Building a Culture of Accountability with Amy + Dave Byers
In this episode of Industry Insights with Route Consultant, join Amy and Dave Byers of Slicker Trucking as they delve into the critical topic of accountability within the logistics industry. They discuss the importance of defining and communicating accountability, the distinction between job responsibilities and end results, and the cultural shifts that influence driver performance. Learn about their practical strategies for maintaining high standards, ensuring safety, and fostering a team-oriented environment. Perfect for anyone looking to enhance their logistics operations and build stronger, more accountable teams.
About Amy + Dave Byers
Dave Byers, President of Slicker Trucking, Inc., started as a FedEx package handler before launching his own route in 2007, growing it into an award-winning operation with a hands-on leadership style. His wife, Amy Byers, joined as COO in 2017, bringing expertise in marketing, compliance, and finance to scale their family-owned business. Together, they run multiple FedEx P&D and linehaul operations, two fleet repair shops, and businesses like Ohio Valley Pizza Company™ and Hokulia Shave Ice™, all while staying rooted in their core values of Honesty, Integrity, and Commitment to People.
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Josh Gregory: [00:00:00] Welcome to Industry Insights with Route Consultant, your front row seat to the fast moving world of logistics and beyond. Each week, we bring you game changing insights, real world strategies and fresh perspectives to fuel smarter investments and build stronger businesses. Join us as we sit down with expert guests to explore emerging trends and pressing topics.
Across a wide range of industries. This is industry insights. All right, welcome back again to Dave and Amy Byers. And this session I want to really dive into something that we haven't touched on quite yet, but I wanna talk about how you keep your company, your drivers accountable, and, and I think to start with that, when we talk about accountability, what does that mean to you?
When I say that word?
Amy Byers: Um, so we actually dive in a little bit, uh, differently when we talk about rule like, um, tasks and job duties Yeah. Are more [00:01:00] responsibilities, right? A job description is a job duty. But accountability is a commitment to the end result. So. Um, that again, comes from the top down of, of what we're accountable for as employees of Slicker Trucking, um, as delivery drivers for our customer.
FedEx Ground, FedEx Express. Mm-hmm. So what does that look like? Um, and I think the big piece of running a company with accountability in mind. Is communicating what those expectations are. Mm. The end result, not just the tasking. Right. Because we do a good job of the job description. You need to deliver the box, you need to load the box, you need to scan the box, you need to take a picture of the box, and you do it with a smile on your face.
Right? Yeah. So, and don't hit anything in the meantime. So we know that there's things that are very job and task oriented. Mm-hmm. But. If you communicate to your employees and share with them kind of what the end result is, what is FedEx really expecting? Mm-hmm. What are our customers really expecting? It changes that game [00:02:00] between, um, tasking mm-hmm.
And really providing a better. Um, day's work and better overall service to not just the customer, but to slicker right to our company. Are you doing, um, the best job? And again, you could be a very good tasker, but maybe the culture's not there. Maybe the, the care, uh, for the end result isn't there. So I think those are the two different, you know, caring about the outcome.
Um, so the service right is a number, but overall outcome. Did you complete your day? Did you help your neighbor? Did you, you know. Were you a good team member that day? Different than did you deliver a hundred boxes?
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: So yeah, a little bit different. So just a kind of baseline of Yeah. How we see it.
Josh Gregory: And have you always run things that way?
Did you find yourself, you know, initially just focused on tasks and you tried to, had to retroactively build in accountability? Or has it been something you tried to ingrain from day one? We,
Dave Byers: we tried to put it in from day one. Yeah. But it doesn't always go as planned. Yeah. Right. So, so you try to be accountable to [00:03:00] the.
To everybody. Yeah. You're accountable to the drivers, you're accountable to the terminals, you're mm-hmm. You're accountable to everybody.
Amy Byers: I think we've always been accountable, right? We hold ourselves accountable. Yeah. So we hoped that, um, that is, you know, lead by example. Mm-hmm. Kind of. Right. Uh, but I think, uh, two years ago we did actually our big company meeting where we get all of our contracts together.
Yeah. All p and d line haul, custom critical. We're all in one building. Um, and we talk about. We actually had a conversation about the difference between accountability and responsibility and how it is more of a belief system and a culture which you're not really hiring for all the time. Right. Like you hire drivers to drive safe and deliver boxes, and now you want me to be a good person and care like what?
