Eric Madison on Turning Truck Drivers Into Safety Champions | Logistics Series

Anthony Codispoti : Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codispoti and today’s guest is Eric Madison, Senior Vice President of People and Safety at United Road Services. Founded in 1997, United Road is a leader in vehicle transportation, moving over four million cars each year across the US and Canada. Now Eric has spent more than 20 years in the transportation industry, holding multiple senior leadership roles and developing strong expertise in human resources, compliance and safety.

He earned his MBA in human resources from Ashland University and holds a degree in marketing and management from Western Michigan University. Now before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, ADD-Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. One recent client was able to add over $900 per employee per year in extra cash flow by implementing one of our innovative programs. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible.

To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at ADD-BackBenefits .com. All right, back to our guest today, Senior VP of People and Safety at United Road, Eric Madison. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Eric Madison : Well, thank you, Anthony. I appreciate the invite.

Anthony Codispoti : So Eric, you’ve got, by my count here, over 30 years of experience in the transportation industry. What first drew you into this line of work?

Eric Madison : Right, it has been 30 years, hasn’t it? You think back on that and you start to feel a little bit old. I would say that after college, my first real job was working at a dock, talking to forklift operators and drivers in and out, and it felt like a good niche for me. I communicated very well with people doing the real work, got promoted, and really looked at trucking as a whole to see that it could offer me the kind of challenges, the diversity that I was looking for in a career, and I just kind of ran down that path.

Anthony Codispoti : Growing up, were you in a blue collar kind of household and neighborhood?

Eric Madison : Yeah, very much so. My dad was a millwright. My mom worked in the school district and we were, the typical middle class family, I would say.

Anthony Codispoti : Your dad was, did you say an O-rite?

Eric Madison : A millwright. Oh, millwright. Yeah, millwright in a steel factory. So if it broke, he had to fix it. Great.

Anthony Codispoti : So these were your people when you got to the dock? Like, yeah, I’m home. Like, let’s go, guys. Absolutely.

Eric Madison : And to this day still is. Not a day goes by in my current role that I don’t talk to our car haulers, our mechanics, everyone from top down in this organization.

Anthony Codispoti : And I want to hear more about the work that you guys are doing at United, but let’s take a step back for a second. And you spent about 14 years at Conway truckload, kind of moved away from service center manager up to director of operations and human resources. What was it about the quality of the work that you were doing that helped you to ascend through the ranks there?

Eric Madison : Yeah, I, you know, I loved my time at Conway. It was a great organization. And really, that is where I came to grasp corporate culture and what that means to employees, myself, certainly, but everyone around me. So I found that when you have that real strong culture like Conway did, it was kind of easy to excel. So that in, you know, teamed up with the work ethic of my millwright father, you know, it was, it offered a lot of opportunities, relocated a lot with Conway, and was able to just keep escalating my responsibilities from the LTL organization right through to the truckload organization. And I, you know, handled just about every facet of the business and had a lot of fun doing so.

Anthony Codispoti : And Conway, you weren’t focused like United is so much on moving specifically vehicles, but just moving any kind of freight in general. Is that right?

Eric Madison : That’s right. So Conway at the time had an LTL less than truckload operation. So it was just general commodities from something that you would say would be bigger than UPS would carry to smaller than a full truckload. So we were nationwide with the other Conway companies and then Conway truckload really focused at the time of taking consolidated less than truckload shipments, moving them across countries so that they could then be delivered by the LTL operation. I think in the couple decades that have passed since I’ve been there, that operations probably changed a bit. And they have been purchased as well, XPO logistics.

Anthony Codispoti : Gotcha. Okay. I want to spend the bulk of our conversation talking about the work that you’re doing now with United Road. Because obviously you had some stops in between Conway and United, but you’ve been with United for like about 13 years. How did that opportunity first come about?

Eric Madison : Well, you know, it came from one of those stops in between. So I, as I said, I bounced around the country a little bit with Conway, which was great, great experience living in different places. You really get to understand different people when you live there, not just visit, right?

Anthony Codispoti : So did you find some significant cultural differences as you were kind of bouncing around the country? Oh, absolutely.

Eric Madison : Yeah. You know, I started in Michigan, went to upstate New York, spent some time in Vermont, New Hampshire, couple stops in Ohio, then Memphis, Tennessee. And, you know, just to draw a comparison, the people in Memphis, Tennessee, great people were very much different than the people in Vermont, also great people. But, you know, just different, different nature to the people. And I found that to be very enjoyable getting to know the different kinds of people.

And they were really motivated by different things, had different values, you know, none better than the other, but just kind came from a different place when they came into the workforce.

