot for the time and thanks again

753
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,839
Speaker 2: for everything you do for the industry. As I said,

754
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,759
Speaker 2: big fan, listen to the podcast. You know I love

755
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:49,759
Speaker 2: the stuff that you send out.

756
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,319
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Thanks and I want to thank you

757
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:55,840
Speaker 1: for tuning in. If you like the episode, please subscribe

758
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,040
Speaker 1: and leave a review. We've lined up a number of

759
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 1: great guests for the podcast, so please check back to

760
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:05,320
Speaker 1: hear conversations with C suite executives, shippers, regulators, and decision

761
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 1: makers within the freight markets. Also, if you want to

762
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,920
Speaker 1: learn more about the freight transportation markets, check out our

763
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:16,279
Speaker 1: work on the Bloomberg Terminal at BIGO and on social media.

764
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:26,640
Speaker 1: Take care and let's keep those supply chains moving. Everyone,