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How Tow Operators Can Influence DC Decisions · Towing News Now

0:04
SPEAKER_09: Welcome on and all to the Towing News Now Podcast.
0:09
SPEAKER_09: A podcast dedicated to insightful interviews, news stories that affect the towing industry, and a weekly spotlight on towing supplies and equipment.
0:20
SPEAKER_09: We have two hosts.
0:21
SPEAKER_09: One of them has been in the business for 40 years.
0:26
SPEAKER_09: The other's his charming wife of many years, who also is the general manager of product supply.
0:33
SPEAKER_09: No other than Wes and April Wilburn.
0:37
SPEAKER_09: Wes and April, I turn it over to you.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: And all that you do to help put this podcast together.
0:50
SPEAKER_02: Have a great podcast today.
1:00
SPEAKER_02: Interacting with legislative issues, etc.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: So we're definitely looking forward to that.
1:07
SPEAKER_02: Before we get to that, April, how are you doing?
1:10
SPEAKER_06: I'm doing really well.
1:12
SPEAKER_06: The weather here is great.
1:13
SPEAKER_06: It's probably gonna turn chilly.
1:15
SPEAKER_06: But me and my husband went to Wilburn.
1:18
SPEAKER_06: Went to down what I call down home, even though it's not down anymore to me.
1:22
SPEAKER_06: It's it's uh uh to West Virginia for a few days last week to have a visit and we had a couple adventures there.
1:28
SPEAKER_06: We came back refreshed and good to go and happy to work.
1:33
SPEAKER_06: And now I'm talking to my good friend DJ.
1:35
SPEAKER_06: DJ, how are you doing?
1:37
SPEAKER_09: I am doing excellent.
1:41
SPEAKER_09: I want you you know, Wes, I'm in April.
1:45
SPEAKER_09: I gotta tell you, I am being worked at at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and they are very, very kind people.
1:56
SPEAKER_09: They're helping me with my walking problem that I have with my legs.
2:01
SPEAKER_09: They sent me to uh a company to have braces made for my legs, and after a month and a half last in April, the guy doesn't even return my call.
2:12
SPEAKER_09: So in my physical therapy class, they referred me to a vascular surgeon who makes prosthetics.
2:22
SPEAKER_09: So my wife and I traveled an hour and a half to the town of Austel, Georgia, where they make prosthetics.
2:31
SPEAKER_09: I went in, saw this gigantic room with three men in there working away, and all sizes, from little kids' prosthetics all the way up to, you know, moms and dads that lost their legs and air an accident or so forth.
2:49
SPEAKER_09: And I go in, the guy knows now sooner told me, here's the best brace you need, and it'll be ready next week.
3:00
SPEAKER_09: See the difference?
3:02
SPEAKER_09: A month and a half I don't get a word back, and the guy looks at me, the doctor says, uh, Mr.
3:07
SPEAKER_09: Harrington, uh, you can come back here next week and we'll be ready.
3:11
SPEAKER_09: And I called the insurance company and they said, Yup, it'll be ready.
3:15
SPEAKER_09: We have it on a 72-hour notice.
3:17
SPEAKER_09: It's when you go there, it's square.
3:20
SPEAKER_09: You're in.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: So that's good that's good to hear.
3:25
SPEAKER_09: That's great to hear, Wes, because now the fear of falling, when I go to an event, I won't have a fear of falling.
3:32
SPEAKER_09: I'll be able to stand there and watch you you and April do your thing, or or I could come and stand behind the booth and actually stand.
3:42
SPEAKER_09: It's it's nice, it's a big difference.
3:45
SPEAKER_09: So this is a good week.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well good.
3:49
SPEAKER_02: That is so that's so awesome to hear.
3:51
SPEAKER_02: I will admit you're not gonna see me in many uh shows.
3:54
SPEAKER_02: I'm uh I'm showed out, but um we're blessed with we're really blessed with the uh telling equipment director dot com or business real busy.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Electronic uh brake wheels tool for the air brakes with a heavy drive.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: Uh haven't heard of and whatnot, which I guess most of the time you don't you don't hear about it when you run into the problem.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: But I I can barely keep up most weeks around here with it.
