Driver Recruiting Happy Hour Podcast

Read the Transcript

Darin Williams:
Cheers everybody, and welcome to the Driver Recruiting Happy Hour podcast. My name is Darin Williams. I'm the president of CDLjobs.com with me, as always, my phone's gonna ring right during this, is the president of Ten 4 Recruiting and the newly elected board member of the CVTA, Matt Beach. Beach, congratulations.

Matt Beach:
Thank you. Thank you. I know there's many people out there, our 1.2 million followers now, as of yesterday,

Darin Williams:
I was gonna, I can't help, but I can't, somebody really wants to talk to me.

Matt Beach:
I really,

Darin Williams:
I can't help but think that the wave of votes from our viewership had to help a little.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. There there was a lot that no lot of opposition for me winning this winning this seat. There's some challenges along the way, you know,

Darin Williams:
Who did you beat? Did you kinda get in their face?

Matt Beach:
Yeah. I had to, I mean, there was some strong arming that went on. You know, I just wanna, you know, I just wanna really say, you know I, I love God, I love my country, and just wanna say baby, I love you. And, you know, to, to all my kids, my kids at home, I appreciate them and all their, all the, the things that they sacrificed they do with their daddy and, and,

Darin Williams:
Hey, well, beach Beach, you, you didn't win a NASCAR race. You got voted into an office. <Laugh>, relax.

Matt Beach:
<Laugh>.

Darin Williams:
Now, I can't help, but think, so we talked about the upcoming election during our May podcast.

Matt Beach:
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

Darin Williams:
So now in our June podcast, in our May podcast, I said that if you were elected to the board, I would join the CVTA, something that I had been thinking about. Yep. you promptly said that you would blackball me if I tried,

Matt Beach:
And I did.

Darin Williams:
And I gotta wonder,

Matt Beach:
I stood by my word, number one.

Darin Williams:
Did you do a preemptive strike on me? And am I, I I, I, nobody's contacted me back. Have I been?

Matt Beach:
I know, I know. I immediately, I saw, I saw your email, like, did you really blackball me? Like No, I

Darin Williams:
I did. I said have you, have I have I been blackballed already <laugh>?

Matt Beach:
No, I didn't. I'm, I am following up on the application. Let's just say that, it takes time. We got, we've got some, you know, there, there could be potential Watergate going on, and so I don't know that we've got a,

Darin Williams:
Well, I can almost guarantee it.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. <laugh>.

Darin Williams:
I didn't. How far down are you gonna dig here? I mean,

Matt Beach:
Yeah, exactly. <Laugh>.

Darin Williams:
Well, congratulations.

Matt Beach:
Yeah, thank you.

Darin Williams:
Yeah. You're gonna do a good thing. It's a big deal, and I know

Matt Beach:
It is a big deal. Yeah.

Darin Williams:
We go back and forth a lot and that it's a big deal. And yeah. I'm proud of you. I'm happy for you. Look forward to what you can do with that organization.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. Thanks, dad. I appreciate it.

Darin Williams:
You're, you're welcome, son. Now go clean your room.
Um, hey, speaking of fathers and sons I, I am not Beach's father, just for the record, in case that gets out there

Matt Beach:
Maybe

Darin Williams:
Well, you know, who knows? How old are you? Today we've got the Vice President of Recruiting at Dart Transit. Matt Zarras. Matt, how are you?

Matt Zarras:
Good. Thanks for having me on the show, guys. I appreciate it.

Darin Williams:
Hey, we're, you're doing some kind of special things and we're glad to have you. And we're, we, we're looking forward to talking about it. Let, let's get into it. Let's let's jump in. I mean, let's first of all, you are running the New York City marathon this year, which is when?

Matt Zarras:
Sunday, November 5th.

Darin Williams:
November 5th. And you are doing it for a very special cause something with your father. You wanna go into that and tell us exactly what's going on there?

