Terminal Exchange

We’re running the numbers in this episode. Ben Virkler, from our IT department, shares their team goals to produce quality project deliverables and facilitate a smooth GeoTab transition. Plus, we feature Nussbaum CFO Bill Wettstein and unload ESOP, projections, and company growth.

Raise your hand if your inbox could use a good spring

Now they’re your go-to for the new GeoTab system. Their goal? Make the transition as easy as possible. If you have your new GeoTab, you’ll be hearing from the IT department soon for a one-on-one chat!

With 18 years as Nussbaum’s CFO, Bill Wettstein has helped

Mainly, probably my favorite part, is just spending quite a bit of time with employees from all the departments and learning what their joys and fears are and seeing what we can do different.

Bill’s pushed Nussbaum through some scary times. Take a step

Bill: At that point we were pricing freight to make bank payments, not to make money.

Phillip: Ouch…

Bill: Yeah, that was interesting.

You heard it here first – the valuation is complete, and our first ESOP statement is arriving in May! The first year is exciting but wait ‘til you hear Bill’s projections for the future. You may have to pull over because the shock and excitement could be too much!

It’s very exciting – it could be a huge wealth-building tool. It’s like working for yourself, having an ESOP, and it’s like owning the house, rather than renting it.

“Mainly, probably my favorite part, is just spending quite a

Bill: At that point we were pricing freight to make bank

Phillip: Ouch…

Bill: Yeah, that was interesting.

“Crisis leads you to think out of the box.”

“This is just a benchmark. Now we go from here, and we need

“This number here is just basically the starting point.”

“It’s very exciting – it could be a huge wealth-building

“It’s always this angst over have we got this timed right,

Phillip: What are you focusing on?

Bill: Are you asking what’s stressing me out today?

“We often talk miles per day; I’m liking revenue per day

“Does that mean we need more freight? Does that mean we need

• ESOP Brochure
• CFO With a CDL

He always does both – ruling the pool table and perfecting

The fast-talking, slow-driving Randy Pugh is sure to delight

You’re about to listen in on one of Terminal Exchange’s

“That’s my goal. Everyday. I want to make everybody that I deal with laugh. Sometimes I’m explaining to my wife why it was funny, you know… but I’m laughing about it.”

Randy backs up into how his grandfather and father prepared

He’s one of Nussbaum’s elite: a Training Engineer, Road Captain, and Certified RED driver rolled into one. Making sure he knows the equipment, the company, and his coworkers inside and out, Randy shares not only a chuckle or two but sage wisdom.

“My grandfather, he always said, ‘You don’t have a problem unless you don’t have a solution.’ So if something comes up, it’s not a problem, it’s something I need a solution for. And I’m going to figure it out.”

Take a step into Randy’s life outside of the truck as he

• “At 7, I remember hauling produce over the

• Certified RED
• Eight-ball vs. Nine-ball
• Nussbaum MOVEit Family Fun Run/Walk St. Jude Fund Raiser

“I’ve been doing this for years; do I really need more training?” In this week’s Terminal Exchange, we dive deep into this question with Nussbaum Development Coordinator, Cory Adams.

Nathan Wertz is facilitating one of our two 4DX Driver Manager teams. Together, they are working to help get better information to our drivers more efficiently and reduce call volumes. The result? Our drivers get to spend less time waiting on the phone and more time doing what they love. Nathan joins us this week to talk about their team’s goal and the work they’ve done so far.

Who was the greatest basketball player of all time? Somewhere in the answer to that question, we might just find out why training for professional drivers is necessary. On this week’s episode, Cory Adams talks about the importance of continuous development. We also get to hear a few good stories from his basketball days.

• We all need reminders of the little things
• There was a guy on the other team who was faking charges. I told myself if he did it to me I was going to step on him. Sure enough, he did it to me and, I didn’t even have to think, I stepped on him. My body reacted to what my mind had already planned out.
• Every minute, every second, every mile, it helps to be prepared.

Underneath the laughter and “Dad” jokes, you might not have realized that Brian Cannon also has a deep, genuine passion for supporting families who are facing one of the scariest real-life monsters, childhood cancer. This week, we shared some good laughs and heartfelt stories with Brian to learn more about what drives his passion.

