We are the Voice of Trucking. Welcome to Key Up New York, the official podcast of the Trucking Association of New York, otherwise known as TANY. I am Kendra Hems, president of the association and your host of this podcast. I'm joined this morning by Mark Dufray of UPS and also chairman of the organization. Welcome, Mark. Welcome. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. So I want to start out because we talk a lot about workforce development and how it's more than just a job.
It's a career when you start out as either a truck driver or a technician. And we have so many examples within our membership of individuals that have started at those levels and worked up to mid and upper level management. And I love your story of how you got into this industry. So why don't we kick it off by just kind of telling us about that? I always love telling this story. And it is something that I'm really proud of when I think about the way this industry develops and what we're doing.
But I was working in the fashion industry. I had had a degree in fashion design and was working for a company that ultimately was having some hard times financially. Started bouncing my paycheck and that's not good. I was really worried about it. I was like, I need to have a job working for a good company, you know, the government or something where I knew my check would come through. And I was talking to UPS driver who would come in. I was John, I need to find a job.
He's like, hey, UPS is hiring. You should go down and apply for a job there. And I applied for this job as a driver for UPS in New York City. And fortunately, I was able to get the job. I thought I'd only do it for a couple of months. And 35 years later, I'm still sitting here understanding that I found a place that I really wanted to be a part of in an industry that's so exciting and more important, so essential. Everything that we do, you know, somehow touches back to a truck itself.
And I have to tell you, being a driver was one of my favorite jobs at UPS. You always feel like you're the spreader of goodwill. Every place that you go, people are excited to see you. Hey, Brown. Hey, UPS. How you doing? But I love that job.
And it was something that for me as I grew up through the company in operations, working night with the loaders, working in media relations and communications and now in the public affairs side, working with the legislators, being able to tell the story that I've been there. I did that job. And talking about my experiences really helped add a lot of validity to the points that I was bringing forth and added some credibility as well.
But it's something that I'm really proud of. And, you know, here it is again. Thirty five years later, I thought I was only going to be there a couple of months. And we hear that story so frequently in the industry. People that start out doing something entirely different than trucking and somehow land in trucking, thinking it might just be a short term situation and then ultimately spend their entire career there.
So I love that story. And actually, I remember when you first started getting engaged with the association, you'd come in the office and you would be nice shoes, nice handbag. And we were all like, oh, that's kind of interesting. So then we found out you started in fashion. It all made sense at that point. So but it's been great. And it's been great having you as part of the organization. And UPS is a huge supporter of the state associations, not just here in New York, but across the country.
Can you speak a little bit as to why it's so important for UPS to be that engaged? Yeah, it's a great question. And it's one of those things that when we look at the associations and the work that they do, the way they represent the industry itself for us, it's a it's a big part of making sure that we're supporting this industry, that we're out there, that we're actively engaged.
One thing that we always looked at from UPS perspective is if you're going to be a part of an organization, be involved. Don't just write a check. You know, UPS has the resources to be able to do that. But if you write the check and you do nothing and you're not involved, then you're missing out on that opportunity.
And I think that was one of the biggest things for us is that our trucking associations and the partnerships that we've built and the friendships have really given us an opportunity to make sure that not only are we supporting this industry, but we're helping to drive issues and help move things forward, not just for UPS, but for all those smaller mom and pop businesses, the key crux of who are those members of the association, but to make sure that they're able to survive and grow.
Because in the big picture, as we all grow and we're able to serve our customers, it's better for everybody. And that's a great point, and I know we've talked a little bit about this before. How do you think we balance that? So as an association, our membership ranges from a single truck owner operator up to the large corporations such as UPS. But the vast majority of our membership is really small, family-owned, multigenerational trucking companies.
So how do you think we find that balance in terms of being able to meet the needs of not only the larger companies such as our national carriers, but really our base, which is the smaller members? And that's a great point. And I think it's one of the things that, as I talked about before, you want to be involved in the organizations that you're paying membership to. You want to stay connected.
And one of the greatest things for our association and the work that we do is that we have the resources to be able to support our members. And the things that we're doing in developing of our service bureau and the other types of things are all value adds to those types of members. And for the larger organizations, most of them have the resources, have the safety managers, have the regulatory people, the legal departments,
others to manage it through. But for the small business, for the smaller trucking company, in many cases, that owner, operator, you know, is everything. They're the safety director. They're the HR director. They're the sometimes they're driving and pulling loads and doing the work itself. So that's a place where TANY really has an opportunity to plug in and really provide a benefit to those members.