Right. Like why is that part, why can't I just come to work and do my job? Yeah. Um, but so having a little bit of a different mix, um, it changes the way your business will function and it's changed the way we function, but we actually had to have a [00:04:00] meeting to explain the difference between your job duties and you can be really good at your job, but not be accountable.
Mm-hmm. Right. You can do. You can check the boxes, um, but not be accountable to service or to, you know, doing your pre-trip. What does that look like? Well, I can go through and I can check my oil and I can, you know, look at my lights and whatever, but are you accountable to driving in a safe truck and accountable to our maintenance team?
To making sure you're reporting things timely and accountable to the road and the people on the road, your, your passengers that you're driving because your truck has been looked over every day. Mm-hmm. And that's a difference. Yeah. Right? Between checking the box and saying like, oh, I'm in ground cloud.
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Did my pre-trip or. You know, are you really accountable to what it means and the importance of the tasks that I'm asking you to do? Yeah. So that's just a quick kind of example, but I don't think it's intuitive. Yeah. Um, so I think it's definitely a shift in culture, um, over the last couple years.
And, and a lot of that is to do with the employee base as well. Mm-hmm. [00:05:00] Um, since COVID things have changed even in who we're hiring, um, the availability of jobs, um. You know, internet and ability to make money at home and the quick change in Uber and things like that where you're able to make a quick buck.
Um, it's changed the people that we hire. Okay. So we can't just train, train them on our expectations of the job duties. We actually have to train them on what we expect from them from an accountability standpoint as well. Okay. Which is,
Josh Gregory: have you, have you found that? It's something that they don't like, you know, they won't do enough if you just give them the job responsibilities.
Like what's, you know, I know that it's a changing customer or a employee base, but what have you found is so important about training them on accountability? So
Amy Byers: when you train someone on accountability and they bring the boxes back, right? Mm-hmm. The difference between someone that does their job, um, that kind of does the basic right?
Yeah. Just to check the boxes and someone that's truly accountable is, say that one no scan you find at the end of the day and it's four 30. And you're like, should I just, I'm going back. [00:06:00] Yeah. Right. Or you are, are you accountable to a clean truck? Right. Are you accountable to full service? Did you do everything that you could mm-hmm.
To do the best that you were supposed to do that day? So the guy that's accountable is gonna go back. Yeah. Right. He's gonna get that customer their, their package. Um, again, with the pre-trip, do you kind of wing through it or do you do a full. Pre-trip because you know that this means that the maintenance team is gonna catch maybe breaks before their calipers and rotors.
Like that's an expense. So if you're accountable to the end result of helping us stay, not just check the box because the pre-trip is required by the DOT and and our contract and all those things, but are you accountable to helping us maintain our trucks, keeping us on schedule, maintaining an affordable.
PM schedule, right? Mm-hmm. And where we're maintaining trucks, et cetera. So that's the difference, if that makes sense. That Yeah. It does accountability, so training people on that end result, which then provides us more money and more funds when we're, when we're [00:07:00] proactively identifying things from a service.
Mm-hmm. And, um, you know, you do everything well at FedEx, you'll get growth opportunities, so that provides more revenue, um, if you're changing breaks instead of a deeper maintenance. You know, yeah. Situation, you're saving money, which all provides more revenue or more net revenue, right? Where you can actually spread some things around, raises, things like that.
If you're, if you understand that you're driving in a neighborhood. And you are accountable to keeping people safe. Mm-hmm. Right. You're a professional driver. Yeah. Then you will take your time and not rush and not hit things, um, and not cause damage because you care about the people around you. You care about the neighbors that you're delivering to.
It's a difference. Accountability between I'm just driving and I have to watch where I drive. Mm-hmm. Right? I have to get in the driveway without hitting anything. Yeah. That needs to happen. Yeah. By the way.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. That
Amy Byers: needs to happen.
Josh Gregory: That's space lined. Yeah.
Amy Byers: But there's a difference. It's a shift in thinking between my job tasks and really caring about what I do.[00:08:00]
Uh, but it comes from a deeper place. How do I know that? Yeah. So, so that's, you know, how do, how do you communicate those things to your staff, um, to get them in that shift of responsibilities versus accountability and what does that mean to the contract and what does it mean to your end results? So I think, you know, sharing that.