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, absolutely. So I entered the lottery through an organization called CurePSP. My father was diagnosed with a rare brain disease disease called Progressive Suprannuclear Palsy. He actually referred to it as PSP. So when I talked to a lot of people in our industry, they're like, I know all about PSP. No, not a PSP report. PSP the disease.

Matt Beach:
Right.

Matt Zarras:
So so I was selected as one of five team members to run the New York City Marathon to help raise awareness for PSP and to support my father. He actually ran the New York City Marathon twice in his lifetime. The last one, he turned 65.

Darin Williams:
He ran it at 65?

Matt Zarras:
Correct.

Darin Williams:
Holy crap.

Matt Beach:
Where does it, where does it start at in, I mean, where, where in New York City does it start?

Matt Zarras:
So it starts actually right on the other side of The Verrazano Bridge. So literally, once you get off the starting gate with the 50,000 other runners, you'll cross the bridge, and then you run literally all the boroughs of New York, and it'll end in Central Park.

Matt Beach:
Oh, wow.

Darin Williams:
Pretty cool.

Matt Beach:
Yeah.

Darin Williams:
So, get back when you say you won the lottery, winning the lottery and getting a marathon as a prize is not my idea of winning the lottery. What, what does that exactly mean?

Matt Beach:
Was it like a scratch off like this?

Darin Williams:
Congratulations, you can run the NYC marathon <laugh>.

Matt Zarras:
So, so basically what happened was March 1st CurePSP, the organization that won the charity spots for the race opened up an application period. And so I had to submit an essay, letters of recommendation, why I wanted to run, why it was so important to me. And so, you know, PSP is one of those diseases that people don't know a lot about. They don't really understand it. Typically people get misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease instead of PSP. And that's actually what happened with my father. So I entered the application period, submitted the letters of recommendation, and they notified me that I was one of the people selected to represent their organization. And literally, I've never run a thing in my life. I ran one or two 5Ks at Thanksgiving. We're unfortunately one of those families that, Hey, let's go run a 5K together. Or in our case, it would be walk a 5k. So I'm going couch to marathon.

Matt Beach:
So how's the, how, how do you, is there like a, do you have a coach, someone that's helping you train? I mean, that's like, this is, I mean, I've, I've done a lot of, I've done some running, I've never done a marathon. I've come close to a half marathon. But what's the, what's the training for it, for just doing nothing but running? Was it 26? What, how about 26.2 miles? Am I saying that right?

Matt Zarras:
Yep. You are correct. So I'm following, I'm not using a personalized coach. I'm following Hal Higdon's marathon training program. And so literally, it's just in the beginning it's been building miles. So the first time I ever tried to run, I was supposed to run three miles. I could hardly walk it, guys. I mean, I'm, no, I was in no marathon shape. So I've been training for six weeks now. I just did 10 miles last Saturday, which is the highest I've done to date so far. So

Matt Beach:
Nice!

Darin Williams:
And that's pretty impressive after six weeks, right? I mean, that's, yeah, it's, that's a lot. In such a short period of time.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah. It's just, you know, it's typically three to four days a week of actual running, and then one day of cardio, and then you take two rest days. So Mondays and Fridays that don't run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays are kind of like between like three to five miles. Wednesdays normally a little bit more Thursdays it backs down. And then every Saturday it keeps adding miles. So that's why I hit a 10 mile mark this past Saturday.

Darin Williams:
So, I mean, in addition to just the, the, the dedication and the commitment that it takes to do this, it's a huge time commitment. I mean, that's a big chunk of time every day to run three to five miles. I mean, that's, you know, in an hour, right? Once you get going and finish and you're done, it's a, it's an hour outta your day.

