Episode 16 - "Generations of GSE Excellence": A Conversation with Brad and Pete Compton

Matthew Weitzel: 0:07

Celebrating 10 years of trailblazing, in ground support Xcēd marks a decade as your leading partner in ground support equipment leasing at the forefront of both short term and long term leasing solutions Xcēd adapt to your unique operational needs. Whether you're ramping up for peak season or planning for long term growth, we provide the right equipment to keep your operations running smoothly. This anniversary we renew our dedication to empowering your ground operations with efficiency and innovation. With Xcēd you're equipped for success today and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. Xcēd driving excellence on the ground year after year. Explore more at xcedgse.com.

Brad Compton: 0:56

This is Brad Compton.

Matthew Weitzel: 0:57

This is Luke brown. This is Jeff Barrett. This is Tesla fasten and you're listening to the GSE podcast. All right, we're here with a special edition of the GSE Podcast. I'm with Brad Compton and Pete Compton. Brad Compton is the VP of global sales for Textron GSE. And Pete Compton is retired.

Pete Compton: 1:18

well traveled.

Matthew Weitzel: 1:20

well traveled.

Brad Compton: 1:21

Thanks for having me back, Matt.

Matthew Weitzel: 1:22

Oh, not a problem.

Brad Compton: 1:23

It seems like yesterday we did this. Yeah. And that was that was the beginning. That was the beginning. And I asked you if you had a good intro song, and you nailed it. You've got a good intro song.

Matthew Weitzel: 1:31

Do you like the intro song?

Brad Compton: 1:33

That was episode one? And what are what's this one?

Matthew Weitzel: 1:36

So this will be somewhere around episode 19 or 20. I think you got

Brad Compton: 1:41

a lot under under the wraps. That's good. They're fantastic. Listen to Oh,

Matthew Weitzel: 1:46

thanks. I've been very busy traveling around the country, you know, doing the GSE podcast, and today we're in Apalachicola, Florida spell that. I could not actually every time I had to google it to figure out where I was going. I always messed up the spelling of that. Pete, do you have that? I

Brad Compton: 2:03

know. I wanted to keep it under the wraps, because I don't want people to figure this place out. It's a it's a gym. Oh, it's

Matthew Weitzel: 2:08

a very sleepy beach town. And I agree. I think we should maybe we should even that part out too late. Too late. Yeah, yeah. Well,

Pete Compton: 2:14

the flasher starts at nine o'clock. The the light that all the lights, go to flasher at nine, that gives you an idea of how big the town is.

Matthew Weitzel: 2:25

Yeah, that's, it's really it's a really great town. And I appreciate you all y'all having me up here to visit you and do this podcast. So the reason that we're doing the podcast today is because I wanted to talk to, you know, obviously, it's great that we have two people that have been in ground support equipment for the better part of 50 years, two generations to generations here. And I just kind of wanted to talk to you all about how the industry has changed, or maybe it has not changed over those last 50 years, and kind of get your get your opinions. And, Pete, where did you work when you were in ground support equipment before your retirement? Well, I

Unknown: 3:05

started with United Airlines in San Francisco at their maintenance engineering base. And I was involved in planning and purchasing and got involved with the ground support equipment. We were experimenting with different types of containers. And then I got to know a lot of people at FMC down in San Jose. They were making the loaders for the wide body jets, which were just coming into service. And I got to know the folks there. And in their environment, they were being asked to leave San Jose, because the Bradley fighting vehicle was also manufactured in San Jose, and they received a huge order in one day while I was out in the plant. And here comes a tank right down the floor. And I had just started with him. And the manager said we're moving to Florida. We've built a new building, and I said Oh, well that would have been good to know when I hired. So I became one of the folks that moved to Florida to start the new manufacturing plant in Orlando. So that was my start with GSC equipment.

Brad Compton: 4:26

This was way before the fax machine is Oh this was even prior to the fax that might have been before the fax machine.

Matthew Weitzel: 4:32

You weren't getting the POS via the fax machine quite yet.

Brad Compton: 4:35

No hand delivered. hand deliver. Yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 4:37

So So you took your family and moved them from California to Orlando, Florida and was FMC started at 7300 President's drive is that yeah,

Unknown: 4:47

they built a new factory. And when we started in 82 My first day on the job was with six people in the middle of a floor on a card table and That's how it started was six people. Most of the folks that San Jose remain there? And my hire was the fact that I would move to Florida. Take over some of the marketing responsibilities. Okay, so

Matthew Weitzel: 5:15

they that point you're in marketing. Right? Right. Oh, all right. And then then you got into sales after that. Right. Right. That's kind of what I did. Brian. Oh, it's

Brad Compton: 5:24

hard to do. That is the stepping stone. Right. That's right. I was excited because I was right by wet and wild. Right. Well, yeah, exactly.

Matthew Weitzel: 5:32

Yeah. And did they have fun spot then?

Brad Compton: 5:35

I don't even know. I knew wet and wild that I had to. I was the guy I had to pick up out of California. But I still brought my skateboard and just had to trade it in for a surfboard in your van at least. I still wear the vans I guess for the fans now. Yes, coast to coast, but a little bit of culture shock, but it was a great move along move. I wasn't quite thinking of GSE then I was thinking of other things. Anyway, so

Matthew Weitzel: 5:57

was when you move there, were you going to the factory and things like that to visit your dad.

Brad Compton: 6:02

Yeah, yeah, I remember that factory like yesterday. And I would love to get back in there. I think it's the same setup. But yeah, like I said, we would go down there as kids and get ready for that wet and wild trip as he's trying to sell stuff around the world.

Matthew Weitzel: 6:15

So by the time that you by the time you're retired, you are what like VP of sales at FMC. No,

Unknown: 6:23

no, I had several different companies throughout my career and I ended up as vice president and general manager of a small manufacturing company. Oh, in Livonia, Michigan, we were making aircraft cargo systems. So I had gone from GSE to containers to the system in the airplane. Okay, that's when they were converting a lot of wide body aircraft, into freighters for UPS, FedEx. DHL, DHL.

Brad Compton: 6:57

Yeah, I would walk into the building, I think I was on a different floor for GSC. As with tug, and he when we crossed paths for about two years, maybe he was up a couple of notches on the on the building floor, but you know, same customers, and their names. were changed. Yeah, I wish I just saved all those business cards. He would lay on the counter kitchen counter back in Orlando when he was calling on the same guys. I started calling on Yeah, when I jumped into the circus. There was a few but yeah, they there was a few still left.

Matthew Weitzel: 7:25

So when you got started in the industry, Brad, were there people go? And now you are you Pete's kid? Oh,

Brad Compton: 7:30

yeah, that's how I met. Yeah, I think there were still a few left that we'd make a call. And it was lucky. I was lucky enough to have that connection for some accounts. But yeah, from United Airlines to Air Canada to FedEx you would you cross paths?

