Bulk Freight Conference My Take!

We got to town Tuesday night as we had a round of golf with our insurance producer and the company that supplies our insurance.  Had a great time with these guys and a little unwind time before the conference started Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday evening we went through registration and enjoyed the cocktail evening.  During this time it is nice as a carrier of 20 trucks to be able to meet those I work for on a weekly basis.  It was great and I also saw why I gravitate to certain brokers when they have work in my areas.  They are just like me!  I didn't meet anyone that I do business with on a consistent basis that I had an opionion on like this guy is weird, sketchy etc.  Some of those guys/gals I do some business with, some I do a lot of business with.  This I hope will continue to grow and expand in the future as we become a larger fleet.  After dinner One of my Inola contacts took me to dinner @ Big Whiskey.  We are friends and talk daily about his work so we know each other in and out.  Wasn't much to discuss business wise other than to relax and enjoy the evening.

Thursday I wake up ready to take on the day and again learn and network.  This morning is a little rough as my alarm clock in my head rings at 545 daily but I didn't get to bed till after 1:30 the night before.  Well lets get it, a nice cigar and coffee in the morning waiting for the wife to get ready for breakfast and the conference.  I sat and listened to every keynote speaker in the big room.  Learned valuable information, some stuff that we implement, some stuff we want to.  2024 was hell for us we had about 15% repair bill on our gross revenue, I was talking to my uncle back in January and he made a statement.  "Son, you can either have payments and no repairs or repairs and no payments, but you can't have them both."  It was that exact day January 17th that we ordered our first group of new trucks (7) and we plan to replace the rest by end of year.  Back to the conference, these speakers all have great insight into this business and others.  The one that stuck out the most to me was Marcus Sheridan, this guy was fire!  I actually caught him in the hall on the way to dinner that evening and let him know it.  We also a run a landscape company, home construction company and have many rental homes in our area.  Everything Marcus spoke on, works for every business endeavor I'm involved in.  HE WAS GREAT if I haven't already said it.  Dinner Friday evening I got to sit with my fuel provider J&J and a few other folks at the table.  Obviously, at these events we are all pushing what would benefit us but I got to comingle in a few conversations with Jim.  I let the people know what it had done for my business over the last 10 months and I got lots of joy telling others how he has helped our business latley.

Thursday night we ran to the PT Brokers party at Bricktown Brewry.  Hd good conversation with Danae, Robert, Ashley, Samantha and a group of others.  We do some work in their lanes but as always I'm looking for more anywhere that it helps our business grow.  It was awful nice of them to invite their carriers down for a couple hours to unwind on a long day and relax while still discussing business and upcoming opportunities.  

Friday morning again woke up to a cigar and coffee.  Waiting on breakfast and the morning to start I had to line some trucks out for the day so I could focus on my task at hand that morning which was learning all I could.  Conference ended at 1030 and away to Oklahoma we went.

I want to thank Jared and the crew at Bulkloads for an exceptional event.  It is nice to put a face with a name.  It is nice to learn and grow with your competitors and peers.  It is nice to do all of this in a relaxing enviroment that I thought the venue brought all week.  Thanks again guys!