Matt Zarras:
Correct. A hundred percent by the time you stretch and stuff. But to me, this was such an opportunity to do something. You know, I've, I wrote in my application to get into the marathon that it felt like I'd been on the sidelines just supporting my father ever since he was diagnosed. And this gave me the opportunity to do something besides, as shitty as it sounds out loud, just watch him die. Oh, I mean, he, he literally has gone from marathon runner to an individual who can't, he doesn't speak anymore. He can't eat solid foods. He just, he's unfortunately in a transitional facility. And, you know, I had to do something and this is my something.

Darin Williams:
Well, I mean, it's incredible, Matt, that's, I can't imagine, I mean, that, that is a that's not just getting involved. That is, that's running a marathon. That's that's admirable, man. And I mean that, yeah, from the bottom of my heart, that is, that is truly admirable.

Matt Beach:
So Matt, they did the, are you familiar with the Ironman?

Matt Zarras:
Yes. I have some friends who have done,

Matt Beach:
So they did the Ironman here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And at some point, if you don't hit this certain mark, they, they, they throw you off the course. Right? You're done.

Darin Williams:
If you're not keeping up, they just tell you you're out?

Matt Beach:
Yeah, you're out. You're done. You can't, we can't, can't keep the lights on long enough for you because it's gonna be a while gonna make, so yesterday I went downtown in the Speedo outfit and I just put a bandana on and I had a number written on. I was just walking around kind of doing my little trot throughout downtown Chattanooga and all the people that were like, he, is he still going? Like, still going guys still get there. I'll get there. No, I'm just joking. But I thought it would be a brilliant idea. Cause there's a big group of them. Like,

Darin Williams:
You know, everybody Matt and I included, right when you were telling this story, Beach <laugh>, we're not sure if you were joking or not. <Laugh> and everybody who just listened to this on the podcast, listen to that whole thing visibly saw you walking around in a speedo with a number written on your chest.

Matt Beach:
A tight speedo, very tight.

Darin Williams:
What do they call it when you walk and jog, what is that, power walking?

Matt Beach:
I don't know.

Darin Williams:
Its like an olympic pport.

Matt Beach:
No, for me, it's like a prance. It's like, I'm like a, I'm like a Tennessee Walker <laugh>.

Darin Williams:
You are a Tennessee Walker

Matt Beach:
<Laugh>.

Darin Williams:
Well, Matt, so you get in on a, basically a sponsorships exemption kind of thing, right? I mean, don't, if, if, if you're an individual runner wanting to go to the New York City Marathon, you have to qualify. Correct? Like you have to run another marathon and have a certain time.

Matt Zarras:
Yes, that is correct.

Darin Williams:
Wow. So to to not have any formal running. That's that. I, so last year about about this time, maybe a little longer ago, I made the decision to run a 5K on my 55th birthday. So I mean, I know what going from nothing to, to that was, and that's three miles. You're going roughly, you know, a little over eight times longer than that. What kind of a time goal do you, have you gotten that to that point where you say, I gotta, I wanna do this and I don't even, what the hell's a marathon time? Eight hours?

Matt Zarras:
So I'm shooting for five hours to finish the marathon.

Darin Williams:
Five hours.

Matt Zarras:
Right.
That's a,
So

Darin Williams:
That's five minutes a mile. That's a, that's hoofing it.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, it's about, I'm shooting for 11 to 11 and a half minutes, miles overall the sweeper, but kinda like what you guys were talking about with the Ironman, how it would take you up the course. If you pace slower than 15 minute miles, you'll, they will remove you because obviously New York City can't stay closed all day for someone to run a race. So I'm shooting for 11 minute miles, five hours.

Darin Williams:
Wow. That's, yeah, that's a pretty good pace.

Matt Beach:
What's

Darin Williams:
Are there built in stops? Or do you just

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, so, so there's gonna be like, after the first couple, there'll be every mile, there'll be aid and water and stuff like that. I'm experimenting now with different types of you know, energy gels, honeybee supplements and stuff, you know, because obviously it's about the carbohydrates, the fluids. But you know, you also have to be careful if you do too much stuff, you're end up in one of those porta potties on the side of the race. And that'll really affect you as well.

