Welcome everyone to the last Al’s Corner. I have been writing this note once a month for 15 years, so I have decided it is time to hopefully turn over the reins (Horse Hooky pun) to someone new.
As a bit of background, I started writing this letter to promote The St. Louis Transportation Club’s events. Plus, I provided updates on how events went and wrote about monthly topics that were important at that time. Most of my topics were transportation-related, some were personal, and others affected the region and the country (COVID). I never made it political, even though I wanted to sometimes. So, with that said, let us get on with the note.
Transportation Club event—This month, do not miss Horse Hooky at FanDuel Park in Collinsville on July 16th, starting at 12 pm. Free entry, and we normally meet down by the Paddock area, inside in the A.C.
This Month’s Topic—Many shippers are obsessed with low rates but ignore their own mistakes. Over my many years in the industry, I have seen hundreds of changes, though it has been said that transportation is one of the last to change. In general, most of the way things are done now are still similar. Recently, information and logistical products that gather more information have been growing and getting better. The order entry products out there are average in my opinion, but improvements have been and continue to be made. The use of AI and such will affect change more rapidly. A general theme from shippers is logistics companies must get better and provide great new products that will make their jobs easier and more efficient. I agree with this thought, and even though I am older, I have embraced change. Frankly, I thought it would come faster. Now, what I am going to say does not apply to every shipper because lots are quite good at what they do, but many are not very good. The reason for me is with so many people now changing jobs or careers quickly, the dedication to their company and job is just not there. And make no mistake, this is not aimed at any one generation or company because as a business owner, most of the people I have had work for me have been average at best no matter their age. But as I see it, with changing technology happening fast and with turnover high, things will often fall through the gaps. My thought is the training and experience to be great at the job lack. My point is to look inwardly to achieve even greater savings than just low rates.
A Thought on Being Successful—Since this is my last note, I am trying to cram as much in as possible. For me, I have been at this for a very long time, and my experience, history, and knowledge play into my identity (will I handle this well, stopping?). I read many articles at night when I cannot sleep, like traits on how to be successful and such. My thoughts on being great at your job are:
- Wanting to be great is a start, setting a high standard.
- Knowing what it is to be excellent, and not kidding yourself.
- Having a sense of urgency.
- Being dependable and having pride in your work.
- Wanting to be successful and even be an overachiever.
For me, I have had only a few people that worked for me that I thought were great and overachievers. Some great ones work for us now. The one that sticks out more because she has been with us is Debbie Becherer. This lady is the most driven of anyone I have ever met. She is a great listener, cares about her customers (and family), works more hours than anyone else in this industry, and is just plain nice. She also has made many friends along the way that are drivers, carriers, and warehouses. She grew one customer into hundreds of loads per month after taking over for someone else that did not work or care as much. I believe she is driven because of where she grew up and wants to prove to everyone, including herself, that she is successful. Brad and I took her from a warehouse we both worked in. She used to say that she loved me (and Brad), and I was slow to respond back until I realized that I did. Some others that work here are Jennifer, Judi, Steffanie, Nicole, Mike, and Jason. These others are amazing too, and some of the best I have ever worked with! The company is in good hands. Thank you!
My Moving On—The reason is that I am selling my portion of the company to my fabulous business partner and friend Brad Reinhardt. I am retiring on July 31, 2024. This was my plan all along that I would sell it to Brad. He is 11 years younger than me, so it seemed natural that this would one day happen. I even suggested the name Reinhardt and Hursey because I knew he would ultimately be the sole owner. I was always loyal to him, and him to me. He has been the operational manager (very good at it), networking guru (best ever), and me the brains (just kidding). It was great!
Brad and I met over 20 years ago at a transportation event at the Crown Plaza in Clayton. I remember that the table was full of VERY unsociable, boring people (hopefully nobody from then was reading this). He and I just looked at each other and said at the same time, “Want to hang out at the bar?” From then on, we began planning to do something together.
We started our first venture together at Retrans (agents), then USA Truck (employees, not good), Giltner as Agents, McClain Services (joint ventures, love Danny), Rock Farm (strained but hugely successful), and finally Wel Companies (too early), with a new affiliation again with Giltner (missed them). It was quite a successful ride of hard work, fearless determination that was difficult at times, steady growth, tremendous success, and lots of fun too. If I do anything further in the industry, it will NEVER conflict nor hurt in any way Wel STL or Brad. I am proud of what we did and still care about the people that work for us. Please reach out to me if you need me. Thanks, everyone, for your fantastic work! Thank you even more to our fantastic customers! On my customers again, you all are THE BEST, and I always put you, your company, and loads first!!! I considered it an honor, and your loads were like they were my own, it was personal.
