Dan Baker is a nationally known speaker, teacher and consultant to the trucking industry. He travels extensively throughout the US and Canada, working with numerous trucking companies of all sizes and types. He speaks at meetings and gatherings of all kinds, from driver safety meetings, to award dinners, state and national conventions, to in-company seminars and symposiums.
Essentially, his message is the people side of trucking. His presentations are always fun, funny, full of jokes, stories and one-liners. But he never departs far from his basic theme that if you’re in trucking today, first of all you’re in the people business and secondly, you’re in the trucking business. Regardless of the Trucking Industry’s business cycle,
Dan is in big demand throughout the country. Dan began his working years as a Methodist Minister in San Antonio, Texas. After leaving the ministry, he evolved into a professional speaker, and since connecting with the trucking industry in the early 1980’s, has dedicated the majority of his time, effort and interest toward helping the truckers make sense out of their very complicated, complex world.
The large majority of Dan’s work is repeat business, as he is known as one of the most ‘asked-back” speakers in the business. His work is fresh, stimulating and up to date. His return visits always present new, un-repeated material, taken from the cutting edge of what’s really happening in the real world. After having lived in Bulverde, Texas for almost 40 years, he and his wife, Betty, have moved to Fort Worth, Texas. He will tell you that you can take the boy out of Bulverde, but you can’t take Bulverde out of the boy. So, he is still well-known for his famous “Bull Jokes”, and his unique array of down-home humor.
Dan will still tell you that all the roads and the loads and the routes and the rates and the maps and the phones and the fuel take second place to the mamas and daddies and husbands and wives and sons and daughters who give us our meaning and make it all happen.
He is affectionately known as the most "asked back" speaker in the industry.
He is affectionately known as the most "asked back" speaker in the industry.
Meet Dan Baker
The Man who walks the People Side of the Street in trucking and related industries.
Dan brings his Texas warmth, wit and wisdom to groups as he entertains, enlightens and urges them to look at and reconsider the people-side of who they are and what they do.
"Thank you for the great presentation you did. The message was spot on and your delivery was incredible. You supported and positively impacted our team."
Herb Rhode
Universal VP Operations Truckload Group
Meet Dan Baker
Dan is one of the more sought-after,
asked-to-return speakers
in the industry.
One of trucking's Senior Statesmen, who has been
in the business for over 40 years, traveling throughout the US and Canada, serving countless trucking companies and focusing on the people challenges
that constantly confront the industry.
About Dan
Dan knows that people, not diesel,
are what move the trucks.
Dan Baker is a nationally known speaker, teacher and consultant to the trucking industry. He travels extensively
throughout the US and Canada, working with numerous trucking companies of all sizes and types. He speaks at meetings and gatherings of all kinds, from driver safety meetings, to award dinners, state and national conventions, to in-company seminars and symposiums.
Essentially, his message is the people side of trucking. His presentations are always fun, funny, full of jokes, stories and
one-liners. But he never departs far from his basic theme that if you’re in trucking today, first of all you’re in the people
business and secondly, you’re in the trucking business. Regardless of the Trucking Industry’s business cycle,
Dan is in big demand throughout the country. He has dedicated the majority of his time, effort and interest toward helping the truckers make sense out of their very complicated, complex world.
After having lived in Bulverde, Texas for almost 40 years, he and his wife, Betty, have moved to Fort Worth, Texas. He will tell you that you can take the boy out of Bulverde, but you can’t take Bulverde out of the boy. So, he is still well- known for his famous “Bull Jokes”, and his unique array of down-home humor.
Dan will still tell you that all the roads and the loads and the routes and the rates and the maps and the phones and the fuel take second place to the mamas and daddies and husbands and wives and
sons and daughters who give us our meaning and make it all happen.
What Dan Does
Dan does a lot of work in the areas of:
Trucking
Driver
Retention
Dispatcher
Development
People
Skills
Communication
Generational
Problems
Dealing with
Ourselves
Basically, Dan's commitment is to the drivers and to all those people who work with and/or have anything to do with the drivers.
Currently Dan is heavily involved in helping his Truckers
attract and work with our emerging Millennial Generation. He constantly
reminds us that the driver is the only one who creates the revenue that feeds the rest of us.
His audiences range from the very large to the very small. He speaks at:
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After-dinner occasions
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State and national conventions
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Company meetings
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Seminars of all types
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Combination seminar, after-dinner, keynotes presentations
A New Set of Priorities
MOVING FROM PROMOTION TO ATTRACTION
The emergence of the newer and younger generation into our trucking industry demands that we re-look at our priorities as well as our approach to what we’re doing.
