Freight Lessons From the Front Lines of Produce Shipping With Colby Varley From ATS - Ep. 66
In This Episode
When you’re shipping perishables like produce, the stakes are high; even a one-day delay can ruin an entire truckload of food.
Colby Varley, vice president and principal at Advanced Transportation Services (ATS), explains what’s going on in the perishable freight world and how logistics companies and shippers can work together to make sure every load arrives in perfect condition.
The state of perishable freight
The COVID-19 pandemic shook up the freight shipping industry, and now that things have settled, loading efficiency is the name of the game. Colby explains, “[During] COVID … they were shipping whatever they could, whether it was half a truck or a quarter of a truck. They were just shipping it. Since then, that trend has reversed. Now everybody is maximizing their cube space.”
But he’s seen a troubling pattern lately: certain types of produce haven’t been doing well, with some freight companies struggling to fill trucks.
“[For] the Mexican grape crop, they're estimating about a 2 million box loss out there. … [If] you take 2 million boxes out of the equation, that's a lot of trucks that aren’t going to get loads. … We've had trucks every week deadheading back to California to come pick up a load because there's just nothing there."
Finding your niche
Colby’s advice for freight companies? Choose a specialty and stick with it. “Stay in your niche, stay in your lane, and become the expert in that field, whether you're doing dry freight, doing bulk tanker, [or] doing flatbed.”
He uses ATS as an example: “The markets fluctuate all the time. But we just stay true to highly perishable food and produce.”
Why top-tier service is worth the cost
Growers looking for the best deal on freight shipping might be tempted to spring for a good deal. But low costs can come with risks, especially with cargo as volatile as fresh fruits and vegetables. According to Colby, great service is worth paying for.
“Service is the number one thing. And we do have to charge a little bit more for that. … On any produce shipment, the difference between being one day late is the difference of that produce making it through quality control [or] not.”
Links
Transcript
Lori Boyer 00:00
Welcome everyone to Unboxing Logistics. I'm your host, Lori Boyer from EasyPost, and I am excited today because we are, have been doing kind of a series looking into peak season that's coming up here before we know it of 2025. And we have brought on a really, really cool expert in the transportation space.
So we're gonna be talking everything capacity, demand, what what's happening with freight. This upcoming season, obviously Colby, oh, I gave away his name a little bit. Colby is gonna be here to talk to us and, and can predict but doesn't have all the answers. So we're gonna be chatting about that today.
Really excited. We have Colby Varley on. Colby, can you go ahead and introduce yourself just a little bit?
Colby Varley 00:49
Sure. Good morning Lori. Thank you so much for having me on. Colby Varley. Advanced Transportation Services. We're headquartered here at Salinas, California and I'm currently the vice president and principal.
Lori Boyer 01:01
That's awesome. Fantastic. So, one thing before we dive into our topic, and I'm gonna be asking him everything Colby's seen. Colby has a super cool background. He was telling me all about it. He's grown up basically with logistics and supply chain coming out his ears since he was in in the cradle. So really great expert for us here to be able to learn from.
But. Before we even start, and I love this question for you, Colby, because of the fact that you have been around the industry for so long, who is a person that you really admire in the industry and and why do you admire that person?
Colby Varley 01:37
Sure, absolutely. So probably two people. Definitely my dad. Without him none of this would've been possible. He's on the produce side. But just growing up around that you know.
Lori Boyer 01:51
What's your dad's name, Colby?
Colby Varley 01:52
Guy. Guy Varley. So he's been in the industry 40 plus years and really well known in his niche. He specializes in cantaloupe and honey dews so anybody kind of in that arena knows him.
And also our, our founder Marshall Kipp he formed ATS in 1984. And anybody that's kind of dealt with highly perishable food and produce and logistics most likely knows Marshall. Kind of really the, the kingpin of over the road transportation. Great reputation, just a awesome individual.
Lori Boyer 02:37
Oh, that's fantastic. And shout out to Guy. I just wanna say, I love honeydew. I love cantaloupe. They're like my favorite summertime fruits. So thank goodness we have people like your dad who have overseen that for so long to make sure that I can get my yummy treat in the summer.
Colby Varley 02:54
That's it.
Lori Boyer 02:56
That's right.
