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Explore the world of driver recruiting with the Hire Truckers Podcast! Join us as we talk to recruiting experts, offering industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to enhance your recruiting skills. Whether you're a seasoned recruiter or just starting, our podcast is here to help you level up your game in the trucking industry.
Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast, where we interview experts in driver recruiting. We provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to help you level up your recruiting game. Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Aaron Craddock. And today, we have Kelly Jones with Kennesaw Transport.
Aaron Craddock:Thank you for joining us today, Kelly.
Kelley Jones:My pleasure.
Aaron Craddock:I'm excited to dive more into just what you've learned from being in the industry, all these years and then just to get to know you better. So really, really appreciate it.
Kelley Jones:Absolutely.
Aaron Craddock:So Kelly has, been at Kennesaw for over 20 years and has been in the industry in transportation and around it for over 35 years. Kelly, if you wanna just walk us through a little bit of your story, like, how did you get into transportation and, and then how did you end up at Kennesaw?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. Absolutely. So I started out I had a friend in school and her dad owned a garbage company. It was called Complete Sanitation and he had garbage and portable toilets. And I would go there after school when I was in high school and I would work.
Kelley Jones:And he ended up selling his business. He sold the garbage part to VFI. He sold the portable toilet part to Waste Management and recommended that if they took someone to take me and I was a teenager not realizing that, well, this is a good opportunity. But 15 years later, I was still at Waste Management. Great opportunity.
Kelley Jones:I was a dispatcher and so I worked with drivers every day. They were local drivers and just built great relationships. Watching them, you know, seeing them every day. I watch them get married and have kids and, you know, all that kind of stuff. But I love the hectic, stressful atmosphere of of dispatching and the relationship of drivers.
Kelley Jones:They're just some of the best people. But anyway, they ended up Waste Management closed the location where I was working in Woodstock, Georgia. So I had a couple of options of, locations that I could go and work, but they were both more than I wanted to travel every day. I had, at that time, 4 young kids at home. So I got a severance package, and me and my husband ended up opening a portable toilet business of all things.
Kelley Jones:And, it was Rusty and Kelley Jones. So our portable toilet business was Johnny's by Jones. Our logo or slogan was we're number 1 in the number 2 business. And, and it was just an experience. We started out with 1 trailer and a tractor load full of portable toilets And just built up that business for 4, 5 long stressful years and, sold out.
Kelley Jones:And, so at that point, I'm looking for a job, and at this time, we were still looking in the newspaper. And I saw a recruiter, and I saw, oh my goodness. This is in the same town I live in. I can actually drive to work in 10 to 15 minutes. So it was for a recruiter.
Kelley Jones:I came and I interviewed for the position and was accepted. So I wasn't real sure what a recruiter was. I mean, I knew of a recruiter with the service, with the army and marines and but I quickly learned that recruiters are liars, and they tell you everything you wanna hear. And this is all from the drivers. Yeah.
Kelley Jones:This is what I hear from the drivers. So I came on board. I didn't like that to be stereotyped as a, like like a used car salesman. You know, that's how they're stereotyped. So we did some changes pretty quickly.
Kelley Jones:It was real important for me to give the drivers accurate information. Of course, I'm just in a sales position. That's what a recruiter is. So, yes, I want the picture to be painted pretty, and, and I want them to come and drive for Kennesaw. But I think that we can be just honest.
Kelley Jones:And instead of giving them the top three pay grades that our best drivers might get, give them more of a realistic, this is what you can expect to get paid. Or this is what you can expect as far as the miles that you're gonna run every week. It was important to me that we moved orientation from our safety department to recruiting. We've been doing that over 15 years now. So there's 4 of us, including myself, in recruiting, and we also do the orientation every week here at Kennesaw.
Kelley Jones:So to answer your question, I mean, drivers is all I've ever worked with. I love it. I tell anybody that starts in the in the industry to keep notes. You could probably write a book that would be great with all the stories that you're gonna hear. They definitely keep it interesting.
Kelley Jones:But over my time, I have worked with drivers and I've been involved in things like Relay For Life, the the cancer. I've worked with them through just 911, through, COVID, through just major things. Just most recently, the hurricane. And drivers are some of the most giving, hardworking, just if you wanna work with good people, and I do, I'm in the perfect industry.
