Live @ Western Regional Gas Conference

[00:00:23] Speaker A: Do you want to start this morning in song singing? Yeah. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Chances are. Cause you wear. [00:00:30] Speaker A: Never mind, never mind. [00:00:32] Speaker B: I tried. Do you notice I'm not wearing my boots today? [00:00:36] Speaker A: Yes, you are. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Pretend I'm not. [00:00:39] Speaker A: Okay. [00:00:40] Speaker B: Because I was walking across the street and they stuck to the pavement. It's only 184 degrees here. [00:00:46] Speaker A: It's quite warm here in Tempe, Arizona. [00:00:49] Speaker B: It is hot. [00:00:50] Speaker A: It is hot. I think the high is 115ish today. [00:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah, being serious, it's really hot here. So we are encouraging folks that are attending the Western Regional GAS Conference, which is a fantastic show. We'll get into that in a second. But really, safety first. The safety message here is hydration. Our friends over at Altec behind us actually set up a little water booth at their water station. At their booth, which is great. So we are all embracing that and drinking a lot of water, which we need to. But let's get to business. You and I are here at Western Regional Gas Conference. And this is your first time here. [00:01:22] Speaker A: It is my first. Already seeing some familiar faces. We've got a packed hallway behind us and then a whole nother ballroom of vendors. So it's a busy, busy show. [00:01:35] Speaker B: I think it's 63 vendors if I'm not mistaken. [00:01:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:01:38] Speaker B: Which is great. And 300. And Sheila from APGA who actually helps run the show, run the logistics. I think 325ish attendees in total. So it's a great little. I shouldn't say little. It's a great conference. It's a great big conference, actually. [00:01:53] Speaker A: I'm looking forward to it already seeing Louis Panzer. Came straight over. Jump on. We'll see. [00:01:59] Speaker B: We saw Kevin, my friend Kevin Miller this morning. Did you know Kevin Miller? [00:02:02] Speaker A: A couple times maybe. [00:02:04] Speaker D: No. [00:02:05] Speaker B: We saw a whole bunch of friends so far. Saw Craig Bessa from Quanta, Steve from Quanta, a whole bunch of folks there. We saw some folks from PG&E. It was great to rekindle with them. We were out at PG&E this. When was that? May. Yeah, we were out there. Yeah. [00:02:24] Speaker A: Hopefully going to spread the good news of ewn cons coming up so quick. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Is that September 16th, 17th and 18th, I believe in Texas. Live in Arlington, Texas. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Yes. Rumor is we've already hit record attendance numbers for our. [00:02:38] Speaker B: So there's been just a ton of buzz. But actually yesterday, and this is day two, just so we're very clear. [00:02:45] Speaker A: Okay, we'll let you have it. [00:02:46] Speaker B: Okay. So we got in Sunday night. Late. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Late. [00:02:51] Speaker B: But yesterday was a setup day though, so I would call Yesterday, day one. We saw some great folks at the networking event last night. A lot of people were talking about Ewn Con, so quite a buzz. [00:03:01] Speaker D: So. [00:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Which is great. [00:03:03] Speaker A: All right, well. [00:03:05] Speaker B: Is that it? Are you ready? [00:03:06] Speaker A: I think we're ready to kick it off. They got opening remarks happening right now. [00:03:09] Speaker B: Alan Mayberry's in there right now for fems. I actually had a chance. He remembered me from. I'm not sure how, but it's like an hour ago we were chatting, chatting about some LNG virtual pipeline questions, which was. I thought was interesting. [00:03:21] Speaker A: I think Steve Allen's speaking tomorrow morning, so we'll have to slip in and see that as well. [00:03:26] Speaker B: Definitely. Yeah, that's. I think he's early. 8:15, I think so. All right. [00:03:30] Speaker A: A lot of good stuff happening. [00:03:32] Speaker B: Let's do it. [00:03:33] Speaker A: All right, we'll be back. [00:03:35] Speaker E: So this, this show. I've been to this show for many, many years. It's a good show. You know, I've seen it. A lot of good. A lot of good operators here. A lot of good people, you know. [00:03:44] Speaker B: Plus, it's generally been right in your backyard. Always. [00:03:47] Speaker E: Yeah, always in my backyard. [00:03:48] Speaker B: Scottsdale, Tempe, somewhere around here. [00:03:50] Speaker E: I've spoken at this thing on damage prevention in the past years in that. [00:03:54] Speaker D: So. [00:03:54] Speaker E: But it's great. [00:03:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a fantastic. Well, first, before you get into it, why don't you introduce yourself to the camera? Let us know who you are. We know who you are, but those people don't. [00:04:04] Speaker E: Hi, I'm Sam Arie Ratnam. I'm a professor and the Sun State chair of Construction management and Engineering at Arizona State University. And I'm pretty actively involved in the underground utility area, particularly in the oil and gas sector and the water and wastewater sector. [00:04:19] Speaker A: You're fresh back off campus from sending those freshmen out into the. [00:04:24] Speaker B: Well, not the world, but the academic world. [00:04:27] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We just, you know, this is the first week of classes at Arizona State University and the freshmen are here and just got to impart some words of wisdom to them as they get ready to embark in their four and hopefully four year could be longer journey and. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Getting their degree could be longer. [00:04:44] Speaker B: Well, I went eight years. Most people are called PhDs after that. I was called lucky. [00:04:49] Speaker E: That's true. I went 10 days, 10 years actually, through the whole thing, but it was a couple degrees. I do have a PhD. [00:04:55] Speaker B: Yeah, you do. And we've known each other for a long time, and I have to say, you are a wealth of information and knowledge. And Ashley and I were Talking about this morning, we just appreciate how much you actually not just know, but how much you share. Hence being a professor, you, it's probably your passion. [00:05:11] Speaker E: It is, it's my pleasure. But we appreciate what you guys do as well too. I mean you, you're, you're a good mouthpiece for the industry and I've watched your podcasts and they're great. They're always really entertaining. You have some phenomenal guests on there, right? A lot of people I know in the industry that have had a wealth of knowledge and I think it's really important to get the awareness out. Right? That's the key. And that's what guys do a great job of, is getting awareness of the industry. [00:05:33] Speaker A: So what are you teaching this semester? [00:05:35] Speaker E: So this semester I'm teaching a lot. An in person class on trenchless construction methods and I also have an online class on trenchless construction methods which is pretty full. So both of them. And then I also do a graduate level class on construction project management. Kind of two, two classes on campus and then one as part of our online master's program. So they're all full, every one of them. [00:05:59] Speaker B: Want to know why? Because you're, you're, I don't want mean the word entertaining, but you're very. What's the word I'm looking for? Like you're, you're fun to talk to, Percival, you're fun to listen to. [00:06:10] Speaker E: You know, thank you for saying that. But I think a lot of it is a topic area, right? I mean, particularly when, you know, project management. I mean that's what everybody needs to know when they're getting out in the real world, how to run a project. And I think the trenchless construction is something that, it's kind of intriguing to the average student because they don't get it at most schools, right? [00:06:27] Speaker B: No, not at all. [00:06:28] Speaker E: When they get to do that. And I bring in people from all over to come and actually do some guest lectures and you'd be absolutely surprised that people like to come down to Tempe, Arizona in the winter and come and take the class and teach it. Right? So. [00:06:41] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, I think it's fascinating. And again, when you say we have a lot of folks out there from our industry, we have a lot of folks too that aren't in the industry but are interested in it too. So when you're saying trenchless, let's break that down a little bit for would we be talking hdd, horizontal directional drilling, all trench. [00:06:58] Speaker E: So you know, trenchless technologies are a family of methods that are capable of installing new underground utilities and rehabilitating or replacing existing