Okay. So. We are getting so many questions about peak 2025. You know, the world's just kind of crazy night right now between tariffs and capacity, demand. What, what we're seeing, so I just wanna ask kind of a general question for you, Colby. What do you feel like is different heading into this peak season?
Or do you feel like it's still kind of same as as a typical season? What, what are you anticipating?
Colby Varley 03:22
Just all factors are kind of anticipating flatline from our from our side. So, you know, we're looking at a couple factors, obviously you know, not to get political, but the economy there's a lot of stuff going on globally.
And it seems like consumers can tighten the belt a little bit more you know, with all the immigration and deportations going on, like, you know, we don't have to go down that route. But at the end of the day, those are mouths that are, are eating you know, food that's grown and, bought and sold here in the United States. So, you know, I don't know what the exact number is, but when you move that amount of mass people outside of our network there's less orders, right? Whether it's food banks, whether it's grocery stores, whether it's restaurants like they're, they're not having the same amount of mouth to feed that we've had over the last few years.
So we're seeing a lot of that. Obviously the tariffs have kind of played a a, a part here and there, you know, Canada wasn't too happy. And I know they kind of cut a lot of our grower shipper partners off for a little bit. I think that's starting to change. They're, they're coming back in but also it's summertime, so they have their own stuff growing up there, so they don't rely as heavily on the United States.
So those are just a few of the factors. I mean, we've seen it, if you look at where we are now to where we were last year and the year before our load count is down. And that's, that's, that's not, you know, you could go talk to the customer and say, hey, our load count is down. And they tell you the same thing.
Like, hey, our order count is down. It's not that you're doing anything wrong, but we're seeing less POs coming from our customers, which is obviously goes to the end user. And that seems to be the consensus that we've gathered from a lot of our clientele. You know, their orders are down so I think those are some of the, the main drivers of why we're seeing kind of a softer, flatter freight market.
And then also, you know, I mean, I remember as a kid you know, people were talking about supermarkets and grocery stores going on ad, right? Like, you'd see the, the paper, right? With, hey, come get this a special, you know, 1.99 or 99 cents. I feel like that doesn't exist anymore. Like you, you talk to people that are selling the supermarkets and whatnot, like, yeah, there might be some ads, but like back in the day, you know, they take 25, 30 loads on a certain item and just blow 'em out.
And now it's like they'll go on ad, but they're only taking maybe two or three or four loads. So ...
Lori Boyer 06:34
Why, why do you think that is?
Colby Varley 06:36
I think a lot of that might be due to COVID that the prices got so inflated. Cause I can tell you like the prices, we got inflated. Everyone was complaining. Everyone's still complaining, right?
When you go to the grocery store, hey, my grocery bill's two, three times what it should be. Okay? But then on the other side of the spectrum, our freight rates are down, the market is way down, right? So the freight cost is substantially down from COVID. Then you go talk to a grower shipper and they can't even sell this stuff, right?
Like there's no market. There's so much product that there's no market. But then you go to the supermarket and the prices are still inflated. So I, I think the grocery chain or the retailer has figured out, hey, we, we had to raise these prices during COVID. The consumer's still paying 'em, like why would we lower 'em if our cost is, you know, kind of less. So, I, I'm pretty confident, I mean, I don't have factual data, but I mean, you could do napkin math and say, hey, the prices haven't come down, but the, you know, cost to get it there and the cost of what they're buying it for has come down.
So, you know, obviously they're probably making the, the major margin there. And if you don't, if you don't lower that cost at the consumer level, they're not gonna push packages.
Lori Boyer 07:59
Yeah. One of the challenges as we come into peak for everyone then who is listening? Who doesn't ship those critical goods, right?
Like, I have to still buy my groceries, my kids have to still eat. That's just how life is. But it trickles down to everyone else because we stop buying kind of the, the nice to have things because we have to spend more on the necessities and on the basics. And so that does like hit demand kind of all across the industry.
What are customers or, or shippers for you seeing, what, what are they doing to try to offset this sort of falling demand you're seeing?
Colby Varley 08:36
I feel like they're behind it. Right? They're, they're still, everyone's chasing it. I don't think they really.
Lori Boyer 08:42
Reactive.
Colby Varley 08:42
Yeah, they're, they're reactive. I think everybody put stuff in the ground thinking it was gonna be a little bit better from the wintertime, and it just hasn't changed.
