From the Driver's Seat: 'You're Not Chasing Miles' in On Tour Logistics

Welcome to from the driver's seat, an Averitt podcast for all Averitt associates to keep up with news and information across our network. Make sure to subscribe on your preferred podcasting app so you'll be sure to be notified the moment a new episode drops. And now director of driver services and hosting from the driver's seat, David Broyles. Hey, everybody. It's Dave Broyles. Hope you're having a great day. Hey. We got a great podcast today. Before I get in that, I wanted to make sure that everybody enjoyed operation thank you week, and it's a great week for us. It's an opportunity for us to say thank you to all of our associates throughout the throughout the business units, and, we do appreciate everything y'all do. And so I hope you enjoyed it. It was a good week. Had a lot of fun, a lot of opportunities, some food, and a lot of good fellowship. So enjoyed it. Look forward to it again next year. But, you know, interesting that I think Averitt's always had operation. Thank you. It's every week of the year. We always show our appreciation, I feel, for the associates and what they do. So thank you for everything. But, anyway, I have Scott Ulmer today. Hey, Scott. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing great. So I've obviously, I have Scott Ulmer, and I've got a I've got a black shirt with an on tour on it. We're here to talk about OTL. Right? We are. Makes it easy when you when you look look over there and you see the the black and the OTL. Yeah. You know, talk a little bit about the black uniforms. You know, you see we see folks with, OTL. They always wear black. Why black? We try to be invisible. Okay. Crew people, stagehand personnel, stuff like that at a show. If you've ever been to a concert, you know, you don't wanna see a guy wearing neon green in the background. He's gonna stand out pretty good. Right. So crew people and everybody in our industry have always worn black. They blend in. You can't see them. They're invisible. So we kinda mirrored that image just to still try to fit in as well. And it don't show dirt quite as much. Don't show dirt that much, So Well, hopefully, y'all don't get too dirty out there anyway. Right? We try not to. So Well, you know, OTL's grown for us over the years. It's you know, from when when we first started way back when, and I think it was one truck back then with, we did a one truck tour in two thousand twelve, and it's grown from there. Grown from there. Right? Really has. And how how many drivers we have this year? Currently, our roster is around one fifteen. One fifteen. Mhmm. And, you know, we're looking to grow that, obviously. We are. You know, I think we're always looking to say, hey. What can we do to grow OTL? You know, we've got a niche. And we've got a good real good reputation in the industry. Right? We do. We are twelve years into this, and I like to tell everybody we do have a seat at the big table. So we do. People know who we are now. Right? They they do. When we're in a these conferences that we go to now, we are one of the major players, and, we're not the new guys anymore. So we do a good job. We won the Parnelli Award two thousand twenty four for Trucking Company of the Year in Los Angeles, and that is our industry voted on. So we are pretty proud of that. So currently, we have the biggest country tour in the in the US right now with Morgan Wallen. So I think we do pretty good. How many trucks is Morgan Wallen? How many trucks were running with Morgan Wallen? Thirty four left out last night. Thirty four. That's amazing, isn't it? It is. It is. It's, you know, it's like a it's like a small trucking company almost. It is. Thirty four trucks. That's that's like a small trucking company going out and and and delivering it to the truck. Red trucks on it. Hundred percent red trucks. That's always great. Right? It is. It's, you know, it's really grown. It's a niche market for us, but it and, you know, the I think what's interesting is the difference in the there's a little difference in the drivers, I think. You know? You know? And some of the myths that people say, hey. You know? I I don't know if I wanna do OTL or not. You know? People are out there might be thinking and say, do I really wanna do I wanna drive OTL? Because they think, hey. I gotta leave in March. I'm not coming back till October. You know? Mhmm. But that's not really the facts. Right? No. I always tell everybody the possibility is there, but it doesn't happen. Yeah. You know, if you're on a Nashville based country tour, the tour is gonna come back and forth in and out of Nashville. And if you're on different rock tours, rap tours, or any of the events that we do, we do conventions, church events, political events, you might be near your domicile on one of those breaks. Right. So you do have a chance to go home then. Most of our stuff is Nashville based, and they're always gonna come through Nashville at some point. And there's breaks all throughout the country during the tours. So are you away from home six months at a time? I'm gonna say the answers, for the most part, is no. No. You are going to get home. Now how regular? That's the answer that's that that that's the unknown. Every tour is different and also depends on where you're domiciled. If you live