Matthew Weitzel: 7:43

Yeah. Did anybody say well, Pete's better this than you are?

Brad Compton: 7:46

They did? I won't name but the guy. That distributor that would it was Jacob would continuously yell and scream like he always does for the right reasons. And he said, You are not your father. I'll take that. And don't hang up on you now. But yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 8:02

there's there was some that would remember that guy. That was Yeah, Israel, right. He had he had a great

Brad Compton: 8:07

relationship with Jacob. And there was then there was some where you were Yeah, the connection was made. And he would say, Okay, well tell me a story go well, no, I can't do that. In my back pocket. But I know there's a lot of stories out there. So yes. And those were the Those were the good ones to talk to, because they would kind of tell you how it was back in the day. And then, like we said earlier, same crap, different decade, same stuff. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 8:28

that's what we're about to get into. So I think Brad was telling me last night, we all went out to dinner last night. And it was either you or Brad was telling me that you were working with electric equipment back in what the 80s.

Unknown: 8:39

Oh, yeah, that was our main thrusts we knew we had to improve the aircraft loaders, the belt loaders. And we weren't in the business of the tractors. But we focused on a belt loader, that took a lot of resources. And we learned a tremendous amount. And we thought it was very simple to put an electric vehicle on the ramp, because it's intermittent use, which is perfect. But what we didn't know is the workers when they're not working with get on the equipment drive around the airport. Oh, now the belt loader instead of using a couple of miles a day was putting 20 and 30 on. So it was a learning experience. And we worked hard to make it successful. Did

Brad Compton: 9:32

you go from from internal combustion to electric or just launched the electric the electric boat loader from scratch? Did you call that the banana belt? Or is that just know that industries tend to call because he had that? Yeah, that curve in the belt right?

Unknown: 9:45

That was to achieve the rear loading compartment on 747 which is the highest belt loader that our highest door you have to reach. And so if a belt loader was crate, like most, the product would get to the top and fall into the compartment. So we bent the belt. So it would have a softer approach to the door. And it would be like a traditional loading. So but it did catch the name banana belt.

Brad Compton: 10:21

So I have to throw this in here. My goal, when I took over the Air Canada account, which I still manage, I think last year, I finally got to the point where it was 100% talked about litres in their fleet. So I was very proud about that fact, it was a team effort by all but the gentleman I was dealing with a better candidate kept calling me every year and said you've got about 20% to go because my challenge was to kick out all the belt loaders my dad sold into Air Canada. And I think the last banana belt was hanging around Montreal. So I said take that thing in the St. Lawrence River. And let's move on to Tucker. That's right. We made the transition. So props to tug on that one. Yeah. And

Matthew Weitzel: 10:59

that was an all electric felt loader.

Unknown: 11:01

Yeah, Canada passed a law that working in lower deck compartments could not be exposed to fumes from internal combustion engine. And that's what drove the belt loader for Air Canada.

Brad Compton: 11:16

Oh, I think that's a big one. Now, when we talk about sustainability, that's a big one where the fumes will come up into that, that compartment. So that's, that's one of the sales pitches you talk about.

Matthew Weitzel: 11:24

So were you selling 660 Ease then into Air Canada? Yes.

Brad Compton: 11:28

Yes. Yeah, Montreal was a big focus for electrics along with their other operations on the west coast as well. But yeah, we had a big push in there to to continue on with the 660 than the 660, ie, the lead acid now we're converting those into lithium. So now now they're looking into the kits, right? You take your internal combustion and you drop in a kit, which I know is huge in the industry. But do

Matthew Weitzel: 11:49

you think you'll have a kit for this for the six months? Yeah.

Brad Compton: 11:52

Okay, we do now. And again, I just wanted to kick out all those banana bells to say yeah, yeah, that was that last one. That was stamp P commented on this now, Brad competence. That's the way we work.

Matthew Weitzel: 12:02

Yeah, I didn't realize that. I knew that a bunch of companies were coming out with these conversion kits for like the AMA, but I didn't know that the 660 was going to be able to be converted

Brad Compton: 12:10

to belt loaders easier, right? You got a lot more room to Yeah, you're not you're not restricted with the space that you have for the engine. So you got a little more flexibility on the belt loader. But I think the belt loader caught momentum, as well as attractors for electrification pretty quick. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 12:25

it's pretty crazy that you know, all we talk about now is electric. And it sounds like they were talking about electric. What What year was that? They 280 82 Magnum P I was still on? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Don Johnson.

Brad Compton: 12:39

No, wrong one wrong boy. Yeah, yeah. Sorry.

Matthew Weitzel: 12:42

I was thinking to my advice. I'll tell you at the end of this podcast is a pie. Yeah. Okay. I don't know Magnum. P. All right. Sorry. That was my advice to you to later. Yeah,

Brad Compton: 12:52

that was a good one. Okay. Yeah. All right. You know, we're not Tom Selleck and Tom Selleck.

Matthew Weitzel: 12:56

Oh, yeah, too. Oh, I'm thinking stash. Yeah, that's your main crush.

Brad Compton: 12:59

I forgot about that is top 10. Yeah. Yeah, the belt loader. I mean, I have a picture of dad with that hanging out on my belt loader on the ramp. So

Matthew Weitzel: 13:07

yeah, we'll put that we'll put that picture up. If you don't mind. We'll put that link in the show notes. So that we can see that

Brad Compton: 13:13

down in Orlando. That was a big move, big move for the family. But it turned out pretty good. So

Matthew Weitzel: 13:19

were you able to introduce Brad into the industry? So is that how you got into? I know you're in copiers. And then we're How did you get your start though? In GSE? Was it was Pete a big part of Yeah, huge.