So, I don't know. You know, ultimately there's too much supply in the market right now. Which, you know, telling a farmer to try and plant less is, can be difficult, right? They're, they're, they're trying to grow, they wanna plant more acres, but if you're not seeing a, a profitable return on that, you know, it's, it's not gonna work.
So I, I know that our shipper partners, they're feeling the pressure from the retail side. Because there's so much product in the marketplace. People are so hungry for business that you know, people are coming back to them on existing contracts and saying, hey, I'd like to re-look at this. Like, you know, we're seeing some lower pricing, you know, that we try and take advantage of, which they're just doing business, right?
I mean, they're, they're looking out for their best interest. So I think until either the economy picks up, you know, there's some price adjustments at the store level, or there's a shift in supply, whether that's people are gonna plant less or there's some sort of, weather event. There's some sort of insect event.
You know, a couple years ago we, we got hit with some pretty heavy insect here in the Salinas Valley that took out a lot of the lettuce crop. So we need something of that sort to drive a market. Right now it's just flatline.
Lori Boyer 10:30
Absolutely. So obviously with softer demand, you know, that affects the freight volumes and whatnot.
Are there any areas you're seeing maybe geographically or, or within, you know, different sectors that are being particularly hit harder or, or doing better?
Colby Varley 10:48
We've been really struggling outta Washington since the onions and potatoes have stopped up there. The blueberries and the cherries have not really taken off.
So that's been a really tough area for us to get out of. Texas has been really tough. Just not enough freight going anywhere out of there. Usually this time of year, like Nogales, Arizona and Yuma Arizona is really, capacity gets really tight. The Mexican grape crop, they're estimating about a 2 million box loss out there. They got hit with some pretty heavy weather and some of the Mexican grape growing regions. So you take 2 million boxes out of the equation, that that's a lot of trucks that they're not gonna get loads. On the cantaloupe deal, it seems like those shippers, they can't get outta their own way.
I mean, they're, they're doing anything they can to get somebody to take an order. And there seems to be plenty of capacity to pick 'em up. So it just seems like everywhere is really flat. You know, but I would say like Texas and, washington or Pacific Northwest are just brutal for us right now to get a truck out of there.
I mean, we've had trucks every week dead heading back to California to come pick up a load 'cause there's just nothing there.
Lori Boyer 12:16
Interesting. And so how, how does it work when you do get such low demand? Do you still ship out smaller amounts in the truck? Do you, I mean, how, how does that work from the, the freight standpoint?
Do you just say, no, we don't take a small amount or.
Colby Varley 12:34
So since COVID you know, at that time they were shipping just whatever they could, right? Whether it was half a truck or quarter of a truck, like they were just shipping it. Well, since then, that trend has really reversed. So now everybody is maximizing their cube space.
So for us, it's either maxed out on weight or they're maxing out on pallet space. So for us, like none of these trucks are going light or you know, with room on 'em. These guys are maximizing the space to get every dollar out of it that they can. But for us, you know, there, there is a kind of a, an area where we'll say, hey, you know because we're not the cheap guys, right?
We're, we're a value ad customer or client and you know, there's, you have to pay for that service. Now, obviously the market's gonna dictate how much we can charge for that, you know, but we're normally, you know, a few hundred dollars more than somebody else. But there's some customers that are just so bottom of the barrel that it's like, hey, I, I, I'm not gonna be able to cover it at that rate, like I'm gonna have to pass.
Because, you know, we're not trying to lose money. And it seems like on the ones that you're, don't have enough money and you really struggle on 'em. And then it's like you end up having a service failure and then you look, you know, bad. You can't get it done. So it's like losing money. Yeah, you don't wanna, so it's, you know, we found that it's better to just politely decline. We've kind of gotten to the point that no business is better than bad business. Okay. Oh, I like that. No business is better than bad business. That's, that's it. And, and clarify, like go, go expand on that.
Sure. So, I mean, are you gonna take an order and lose $500 or are you gonna pass on the order and not lose anything?
Lori Boyer 14:38
For people, Colby, who are maybe kind of new to transportation, you know, is there an easy way to know for sure that they're going to be, you know, this is bad business, this is, I'm gonna be lost.
Do you just have to stick to your formulas and, and calculate it? I know some people are taking stuff just to get any business and then they do have up losing.