in Nashville, you're gonna get home fairly regular. Right. If you are the extreme points in the, footprint, it may be not as regular. But every tour or event that we do is is all different, So there is no rhyme or reason to it. But, no, you will not be gone from your home six months. I will say the possibility is there Right. But it rarely happens. Right. So you know, let's let's talk about, like, the regular life of an OTL driver, for instance. You know, what what happens? Okay. You, you know, you first of all, when a driver comes in and wants to be OTL, we they have to go through a separate orientation first. Right? Yes. What what do y'all do? What kind of orientation y'all do there? It's kind of a crash course of just life on the road and touring. We do bring you to the OTL, facility in Nashville, and we just go through life on the road. You know, what's different compared to truckload, dedicated, city, different things like that. And the terminology is different. The the way it's still truck driving. Yeah. But you're hauling electronic equipment, video, sound, lights, different things like that. The load securement is different. The way we load it and unload it, everything is on wheels. So it's just different. Everything's not palletized. So we kinda go through those processes and and why we do certain things and just life on the road. So it's kind of a crash course. And then the second day is all hands on of the securement of the load, the loading, the unloading of, you know, how we do those certain things. And then the radio control backing on multi truck tours, there's always a guy with a handheld radio helping you back in, you know, for safety and efficiency and things like that. So that's kind of what the OTO class is comprised of. You know, you talk about the loading and the unloading. And, of course, you know, we we try to stay away from drivers having to touch freight. When you say unloading and loading and all that, do they really unload and unload, or what do they do? The main job of an OTO driver is to supervise and assist only. Their job is to make sure that the load is secured with the straps and the load bars. So that is the main job. There will be crew people and stagehands and union stagehands that would do the physical part of the unloading and the loading. But the OTO driver's job is to be in the trailer, but it's more to supervise. Make sure everything go everything's got a place. Well, I understand. Place. Everything's gotta go in a certain order. But the main job is the securement of it. Everything we haul is on wheels. So now it is the driver's job to secure it with the straps and the load bars. Okay. Well, that makes a lot of sense. Yes. If you're gonna drive it, you wanna make sure it is secure. Right? You don't want that stuff rolling around. Too expensive to be rolling around and bumping at each other. That's right. When the door's closed, it's your load. Yeah. It's your load at that point. Right? And, you know, typically, how you know, do you drive thousands of miles in a week? Or do you drive what what what's an average week, I guess, is that? Every tour is different. Uh-huh. Some of the smaller acts that, you know, just from a a logistical standpoint, you might do a show on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And, you know, you can't drive too far in one night. One for, you know, DOT hours of service. But you physically can't move that much stuff and then set it up the next day. You know, typically, it's just three or four hundred miles a night on some smaller stuff. If you're on the really big stuff or the major arena acts or even the stadium acts, you have two or three days to do that four or five hundred miles because you can only move so much stuff, you know, and set it up in time. Right. So the the very big acts and the big concerts, you know, you're you've got three or four days to get to the next town. And some of the smaller acts, you might drive a few hundred miles each night, and you'll do that for two or three nights a week. Then there's probably a two or three day break after that. So you're not driving, you know, a huge amount of miles every single night, seven days a week. That's not what we do. So, obviously, we're not paying these guys by the mile. Right? You're not paying them by the miles. You are not chasing miles. There's a lot of times you are just sitting there waiting on the next show. Right. So But we pay them for sitting there. Right? You're getting paid to see it. And and it's good money. We pay salary. We pay salary. Pay on salary. It is a it is a daily rate, weekly rate that it is a salary. So there's a lot of times the the tour may have a break on the West Coast or anywhere in the US. Right. And it could be upwards of a week or longer. You're still getting paid. That's a that that's always a plus. Right? That is a plus. Well, let me ask a question. If we do have a long run, let's say, you gotta go from Miami to somewhere out in Phoenix or something. You gotta be there in two or three days. Mhmm. What do we do? How do we get them there? We do team drives. We try to limit it as much, but that is the up to the customer. You know, they are the ones that set the schedule. They are the one that book it. Mhmm. But let's just say you have a scenario. You do have to go from Miami to Phoenix, and you've