Aaron Craddock:What has Kennesaw been able to do for the hurricane victims?
Kelley Jones:Yes. So, probably some things that I may not even be aware of. But but what I am aware of, we recently last week, we set a trailer down in Newnan, Georgia, Delta, maybe community college. But we set a trailer down there for the community to load, and then it was delivered, I wanna say, to South Georgia. We also recently last week, maybe Thursday or Friday, took 2 tractor trailers and we loaded ice.
Kelley Jones:And this was through, I think Verizon was who we were working with just to get ice down there, to restore phone services, medicine to be delivered, or just anything to workers, survivors, just everybody. So that that that's that's what I'm aware of that we've done.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. That's awesome. Yeah. I love how our nation and communities pull together when hard things happen.
Kelley Jones:It's amazing. I put something on my social media last week because I think about just what I know and what I'm involved in. And so I look at my company and how everybody has jumped in. And I look at my church and all the things that they've done and they are doing. And, just things that I'm involved in in our community, I love it.
Kelley Jones:It makes you realize that the things that I think are a problem to me are no problem at all, you know, and how blessed I am.
Aaron Craddock:So one of the things as we were talking through your your fleet composition, like, in the pre call, when you met with Ginger was that you're 32% female driver fleet. So if you wanna just walk us through, walk our audience through, like, how how did you get to a 32%
Kelley Jones:Yeah.
Aaron Craddock:Female driving fleet?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. We we joke about that a lot. We we, we laugh about that a lot because when I when I started, I walked into what I call the boys club. You know, so it was in our first manager's meeting because we had men. And and so we we look back and say, oh, it's the first female on our management team.
Kelley Jones:And and my boss, Kelly Patrick, you know, is a female. And our Linda, the owner, you know, is is a female. So that's in the office. But as far as drivers, yeah. I think, you know, I read statistics and that 7%, 9% of the industry is is females, and we're at 32% female.
Kelley Jones:But that does play a role in the fact that we're very team oriented. We do have solo trucks, but we do have a lot of teams. And and that's the majority of what we do running back and forth to the West Coast. So with that said, a lot of what we are hiring is, husband and wives, friends, you know, moms and daughters. And and so anyway, we we just have a lot too in the truck and and more and more females are getting into this industry.
Kelley Jones:We have what we we call here a family plan team. And so what that is is if my husband has been driving for the last 20 years and I'm working locally and raising the kids and now the kids are grown and I want to go to truck driving school, and he can be my trainer. You know, in the past, a lot of companies, you're going with somebody you don't know and they're your trainer. So this is an ideal situation, to bring new quality drivers in into the business and let the person they know and love train them.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. So one of the things I found cool about your story is just coming in as a recruiter and then being promoted into that director of recruiting role. Do you have any advice for other recruiters that are looking to kinda grow in their career, get into a leadership role, things like that?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. I think I get my parents instilled just good work ethics in me. I've I've always enjoyed what I do. I do enjoy what I do. And so I think to work, I bring an energy with me.
Kelley Jones:I bring a good attitude with me. And attitudes are contagious and they show. If I had advice that I give my kids or my grandkids, you know, don't get involved in the gossip. Don't be content. Don't get into the negativity.
Kelley Jones:I I mentioned being honest. You can sell your company. You know, if you believe in what you're selling, you can sell it and give realistic expectations for the person that that's coming in. But I think just the qualities that we have within. You know, it doesn't matter to me.
Kelley Jones:My opinion. It really doesn't matter how much education you got, how many years you went to college. And this this is a a people's hands on job. You know? So for me, it's the golden rule.
Kelley Jones:Treat people the way you wanna be treated. We all put our pants on the same way. I'm not better than you. You're not better than me. We you know?
Kelley Jones:And and I love I love people. I love learning about, and I'm comfortable with people. Learning what they do and and that could be that you're a doctor or a lawyer or you're pumping the portable toilets at the fair this weekend. You know, it's it's, just building those relationships is is a big thing.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. Yeah. I remember my first job out of school. Yeah. It was my first job out of college was selling cell phones at the AT and T score store because we were coming out of the o eight financial crisis when I graduated undergrad.