And I think the biggest piece to that really is do the members engage? Do they take advantage of it? Do they know that there are professionals here that have that experience and do this job every day, whether it's safety, whether it's the truck driving championships, all the different things, the regulatory work that we're doing. Are they taking advantage of that and using those resources? Are they calling when they're stuck trying to figure something out?
That's a great point, right? So engagement doesn't necessarily mean attending an event. And we understand with our smaller carriers that that's not always possible. Even if it's something that they want to go to, they may not be able to just from time constraints or staff constraints. We understand that. But engagement can also mean if you have an issue or you have questions about compliance, calling the association and asking us because we are here as a resource.
It could be if we are working on a legislative issue and we ask the membership to write a letter to your senator or to your assembly member to write the letter. Right. So engagement doesn't always have to be actually physically attending an event. It could just be participating in the various programs and services that the association provides for you.
That's 100 percent. And that's that part of making sure that they understand those resources that are here and even simple things like our app and others. If if you're a member and you don't have that app, you haven't downloaded, you haven't, you know, told your drivers about it, because there are great tools in there, whether it's, you know, road restrictions or other pieces that we're offering. Right. Those are that's the work that we've done to provide for everybody.
And it's there. So take advantage of those things is one of the things I always try to tell our members and others who are thinking about it were involved. Right. There are ways to do that. So you're you're very passionate about the association. So let's talk a little bit about what kind of got you to that point. I know that UPS is a big supporter and they want all of their employees to be engaged in the association.
But you didn't just engage like you are very passionate about this organization and what it can do. So why don't we talk a little bit about why you think it's so important to you personally and what others can get out of it. Yeah. And I think that's a great point for me. It was about being involved, being engaged, not just to support my company, but to support the industry itself.
It's an industry I take great pride in being a part of and having come up from the ranks and being able to do the work and understand the challenges that you face. You know, a lot of my friends would be like, wait, you drove in New York City. It's a talent in and of itself. It's like it's it's like battle pay or something. You know, you should you should have, you know, scars, you know, to deal through this.
But the job in New York wasn't about driving as much as it was facing the obstacles that are in front of you. Finding a place to park, you know, dealing with the tickets, working with the freight elevator operators, being able to get in and out of a building, you know, taking care of your customers. But facing all the challenges that were out there, you know.
And for me, right, this association gives us the ability to address these issues, to look at the challenges that are out there, whether it's New York City, whether it's Syracuse and the viaduct, you know, all these different types of things are there. But they are things that one company can't just take on by themselves. Right. And and the voice of many. Right. This this association, all of our members, is what really helps us be effective.
And for me, it was both a part of being engaged, being a part of it, not just showing up and saying, OK, I'm a member, I'm on the board or something like that. But using the experiences I have, using the the background that I have and being able to share that and more important, learn from all the others that I've worked with and the challenges that they've faced.
Those were the things that really clicked with me. Yeah. And and and I would say for all of the associations that I'm a part of and I've been engaged with, not only have I been a part of the board or been engaged, is I've built great friendships and that more than anything really hits to my heart. And, you know, and I talk about that, you know, I look at the people that I've worked with and I'm really proud to be a part of it.
I remember coming to my first Tanny meeting and Mike Cellis was the chair of the board at the time. And and just his presence and the way he addressed the group. I mean, he even, you know, we said the pledge and he sang the national anthem. I mean, I was just so impressed by the way he managed and the way people interacted with him. And then I watched, you know, board chairs after that continue to succeed.
And I looked to myself and I said, I want to be in that spot one day. I want to be. And now you are. And I'm so excited about it. So you were you were elected as chairman in September of last year. So let's let's talk a little bit about that. And obviously you came up through the board, certainly expressed your interest and because of the engagement and the passion that you have for the industry, ultimately were elected as chairman of the association.
So you'll serve as chair for the next two years. So let's talk a little bit about what you hope to accomplish during that term and maybe what you've gotten out of it already. I really appreciate that. And, you know, I think back to last September when when I was elected and I had the opportunity to talk to the membership at our annual meeting and I looked at some of the things that I talked about. What were my goals? One was to build on our great strategic planning.