Anthony Codispoti : Gotcha. Okay. Sorry. I interrupted because I was kind of curious to hear like, you know, US is a big place, but, you know, what kinds of differences are you actually seeing? But the opportunity to join United came about because, you know, one of these previous stops, you were kind of moving around to different places in the country.

Eric Madison : Yeah. So I was looking to get back to Michigan, actually. I have a couple kids that I wanted to get in front of my parents more. So as they were aging, it was difficult for my parents to come visit us. So I thought, I’m going to get myself back to Michigan. So I did that with a recruiting art outsource company. So the idea was to hire truck drivers, not just for small private fleets, but for trucking companies as well. So I came up here where that company was, right in the backyard of where I was born, and started talking to other trucking companies across the nation, but especially around here, I met Kathleen McCann, the then CEO of United Road. So I worked with her quite a bit on some recruiting difficulties that United Road was having at the time. And I’ll tell you, it didn’t take long to really understand that she embodied cultural leadership. So I really enjoyed, you know, working with her. And inevitably, Anthony, I reached out to her and said, Hey, I’d like to be a part of your team.

And she had a spot for me. It’s been fun ever since. And so where did you start in the organization? So I started as director of human resources. So when I came in, it was strictly human resources. It was, it was a function that had a very small department, some very strong people within that department, but it wasn’t necessarily given the credence that it should be as you know, as time goes on and the trucking industry changes and focus comes to corporate culture. Kathleen, the new CEO at the time, felt that she needed some strength within the department to grow it within the company. So I was afforded the opportunity to do that and pretty quickly picked up recruiting both drivers, mechanics, as well as all others in the organization. And then a few years later, picked up the safety function at United Road.

Anthony Codispoti : So you mentioned that, you know, even before you started working at United, you had some interactions with Kathleen, you’ve kind of helping her with some recruiting challenges. What was it that she was displaying or exuding to you that showed that she really embraced this idea of culture?

Eric Madison : Oh, great question. First and foremost, how she communicated with me and the others within her organization. Some of the meetings that we had around recruiting and how my firm at the time may be able to help, it involved several people. And the way that she talked to them, the way that she led them, and certainly the way that she described the people that she wanted to attract, the drivers specifically that she wanted to attract into the organization, and how she thought that we could attract those people.

And it was all cultural based. And, you know, I found opportunity with just the mission and the core values written on the wall to really ask about those. And I could really see that the values and the mission were really used at United Road to inform their decisions. They weren’t just something pretty in a frame, but they were there for real use. And that’s what really drew me to the company.

Anthony Codispoti : So how would you describe the culture there?

Eric Madison : I would say that at United Road, you have a lot of runway. You have a lot of runway to fly. We have a very open, I would say, trusting culture. We have an open door policy. We’re serious about the open door policy. But the people of United Road are encouraged to be thoughtful, to think outside the box, as they say, to take challenges, to take risks. And there’s an understanding that we all want to move forward very quickly. Now, that said, we all work really hard. And that’s part of the culture as well. We have fun doing that together. So I would say that it’s a culture that really embraces collaboration and really does stand by that open door.

Anthony Codispoti : Would it be safe to say that it is challenging in your industry and your work environment to find and hold on to good folks? And this is kind of what I hear pretty much across the workforce today. Is it true for you guys as well?

Eric Madison : It is. It is to a point. I would say that we do a really good job of keeping people. So when it comes to our car haulers and even our mechanics to a lesser degree, we watch turnover closely. We calculate turnover rates. Everywhere else in the organization, we really don’t, because we really do hold on to people. And it’s the people of United Road holding on to the people of United Road. So it’s the kind of atmosphere that people want to be in, that makes people want to stay.

Anthony Codispoti : So what have you found? You’ve got years of experience, Eric. What have you found has been a successful strategy or approach? First on the recruiting side, kind of bring those people in. And then once you’ve got them, like you said, you’re pretty successful at holding on to them. What is sort of the other part of that formula that you guys have kind of figured out?

Eric Madison : So I would say that the other part of that formula has to do with a culture that’s really open to just experimentation and to giving people leeway. That’s really how we hold people. Finding people, I believe, is a little more difficult than it is to hold on to them. When we look just at the car haulers, for instance, Anthony, car haulers are difficult to find. So we are a trucking company by nature. A car hauler is not just a truck driver. A car hauler, I compare them to industrial athletes.

That’s the the moniker that I like to give them because it’s a very difficult job. They have to load and unload the cars. I’m sure you’ve seen car haulers on the road without paying much attention, but the big skeleton looking trucks with the cars hanging all over them looks like they’re about to fall off.