He is affectionately known as the most "asked back" speaker in the industry.
Dan has his audience learning and laughing at the same time. His wit and wisdom about the trucking industry has been engaging everyone from corporate leaders to dispatchers and drivers for decades. Check with our office for more details and scheduling speaking dates.
Consulting & Training
He is affectionately known as the most "asked back" speaker in the industry.
Dan has his audience learning and laughing at the same time.
His wit and wisdom about the trucking industry has been engaging everyone from corporate leaders to dispatchers and
drivers for decades. Check with our office for more details and scheduling speaking dates.
Dan's Videos
Dan has a way of combining his Texas warmth, wit and wisdom with a stimulating and thought provoking message
that drives to the heart of our need to understand ourselves and our relationships.
DAN’S INTRODUCTION
THE DISPATCHER / DRIVER
RELATIONSHIP CURRICULUM
EACH YEAR - AN OVERVIEW
• Fifty-two high definition videos; designed to be viewed once a week for a year.
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Each video is two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half minutes in length.
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Each session deals with a dispatcher/driver relationship issue.
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Designed to be viewed at participant's work station.
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Each session followed by a brief quiz to validate participation.
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Designed to accommodate today's younger, hi tech generations.
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Brief, to the point and done.
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Fun, entertaining, educational at the same time.
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Focused on real-life dispatcher/driver situations and problems.
This program is written and produced by Dan Baker and is marketed and sold through Vertical Alliance, an internet training company.
THE FIRST YEAR
1. Focuses Mainly on the Role of the
Dispatcher/Driver Relationship
2. The Role of the Dispatcher
3. The Roles of the Driver
4. The Basic Nature of that Relationship
5. The Company – Customer – Driver Relationship
6. How to Work with the Other Company Departments
7. The Dispatcher as CEO of His/Her Fleet
8. Gett'm Rollin'- Gett'm Paid - Gett'm Home
9. Keepers of the Culture!
THE SECOND YEAR
1. Focuses Mainly on How we Deal with Ourselves
2. Attracting Instead of Recruiting Drivers
3. Building a Culture that Attracts
4. Learning to Manage Our Own Thinking
5. Dealing with Conflict Resolution
6. Building a Culture of Trust and Respect
7. Building Relationships that Last
8. Learning to See the Good in People
9. Working on What Makes People Tick
THE THIRD YEAR
1. Main Focus is On the Generational Turnover
2. Customs and Traditions of the WWII Generation
3. The Value of the Boomer Work Ethic
4. The Gift of the Generation X Group
5. The Emergence of the Millennials
6. Keeping the Value of the Work Ethic
7. Adjusting Our Work to the Leisure Ethic
8. Tendencies and Characteristics of the Generations
9. Our New Challenges In Trucking
Thoughtgrams
Dan's Thoughtgrams are a daily message designed to entertain, enlighten and inspire.
They are short, to the point, and fun to listen to, as they deal with almost every aspect of our daily lives.
People pay attention to what they enjoy listening to, so Dan has made certain that each of his 200 plus Thoughtgrams
are insightful, stimulating and always thought provoking.
Songs & Poems
Over the years, Dan has written hundreds of poems, articles and stories. He has also written and recorded several trucker songs. Many times, he will recite the words to one of his poems or songs and people ask where they can get a copy of this or that one.
Here are three of his poems, two in print and one recited:
"Daddy's Just A Trucker"
"Add It Up"
And by yourself you read the score,
It's all of love, and nothing more!
The money, time, and wasted days
Are not allowed to have their say.
Alone you see with tearful eye,
That values on the years gone by,
Were not of things you held so dear
But only of the people here.
And as your spirit starts to soar,
Twas love and nothing, nothing more.
The day will come, when you will lie
Upon the bed in which you'll die.
The grief-filled eyes, of those who care
Will vanish soon, as if in air.
For all that counts upon that day
Will be the price you dared to pay.
The love you had, the love you gave
Is all that counts when in your grave.
The things that ate up all your time,
They matter not now in your mind.
And as the light and darkness meet,
Life hands to you your balance sheet.
"The Real Issue"
It's not how much I got or made.
Or where my name's engraved.
Nor will it ever matter,
How many clapped and raved.
There sits no jury in my gold.
No judge will see my fame.
For the tally sheet that adds me up,
Will slowly spell my name.
And after that, just one dot more;
A question will be posed.
How deeply did he share his life,
And cause this world to grow?
Did this man love?
Did this man share?
Did this man dare enough to care?