Matt Beach:
That would be me. That would be me. <Laugh>. We did a, we did a Spartan race, and it was a Spartan beast. And one of the guys, we, I hope he sees this because I, I still to this day shake my head. We're all running, you know, we're kind of feeling like some some's got gel packs, whatever. I had 28 cans of beer in my backpack. That's what I was running with this race. Well, this guy that's

Darin Williams:
Spartan race? That's like through the mud and over the barrier.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. I had a backfire ruck site. I had 28 count. I was very popular on the course. So anyway, we're running the guy, you know, one of the guys gets, starts getting cramps and he just pulls out the other dude pulls out all these mustard packets that he bummed from the McDonald's where we stop to eat at before we hit the race. I was like, he was like, dude, you just need to, you need to take some mustard and you just need to eat these mustard packs and you know, it'll, it'll cure of your, of your, I'm like, Absolute No, but supposedly I looked it up, I'm like, is mustard, they're like, mustard packs is something, do you have anything like that to carry on the track? On the ra or in the, when you're running long distance like that mustard packs are good to help you not get cramped up. I'm like just No, no.

Matt Zarras:
<Laugh>

Darin Williams:
I've heard pickle juice.

Matt Beach:
Pickle juice. No, not, I mean, imagine I've got I mean, I can't imagine doing 26 what plus mine or whatever it is. And then someone hands me, you know, I'm thinking water, a banana. No, here's a mustard pack. Mm.

Darin Williams:
Well, if that's, if mustard packets work and pickle juice works, you might as well just take the whole damn hot dog.

Matt Beach:
You might as well. And just go

Darin Williams:
And have a hot dog and beer halfway through and keep going.

Matt Beach:
I had

Darin Williams:
There's marathon training according to us, Matt.

Matt Beach:
I think I'm like, have you ever, you ever had caffeine gum? You ever seen it? I don't know

Darin Williams:
That. That's gotta be a Tennessee thing.

Matt Beach:
Yeah, it's a, it's, it's a, it's just energy gum and I, I don't know, for whatever, for whatever reason, I absolutely loved it when I was doing my long distance run.

Darin Williams:
Did you buy this from a guy in an alley? Yeah.

Matt Beach:
Yeah, no. Gas station gum. You know, you have the CBD, you have the yellow jackets, the stingers, there's the gas station energy gum

Darin Williams:
Energy gum

Matt Beach:
Right up there right next to the cash register. The what what brands of shoes are you wearing, Matt, for this?

Darin Williams:
I was gonna ask that.

Matt Zarras:
So I'm wearing ASICS right now.

Matt Beach:
Never heard of them. I'm, I've heard of Apex, but I've never

Darin Williams:
You've never heard of Asics?

Matt Beach:
I thought you said Apex.

Darin Williams:
Asics. Oh,

Matt Beach:
Yeah, I've heard of Asics. Okay. Yeah, I mean, now

Darin Williams:
Was that suggested to you?

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, I went to a local running store and got fitted for the right, right type of shoe for me. So, you know, I know a lot of runners prefer Brooks, but ASICS was a better fit for me. So, you know, typically at the pace I'm going, I'll probably go through two pairs before the actual marathon, because typically 150, 200 miles you want to trade out the shoes.

Darin Williams:
So I run in Hokas. Have you ever tried a Hoka?

Matt Beach:
You talking about hookah?

Darin Williams:
No Beach, not a hookah. Hoka <laugh>. And they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever had. Now, I'm not putting 26 miles on 'em, but, you know, I'll do a couple miles every once or twice a week.

Matt Beach:
What about Tretorns? Can we talk about Tretorns? Do you know what Tretorns are?

Matt Zarras:
No.

Matt Beach:
No. Someone, someone who's listening to this podcast.

Darin Williams:
We've actually talked about this before.