Anthony Codispoti : They’ve got like double-decker cars sort of stacked in weird sort of configurations. Absolutely.

Eric Madison : They drive right up on top of the trucks and there’s miles of hydraulic lines. It’s very complex equipment to use. Every load of cars is like a puzzle. So you get different shapes, different weights, different sizes of automobiles, and you got to fit them all in together on these trailers without damaging them, first and foremost, in doing such that they’re safely loaded from a weight perspective. So we can’t just take a truck driver and say, here load up these cars and take them cross-country.

It doesn’t work that way. There’s a lot of training and there’s a lot of mental gymnastics that these folks have to do. So when we look to bring the right people into the organization, we have to look to find the experienced truck driver that can make that leap to car hauler, that can understand the physical principles that we employ when loading, when even planning a load, and then execute those really day after day in any condition. You know, they always had that adage about the post office delivering rain, snow, sunshine. Well, same with car haul.

Even when it’s buckets of snow or falling from the sky, we still have guys loading cars up onto the head rack of the truck. So finding the right people to be able to train to do that is difficult. And we’ve tried different things along the path. We’ve done mechanical aptitude tests to make sure that somebody has the wherewithal to be able to figure out that puzzle of loading.

Anthony Codispoti : It’s not like there’s a spreadsheet or a formula that they can just sort of plug in what they’ve got and it tells them where to put each car.

Eric Madison : No, no, it really does. So we have that kind of technology that helps us put cars together for a load that makes sense from a weight and a size function. But it doesn’t necessarily tell them what car can go where because we also have different types of equipment, trailers that are laid out a little bit differently than others. So everyone is a puzzle that the driver has to figure out.

Anthony Codispoti : So you use the term industrial athlete. Is it rather physical to sort of get these cars loaded up and configured in the right way with, you know, adjusting the hydraulics and whatnot? It is.

Eric Madison : Setting up the truck to begin with with the hydraulics is challenging mentally. To drive the trucks, the cars, excuse me, up onto the trucks, most guys hang out the window. Because if you think about it, you’re in your car, you’re holding the steering wheel, you’re not seeing your wheels, right?

And when you’re going up onto a small track that goes up onto a trailer, these guys are actually leaning out the window looking down at the wheels of the car to make sure they’re lined up correctly. So right off the bat, you’re doing something.

Anthony Codispoti : And then you get a duck back in so you don’t take your head off as you go into the rig there, right?

Eric Madison : Right, yeah. And when you get to the place where you want to be, you have to be able to get out of the car. And the doors don’t always just swing wide open because the trailer itself. So they have to squeeze out and then they’re up high. They’re on top of a truck at that point. And they have to get to a ladder, get down to a normal working height. And then we use the hydraulics to lower the cars, to strap them down and then raise them up.

Anthony Codispoti : So we’ve talked a lot about car hauling. Is that the only thing that United moves?

Eric Madison : Yes, we are 100% focused on that. Finished vehicle logistics, that is our gamut.

Anthony Codispoti : Okay, so does your business sort of rise and fall then with whatever’s, you know, if the auto market’s hot or not?

Eric Madison : It does. It does. And one of the ways that we’ve been able to attract and retain drivers is diversification within our industry. So it’s still all finished vehicles. But we have had great success in moving used cars as well as new cars. So we have contracts with all the major manufacturers. And that’s, you know, a good portion of our business. But we also move rental cars. We also move fleet cars. Financial agencies move a lot of cars and even personally owned vehicles.

Anthony Codispoti : So if I am running a car one way instead of round trip, that’s part of why it’s costing me extra to rent that car is because a lot of times they end up putting it back on service like yours to get it back to its original location.

Eric Madison : Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. And every year we can see fluctuations. The, for example, the Masters, the golf tournament in Georgia, right? When that comes around, we have a lot of rental car agency work that we do because they bring in so many cars because so many people come in for the Masters.

Anthony Codispoti : Fascinating. So even if there’s a dip and, you know, people buying new cars, you guys are still staying busy because you’ve got used cars, you’re moving rental cars around. There’s other things that you guys can do. Yeah.

Eric Madison : And I’ll tell you when I think back to the pandemic and then right after the pandemic, of course, the auto manufacturers experienced the microchip shortage that affected productivity greatly as well. So during that time, we really relied on a lot of the remarketed cars that we moved. And we had enough diversification within our portfolio to keep our drivers working. And another aspect of United Road that really suits our car haulers is we do supplement a lot of our work with third-party carriers. So other trucking companies, small trucking companies that we can use to carry some of our customers freight.

So when volumes from an industry perspective decline for whatever reason, you know, we can kind of flex that work up and down and still keep the drivers that are employed by or least directly to United Road working.

