Aaron Craddock

I deposited a $6,500 check and asked for $1 back. It’s still in this frame. After a layoff, we put our life savings on the line. 7½ years later, we help some of the largest fleets in the country. That dollar reminds me to keep earning their trust. Still just getting started!

A great day on Capitol Hill advocating for safer highways and a stronger trucking industry. The @TCANews brought our industry together for more than 150 meetings with congressional offices. We worked across the aisle, focusing our conversations on FMCSA modernization and practical policies that advance safety on America’s highways. Ginger and I represented Hire Truckers, and joined the Utah delegation this year, meeting with six offices; two in the Senate and four in the House. One of the highlights was visiting Congressman Burgess Owens’ office. He was presenting on the House floor when our meeting began, then came directly over afterward to spend time with our group. He even let me try on his Super Bowl ring! Go Raiders! and thank you to the congressman and his team for taking the time to listen and engage. It was also fitting to walk into his office and see a model truck from Stokes Trucking LLC, one of the Utah-based fleets advocating alongside us. Ginger and I made it back to Austin, TX late yesterday and are grateful for TCA, the friends we shared the Hill with, and everyone who made these conversations possible. Our industry has an important story to tell, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to help tell it, and just play our small part #Trucking #HighwaySafety #TCA #driverrecruiting #HireTruckers

I’m in DC today for the @TCANews Fall Business Meetings, where we heard directly from FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs! One thing is clear: FMCSA’s focus on driver qualification, CDL integrity and highway safety is accelerating. According to figures released by FMCSA yesterday: - More than 28,000 drivers have been placed out of service for English-language-proficiency violations since June 2025 - States have canceled more than 30,000 licenses FMCSA says were illegally issued to foreign drivers - More than 8,000 unqualified training providers have been purged from FMCSA’s registry (around 10,000 from today’s number) - FMCSA deployed 175 investigators across 40 states to conduct nearly 400 additional ELDT-provider investigations - Those investigations resulted in more than 160 notices of proposed removal. FMCSA reports that drivers certified by those providers were linked to 239 commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities - The FMCSA is now tracing roadside violations back through the broader qualification system, from drivers to training providers, third-party testers and state oversight. For fleets, this reinforces something important, recruiting cannot be measured by application volume alone. Knowing who is qualified, how they were trained and whether their information can be verified is becoming even more critical. Lead quality, identity verification and compliance must become part of the recruiting process, not something discovered after a driver is hired. I appreciated Administrator Barrs speaking directly with the carrier community today. Raising the standard for who operates an 80,000-pound vehicle ultimately strengthens our industry and makes our roads safer. Safety is improving. The standard is changing. Our recruiting and qualification systems need to change with it. Our Hire Truckers team is watching this closely and thinking through Driver Lead flow changes. #DriverRecruiting #FMCSA #TransportationSafety #TCA – at Washington, DC

As our team is growing, I have been focusing a lot on what makes a 10X culture in a business, as you may have heard on a recent Hire Truckers show. Yes, this starts with 10X the value we provide to our clients and partners. I also believe it is imbedded in a few key cultural values across your team. I will touch on one of them today! 1) Do Hard Things You get bad news, or you make a mistake in the business or serving a client or driver. First impulse may be to want to crawl in a hole, go back to bed, cover it up, etc. Good news is those are just an impulse, how you respond next, is key. Some tactics: Take a walk. Get a snack. Pray about it. Then, take action! Have the conversation (pick up the phone, or walk across the office). Address the problem. Own it, and provide a solution going forward. Swift, strategic action. Lead with confidence. Do the hard things. Failure and mistakes on a team are invevitible as we partner in solving seven, eight and nine figure problems. #2 Ties into this, and amplifies it. Culture and principles stack together. You can check out this episode and many others on the Hire Truckers podcast (Spotify, Apple, Youtube, etc.). Let's grow together as an industry! #driverrecruiting #hiretruckers #growthmindset

#IWASNUGGETTED So, it's not everyday that this happens, but it happened to me one day in July! I was at an event with a mutual Luma Brighter Learning and Hire Truckers client, and just being myself and meeting some incredible new people. Tracy Rushing, CDS has an incredible way of bringing the right people together, and creating an incredible Driver Centric culture of positivity, hard work, and FUN. Thank you for including us in the R.E. Garrison Trucking, Inc. safety summit again this year! A little while later that day, Paige Conrad and Kyllie Rucker gifted me with this little guy. This made my week. I appreciate the entire Luma team, including Nugget, and how much you guys bring encouragement to a very challenging, fast paced industry. Scott Anderson Dr. Gina Anderson

You don’t need AI agents. You don’t need prompt engineering. You don’t need another tool. You need better conversations with the AI you already have. Use ROAD: Reality: your situation Operator: who AI should be Ask: let it interview you Deliver: define success 5 minutes a day. Game changer. Podcast drops Monday 🎙️

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your future. When I build a company, I ask a lot of questions. I ask our team, our clients, our partners and myself questions. I combine these answers into a vision of who we need to be. This vision drives our company direction, who we hire, and what clients we serve. Without a clear vision, it’s hard to know where you are going, what talent you should bring in, and even what tasks are important in a day. I knew this was valuable 5 years ago, when I got back into the trucking industry, because I had asked questions to other great founders. I had good mentors who pushed me on this. Excited to be revising our 3 year company vision this month. The vision will not change a lot, but the little tweaks will drive the future. Hope you are having a great week!