Colby Varley 14:56
Yeah, so for us, I mean, we've been doing it 40 years. Last year we did around 20,000 shipments, so we have like a pretty good understanding day-to-day of what we're feeling, you know, and, and what we're talking with our carrier partners and, you know, taking their temperature and, and kind of seeing like, yo, you'll know if you're under, you know, under market on an order, like they're gonna call you out on it.
Like, hey, dude, like you, you're, that's, that's too cheap. So you have an idea and then you know, you, you're working with other customers and seeing other loads on similar, similar lanes, right? It might be going in the same direction from a similar area, so you, you know, you can gauge it like, hey, I, I'm getting paid X from somebody else in that same exact lane like, I know I can't do it for $500 less, right? Like I'm already doing it for somebody else. So just the internal data that we have communicating with our vendors, market, market conditions that's where we're kind of, you know, learning day to day on what we feel the right rate is or what it's gonna take to provide the standard of service that, you know, we're looking to uphold.
Lori Boyer 16:19
I love that. So a couple of great callouts there. If you're, you know, wondering what's going on, be communicating with your vendors. You mentioned being in contact with your carrier partners. You mentioned looking at your internal data. So going back, even if you are newer, you know, we had a bunch pop up around COVID and different things happening.
If you are newer, go back and look at your data and try to create some sort of understanding. Earlier you also mentioned, Colby, that you've moved people from locations that aren't doing well. So you mentioned bringing trucks out of Washington to go down to California or something. So obviously kind of keeping an eye on geographically what's working well for you.
Any other tips I guess. If you're looking to like, try to figure out where you should be focusing your efforts, especially if we're coming up to a peak where maybe, you know, capacity is, there's plenty of it and, and we've got low volume going out. Any tips? You've been there 40 years in your company doing this, you know, how do you survive kind of these, these difficult times?
Colby Varley 17:21
Sure. So for us, I mean, it's really staying true to what we do. We specialize in highly perishable fruit and produce. So I would say to your question, anybody like looking, what should I do? Be, stay in your niche, stay in your lane, and become the expert in that field. Whether you're doing dry freight, whether you're doing bulk tanker, whether you're doing flatbed obviously.
The, all the markets fluctuate all the time. But we just stay true to highly perishable food and produce. Like if flatbeds just going crazy, like to me it's like good for those guys. Right? But I'm not trying to be a, I'm not trying to be a flatbed guy just because the market's going absolutely crazy.
Lori Boyer 18:02
Okay, love that. I just am gonna point that out, so don't give into that temptation to be like, maybe I should expand what I do and, and okay. So stay in your lane, literally here in our transportation, but stay in your lane. Stick with your niche and okay, that's great. Anything else advice there?
Colby Varley 18:20
Those are probably, you know, that, that's probably the, the best piece of advice. You know, and, and just know that there's gonna be good times, there's gonna be bad times. And hopefully the good outweighs the bad. But we found that just sticking in our lane. Constant obedience in the same direction, that's worked the best for us.
Lori Boyer 18:45
What, what are you seeing in terms of like balancing costs and service? You mentioned that you're like high quality that you, you know, aren't the cheapest out there. Are we seeing priority shift, you know, during times like this towards that kind of reliability and you know, just really great service? I guess, how do we balance service and, and cost?
How do you do that?
Colby Varley 19:07
So for us, obviously service is the number one thing. And you know, we do have to charge a little bit more for that. And I think it really comes down to who your customer is. So we're targeting customers that are shipping highly perishable food and produce. So for example, you know, a customer that's shipping a load of blueberries, that's $250,000 load value.
They're not tripping over a couple hundred bucks. Right. But somebody that's shipping paper towels or toilet paper, they might be more concerned about that. You know, if the load doesn't get there when it's supposed to get there, it's not a big deal. Right? It's not gonna the toilet paper's not gonna go bad. For us on any produce shipment, the difference between being one day late is the difference of that produce making it through quality control of that receiver and not. So not only are you getting the load rejected, taking it somewhere, it has to be worked on consignment, and the customer just lost the ability to sell that load.
So there's a lot of financial hiccups, and the guys that are dealing with these high high value loads you know, they understand that there's more to lose than two or $300 if it doesn't make it. Also, you know, it's transportation, there's accidents, things happen. I don't know if you've had any dealings with the insurance company, but it's basically their job not to pay.