Information. Um, it's the only way you're gonna get there.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: They have no idea why.
Josh Gregory: And, and so how do you get that kind of buy-in on an ongoing basis? You know, what are the conversations you have with a driver to, you know, you've had these, these training, but now we're in the thick of it. How do you kind of remind them of what accountability means and kind of holding them accountable to the things that you need them to
Dave Byers: So, so accountable in the, in the terminal, right?
Yeah, we could talk about that. The, the, the drivers. We go in maybe, maybe when I'm there, I pop the hood on every single truck. Okay. Right. Yep. I trust that they're, they do their pre-trip, but I'm just holding 'em accountable that there are actually. Yeah. You know, checking the oil, they have to at least put the hood [00:09:00] down.
Right, right. Yeah. So, so intentionally say, I'm not doing That's easy. Accountability. Yeah. And that's kind of indirect because I, I don't even have to say like, Hey, did you do a pre-trip inspection today? Mm-hmm. It's just, I go in before anyone's there, pop all the hoods and. Yeah. And they, they at least verify that there's an engine under the hood.
Yeah, yeah.
Josh Gregory: But they know you've been there, but they know that,
Dave Byers: that I'm, I'm holding 'em accountable for that. Mm-hmm. Same with packages. At the end of the day, we go in and we check the trucks at the end of the day and make sure that, that they, that they did go back and that they were accountable to themselves to go back at four 30 and deliver that last package.
And if they didn't, we, we can go in and see that. But we have to have the conversation with them to hold 'em accountable for that. Yeah. Because it's, it's so easy to just say, well, it's only one package. Yeah. But when you have 40 drivers and it's one package at every truck, that, that's a big deal. And that affects your service.
And that affects, affects the, the delivery process for the day. Yeah. So, so we have to hold 'em accountable and it's easy to have conversations. Right. All, all you're [00:10:00] doing is a. Your reaction to their action. Mm-hmm. Right? They didn't deliver the package. So we are reacting to that package not being delivered for the day.
So when you, when you break it down, you think about it, like, that's really an easy conversation to have because all you're, all you're doing is holding them accountable to kind of hold themselves accountable. Yeah. So, so we, we do that on a daily basis, and hopefully the managers, you know, they, they're, they're leading.
Leading the team the same way, but it's just a easy conversation that you have to have with, with all the drivers on a daily basis and, and you, you can't just. Say, oh, it's not that big of a deal. Yeah. You have to take everything that, and, and it's okay to have the conversation. Mm-hmm. Safety meetings are, and sometimes they don't even know, they don't even know that it's an issue.
Or safety
Amy Byers: meetings are a great place for it too. Yeah. Because when you bring on a new hire Right, it's a lot coming at 'em. Yeah. It's a lot of information like driving the truck and you know, doing the pre-trip and delivering the boxes and the scanner and the ground cloud and circling the maps and [00:11:00] doing all the things that they do.
And then pictures. All the things, right? There's a lot for them to learn. So circling back sometimes and and reinforcing that this is the why. Yeah. Right? This is why the PPOD is so important. They're like, ah, that's a picture. Yeah. You know? And I could say, eh, it's only a portion of 10% of the medals. Who cares?
Right? And I'm focusing on this stuff, but I think when you hold them. Accountable and teach them the why. You don't have to worry about the difference between responsibility and accountability. They get the end result. Mm-hmm. This is my expectation of the end result, and I need you to care about the end result.
The job tasks are how we're gonna get it done right. Uh, but we really need you to care about, you know. Why this is so important, and I think Dave, you know, and sometimes they have to hear it, um, at a safety meeting or they have to hear it from a different person. Um, they're interacting with your BC quite a bit.
So if there's something that we're seeing as a pattern, and I think, you know, Josh, we talk about this sometimes, where if you're not doing great in one area, you're probably not doing great in another area. Yeah. [00:12:00] So it gives us an opportunity to sit down with an, uh, a. Driver and say like, Hey man, I need you to tighten things up with this.
And this is why like, it's important. FedEx is watching, they're holding me accountable when you don't do this. Mm-hmm. And your name is on the list pretty often, so I need you to button it up. Mm-hmm. And then all of a sudden the light bulb goes off and they're like, yeah, I have been not really doing a great job of that.