4:33
SPEAKER_09: So um now can I ask hey Wes, can I ask you before we go over to the the guest is great and I hope everybody gets something to write with.
4:44
SPEAKER_09: It's very informative.
4:46
SPEAKER_09: But I want to ask you, can you tell me that anniversary of the stamp and can I go on towing equipment direct dot com and and see it?
4:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh what these guys are referencing is the uh we're coming up on the fortieth anniversary of with a tow truck stamp with dedicated.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: Anytime they have a uh a custom stamp, you know, whether it's a custom stamp about Elvis or a custom stamp about the Grand Canyon or the Empire Temple.
5:18
SPEAKER_02: There's a whole cottage industry that uh makes artwork and whatnot.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: So uh we collected a bunch of that artwork over here and uh we've got it we offered it's offered in our gift shop region of our uh website, selling equipment.com.
5:37
SPEAKER_02: And uh you can see that's up there.
5:41
SPEAKER_02: So uh listen to the uh listen to the conversation about it where I know you might actually on the scene at the ceremony 40 years ago.
6:03
SPEAKER_10: Representative Michael Governor, who was happy about 40 years ago.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: Um that was January 24th of 1987.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: So January 24th.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: Oh, 2027 will be the four years.
6:21
SPEAKER_06: And if you want to listen to him, he's the podcast number eighty-three.
6:26
SPEAKER_06: And we have 239 podcasts that we've got to date that we've all done together, so I'm proud of us for that.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: But they can search it by the one at number eighty-three.
6:34
SPEAKER_06: Number eighty-three, and searching by some government's name too.
6:37
SPEAKER_06: You'll you'll find them if you do it.
6:41
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's where we talk about it.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: And uh Mike talks about this story and gives a famous quote at the end of it.
6:52
SPEAKER_02: So uh encourage our listeners listen to that podcast.
6:56
SPEAKER_02: If you're interested in some of the artwork, uh go to our website.com.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna take this quick break.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: We got a great guest for you.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: I want to get right to it.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: So thanks for listening and making us the number one Billing Road podcast.
7:15
SPEAKER_02: We'll do right back.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: How can I help?
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Together, we all make a difference.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: INA Towing Network Simplified Solutions, Superior Service.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back, listeners.
8:19
SPEAKER_09: Of course, you know you're listening to the number one podcast in the towing and recovery industry, and I can't thank you enough to be tuning in to Towing News Now podcast.
8:31
SPEAKER_09: We're coming live from the TowingEquipment Direct.com studios, and this will be a great one.
8:39
SPEAKER_09: I want all of you to continue tuning in every week.
8:43
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8:54
SPEAKER_09: This segment is coming through a special by INA Towing Network.
9:00
SPEAKER_09: When you think simplified solutions with superior service, you think INA.
9:07
SPEAKER_09: Without further ado, let me pass it on over to the coupled of couples, Wes and April Wilburn.
9:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, thanks, DJ.
9:18
SPEAKER_02: As promised in the first session, we have a great guest today, a friend of the podcast, and a guest before.
9:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh Bruce Bender, executive director of TRAA, the Towing and Recovery Association of America.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: Been the co they've been the Coe's voice for what over 45 years, I guess, now.
9:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, anyway, Bruce, uh briefly introduce yourself and uh tell us a a little bit about TRAA.
9:48
SPEAKER_07: Yes, Wes, thank you for having me on today.
9:51
SPEAKER_07: Excited to be here.
9:52
SPEAKER_07: Uh of course, my name's Bruce Bender, the executive director for TRAA.
9:57
SPEAKER_07: Um, I took over uh when uh Cynthia retired.
10:02
SPEAKER_07: Um in my background, I was a um administrator for the Tilling and Recovery Association of Ohio for quite a few years.
10:11
SPEAKER_07: And um I was before that I was married into the tilling industry, and that's where I got my first uh passion for the tilling industry and realized what absolutely great people there are in this industry and how much that they give up of their livelihood just to be able to help others, rescue others, save others, and put their life on the line to do it.
