Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is gonna be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Business RadioX. If you’re a business coach who’s tired of being a best kept secret, set up a call with Stone Payton at bookstonephone.com to unlock your perpetual prospect pipeline. Today on the show, we have Valerie Burton Garcia with DrivenBy(Valerie). Welcome.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about driven by Valerie. How are you serving folks?

Valerie Burton Garcia: I’m actually a truck driver of 15 years, and I have the unique background of actually understanding and working in both storytelling and software development.

Lee Kantor: And what does that have to do with transportation?

Valerie Burton Garcia: I’m actually trying to bridge the gap between policy, uh, autonomous vehicle development and AI transportation, primarily in freight.

Lee Kantor: So then how do you plan on doing that?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Um, what I do is I actually meet with companies. They tend to reach out to me when they want to make their, uh, freight planning, specifically speaking their trucking freight a bit more lean and efficient. So as you know, we’re actually at the very beginning of releasing trucks on the road with new software for autonomous vehicles. And we are in a very crucial state of actually finding out how those work with the realities of the road. And it’s more than just understanding the lines, the lights and the signs.

Lee Kantor: So what else is there?

Valerie Burton Garcia: It’s a lot about human behavior and policy that already needed to be, um, changed. We have a lot of people that have been in DOT as a Department of Transportation, primarily in licensing, that don’t fully have the operational understanding of how trucks go on the road. I actually taught Cdla. I taught classes on becoming a truck driver in several different states. I think I think it was eight overall over the course of my career. And when I was teaching these programs and developing them in some states, I noticed how the very CDL manual that was Is utilized to both educate and test future drivers. Was missing quite a lot of information. And unfortunately, the people who are making the software, the autonomous vehicles and the AI are utilizing the same information. So there’s a major gaps in the information that is being used to build these new softwares and platforms. And it’s a it’s a public safety hazard. So when companies reach out to me, they generally just want to know how to make their, uh, future fleets run more efficient. But then I have to tell them about all this information and then it becomes a pitch, I guess, to actually teach the companies and policy makers, whoever might be reaching out about the education of the road.

Lee Kantor: So in your opinion, should there be autonomous, um, trucker.

Valerie Burton Garcia: I don’t see why we can’t have autonomous future autonomous freight in the future. I just believe that we are releasing these trucks on the road way too early.

Lee Kantor: But how else can you do this other than doing it?

Valerie Burton Garcia: I mean, well, there’s been testing, right? So we do have some companies that have been putting their autonomous freight on the road. But the unfortunate part to that is they do so in favorable conditions and I need to inform them or they let me let me rephrase. They need to be informed that it’s not just favorable conditions on the road. The majority of these people who build the software and release the software for these freight operations aren’t operators. And a lot of the time they’re not even drivers. They don’t even drive a regular car. So it’s a hard breakdown. Um, but we do need to pump the brakes on releasing full blown autonomous fleets as of right now.

Lee Kantor: So right now we’re what’s the status of the autonomous fleets? Are they nationwide? Are they only in certain areas?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, to my understanding, they’re only in certain areas. So like the majority of the operations tend to be in the southwest, uh, of the United States, which as you know, is, uh, dryer warmer, uh, you know, weather. So you’re not dealing with a lot of rain when you are, you’re dealing with monsoons, which have proven by their data affected their own, um, travel times and, uh, deliverables, or if they’re even delivering because they do say that they are, but that is also a private information that you can’t just get. You have to ask about that. Um, so yeah, they are in operation as the short answer. Long answer is with the huge, but, uh, but all the favorable conditions are applied.

Lee Kantor: Now is the, um, the companies reaching out to you or are they in those areas or they’re maybe in not so favorable areas that they would like to experiment with this.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, actually that’s a mixed bag. So because the majority of companies and people who reach out to me aren’t aware that that’s even a condition. So it’s the answer is both.

Lee Kantor: So now what is kind of the public’s awareness about, uh, trucking and freight that maybe they don’t understand as fully as somebody who’s immersed in it like you are?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Oh, uh, that’s going to be vast. The majority of people, like the average civilian doesn’t understand how much trucks affect every aspect of their daily life. If you think about it, uh, everything in your house has come off trucks. Not one truck Trucks. Plural. So the problem is, we do have a lot of people who don’t understand how, with autonomous freight being released, how that’s going to possibly negatively impact their daily life, everything from gas to diapers to dog food to your groceries, to mail. And yes, even if you think it can be delivered, how do you think it gets delivered? So you can’t just hop on Amazon and get all that replaced.