Matt Beach:
No, no, I don't think we did. Someone's gonna know what Tretorns are. I know what Tretorns are. I didn't wear Tretorns. My sister,

Darin Williams:
I'm gonna tell you when we talked about this, your sister was a cheerleader.

Matt Beach:
That's it. There you go.

Darin Williams:
We did talk about this,

Matt Beach:
We did talk

Darin Williams:
I'm starting to know more about your life than I want to Beach.

Matt Beach:
Yeah, too much, too much. Tretorn was pop was the most popular for cheerleaders where you could take them. Not, not good at all for running long distances, but for getting tossed up in the air. Yes. Tretorn. Do you ever go in that direction?

Darin Williams:
<Laugh> Matt? Where can people donate to your, cause I know I saw something on LinkedIn. Is that the best way to to, to reach out to you on that?

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, LinkedIn or Facebook. I, I'd post weekly updates with my mileage, what I've run, and then kind of, you know, updates about my father. I also post, you know, more facts and tidbits about PSP for people to learn more. You know, the nice thing about our community and trucking is a lot of people have reached out and, you know, it's, it's just to build awareness and, you know, I like the fact people are like, you're doing what, what is wrong with you? And it's like, yeah, gotta run a marathon. You know what, it gets people talking.

Matt Beach:
Yeah, it does. Yeah, it does. That's great fun, man.

Darin Williams:
So what what do you do in your free time other than that? Or what did you do in your free time before you started this process? So I'm guessing that is your free time now, huh?

Matt Zarras:
It's taking up a lot of it, but I also, I ref hockey and then I also umpire adult softball at night on top of obviously working at DART and having a family.

Darin Williams:
I thought you were gonna say fishing and hockey. And you are the most Minnesota person ever.

Matt Zarras:
Hmm. <laugh>.

Darin Williams:
So you run a youth hockey league? I,

Matt Zarras:
I ref in a, a hockey league, so

Darin Williams:
Oh, ref.

Matt Zarras:
Correct.

Darin Williams:
Is this an adult hockey league, like a beer league or a

Matt Zarras:
Correct. It's called the, it's literally called the Adult Hockey Association. It's where you can live out your Stanley Cup dreams,

Darin Williams:
<Laugh>, you know, are you familiar with hockey, Beach?

Matt Beach:
Yeah, my first, my first hockey match was,

Darin Williams:
Okay, so obviously you're not very well versed in hockey,

Matt Beach:
Was the Flyers. So I went and watched the Flyers and absolutely loved it of some of the worst meanest fans I've ever been, I've ever been associated.

Darin Williams:
Well, that's Philadelphia in general.

Matt Beach:
I absolutely loved it. And so, yeah. Yeah, I know hockey.

Darin Williams:
So Minnesota, in Minnesota, you are given a hockey stick at birth. It's just, it's the law. It, it, it, everybody, I have never met anybody from Minnesota who didn't play hockey or have some affiliation with hockey. We share in Iowa, we share a border with Minnesota and I can count the number of people I know who play hockey on one finger.

Matt Beach:
Now I didn't know this.

Darin Williams:
It's just crazy. We don't have hockey, we don't do hockey at all in Iowa.

Matt Beach:
And you shouldn't, you guys, you're horrible at well, you

Darin Williams:
At hockey, we don't play <laugh>.

Matt Beach:
No, that's true. Now here's, here's here's my grandmother used to her saying was, I'll never forget her saying that she used to call crap hockey. You ever heard of that? Like

Matt Zarras:
No.

Matt Beach:
She would say,

Darin Williams:
Oh, like horse hockey?

Matt Beach:
Yes, the ca horse had, and, and hockey a big old pile. And I'm like, well, that's hockey. And now, I mean, that's when I was younger and I wasn't familiar with the sport hockey. And now I under, I finally got to realize, okay, now it's a sport not do doo. So there you go. Just a tidbit. That's a southern saying of calling crap hockey.

Darin Williams:
I think in the last 30 seconds you've insulted the entire states of Iowa and Minnesota.