10:37
SPEAKER_07: Um and lots of times don't even get uh the gratitude of a thank you.
10:43
SPEAKER_07: So so that's uh I uh I'm here to do what I can during my tenure to to fight to you know for the industry to to help better the industry, and then I uh truly hope that uh during my tenure that uh we can uh bring this industry together, uh lock arm in arm and become so much stronger uh and better for all these families uh that are out here working so hard to uh save everybody's lives out on the highways.
11:15
SPEAKER_06: Bruce, and and um in reflection about what you said about help without even giving a thanks, one of the things that you and TRA does is hill days.
11:26
SPEAKER_06: And a lot of great things happen during those uh uh is it two or three days that you guys hold that over here?
11:33
SPEAKER_07: It's a two-day event.
11:34
SPEAKER_07: It's a two-day event.
11:36
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
11:36
SPEAKER_06: Hill Day is a is uh an annual thing, but a lot of people may not understand what that is.
11:42
SPEAKER_06: Can you kind of give us a a short origin story when how it even came to be?
11:49
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
11:49
SPEAKER_07: Um so we're actually getting ready to go into our ninth annual legislative action workshop in Hill Day, and what Hill Day is, is it's our opportunity to go to DC and actually get in the offices over at the Capitol and meet with the congressmen and legislators that are making decisions that could negatively or positively impact our industry.
12:18
SPEAKER_07: And so of course our our agenda is to make it a positive approach.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: So you're talking about the senators, the people, they're staffers that are on different committees that's what you're saying.
12:34
SPEAKER_08: Yes, yes, absolutely.
12:41
SPEAKER_06: We also know that the stoppers are more of the gatekeepers.
12:44
SPEAKER_06: A lot of things don't get to the politicians unless the stoppers get it first and and push it up the chain of command, so to speak.
12:54
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
12:56
SPEAKER_07: That is absolutely correct.
12:58
SPEAKER_07: And, you know, we've we've been currently working on issues, you know, such as um, you know, insurance issues, which we know our industry is really facing.
13:08
SPEAKER_07: We've been working on those, uh, weights and measures issues, roadside safety, which we can't preach enough on, um, EV fires re and re uh remediation and you know, things such as that is the things that we're currently working on, and this gives us a voice on the hill from a national level.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: So tell us some more about some of the things you've been working on.
13:34
SPEAKER_07: One of the things that uh is extraordinary about our industry is the fact that it is so misunderstood.
13:44
SPEAKER_07: Um the a lot of our legislators and congressmen and everything just go off of what a neighbor has said to them or a colleague or something else, um, and they just don't really understand our industry.
13:58
SPEAKER_07: So one of the the most important things that we can do um as TRAA and um as toers is to get out here and educate these guys that are going to be making decisions that will affect our livelihood.
14:17
SPEAKER_07: Um and if we if we don't do a good job of that, we we're not gonna get the support that we need to keep this industry alive and breathing.
14:29
SPEAKER_07: And so when I what I always say with this Hill Day, after the first time I visited the Hill Day, uh, of course, as as when I was with TRAO, and I was just um amazed at how much comes out of a two-day event.
14:46
SPEAKER_07: On the first day, we're there, and we have a lot of uh guest speakers that come in.
14:52
SPEAKER_07: Uh, like this past year, we had FMCSA director Derek Barr come in um and did a fireside chat, and then stayed even past the fireside chat and and spoke to a lot of our folks that were there one-on-one, took pictures with them and everything, and under and really understood the industry and um and really wants to be there to help us.
15:17
SPEAKER_07: And you know, we we uh so day one, you get to meet a lot of folks, you uh get prepped for our day two.
15:26
SPEAKER_07: Um and on day two, we we actually are out pounding the pavement, we're over there on the hill.
15:33
SPEAKER_07: Um, our lobbyist team has set up appointments ahead of time so that we can get over there and see uh the legislators that we need to see, or their staffers.