They're looking for any reason not to pay. So what we do is, say for example, there's an accident, you know, truck catches fire, whatever, we take the invoice, we pay that invoice immediately to our customer. 'Cause I need them to keep doing what they're doing. I don't need them to go fight an insurance company.
And then we're on the back end fighting with the insurance to get paid. And, you know, sometimes it takes sixty, ninety, a hundred eighty days to collect payment from an insurance company. Like, I mean, they're, they're literally doing everything they can not to pay. So there's some other added value that, you know, you might not necessarily see on the front end when you're getting quoted from somebody. But all it takes is one time for something to happen. You know, you think, oh, well maybe that extra $200 was worth it.
Lori Boyer 21:39
Yeah. Oh wow. That's, no, that's a great point. So one of the things you do is just deal with the insurance yourself rather. I just saw a news article on a truck that had been robbed and got all the Nintendo Switch 2 stolen.
I don't know if you saw that, like 2,000 my kids, you know, love the Switch. So that was an interesting thing. But yeah, there are hiccups, there are challenges all the time. So that completely makes sense.
Colby Varley 22:07
So luckily for us, I mean, we don't deal with a lot of that. Just for the fact.
Lori Boyer 22:13
People aren't stealing all the blueberries.
Colby Varley 22:15
Yeah. Just for the strawberries. Right. Because the lifespan is so short. Right. And Nintendo Switch, you can take it to a warehouse and sit on it for a year. And then bring it back into the market with our kind of stuff you can't do that.
Lori Boyer 22:31
Well, I loved your point that it really, you, you talked about understanding your audience, so knowing who your customer is, again, if you're spreading out your business so you're not concentrating on kind of a niche audience.
Then you're gonna have different needs and different desires because the type of freight that you're shipping is gonna be completely different. So if you focus on a customer who has the same challenges, you know, who are having these high value shipments and you know, have the same issues, then you can really hone in and focus on that.
I, I really love the importance of learning what's important to your customer. How, how do you recommend people who are in freight. And really anyone, shippers, how, how do you guys keep you know, ahead of what's important to your customers and what you should be focusing on to give them value?
Colby Varley 23:19
Just communicating with them, you know, seeing what's going on.
You know, you don't have to call 'em just to get an order. You know, and, and adding value and say I hear something through the grapevine that I think is interesting, and I can go to them and say, Hey, have you heard anything about this? And, and just kind of bouncing ideas, you know, what they're struggling with or what a new retailer's doing that we kind of need to get prepared for.
Like Costco, they just implemented this whole thing for the drivers with a app now to check in. So we're trying to get that all implemented into our system. So, you know, there's constant change going on. So just talking to 'em, what they're seeing you know, are they short on product? Do they have too much product?
Do they anticipate more orders coming down the pipe? Do they anticipate less? Like just trying to get a gauge of what their needs might be and how you can better serve 'em that that's the best way.
Lori Boyer 24:21
I love that. I love what you said. You don't have to call them just to get an order. That, it's so true and it's so true, honestly, across whatever you're doing.
So. Whether you're a shipper, whether you're freight, whether you are transportation, whether you are sitting in an office and, and being SaaS you know? Understanding your customer and what they need. You never know when just taking an extra 10 minutes to talk about their challenges and what's going on may spur an entire new idea or, or really what you're doing in your business.
So I just, I love that. Okay. So. As people are preparing in industry, you know, we have peak season, obviously at the end of 2025. You have your own sort of peak seasons with different produce and different things coming out at different times of year. Right. What mistakes do you see people making as they prepare for this, you know, increased peak season or, or increase of volume?
Any, any time. Different industries have different peaks. What, what do you see are the biggest mistakes people make as they prepare for peaks?
Colby Varley 25:27
I just think, you know, it happens every year and it's unfortunate, you know, they put out RFPs you know, you give 'em obviously it's an estimated guess, but you know, you have an idea of where you think the market's gonna go and I, I almost relate to it.
And this is horrible, but I'll, I'll say it anyway, but somebody that has an addiction, because what happens is, is they're addicted to that lower price, right? It's, it's, it's an addiction. It's there and it's sitting right in front of 'em. And it's like they know probably that it's gonna bite 'em, it's gonna burn 'em, right?