Brad Compton: 13:30

But no, I'll kick it off with Yeah, I threw myself into sales in Atlanta, you know, pounding the pavement, knocking on doors. And then I got to a point I was like, I gotta make a move. This is frustrating. And he had the relationship in the industry with the folks at tug. I know, there's lots of stories about your poker parties at the airport. But he made the relationship with the guys at tug. And he said, go see him. Go have breakfast with them. See what happens? It took a little while. But it didn't happen. Yeah. So that was the connection. And like I said, I wish I kept all those business cards he would throw on the kitchen counter, because that would have helped. But yeah, that would have opened the door. And then I you know, I had that that that bat phone I would I would break the glass and call them and say how do you get through this type of situation? Yeah. And like you said earlier, same crap, different decade is the same type of situation, same type of outcomes, you have to work towards getting in and that was it. But yeah, I was lucky to have him on the other side of the phone for a lot of those deals. I would

Matthew Weitzel: 14:20

like to hear the UPS story. Now. I don't know how much you've listened to the GSE podcast. We always have to everybody has to tell story when they come on the GSE podcast and you're telling me a story last night about ups and kind of their beginnings and how they couldn't even write POS. So that's

Unknown: 14:37

true. I made a first trip from Orlando up to Greenwich, Connecticut, where they were just forming their air group. And up to that point, they had leased everything. And I didn't know why I was going up. They just invited me up. So we met the folks there. Went to lunch and then And after lunch, I was starting to look at my watch, then I gotta get back to New York and catch a plane. He says we'll sit down, we want to buy. And I believe it was five main deck loaders for the main deck of the 747. And at that time, I think they were going for just under 850, a loader by and I was I was trying to get it

Matthew Weitzel: 15:29

as dollars or euros. Yeah, that's not pesos. And

Unknown: 15:34

so I tried to be calm, and we talked about them, how they operate, how fast we could make them. And I think we had to in production. So he said, Okay, we'll buy the five. I said, That's great. Yeah. So I took off happy as a clam and high tide. And I'm going down the Hutchison expressway back to New York. And it dawns on me, I don't have a Pio. He just shook my hand and said, We're going to buy him at work. So I pulled over to Bank of phones. And I called my boss and said, I said, we just made a major score, because at that point, we hadn't sold hardly anything now out of Florida. And so I told him, then at that conversation, I realized I didn't have to. Yeah. So I hung up, call them back. And they were almost in shock. They said, You need to tell me, we have to write a Pio. I said, Absolutely. I said, I can't make a factory commitment of that value without a purchase order. He says what gets pencil out, and he rattled off a number. I wrote it down, called my boss said, here's the number. So I head back next day at the plant. He says, Where's the paper to? So I call him back and say you're going to issue a paper fee? Oh, he said, I don't think we know how to do that. We haven't been involved in buying. That's where you make your own. Yeah, exactly. So we put everything into production, and kept from a revise and delivery unit. And I thought, How in the heck am I going to invoice that? Yeah, I did. I sent him a standard invoice and they paid it right away. And so my biggest order ever didn't have a Pio. It was turned out to be his social security number.

Brad Compton: 17:42

There was a paid right away.

Matthew Weitzel: 17:45

Yes. And they had to pay right away. You had this guy's social security number, you know, their x, y, you know what these guys going to do with this thing? If we don't pay? No, that

Unknown: 17:52

was the beginning of a great relationship. Yeah. And as I change companies, I think my last sale to them was the M D elevens. They converted to freighter, and we supplied the cargo system. And UPS invited me to Louisville to be part of the party, that when the first MD 11 flew in to start service with UPS. So that was really quite a compliment over the years. Yeah.

Brad Compton: 18:24

And that's a good partnership. Yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 18:26

Yeah. And then Brad, you sell to UPS now?

Brad Compton: 18:29

I do. Yeah. I mean, I gotta get POS, we both do get pos 100% more structured. But yeah, UPS is still strong, and that they want us to succeed. They're always a good partner within the industry. I think they shine really well along with their competition in Memphis, and up in Cincinnati. But yeah, that's where a lot of our paths have crossed within the cargo segment. And that's always in a growth mode. So we enjoyed working with those companies. And still do

Matthew Weitzel: 18:54

we did you work with FedEx as well? Oh,

Unknown: 18:57

yes. In fact, we sold them quite a few cargo systems, and then they had their fleet of Airbus. And then they were converting other aircraft, DC 10s of our MD elevens. And we had enough business that we could put a small repair shop in Memphis, so we could start repairing recycleables for them, and actually fleet and repair few tractors of brands that have some and couldn't handle it and just send it or fix it and get it back to us. So that was a big move for a little company to put a repair station in the Enforcer. And that was our first one.

Brad Compton: 19:43

Is your decal up at vanners Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 19:47

We had to purchase a Ford van. And now you see decals. The rat cover the whole van. Yep. That had never been done. So one of our fellas figured out how we could make the side of the van look like an airplane with the wing, the windows. And that van drivers door was looking like a cockpit. And then in the back of the van, and the two doors that open, we made it look like the inside of an airplane with of course our cargo system. Yeah. So the corporate said it was like six grand. And they said don't do it. Well, I went ahead and did it anyway. Next month on our company, magazine, we were on the cover.

Brad Compton: 20:46

And they said, Good job,

Unknown: 20:47

you have a job. And of course, every time our competition would come to visit FedEx, I park it right in the number one spot in the visitors area. I never missed a trip. They tell me they're coming in and I park this airplane van. Right. Yeah.

Brad Compton: 21:05

So yeah, Memphis is a good place to be. They're so active. But yeah, I mean, I would call I would call dad's Hey, man, I'm off to this country or this city. And he would be quick to tell a story about that city, that country or that person who you're about to visit. So that overlap again. Is was was awesome.

Matthew Weitzel: 21:21

That's a fantastic story. Yeah, I actually, Brad, let me call on FedEx. When I did it, it was a mistake. I know. Right? Yeah. No, it was.

Brad Compton: 21:31

No, it was good. That's good. That's that you know, those those accounts? You've talked about FedEx or UPS are very large airline, take your pick. Those are those are, you could cut your teeth in there and learn a lot. So if you just did a lot from that, and I'm sure I just throw you in the deep end. I didn't even tell you where the hub was. But you've you figured it out. Right? Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 21:50

yeah, it was. It was actually an amazing experience. Yeah, I got to meet a lot of good a lot of good folks. I still talk to today. Yeah, from there

Brad Compton: 21:57

and touch a lot of different organizations within the company. So you got purchasing and then you got logistics. GSEs. So it's kind of a inless hole there. But yeah, it's those are good ones to start with.

Matthew Weitzel: 22:08

So when you were at FMC, did they have, de ICERs? Or was that later on? No,

Unknown: 22:14

no, they had de ICERs they had the three wheel de ICER three wheel. Yeah, no. Okay. That was developed. We'll bring that back before I got there.

Brad Compton: 22:25

Cost savings

Matthew Weitzel: 22:27

for the wheel. It

Unknown: 22:29

pretty much ended when we moved to Florida. But the TM 1800 was de ICER choice and a lot of stories selling those interior aspirants I enjoyed de ICERs it was involved a lot of people, you know, the driver, the sprayer, the maintenance people, and it was a successful unit still around.

Brad Compton: 22:53

Let's go back to Air Canada. You tell the story about loading it up on a on a flatbed. And I think Mom was nervous sack because you had to drive that sucker all the way up to Canada. Oh, and you got there for a demo? No,

Unknown: 23:06

that? Yeah. When we first made the belt loader available knew it worked. We rented one of the flatbeds that tilt the back. Gotcha. And we could put it on the flatbed straightened it out. And we had what they called a hotshot, which was a tractor that smaller than your over the road, full tractors. And so each salesman had a couple of days of driving around customer to customer to demonstrate it. Wow.