Lee Kantor: So why don’t you educate our listener a little bit about how kind of the supply chain works? Because a lot of this stuff that we have, whether we’re manufacturing it here in this country or it’s being manufactured elsewhere, it’s getting to this country through one of the ports. What is kind of the like, take us through an item, how it gets to your, like you said, your refrigerator, what what are the steps typically involved?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Oh, okay. The supply chain is vast, is huge, right? And it takes every step of the process from, you know, accumulating the product materials to actually dispatching it, whether it be in store or online. So let me oversimplify it and say, um, we are getting our eye, how about this a sweater? And we’re not going to go through the whole material development process. We’re just going to have the finished product. So a finished product sweater, uh, is ordered online from a single customer. Uh, that leaves the storehouse warehouse to a truck. That truck generally gets to another DC, which is a distribution center. And that distribution center has one more truck, if not a straight truck. And a straight truck is a single. You just have two axles. So it’s one solid unit. So think about your UPS or your Fedex deliverable vans. That’s also somehow considered a truck. But again, I’m oversimplifying. So we already know that a dispatched sweater has hit two trucks before it can even get to your general area, your residence or your work. And that’s not even a guarantee. It’ll it will not hit a third truck because depending on where you’re at, it takes more logistics operations and figure out, uh, figuring out your logistics plans in advance. So at least three trucks in this scenario were used to move one sweater.

Lee Kantor: And then those trucks, are they going to a warehouse where it’s taken off the truck and then put in a different truck? Or is it just the truck is then transferred to some other driver who’s now driving that same, you know, freight.

Valerie Burton Garcia: The same freight. Yes. So, um, as I mentioned, you can get the sweater from the warehouse and generally that one trip takes it to a DC, a distribution center. And that distribution center can be the last stop before it gets to the residence. Or it could just be a stop along the road. It really depends on how, uh, where you live, where the item was shipped from, and how the people between there from the warehouse where the sweater was shipped from to your house actually want to, uh, plan the route.

Lee Kantor: Now, isn’t there a shortage of drivers?

Valerie Burton Garcia: No, that’s actually false. Um, the ATA, the American Trucking Association, who seems to be the foremost authority on trucking, has even stated in their 2025 release that there’s actually plenty of cdla holders out there. The issue is, uh, truckers are either leaving the workforce Or they’re being pushed out. So there isn’t a shortage of drivers. It’s a lack of business responsibility.

Lee Kantor: So there’s a shortage of drivers who are willing to be paid what they’re being paid to be drivers.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Right. Because that’s been since the deregulation. This is part of trucking history too. If you if you know anything about it, truck driving was a good American job, especially at the beginning of the century, or at least up until the 70s and 80s when deregulation happened, American used to America used to actually appreciate their truck drivers. They had unions that they didn’t need unions, but they got paid well. They were able to, uh, actually support a family on one truck driver salary. But now, after deregulation, businesses have been involved in, um, devaluing the American trucker. So with the devaluing of the person doing the job came the devaluing of the pay that comes with it.

Lee Kantor: And then. So now what’s it like, you know, to make a living as a trucker nowadays as compared to in the past? Like what’s what part of that you mentioned it’s gone through a radical disruption. What how does that kind of like, what’s the reality for a trucker? What’s the difference of working today versus, you know, 20 years ago?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Um, the respect factor. Um, now, as I mentioned, I’ve been driving for about 15 years, so it’s been well over 20 years that the devaluing of the American trucker has been in action. So. How do I simplify this?

Lee Kantor: Well, I mean, before did you work for one company and then you just got a kind of a route and that’s what you did. And now is it more fragmented? Is it kind of a catch what you can catch kind of job, like a more freelance and project work versus a steady paycheck from a reliable company that needs you to deliver to five places a week or like, like what’s changed?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, the change is the amount that the businesses have been willing to pay the truck drivers because since the regulation D deregulation removed all barriers from, um, making the job cheap. So businesses have been able to like try to make themselves, uh, the favorable purchaser by having the lowest prices. Well, those lowest prices have to come from somewhere and they’ve generally been coming out of the truck driver’s pocket.