only got three days to do it. We will fly a driver in. He will get in the truck with you, help you drive to Phoenix, whether it you know, in that particular case, it may be two to three driving shifts per driver, get you to Phoenix, put you up in a hotel, fly you back home. There you go. So So, I mean, it's not it's not like you're having to drive forever with the team. No. That's not true. Be you need to be acceptable to that because it might happen. It could happen. Like I said, we try to limit it as much as possible, but that is strictly up to the to the customer's request. But like I said, fly in, fly out, maybe one drive and shift, maybe two, and get you back in your truck. Yeah. You mentioned a minute ago, maybe you're on the West Coast and you got five, six, seven days to sit. You know? What's the driver do during that time frame? Whatever they wanna do. And that's interesting. Right? That is interesting. Now, you know, I like to tell everybody, you're still getting paid to drive that red truck. Right. So but in in essence, you're you're off for a little while. And but you're you're getting paid to stay out there. And that's some of the perks. That's some of the good days. And, you know, if you have to get a thirty four hour reset reset, you might have to do that. But, you know, within reason, go out and sight see. Go out and enjoy the sights and the sounds and, you know, go have a little fun, but, you know, would you know, be responsible. Yeah. Of course. But, yes, that does happen quite often. Yeah. I noticed I've noticed some drivers before, but be up in New York, I guess, at Madison Square Gardens, and they were up there three or four days. And they went out, and they were taking pictures in Sure. New York City. Never been to New York City before and everything. So, yeah, that is kinda cool if you, you know, get get to tour a little bit and see some of that. But when when the driver's on tour when he's on tour and let's say he's at he's at the concert Mhmm. Does he get front row seats, or what do we do there? My answer to that is no. Oh, okay. Our our job is to drive the truck point a to point b. You take care of those responsibilities. Of course, eat and shower, then you gotta get your rest. Now, that we do have a lot of shows that you are there at a particular venue for multiple nights. Uh-huh. Now that is up to the particular tour where their drivers and nonessential personnel, as far as that goes, can they come to the shows? Most of the time, it's a yes. You know, you may not be on the front row. You might be up in the nosebleed section. But, you know, a lot of tours they do it's okay to go see the show. Right. But, you know, as long as your responsibilities are done and you're not driving that night, you know, because you gotta get your rest. But, yeah, there's a lot of cool events that you get to see, whether it be a show or a particular event or a festival that we're at, different things like that. But I always encourage everybody to enjoy that part of it. The other thing is, let's talk a little bit more. You know, some of the things I've learned when I've talked to drivers is the camaraderie of the group who travels together. Because they don't we don't put we don't put drivers out onesies, twosies, especially new drivers. They're out, you know, three or four drivers. Right? Mhmm. So I've always heard, hey, the camaraderie is really tight. You are a family out there. I mean, you have to be a team player and be willing to be part of a big team because on a multi truck, you know, tour, you'll be out with other Averitt drivers. There's bus drivers. There's crew people. There's local crew people. And if you're at a festival or or big show, then there's tens of thousands of people. But you will be part of a big crew and a big family. And it's it's a traveling circus that you're a part of. And, you know, a lot a lot of drivers that I've talked to, you know, I know there's a lot of people that the same crew sometimes, the same the same group of drivers hauls for the same same, people every year. Sure. Like, I forgot, like, I was thinking about Jeff Richardson and Jeff Richardson and Jake Owen has been with Jake for almost thirteen years now Right. With the same basically, the same core group of the crew people, and Jeff is just part of the family. I know. And that's, I mean, that's really that's really cool, though. You know? I think, you know, they that they build that relationship Yes. Kind of the customer to us. It's kinda like a customer relationship way. Right? We we do. I mean, like, Toby Eaton's lead driver for Old Dominion. Yeah. And Toby is ingrained in that camp. They lean on Toby to help them make that tour successful, and he's a big part of it. And he helps make some of the big decisions, you know, whether it become the routing and scheduling and things like that. And, you know, Travis out on Morgan Wallen and Ed Coward out on Chris Stapleton, they are a big part of that crew and family and decision making process. So they are a vital team member to that. And, you know, that really does say a lot for Averitt. You know, we've got quality people Mhmm. Great people out there. And so that customer relationship, that helps solidify where we're gonna be every year after year after year. We're gonna be working with those folks for a long time to come, I