Anthony Codispoti : I want to talk a little bit more about everything that falls under your umbrella, Eric. You’re the senior VP people and safety. So the people part, I assume that’s everything HR, you know, benefits, payroll, hiring, retention, firing, you know, layoffs when it needs to happen. Anything I’m missing there before we talk about what the safety component means?

Eric Madison : No, I think that’s about it. But you’re right, the whole gamut of everything that we need to do from a people perspective.

Anthony Codispoti : And then what is the safety component? What are you doing there?

Eric Madison : Yeah, so safety, we’re a trucking company. So you don’t get much more important than safety when it comes to a business, right? We are a highly regulated industry, you know, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, they set out the rules and we have to follow those. So a portion of our work and safety comes from just the core principle of keeping our employees and our contractors and the general public as safe as possible when they’re out there on the roads. And then the other part comes from being compliant with all the regulations that we’re faced with. So we have to do things like monitoring our drivers hours of service, every truck driver of a Class 8 truck, meaning the big tractor trailers that you see on the road, they all have to record their hours. They only have so many hours that they can drive, that they can work in total in prescribed hours between shifts. So we have to monitor those types of things and make sure that we’re following all the rules. That’s what keeps our governmental operating authority intact.

Anthony Codispoti : And then what are the geographies that you serve? Are you nationwide sort of lower 48 states? How does this work?

Eric Madison : We’re everywhere, including Canada. Okay. Yep. So we’re across the continental U.S. We have operation in Alaska as well. Hawaii? No. No. Okay. No, we do move some cars over to Puerto Rico, though.

Anthony Codispoti : Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah. Obviously, you’re using a boat for part of that process to get them over there. Yeah.

Eric Madison : Same with Alaska, too. Most of them go by ship. And we pick them up from the port and move them across that huge state.

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah. What’s the port that they head out of here from the states typically? Or did you sort of depend on who it is that you’re servicing?

Eric Madison : I really think that it depends on who we’re servicing.

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah. Yeah. Now, that makes a lot of sense. You know, given from what I understand, United’s reputation for leveraging technology, big company your size, can you describe a maybe cutting edge tool or system that you have helped to introduce that has really helped with sort of those daily operations or improved compliance?

Eric Madison : Sure. Absolutely. So we have an operating system that we currently use that started at United Road. It was spun off to another company. We still use that operating system. But I say that to just say that our roots in technology in the finished vehicles, logistic space, run deep. So we’ve been focused in that direction for quite some time. Now, we really leverage technology to build loads into, to not necessarily place which car in which space on the truck, but to make sure that we’re offering our drivers loads that make sense for them, make sense for the company. So we optimize our routes very well. We were able to offer drivers loads that go out and get a return load back to stays loaded, loaded as often as possible in reducing our empty miles.

Anthony Codispoti : And are you guys utilizing kind of a combination of independent contractors as well as W2s?

Eric Madison : We are. Yeah, we have over 1200 trucks on the road and there are roughly 50-50 company owned trucks with company employees in them and then leased equipment with independent contractors.

Anthony Codispoti : Now, probably a pretty effective model for you guys. It gives you a little bit more flexibility that you need sort of with the ups and downs, right?

Eric Madison : Yeah, it does work. I would say that our greatest flexibility really comes with those third-party carrier partners that we use. Now, those are different than our independent contractors. An independent contractor in our business, in the trucking business as a whole, leases equipment directly to our operating authority. So we are accountable for all the safety metrics of that truck. We have to have the proper equipment files for the department of transportation and we have to monitor how that truck is being driven. Whereas a third-party carrier has their own operating authority and they have their own trucking company as a whole and they can work for whoever they want. Now, our independent contractors can also work for others, but we keep them with so much work in front of them that they really don’t want to.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s a good spot to be in. You know, you’ve had decades in the industry. I’m curious how you’ve seen transportation and logistics evolve.

Eric Madison : What yeah, there’s certainly a lot more technology out there, especially when it comes to telematics in how we manage safety. But over my tenure, the change that I’ve enjoyed the most goes right back to my speaking about culture. Trucking at one point had a real reputation for a, you know, bang on the desk, kind of foul languages, okay, kind of environment.

That reputation came from a place, but that place has been left. We really can see that successful carriers communicate better with their people. They put people first and that wasn’t always the case, I would say, in industry. So when I look over the length of my career, the 30 plus years, I think I’ve seen most change in that realm that we’re doing a better job as an industry of trying to give predictability to the life of the driver. Because, you know, with routes that could take you anywhere at any time and could take you out on the road for certain weeks at a time, we really, as an industry, put a focus on getting drivers home when they need to be home and just doing right by them, communicating. properly.