15:44
SPEAKER_07: And and listen, being realistic with you, uh getting to see the staffers and and getting through to them really is very important because the staffers lots of times are the ones that make the decisions for the uh legislators or congressmen um as to what bills they should really be standing behind, which ones they shouldn't, and everything like that, because they're they just don't, you know, each person just don't only have so much time in the day.
16:16
SPEAKER_07: So that's where the staffers come in and their importance um to them.
16:21
SPEAKER_07: So getting over there and meeting with them is very important.
16:25
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: Um it's also important.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: I gotta uh one of my staff was here something.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: We gotta take a quick break, so it's gonna ask you to hang around until after the break.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.com.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: That's 910-7479000.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: We look forward to serving you.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back, listeners.
18:51
SPEAKER_09: Now we have over 25,000 listeners on a regular basis.
18:57
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19:01
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19:04
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19:09
SPEAKER_09: If they're in the towing and recovery industry, they need to be on this podcast.
19:14
SPEAKER_09: If you want to know more about towing and recovery, this is where you learn about it.
19:19
SPEAKER_09: We have a great guest on the air.
19:21
SPEAKER_09: And before I turn over to the group there in North Carolina, I want to say here in Atlanta, I am here in my home in Atlanta, but I was sponsored once a year by Mrs.
19:38
SPEAKER_09: Fox down in Florida, alligator Toading.
19:41
SPEAKER_09: And we went to Hill Days.
19:44
SPEAKER_09: And I told Bruce, I said, I never met our senator, Marco Rubio.
19:51
SPEAKER_09: He was just a brand new senator, guys.
19:54
SPEAKER_09: Brand new.
19:55
SPEAKER_09: We were visiting his staff, left his staff, and went, you know, out going out the door, and who's walking in?
20:05
SPEAKER_09: But Marco Rubio.
20:07
SPEAKER_09: And he stops and he says, Are all of you from Florida?
20:11
SPEAKER_09: And said, Yes, sir, we are.
20:13
SPEAKER_09: He stopped and shook every one of our hands, and then we all turned around and took a fast picture, and his aide was the one holding the camera.
20:22
SPEAKER_09: It was excellent.
20:24
SPEAKER_09: And Hill Days, not only do you learn in the halls of the Senate and the Congress, but if you can walk, this is a way to go.
20:36
SPEAKER_09: And they prep you, they give you everything you need.
20:40
SPEAKER_09: Somebody says, Well, I don't know enough about what toying people need.
20:44
SPEAKER_09: Don't worry, they give you a talking page and everything.
20:48
SPEAKER_09: So all you do is drop off information, visit with the staff and the aides, and they help you just like April said, they help you push it up the guidelines.
20:59
SPEAKER_09: It was excellent, and it was worth every bit of our time.
21:03
SPEAKER_09: At nighttime, we socialize with each other and learnt about each other's business.
21:10
SPEAKER_09: I believe I learned as much with the socialization of the other people.
21:15
SPEAKER_09: So, Bruce, can I ask you, what people are you looking for to come to Hill Days?
21:23
SPEAKER_07: Um, anybody that wants to make a difference in a positive way for our industry is what we want.
21:30
SPEAKER_07: They do not have to be a member of TRAA.
21:33
SPEAKER_07: We welcome members and non-members.
21:36
SPEAKER_07: Listen, whether you're a member of TRA or not, you have a voice here at our Hill Day.
21:44
SPEAKER_07: And we have a lot of companies that uh sponsor um to make sure that we can make have this happen.
21:53
SPEAKER_07: And they send they send representatives from their companies out.
21:57
SPEAKER_07: And the one thing that I I I'd like for everybody to know is you don't have to feel uncomfortable going and sitting in the office of a senator or a congressman because listen, when I went for my very first time and I sat down in that office, I didn't know what to expect, and it just rolled so easy because these guys will sit there and talk to you just like you and I can sit and talk.
22:24
SPEAKER_07: There, you don't have to feel like, oh my gosh, they they want you to talk with big words or anything like that.
22:30
SPEAKER_07: That's not the case.