Lee Kantor: Now, do truck drivers typically own the vehicle? Is that part of how they get compensated or is it something where they’re just driving? They just show up in their car and then drive the truck and then come back, return the truck and drive home?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Um, that the answer to that is, again, both because you have company drivers and owner operators and owner operators are the ones that generally own their truck and have to take the jobs as as they come, depending on what their desirable outcome is. Company drivers are generally the ones that can, uh, you know, get in their car, get to their truck, do their route or their, uh, regional and come home and then drive back in their own car. So the answer is both.

Lee Kantor: Is there one that’s more desirable than the other?

Valerie Burton Garcia: That’s all dependent on. I’ve been I’ve been a company driver my entire career as a as a driver. And there’s other drivers who prefer to own their own truck. With that comes all the responsibility of the insurance and all that. So it really depends on how much responsibility that you want to take on for the job.

Lee Kantor: But is your competition? I would imagine your compensation is higher if you own the truck.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, in theory, but not in practice. So when you’re operating a truck that you own, you are paying all the insurances, you’re paying all the fuel, you’re paying all the extras that come with that. Like you might need to have somebody, uh, you might need to have loaders and depending on your destination to unload the truck and things like that. So also when we’re dealing with owner operators trying to pick up loads, we’re dealing with a lot of, uh, lowball pitching for the loads in the first place. So in many circumstances, a, uh, owner operator can possibly be in the negative. If he has to take a load that’s too cheap.

Lee Kantor: Now, regarding the autonomous, um, or the autonomous driving, is it something that it’s all or nothing. So is a vehicle autonomous where there’s no human actually there? Or is the human do some part of the work and they’re just hanging out while the, the, um, robot drives it for the bulk of the time.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Um, so there’s several companies that have the autonomous trucks and the issue seems to lie within. They do have people remotely working, but those people, again, we’re dealing with have no operation of trucking experience whatsoever. So it depends on the company. And I don’t have the information for all the companies. But from what I do understand is the robot is driving with the software development developed for the road. And if there’s an emergency, there’s usually a call center that is not often in the United States. And definitely, or I should not say definitely, but um, is very unlikely to have any trucking operation experience at all behind the, the wheel, um, or the remote viewing of that wheel.

Lee Kantor: So they’re controlling the vehicle from afar, um, virtually because there’s, there’s no human in the truck at all. There’s not a human being in the truck.

Valerie Burton Garcia: As far as I understand it. That’s correct. And the people who have the remote viewing often have little to no information of actually driving a truck on American roads.

Lee Kantor: So then, but they’re like, have some sort of a way to steer and brake and press the gas of the vehicle.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Yes. With the remote control.

Lee Kantor: So that’s how the autonomous driving is being executed, um, in these optimal areas right now.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Correct.

Lee Kantor: And then are you saying that right now that it’s still not it doesn’t work. Well, now.

Valerie Burton Garcia: I’m saying that what we are shown and the data that has been released, they’re saying it’s working very well, but we’re not shown all the information. I do have data and examples of this same system failing. Uh, it’s a dig, but they they are they’re right?

Lee Kantor: I’m sure that it has to fail. I mean, you’re not saying that if they were all human drivers, there wouldn’t be a failing.

Valerie Burton Garcia: What do you mean by that?

Lee Kantor: Like if there was no more autonomous and there were only humans driving, there would be fail failures also.

Valerie Burton Garcia: What would those failures be? Do you mean.

Lee Kantor: Like a driver falling asleep or intoxicated? Or there would be some negative ramification of a human driving from time to time?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Yes. I mean, we have that history as well.

Lee Kantor: Right? So there’s going to be a level of failure no matter who’s driving.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Well, yes, there is a change in that. What you do is you make sure that you have the more seasoned drivers behind the road that don’t have a history of drinking, that don’t have a history of crashes, that don’t have a history of falling asleep.

Lee Kantor: Right. But it’s never going to be zero. You’re never going to get perfect. Perfect.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, you definitely can. Like if with a person.

Lee Kantor: You can create a human being. Can have never have an accident.

Valerie Burton Garcia: That’s not the question. And that’s not what I said. What I said was that you are more likely to have a human being who understands the road that’s seasoned, respectable, that’s not going to have the same accidents.

Lee Kantor: So the same percentage of miles, accidents per mile. That’s your thesis that you’re going to get a better result with a human driver that’s skilled, trained, prepared. You’re going to get a better outcome with a human driver than an autonomous driver right now.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Right now you are example, 15 years of me driving, let’s say just ten of just driving a truck. I’ve had no accidents. I’m not a drunk and I haven’t fallen asleep behind the wheel.