And we were already able to do another strategic planning session earlier this year. It really validated what we had in our plan and what we still want to do. And I want to continue to build off of that and and make that strategic plan the basis of everything that we do so that we know the things that we're working on are impacting what we set out to do. So, you know, that's that's for me one of the big things I wanted to make sure that we built off of that plan itself.
The second was getting members engaged, being connected to to us. And we talked about that earlier and why I think it's important itself. The next piece was the acceleration of our services bureau. And now we're in this new building. We have this great space. We have our offices set up. We're in the process of hiring a person for that for our services bureau.
And that's exciting to me because that ultimately is what we want to be able to do is serve our members and those services bureau the things that we can do that we would have that repetition and that experience with to help them. It is something that really drives me. And I want to make sure that our members understand who we are, what we do, what we offer. And those who aren't members want to become part of us. Yeah. And then the last piece is the workforce development.
It's a challenge right now in this industry and it's a challenge to attract people to the industry. And we've we've done a great job in terms of moving the needle, changing some of the rules, allowing younger drivers. We've done that federally. We've done that at the state level. We're doing the things to attract people in. But now we have to continue to get out and tell that story like mine to say this is not just a driving job or this is not just a logistics job.
But this is a potential career. One of the things that makes me so proud of what we do is that the organizations that are members of this this association, these are great paying jobs, good paying jobs, good benefits. We've done a lot in the industry to address that work life balance and making sure that people get that at home time. If they're over the road, long haul drivers or if they're, you know, they drivers back and forth to the same terminal every day.
We're doing those types of things. And this is a great job. But some people are looking and I remember my mom saying, wait, you went to college and you're going to work at UPS as a driver. Yeah. I was like, Mom, it's OK. And now she looks at me and she's so proud. Right. She she forgets that moment that, you know, I'm a vice president of government affairs and working with, you know, legislative leaders and all that.
That's the type of story that this industry is about and our workforce development programs and the things that we're doing, the partners that we're bringing in and long term, the vision of what we want to do. Those are the types of things that really drive me and why I'm excited about what these two years are going to be. Well, and you're not even a full year in and we've already made massive strides towards many of your goals.
So we have, as you mentioned, the Services Bureau, we're interviewing as we speak to staff that up. So that will be up and running before the end of the year. And that comes from, you know, we talk about engagement and the importance of engagement. And that does come from that because it started from hearing from our members how many challenges they were having and getting vehicles registered. And what that was doing for them in order in terms of being able to operate their business.
And that's really what started this conversation about, well, maybe Tanny should do something about that. And, you know, here we are where we will be initially starting with title and registration for our members. So while on our way with that workforce development last week, two weeks ago now, we just launched the program with Department of Corrections.
They will have about 30 individuals graduating the CDL program within a matter of about two months that we're working directly with them to get those folks into the industry and employed. So super excited there. We're going to be launching a program with the charter schools and working with them and their students and introducing them to the CDL program. They're actually implementing CDL training within the charter schools across the state. So a lot of really good things happening already.
You're not even a full year into your term. So doing a great job already, Mark. I'd like to, you know, take take credit for that. But really, it is about the staff and the team that we have here. And that's one of the things that really encourages me is that we have great people on this team. And we're out there working every day to represent this industry and make sure that we're providing the kind of information and resources and value that it takes.
And it's one of the things that I've looked at over over the years is the development of this team and the people that we have right now. It's first class and I'm really excited about it. I agree 100 percent. We love the team here at Tanny. So we've tried to make a commitment with this podcast that we're not always going to focus just on the legislative issues and the regulatory issues because we want to focus on good things, too.
But I can't let you out of here today without bringing up highway use tax. So Zach and I had spoken on a previous podcast about our initiative to continue towards repeal of highway use tax. But I think the person that raises the flag the most on that is definitely Mark. Every government affairs call that we have, highway use tax comes up. So let's just touch on we don't have to spend a lot of time, but kind of touch on some of the issues that are at the forefront right now for the association.