Matt Beach:
No, no, Minnesota. I'm just saying in general. That's what,

Darin Williams:
No, not Minnesota, but Iowa. Yeah.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. There's gonna be people making comments going, yes, my grandmother also called shit hockey <laugh>.

Darin Williams:
That's a totally different game.

Matt Beach:
<Laugh>. Very totally different game. Very totally

Darin Williams:
Hockey family. And what was the other softball? Adult softball. Officiating softball.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah. I also play it, but I've kind of stepped back this season from playing because I need to run. Yeah, I mean, you guys know that, only so many hours left in the day right now.

Matt Beach:
Well, you can also get some training, right? You can go there and make some bad calls and then have the parents and everybody else run after you and everything. <Laugh>

Darin Williams:
An it's an adult softball league. Hopefully the parents aren't running after guys after a bad call.

Matt Beach:
Oh, you, you know, there's got big parents watching their baby boy whoever play and still have

Darin Williams:
Oh yeah, sure.

Matt Beach:
You know, yelling at him. That's alright. Now how long have you been, no, sorry. Go ahead Matt. What was that?

Matt Zarras:
Oh, I was gonna say it's the fans that typically ruin the games. I mean, that's why, I mean, you get me on a tangent about umpire shortages, referee shortages. It's like, holy moly, we're just here. It's a game. Relax, breathe. But no, it's the Stanley Cup, it's the World Series every time <laugh>.

Matt Beach:
I watched this guy who did a TikTok the other day and he was an umpire and he's recording himself going, I'm done. I'm off. I'm, I'm outta here. I don't get paid enough. And he goes and he goes, I'm just, this is, this is a video for me making sure that I, everyone understands why I am quitting. Like he quit. He's like, I'm done. The parents did this, they did this. You know, he was like, you know, up yours, parents up your, this, this association. You're done. I'm outta here. It's not worth it. I mean I can, you have to have thick skin for that, for to be able to do that. It, yeah.

Darin Williams:
He's the Vice President of Recruiting, he's got thick skin.

Matt Zarras:
True.

Matt Beach:
You got thick skin. <Laugh>.

Darin Williams:
I mean a life in driver recruiting prepares you well to be an official.

Matt Beach:
How are things at DART, Matt?

Matt Zarras:
They're good. We're busy as usual. So you know, obviously I heard about your awesome, you know, seat for commercial vehicle training. That's actually been a focus of Dart in the past six months. You know, we're kind of getting back into it, working with new CDL holders and stuff. So, you know, a lot of awesome opportunities for people to get in the industry right now. And so we're grabbing 'em with arms.

Matt Beach:
And back in 2000 and I think it was 2014, my first ever CVTA meeting was in St. Louis and that was the first time I met a few of the DART at the, at the time DART executives. And so I do remember DART having a training program and you, and I think at some point that it got shut off. And I always the, there was, gosh, who was it? Anyway, it doesn't matter cuz I was always said, man, that is one thing. If you could, and you've got the capabilities of creating a training program for entry level drivers. I mean, to me that is a, that's a decent flow of hires, right? I mean, even during the short, if someone asked me like, where's the, where are the drivers at right now? Matt, what pond are you fishing in? I'm like, well, if you had to ask me right now, if you got a training program, it's in a truck driving school. There's drivers right there.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, and the nice thing too, and I mean, I know I'm preaching to the choir, you guys know too, but if you take care of 'em in training, they're gonna stick with you for a while. Treat 'em. Right? I mean, you're gonna teach 'em the habits that, you know, unfortunately we see sometimes in this industry that drives us all nuts. I mean, you're setting the behavior.

Matt Beach:
Yeah.