Yeah. And I didn't realize that that made it all the way up to your desk, Dave. Yeah.
Josh Gregory: You know? Well, 'cause ultimately, you know, their name's on a list, but yeah. Every list that FedEx has, your name is at the top of it. It's us and, and I, I wanna come back. You know, you kept saying it's easy to have that conversation.
It's not, it may be an easy conversation in terms of actually having it, but the easy thing is to not have a conversation. That's the easiest. Yes. And so the fact that, I think that's really important to make sure you. When you have these one, it need, the fact that you actually have conversations with your employees is important.
I think a lot of people think of this as, you know, I've got drivers that, [00:13:00] you know, they turn over quickly. So my time is, you know, I've trained them on the front end and then I just expect them to do their job. Yeah. But you actually have to have recurring conversations and continue to correct them on their mistakes.
You know, whether it's the BC or you as the ao. They are people. This is, you know, for some of them they may be thinking about it as temporary, but you do want them to continue to, to think of this as more than just a, you know, a quick thing that they're doing. And the way you do it is by building in a vision of what the overall company is and where they can go with it, and how it all fits together and matters and that you care.
Amy Byers: Yep.
Josh Gregory: Because they won't care if you don't.
Dave Byers: Right. And, and at first it is, it, you're, you're right. It, it's easy for me now 'cause I've, I've done it so much. Yeah. But at first it is uncomfortable. Yeah. And it could be a little bit. Tricky. And it's tough because that's your driver. Well, you don't want 'em to quit either.
Those are your boxes on having a tough conversation. Yeah. So, so it is a tough conversation, but the more you have these conversations, the easier it does get. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, after 19 years of of, of being through this Yeah. It, it's easy for, for [00:14:00] me to, to jump in a truck and have a conversation and, and be able to navigate it in the direction that that driver doesn't walk out for the day.
Yeah. And, and that we can kind of circle around and get to a solution that fixes the problem. So. Yeah. You, you're, you're exactly right. The easiest thing is to just avoid mm-hmm. Avoid the, the confrontation or the conversation that's, and, and, and just let it go. Mm-hmm. But the, the problems only get worse from there.
Correct. So you have to jump in. It's tough at first have the conversation, it gets easier. Mm-hmm. And it gets, it gets way easier to, to jump in and have those conversations. And when
Amy Byers: you share the why. Yeah. Right. We talk about this, why all the time when you share the why from. Our contract. Right. What we're held accountable to.
Mm-hmm. Ultimately, it's an easier conversation. I'm not just saying, well, that's how I want it. Right. Yeah. I need you to take clear, crisper pictures. I need you to, you know, not yell at the customers and not you're judging
Josh Gregory: the artistic quality of their pictures.
Amy Byers: Correct. Correct. We're not, you know, and I'm not judging them based on some, you know, arbitrary [00:15:00] rules that I've made up in my head.
These are contact. Contract regulations and standards, right? So I'm in the contract, I'm looking and I share that with them. Like, Hey, this is what our customer is holding me to. I need you to get there. Yeah. And it's a much easier contract because it's, even though it's personal, because it's me having it or Dave having it, or our managers having it with a person, it doesn't, it's business.
Right. This is a deliverable no different than when you punch in or punch out of a factory job. Yeah. There are certain things that you are held to and you have to do it the way we need it to be done. Mm-hmm. So those con, those conversations get a little bit easier when you share the why, explain it to 'em, and then you build that trust.
The flip side of that is if you are not having those conversations and you lean on this, well, they're gonna be turnover. Turnover these days is not cheap. Yeah. Right. Getting rid of people, um, that are not doing the right thing, you know, between what your state regulations are as far as how you terminate and, you know, discipline and re remediate and all the things that you're trying to do with an employee is a very lengthy process.
Mm-hmm. [00:16:00] Also with our training process that we have to do, um, if you leave it to just the CT class, we use the first hour of our CT class to talk about who we are and the culture and accountability. So that's the first thing they learn before they even hear the first thing of our ground cloud. CT class.
Yeah. They hear from us. Our managers talk about how to clock in. They talk about where to get their uniforms. They talk about all those things that are gonna make them a better employee in the end. Right. Um, so, but to turn over an employee, because I didn't have the conversation. Oh my gosh, that's five or $8,000.