Highway use tax, of course, being near and dear to your heart and what we're going to do to move forward on trying to get that taken care of and ultimately repealed. I appreciate that. I mean, you know, it's been my goal for I've been here 10 years now working with the association is every meeting mentioning it. Look, there's been a long historical battle. We're one of only four or five states now that still have a highway use tax over the years from the early 80s.
Most states got rid of their highway use tax. So for us, you know, we're one of the few that's still there. And for me, I look at this as a regressive tax. It's it's a double taxation. We're already paying the road, the the mileage, you know, in road taxes, the gas taxes. We're paying additional registration fees. We're paying for additional stickers. We're in New York City. We're paying for the commercial motor vehicle tax and now congestion pricing coming down the road.
So many multiple bites of the same apple. And ultimately, you know, that really hurts the trucking companies in New York because it makes us less competitive. We're paying more per mile and everything else than we're doing in other places. And more important, the the challenges it takes just to manage the record keeping for that manage the audits, you know, the other things that take us away from running our business.
And that that's the part that really gets me and why I sit and say, I want to get rid of this. You know, this this is something that and I feel like we're we're at the cusp. We're at that breaking point. It's and our message has been there's multiple ways. I'm getting told I'm getting taxed, paying fuel tax. Yeah. You know, and on top of that, just throw some salt in the wound. I'm getting audited and the audits are not fair. They're not, you know, they're not easy to go through.
And, you know, for UPS, I have resources. But for many of our members, that's a huge challenge that we have to go through. So I really want to before I leave, you know, I really love to see this. Yeah, it's just you know, we have a teed up right now. We do. I think there's some unique opportunities. I mean, the association's been working on how we use tax for 50 years. And we've had some successes. You know, we were able to get it off the throughway.
We were able to get reductions in the tax rate, but we just have never quite got to that point of making the whole thing go away. And I think with a lot of the things that you've mentioned that are hitting the industry right now, everything that we're already paying, we have congestion pricing now hitting in New York or in New York City. The move towards zero emission electric vehicles is an additional cost and challenge that the industry is going to be faced with.
So I think there's some opportunities here to really tell our story, focus on how essential we are and how much this tax impacts, you know, our businesses here in New York State. So I'm hopeful it's been a long time coming, but I think there's a lot of momentum right now. And I am hopeful that that is something we'll get done before your term ends. I really appreciate it. It is one of those things that I continue to look at.
And for me, for the industry, for all of us, none of us are saying we don't want to pay for the fair use of the roads. That is our workplace. That's where we're operating every day. We want those roads to be well taken care of, but we want it to be fair. We're competitively challenged to our partners and companies in other states that are not facing that same cost per mile that we face here.
Exactly. Yeah. Amongst every other challenge we have just doing business in New York State. It just adds on top of that. A hundred percent. And then, you know, the other things that I look at, things like tort reform and being able to, you know, move the needle there. Workers compensation challenges. You know, there are a lot of different issues that we're dealing with in New York that are so significantly different and so much more expensive than they are in the other states that we operate.
Right. Exactly. So this has been great. I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. Typically, we do an icebreaker question just to kind of break things up a little, but you had mentioned Mike Cellis and singing the national anthem, who has an amazing voice, by the way. Mike Cellis actually went to school for, I guess, opera training, opera singing. But we have been known to hear Mark Jufre sing once in a while, who also has an amazing voice.
So keeping in mind you're in front of a microphone and it amplifies everything. Can you give us a little something to kind of wrap all this up for us today? I really appreciate that. I mean, for me, it's always been one of those things that I just enjoy to do. I was always involved in music and singing and other places. I'll let it out. The movie Pitch Perfect, one, two and three, I've probably watched 200 plus times.
I just, I love the whole idea of it. But, you know, anytime I get a microphone in front of me and I can sing some Frank Sinatra, I'm really excited about it. Go for it. Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, baby, kiss me. Excellent. The next American Idol contestant, everyone. It was great. It was great. Well, thank you so much, Mark. Really appreciate you being part of this today.
Any closing thoughts or words before we sign off? I'd just like to say thank you. I mean, thanks to everybody that's been a part of this association, that's left this long history and legacy. Thank you to the team here in the Tanny offices for the work that they're doing every day to represent this industry itself. And most important, thank you for letting me be a part of it. Absolutely. All right. Well, there you have it. And thanks again for joining us on Key Up New York.
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