The Morning Cuppa Podcast this week welcomes James Carlisle, Transport Manager for Readymix Specialists in London.

Allen and James delve into a variety of topics including the pros and cons of electric vehicles in decarbonising transport, the importance of mental health for drivers, reasons why you shouldn’t burn bridges when you move jobs and the importance of networking with other transport professionals.

James journey into Transport

James story and his journey into the transport industry begins at the age of 16 years when he first moved from Ireland to England and sees him 👇

• Climb the ladder to becoming a supervisor for a local authority
• Move to a compliance manager role in a waste company in East London
• Get made redundant then rehired and promoted to head of logistics

To now where James finds himself as Transport Manager at Readymix Specialists and that is only scratching the surface..

Driver Recruitment

Allen and James also briefly skim the surface of driver recruitment and attracting fresh drivers into the industry

• James has a fleet of 26 vehicles and is looking to grow
• They discuss how the manual trade needs to be made more attractive to the younger generation

and they question how to bring in new drivers in a world of technology

Mental Health and Awareness

• James is a big advocate for raising awareness around mental health, especially for men who are more resistant to opening up
• James recently held a CPC course in mental health and is trying to break down the barrier

Giving back

• James and his daughter are doing a skydive and later in the year James will be cycling London to Brighton to raise awareness and money for gastroenterology department at Addensbrooke Hospital in Cambridge.
• James believes in the importance of networking and working together to create a safe standard within the industry

Impact on Sustainability

• Allen and James both have thoughts around whether electric vehicles or hydrogen-powered vehicles are the answer

James Carlisle's Advice to young and upcoming Transport Managers

• Recommends using LinkedIn to connect and network
• Believes no question is a stupid question and encourages reaching out to training providers for help

To see more of the work of our guest this week James Carlisle find him on linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-carlisle-a643b3a4/

and to see more of the man himself, the Morning Cuppa host Allen Talbot find him on linkedin here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allentalbot

James journey into TransportDriver RecruitmentMental Health and AwarenessGiving BackImpact on SustainabilityJames Carlisle's Advice to young and upcoming Transport Managers

In this episode of the Morning Cuppa podcast, Allen is joined in the cab by Mark Cowan from Min Train. Mark is also the Director of transport logistics and concrete at British Aggregates Association.

Mark has been on a long road campaigning for improved standards within the construction transport sector, something he’d achieved with his own courses and now the DVSA’s earned recognition scheme expanding to mixers.

Mark and Allen get into how that passion for improving construction developed, all the way from Mark’s start as a driver, to delivering pure and simple solutions to ongoing industry problems.

Mark believes in practising what you preach, and so makes sure to be involved in the day-to-day of those with whom he wants to raise the standards.

If you want to practice what you preach and become a better transport professional, check out this latest episode.

As discussed in the chat with Mark here is the link to the blog titled ‘Understand the difference between Misinformation and Disinformation’ → https://min-train.com/transport/nnderstand-the-difference-between-misinformation-and-disinformation/

To see more of the work of our incredible guest Mark Cowan find him on linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-cowan-1aa8a2128/ also to find out more about Min Train head to their website - https://min-train.com/

and to learn more about the British Aggregates Association head → https://www.british-aggregates.co.uk/

and to see more of the man himself, the Morning Cuppa host Allen Talbot find him on linkedin here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allentalbot

In this Morning Cuppa Podcast, Allen gets into the life and experiences of Steve Kirchell of KCS. Despite 34 years in the industry, Steve is currently a new member to KCS, meaning he has quite an interesting perspective on getting himself familiar with a new organisation and all the struggles that come with that. Steve’s story is one of pragmatism and dedication, having dropped aspirations to be an astronaut but doing everything he could to build an immensely successful career in Transport. Steve’s principle is to be people first, and that’s served him well in those 34 years - by allowing honesty and openness to thrive. Steve also opens up about how important it is to allow your mindset to change as you develop. Talking to so many people has broadened Steve’s perspective and allowed him to ‘mature’. His understanding of human nature and the nature of mistakes - something it is important for new TMs to make if they are to develop, too. If you want to see more of the work of our incredible guest Steve Kirchell find him on linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-kirchell-8951a73/ also to find out more about the company Steve Kirchell has newly started working for KCS head to their linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/kcssocial/

or their website - https://www.kcs.co.uk/

and to see more of the man himself, the Morning Cuppa host Allen Talbot find him on linkedin here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allentalbot