ones. [00:07:08] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:08] Speaker E: So we have. I work more in the new installation kind of phase, mainly in the horizontal directional drilling. So we're doing those utilities like electrical and oil and gas utilities, water waste water type utilities. And so. And of course telecom is really big. [00:07:24] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:24] Speaker E: I mean, that's what they do. But then some of the technologies are for existing gas lines or existing water lines or sewer lines that we have to rehabilitate. And really the key with trenchless methods are the minimal disruption to surface activity. So from an environmental perspective, I mean, it's much more environmentally friendly than an open cut. [00:07:45] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:45] Speaker E: And you know, it's kind of. I use this analogy a lot. You know, trenches is like having angioplasty right. In the heart as opposed to open cut or open heart surgery. [00:07:56] Speaker B: Sure. [00:07:56] Speaker E: I mean it takes a lot longer to recover from open cut or open heart surgery than angioplasty where you just go in with probes and cameras and take a look and then, you know, make a decision on what you're going to do and a stent or some sort of repair. [00:08:09] Speaker A: We're always talking about attracting new talent to the industry. What I'm curious, what degree are they going for that they're taking this class. [00:08:16] Speaker E: At asu, so some of them are taking construction management, some of our construction engineering, and some of them are civil engineering. So you have kind of three different engineering in one department that they would take it. But that's typically those are the three areas that typical people in the trenchless industry get degrees in when they're working in the industry. [00:08:38] Speaker B: It's great that you folks have those programs here at ASU too, you know, I mean that, that's wonderful. And again, think that Ash and I were talking about too so many people when they hear that we're in the energy industry, they just think of the teams that are out in the streets, you know, maybe doing on a right away and doing that. But they don't think of also like you said, the engineers, the project managers, the planners, all the folks behind that are needed for this. [00:09:02] Speaker E: There are so many avenues, I mean, right. From planning it, right. Planning the project, you have to have route selection. Right. How do you. Where are you going to put your pipeline? Where are you going to put it? And then you've got the engineering, you've got to engineer it, you've got to get permits. And you know, the one part of the industry that people really kind of neglect, I think a lot Is the public relations part of it. [00:09:22] Speaker B: Right. [00:09:23] Speaker E: I mean it's so critical. Like you think about the average person, they, they see a directional drill or they see some sort of a trenches equipment or you know, on the street, they're like what's going on? And all they really want to know is what's happening and how is it going to make their life better. [00:09:37] Speaker B: Sure. Right. [00:09:37] Speaker E: And putting a telecom line is going to make their life better. Putting gas line is going to get them better energy utilities, you know, and water and sewer are self explanatory and once they find that, once they hear that, then they're actually pretty, you know, happy about that. Right. And I remember, I'll kind of tell a story about, I was involved helping consult on that, The Mariner East 2 project that Energy Transfer Partners had in Pennsylvania, 350 miles across the entire state of Pennsylvania for a gas product. And I remember I was going to a meeting in Calgary and I just stepped out of the taxi and I was getting into the hotel and I get this phone call and it was this older woman from Pennsylvania and she lived in one of the small communities there and she got my name because I was attached to the project. And she called me up and she said, hey, you know, I'm old, I'm a retired schoolteacher and I want to talk to you about this pipeline that's coming through. Tell me about it. [00:10:33] Speaker B: Okay. [00:10:34] Speaker E: And I told her about it and you know, at the end of that conversation she invited me to her house for dinner next time I came to Pennsylvania. But she was happy with it. She understood that the pipeline was not there to disrupt her life or to cause danger to her and nothing was going to happen, you know, in terms of that and a negative impact and that it was positive, it was bringing energy and it was good for her state. And I think that's what we need to do more of. We need to do more of that education to the common people. And you know, people, for the most part not everybody is pretty reasonable. Right. I mean some people have their agendas. Right. But I think that having those conversations, I like to have those conversations with people just to let them know what's happening. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Sure. And I can definitely feed into that because I think too a lot of people don't realize how much of their lives are positively affected. Let's just pick natural gas. Since we're at a natural gas conference. I would say this table and this podcast would not be happening right now if it wasn't for natural gas. Based on the equipment and some of the things that I'm seeing right here. [00:11:40] Speaker E: 100%, I mean natural gas is from an energy source is essential. Anybody who says, you know, we're going to give go away from natural gas and not use it again, they have no idea what they're talking at all. [00:11:54] Speaker B: It's a little scary. [00:11:55] Speaker E: I mean, it is scary. You know, I mean people need to think about like, you know, I'm, I'm for alternative energy sources. I mean, I think it's great. I mean use look at some alternative energy sources in that, but not at the expense of saying, okay, we're going to do this, but we're getting rid of this. That's just not right. [00:12:13] Speaker B: You know what I've said in national, I've said, we said it's almost like a 401k. You kind of have your case diversified to all. And again, this is a great example. I know from the hotel we could see some of the parking ramps over here that have solar panels on top of the top level of the parking ramp. So they're not only collecting the strong sun this year, but they're also shading the cars that are below. Absolutely. [00:12:33] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:12:34] Speaker B: That's a win, win. I mean, you know, that's now in Minnesota in January. That might be a problem. Yeah, you know, so again, you got to kind of have to, you know, pick and choose. I saw our friends from Fortis B.C. are here. I spent a lot of time with them here as well as in Vancouver and they do a lot with hydro power up there because they have some great, you know, great application or where they can, you know, tap into some of these very large moving bodies of water and such. So again, it's all really, you know, what works the best for the, you know, the area, the geography, the topography, whatever you want to call it. And you know, use those for sure. [00:13:08] Speaker E: I mean, look at, look at all the things that are going on right now. Like look at the wind power. [00:13:12] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:13:13] Speaker E: Going down. Right. And I know, you know, those guys came from Denmark, right. Ornstead and they came out and they said, oh, you know what? Horizontal directional drilling is a great way to put our lines out for our offshore wind. And that's a great technology for. But once again, that doesn't mean we're going to eliminate, you know, fossil fuels. We're going to eliminate natural gas. I mean, you try doing that, it's just not going to happen. Right? I mean, not. [00:13:39] Speaker B: Well, not with well results, we'll put it that way. [00:13:41] Speaker E: Well, exactly. I mean, we still have a lot to do with, you know, we're talking about energy, our electrical grid. I mean, I think it's not a. It's not a secret that, you know, from a national perspective, we have to continue to upgrade that electrical grid. We don't have the capabilities or the capacity to do what, you know, some of the politicians are talking about with, you know, 100% electric vehicles. Hey, I'm not opposed to electric vehicles, but don't tell me that I can't drive my diesel or my gas vehicle. [00:14:07] Speaker D: Right. [00:14:07] Speaker E: I mean, that's my choice. Right. It's all about having choices in that. And if you want to have electric vehicle, good for you. That's great. [00:14:14] Speaker B: I want to have a. I had a CNG truck 2008 and nine. I'd like to have that back. [00:14:19] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, that was great for when I drove that. I was kind of on the forefront, you know, 2008, nine. [00:14:25] Speaker E: Way back then. Yeah. More propane. [00:14:27] Speaker B: Okay, we'll just let that question subside. [00:14:30] Speaker E: He's experienced, right? I tell everybody, yes, I'm experienced. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Wisdom. Wisdom comes with experience. [00:14:37] Speaker E: You'd hope so, right? [00:14:38] Speaker B: Sometimes. [00:14:39] Speaker A: Well, you can tell you're very passionate about what you do. [00:14:42] Speaker B: Absolutely, I am. [00:14:42] Speaker E: I mean, I love meeting people and I love the industry and I think it's. It's really important. And you know, I'm trying to train the next generation, right. Whether it be the next generation of professors who are going out and now kind of spreading that message to their students at their universities or those that are going into industry. And I'm really proud that I have quite a few ex students who are professors that are. That are working in this industry and teaching in this industry. And I have quite a few that are, you know, leaders in the industry. They're working for the engineering, the contractors and making a difference, really. And that's what, to me, that's the passion and that's what makes it, you know, my job a lot of fun. Yeah. [00:15:19] Speaker B: We need to get him and James together. James gives a great presentation on attracting the next generations to our industry and talks about the knowledge sharing and the knowledge transfer and stuff. James is so passionate about it. I don't know if you've ever met. You've met James before? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. [00:15:34] Speaker E: Remember we had to suffer through Hawaii. [00:15:36] Speaker B: Oh my goodness. That's right. [00:15:38] Speaker E: That was the toughest. [00:15:38] Speaker B: I apologize, James. We actually's been having me going since 6am this morning. [00:15:42] Speaker A: True. That's not true. [00:15:43] Speaker B: 7. [00:15:44] Speaker E: Last time we were together, we were In. Yeah, in the Big Island. [00:15:46] Speaker B: That's right. That was. [00:15:47] Speaker E: That was wonderful. [00:15:48] Speaker A: Gary kept us busy. Gary, Jerry, and Rob. [00:15:51] Speaker B: My goodness. [00:15:51] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you so much for stopping by. [00:15:53] Speaker E: It was great. [00:15:54] Speaker B: Again, you did absolutely wonderful. And the knowledge that you shared here will, I would bet, will affect so many people in a positive way. [00:16:03] Speaker E: Well, I hope so. Thank you. [00:16:04] Speaker A: Thank you so much. We'll be back. [00:16:07] Speaker F: Wait. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Okay, here, go down like this. [00:16:09] Speaker C: We've got our mic and our camera adjusted to fit me in. [00:16:12] Speaker A: Are you making jokes about his height? [00:16:13] Speaker B: Yes, I am. He's a very. [00:16:16] Speaker C: Wouldn't be the first time. [00:16:18] Speaker A: How tall are you? [00:16:19] Speaker C: Six, seven. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Six. Seven, six. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Gracious. [00:16:22] Speaker A: I'm five. Seven. [00:16:23] Speaker B: Can I tell you about when I first met David in person? [00:16:26] Speaker A: Please. [00:16:28] Speaker B: So I rolled. Well, I roll into the hotel here, and there's a sea of people. [00:16:34] Speaker A: It was here. [00:16:34] Speaker B: It was here the first time. [00:16:36] Speaker C: In person. [00:16:36] Speaker B: In person. We met on Zoom and everything. Yeah. Two days ago. This is day three. Yeah. So I roll in. [00:16:43] Speaker A: There's. [00:16:43] Speaker B: There's a sea of people checking in, and I look at this conglomerate of people, and I'm looking at all of a sudden, like, right in the middle. I. There's, like, everybody, and then there's this. I'm like, that must be David Maddox. You know, So I walk. I'm running over to the side. I'm trying to get through the people. I'm like, david, David. He's like, jimmy, big hug. [00:17:05] Speaker C: Embrace. It was like we've known each other a whole lot. [00:17:07] Speaker E: Well, you know what? [00:17:09] Speaker B: And we talked about it earlier. That is an absolute beauty of the day that we live in now, or the era that we live in now, where we're so comfortable with teams and Zoom and can build relationships on that. [00:17:20] Speaker A: I feel like the third wheel here all sudden. So, Jimmy, we embrace. [00:17:25] Speaker B: I mean, you know, people are like, okay, all right. [00:17:28] Speaker C: I spent a lot more time on teams with Jim than you. We just got to get some meetings. [00:17:31] Speaker A: Going, probably with most people. Right, well, on the West Coast. [00:17:35] Speaker B: Yeah. You know what? And let's bring you in. Let's let people know who you are, what you do, where you're located, give them the logistics rundown. [00:17:42] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So my name is David Maddox. I am, on our account, executive team, so focused on new and existing business, building relationships, helping them understand the value and what we have to offer. Yeah. My focus is on the West Coast. So I hear western region of the US and focus on all you folks out on the West Coast. So if you need some help, you. [00:18:03] Speaker A: Seem to be Good at that relationship building. It's my first time seeing you in action. [00:18:07] Speaker B: But he's very good. No, he is very good. He has a very warm and welcoming personality. And every time you see him, he's. [00:18:15] Speaker A: Talking to someone, go getter. [00:18:17] Speaker B: And he's building relationships, which I. What do I say? [00:18:19] Speaker A: It's a cue to our connecting the dots. [00:18:22] Speaker B: I'm just getting a little tingly right now. [00:18:23] Speaker C: I'll just say, you know, we talked about six, seven. You've got to be overly warm when you're six, seven. Because people, you know, they don't always want to approach you. They're like, who's this? O4? [00:18:34] Speaker B: But again, but look at the personality. He has a personality where people like, you know, I've heard it from at least five people that said, David's a great guy, he's easy to talk to and all that. And again, I'm being very serious that that is what our industry is about. Because it may not be today or tomorrow, but next week or next month, people are gonna say, you know, I need to give David a call because we talked about blank. And I need to follow up on that. [00:18:55] Speaker C: One of my favorite parts about this industry and you know, the relationships and the people authentic. And you know, a lot of gets done with those relationships. You know, somebody, you need help with something, those relationships. [00:19:06] Speaker A: I feel like it's like the biggest industry as far as widespread across, you know, the world. But it's the smallest tight knit family and it really is all about relationships. [00:19:16] Speaker B: It is. And that's why David is actually here. Because I think it was probably three or four months ago when I said that you and I are going to be here. And I said, have you ever been to Western Regional? [00:19:24] Speaker C: First time. [00:19:25] Speaker B: And I'm like, you gotta go. It is an absolute one of the best conferences out here in the West. To the Rockies, I will call it. [00:19:31] Speaker C: Fantastic event. Yeah, we've loved it. Minus the 110 degree heat. [00:19:36] Speaker A: It's a dry heat. [00:19:37] Speaker C: It's. It is, it's a dry heat, but it's been great. [00:19:39] Speaker B: It makes no. I don't know, I think they just say that as a way just to try to placate it, because that's right. Did I tell you that my. I'm not wearing boots today. [00:19:49] Speaker A: Just pretend. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Evidently, because when I was walking across the asphalt, they stuck to the asphalt and I had to peel my feet out of them. Running barefoot, I might have embellished. David, let's get us back on track. We are here at the Western Regional GAS conference and so many of the topic sessions, as well as the more so the important conversations out here in the hallway are about safety. And you cannot walk probably 20ft without somebody having some aspect about safety. What is your thoughts on safety in regards to what you do and what you see? [00:20:23] Speaker C: Yeah, totally. You know, obviously the industry that we work in presents some very dangerous situations, dangerous environments. We talked about the heat, it's just one example. But obviously the nature of the material we work with creates a lot of dangerous situations. So. And I think if you talk to any leader in this industry and ask them what their top priorities are, safety is always something that they say, right? Yep. But unfortunately, sometimes talking about safety and a leadership level and what happens in the field, you know, there's a disconnect sometimes in between. So I think, you know, safety is just one of the balls that a lot of leaders in this industry have to juggle. [00:20:59] Speaker D: Right. [00:20:59] Speaker C: There's financial constrictions, there's personnel constrictions, there's schedules, there's deadlines, there's a lot of things they have to worry about. And while safety is a key priority for all of these clients, there are a lot of the things they're responsible for too, which is why I love my part of this job. [00:21:13] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:13] Speaker C: We can introduce efficiency and things that allow them to work within the other constraints that they have in their business. Right. Maybe personnel is an issue for them. While everyone would always love to have more people to do the job, maybe financially speaking, that's not an option for some of these. Right. We work with small municipalities, even large investor owned utilities have constraints and we can help them, you know, maybe not hire someone new, but take some of the admin work off the plate of some of these individuals and allow them to refocus their time on some of those aspects that impact directly field safety and sending people home safe every night to their families. So one of my favorite parts about. [00:21:50] Speaker B: The industry, and we hear that a lot and people use that day in and day out, we want everybody to go home safe at the end of their shift, at the end of their duties today, etc. That's the number one goal. And walking the talk is so important. [00:22:04] Speaker C: Absolutely, yeah. I've got three small kids at home, so, you know, three girls that absolutely keep me busy. But you know, the importance, even after being gone for two days at this conference, going home and seeing my kids, you know. Yeah, yeah. Number one priority for sure. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Well, many people say in our industry, and you probably both, you've probably Heard this, and I've used this, too. Whenever I've done projects over my almost two and a half decades in the industry, I always say to myself, if my kids, my family, my grandkids were to live right over there, am I 100% confident that everything that I've done is going to be safe enough, not just now, but in the future, for that? And if I cannot answer yes, and I've always answered yes, there's an issue. So that's just my little way of saying to myself, you know, think about my family living right there next to this project. [00:22:56] Speaker C: I think that's a fantastic frame of mind. [00:22:58] Speaker B: Right. [00:22:58] Speaker C: I think everybody needs that. It's easy to, especially in today's world, get caught up in the hustle and bustle and if you're not grounded in something material that's important to you, that can help you remind you what the priorities are. You know, it's easy to get lost and all that. So, yeah, having that in the back of your mind at all times is fantastic from my perspective. [00:23:18] Speaker A: So you're fairly new to our Energy World Net Crew. [00:23:21] Speaker B: I am. [00:23:21] Speaker C: I'm a new guy. [00:23:22] Speaker A: We're excited to have you. You came right in and jumped in with both feet. Both feet, both feet. You'll be at Ewn Con. Are there any other industry events you're hitting up this year? [00:23:32] Speaker C: Absolutely. I'll be at Ewn Con. I will be at. The Western Energy Institute has two events coming up, one in September in Newport and one in October back here in Phoenix. So I'll be back here before the end of the year. [00:23:43] Speaker B: We got our friends Kevin Sullivan and Eric Christensen and all the rest of the team. That's right, absolutely. [00:23:48] Speaker C: Yeah. They've been fantastic. We did an event with them earlier this year and it was amazing. So fantastic value for us. [00:23:53] Speaker B: Absolutely, yeah. [00:23:54] Speaker A: So they'll be able to find you there, probably on the LinkedIn as well. If you need any questions answered, David's your guy. [00:24:02] Speaker B: Thank you so much for taking the. [00:24:03] Speaker C: Time and thank you for what you guys do. He could be a fantastic platform. [00:24:07] Speaker B: It's great. And we're like, you wanted to come join us? And he had like three people at the booth. He's like, it'll be like 10 or 15 minutes. We're good. [00:24:14] Speaker A: It's all good. You do the real work, sir. [00:24:16] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll just deliver the message. [00:24:18] Speaker C: There we go. Fantastic. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Thank you, David, for all you do. [00:24:20] Speaker A: We'll be back. [00:24:24] Speaker B: We are going to give a shout out before we get started to memaw as I just learned Eileen Atkinson. The first time that I met her, you and I were at a conference. We were taking a picture and she was going to take the picture and she looked at me and she was like. And I'm like. And she's like, no, you have your glasses on your head. I'm like. And Kevin goes, his glasses are always on his head. That's his thing for you, right? Now I am going to take those glasses off. [00:24:50] Speaker A: Serious. [00:24:50] Speaker F: That's great. [00:24:51] Speaker B: I'm serious. [00:24:52] Speaker G: That's great. [00:24:52] Speaker A: Maybe one day we'll get to know the story behind Meemaw. [00:24:55] Speaker G: I don't know the story behind Meemaw. You don't even know if you do. You're one up on me. [00:25:00] Speaker B: Well, it's something for us to talk to her about. [00:25:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:25:03] Speaker G: Yeah. Inquiring minds want to know, right? [00:25:05] Speaker B: I want to know. [00:25:06] Speaker A: I'd be curious to know myself. [00:25:07] Speaker B: Have you met Kevin yet? [00:25:09] Speaker A: You've only asked like four times this conference. But hey, it's very nice to meet you. [00:25:13] Speaker B: Nice meeting you, Kevin. Yeah, I know it's a running joke. Kevin and I are old friends and it's great to have you on the show. Kevin, would you please introduce yourself though, for the three people that may not know you. [00:25:25] Speaker G: Kevin Miller, senior advisor for Miller Pipeline. Been in this industry a really long time. [00:25:31] Speaker B: Kevin Miller. Miller Pipeline. I see a connection there. Yeah. [00:25:34] Speaker G: My uncle started this business a long time ago. 70 some years ago. [00:25:39] Speaker B: That's fantastic. [00:25:40] Speaker G: Yeah, family, family owned business for a lot of years and then it wasn't. [00:25:46] Speaker D: It's good. [00:25:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it's great. And you still are so active. [00:25:49] Speaker G: I am. I love the people I work with, I love our customers, and I love this industry. Good business. [00:25:57] Speaker B: Win, win, win. [00:25:58] Speaker G: Yep, that's right. [00:25:59] Speaker A: I asked him like, so do you travel a lot? What's your schedule looking like these days? Sounds like still very busy. Very busy. [00:26:06] Speaker B: But when you love what you do, it's not work. Yeah. You know, it really isn't. [00:26:10] Speaker G: It isn't. You're right, sir. You're right. [00:26:12] Speaker A: I hear that you wrangled him in for a topic. [00:26:14] Speaker B: I'm not saying that. Every time that we pass, I say, you ready? And he's like, not yet ready. Not yet ready. Not yet. But all of a sudden we just pass. He goes, I got something I want to talk about. [00:26:23] Speaker G: I was sitting in on one of the last presentations and it dawned on me that buzzword that I saw in two presentations this morning was sustainability. [00:26:32] Speaker B: Okay. [00:26:33] Speaker G: And so I thought, man, that is kind of like the latest and Greatest thing with a majority of our customers. So I thought that's what I want to talk about. [00:26:40] Speaker B: Okay, well, let's have at it. [00:26:43] Speaker E: Kevin, what are your thoughts? [00:26:44] Speaker B: What if I were to say, if we were to say the word sustainability, what comes to mind to you? [00:26:49] Speaker G: Well, a lot of our customers belong to thing called the Sustainable Supply Chain alliance. And it's all about driving their purchasing practices and their suppliers to follow them to be more sustainable, better for the environment, better for people, just better in general. And a lot of our customers are dual utility. This kind of got started in the electric side of the industry and it's bled over into the gas side of the industry. And if you go down and I did a quick search in a lot of our customers, big customers, have made a pledge to be net carbon neutral by 2040. 