If you’ve ever met Brian Cannon, you’ve probably heard a

I think laughter is important. There is time for it of course, but I think the more you can smile and laugh the better life you’ll have, and I think it does good for your overall health.

After a history of cancer in his family, and seeing friends fight childhood cancer, Brian has developed a passion for helping other families who are fighting the ‘C’ Word. Brian is an active St. Jude runner who has participated in local runs to raise funds and awareness for the last 10 years. Check out the full episode to hear more from Brian on why he supports St. Jude.

To help support Brian’s and other Nussbaum St. Jude runner’s efforts, Nussbaum is hosting a 5K Family Fun Run/Walk event. The goal is to raise money to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is leading the way the world understand, treats, and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. You can learn more about St. Jude at https://www.stjude.org

This 5K event is an awesome opportunity to support the St.

To learn more about this event, donate, or register to come

• I’ve always been a driver advocate, I believe they’re the number one customer.
• I used to be a quiet person when I was younger.
• It’s easy to say, “this is just how it’s going to be today, tomorrow I’ll do [better],” but there isn’t always tomorrow.
• I’ve run up to 26 miles in a given day. I don’t even know how I would do that on a regular day but there’s something about [St. Jude Run Day].

• St Jude Hospital
• St. Jude Runs
• Nussbaum Family Fun Run/Walk
• Laughing at Work is Good for You and That’s No Joke
• Stress Relief from Laughter?
• Laughter is the Best Medicine

Mix together a handful of wisdom, a helping of humor, wrap it all up in some great family stories, and what do you get? Tune in to this week’s episode to meet The Prodigy: Performance Coach, Maya Hernandez.

This past week at the 81st TCA Annual Convention,

This week we celebrate the work of our 2nd Shift Shop Team. Lead by Jake Grey, they are working in tandem with the 1st Shift Shop Team to implement a new check-in process for equipment maintenance. The results? Better upfront communication and planning that result in more efficient trips to the shop and less overall downtime for drivers. Listen to the episode to hear more from team leader Jake Grey.

As a young woman uncertain about her future, Maya Hernandez made a surprise decision to follow an unusual career path. Today, Maya has no regrets about becoming a truck driver.

In this week’s feature exchange, you’ll meet Maya, hear about her journey into the world of trucking, how she became a performance coach at Nussbaum, and why we like to call her “The Prodigy.”

• Are you crazy? I would never be a truck driver.
• So far so good. Nobody has raked me over the coals

Growing up near the sights and sounds of Wrigley Field, Mike Vanyzendoorn first found himself behind the wheel of a truck running the streets of Chicago with next to no experience. Years later, the seasons of life eventually led Mike to Nussbaum. This week we talk with Mike about being a driver and pastor and what he looks forward to as a performance coach at Nussbaum.

Mike got his start as a driver rather abruptly when a friend

After a while, Mike was called upon to shift gears and

Later in life, Mike returned to trucking where he eventually

• “I grew up in Chicago, close to the sounds of Wrigley Field.”
• “I was running the rails in Chicago, and my clutch leg was very, very strong with Chicago runs.”
• “I wasn’t really specialized in anything; I like doing everything.”
• “I love kid’s honesty, older folks can be honest, but it’s usually veiled. Kids are just openly honest, even in the bad stuff.”
• “I’d rather have a person have an ‘ah-ha’ moment rather than me say ‘this is what you’re doing wrong.’”
• “You want people to grow; you want people to heal. My journey is helping them discover that so they can have that ah-ha moment.”
• “The numbers don’t matter. Where are you at in how you think you are doing, and where are you at on where you think you want to go? And we go from there.”

Quinton Barrett and Jay Green of People Element join us to talk about measuring employee engagement, collecting data and the importance of sharing it, and how Nussbaum measures up.

People Element specialize in partnering with businesses and

Nussbaum partners with People Element to conduct an annual

If you’ve ever taken a survey at all, chances are you have

People Element designs a survey using the Likert scale

“We can say Nussbaum is 80% engaged and maybe that’s helpful, but what’s really helpful is that we ask a lot of other questions that can help us determine what drives engagement.”