The Future—If I do anything, it will never be full-time again. I have reached the finish line. I still do, though, enjoy sales, putting together programs, and winning, and I will miss that. I am not doing this because I am diminished or lost it, I just feel you cannot buy time. I also had a great plan that Kathy and I executed and now have a good financial future. Thanks to my friend Ed Henrichs at Raymond James for his incredible efforts, guidance, and taking a shot on me.
A 45-year History in Transportation—I started in my early twenties at the Cotton Belt Railroad as a laborer. I took the job basically because my dad suddenly became permanently disabled due to a severe heart attack when I was eighteen. I had gone to college for free as a basketball player, staying close to home to play Juco at BAC, then Blackburn (90 miles away) because they said my dad would not live more than 3 years. I had a tryout offer from the University of Illinois back then, and could have been a walk-on, or as I called it, “a practice dummy.” I wanted to try it because I was good, but the illness with my dad was dangerous. Two years into my college years, I quit basketball and went to SIUE, but quickly took the Railroad job. Money was tight. Soon, I helped my cousin Ken get on with the RR as a clerk. This was his start in transportation, which he is still doing 45 years later. Trying to work more than full-time ended my college career. Sadly, my dream of being a coach ended then too. I did, though, start a YMCA program called YBL that has had 30,000 kids play in it.
I worked on the Railroad for three years before the RR laid me off. I remember thinking as I worked in the middle of East St. Louis (nights), what happened to me? Two years earlier I was shooting shots on the basketball court and crowds cheering for me, it was fun. Those days were gone. Anyway, I worked many extra hours of overtime, and I had saved $27,000 up and bought a new car with cash at age 23. Once I was let go by the RR, my brother Dave and I bought 38,000 frozen cinnamon rolls called Manske Cinnamon Rolls and had them shipped here shortly after the RR laid me off. A blizzard hit the STL region two weeks into our purchase. My brother Dave was the salesperson and me the delivery person. We both did those jobs as time went on. About two weeks in, I went out and made sales calls at 12 locations. Dave asked me how I did, and I told him I sold eleven of the twelve. He rocked it too. In the end, Walmart killed the company by constantly pushing the prices down until the baker closed. But we had hundreds of locations and customers. Dave sold Kroger, and I sold National Food stores. Dave had gotten a tryout at McDonald’s for two hundred stores. This could have been huge. Shortly after, the baker closed due to Sam’s Club pulling the plug on the baker and us nationally.
Produce Company Years—Not too long after the baker closed, my brother Gary, who had a restaurant, took me to Produce Row in STL. I immediately started Manske/Hursey, buying produce for the restaurant called “Lemon Tree” on Belleville’s west end. Quickly, I started contacting the restaurants that I used to deliver cinnamon rolls to. My big break was going into a Shop and Save store in Cahokia every day, buying produce that was less than a full case, like 3 cucumbers or green onions. In a few months, a manager asked me why I was there every day. I told him, and he said to go back and talk to their produce manager, Mark. Maybe I could help him. I thought, “Me help them?” I only had a 1-ton van that had holes in the floors! Mark taught me a lesson; he asked me to get him a deal on bagged potatoes for his ad that week. Five- and ten-pound bags, at a certain low price. I couldn’t buy them already bagged at a profitable price, so I wanted in, so I bagged 2500 pounds by hand in 24 hours. I was tired and lost money on the deal. He then taught me my big lesson. He said, “Let’s see what our company would sell them to him for?” I could have bought them already bagged and turned a profit. What I didn’t know was that I bought the potatoes in 100-pound bags, but most would only yield 90 pounds due to bad ones and shrinkage, and he was bluffing me on the price. But word spread about me bagging them all night. The manager became a district manager, giving me 10 stores to run what they called shorts or ad items. In two years, I owned the largest independent produce company in STL. I had three dock trucks, two step vans, nine total vehicles, and a retail location. I had all the Bonanza Steak Houses in the area, Sav-Lot Stores, and 50 grocery and restaurants within a 200-mile area. I owned it for 8 years, did fifteen million in sales, and took off only 8 days total, including weekends, during that time. Brutal! I lost everything over about $100,000 in debt, after getting stiffed by two grocery stores and during a divorce. But I knew that no one could take what I had learned both good and bad, so I started over.
I took a brief job with a food distributor. The highlight with Valley Farm was a 10-million-dollar sale to do all the dairy, produce, and ice cream for every Sav-A-Lot store in a 5-state region. This time, I was unlucky again, as Kroger and Valley Farm had a disagreement on the signing day, and the deal fell apart.