They're not gonna feel good. Something's gonna happen, and just, there's always somebody that can't fight that addiction and they go with that cheaper option that they don't know, you know, they're, they might be a new carrier to them, right? And they're just, they, they don't know the ins and outs of how it's gonna work, but that, that saving that they see of $300 a load is just, it's too much for them to say no to.
And they end up signing them up. And, you know, this season it hasn't been as bad, but you know, other seasons, peak season hits and now all of a sudden, all those loads are on their internal bid board, and they're going for getting covered for a thousand dollars more than what they went into that deal with somebody else.
And, you know, then they, they learn their lesson for a minute, and then it's like they forget. Right. And that that urge or that addiction comes back and they, they don't know. They just can't, they can't fight it, you know, and they go back down the same rabbit hole again, and then they end up doing the same thing.
And it's like, guys, like, you know, how many times is it gonna take for you to learn, like, hey, the, the cheapest option is not necessarily the best option. And I'm not saying that you need to go with the most expensive option. I feel like the customers that do the best job that we deal with when we talk about the RFP, I mean they throw the highest and the lowest out, right?
And they say, hey, like I get rid of the lowest. I get rid of the highest, and I really center in on that median five. Right? Like where's the average? Right. And I look at the five. You know about five or six guys that are all in that same median area, and he's like, you know, they look at, hey, if I got five or six reputable people all quoting within a hundred, $200, like that rate's gotta be somewhere in there.
Right? But you have somebody way under or way over. It's like, hey, let's get rid of those. Those are, you know, the lowest and the highest. Kick 'em out and then let's, let's zero in on that, that five or six middle range that are all, you know, within a hundred, $200. And the reputable companies that are in your pro, you know, in your network, you've worked with 'em, you know what they're capable of.
And it's like, you probably gonna be prepared and you're gonna sleep better at night. You know, you know what their track record is and it's like if something happens, it's like, hey, I had five other guys within a hundred dollars of that. Like, you know, so, that's just something that, you know, we try and keep in mind like we're, we're not trying to be the cheapest.
I don't want to be the guy to come back to you halfway through the season and say, hey, Lori I can't continue to service our agreement. Right.
Lori Boyer 29:08
Yeah, absolutely. And I love that. Great piece of advice for shippers out there, you know, throwing out the top and the lowest that makes a big difference.
What other things we're getting a little bit towards the end here, but what other things do you recommend that people look for when they're making that selection. So, so now you've got five or six. How do you determine, you know, the, maybe the rate is one factor that I, I love your, your point of view that don't only look at the rate.
Right. Sometimes that's like, we're so focused on that, you know, I can't fight this feeling any longer. Right. What are the other factors we should be looking for in kind of weeding out what's in, what is gonna be a, a good, a good person to go with?
Colby Varley 29:58
Sure. So something that we've kind of done and, and actually one of our other customers, they're really diligent about it. Like probably the most diligent that I've seen, but actually going to your vendor.
Lori Boyer 30:09
Okay. Great advice.
Colby Varley 30:11
You know, and I know that can be hard. But it is so worth it.
Lori Boyer 30:15
Boots on the ground. Totally. I am there.
Colby Varley 30:19
It's worked really well for us, especially like when I'm talking to a customer, like if there's an issue or if there's not like, hey, I, I've been to their facility, I've been to their yard.
Like I know their process. Like the truck comes in, the truck and trailer gets inspected, the trailer gets cleaned, it gets parked in this row for the empties. Or if it's loaded, it goes on this side. There's somebody there monitoring it. You know, you, you can really tell how a company operates by, you know, what their facility is.
And, and trust me, I'm not saying that you have to go see something that's big and grand and crazy. I mean, we've seen small ones that are just clean, right? You go there, it's, it's nice, it's clean, you know, it's not huge. It's not big, but it's professional. And it's clean and, and the employees are professional and you know, the workspace is professional and it's just going and seeing that, you know, you'll see all types of spectrum.
And then you really know what you're working with. Right.
Lori Boyer 31:20
And it's also a red flag if they don't want you to come see it.
Colby Varley 31:23
Yeah. That seems to be the big thing, everybody wants to come see you, right? All your vendors, oh, I want to come see you. And it's like, no, I want to come see you. Like, let me see what we're working with. Great advice.