Anthony Codispoti : This shift sort of in culture and towards treating people better, not so much like fist on the desk kind of a thing. Were there particular salient events like triggers that they kind of like pushed things in that direction more quickly? Or has this just been like a sort of gradual change over the last few decades?

Eric Madison : You know, I’ll bet that most people would say that it was gradual. And while the industry didn’t turn on a dime, we experienced and frankly still do a shortage in qualified truck drivers. But that really hit, oh boy, what would it be?

Probably 15 to 20 years ago, you know, the height of it. And you know, the industry really came to the realization that you can’t turn through people and just expect more people to appear. And then as time has gone, we’ve had to keep that close in mind because the people of the United States have changed. You know, we have fewer and fewer people that are willing to go out on the road.

They want to be home in their own beds, you know, every night. And we really have to make sure that we treat well those that are willing to do the kind of work that we have to offer.

Anthony Codispoti : Are there any programs that either exist or that you’ve been a part of that help to generate more interest in truck driving as a career?

Eric Madison : You know, that’s an interesting question because we’ve tried with working with truck driving schools before and we still do currently. But attracting people into the trucking business is, I would say, a nut that we as an industry haven’t figured out as well as we need to.

Anthony Codispoti : Any ideas that you’ve sort of kicked around in your head that you might be like, I wish somebody would try this?

Eric Madison : Yeah, you know, I really think that the focus has to be on predictability. I’ve long thought this in, you know, part of the difficulty in doing the job of a truck driver is getting stuck out on the road or just being away from family, being away from home. And all we can do to increase the predictability in a driver’s life is going to be helpful. No.

Anthony Codispoti : Eric, setting aside any humbleness or humility, how would you characterize your own superpower?

Eric Madison : Superpower. I like that word. I would say that I will say that my favorite tool in my toolbox is just that of clear and transparent communication. I really think that active listening is vitally important and making sure that you’re very clear with your expectations of yourself as well. I would say, Anthony, that that’s an important part that people sometimes overlook when they think about clear guidelines, clear expectations. You have to know what you expect of yourself as well and be in agreement with yourself and be able to bring that work ethic every day with you and that willingness to turn the computer away, put the phone down, have the conversations you need, or take the phone calls late at night when a driver may need something that you may be a little bit tired, but you have an agreement with yourself that you’re going to do this and you’re going to serve the community that you serve us. And that’s what I think that I do that’s helped me in my career. That’s good.

Anthony Codispoti : You know, in my experience, growth oftentimes comes through the course of experiencing our biggest challenges in life. Be curious to hear about a serious challenge that you faced in your life, Eric, and how you got through it and what you learned.

Eric Madison : Sure. The trucking industry is fraught with challenges for sure. But I would say if you ask me my biggest challenge, I would say it was several years back my wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And she’s doing very well.

She’s, you know, she’s battling hard, but it changes life. And I think it gave me a reason to pause. We both had to. We both had to kind of adjust what we do, you know, in our off time and, you know, how we enjoy life. We had to focus on some different things. And it really makes you take stock of, you know, what you have and, you know, how you maintain it, what you should be doing with your time. So I think that that event in reestablishing my commitment to make sure that even though she bears, you know, the burden of this, I’m going to be with her right by her side every second of the way. And I think that that’s, you know, somewhat invigorating as well, because it allows you to replenish that kind of attitude throughout all aspects of your life.

Anthony Codispoti : As you guys got the initial news and then, you know, spent some time coming to terms with this, how did you navigate that? Were there people in your life that you could lean on, maybe faith that, you know, became an important pillar to you and sort of making sense of what, you know, next steps kind of look like? Sure.

Eric Madison : Yeah, I would say the family seemed to get a lot bigger real quick, which is a beautiful thing. You know, my wife’s always had wonderful cousins, a good support system there. And, you know, our extended family has really rallied close friends as well.

And, you know, they can see the things that we used to do change. You know, we used to spend, every anniversary would be on the trail. We would go backpacking.

So we would go into the woods and stay there for a week and come out. And those are the things that become more difficult. And, you know, as that has changed over time for us, we’ve been able to fill it with other things. And that, a lot of times, focuses around family and friends.

Anthony Codispoti : What are some of the things that you shifted into doing for enjoyment? You can’t do the trail like you used to, but now what’s the new thing that sort of fills the space?

Eric Madison : Well, we do a lot of boating now. So we have a place in northern Michigan where we can get out in the water. And, you know, we still keep ourselves outside. Just not the extreme kind of sports that maybe were in our past.