2045, 2050. And so there's a lot of things they're going to have to do to meet that pledge to their shareholders about being net carbon neutral. And we're going to be a big part of that. We're contractors for them. We have a lot of equipment for their Scope three emissions. Scope one emissions are, you know, products that you make in the business that you do. Scope 2 emissions are the energy you use in your facilities, things like that. And then Scope three is the emissions of your suppliers and some other things. So I'm no expert on it, but I just know with all the construction work we do every day and all the equipment we have that we're going to have to be a part of their solution. [00:28:15] Speaker B: Okay, a follow up question I have to that one thing that I got involved with many years ago was we referred to it back then landfill gas. And now we do call it rng. [00:28:27] Speaker G: Rng. [00:28:28] Speaker B: And so I mean, and that started for me probably I'm going back 15 years and there's some great opportunities with that. There's some nuances with it too that we have to take care of. Do you see you and your teams getting more involved in some of that infrastructure that's needed for that? [00:28:48] Speaker G: I think so. I think, you know, back 15 years ago a lot of that renewable natural gas wasn't feasible. It was cost prohibited. But as time has gone on and you know, regulatory commissions have recognized the value in being more sustainable and they're allowing some of customers to pass along those additional costs to the ratepayers. I've sat in on the hydrogen blending today and one of the big drivers in hydrogen blending is, you know, reducing your carbon footprint and things like that. So just A lot of interesting things going on in the industry. Part of the ssca, they have a project where they ask suppliers to do a self assessment of their sustainability and they ask all these questions and then it gets scored and then they kind of give you a report card. And so we've been doing that for a couple years now and making some improvements. But long story short, they're interested in, you know, the things that you're doing for sustainability. They want you to measure, they want you to have goals. They want to know, how much trash do you haul in the landfill each year? What kind of recycling programs do you have to reduce landfill waste? How much water do you use in your processes? What are your, what are your code of ethics things? How do you treat employees? How do you treat suppliers? What do you expect of those people? Are you measuring your greenhouse gas? [00:30:15] Speaker B: Sure. [00:30:15] Speaker G: Are you measuring, what's your fleet looking like, what's your goals for reducing, you know, your carbon footprint? Things like that. So very interesting. And you know, we started out several years ago and our score was pretty low. It's gradually coming up as we put different things in place. I know where we're at today. I'm not sure where we're going to be in the future, but it's really interesting to wait and see what our customers are expecting. [00:30:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's an interesting point in my mind when you were just talking about that went to the PSMS program and what you were just explaining. I'm not very well versed in it right now and I want to get more well versed, so to speak. But it sounds like something where you just don't do this and you're, you. [00:30:56] Speaker F: Hit it and you, the box, you. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Know, the box is checked out. Sounds like it's something that's always ongoing. [00:31:01] Speaker G: And evolving and enhancing long term, continuous improvement plan. Do check and adjust, set goals, readjust, you know, get better over the long term. [00:31:13] Speaker A: Sounds like you got some good things going on over there. [00:31:16] Speaker G: We do, yes. We just signed an agreement with Waste Management to take over all of our trash hauling and they have a software program and they are going to be able to measure. [00:31:29] Speaker B: Oh really? [00:31:30] Speaker G: How much waste we have. We have about 50 facilities and a bunch of maybe three or four suppliers that handle all our trash all over the U.S. we're like, I don't know how to measure this. So we went with them and we gained cost savings. And then we're going to get the data and the information so that we can set baselines and then set goals on improving. I Mean, we've always had a pretty good recycling program. A lot of the stuff you recycle, like scrap steel, things like that you sell. So if you're selling it, you're getting money for it, it's pretty easy to track. [00:32:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:06] Speaker G: But if you're hauling it to the landfill and dumping it, it's kind of hard to track. So we're looking forward to that information. [00:32:11] Speaker A: It's very interesting. So that just started. So you'll be able to get that data pretty. [00:32:15] Speaker G: We have just signed the contract. We had our first call this week talking about the information we need to track and how the invoicing is going to go and things like that. And we're going to have a weekly call to tell it's up and running. So it takes a few months to get going. [00:32:31] Speaker B: This sounds of interest to me. I have to ask a question. I want to learn more. I'm sure Ashley does as well as a lot of folks out there. Where would somebody go to understand a program like this or where would they get started? [00:32:43] Speaker G: Any recommendations on that for the recycling side? [00:32:47] Speaker B: More like your overall program that you were talking about because you mentioned many different areas and a lot of different things that you want to measure now as well as in the future. But how did you come up with that? [00:32:59] Speaker G: Well, we had a lot of help from Arterra, our parent company. They were kind of leading the way to go down this road. So we were kind of in a pretty good spot when our customers started to ask. And now our customers have phased in their approach on asking us to fill out the self assessment and then having regular follow up meetings. And then we've had some workshops with a few of the customers. So I think that the customer customers are going to kind of set the tone for us a little bit. I mean, they typically have set the path for us as contractors for various safety initiatives, quality initiatives, safety management systems, that kind of stuff. They kind of set the tone and then a good contractor will step up to the plate and provide what the customer wants. And so I think they'll be, you know, adapting to a lot of different things in the coming years. But you know, I'm kind of excited to, to me it's kind of a learning, pretty good learning curve. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Sure. [00:33:58] Speaker G: There's a lot of information out there. I can't tell you of a entity where you can say, hey, I could go out there and tell me what I need to do to be sustainable. I'm sure they're out there. The Sustainable Supply Chain alliance has a lot of Information. And if you, if you join that organization, then you can go to their. They have an annual conference, you know, best practices, everybody gets together. They also do a lot of webinars. I've sat through several of their webinars where they walk you through the tool and, you know, different things that you can do to prepare and things like that. So there's a lot. There's a lot of different stuff out there. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Sounds like some resources out there. [00:34:41] Speaker B: Sounds a good starting place, you know, to explore that. I will definitely do that. [00:34:44] Speaker A: You weren't lying when you said he had a topic. [00:34:46] Speaker B: Well, when Kevin has a topic and he has his purpose and passion, you just better sit back, put on the seatbelt, and let him go. [00:34:54] Speaker G: Yeah, well, it took me a day to think it up, but then it just. It just dawned on me. I'm sitting right here. I've heard it three times this morning. That's what we want to talk about. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Well, and again, every time we see Kevin, we always tell him that. Say to him that you have a seat at the table. So anything you ever want to share your information, your knowledge, your wisdom is always of benefit to us as well as audience, and we appreciate you sharing that well. [00:35:18] Speaker G: So, as always, guys, pleasure. [00:35:20] Speaker A: It was great to meet you again. [00:35:21] Speaker B: It was nice meeting you again. [00:35:23] Speaker G: All right, guys, thanks a lot. [00:35:25] Speaker B: Appreciate it. [00:35:27] Speaker A: That's pretty cool. Set up. [00:35:29] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:35:29] Speaker A: Lewis Panzer was actually talking about our Zoom. He loves this thing. He said he has a two channel one, but he's like, man, I need a four channel. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Who said that? [00:35:36] Speaker A: Lewis Panzer. [00:35:36] Speaker B: Oh, I love Lewis. [00:35:38] Speaker F: It's just amazing. I mean, we're gas people, right? But yet everybody's gone off into this other portion of a skill set, and it's still for gas. [00:35:49] Speaker A: We're still trying to figure gyms out. [00:35:51] Speaker B: But my skill set, I'm still trying to figure it out too. Fit into this whole world. No, I mean, you know, honestly. And we can talk about so many different things, but one thing, like, Covid was a very excruciating time for the world. [00:36:06] Speaker F: Absolutely. [00:36:06] Speaker B: Mankind. But the one thing from COVID that I think we took away from it is again, on day one, somebody said, we're gonna do Zoom. And I'm like, it sounds great. What is Zoom? You know, and, you know, I didn't know. I didn't know these things. And. And then also everybody was like, we have to start working remotely now. I've worked remotely for almost 30 years off and on, so I'm very well versed. A lot of people aren't right. And you know, people are like, oh, they're not going to work that much. Well, honestly, we found actually the opposite in the industry. When people would get up at 5:30 or 6 in the morning and have the ability to walk 14ft to a computer and they jump right on, you know, they're getting going and like, oh, geez, I need to shower and have breakfast. It's already 9:30, you know, or you know, 6:30 at night. Am I getting on a tangent, man? [00:36:50] Speaker A: You're on a tangent. [00:36:50] Speaker F: But you know, it's not for everybody that no suit, no commute works for some people, others, you know, people person. We deal with the public, we serve our communities. You know, a lot of us in the field, that's where. That's what we know. [00:37:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's. It takes really individual, individuality to look at each person and. Or group individually as to how they thrive. We're going on tangent. We should, you know, before we get going. [00:37:16] Speaker A: It's fine. [00:37:17] Speaker B: Kevin. Kevin and I became I'm besties best friends last night. [00:37:21] Speaker A: You're besties with Jim. [00:37:23] Speaker B: We just immediately connected. [00:37:24] Speaker A: All right. [00:37:25] Speaker F: Yeah. No, it was as soon as I. [00:37:27] Speaker B: Walked in, I go and I'm like. We started talking and by the end, I mean, honestly, we're like, here's our phone numbers, you know, if we ever want to talk about going fishing or. [00:37:35] Speaker A: If I'm out in California, I want to go fishing. You want to go fishing. [00:37:38] Speaker B: So I would go with Kevin. [00:37:40] Speaker F: So here's the thing. Here's there's an invite right now. We do what's called man the bay. Every year in May, we wait for that best tides. We go out of the bay, fish off a candlestick and all that. The water's glass in the bay. We fish with the Happy Hooker. We go for halibut and stripers, PG&E gas, construction, electric, construction boat. We get 20 people, we rent the whole boat. The Happy Hooker takes us out there and we go fishing. [00:38:06] Speaker B: I think we're included. Did you see that? [00:38:07] Speaker A: We went out on a fishing excursion. Was that Finga? [00:38:10] Speaker B: Finga, yeah, off of Cape Coral. [00:38:12] Speaker A: And I think I caught the fishing bug. Like, I had such a good time. I love addicting. [00:38:17] Speaker F: What's nice is husbands, wives, directors, you know, female directors all over, just fishing pools. [00:38:23] Speaker A: I love it. [00:38:25] Speaker B: Kevin, would you introduce yourself for the folks that may not know who you are to the audience out there? [00:38:30] Speaker F: Well, good morning, everybody. My name is Kevin Salazar, the director of underground construction for their OQ and Quality program. [00:38:38] Speaker A: That sounds like Some fun stuff. OQ and quality program. [00:38:40] Speaker F: Okay. You know, at first there's a lot of people, it's hard to spell OQ for some people. They just don't understand what it's all about. [00:38:47] Speaker A: O h, Q U E. You know. [00:38:50] Speaker F: Some people, they may say, hey, I need Rosetta Stone or Babel to translate. Tell me all about it. [00:38:56] Speaker B: You know, well, we talked about this last night, and OQ sounds like, oh, it's oq. Okay, let's just sign up. But it's so individual. It's so individual to each and every operator, no matter what their sizes, depending on their geography, where they're at, all these different things and AOCs we can bring into. I mean, it's such a very customized type of program that they live by, you know, and really, when you look at the purpose of it, the word that comes to my mind all the. [00:39:24] Speaker F: Time is safety percent and making sure that the employees that perform these covered tasks, which are the OQs, have the knowledge, the skills and the ability to perform it. So we keep the public safe, we keep ourselves safe. And, you know, we have a right to our customers to ensure that. [00:39:40] Speaker A: He said the knowledge, skills and abilities. [00:39:43] Speaker B: And I use that acronym KSAS all the time. I mean, really, it's something in life. I mean, whether you're doing something like mowing your yard, okay, do you really have the knowledge, skills and ability and are you using the proper PPE when you're doing that task? So many people think, oh, I'm just going to mow the yard. It's not a big deal. Well, you're using a motorized or an electric type of instrument that could kick a rock out or could kick a piece of wood out, could impale a skin. It could hurt somebody, you know, walking by. There's lots of things to understand with things that we just take for granted. [00:40:20] Speaker F: Absolutely. As a kid, you know, your duty was to go mow the lawn. How many times did you go out in shorts and flip flops and go mow the lawn? Not thinking about eyewear or hearing protection, you know, so. Yeah, I agree. [00:40:32] Speaker A: I never mowed the lawn. Never. [00:40:34] Speaker D: Have you ever? [00:40:35] Speaker A: Not once. [00:40:37] Speaker F: Push mower. That's a good way to start. [00:40:39] Speaker A: My husband started me on weed eating. That was a start. [00:40:42] Speaker E: That's pretty dating. [00:40:42] Speaker B: That could be dangerous. [00:40:43] Speaker F: Yeah, I would definitely. You have to have that eye protection on. [00:40:47] Speaker A: So far I'm good. [00:40:47] Speaker B: But for sure, we were actually walking through an area and it was in another city and they had an industrial ride along. Mower commercial crew was Doing the, And I was, we, the people I was with, we were probably, let's just say a little ways away, 30ft away. But it had a side discharge on it. And I did, I told everybody, I said, okay, everybody shield your, this side of your face. And that's, you know, because nobody's wearing eye protection or, you know, I could do that, sure. But we did not have ppe. And people are like, why? I'm like, because there's a mower there, there's a side discharge, and if it hits a rock or something, it could come and hit us. Absolutely. [00:41:25] Speaker F: You know, they always talk about, know your surroundings, you know, when you're in the field, when you're working. But it also goes when you're at home. You know, it's safety. It's not just a workplace thing, it's a home thing. I mean, safety is a daily challenge, but there's truly a lifetime of rewards every time you mod them. [00:41:43] Speaker B: Let me ask you a question in regards to that. You've been in the industry, I know we talked last night, just under four decades. You started when you were four, plus tax. But, you know, what are some of the safety things that you herald you personally, Kevin, that you putting them on the spot here? Well, I am. You know, whether it's people on your team that you work with, people on the right of way, or, you know, back to the place where we always feel safe, our home environment, our neighborhood. Because nothing bad ever happens there. Yes, accidents do happen there. I mean, any thoughts on that? [00:42:13] Speaker F: Well, you know, it's funny. So I started in 1988 with the utility company out here in California. That was. Yeah, that was a couple years ago. But you see me do the math. You know, every operator company has what's called their safety bible, you know, your keys to life. Anything that's going to help you protect yourself and be safe out there. That book has grown through the years and it's all due to safety incidents and safety related incidents. The code of safe practices. You know, this is what we live by, to be safe. But to your point, when people first started, at least when I started, you can ask a person, where do you keep your code of safe practices? Some people didn't know. This is what I was told. This is how we've always done it here, kid. Just don't talk back, just do your job. But through the years, I'm happy to say I've seen this industry change in a good way, where safety is now at the forefront. And I mean, there's so many different scenarios that could happen. I mean, it's not just textbook this and that. You know, you'll do a root cause analysis. How did this happen, what contributed to that? But there's so much behind safety now