Yeah. Like that is expensive. And the time is money and the time and then losing them and not holding them up. And there's, you know, like I always say, you're gonna have some bad eggs that just don't care. Yeah. They needed a job and that's all it is. But if you can get them to at least shift to buy into the Y they don't need to be all lovey and fuzzy and Yeah.
You know, kumbaya with the, with the accountability. But if they can just be understanding of what they're held to. Mm-hmm. Um. And push them just a little bit further to care [00:17:00] to go deliver that one box or to take better pictures or, you know, to, to service the customer better. Um, you know, not, you know, pay attention to the numbers on the side of the house.
So you deliver the right house. Yeah. Right? Like, yes, I know you can get the box from your neighbor, but they didn't order it. Um, so all of those things, they're very small, ticky techy things that add up. Uh, but I think that. Overall arching thing that's new to this industry, I think, um, 'cause we didn't even do it originally is train on what the end result is.
Mm-hmm. And, and share with the driver what the customer expects of us. Yeah. We share very easily what the delivery customer, the homeowner, or the business expects of us, but we don't really get into Yeah. What they're here to be a part of as a team to contribute to the success of what we do. Yeah. And when that piece is missing, they, yeah.
They're just bringing boxes back or they're just miscoding a box or just, it's just like one thing. It's just one thing.
Josh Gregory: There's no reason to hide the metrics that you're getting [00:18:00] judged on by FedEx. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's one of those things of like, Hey, this is what, this is the reality of what we're all, this is the sandbox we're playing in.
Like, here, I'm exactly like what you said. I'm not, I'm not being, you know, arbitrarily annoying. Right? Like this is, there's a very real reason why I'm coaching you on this. It's because. This is how the contract is paid. This is how I get judged by FedEx. Yeah. And you're having, I'm having this conversation with you now, and I'm gonna have to go turn around and have the conversation with the terminal manager because, because of this.
Yeah. I'm like, you're welcome that you don't have to go talk to the terminal manager. Actually, this, you're not in
Amy Byers: trouble yet. I'm in trouble right now, actually. Yeah. But,
Josh Gregory: uh, correct. Yeah. I, I care about you and I wanted to keep you here, but yeah.
Amy Byers: So on the flip side of that, I think the, the end result is to hire with that in mind.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Right. And how hard is that? You know, how often are you talking about this? And then it, it is,
Amy Byers: it's, it just changes the questions that you ask.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: You know, and, and there's companies, there's hiring companies. Um, I'm dear friends with a, a couple of the hiring companies that are out there that are doing a great job.
They're very much in line. We do all our hiring just because of the [00:19:00] scale. Yeah. We have the ability to do it. Um, but you just change the questions that you. Ask. Right. It's not about the, I mean, you still have to ask, do you have reliable transportation and can you pass a drug test Correct. And all these fun things and, but you actually have to take a little bit more time and talk to the person about, you know, has there been times where you've had to go above and beyond to make sure that you did the job right?
Certain questions like that will trigger a conversation and they actually get proud. You actually hear the tone in the person's voice like, yes, I do remember. You know, it's not those questions that I had when I was young, and it was like, remember a time where you did something that you know and you're like.
Well, my positive is a negative and my negative is positive. Like, we're not answering those kinds of interview questions, but can you ask different questions to trigger, um, a deeper conversation to identify whether that person can fold into a culture of accountability versus just delivering packages?
And I, I use this, um, example when I talk about hiring people, I can teach a good person to be a good delivery [00:20:00] driver. Right? Mm-hmm. I cannot teach a good delivery person to be a or a good delivery driver. To be a good person. Yeah. Like it's in here. You have to be a caring person. It's not rocket science what we do, but it does take a very careful person.
And a very responsible person. And that's where accountability kind of, that's where the rubber meets the road with accountability is care and responsibility. Yeah. Right. And, and that's the PI person that we're hiring for now, it's slicker. Now I know, you know, it might not be everybody's cup of tea, but it definitely has changed the game for us.
Um, it's made our conversations with people easier. It's made our end results easier. Um, not always. Perfect. But, uh, but it's definitely a different way in shifting from that responsibility to accountability.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. It, have you ever weeded somebody out in those early questions or, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Amy Byers: Yeah. Um, we can definitely tell we've, you know, and the answer is just, you know, thanks very much, but we've chosen to go with other candidates.