Anthony Codispoti : And you mentioned before that you’ve got kids. How old are they?

Eric Madison : Oh gosh, they’re plenty old now. They go from 30 down to 21, almost 30. Almost 30.

Anthony Codispoti : So you had one or more kids in the house when your wife’s diagnosis came about? Yes. How have the kids sort of come to terms with us?

Eric Madison : You know, I think that they’ve reacted very, with strength. They’ve reacted with a lot of strength. You know, we see them constantly, although we have one that’s out in Alaska. So we don’t see him as much, but active duty military. So he gets them leave and we get him home on occasion. But we’re surrounded by them all the time, you know, even though they’re grown and out of the house.

Anthony Codispoti : Say a little bit more about how this whole experience has kind of affected the way that, I don’t know, give you life in general, you know, the kind of the ups and downs at work or the personal struggles that, you know, maybe used to get you a little bit riled up. Yeah.

Eric Madison : Yeah, I think there is a lot to that. You know, it makes you really focus in on the time that you have with the people that you have. It makes so many problems that may have gotten my dander up or seemed bigger than they were. It makes it seem easy, you know. And it’s, I think that I’m better able to do the things that I need to do in my job, you know, including taking those late night calls and just being more tuned in to the conversations that I’m having, when I’m having them.

It’s easy, you know, for busy people to just get distracted. You know, I would say early on in my career, you know, I’d be doing an email and someone come talk to me, but I wouldn’t really be doing what I should be doing, right? So those kinds of experiences in life help you really kind of tune into what’s important and keep focus.

Anthony Codispoti : If you had to recommend a helpful resource to our listeners, something that, you know, has been constructive for you, whether that’s a course, a podcast, a book, what would that be?

Eric Madison : Well, you know, you really have me thinking about my wife and our challenges. So I have to go that direction and say yoga. So my wife is a trained yoga instructor that was her plan for retirement. And unfortunately, many years ago, I had a back injury and a subsequent surgery and, you know, I was always kind of hands off on the yoga thing. It just didn’t seem like a me thing to do, right? And she was after me for a long time to try it, to just try it.

So finally, I committed to giving her a month that she could show me what to do and run me through classes. And boy, I am addicted to that. Oh, yeah.

And years now. And that’s how I start my day, every day. Get your sun salutations going, huh? Yes, sir.

That’s right. You know, it keeps flexibility physically. It keeps strength physically, but it does so much mentally, you know, it allows me, anyway, to clear my mind every morning, you know, I’ll get up, have a cup of coffee, and I will hit the mat. And that’s a good way for me to step aside, to refresh, reset. I really have my focus through the day. And that carries me through. So, you know, there’s a lot of great books out there, especially around culture, and around having productive conversations. But I think the most impactful to me has has just been that time on the yoga mat. Oh, that’s great. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti : It kind of curious to hear about where United Road is going, like we’ve talked a lot about the services that you guys provide, what’s going on today? What do you think the future holds?

Eric Madison : Oh, I think it looks great. We’ve had a recent leadership change by design. And, you know, our new leader has been with the company for a good decade, knows it inside and out, highly driven. And we’re going to be continuing to lead people within the culture that we have. And we’re just going to keep running hard and continue to hold on to our spot as the premier, you know, the largest finished vehicle logistics provider in North America.

Anthony Codispoti : As you look to the future, what are some of the exciting changes coming to either the business itself or the industry in general that you’re particularly excited about?

Eric Madison : Yeah, you know, I really am excited about the developments in telematics, so especially safety systems within the truck. So we have…

Anthony Codispoti : Sorry, real quick, just for our audience, explain the word telematics.

Eric Madison : Sure, right. We have systems within our trucks. We have electronic logging devices, which are required by law. We have dash cams, we call them event recorders. In those systems hook right up to the main brain in the truck itself. And it reports on speed, it reports on braking, it gives us all sorts of diagnostics on how we’re performing on the road to keep our drivers in the general public more safe. So some of the developments in dash cams, again, we call them event recorders for a reason because they’re there to help us with training, of course, but to exonerate our drivers in the event of a crash where we’re not at fault. But they also give us a lot of instantaneous feedback on how we are doing behind the wheel. It can alert trucking company to driver fatigue. If somebody has to do a better job working at creating following distance, for instance, in a truck that is so important to maintain spacing with the car in front of you and all the cars around you, it gives us a lot of ability to give feedback to the professional driver to make them even better. And I think that our industry across the board is accepting that more and more. When these kinds of things first come out, there’s a feeling of, well, that’s kind of big brother-ish.