where it's at the forefront and it should be. You know, again, it's a daily challenge, but there's a lifetime of rewards. [00:43:29] Speaker B: Yep. And I'm gonna put you on the spot right now. And you, your generation, and I see you doing it all the time. And it's out on the spot in that way. It's a great way that we have this thing. I don't even know where mine is, but it's called a smartphone. And I see Ashley so many times. We'll be at conferences and she'll ask me a question. And at the same time she's googling something. You know, we could be talking about AOCs, we could be talking about LNG virtual pipelines. And she'll the question, she's like, so the vaporizer, you know, you know what I'm saying? But I think technology has really helped and I, I've learned so much from like Ashley as well as like my daughter who's 25, you know, where she's like, well, Google that and you can find that information. I think it's given us information at our fingertips that you and I didn't have when we started. [00:44:13] Speaker F: That's so true. You know, here's the one thing we go to. We go to be trained and be skilled, the journeymen. We're craftsman at the job we do, but we don't get that personal training on how to be a leader and lead safely, how to train these employees, human performance training, you know, to that effect where, you know, I'm overseeing this crew, it's my job to ensure they go home safe. A lot of companies are starting to embrace that now. But coming up the ranks since 1988 was never a heard of. You know, it was time served and now you're in the ranking. But there was a lot of things that were missing. [00:44:50] Speaker A: You know, I think some of that too is like, it's very easy to say what we should do and what the safety practices should be and someone may receive it. But it's really going to take time to see those actions in play before people really adapt it and, you know, get on board with it to some degree. Right. So like it takes time. Right. [00:45:07] Speaker F: That do say ratio, as they say, you know, it's important. I'm going to say it, I'm going to do it. [00:45:11] Speaker A: Right. Well, I'm glad you are besties. [00:45:13] Speaker D: We are. [00:45:14] Speaker B: I'm serious. You know, you come to conferences. I'd say this all the time. You know that our industry is built on relationships. [00:45:21] Speaker F: Yes. [00:45:21] Speaker B: And I wouldn't be where I am today without all the people that I know and rely on and help me and I help them. And, you know, I have a lot of acquaintances, but you just meet somebody and all of a sudden you have a conversation for a half hour, you're like, I knew. I told you last night. I said, we're going to be great friends for years and years to come. Because we just. Some people you just kind of click with, you know, and it just meshes 100%. [00:45:42] Speaker F: And thank you for the program that you and James do, because. [00:45:46] Speaker B: Shout out to James. [00:45:47] Speaker F: James, you guys are doing a great job. As I mentioned, you, one of the best podcasts I ever saw was when you interviewed Kevin Nishimura from Hawaii. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Yes, Kevin. Shout out to Kevin. [00:45:58] Speaker F: Yes, Kevin. Kevin to Kevin. But excellent podcast. I learned so much. And this show that you're doing helps those people don't know what the other side of the world is doing or the other side of the States are doing. This program helps that. And I've shared that podcast with many of my folks that, you got to learn this, folks. You got to do it. But thank you for what you guys do. [00:46:19] Speaker B: Well, thank you for saying that. And honestly, when we're doing on the road and running a million different miles, it's that that gives us that energy inside to say we're making a difference. Because again, we learned a lot from Kevin. I learned a lot. I didn't understand synthetic natural. [00:46:35] Speaker A: Geeked out. He was all about it with Kevin. I mean, he loved it. [00:46:38] Speaker B: I mean, we talked even after the camera went off. I'm like, so again, you're getting most of your gas from synthetic natural gas that comes from the refinery process that you're making the gasoline. And even in that process, hydrogen is part of it. So you actually have to take hydrogen out. So it's not hydrogen. I mean, it was like, why aren't we doing this in every refinery in the United States? You know, it was a question. [00:47:00] Speaker F: Exactly. [00:47:01] Speaker B: So, I mean. [00:47:01] Speaker F: But no, outstanding. Another one I saw that was a great one, was you did an interview with Brandon Cole de escalation training. [00:47:09] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. [00:47:09] Speaker F: And that. That. That plaguing everywhere in the United States, you know, job site and how to be safe out there. I mean, another great podcast. [00:47:17] Speaker A: Rumor on the streets is our team back home has some More PG with Brandon coming out that they're working on. So there'll be more to come on that topic as well. So you'll see. [00:47:26] Speaker F: It's a great. It's a great. It's a great training. I could say that. Fantastic training. If you incorporate in your human performance workshops, if you're doing it, by all means, get that in there. [00:47:36] Speaker B: Yeah, man. [00:47:38] Speaker A: We should have you on more often to talk about all of our episodes. [00:47:40] Speaker B: We should just go over there and just give you the money. Coffee with Kevin. [00:47:44] Speaker A: Well, thank you for jumping on. [00:47:46] Speaker E: Thank you for having me, brother. [00:47:47] Speaker F: Great to see you. Yeah, no, thank you. [00:47:49] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:47:49] Speaker F: And James, we'll catch you on the next one. [00:47:51] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll be there, James. [00:47:52] Speaker A: All right. We'll be back. [00:47:54] Speaker B: You know Craig? [00:47:55] Speaker A: No, I'm Ashley. [00:47:57] Speaker D: Craig, pleasure to meet you. [00:47:58] Speaker A: Nice to meet you, too. [00:47:59] Speaker B: Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. [00:48:00] Speaker A: Have you met Craig? [00:48:02] Speaker D: Yeah. Let me introduce you a little bit, huh? [00:48:04] Speaker B: We have known each other since long time. We were 20 pounds lighter. And we have. Well, that's more. Comes with wisdom that maybe that's a good story. [00:48:20] Speaker D: Let's not get crazy. [00:48:21] Speaker B: Craig and I have been friends for years and years. Craig, before we get going, please introduce yourself. [00:48:26] Speaker D: Craig Besa with Underground Pipeline Services. The Coanta family manage all the operator qualification and quality for two divisions in Arizona and Nevada, and love compliance and love training people and ensuring they're ready to go to the field. [00:48:39] Speaker A: He's an operator compliant. [00:48:41] Speaker B: He is the guru. So again, we've known each other for years, back to my, I think, my LNG days, when I actually asked for compliance and regulatory guidance just because we were friends. And he helped me at those days, which was, again, a big help. But again, it's interesting, though, because we were focused on safety, all of us are. And so our discussions at that point, Craig, regarding us doing business with you, or vice versa, was more, how can we, you know, help each other in the industry? Oh, exactly. [00:49:09] Speaker D: You know, help out, enhance and ensure everyone goes home safely every day at the end of the day. [00:49:14] Speaker B: That's the key. [00:49:14] Speaker D: I mean, that was where you came to me on. And we, from that point, we just kind of grew it. [00:49:19] Speaker B: We did. And now look at us now. [00:49:21] Speaker A: We're all grown up. [00:49:22] Speaker B: We're all grown up now texting each other, hey, man, I'll see you at Blank Blank. You know. [00:49:27] Speaker D: Yeah, I sent him a message, said, welcome to the heat. He goes, it's a dry heat. Laugh out loud. [00:49:31] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. [00:49:32] Speaker A: Like an oven. [00:49:33] Speaker B: He told me, yeah, it's like an oven. You open up an oven, it's a dry heat in that oven. I mean, this is great. I mean, again, bless you for living here, and it's wonderful to visit you. [00:49:41] Speaker A: Thank you for your service. Living here. Somebody else. [00:49:44] Speaker B: My goodness, it's hot. [00:49:45] Speaker D: Well, you know, that's. Right now. What we battled this season right now is heat illness. [00:49:50] Speaker B: Oh, yes, yes. And we were talking about that earlier. [00:49:52] Speaker D: Heat illness. This is a huge thing right now. It's massive. Exactly. Hand water out to everybody you run into. And we have guys fall out, you know, but we make sure they don't. And really, one of the key mechanisms to that is when we come into the season that we've already had them on board to