OM DENNE EPISODE
Spot rates are up 25% and rejections tripled. Robb Foltz explains why that shows up as a storage problem, not a trucking one.
Robb Foltz went to school for audio production and planned to tour with rock bands. He now runs 12 Warehouse on Wheels markets across the North Region, from Evansville and Indianapolis to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago, and he is the call that gets made when a load goes sideways.
Dr. Mark Mann opens on the backdrop: truckload spot rates running 20 to 25% above last year, tender rejections near 14% against 4.75% a year ago, diesel at $5.35, and an FMCSA enforcing rules at roadside that sat quiet for a decade. From there: why storage demand tracks inventory decisions instead of freight rates, the four things that separate a great general manager from a mediocre one, the question customers almost always get wrong on the first phone call, and why complacency worries a career safety guy more than any compliance item on the list.
What you'll learn
- Why storage demand moves with how much inventory shippers hold, not with spot rates, and what shippers do when capacity tightens
- How buffer stock, early and bulk ordering, and drop trailer programs all end in freight that has to sit somewhere
- The four traits Robb looks for in a general manager, including a genuine disgust for the word no
- The difference between a storage trailer and a cartage trailer, and why customers ask for the wrong one
- Why "what does a trailer cost per month" is a harder question than it sounds
- Where diesel at $5.35 a gallon actually hits the operation, from deliveries and spotting to the shop
- Why there is no off season across 12 markets, and how weather changes the job without stopping it
- Why complacency, not hours of service or cargo security, is the compliance risk that keeps a safety veteran up at night
Chapters
00:00 Spot Rates, Rejections, And Diesel
01:42 Rock Bands, Then Dispatch
03:18 Household Goods To A Whole Region
04:35 Trailers Are Not All The Same
05:12 Every Market Is Unique
06:07 Touring The North Region
09:12 Four Traits Of A Great GM
11:14 The Call Customers Get Wrong
11:48 Why There Is No Off Season
13:00 Winter In Detroit And Cleveland
13:39 What Does A Trailer Cost
15:12 Tight Market, More Buffer Stock
16:12 Where Fuel Prices Actually Hit
16:59 Holding The Line On Rate
17:33 One Load, Start To Finish
18:27 A Human Answers Every Time
19:08 Complacency Is The Real Risk
21:26 Warehouse Space Without The Warehouse
22:23 Character, Drive, And A Little Humor
23:11 Availability, Service, Partnership
23:48 Ownership On A Bad Week
25:06 Lightning Round: Toughest Yard
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Show notes and episode resources:
https://www.warehouseonwheels.com/podcast
Learn more about Warehouse on Wheels:
https://www.warehouseonwheels.com/