Why are you watching me drive? Well, if you think about it, the best of the best still have coaches, right? LeBron James still has a coach. So even though you may be an expert at doing what you’re doing, you should always be coachable, you should always be looking at how you’re performing, especially when you do something like driving when you’re on the road for so many hours. It’s important to always keep your head in the game. And the telematics, the in-cab warnings for following distance and those kinds of things help keep us safer.

Anthony Codispoti : Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about AI. Is this yet playing a part in what you guys do in any way?

Eric Madison : You know, it’s getting there. We’re on the cusp of that. AI is now being used to identify stop signs, red lights, those kinds of things where one of the important things that our car haulers do is simply wear a safety vest, right? We’re outloading and unloading sometimes in front of dealerships on the road and whatnot. And, you know, we’re looking at technology that can even identify when we’re not wearing safety vests. And that takes AI to identify what is a safety vest, when should it be worn, and you know, how is it being applied in this situation. So we’re going to see more and more developments like that with technology. I’m super excited about that.

Anthony Codispoti : I bet. Yeah, as the VP of safety. That makes a lot of sense. This is your umbrella. You want to keep your team in good shape. So, you know, Eric, in my experience, a lot of times what we perceive to be our mistakes in the moment later on, we look back and realize we’re actually some of our greatest teachers. Curious if you can think of a career moment that seemed like a setback at the time, but actually propelled you forward when you look back on it now.

Eric Madison : Yeah, you know, that’s kind of an easy one for me, because it’s kind of glaring even as far behind me as it is in the rearview mirror. Very early in my career, I was asked to do a presentation that I would say that I was prepared for, but oh boy, I did terribly. I did terribly. And I would tell you, Anthony, I knew at the time that probably my greatest weakness was public speech. You know, small groups, one-on-one, everything’s fine, but speaking in front of groups, oh boy.

I mean, I just couldn’t do it. So, with that particular failure, it really made me stop and say, hey, if you’re going to take this career where you wanted to go, you got to fix this. So, I did Dale Carnegie course, and when I went back to school for my master’s degree, I found a school in Ashland University in a program at the time.

This was, you know, before all the online courses that you can do today, but I found a course that had, every single class had major presentations in front of groups of people. So, I told myself, you’re going to do that, and you’re going to do it well. You’re going to get through that. And, you know, now I have no issue getting in front of any of those.

Anthony Codispoti : Pretty comfortable with it, and a lot more skill data today. You know, it adds off to you because, you know, I’ve heard some people say that, you know, according to surveys, people fear public speaking more than death. Like, it is the most, like they literally fear that more than dying itself. And so, yeah, and I kind of gone through a similar arc myself, but, you know, when you have that fear, there’s a natural human tendency to just want to recoil from the thing that scares you so much.

You didn’t do that. Like, you know, you realize that, hey, if I want to go where I want to go in my career, this is a fear that I’ve got to face, and I’ve got to level up my skills on this. Was there, I don’t know, is it just sort of inborn in you that, like, you were kicking yourself in the rear to do this? Was there sort of an external force? Like, I’m always curious to try to understand the difference between people who take that fear and they face it and they grow because of it, and those who recoil and never get that opportunity for that growth.

Eric Madison : Yeah, that’s a, I say that it came wholly internally. Just, I remember the searing disappointment with myself in that botched presentation and just, you know, I didn’t need anyone at that time to give me a push. It was a stand in front of the mirror and say, you’re either going to fix this or you’re not going to do what you think you’re going to do for the rest of your life. So, you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to go look for something else to do or are you going to fix this?

Well, that was a no-brainer to me. I knew I had to fix it, and I knew there was a way to fix it because it couldn’t possibly be that you’re either born with innate ability to speak in front of people or you’re not. So, it’s got to be a trainable skill, so I’m going to go figure that out. And, you know, sure enough, the work, especially at Ashland, really.

Anthony Codispoti : I was going to ask, you know, I’m sure there are lots of people listening who are like, yeah, I’m terrified of public speaking. I avoided every chance, you know, and whenever I can. You mentioned the Dale Carnegie course and the work at Ashland. It sounds like the work at Ashland was really what kind of was the breakthrough for you.

Eric Madison : You know, it really was. And I can’t necessarily point to any particular class or any singular piece of advice that I’ve heard. You know, you always hear that picture people in their underpants kind of thing. I don’t know if that works or not. Maybe it does for some.

Anthony Codispoti : That just gets me thinking about other things that aren’t really helpful. So, I stay away from that one.

Eric Madison : Right. So, I think that the only real way to get on top of that fear is just to do it. You know, if you’re afraid of the water, then you have to wade into the water and you have to eventually learn to swim. Same principle. You’re afraid to speak in front of people. You better just get in front of people.