Matthew Weitzel: 23:39

That's the way to

Brad Compton: 23:39

go. And that still works today. Here's the road. Yeah, to do it. Yeah. But here's the story. You have to know how to drive a stick shift, though. Oh, yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 23:48

that's well, then I'm out. Yeah, you're out? Yeah, we

Unknown: 23:50

had a number of people that corporate set to us, which were recent graduate MBA, hot shots. These guys were in a training program to be in marketing, sales, production, and they'd move on or get elevated right there at FMC. So three of them. were assigned to take it out first. And I remember as clear as day, they all came to my office with their heads down. And they had to admit, they had never driven a gear shift car ever. Yeah. And so we took him out to the parking lot, and had to train them on how to drive clutched vehicles. And so the day we hooked it up and set it up to New York. He killed the engine twice. The part that would be me. Yeah. So when I got let's see, I was driving it up

Brad Compton: 24:50

to Toronto. Orlando to Toronto.

Unknown: 24:53

That's no I come from Denver. I was all across countries.

Brad Compton: 24:58

Yeah, we were making a loop. Okay. Same as my basketball game that week.

Unknown: 25:01

Yeah. The I remember we get to the border. And that was the week the Pope was visiting Toronto. So they stopped all trucking. And I'm driving down the road. Now I'm not so hot with this thing. Okay, and the truck. Sorry, the trucks were pulling into a parking lot. And I didn't know you had to really go wide to turn a trailer. And we had a large overhang on the back of the trailer. And as I turned in all trucks for being stopped. I clipped another truck that was parked, took out his fender and headlight. I heard the noise drove down to the end of the line, and I was able to back my vehicle in, then I thought I better walk up there and see what's going on. And there were like 10 or 12 truckers, and you can imagine what they looked like big burly guys with hats on, you know, Volvo, Rio, and they were they looked like there was going to be a fight. And I just walked up to the guy that I hit. I said, Oh, man, I'm sorry. And the guy started, what the heck were you do? And I said, Well, I'm not a trucker. I'm just a little sales guy, that I didn't know how to turn it. And when I admitted I didn't know what I was doing, and they all said all that's alright, that's fine. Give us we understand, you better have your insurance. So we settled with a right on the spot. And that's not quite the end of the story. The next day, we get to the airport. And they're directly out to the GSE shop, which is next row parallel runway, and it's raining. And I get there, jump out of the truck and they come out. Oh, no, no, you can't park here. Take it around the back of the shop. Well, now I know how to turn it. And it's wide. So I go the parallel road turn behind the shop wide. And I end up in mushy grass. And part of the trailer extended over the runway.

Brad Compton: 27:26

I know you're in the runway at this point. The back of the trailer is now that's probably not cool. Oh, the runway. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like that. They don't like that at all. Yeah,

Unknown: 27:36

all the lights and things came flashing at once. We did get it turned around. But I got yelled at for another hour. Right there. I thought this isn't going we get

Brad Compton: 27:48

yelled at by the truckers and then the airport authority. Yeah, you got probably got yelled at by the customer because the thing worked, or

Unknown: 27:55

actually not the guy that ran the shop. He said, Look at this guy. He's out in the rain. And he got some points. Yeah, yeah, got points for unloading the belt loader in the rain. So anyway, we were successful, but it was a torturous trip. Yep.

Matthew Weitzel: 28:14

That's what happens. GSE I remember we had Brad told me he said a couple things. You know, when I first started, number one was never send FedEx any documents via UPS? Oh, no. You the hard way. Yeah. So that was that was that was good rule right here that the FedEx account

Unknown: 28:33

goes further than that. Okay, I told Brad, one of the first things on your sales trips, if you're going to FedEx or delta have a delta ticket

Matthew Weitzel: 28:46

envelope. Well, that's where he was going. Yeah, I've

Unknown: 28:50

many times have changed tickets into the right envelope. Because

Matthew Weitzel: 28:57

they'll make a reservation for you. Yeah. So. So that's where that's where I started was going. So what Brad didn't tell me what was was that little piece of advice that you would told him and so Brad and I went up to visit JetBlue. And JetBlue said, Hey, when did you get in? Yes. Like, oh, you know, the three o'clock flight from Orlando. And I said, Yeah, I think we don't have a three o'clock. And I was like, Oh, no. I

Brad Compton: 29:24

learned to and I didn't take his advice. Or maybe I wasn't listening because one of the crossover accounts and this'll date me is my first one of the first was TWA. So I flew into Kansas City. I think you knew the head engineer. So I had a little bit in you know, they say hello, but yeah, the gentleman I was Yeah, the one guy was and that was like walking back in time and that that facility after we had lunch, he said, Oh, you know, thanks for coming out and hope you enjoyed your flight said great. Well, thank you. He goes well next time why don't you give us a try and fly TWA. Okay, I'll do that. So let's and learned Yeah, you Yeah, you you can't forget the small stuff. And so yeah, that's kind of the golden rule. And everyone needs to know that when they're getting started in this industry. Yep. Good one.

Matthew Weitzel: 30:09

That's yeah. So

Brad Compton: 30:10

that's in the book when we start writing Chapter Two that needs to go in there. Yeah, forgot about that. That was the Jet Blue for you. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 30:18

that was a that was a juggling act. I was coming from Atlanta. That's the reason I was flying Delta. Not Orlando. I messed up my story. Just just

Brad Compton: 30:24

just a hair. You're doing fantastic. With JetBlue? They'll still still let you in the door. Oh, yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 30:28

They'll still let me in the door. They forgive they give they forgive you once. You know. And then after that, you gotta you always got to make the right decisions. Exactly. So what kind of changes? Did you see over the the years that you were within the ground support equipment industry? Or? Or did? Or was there none at all?

Brad Compton: 30:44

We were but you can't have a martini at lunch anymore? Oh, yeah, that's, that's done.

Matthew Weitzel: 30:49

Yeah, there was

Brad Compton: 30:50

a piano bars and 747. There

Unknown: 30:52

were a lot of stories. Yep. Basically, I think that things that changed was the advent of the computer, it was just starting, when I entered the sales field. And I can remember it go call on somebody, and purchasing and they can hardly talk to you, because they're flipping through that big ream of paper, looking for data. So they needed you as an expert, to help them through a technical buy. And then airlines started involving their engineering in those decisions, which changed a lot of things because now you're selling purchasing, management and engineering. And in my view, engineering had a big pole in the development of the equipment and the purchase decision. Then as time went on, with the advent of the cell phone, don't

Brad Compton: 31:49

forget the pager.