Aaron Craddock:And at the store, the manager was like, do you mind, like, mind scrubbing the toilets if that's what I asked you to do? And I was like, I don't care. I got you know, I'd no job is beneath me or anything like that. Like, what needs to get done needs to get done. So
Kelley Jones:That is true. That is true. And that, nothing nothing is below you, you know. And I think when you have people on your team, I know that when you have people on your team, those are the qualities that you're looking for. You're looking for the person that says, I'll do it.
Kelley Jones:I can do it. Where do you need me to help you? You know, those are the ones that that you're gonna look at in the future when a position comes available. You're gonna be looking at the the go getters, not the ones that are just barely doing what they have to do to to get by.
Aaron Craddock:That's right. Now let's take a minute to thank today's sponsor. Do you hire truck drivers in hard to fill areas, or do you need help creating efficiency in your recruiting department? You're not alone. With 50 plus years experience, TruckingClix specializes in data driven strategies, industry leading customer experience, and custom solutions that'll get you to your goal.
Aaron Craddock:TruckingClix is your go to place for high quality direct leads at scale. Visit trucking clicks.com or call 512-982-0816 today. So the next question so one of the things we talk about in each of the episodes is just what are people seeing with the market? And so that's kinda my next question, Kelly, for you is, what are you seeing in the market in terms of freight and in terms of, recruiting drivers?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. So well, thankfully today, I I could say that we've seen the, freight pickup, the rates pickup. It's kinda like a roller coaster in my experience in this industry. Drivers are plentiful, you know, and then they're not. And and so when I'm when recruiting is doing very well, usually, the eyes are on operations or sales or or areas like that.
Kelley Jones:But, yeah, 2023 was a tough year for for freight. We do see things, picking up for sure. So that's exciting. And, as far as drivers, drivers are plentiful right now, especially for certain areas. You know, I've said that what we're looking for at right now, we we're hiring for team drivers, which is kind of like finding the the needle in the haystack.
Kelley Jones:When I talk to other recruiters or, you know, people in the in the same industry, it's like, oh, yeah. Teams. Teams. And especially ready made teams. You know, a husband and wife?
Kelley Jones:Perfect. That's the that's the pick of the litter right there. So, you know, I I do think that with the clearing house, you know, obviously, lost a lot of drivers to that. A lot of drivers are looking to be home, if not weekly. They're looking to be home daily.
Kelley Jones:They're looking for regional. They're looking for local. And there's a lot more of that out there, especially in today's time. We when we wanna get online and with a click of a button, I do it all I did it yesterday. 1 of the grandkids needed something and within 5 minutes, I was online, I ordered it, and it is supposed to be here today.
Kelley Jones:So that's that's drivers hopping in a truck and getting something here quickly. We haul refrigerated freight and we haul it back and forth to the West Coast. So we're looking for those 2 people in a truck to run an average of 6,000 miles a week and, you know, at least do that a couple of weeks before coming in and taking some home time.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm.
Kelley Jones:So that that's probably the that's that's the challenging thing for me, for us right now. Mhmm.
Aaron Craddock:You're looking for road warrior couples or teams that can that wanna get out there get out there for 2 or 3
Kelley Jones:weeks? Yes.
Aaron Craddock:Yeah. It's encouraging hearing. I've heard I've heard that from a few different fleets I've talked with in the last, spoke with in the last last few weeks that they see rates picking up in their particular niche and, and are somewhat optimistic. Nobody I haven't talked to anyone that's crazy optimistic about next year just like, oh, we're gonna crush it in, 2025. But I have her just kinda consistent Yeah.
Aaron Craddock:And just overall optimism that things are Yeah.
Kelley Jones:That's great to have that attitude of, oh, yeah. We're it's gonna be great. It's gonna be you know, it is. It's good to have that. But,
Aaron Craddock:you
Kelley Jones:know, the proof is in the pudding as they say, you know. So but thing things are, definitely looking better.
Aaron Craddock:Has this been an unusually long down cycle, like, in terms of freight and
Kelley Jones:It has. It has. Yeah. I remember back in 08, 09, that was a that was a tough year for for transportation. So yeah.