“There is no way to say it without it sounding really good, because it is.”

To hear Quinton and Jay talk about Nussbaum’s numbers, one

Quinton highlights how we stack up on some of the standard

We think these results are pretty impressive and tell the

But this is only a small part of the picture. There are

“It would be really easy to say we have 89% favorable data, we’re doing good… but I think where you get the most value is saying… what categories are below 89%, lets see if we can get those up into that 90% favorable percentile.”

Links

• People Element
• Likert Scale

Veteran, driver, entrepreneur, teacher, antiquer… with all

Nussbaum’s sales team has set itself a wildly important goal

The trucking industry has gone through many changes since

When he’s not behind the wheel, Jeff has been known to post

“We both really enjoy going to different auctions and restoring things to bring back their original beauty.”

In the face of the driver shortage, how many drivers have

Or How many tragedies, like that of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, could have been impacted by better training for new drivers?

Listen in as Phillip talks on the importance of training for

“Together, we can make trucking a shining example of professionalism, dignity, and the value for human life.”

• We both really enjoy going to different auctions

• HDT Article: The Trucking Industry Lets Down Driver in Humboldt Crash

From the driver’s seat, to the office chair, to the pulpit,

Being “on his own” since around the age of 14, Chris Chaney is no stranger to challenge. In fact, you might even say he’s had his fair share of bad days. But according to Chris, there is no such thing as a bad day. Chris talks about how faith and some key people in his life helped him grow and learn to overcome his challenging days, find joy, and develop a passion to help others find joy too.

I understand that I am going through some challenges, but there’s someone who’s going through far greater challenge than I. So, if I can just say something, if I can smile a certain way, whatever I can do to bring joy to them.

He may not sound like Cory Henry, but as someone who plays the organ, piano, drums and bass guitar, Chris has an evident love for music and making a joyful noise. In his words:

I am not a professional at anything I play. But I understand music… and the melody that David played on the harp in the Bible is what I think about when I’m playing for Christ.

• Traveling is like soothing music to me. I get in the truck and get an opportunity to think. I can think clearly and just kind of let myself go.
• I’ve always loved trucking, just always been attracted to it.
• I believe my first ministry is my home. If home is not where it needs to be… then no other aspect of ministry will make sense or come to pass as it should.
• The drive going home… allows me to be very thankful to God for the day that He has provided.
• I don’t believe in a bad day. There’s no such thing as a bad day. There’s good days, and there is challenging days.
• I am not a professional at anything I play. But, I understand music… and the melody that David played on the harp in the Bible is what I think about when I’m playing for Christ.
• When you stop learning, you stop growing.
• There will be some good days. And there will be some challenging days. Remember, if you survive that day, you have another opportunity for the next day.
• Keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up.

• Cory Henry
• Dashboard Spotlight

Patience – a virtue that we

Take a seat in Clark’s home life – how his better half, JoAnne, takes care of worries and burdens so he can go OTR, how proud he is of his children, and the relational challenges of coming and going each month, especially with his son with autism.

Look around Nussbaum, and

Sick of the same view and four walls, Clark left the

“I started driving in 2005 and kick myself continually because I didn’t start driving sooner.”

He waxes on his skilled driving habits and how patience is

Ah, patience. We all

He’s human. He’s not perfect. And you’ll feel like you’re in

“So, yeah, thanks for knocking me down. But I don’t want people to

“I couldn’t do what I do out here without her doing that.”

“Support at home is key to being successful out here.”

“The Lord puts things in your hands to deal with that you

“I started driving in 2005 and kick myself continually

“As long as my kids are proud, and they can say, ‘That’s my

“Being safe is key to getting me back home.”

“Maybe I force that disconnect, so I don’t feel as bad.”

“I would never choose driving over them.”

“To be successful, you

“Hey, you need to pull over before you kill us.”

“I can trace everything that I did wrong, and there’s been a

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes.”

“So, yeah, thanks for knocking me down. But I don’t want

“And going down that 80-foot embankment didn’t take any time

“Seek the people out that are succeeding. And pick their

• Run on Less
• Clark’s Blog Article, “38,000 Pounds of Tampons and A Change of Underwear”
• 9 MPG Club on Facebook