Unknown: 31:50

The pager first, I was good, but you couldn't get an appointment? You know, they say text me send it, send me an email, I don't have time to see you. And I said, Well, how am I going to convince you that ours is the one you'll want to buy. And these were to me untrained purchasing agents that during the time they were sucking in new employees, and for about five years, it was very difficult to see anyone are on a first appointment. So we started going in through engineering, and that upsets a lot of people sometimes Yeah, but the way you sell ground equipment, demonstrations, engineering, then purchasing. And the other way around, it used to be purchasing first, they wouldn't let you in the door. So I told all of our people, I said the important thing is to make friends first, get a relationship going a technical relationship. So they can depend on you to keep them advised of changes, new products, and then the orders will come. And that's the way it was all the way through my career.

Brad Compton: 33:12

You know, so we got to be face to face, right? It's an old saying you can't see eye to eye face

Unknown: 33:17

to face respect. See, if you want to see if you have a face to face.

Brad Compton: 33:21

And I think that's still true in the industry. Yeah, I agree. I mean, on both sides with our customers, and then the suppliers out there, they try real hard, and they want to keep it going. Because that's the way you do tackle problems. And you you find out opportunities. So I think that's still true.

Matthew Weitzel: 33:34

But I mean, it's amazing now, right? So if I have a have a customer that I want to go see, you make the phone call, and then you're you're texting and you're sending calendar invites. So it's in their calendar, and then you know, you text them when you get to their office, and hey, can you let me in all this stuff? I mean, how did it work with with you? Or it's just like, you get into New York to go see somebody in the column on a payphone? Or do you just show up the office and just hope to God that they left it on their calendar? I mean, we have so many points of contacts that you know that we can just talk to them at any time. But back then it was there the days of silence, I'm sure from your customers. Yeah, I

Unknown: 34:11

used to tell Brad, what you really need to know in your territory is where the phones were. Yeah. Where's the phone bank? You don't? Yeah, the best hotels that have the quietest phone booths are on the on the main freeways where the phones. I remember we got an order from McDonnell Douglas out in Long Beach. And I had rented a car that had one of the first mobile phones and it was on an extension that brought it up almost to your face out on the floor, and you could dial on the phone. And so I'm driving back to the airport and we just gotten an MD 11 Order and I tried dialing this On your had a wreck. Because I was focused on getting the word out that we had a nice order.

Brad Compton: 35:08

Yeah. And you got the PIO this time, I'm sure. Yeah, I had as a favor. Anyway, I think that what and even even we've probably deal with this now the time from your gathering information because of a request happens so fast be these bids, but you got to think you know, 2530 years ago how slow that process would have been where they're mailing you that request for information, then you mail them something back. I mean, that would be slow process. Maybe you didn't think about it back then. But now everything is so fast. Yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 35:37

I mean, what were lead times like, back then?

Unknown: 35:42

It was it got worse as this. No, I'm talking about the cargo seal on the airplane.

Matthew Weitzel: 35:50

Oh, okay. The cargo. Oh, I was thinking more like cargo loaders. SMC time, you know,

Unknown: 35:55

FMC, we did a good job in those days of forecasting. Yeah. And we did it to keep the line moving. Okay. And so we pretty well could forecast and get it right.

Matthew Weitzel: 36:08

Would you build without POS? Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Unknown: 36:13

Not a lot. But if we didn't have a Pio by the time it got to paint, we were in trouble. Yeah. But we never parked too many of those. We always had customers. And de ICERs to me were the most difficult because we had to commit to the truck chassis. Those aren't Yeah, years in advance. And then at the same time, start working on the mechanicals that go with it. And so we tried to book that up before the season. And it was always difficult, Ford would be late with the chasis. So that was our biggest management problems getting the de ICERs ready to go.

Brad Compton: 36:56

Those are the I mean, that's heavy, heavy equipment and a lot of steel. We deal with that too. On all we call our Bae bills. So the push backs, it's very similar to what I'm sure JBT then then FMC has to deal with it's this the forecasting and now a lot on the inventory. That's a big heavy stuff. You got to store and anticipate the orders. And the challenge, you got to keep that line moving, or else if you shut that thing down. It's that's not a good thing.

Unknown: 37:19

Yeah. Forecasting was probably the most difficult part of our job in either cargo systems, ground equipment or containers. Yeah, that was where all the difficult issues and sometimes eat the bear sometimes the buried shoe. That's how that goes. That's

Brad Compton: 37:39

forecasting. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, you could it's crystal ball, right? Embrace that break. Sometimes you're the smartest

Unknown: 37:46

guy in the company, you get it wrong. And you better know where the door is that

Matthew Weitzel: 37:52

how is safe arrow and Premiere doing these days? It's

Brad Compton: 37:56

good. It's good. You know, you learned that weather is a big part of that, globally. That's true. But yeah, we've transitioned the premiere down to Georgia. So from a Textron standpoint, Textron is very, very good at it, putting the factories together, like we have a new factory in Cartersville. And so their support was was making that happen. 100% and then say Pharos is doing well, that's a very innovative product, that now a lot of people get a taste of. So we continue to promote that globally, doing a lot of work in North America to kind of get that reach go and we'll say Pharaoh, but we're in a good spot, because we have those two different types of products, which I just say the open bucket versus the very innovative one man drive. So the ice is complicated. There's a you know, it doesn't happen overnight to introduce a new vehicle into a company that has a lot of the other brands is not easy, but we're working on it. It's it's fun.

Matthew Weitzel: 38:48

It's safe arrows here in the US right now.

Brad Compton: 38:51

They do not in Apalachicola, Florida. No, no, no, no down here,

Matthew Weitzel: 38:55

unless you're just spraying people on the beach. But we do. Do you have any in stock and inventory right now? We

Brad Compton: 38:59

do we have units in stock here. And we do that in anticipation of the season. And we also have a lot of customers now with that growth mode in North America. Not as many as we want. But we're making progress. Now those more for Pat de icing. That's yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. They work it's like a ballet they work very well when you have to on a pad but not to say they can't work at a gate. But they they they do their magic on a pad. So we're making some good progress

Matthew Weitzel: 39:24

globally. And then the premiere. So how's that transition been bringing it down in Cartersville, I finally got to go to Cartersville. And it was a great, great facility

Brad Compton: 39:32

clean sheet of paper like what Dan was saying when he when he moved to Orlando, it was what is fearful for a sales guy that's responsible for feeding the baby. And that is the factory when you walk in and nothing's in there. Like man, this is big. And we got to get some product in here. And this was coming out of COVID. Yeah, but again, Textron believed in it, they said we're going to invest we're going to continue to invest because the customers they're waiting. So yeah, we've got the premier down there. It's a great factory. All lines are humming right now. We've Got great leadership in the production side of the house and supply chain side of the house, which is now back, I think always a struggle in this industry. But yeah, we're going strong. So we have the Cartersville factory, which includes premiere. And then we have, say, Pharaoh in Sweden, which has that product.