Kelley Jones:But I guess what I would compare, like, when I was talking last year, that's what we we compared it to. It was 08 and 09.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. Yeah. That's what it feels like Mhmm. On in the in the transportation industry for sure.
Kelley Jones:Yeah.
Aaron Craddock:So one of the things, like, we always talk about, like, maintaining motivation and, a growth mindset, like, on on this show, because this can be a tough industry and and sometimes it's it's hard. And so, specifically, one of the things you had mentioned in our pre call was the blessing book. So if you wanna walk us through a little bit about about that. Yeah. Mhmm.
Kelley Jones:Yeah. So I have 7 children and That's awesome. Yes. Yes. That's right there.
Kelley Jones:I need a blessing, a lot of them. But I, raised we we've raised 4 kids. They're in their mid thirties and then God put a situation in our hands. I didn't I was not seeking out to have more children. I was very happy with my empty nest, but God put a situation in front of us.
Kelley Jones:We ended up foster parenting. What we thought was going to be, temporary. 2 years later, we ended up adopting. So we had 2 8 month old twins and a 5 year old. So at that time, it was very tough.
Kelley Jones:I mean, now it's still tough because they're one is 15 and the twins are, almost 12. So I'm reaching those beautiful, wonderful teenage years. And, but back then, it was hard. It wasn't something that I wanted to do. I guess maybe I was grumbling or complaining too much.
Kelley Jones:I don't know. But, actually, the owner of our company here who is the best of the best I mean, you talk about a giving, a generous, a people in the industry know Pat and Linda Patrick, the owners of Kennesaw. I I don't even have to shed any light on it. It it just speaks for itself. The kind of people that they are.
Kelley Jones:But anyway, she and I were having lunch one day and, you know, she was telling me she said, Kelly, if you don't seek out and and really notice the the blessings that God's given you every day when you're in these trials, that you'll miss them. You know? And she said, this is what you need to do. You need to just get you a little notebook, call it a blessing book. And whenever something good happens to you, just jot it down.
Kelley Jones:You You know, it doesn't have to be something huge. It can be it can be anything. You know? And so, thankfully, 12 years ago, 11 years ago, I I took her up on that and I did that. And, sometimes I put the book in a drawer and I might pull it back out in a year, literally.
Kelley Jones:It's it's not something I I can say that I just religiously do all the time. I don't. But is there a lot of things in that book? Yes. And I look back and and I realize what blessings they were.
Kelley Jones:I mean, it was just little things, you know, that the kids graduated from this or my my daughter finished college. Now now this one's a nurse. This one's through with the marines. The hurricane. You know?
Kelley Jones:It's just everything. There's so much that we have to be thankful for, and I think I have to be intentional to to look at that stuff every day if I don't because our world is crazy and can get depressing sometimes. With everything you see on the news and everything that's going on, there is so much beauty in it and you just have to really focus on it and and notice it. It's there.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. Yeah. There are a lot of really good things going on, like, in the industry and around the world, and and sometimes we just don't hear about them because in in traditional media, in media in general, what draws eyeballs is the negativity and and the the scary things going on in the world, which there are a lot going on. But, yeah, if you can for me, I try to control consumption. So just not watching a lot of that.
Aaron Craddock:I'll I find I found out when I cut out news years ago that for the most part that I still hear it just in conversations, and I'll hear the headlines. And then if there's something I wanna dive into that I think I can have impact on, then I'll dive into it. Yeah. And then yeah. And then I love writing down the blessings because it's amazing when you look back on your life, what like, how many good things have happened.
Aaron Craddock:And and in the moment, you can't really feel it because you feel the pressures of the small things and all the little daily things. But I mean, some of those things you were talking about as small things like like one of your children graduating from marines or becoming a nurse. Like, I mean, those are may those are major.
Kelley Jones:Yeah. Are you ever saying your wife is traveling and you are watching the kids. And at that moment, I don't know, I'm speaking for you here. But, you know, at that moment it might be like, I got so much going on at work. I need to do this.
Kelley Jones:I need, you know Mhmm. But looking back, you can remember you'll remember that day, you know? And, you you never know. You never know. But you do have to be intentional.