Mm-hmm. Uh, but yeah, there's, there's definitely, and it's hard when you're like. I gotta to check every other box. I gotta stack. I got a stack of boxes and you [00:21:00] have like 10 years experience with Amazon or whatever, you know, whatever, uh, delivery or, you know, Cintas, I mean, really good experience, you know, landscape company, they owned a business and I'm like, and you still don't think like this.
Yeah. You know, so, so there are ways, you know, but there are, you have to be selective because if you're not selective in the hiring process. Um, what do you call it? Heartbeat in a seat. If you are not selective in who you are bringing on your team and who are, you are putting shoulder to shoulder with your other drivers, they deserve you to take the time and to put the best person.
Mm-hmm. Don't be selfish and just put someone in there that can deliver boxes and that takes a little bit of a load off your BC Yeah. It might get uncomfortable at first. Right. Yeah. But it's gonna be a better fit in the long term. So I think hiring is definitely, um, definitely where the, you know, the process starts and if you can hire with accountability in mind, uh, and it might take, you know, somebody's like, I don't know what you're asking me.
You might have to explain the difference between responsibility and accountability and give them an example. Yeah. Um, you know, [00:22:00] that's even completely off base of delivery. Just an example of the differences. Um, and, and see how they react and see what, you know, how the conversation goes. But, um, we've definitely passed on people that I know could have gotten a hundred stops delivered.
Yeah. Uh, and it, it worked out better. Uh, it's immediate pain, long-term gain.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Uh, but yeah,
Josh Gregory: and it's, we're at a point in this industry where there's so many, like we've talked about, there's so many little things that you have to keep on top of that. If you have somebody who doesn't care, who's not, doesn't have the right mindset, they might let a couple little things slip that don't feel like a big deal.
but It can be over the course of a few weeks or months, and it can really impact the contract and it wouldn't have cost them much time or energy to do it. It's just they didn't,
Amy Byers: yeah.
Josh Gregory: And so those early time and energy on the front end, but also. The investing the time on an ongoing basis to really dig in with your employees and say, this is what we need, this is why.
Yeah. I, I think, I think it's very, you know, even if you're willing to have those conversations, it's [00:23:00] really easy to focus on the, this is what I need.
Amy Byers: Yeah.
Josh Gregory: And to leave out that this is why. Mm-hmm. And, and that is not the right way to continue to craft a culture and a person. That is learning, you know, why the business is functioning the way it is, why things matter.
And ultimately those are the types of people who embrace that mindset, that are people you can continue to promote. Yeah. And graduate to higher responsibilities because they understand how everything fits together. They're willing, we find
Amy Byers: that there's a better response to this type of management Yeah.
Than just kind of knocking people over the head. 'cause the boxes aren't delivered correctly. Yeah. Um, so really giving that why and knock over the head
Josh Gregory: is a gut, gut reaction that you wanna keep it. It's like, hey, yeah.
Amy Byers: Pay attention. Yeah. Um, but I also think that there's a time, um, where FedEx is actually allowing us to have these conversations at an early onset.
Yeah. By giving us access to spotlight, by giving us access to some of the, you know, in express and these time definite reports, you can really identify patterns early. So it's not like, Hey dude, you do this. Every day for the last three months. Yeah. Like it's not an [00:24:00] afterthought. This is like ongoing quick hit.
Like, Hey dude, you're doing a great job, but if you can just focus on this a little bit, it'd be great. Yeah. And then share, you know, and because this is why we need you to do it, you know? Yeah. Whether that's our maintenance team needs to catch things early. Or FedEx customers need to see the results. Or FedEx is, you know, harping on Dave and we are getting emails, whatever that y looks like.
Right. Uh, but the idea is that I think FedEx is in sync with us mm-hmm. To, to get those conversations happening right away. Yeah. Um, instead of waiting until, you know, it's become a real problem. Well,
Dave Byers: it's, it's tough too when you have the conversation and they say, well, I've been doing it like this for months.
Yep. It's hard to change that habit. Yeah. Because it's already been kind of ingrained into them. So the sooner you catch it, the sooner you address it, the sooner it gets fixed instead of letting it become a pattern. Yeah, the pattern. Pattern, yeah. We have that
Amy Byers: with, um, either people that have left FedEx.