Matthew Weitzel: 40:15

Is there anything like new innovation or anything going on from the last time that we spoke like that you want to kind of? Well, it's

Brad Compton: 40:21

all about electrification. So you've got a pretty advanced and disciplined roadmap. And so Brian Yoder, as you know, is always working on something new. So our goal is to have new product every year to showcase at the at the industry show, I'll just say it's all about electrification. Right? Now, we're going to keep continuing on that path for for the bigger, bigger products. Okay, now is the so the Alpha ones out there. Now the Alpha One is out there. And that's that's doing well took a little bit, but it's doing very well. Okay. And then is that a complete replacement for the GT? We are not going to sunset, the GT 35. So the best way to think about this as the GT 35, which is a well known product in the industry will stay as our diesel offering lots of orders backlog. The Alpha One is the innovative brother sister to that what you have a gas engine and you have a lithium battery option for that pushback, okay? And what's cool about it is once you get it out in the field, and you need to kick it off with gas and one station, and that station has a forecast to go all electric and they're getting pushed by the airport or other groups, you can take that engine out and we can pop in the lithium battery. Like it sounds super easy. I'm sure it's a little more technical than that. But more than more technical than plopping. Yes. I'm not gonna plop I'll just point fingers. Have someone else plop? Okay, yeah, so I won't even drive the truck. I'll just, I'll just say he's got to go from here to there. Yeah, yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 41:39

So Exede has Alpha ones, alpha fours. Yeah, we're buying stuff from Textron right now. And it's really

Brad Compton: 41:47

cool. I mean, just the ergonomics, right, if you look at the picture that dad has, from 82, you sit on the airport, this, you can just get a feel for the ergonomics of GSE overall. And now, there's so much time in thought put into the ergonomics of the tractors, the push backs, the belt loaders, and the awful ones a prime example of that, how the the steering center steering, the visual, you got to have, you got to be able to see out of these things. So safety. And the ergonomics are key to every launch that we put out now. Yeah, and

Matthew Weitzel: 42:17

I needed to thank you for for the ghci annual conference on stage with everybody always talking about the future of GSE. And I think that, you know, one of the ways that it has changed, you know, GSE has changed since since Pete's time in the industry is ergonomics, and the way that it does it the way that it does look, I mean, it does look different. I mean, not a ton different, you know, time to time, but it does look different. There's a

Brad Compton: 42:42

lot when I say safety, and then the ergonomics that kind of come hand in hand, because safety is not a competition, we just got to have the industry focused on that. But you know, you just you've got to either point A to point B, if you're pulling bags, or pushing back an airplane, just get the job done first and the old product still get the job done. It's just we're advancing that the field that could help with safety, and just have those drivers relaxed and feel a little more secure in the vehicles. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 43:06

so Exede has done a really good job of were buying electric equipment. That's great. You guys are proactive. Yeah, yeah. So so people can come to us and try out that electric equipment. And if they have gates that are opening that that need electric, we have that. So we're buying it in from Textron, we have an endurance. We love that. Yes, that's exciting. Yeah. So the endurance is a new new electric bag, tractor offering.

Brad Compton: 43:31

That's the high voltage with the GM partnerships. And so we're excited about that. We think that's the future is that type of voltage, and we're disciplined enough to keep in that same path and is going to is going to happen, it's going to be a great product,

Matthew Weitzel: 43:45

it has a 660 e changed at all, or is that is there like the new development going on with that? Or is that basically the same offering you've had for a while, I mean, people love that product.

Brad Compton: 43:54

They love the product. And it's it's the same footprint, but I'll tell you what, we've advanced it with the lithium technology, and again, all the safety features we put into that and that and we're probably in the same category with our others in the industry. But that transmission now that's electronic gives you so much more options available to help that belt loader, kind of take that next step into safety features. Creep modes, collision avoidance, when you get in close to an airplane, whether it's container loader or belt loader or catering truck, that's when people get a little nervous and so that that helps advance that product. So the 660 is going to continue on and that's a full line for us. We are in a good spot or Yeah, the production team is understanding how to build that build that better the option book for a boatload probably the same back in the 80s it's it's it's thick, there's finance heavy, it's a heavy option boat. And that's the world we live in. We don't mind that. It's just we got to be very disciplined on how we approach it with our customers.

Unknown: 44:51

You have to forecast. Oh, yeah,

Brad Compton: 44:53

you gotta force it. Yeah, yeah. To forecast is that's the hard part. But yeah, the belt loader is great and we appreciate it. Seeds partnership, we will launch more and more product and folks like you on the other side that help us inventory that and work with the customers that don't have a whole lot of forecasting ability. And that's the ground handlers. Yes. It's not their fault. They just have quick turns and we like that and you guys will help us out.

Matthew Weitzel: 45:16

Yeah, we just had Daniel on from from unify and he was saying the same thing where it's quick turns, you know, the ground handlers need the equipment right away and with lead times as they are. It's tough. Yeah.

Brad Compton: 45:27

You know, the dad could be sitting up at JFK talking to Hudson general back in the day and you get very excited when they're gonna go I'm gonna buy a belt loaders from your fantastic well, I need those two weeks. Yeah, that's the forecasting and driving the lines, maybe pop out some some stock. Now does Textron offer telematics? We do we have what we have an in house that is going to be carried over from from our golf segment. Okay. Again, the the beauty of Textron with their engineering focus, we could collaborate with that and bring that into the GSE space. We're working on that we have that. But we also have to be cognizant of the others out there that have already proven yourself on the ramp. So we will, if you catch it in time, we could help with these others that already have it, put it into our tractors for companies that are already have a partnership, but we are going to launch and continue to talk about our in house fleet management. Yeah, yeah. There's

Matthew Weitzel: 46:16

a lot of talk around telematics these days. And that's huge in the industry. That's,

Brad Compton: 46:19

that's long time coming. Yeah, yeah. I've

Matthew Weitzel: 46:22

got a telematics series of podcasts coming out. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're gonna interview our friend David Kennedy. Okay. Yeah, he's ready. Yeah, yeah. He was on the podcast. He's good. Yeah, he's been on the podcast is it just for a brief moment before but he's gonna come back on in we're also interviewing a couple other telematics companies. advies is gonna come on and talk as well. Yeah, they're both very strong in the industry. Yeah. Yeah. Very big players in the industry. And then we're going to have a couple of autonomous podcasts talking about how there's some autonomous solutions out on the river thought, right. Well, yeah, well, we're gonna find out right, we're gonna we're gonna find out what they have to offer. So Yep. All right. What else? What else we got guys? Well,

Brad Compton: 47:00

I don't know. Let's see. We got some more stories, don't we? Talk? And we were talking Air Canada. We talked FedEx ups. I know there's others. What was the first international trip you took? November? Did you head over to Germany?