Kelley Jones:I had, my pastor said a decade or so ago, and I remember he said, you are what you eat. You are what you watch. You are what you and that is so true. It's it's what we fill ourselves with and we're the ones in control of that. We're the ones in control of of the things that and what goes in comes out, you know.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. Yeah. We're so so careful with our young kids just how much they like, we don't I mean, they don't consume, like, really any media, or have any screen time and, and that that's something we, yeah, we'll maintain for for a long time. And it which is kind of ironic, like, because I'm in marketing and advertising and, everything's about eyeballs and getting in front of the right people at the right time. But because of that, I also know the impact of it, like, how much it it can change your habits and behaviors and thoughts and emotions.
Aaron Craddock:So, yeah, just caution.
Kelley Jones:Yeah. That is that is true. Yeah. That that would be my advice from a mother to young people, you know, the cell phones and the technology and the time spent. I'm preaching to myself.
Kelley Jones:You know, social media. I mean, those are just things that let the kids be kids and, it's out there. I I don't know. It it wasn't when I was a child, you know. So it's it it's a different different world for sure.
Aaron Craddock:So what keeps you motivated, Kelly? Like, in the like, whether it's a hard work season or a hard personal season because that, you know, this industry is a challenge because you're dealing with people and and it's just it can be a tough industry. So what keeps you motivated? Like we mentioned the blessing book but what are some other things?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. Faith. You definitely have to have that. But, you know, my motivation, number 1 is loving what I do. I mean, that's a that's a self motivator right there, but building relationships, I'm in a position perfect for me and and I'm the yes person, you know, to to provide someone with a job and roll out the red carpet to spend their 1st couple of days with them, at their new job, that's motivating.
Kelley Jones:That's, training or teaching new recruiters or mentoring someone in the industry. I mean, I think of I think of the people that have helped me, the people that I go to when I have questions, and I want to be that for someone else. You know? I want I want someone else to to say, you know, I I work with Kelly Jones and I want that to I wanna finish my race well in life. You know, and that and that that motivates me.
Kelley Jones:I wanna finish well. I wanna do right. I wanna do the the things to to help people. I always well, you know, you go somewhere and and the cashier may apologize because she's training someone new, you know, and they're slow. And I don't wanna be the person huffing and puffing and getting impatient.
Kelley Jones:I wanna be the person that says, hey, it's okay. Everybody's first day is sometime. You know, things like that motivate me. Kind words, that's a motivation.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. So what advice do you have to recruiters? Because we have, like, a lot of recruiters that listen to this episode whether it's in terms of how they address a conversation with a driver or just mentality. Like, what what advice do you have to, let's say, like, a new recruiter in the industry?
Kelley Jones:Yeah. A new recruiter, phone calls are the best. I mean, we can text and we can email all day long, but there's nothing like a a phone call. Now that doesn't mean, you know, if someone reaches out via text, well, I believe that that's their choice of how they wanna communicate. That's that's what they want.
Kelley Jones:But when you're calling, be slow to talk and just listen because once you start talking, you know, once they start talking, they'll open up to you. And that's how you build a relationship. Build that relationship as as quickly as you can, and you do that by ask a question and then be quiet. Let them talk. And following up, you know, that's huge.
Kelley Jones:Don't make your number of phone calls just so you can meet your daily quota that you have to make, but make as many as you can. You know, I I see it here at my job. I see it in the industry. The ones that are doing that extra just always doing a little more, a few more, a few more. They reap the rewards, you know.
Kelley Jones:And then like I said, you know, a little while ago, just be truthful. Be honest. You know, let them know what to expect. You know, don't give them the best case scenario on the miles that they're gonna run every week if they're not gonna get that. You know, because the the number one recruiting is retention.
Kelley Jones:I mean, what a lovely world it would be if everyone just came on board and stayed. You know? It it doesn't mean we'd be without jobs. Their retention is a huge constant thing. So honesty, phone calls, call people by name, make notes if you have to, remember that your wife's going out of town and you're watching the kids.
Kelley Jones:Remember that, yeah, you know, things personal things about that person that you can ask them about later. It shows that you care.