Anthony Codispoti : Yeah, I like that. What’s one thing you wish that more people understood about your industry, Eric?

Eric Madison : You know, thinking you got me all excited again about the telematics. And, you know, I was just talking about following distance. If I could educate Americans as a whole, I would have them understand not only the difficulty in the job of being a professional truck driver, but the intricacies of controlling 80,000 pounds as it rolls down the highway. A lot of us, especially in congested areas, we see a truck driver leaving safe following distance in front of him as an invitation to come on in.

And, you know, we as an industry, I believe, handle that very well. You know, a true professional truck driver will keep backing down and keep that space as much as they can. But, you know, when the general motoring public continues to just infringe on that safe operating space, it’s not good for anyone. It slows everyone down and it creates some very unsafe situations. I mean, the event recorders that we have in our trucks currently have exonerated us in many crashes. And so many of them, unfortunately, are the actions of people in passenger cars just whipping in front of us. And, you know, if I could get people to understand that and really treat the truck driver on the road as they should, we’d be a safer community overall.

Anthony Codispoti : You know, I’m so glad that you touched on this, because it’s something that’s occurred to me before. You know, we’re, everybody’s in a hurry, we’re trying to get somewhere. And there are these big slow trucks kind of lumbering along that, man, they’re taking up, you know, four car lengths or whatever it is. And, you know, they don’t, you know, they don’t have the startup speed that, you know, a smaller car would that’s not, you know, hauling 80,000 pounds and like, ah, this thing’s just annoying, it’s in my way, without stopping to think about, you know, the value, like the heroic value that they’re providing, you know, whether it’s moving cars like United specifically does or anything else.

I mean, everything that we use, you know, physically needs to be transported from one place to another. And so, right, rather than sort of, you know, bemoaning, you know, this, you know, this annoyance that’s in the middle of the road, first celebrating and appreciating, you know, the hard work that they’re doing to bring all those goods to us that we need. And then two, remembering that sort of the human side of this, which is kind of what you were touching on, that, and there’s somebody there, you know, who is a father, a mother, you know, a spouse, a sibling, you know, that people care about and want to have come home safely. And so, they’re doing their best out there. And I love what you sort of gave voice to there about, you know, they’ve been trained very well that, you know, keep that safe distance there. And when the, you know, crazy aggressive drivers come in, they continue to back down, they don’t get aggressive in return. And that takes, I think, a great deal of patience for somebody who, they’re not just driving, you know, 10 minutes across town to get from home to the office, you know, they’re doing these long haul drives. And they’re having to kind of endure those, I don’t know, kind of death by a thousand paper cuts every day.

Eric Madison : Right, absolutely. You know, you get irresponsible people on the road. And, and again, we’re heavily regulated industry, you get way stations, you get inspected by DOT officials. It’s a tough job out there. And, you know, if we as a society could make it easier on them, that’d be better.

Anthony Codispoti : I like that. It’s a great reminder for me. I’ve been guilty of doing that before, pulling into that safety zone before. And now that we’ve talked about that, I’m going to be more mindful of that going forward. So if nothing else, you, you’ve planted a giant seed in my brain. So thanks for that, Eric. So I’ve just got one more question for you today.

But before I ask it, I want to do two things. First, I’m going to invite everybody to go ahead and hit the follow button on your favorite podcast app. We’ve had a really nice interview today with Eric Madison from United Road, learned a lot of really interesting things about the business and the transportation industry in general. And I want to make sure you continue to get more great content like this. Eric, I also want to let people know the best way to either get in touch with you or to continue following your story. What would that be?

Eric Madison : You know, LinkedIn is probably the best way to, to reach out. You know, we get in messages quite a bit. I’m happy to field any of those as it comes.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s awesome. And we’ll include a link to that in the show notes. So Eric, we’ve had a really good conversation here today, hoping to, you know, have the opportunity to stay in touch with you. Let’s say, you know, a year from now, we’re sitting down and you’re celebrating something, very excited about it. What’s the thing that you’re celebrating?

Eric Madison : The thing that I’m celebrating is a further decline in all of our safety metrics. Now, let me clarify the word decline. Our scores getting better. Incidences going down. You know, leveraging our, the telematics that I’m talking about, leveraging our training and seeing just our people being safer and safer and getting home when they need to be. That’s really so much of what drives me in so many of the conversations I have. You know, the human resources and the, the recruiting parts of this business are very important for the business itself and keeps us moving. But the safety part affects everybody, just simply everybody. So I want to see us continue to celebrate those victories.

Anthony Codispoti : I love that that’s your answer. And that’s where so much of your focus is. Eric Madison from United Road, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate you. Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.