Unknown: 47:16

Selling I think my first trip was to Israel. Alone. Wow. Yeah. We they were converting some seven, four sevens for colletta air to turn them into Fredo

Brad Compton: 47:30

you had a good relationship with colletta. Yeah, yeah, we did. He was right there. And if he could tell those stories on this podcast or not,

Unknown: 47:38

I don't know. But yeah, it was. We were installing a Boeing equivalent cargo system. They wanted the operation to be exactly like a Boeing system. But we're about half the price. So it made sense that we should do this half

Matthew Weitzel: 47:57

the price works. A lot

Unknown: 47:58

of times it works. It's amazing. And, and then we develop some power units go on the floor to pull the containers in. And we made some improvements. We save weight, and the system's probably still in service. Yeah. What so in I was in Florida high school now and you were challenged with opening up the factory in Spain, for FMC, right, we purchase INSA in Spain, and they had loaders that would match the FMC loader, they had passenger spares, which we thought was going to be a big deal. Because in Europe, they don't have that many air stairs. Okay, you know, so we wanted to get in the passenger stair business. And that was a tough one hard to transport over the road because they're wider and higher. Yeah, always had special conditions. So that was a struggle for FMC with a passenger stairs

Brad Compton: 49:06

left factory I believe is still there and real and I'm bringing this up because his relationship with his call it his counterpart in Spain, Dennis McGuire, who's very special, very good. The connection you had with Dennis open the door for me to get to know and bring onto my team was Guillermo Martinez, Willie, Willie. So I'm sitting next to Dennis McGuire the ground handling conference years ago about to ask permission to talk to Willie but that all came about because of his relationship with Dennis. So if you want to do this style of podcasts on the other side of the world international flavor you sit down with Dennis, you have some good good juicy stories because they're both you know, they do fantastic things out there.

Matthew Weitzel: 49:50

Yeah heard on Sonos wonder is Eisah concha.

Brad Compton: 49:53

So was the company they

Unknown: 49:55

did mostly military drone handling. Okay and had gotten involved and the Main Deck Loader, the lower deck loaders. And that's what had FMC centrist but they were good, very good. And still are today. They, from a marketing standpoint in Europe, they do very well.

Matthew Weitzel: 50:18

So what was the product line at FMC during that time that you were there? Yeah,

Unknown: 50:23

Main Deck loaders, lower deck loaders, the TM 1800. Di sir. The LA three wheeler, but we didn't sell many of those. We also had the line of baggage carts and LD three. Oh, wow. Okay.

Brad Compton: 50:39

And in fire trucks.

Unknown: 50:42

Well, no fire truck joined us. A couple of years later, they were out of Tipton, Indiana.

Brad Compton: 50:47

I'd like to see that option book. Yeah, no. All

Unknown: 50:49

right. Well, you could spend a day watching the painters do the gold leaf that goes on the door. Oh, yeah. Fire trucks are real fancy. And these guys were top paid in the whole plant. I can't remember what but they would sit there all day and pinstripe, a firetruck? And out of the factory in Orlando, Colorado, the

Brad Compton: 51:16

fact that Orlando I'd be a tough inspection to Yeah, yeah,

Matthew Weitzel: 51:19

you know, your gold paint isn't as good as it was the other day.

Brad Compton: 51:24

So the industry shows we still have We have one in North America and one that still lands in Europe. But back when you first started, I know it's changed. You're suited up over in Frankfurt at the time. And did you bring all the equipment overseas as well, as we tried to accomplish here? The first show

Unknown: 51:44

we did? We brought our Main Deck Loader, which needs a crane. Oh, take it off the truck for sure.

Brad Compton: 51:50

I'm sure the CFO loves that

Unknown: 51:52

is what we did bring one of everything. And then management said well, we're not shipping it back. You guys sell it? That's

Matthew Weitzel: 52:00

right. Sounds Oh, does. that sold me that a couple times?

Unknown: 52:04

Yeah, they did. Tell us that. To

Brad Compton: 52:07

tell you that on the second day. Yeah. For a long night on a boat going through Amsterdam. Right.

Matthew Weitzel: 52:12

So we po in a bar. Fortunately,

Unknown: 52:14

we could sell the main a we could sell them but it was

Brad Compton: 52:19

tough. Those are what is it was a similar to today. You're kicking the show off on a Tuesday and you're wrapping things up on a Thursday, Friday, right? Yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 52:27

Were you in full suits? Because now by the way, we do not do the same as wingtips. The

Unknown: 52:33

Paris Air Show was by far the worst show to attend as a salesman. Okay, yeah. Had to sue that. All right. It took you a subway ride, a bus ride, and another walk about a mile or so to get the Lobby Day. And you had to be there about 630 to go set up your booth. And it was hot. Every Paris Air Show was sticky, hot.

Brad Compton: 53:00

What was it? The beauty is you just after the show, you get to go back to the hotel and just hang out. You don't have dinners or drinks or anything, right? Well, no.

Matthew Weitzel: 53:09

Wait a minute, it just keeps going.

Unknown: 53:11

Yeah, customers live for the Paris Air Show. All night, we walked between the they're like ISO containers were the big people like Boeing. Airbus would have two storey buildings made of aluminum. Or they'd have a restaurant up on top. I mean, it was big time. But you walk between those the temperature be up to about 120. Know My and you're suited up. Yeah. So you had to work hard,

Brad Compton: 53:44

and then followed with the big dinners doesn't stop. Yeah, that's good. That's how it's done still today. That's why I brought it up. There's not a whole lot of change on how you approach these these shows. In the sales cycle, it's somewhat different. But the same,

Matthew Weitzel: 53:57

it's amazing, because, you know, we first started talking about this, I was like, there's gonna be a lot of changes that we can talk about, you know, that's happened and grounds for equipment and from sales and delivery and all this stuff. But it's all the same. Yeah, yeah. And converting to electric. I mean, it's, you know, I mean, it's,

Brad Compton: 54:13

it might be more global. Now, there's, there's probably more competition out there. But I mean, I think, you know, it's still like I said, same crap, different decade a little bit. But yeah, we and there's still so many more opportunities out there. I think it's just going to be that much more fun as we get into these next couple years in terms of forecasting. Yeah, but yeah, it's yeah, it's been a wild ride. I've been this is my 20 going on my 29th year or how many years you were doing a gig but I

Unknown: 54:39

was born there.

Brad Compton: 54:41

He was born and was born. He was born in a container. Yeah.