Aaron Craddock:That's really good. Yeah. One of the things I heard recently from John John Maxwell talk was he was saying that 10% of people, like companies, meet expectations and only 2% exceed expectations. And so even if you can just in the recruiting process, like, make sure you don't oversell it. Like, here are the hard things about the job.
Aaron Craddock:Here are the reasons most drivers quit. And, like, really dive into those. Like, here are some challenges with pay or or loading and unloading. Just what are the what are the different challenges?
Kelley Jones:Be authentic, transparent, you know, because there's always like you said, there's always gonna be a a bad a downside to any job you do. So and and you'll have drivers ask you, hey. What what is what's it about the job that most people complain about? You know, and have be prepared. Give them the the truth.
Aaron Craddock:Yeah. And then you're gonna you're gonna pick that up on the retention. Like, the like, they're gonna stay if if you actually meet those expectations. And then even further, like, if you can be that 2% that exceed those expectations, that's where the real real differentiator is too. Yep.
Aaron Craddock:Is there anything I should have asked that I have not asked yet?
Kelley Jones:Well, I wish I had the the magic answer that would that would, help any recruiter make everything perfect, but I don't. I don't. You know, it's a a great thing in this industry is I feel like everybody just helps everybody, whether it's conferences that I go to or webinars, people I meet. It's amazing. You know, we I think we all want the best thing.
Kelley Jones:We all want to help each other. It's so refreshing when you can just send an email to somebody that you met at a conference that you felt like has a lot more experience than you do in a in a certain area. And they're there to give you the little hints and tricks of the trade, you know, and that's, that's a great thing. So, you know, it's an one thing I found is when I need help, I ask. When I don't know something, just say, I have no idea, but I'll find out.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. Yeah. It was kinda funny when when we started this podcast, I say a lot like, there were a few people that were like, you think people are gonna get on there and talk about what's working recruiting to their competitors? I'm like, yes. Like, you don't know this industry.
Aaron Craddock:Like, everybody helps each other. And and sure enough, almost everyone I've had come on. I mean, there's only been maybe 2 fleets that have said, like, no for for that reason. Like, we don't wanna share our secret sauce. But, I mean, there there's really nothing proprietary in this.
Aaron Craddock:Like, it's it's being, you know, authentic and honest and genuine and
Kelley Jones:Yeah.
Aaron Craddock:And and leveraging technology well, leveraging relationships well, growth mindset.
Kelley Jones:Yeah. And each each his own, you know, for drivers because Kennesaw is not for everybody. You know? And so, you know, drivers are gonna find the company that works well with them and meets their needs and does what they want to. And it's just not a cookie cutter position.
Kelley Jones:You know, we find we find ourselves a lot asking the drivers, well, what do you need? What do you need as far as home time? What do you need? And so, you know, because if it's something we can work with you know, I'm always used to our jobs and it's like, okay. Well, you're gonna come to the office Monday through Friday from 8 to 5 and or you're gonna work from home.
Kelley Jones:You know, we we know exactly because we've been told, you know, what our expectations are. And we're expecting a lot from a driver to get in a a little box with another driver and, you know, live for a couple of weeks. I couldn't imagine. So Mhmm. Yeah.
Kelley Jones:Yeah. It's kinda it's definitely something different. But, yeah, we find ourselves, you know, just asking them. We have to work around. We have to everything's just not gonna fit into one specific way for that driver, for all drivers.
Aaron Craddock:Mhmm. That's good. Yep. Well, thank you so much, Kelly, for your time today, and, like, I I really appreciate it. And I think we added a lot of value to the industry today just specifically just with talk around honesty and motivation and and just your experience, like, growing from, you know, coming in a recruiting role and growing to the director of recruiting role.
Aaron Craddock:It's just cool and and inspirational and running your own business and building that and selling that, like, just these are all just really, really cool stories. So so thank you so much. It was a pleasure pleasure meeting you. And
Kelley Jones:Yes. You too. Pleasure was mine. I appreciate it.
Aaron Craddock:We'll be in touch. Thanks, Kelly. Alright. Thank you. Thank you for joining us today.
Aaron Craddock:Our goal with the Hire Truckers podcast is to provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to level up your recruiting game. If we added value, take a few seconds to share this with your network. Have a great week.