22:31
SPEAKER_07: They want you to sit down and talk, and they want to get to understand us and our needs so that they can appropriately vote and put things in place for us.
22:46
SPEAKER_02: Which is very important to be involved politically on at any level, in my opinion.
22:51
SPEAKER_09: Yes.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: And this is happening in February, the 23rd and the 24th.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, is there a host hotel?
22:59
SPEAKER_07: Yes, we we will be at the Omni Shoreham this year.
23:03
SPEAKER_07: Um we the the other hotel that we were at previously was a very nice hotel, but we have pretty much outgrown it.
23:10
SPEAKER_07: Uh we had um over a hundred folks registered this past year, which was the best the the biggest uh group that we've had, and we we've just needed to move to a bigger place uh because I'm hoping to get us get 500 people there uh on the hill because the the the larger the group, the more outreach we have, the larger impact we have.
23:34
SPEAKER_07: And and that's really bottom line.
23:36
SPEAKER_07: The nice thing too is is this year I brought in a planning person that's there in DC that has been planning events for over 30 years, and she she has a contact with the hotels and everything, and she doesn't she makes her money from the hotels and places like that, not from us.
23:57
SPEAKER_07: But and so she actually helped us find this omni shoreham instead of$379 a night for rooms, we're getting them for$196 a night, which I'm hoping will actually make it affordable for more folks to come out and and support this event and and show up.
24:16
SPEAKER_07: Also, we negotiated in that for uh a couple days prior to and a couple days prior, I mean after our booking dates, which is already four days long.
24:30
SPEAKER_07: So you we want people, you know, if they want to bring their families and come and and spend some little little time before the event or after the event and get to see the the sites because I understand towers give up so much of their time with their family.
24:47
SPEAKER_07: This is an opportunity for them to come and actually get to spend a little time and go sightseeing and everything prior to the event or staying after the event.
24:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I grew up just outside of Washington and there is a ton of stuff.
25:05
SPEAKER_02: The national mindset, there's a ton of stuff.
25:08
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, a big, beautiful, beautiful hotel there at$196 a night, guys.
25:14
SPEAKER_07: $196.
25:15
SPEAKER_07: You can't speak that.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: And hang on, let me address that.
25:19
SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of the of the of the world that's listening to this podcast, that's a lot of money.
25:25
SPEAKER_02: And it is a lot of money.
25:26
SPEAKER_02: But for Washington, D.C.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: when with Congress and Senators in session, that is that is a very good deal.
25:35
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and if you if any of anybody wants to look up where where it's at, it's called the Omni Shoreham, which is S-H-O-R-E-H-A-M, the Omni Shoreham Hotel on Calvert Street, um, and they'll see it's a big, beautiful historic hotel, has uh you know big restaurants in it, it has a bar in it, it has big ballroom.
25:58
SPEAKER_07: I mean, it's a beautiful place, and it's gonna it it's gonna allow us the opportunity to grow.
26:05
SPEAKER_10: That's really great.
26:06
SPEAKER_10: That this has moved on so much.
26:12
SPEAKER_06: Well let me ask a question, Bruce.
26:15
SPEAKER_06: For I I know you just picked this up in the last year or two as far as TRA goes, but you you go way back to TRA if you have a lot of experience.
26:24
SPEAKER_06: Between these two things that you've done, what is the most prominent issue that you see that drivers are facing?
26:35
SPEAKER_08: Oh wow.
26:36
SPEAKER_07: Um you know, um as far as our uh our operators out there on the road, I uh you know the the biggest biggest thing uh in my book is the safety.
26:52
SPEAKER_07: Uh we're we're we're we're losing too I mean too many drivers.
26:56
SPEAKER_07: I mean I just watched that horrifying video on Facebook the other day where the driver got hit just stepping up in his truck and you saw his body fly through the air.
27:06
SPEAKER_02: Um it is that is incredible.
27:09
SPEAKER_07: Um it I mean it's just horrifying to watch it.
27:12
SPEAKER_07: I mean, it just gives you chills.