get them acclimated to the heat. So we'll stop hiring before this heat hits. [00:50:15] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:50:16] Speaker D: Because they'll fall out. They're not acclimated. You have to acclimate your body into this weather, and they start hydrating on Sunday. So big key here is. Hold on. That means that Saturday is your last day to have your survey set. [00:50:30] Speaker A: Beverages. [00:50:31] Speaker D: To have your beverages, your adult beverages. Because if you do it on Sunday. [00:50:35] Speaker A: You'Re going to pay for it on Monday. [00:50:36] Speaker D: Monday you could fall out. Okay. Yeah. [00:50:39] Speaker A: This is serious. [00:50:40] Speaker B: No, it's very serious. You know, we're at the Western Regional Gas Conference, and one of the main. There's many different topics here, but safety is number one. [00:50:47] Speaker D: Yes. [00:50:47] Speaker B: And what you just brought up organically, just. And this is what happens in our conference. We just have conversations all the time. [00:50:53] Speaker D: Definitely. [00:50:54] Speaker B: But this is very important. I think this is very apropos that we go a little bit deeper into this because, again, it's very prevalent in many parts of the country. But I would say no part of the country would be immune to it. Even if you're in the Midwest, all of a sudden you get a record day of 92 degrees. You're not used to it. [00:51:10] Speaker D: No. And so you actually have the other twist to it. [00:51:13] Speaker B: Right. [00:51:13] Speaker D: Because here we're dealing with, as you said, the dry heat. You start heading to the East, Mid America, so on and so forth. Now you're starting to mix in, what, the humidity? Yeah. [00:51:23] Speaker B: Like. Like me in Florida. [00:51:24] Speaker D: So. And that takes you a different zap and pulls it away from you also. So. But the main thing is getting our guys and the commitment from the company and from, of course, Quanta overall, the commitment in the amount of water, ice, hydration packs, everything we can do. If we even came out this year with like an Otter Pop. But it's a hydration pop which has electrolytes and all kinds of goodies in it. So the guys can pull them out of the cooler and tear it open. And it's a frozen pop, but it's giving them electrolytes and keeping the hydration level at the top of the game. [00:51:59] Speaker A: Kind of like a Pedialyte. When you're a mom and you're trying to get electrolytes to your kids. [00:52:03] Speaker B: No, absolutely. And again, my mind is racing because I've just been walking around here. We've been walking around mildly have been. Again, I'm not a stranger to heat or you either. Texas, Florida, we understand it, but it's still very. [00:52:16] Speaker A: Feels different here. [00:52:17] Speaker D: Okay. Now you're here in monsoon. So we're now had the humidity factor. This right now is humidity for us. Yeah, big time. [00:52:26] Speaker G: Okay. [00:52:27] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:52:27] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:52:28] Speaker B: That's crazy. [00:52:28] Speaker D: It'll go away soon. But this is our monsoon season. So like this afternoon and they're talking about possible shallow. [00:52:34] Speaker B: Really. [00:52:34] Speaker D: And it comes ripping through especially more of the. Wednesday is going to be a bigger day. But this thing comes ripping through, dumps a huge amount of rain. [00:52:42] Speaker B: Really? [00:52:42] Speaker D: And then takes off. [00:52:43] Speaker B: I would not be aware or be cognizant of that. Really? That would be interesting to see. Did we were here last year and what are those things called? I just saw. Just saw Nick. But did he stop by and see. But it's like a. It's not a tornado. It's something in the desert. [00:52:59] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah. [00:53:00] Speaker D: The haboob. [00:53:01] Speaker B: I saw one last year. Did you? Yes. [00:53:03] Speaker D: Okay. [00:53:04] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:53:04] Speaker B: And again, people said when you see that. [00:53:06] Speaker A: That's not a tornado. [00:53:07] Speaker B: No, it's like a. It's like a wall that goes of. [00:53:11] Speaker D: Flying dust and debris. [00:53:13] Speaker A: Okay. [00:53:13] Speaker D: So the main thing about one of those. If you get caught in one of those. So you're going down the highway, the main thing you want to do is pull over, get off the road and turn off your lights. [00:53:22] Speaker B: Turn them off? [00:53:23] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:53:23] Speaker A: Why? [00:53:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:53:25] Speaker D: Because we're back to safety. When you have your lights on, someone thinks that's where the roadway is and they'll come run into you. [00:53:34] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:53:35] Speaker D: So the lights are in a tractor. If you turn your lights off, they don't have that visible, you know, ball score, ball thing. [00:53:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:53:41] Speaker D: They don't have that. So but your best thing, pull off, turn off your lights and just sit because you're not gonna. You have visibility. Goes from right now we're driving and all of a sudden we'll have no visibility for the next 15 minutes. You got to get off the road. [00:53:56] Speaker B: Yeah, we were ahead of it last time we got into a little bit. I would say if this is it, we were like driving ahead of it and we just kept driving. Speed limit, very safe. But we could tell that the atmosphere, meaning around us, was extremely dark and was definitely, I'm going to say foggy. But that was the sand, I would imagine, or the silt or whatever. [00:54:17] Speaker D: This is sandy silt. And it brings a very strong gust winds. [00:54:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:22] Speaker D: So it'll rip trees down and do all kinds of crazy things. If you have an umbrella up in your backyard and it comes through, that umbrella may be a couple blocks down. [00:54:32] Speaker A: So what kind of wind speeds are we talking about with this thing? [00:54:34] Speaker D: What was that? [00:54:34] Speaker A: What kind of wind speed? [00:54:35] Speaker D: We can get up to gusts. Some of the gusts are 65 miles an hour. Not like the hurricane. [00:54:40] Speaker B: No, but that's almost to a class, you know, a Category 1 hurricane. Back to the hydration. Since we're here, I don't mean to harp on this, but how much are you telling your team that are out in the field that they should hydrate. [00:54:50] Speaker D: A day with easily as a bottle of water. You should be drinking two to three an hour. [00:54:55] Speaker B: An hour? [00:54:56] Speaker D: Yes. [00:54:57] Speaker B: So a 16 ounce bottle, two to three an hour. When you're working outside. [00:55:01] Speaker D: And that's just depending upon your person because you may sweat more than others. So if you're dumping out, because all you're doing is you're taking and dumping out while you're sweating. [00:55:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:55:10] Speaker D: You know, and our guys, interesting enough, you go out there, they're long sleeved. [00:55:15] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:16] Speaker D: Hoods over. [00:55:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:55:17] Speaker D: And they want to get wet. They want to get soaking wet. So that breeze is like a natural air conditioner, like a swamp cooler. [00:55:24] Speaker A: My husband does that. He's like out mowing and he's all covered up and I'm like, what are you doing? Are you hot? [00:55:30] Speaker D: No, it's reverse of what you think. [00:55:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:32] Speaker D: Because, you know, I'll pop out and see a crew and just stop by real quick and they'll be. And he comes up with a ray attack that we use to check the fusion iron. And he checks my skin and he checks his. He's much cooler. [00:55:44] Speaker A: Really? [00:55:44] Speaker D: But you know, the shirt and the tan, I gotta have it. [00:55:46] Speaker B: That's for. That's for another podcast. He has the best shirts ever for the first time ever. [00:55:51] Speaker A: I like the one you're wearing. [00:55:52] Speaker B: Oh, no, this is great. I mean, he has a whole collection. [00:55:55] Speaker D: Of these and people start looking into them and see. [00:55:57] Speaker A: I know. I'm like, oh, wow, look. [00:55:58] Speaker B: And yes, a lot of them. Custom made. [00:56:00] Speaker D: Yes. Fun times, brother. [00:56:03] Speaker B: Thank you for joining. Great safety topic. [00:56:08] Speaker D: Pleasure to meet you. And always wait for the Western Regional. [00:56:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, brother. [00:56:11] Speaker D: You know, Right. So we get together. [00:56:13] Speaker B: It's our place. And thank you for joining us this week on Coffee with Jim and James.