And that's been really beneficial for us. Obviously we're lucky here in California. A lot of our carrier group is located here, so, you know, most people are within a, you know, we can make a day trip and hit a handful of people, but also, you know, we're really strategic. Like, we had to go to a customer conference out in northwest Arkansas, and we went two days early and hit four or five trucking companies that we deal with within a 200 mile radius of that area. So you know, wherever you're going, going somewhere, you know, yeah, it might take an extra day, but it's like you're already making the effort to go all the way out there, you know, what's an extra day to, you know, go meet with five people. And, and I can tell you, like, you go do those things, and you think you know a company.
And you probably will be presently or pleasantly surprised. I mean, I can say on one of my last trips, I went and visited a trucking company and I thought they were, you know, 30, 40 trucks, and I rolled in there and they'd grown from that to 120. They're trying to grow for more. And I had something that had came up that fit them perfectly.
And I mean, we just walked, it all went along with them. And I probably, that probably wouldn't have all come together if I didn't make the effort to go see them, you know, because they were 120 miles away from where I was going.
Lori Boyer 33:05
I love that. You mentioned, we were chatting before we started shooting today, and you mentioned growing up that your dad just stopped everywhere all the time.
Every trip you went on, you're going to visit places, you're going to see things. And that is, I mean, that's some killer advice right there, Colby, is get out there. I, I love your overall message to me has really been about communication. Getting your boots on the ground, getting out there and talking to people, seeing what's going on, really diving in and not, I, I've had a guess what's call it kind of, sometimes we stay in our ivory tower and just sort of sit at our computer and work or whatnot, and it really is critical that we are getting some of that face time.
I love that.
Colby Varley 33:48
And it's hard, right? 'Cause we went through COVID and everyone was Zoom this and Zoom that. And but we've gotten to that point that, you know, it makes a huge difference with people. I mean, I, I don't even think you can measure the value of, you know, people really appreciate. Everyone knows that everyone's busy, right?
Everyone knows you got a family, you got stuff at home, and when you're out on the road for three, four days, you know, and it's tough, right? I, I got a family, I got a young daughter and wife at home and you know, before all that, like I was gung-ho and now it's like you get some of that guilt, but at the end of the day it's really all worth it.
You know, and, and it's for them. Right. But.
Lori Boyer 34:31
I was gonna say, at some point you'll be bringing your daughter with you too.
Colby Varley 34:34
Yeah, absolutely.
Lori Boyer 34:34
You'll be just like your dad. You'll be like, come on, let's go see this.
Colby Varley 34:38
Yeah.
Lori Boyer 34:38
But yeah, on the other side, you were saying.
Colby Varley 34:40
No on the other side of that, like the people that you're going to visit, right.
Like it's a really big deal for them. You know, it makes 'em feel special and you know that that's, that's what you gotta do to be successful. I believe in this business.
Lori Boyer 34:54
I, I agree. This business is extremely relationship driven and it is very much a case where those small things make a big difference.
And okay. So Colby, we're running out of time. Any last advice you have for people as we're coming up on kind of a low demand kind of time or just in general that you have to share?
Colby Varley 35:17
I'd say don't quit. Don't quit. Just keep going. You know, it's gonna be tough. Yeah, it's gonna be tough. But if there's anything constant, especially in the produce business, it's change, I mean that, that's, it's constant.
It's not gonna stay like this forever. You know, markets will change, something will happen. It's just a matter of when and how much.
Lori Boyer 35:41
I love that. I love it. Okay. If people wanna get in touch with you, if they wanna learn more about what you do or if they just want advice. You know, can they connect with you on LinkedIn?
How should they connect with you?
Colby Varley 35:52
Yeah, LinkedIn. I'm sure we can put the website, my email, phone number in the show notes. Yeah. But yeah I'm here, reach out whether you're a customer, whether you're a trucking company, whether you're trying to get into freight and logistics and, hey, should I do this?
You know I'm, I'm open to anything, so I'm pretty wide open.
Lori Boyer 36:17
That's awesome. Yeah. Take advantage of Colby's knowledge. He is fantastic and obviously he has broke his teeth originally as a baby on this industry and has been around it. He's got tons to share and is so willing. So thank you so much, Colby, for being here today.
Colby Varley 36:34
Yeah, Lori, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Lori Boyer 36:36
We will see all of you next time, and have a great day.