27:13
SPEAKER_07: Um, so we we need to be really focusing on on ways to improve uh safety for our guys, uh guys and gals out there on the road.
27:24
SPEAKER_07: Um I mean that's that's a huge issue for me.
27:27
SPEAKER_07: And then a huge issue right now that I'm seeing as far as uh for our our owners out here is not only the safety, but trying to figure out some things to help uh with getting them paid through insurance and everything, through liability and things such as that, which is some of the things that I've got our lobbyists working on and trying to figure angles that we can do to help these help these guys out here.
27:53
SPEAKER_02: Well, those are definitely two high button issues.
27:55
SPEAKER_02: It's good to hear that TRA is focusing on those, along with all the other things y'all do.
28:02
SPEAKER_02: Um it's incredible the amount of stuff TRA's gotten done over the years.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: They did the contract stamp 40 years ago, all the relationships with the the uh the different federal government agencies and whatnot.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: Um if somebody wants to be a become a member, uh tell us about that.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: How much is membership?
28:26
SPEAKER_07: A uh membership is is five hundred dollars a year, and and keep in mind, I mean, I know that's that sounds like a lot, but I'm sure uh you know, a lot of folks spend more than that at restaurants, you know, in a in a over a month period, and and this is actually something that can positively affect their livelihood by by supporting TREA because you know, even just our lobbyist team, they do an excellent job for us, but having a lobbyist team on a national level is very expensive.
29:02
SPEAKER_07: So, and there's no secret to numbers with TREA.
29:06
SPEAKER_07: So, you know, our lobbyist team at minimum is sixteen thousand dollars a month, but you know, if there's travel that that needs to happen and everything, that number goes up each month.
29:16
SPEAKER_07: So at minimum, sixteen thousand dollars a month.
29:19
SPEAKER_07: So it it it takes a lot uh to keep the fight up for for our industry and keep it healthy.
29:28
SPEAKER_07: And we're not fighting for only you know big big outfits.
29:34
SPEAKER_07: Uh you know, we're fighting for the mom and pop shops, the the the the one the one you know, the one man or woman shop, uh, and you know, as well as the ones that have large fleets.
29:47
SPEAKER_07: It it's we we fight for the industry as a whole.
29:51
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: That's something that's always happened.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: Um so they don't have to be a member of the of TRA if they want to participate in Hill Day.
30:01
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely not.
30:01
SPEAKER_07: We welcome everyone.
30:03
SPEAKER_02: How much how much how much does it cost to participate in Hill Day?
30:07
SPEAKER_07: Um the the the registration, uh boy, you caught me right there, just right off guard there.
30:13
SPEAKER_07: I don't know why I my mind went blank as you said that.
30:16
SPEAKER_07: I'm wanting to say it's uh$6.99 for a uh member and$8.99 for a non-member to come.
30:24
SPEAKER_07: And I know that sounds like a lot of money, but it costs a lot in DC to put this on.
30:30
SPEAKER_07: I mean, the the costs are are are really high for everything that we do.
30:35
SPEAKER_07: So, you know, it's it's not a matter of us trying to make a buck off of you, it's it's a matter of us trying to put together an event that actually um can make a positive impact for this for the industry.
30:48
SPEAKER_02: A thousand percent.
30:49
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I can definitely verify.
30:52
SPEAKER_02: Washington, DC is one of the most expensive places to do something in the country.
30:57
unknown: Yeah.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: Especially when you're talking hospitality services at a hotel.
31:02
SPEAKER_07: Well, and we we do actually uh get several of the uh ranking members to actually come over and speak and and hear us, and you know that that's priceless in itself.
31:15
SPEAKER_07: And and last year, you know, having FMCSA director, you know, Derek Barr come in and and talk to us was just it was phenomenal, you know, and it went really well.
31:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I definitely heard some good things about that.
31:31
SPEAKER_07: Uh let me let me tell you something, Wes, to to kind of tell you about uh Derek Barres.
31:39
SPEAKER_07: I went to um an event in DC in November.