Contractor and then come back and then they've come back with us. Or you know, maybe it's a [00:25:00] contractor that was, had too many staff, or even the driver needed medical benefits, so they hopped over with us, had a good conversation. We always have the right transition. We're not poaching. Yeah. But there are times where contractors, you know, other drivers will come to us.
We've actually put a complete stop to it in one contract, but when the contractors, when drivers do come over from another contractor, we tell them like. I get that everything looks good on the outside, but we are not easy. Yeah. You know, so, and they're like, well, I'm good. I'm like, no, no, no. You're gonna go through like three days of training.
Yeah. They're like, what? And I'm like, yeah, like this is different. I know you know how to deliver the boxes. But then that training of somebody that's been in the industry is all about, you know, breaking bad habits. Mm-hmm. And teaching how we do things at Slicker, um, and the accountability that comes with being a team member.
Yeah. And sometimes it works and sometimes right outta the gate, they're like. Yeah, that's a lot. I'm out. I just wanna come and deliver packages. I'm like, well that's, that's the culture we're building. Yeah. Thank you for telling us. Yeah. Thank you for telling us that. That's awesome. Yeah, and I, you know, and I'm not saying you need to be, like I said, all lovey-dovey [00:26:00] and like Yeah.
You know, loving on your neighbors, but we need you to be accountable to each other. Mm-hmm. To our maintenance crew, especially since we do the maintenance ourselves, it's a huge savings. Um, and because they're part of the slicker team, it's really more. Direct responsibility to that team, that maintenance team that it would be if it was, you know, some external maintenance team.
Yeah. Like, now we're just gonna fix it. Yeah. Um, so it's just, it kind of goes full circle, so. Yeah. Um, but it, it's definitely, you know, the, the piece of the training has to be part of it. And if you hit it in the beginning of, you know, it has to be 9, 9 3, like a lot of people I've talked to, they're like, I don't even know what the, you know.
The contract says. Mm-hmm. Um, and I'm, I'm not gonna give it to you, but Yeah. But I am gonna com you know, give you a couple things. Even things like do they know what they're held to as far as speeding and like the why? Yeah. Like, do you know that I'm going to have to suspend you for 3, 6, 9 36 months mm-hmm.
If you continue to do this. Yep. Right. Like, what does that look like? [00:27:00] Yeah. You know, and if they don't know the why, then they're just speeding. Yeah. It's just, I don't have any tickets. It was just two points. It's not a big deal. I'm like. It actually is a big deal. Yeah. You know, so, and, and if it's over five miles an hour, it's a DOT infraction.
And if you're in the truck and you get a DOT, you know, if you, if you speed and then get the DOT inspection, what does that look like? All these things can spur from just not communicating and not educating them on what we do. Yeah. And it is a difference. It's not just a driving job. This isn't just Uber.
It's not just DoorDash. You are a professional driver. Mm-hmm. And there's some accountability that comes with that.
Josh Gregory: And ultimately that always comes back to how FedEx is holding you accountable if they've given you all these tools and they're expecting you to hold your drivers accountable. Mm-hmm.
That's why it also is, you know, you're gonna have less ground when you're talking to FedEx if there's been a pattern over the last few months that you didn't. Correct. Yeah. It's why it's even more important to be invested in managing and and monitoring all of these tools so that you catch it early, not just to correct the habits, but to show that.
You know, I knew this was a problem and I fixed [00:28:00] it rather than, you know, it's hard to come back to that conversation with FedEx where they say, Hey, you've had a safety or a service issue for a while, and we can see that you've had four drivers with a long pattern. And can you show there was any coaching?
Yeah. Or any kind of behavior check and. You know, if the answer's no, that's a hard conversation. Yeah. So it's the same. You've gotta be able to present that to FedEx. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Amy Byers: So, but I think it all, it's all full circle.
Josh Gregory: Yep. So, yeah, so I, I think it's a, a great kind of mindset shift conversation point for people to understand, you know, this isn't just a, a talking point.
If you wanna be successful, if you want your drivers to become more than just, you know, the three month turnover box checkers, you've gotta make sure that they're learning how the business works and why. And that you're holding them accountable so that ultimately you can hold yourself accountable to FedEx and be successful.
Absolutely. Right. Perfect. All right, well, thanks you guys. You got it for another great topic. Yeah.
Thank you. Thanks. Yep.