My start in transportation came from my brother Dave. Dave, the youngest VP at the Southern Pacific RR ever (Rock Star), had a new transportation office that needed help. He always thought I would be good at it. So, I started as a freight broker for him in 1992 and delivered pizzas at the same time for Dominos to clean up financial issues from the produce company. It was tough times, and I was embarrassed that I was delivering pizzas. I needed the extra money. I remember thinking people would look down on me for doing the pizza thing (and yes, I looked terrible in that outfit). But many people told me they were impressed by my work ethic and didn’t look down on me. I was doing whatever it took. At the time, his broker manager was mean and ruthless, a liar, and the job stunk in the beginning. I had gone from owning trucks and a business to being poor, quickly. I did become good at the broker part (as Dave predicted) and rose to Brokerage Manager in about 5 years, President five years later. I used to say I was good because I was the owner’s brother or bad. I also had people say to me back then, “They were glad I had a good job now with Dave, because I had so many crappy ones for so long.” Wow, I thought, people looked at me as a failure. That’s when I became obsessed with being successful. I hated being poor and looked down on. With Dave, I did become successful and married the best wife in the world during that time, Kathy, still is. She has always believed in me and is so incredibly beautiful. Sadly, after 15 years, I had to move on after Dave got screwed over by an employee and a big customer.
Next Phase in Transportation—I briefly tried something on my own, which ended badly. A ruthless local trucking company stole my first load and held it hostage, trying to get me to pay for my previous company’s bill. This company caused me to miss 5 months of income. The tables turned on him three years later when they had financial trouble, and his company closed. I did not rub his nose in it, either. We just nodded, now he understood how it felt. Next up, I worked as a National Sales Rep with NYK Logistics for 2 years. They had a man named Stan as a Branch Manager who was an idiot (he bragged about how he was a former drug dealer?). So, I knew my years there would be short. I remember when a genuinely nice VP named Williams interviewed me for the National Sales Rep job. He asked me if I was going to bring any old customers with me to start. I said no. He said, “So why should I hire you?” I told him, “I had been engaged to be married 6 times; there is always another.” He said, “You’re hired!” I ended up winning a National Sales award in my second year, but due to the terrible Branch Managers, I was getting ready to leave and start my first business with Brad. I remember the STL Branch Manager congratulating me on my top five out of one hundred sales reps’ plaque. He said, “We can put your award up in the office.” I said, “No thanks, if it wasn’t for you being so bad, I would have been number one.” I quit the next week and started with Brad at Retrans.
Our first agency—Retrans Company was someone I had known through my years with my brother at Exel. This lasted only a year or two as the owner was a lousy person, with an even worse attitude. Next up was being employees again and running an office in the STL area for USA Truck. This lasted two more years, but they were having financial troubles. We did have two men that I knew from earlier days who worked for me and Brad. Dennis Hall, who I met at NYK, and Jerry Reid, who was a customer of mine in earlier days. These two were awesome! Brad and I started looking around with the uncertainty of USA Truck looming, and we found Giltner through the man who had recruited us to USA named Mica (love him). We spent 7 years at Giltner, and the only reason we left was because (since they were so good) Giltner got big, and it was hard to grow as many customers were tagged and off limits. The fear was if we lost a large shipper, we would never be able to recover or replace them. The fear was if we lost a large shipper, we would never be able to recover or replace them. Leaving Giltner was tough as the owner and people there were impressive, still are (like family)!
The Finish Line Thoughts: I have learned a lot over the years, and my main thoughts on winning during tough times are these:
- “Never look directly into the sun, look around it, look past it.” This means stay focused on your tasks of winning, do not think about the potential of losing. Ignore your situation and focus just on winning every day, not what happens if you fail.
- Do not look at the headlights of the cars coming towards you, look past them. Like the sun thing above. Again, stay focused on your current task and ignore the other negative stuff. An example would be to not think and worry about the place you are at now (which may be bad or tough); ignore it and stay positive. Believe in your processes.
- Sometimes in business it works like this: be happy with hitting singles because sometimes they turn into doubles, triples, and home runs. This is how I felt going from being President of a company, back to being a broker, and then back to being a President.
- Never be focused on being wealthy but being successful. The money will be there.
- “Taking time to make money” is another of my favorite phrases. As an owner, sometimes we get obsessed with growth, making money is never a bad thing.
- Low money investment with high expectations. In our case, it was no investment with very high returns. We did over $200 million in sales with no personal investment and owned nothing but a healthy bank account.
- My overall business trucking sales model: Is it a good deal for the customer, the trucking company, and us? If any of these things are out of balance, trouble will most likely follow.
How I treat Others: Understand that everyone around you wants to be appreciated and have a good life. So, I have always tried to make many friends and make all around me feel special as best as I can.
Closing Remarks: I want to thank everyone who has read my notes over the years. To say I am sad that I will stop writing this is true. As those of you who know me well, I am never empty with things to say. But I was surprised I could do this for so long. Behind the scenes (like this one), I would write and rewrite it 2-3 times. Lastly, to the incredible friends I have made through the club, I am so grateful. You know who you are. See you all soon,