31:46
SPEAKER_07: We sat outdoors at this event, and when I saw him in February at the Hill Day event, he when he shook my hand, he goes, You know what?
31:58
SPEAKER_07: I remember you, you were sitting in the front row, the third seat over on the right hand side.
32:04
SPEAKER_08: And and who is this speaking to you?
32:06
SPEAKER_07: This was the FMCSA director, Derek Barst.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
32:12
SPEAKER_07: So, former law enforcement.
32:14
SPEAKER_07: So he uh you know he pays very good attention to detail, and he's very well versed in the towing industry and wants to help us.
32:23
SPEAKER_07: He realizes the struggles and he wants to help us.
32:26
SPEAKER_07: So these are the people we want on our side, and these are the people we need to get in front of at Hill Day and show them that we have a presence.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: Well, that'll be an example of one of the many relationships GRA has made over the decades, isn't it?
32:42
SPEAKER_08: Yes, absolutely.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: So if somebody wants to become a member, somebody wants to register for Hill Day, how do they how do they reach out to y'all?
32:53
SPEAKER_07: They can go they can uh you know what I and I'm gonna put this right out here on on your podcast, and you'll never hear another executive director do this, but my cell phone number is 513-288-2273.
33:06
SPEAKER_02: They can reach out to me directly, or they can go to go hang on, hang on, hang on, one more one more time.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm a little slower.
33:14
SPEAKER_07: Okay, 513-288-2273.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
33:21
SPEAKER_07: Or they can go to uh the TRAAonline.com and they can go to and they can sign up through the they can sign up to become a member that way, or they can even register to come to our legislative Hill Day uh event right there through the website also.
33:40
SPEAKER_02: And the and the dates for the Hill Day are February 23 and 24, correct?
33:46
SPEAKER_07: 23rd and 24th, yes.
33:49
SPEAKER_02: So all right, well, I can't thank you enough on behalf of the industry for all you folks do on a very important uh politically that goes on.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: Um any parting thoughts you'd like to leave us with?
34:06
SPEAKER_08: Yes, yeah.
34:07
SPEAKER_07: Listen, our industry needs really, really badly to come together, walk arms, and and be a powerful force on the hill.
34:22
SPEAKER_07: This is our opportunity, and don't ever feel like you don't have a voice.
34:28
SPEAKER_07: We want you there.
34:29
SPEAKER_07: Come join us.
34:32
SPEAKER_07: You you trust me, you will not feel out of place while you're there because we welcome everybody with open arms and we we prep you for the day on the hill.
34:41
SPEAKER_07: So you don't have to to feel worried or at all.
34:45
SPEAKER_07: We want you there.
34:46
SPEAKER_07: Member or not not, we want you there.
34:50
SPEAKER_02: It's a it's an opportunity to see the uh how the sausage is made and the internal workings of the United States.
34:57
SPEAKER_06: It's also a way it's also a way to collaborate with other people across the country on different issues they may be encountering or even the same issues they may be encountering.
35:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like-minded people.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: All right, Bruce.
35:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you.
35:13
SPEAKER_02: Um we'd like to get you, I know you're very busy, so we we get you or somebody else to come back on in about a month and update us a little bit.
35:23
SPEAKER_08: Absolutely.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: And thank you for doing it, April, and closing.
35:29
SPEAKER_06: No, I think we need to um I think you beat your record last year in 2025 2026 for all days.
35:35
SPEAKER_06: I think we need to beat it again.
35:37
SPEAKER_08: Absolutely we do.
35:40
SPEAKER_07: I'd love to see us double, triple, quadruple, whatever we, you know, I I'm I'm game.
35:45
SPEAKER_07: That's why we got such a big place to go to so that we have room to to grow, and I'd love to see it happen this year.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: Well, with everything that's happening all about that on the 40th of the coastal stamp, I mean anything's possible.
35:59
SPEAKER_08: Absolutely.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: All right.
36:02
SPEAKER_02: Our listeners, thanks for listening.
36:04
SPEAKER_02: Ruth, thank you.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: April, these guys, uh uh everybody, thank you.