This little guy almost did not make it. Two weeks after we brought Theodore home, we took him to the vet thinking it would be routine, and that he was just a little sick. I expected a quick exam, some medicine, and back home. Instead, his blood work came back and everything changed. The vet told us he needed to be admitted immediately and might not make it. For the next six days, it was touch and go. Good updates, bad updates, a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of tears with Lauren and our boys. One little known fact about me is before I went into business, I wanted to be a vet. I have always loved animals, so this hit me HARD. Thankfully, Theodore is doing so much better now, this picture is from this morning! Theodore is back to being a happy puppy. Getting into things, playing, and bringing a lot of joy into our home. Thankful for incredible vets in Austin, answered prayers, and this little guy being home with us. #Gratitude #Family #AnsweredPrayers

Thank you for the referrals, we have gotten 143 Applications for our open Digital Marketing Specialist role, based out of Austin, TX! Days of reviewing applications and resumes, now to the fun part, 7 initial interviews over the next 3 days. Next up, 109 applications to review for the open Client Success Coordinator role, also based out of Austin, TX, and starting interviews this week as well. Why do I spend soooo much time on this? Building a culture and the right team at a rapidly growing marketing technology company, is the most important thing I can focus my time on. People + Technology and AI is where we win. We need the right people to serve our clients with excellence. We need people hungry to grow, and make the industry and everyone around them better. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Epic Truck, Lot's of Gratitude for the Trucking Industry Happy Friday! Now that the truck got your attention, I want to walk you through a quick exercise. 1) What are you stressed about today? 2) Sometimes your stressors today are things you dreamed about having 5-10 years ago. - More work, a Spouse, A Dog, Kids 3) Turn the stressors, into gratitude. EX: I am thanful to be busy doing the hard work of improving relationships, managing business growth, getting a new puppy next week, running kiddos around that I dreamed of having years ago, working on tough conversations with my wife and growing together. Thats it! This helped me this week with busy schedules, Lauren's book launch and travels, new business, etc. Have a great weekend! **Thank you Bennett Family of Companies for graciously allowing me to sit in the beautiful rig for a minute at the Mid-America Trucking Show. #growthmindset #getmotivation

My #1 Book Recommendation for the week (and likely the year)! I'll admit, I am a bit biased, but Amazon put Own With Intention, by Lauren Craddock as the top seller in multiple categories, including "Transformational" within hours of launch. I was one of Lauren's most reluctant students, but have first hand seen the benefits of letting things go. The unlock for me, is what I gain, as I don't let the acquiring and managing of just more stuff monopolize my time as much anymore. I can contribute the the world more, and have more of an impact with my time! The reviews and feedback of people gaining back their freedom already is mind blowing. Don't miss out, grab a copy today on Amazon! #getmotivation #ownwithintention

Alpacas + date night. Nothing crazy. Just time to talk. With multiple businesses and 3 boys 5 and under, it would be easy to skip it. We don’t. We call it living on purpose. Make time to connect. It doesn’t happen by accident. #getmotivation – at Austin, TX

“That’s impossible for me.” Someone said that yesterday when I told them I’m cutting the last 16 pounds to get in my best shape since college. I used to believe that too. Most of the time, it’s not reality. It’s a limiting belief. Add accountability. Add the right people. Watch what happens. Gym 5x/week. DEXA done. Re-test in 90 days. 90% real food. Maybe it’s not impossible. Maybe you’re capable of more than you think. Let’s go!!! #getmotivation

Some of the most successful people I know all agree on one regret. It has nothing to do with money. Every week, I ask one question: Did I spend real time with my boys? Last week was simple. Bowling and a pet store trip. Plan the adventures. The year depends on it. #getmotivation #growthmindset

Freight is downstream of everything Data centers don’t just appear They require steel, concrete, energy, equipment That’s flatbed demand Then it pulls through: Dry van Specialized At the same time: Driver supply tightening Enforcement increasing Truck orders ramping Cycles don’t start when everyone agrees They start when signals don’t look obvious We’re starting to see it #Trucking #Freight #driverrecruiting

Be the person in the room who asks more questions, and listens in a way to learn, not to respond. (Reminder to myself!) Be curious today! #growthmindset

Happy Monday! I’m excited about AI right now. However, if I’m being honest, a little overwhelmed too. As a small, entrepreneurial company, with an incredible AI enabled team, we can now do things at scale that used to be reserved for much larger teams and companies. That part is energizing, and at the same time, new tools are popping up daily. Opportunities everywhere! REAL opportunities. I want to personally try every new piece of tech. However, the reality is, I can’t explore all of them. There are probably 100 good things I could do today. Not just good things, but things that will meaninfully help our team, clients, and vision for Hire Truckers! I’ll realistically execute on one. Maybe half of one. Also, I can also help guide out team toward high impact things in clients success, ops, dev, sales, etc. I wish I had 100 hrs a day right now, and could just work, ha. However, I also have to focus on my health, realationships, family, etc. So the question becomes: What actually matters in our business? Right now, I’m focusing on a simple filter: Does this help us better serve our clients and help us move faster in a meaningful way? AI isn’t slowing down. However, we still have to choose where to focus. Where do you stand? Are you all in, overwhelmed, or somewhere in between? #AI #GrowthMindset #DriverRecruiting

I asked 20 large fleets the same question over the last two weeks. What are you seeing right now? Their answers were almost identical on the Truckload side (LTL is not far behind). “We have the trucks.” “We have the freight, and are even cutting the bottom 10-20%.” “We need drivers.” Not just any drivers. Quality drivers, with experience and a good safety record. There is real pressure right now to scale and not miss this window. At the same time, regulators are tightening enforcement. 1) 17,000 drivers already taken out of service. 2) More scrutiny on CDL issuance. 3) More focus on fraud and bad actors. This is not a normal cycle. This is a pressure build. The fleets that win will not be the ones who react fastest. They will be the ones who prepared early. Are you ready to fill your trucks before everyone else tries to? Reach out to our team at Hire Truckers for help filling your trucks at scale! #DriverRecruiting #GrowthMindset #HireTruckers