Lee Kantor: Right. I mean, that’s anecdotal and that’s great. I mean, that’s I mean, we want everybody to be like that.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Mhm.

Lee Kantor: So right now your consultancy is helping trucking companies kind of handle this level of disruption.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Uh, yes. Exactly. So before we release trucks and have a higher percentage of failures, as you say, on the road, what I am suggesting in a general blanket statement is not to release the more seasoned drivers that companies have, because it can actually save them. It can save them expenses. It can save them insurance. It can save them lost freight. There’s more on the road than just understanding the the lines and hitting a turn signal. Uh, there’s a lot of things that happen on the road that are, are various issues that operators, non operators don’t understand.

Lee Kantor: Right. And you’re helping educate, uh, these people who are making these kind of decisions from the view of somebody who’s been there, done that, not somebody who’s, you know, took a class in AI.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Correct.

Lee Kantor: And then how is that being received by these companies?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Because it doesn’t seem to be a requirement. The interest is still minimal. Um, is a good way to put it. Um generally companies really only want to see data that’s been proven historically by other sources. But we’re at the dawning of all this. So it’s a matter of listening to the people who have the experience, who give you the warning signs before you have to face that caution.

Lee Kantor: So are you working also with. I would imagine that personal injury attorneys would love to be learning what you’re teaching, because this is going to be right in their wheelhouse when some of those mistakes you make that you mentioned happen, and they have an expert on their hands that can help them navigate through this.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Absolutely. I do have lawyers on board. I am, I am reaching out to other, like you said, some accident attorneys and stuff like that. But you have to also remember people like accident attorneys and even American trucking associations, they’re businesses. They’re not necessarily for the truck drivers. So the, the actual clientele that I do have to pull from right now is less so for truck drivers, but primarily for companies who just don’t want to lose profit. So that’s what I’m, I’m really trying to reach out to is people who don’t want to lose their profit.

Lee Kantor: And then, um, is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates how you work with a client and like how you’ve helped them like, like, have you, have you helped a client, you know, change their policy or change the way that they’ve gone about, um, their freight strategy, uh, dealing with this autonomous vehicles that are coming on online.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Yes. So far, the best effective thing we can do, especially at the like I said, the dawning of this new age is keeping driver retention of your more seasoned drivers who have their best record behind them, the ones that have been loyal, uh, the ones that, uh, have their, their basically just keeping their best employees and driver retention has been saving costs from training and hiring. And, uh, I can’t really talk about too many specifics, but yeah, that’s, that’s the biggest thing is the companies are saving so much money just keeping the drivers that they have on deck. And I am still releasing training programs for these companies that are that are accustomed to their own policies, procedures and, um, their whole culture. So it’s a, it’s a very minimal expense considering the operational costs.

Lee Kantor: So do you have any advice for those companies that are dealing with freight right now? And they’re kind of deciding what to do next? What is your best advice for those folks?

Valerie Burton Garcia: Um, my best advice for the companies, uh, that are in that stage of life right now is, uh, please don’t, uh, lose your most valuable resource, which is the people that you have on deck right now.

Lee Kantor: So invest in your, your current rock star, uh, drivers and, uh, keep them as long as you can.

Valerie Burton Garcia: And listen to them, because they do have a lot of feedback, especially as companies are purchasing this new equipment, being them full trucks or just the software to put on current trucks. And it depends again, on the company you go with and listen to their feedback, because you want to make sure that you’re operating to full efficiency and safety standards.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you? Are you looking for more speaking opportunities in front of the public? Do you want to get the ear of some policymakers? Do you want to work with more transportation companies? What do you need?

Valerie Burton Garcia: I would like all the above because being a person of, you know, the American public myself, I just want to make sure our freight gets there. I don’t want to lose access to our medicine, our diapers, our food. So the best thing I can do is talk to anyone and everyone related to that, so we can make sure that we’re not interrupted with our day to day life.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Valerie Burton Garcia: The best way to connect with me right now is going through LinkedIn, and that’s Valorie dash Burton LinkedIn. Um, and just DMing me there. I’m still getting my own website up and running, but that’s the best way to access me right now.

Lee Kantor: And that’s VALERIE. Burton is BURTON.

Valerie Burton Garcia: Yes?

Lee Kantor: Well, Valerie, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Valerie Burton Garcia: I appreciate you. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.