Thoughts on the Markel Let's Talk Series

I had the opportunity over the last month to participate in Markel's Let's Talk series of seminars. These are one-day seminars run in various cities, with a group of speakers discussing hot issues of the day. This particular series focused on profitability and included experts talking about legal issues, insurance, rate modeling, and other things. I was on board for the Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton events, speaking about the value of investing in people and why training (as part of broader HR initiatives) is such a good investment.

I really enjoyed being a part of this event and having the chance to meet some very cool people from across the country.

What I found most interesting, however, was the number of companies that are already doing these things and seeing a tremendous benefit from it.

Tim Courtney, the Markel representative on the panel told a story of one customer who invested $3000 in mirror adjustment training to help with backing collisions. That investment led to $40,000 PER YEAR savings in backing collisions. That ROI is amazing.

Barry Bembridge, GM at Paul's Hauling, explained how they invest in their drivers in a variety of ways. The payoff for them is "almost zero" turnover - that's outstanding as well.

Bill Williams, Director of Operations at Orlick's Transport, had a great story about how they work with their customers to optimize the shipping process, streamlining the process for both the customer and Orlick's. The payoff for the customer is lower shipping costs, the payoff for Orlick's is more efficient operations and a deeper relationship with the customer. Also, since Orlick's drivers are the ones pointing out the places where shippers can optimize, they also feel a deeper commitment to the customer and Orlick's - they become invested in making the business better rather than just delivering the freight.

The funny part about all this is that there are still companies who don't think investing in their people is good business. There are still fleets that will spend a fortune on magazine recruiting ads to replace drivers, but not spend a dime figuring out why drivers are leaving in the first place. There are still fleets that will spend money on new trucks, but won't invest in making sure their drivers can run them safely.

Building a business is more than getting the freight delivered at a fair price. As the old saying goes - success is when preparation meets opportunity. Companies like Paul's Hauling and Orlick's are making sure that they (and their drivers) are well prepared for every opportunity that comes up.

Kudos to Markel for putting on this series and giving us a chance to hear some of these great stories.