Matt Zarras:
And the example.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. You know, and people will, well the, you know, I've always heard the, well the, the schools need to be doing a better job of training. Schools are doing a great job, job of training a lot. All of your CVTA schools have a specific area that they have to focus on. And you know, they, they, they do a great job. And, but you, the one thing though is your, your carrier and from my perspective is I really want them to, yes, I want the schools to do a great job of training, but I also, I'm, I want, I wanted to get their class A and then let me train 'em based on my training, you know rules and stuff within, within the carrier itself and so, and skills. So that's one of those where some people are like, well, these schools aren't doing that great of a job.
It's like, well, they're helping them get their Class A, but at the same time, you as a carrier have to train 'em. I always hear, I always hear the other thing, well, students aren't good to hire. We don't need, you know, students aren't, they're not good drivers. I'm like, at some point you were, you know, it's like how do you, how do you think we get more people in industry, they have to go through truck driving school now, and then they, and then they become that one or two year driving experienced driver that everyone for the most part is trying to get. Right? So anyway, I always, I've always had a passion for it and you know, that's one of those, if, if you guys were ever interested in wanting to come back on, if something I can help you guys out with, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be more than happy to get you guys back in front and talking with the CVTA board.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, no, it'd be great to have a conversation. Well, and it's like you talked about, you know, our training program is, you know, it's four weeks once they come outta school, but the first week we don't leave the property. You know, we're just refining skills, you know, building upon things and then we go out with a trainer, we don't just throw 'em in a truck right now, there's no point. We want 'em to actually learn some stuff and <inaudible>

Matt Beach:
Yeah. The finishing schools that carriers have are, are doing these days are absolutely just phenomenal. You know, I've seen, I've seen one where they actually take a certain timeframe student that's, you know, maybe about two weeks and then they bring them back and they're nothing really focused in this one area of the, of the yard. And they have bunks and all that, that they stay in, they work together, they get up, this one group is doing nothing but focusing on more of these maneuvers. And so it's almost, well, I just left truck driving school and now I'm back into another school for the carrier. And you know, with the simulators, I mean simulators have, have come so long. I mean, it's amazing what their capabilities are doing right now. So yeah, to your point, training is just, it's, it's absolutely phenomenal what carriers have been able to come up with these days.

Matt Zarras:
A hundred percent agree.

Matt Beach:
Yeah. Yeah. Well good thing, man, that's great to hear. That DART's doing well, you're doing well. How much now if I, I'm gonna ask this question. How much weight have you dropped when you started running?

Matt Zarras:
I am five pounds so far.

Matt Beach:
Nice.

Darin Williams:
How many?

Matt Zarras:
What was that?

Darin Williams:
How many pounds?

Matt Zarras:
I've lost 25 pounds so far since I started training six weeks ago.

Darin Williams:
25.

Matt Beach:
Wow, that's phenomenal.

Darin Williams:
You must not be carrying around the 28 cans of beer like Beach did then.

Matt Zarras:
No, no. I, I've given up a lot of stuff I like, I mean, I'm not gonna lie, when I crossed that finish line, I'm probably gonna have a soda again. I haven't had a soda in six weeks and I mean, I've cut out all greasy foods. It's heavy proteins and you know, heavy veggies right now.

Darin Williams:
Good for you. Well, Matt, I yeah, I mean that's awesome. I think I was glad we got to talk about this. I would encourage everyone to look in the bio. Wherever you're watching this podcast or listening to this podcast, we'll include Matt's LinkedIn information so you can check him out, follow along and make a donation to the efforts. God bless you, Matt Zarras. That is it's an awesome thing you're doing brother. Hoping for the best for your family, your father everybody involved. And good luck, man. 26 miles.

Matt Zarras:
Yeah, I appreciate it guys.

Matt Beach:
It's a walk. It's a walk in the park, walk in Central Park, man. You got this.

Matt Zarras:
Absolutely. Thanks a lot. I appreciate you guys.

Matt Beach:
Take care, Matt.

Darin Williams:
Yeah, brother. Hey everybody.

Matt Zarras:
Bye.

Darin Williams:
Thanks for following along everybody. Have a great week. Keep on trucking.