would think, because we because we have that relationship. Sure. And that that's I mean, I like to say our drivers are very big part of the Averitt culture, and I think that's one of the keys to our success. I think it is. I think, you know, that the Averitt the Averitt truck. So, you know, I I what do you wanna tell drivers that are watching today and they're thinking, hey, you know, I think I might wanna do this. I think I'm I'm interested in OTL. What what do I need you know, what what do you wanna tell those folks? Just get the information. Ask questions. You know, talk to a driver support specialist or call somebody within OTL and just get the information and then make a decision from there. I mean, come to OTL class. You know, we tell everybody this is we're gonna give you the information. And, you know, you decide then, but get get out ask a lot of questions. We're gonna be totally transparent. If it's for you, great. We'll move forward. If it's not, that's okay too. You know, there's so many other opportunities in Averitt, but just call and get all the information you can. We'll be glad to answer any questions that you have and just, you know, you process that information and see if it's for you. Yeah. You know, I know that I know they've done some stuff with InsideAvert, and, you know, they've got the OTL. They can go to InsideAvert, look up the OTL. There's a form in there you can fill out now. Mhmm. And they can fill that form out. It gives that information, and you they're gonna somebody's gonna reach out to you and talk to you and talk to you about that kind of stuff too. That's another way. That's another method of finding out more about OTL. But I agree with you. Hey. Find out all you can. If you got questions, now's now's the time. You know, if you're looking for it. And and, you know, you may not get into to tours till mid midsummer now if you come on board at this point, but you'll be in line next year too Absolutely. To go to OTL. And, so it's it's really a it's a niche market. And, but I and I think the drivers love it. I think it's a good market for Averitt. It is. It is. The strength of Averitt is one of the keys to our success. And and like I said, it's we've been successful with it so far, and we're gonna keep trying to grow it and make it better. Yep. And we're doing a lot now. We're doing a lot at, you know, we get the OTO warehouse going on and a lot going on in Nashville. Y'all are moving a lot of production equipment. And you know, that's something else too. You know, they sometimes you may be doing a production runs where you're not even on the tour. Right? Correct. I mean, we do a lot of we call them production runs. It's just a one off. It could be one show or one festival somewhere, or we could take from, a customer location in Nashville to another location they have in Orlando or Vegas. That's just a one off. You know, we do, different events whether it be for, you know, political or church. I mean, we've got four trucks out on a cheerleading competition right now. So there's not like a traditional music tour. Right. So you could just be doing from a to b and then back to Nashville. And then we we have a huge local operation in Nashville. But, like, for CMA Fest, we might have twenty five to thirty loads in downtown Nashville just strictly from local customers that we're responsible for. You know, different events from July the fourth to the CMA award show, different award shows. There's conventions in Nashville, and we might have anywhere from one to twenty one loads at the Music City Center in Nashville. Right. So huge local presence. We get to have the OTL warehouse where we do storage now, and that's where all the equipment is based out of in Nashville. So it's pretty busy around there. Well, it's a great tour. It's a it's a it's a great business unit. It's destined to grow. I hope so. It's been a good it's been a good unit. Y'all do a great job with it. Appreciate everything you do. Any last words for our drivers out there? Just come check us out. I like to tell everybody we have a lot of fun with what we do. I've been doing it for a long time. I still have fun with it. I think we got a great little deal, and I just like I said, just check it out. Well, that's good. Appreciate everybody listening in today. And, you know, if you've got questions about OTL, find out. Get reach out to somebody, get your questions answered. And, it's it's a great opportunity. If you think this might fit your lifestyle, it's something to look at. Take a look at it, get into it. Like like, Scott said, go to the, orientation. They'll get a lot of questions answered in those two days. Find out if it's for you or not. And, you know, if you're out there on the road, you're out there seeing stuff, and you see other drivers out there that really look like they're right, Averyt, you need to go reach out to them too and use that people like you program. We're gonna need referrals this year. We're starting to grow. Everything's building back up. We're gonna need more and more drivers, and those drivers that come in, they may be the ones that wanna go to OTL. They may be that may you may be recruiting of an OTL driver for us and help us help us grow the business So do all you can to help us on that. Thank you all. We'll see you out on the road. Appreciate you.