Matthew Weitzel: 54:45

Yes. This is my 17th year yeah, you're on 29 on 29

Brad Compton: 54:49

with with Tugg and his his his buddies their tug when he was in Orlando. Again, open that door for me. So yeah, Dick

Matthew Weitzel: 54:58

Baxter did so did you You know, dig back to he briefly.

Brad Compton: 55:02

I think Cordray was his connection along with John Keating, who was one of the legends out there as well. I've heard those names. Yeah, yeah. And then and then Ben Reeves, who did a fantastic job and still is doing a fantastic job was there as well. So I got thrown into that crowd. But you know, he saved that business card and opened that door for me.

Matthew Weitzel: 55:21

Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna get Ben Reeves on the podcast, about power stuff.

Brad Compton: 55:25

Yeah, yeah. Well, so when I first did this podcast, I made a huge mistake. Oh, we got to the end or was like the Academy Awards, and we're

Matthew Weitzel: 55:34

thankful. Okay, buddy. Yeah. Oh, I remember that. You know, we haven't done that. Since, by the way. I

Brad Compton: 55:37

know. And we threw out a lot of names. And I was like, Oh, dang it. You know, I'm here today because of the help at the factory. But man, it's people. It's process its product. And what happens in between, there are the people that keep us going, we're on the road, putting those suits on and working those long days. But I walked into that factory the same day as Susan Toronto. And I forgot to thank her in the team and what these coordinators do, because my gosh, we give them headaches daily, but she's a lifesaver. And we've got Sherry is there as well as Kim and they do great work for us. And they got kicked off years ago. I know Julie Hendricks is doing the same thing today, managing so much for the power stow team, and Nikki Hammond as well. So I just want a big shout out to those guys that helped us keep us going on the road. And that's a hard job.

Matthew Weitzel: 56:28

I think Susan, Susan had you know, she she taught me everything that I know as far as the inside sales part of the job because I sat right next to her. That's where you seated me who was right next to Susan and Susan had for a reason. Yeah, exactly. Because she knows everything. Yeah. Thing afloat. It's insane. It's a

Brad Compton: 56:47

hard job. And then again, Sherry baby and Kim McKinney, they do fantastic work. And I can come around the corner and Susan probably knows the answer before even ask it. Yeah, she can read my handwriting better than than Aaron can. So.

Matthew Weitzel: 57:00

And another another thing that we found out during these podcasts is everybody leaves ground support equipment, they come back. So Kim is one of those as well. Yeah, I think she left for a little bit. She was there when I was there. But she's come back. Yeah, she's

Brad Compton: 57:11

doing great things. Yeah. Yeah. So it's good to have them. And you know, sometimes they they move on, and they'll they'll they'll move on to a different company. And that's great. So we'd love to keep them in there. But the ecosystem continues on and I just do want to give a shout out to Susan and the team. They do a great job for us.

Matthew Weitzel: 57:27

I think that's an excellent shout out. Yeah. But yeah, I think that's all I've got for today. Is that it? There's

Brad Compton: 57:32

so much more I know there's a ton more we could cover. Well, last time I this I kick this one off with coffee, so we can go coffee to beer rather than what we did

Matthew Weitzel: 57:40

the other way around, around and then we got 80 more minutes. So we're sitting in. Okay, so this hotel was built in 1907. And we're sitting in an old billiards room, right, which is a fantastic place to record a GSE podcast and it's 1042. And they they open up the doors. People have been coming by here all morning, seeing if they could get into the billiard room because I think we're like famous or something like who is in there? Yeah, yeah, it's the headphones. It's the headphones. Yeah. They're like, man, these guys. But anyway, so it opens at 18 minutes, so we only have fewer minutes anyway, before before people come in here and start shooting pool and bedding and drink beers in here. So So yeah, I just wanted to see Yeah. Do you have anything else? Pete? No,

Unknown: 58:19

thank you very much. I've been retired so long. I've forgotten most of what you're asking about.

Brad Compton: 58:27

Well, it's the father some do affairs oftentimes

Unknown: 58:30

I want to go back to work to rest. The retirements can be tough.

Brad Compton: 58:35

He called us first meeting in retirement. No one showed up. Yeah.

Unknown: 58:39

I asked my wife I said What are your objectives for today? She almost hit me so what are you got? You

Brad Compton: 58:48

know you've got what's the similar you got? You got P Compton and Broadcom? Just kind of like what George H. Bush George. Yeah, similar, right.

Matthew Weitzel: 58:55

Kind of very similar. You're more like George, maybe, you know, maybe like Martin and Charlie Sheen. Is that kind of a dude, that's even better. I think that actually probably matches you. Yeah,

Brad Compton: 59:05

probably little better there. But I'll stick with the President's. Okay. You're

Matthew Weitzel: 59:09

a big President guy. Yeah. Yeah. You're a big fan of that. We all we all know that. We've heard the dinner conversation. Yes. Well, thank

Unknown: 59:16

you very much for having me. I've enjoyed it. Yeah, this has

Matthew Weitzel: 59:19

been great. Thank you so much for coming on and making the time to do this. Yeah,

Brad Compton: 59:22

I think good stories. I'm sure there's plenty more. But yeah, what you're doing is great for the industry. I listen to them all the time. I'm sure everyone else does. And like you said, you're on 20 or what?

Matthew Weitzel: 59:32

This comes out, I

Brad Compton: 59:33

think we'll be on 20 is fantastic. So shout out to Xcēd. I know there's a lot of choices out there for podcasts. But this is a great one. You do a fantastic job.

Matthew Weitzel: 59:41

Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's, you know, I learned early on in my marketing career is I've always said is that nobody reads. So you got to give them an option. When they don't read right. So now they can just listen. People are willing to listen, they just don't want to

Brad Compton: 59:56

after all they pretend to read. Yeah, the guy they're playing that pulls out that book. Yes. That's not really though. Yeah, no. All right. Well, thank

Matthew Weitzel: 1:00:02

you all so much.

Brad Compton: 1:00:03

Thank you. Enjoy Apalachicola. Yeah, yeah, man,

Matthew Weitzel: 1:00:06

I will do it. All right.

Brad Compton: 1:00:08

All right next time. Thanks, Matt. Yeah, Matt Brad.

Matthew Weitzel: 1:00:11

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the GSE podcast. We hope you found it informative and engaging. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with your colleagues and peers and the ground support equipment community. Your support is invaluable to us. We'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review our podcast. Your feedback not only encourages us, but also helps expand our reach within the GSE community. Keep an eye out for more episodes as we continue to explore the dynamic world of ground operations bring you the latest trends, insights and stories from the industry. Thank you for listening to the GSE podcast until we meet again, stay grounded and keep pushing forward.