00:08 Welcome to Six-Figure Trucker, the podcast where we share advice on how to be successful in trucking and have fun while doing so. We’ll share stories, news, and advice on how to earn six figures in trucking, and we’ll speak to guys and gals that are already doing so. Let’s get to the show.

00:28 Welcome everyone to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. I’m your host John Madewell and we are very happy to join you once again. We’re very honored to have Phillip Knowles on the line with us. Phillip is actually on the road. He’s going to spend some time with us. Phillip, how are you?

00:45 I’m doing well, sir. How are you—

00:46 Doing? Great. Doing great. Couldn’t do better. And tell us where you are right now, Phillip. I probably should be responding in fresh because I am sitting outside of Tim Horton in Drummondville, Quebec, about to make a delivery this afternoon.

01:00 Gotcha. Now, tell us again what province is that in?

01:04 Yes, sir. It’s Quebec. It’s the one— It’s the French-speaking province that’s north of New York. Like, if you went 300 miles north of due north of New York City, you’d hit Montreal and then I’m about 50 miles to the east of that.

01:19 Gotcha. Do you speak any French?

01:21 A little bit, but I just enough to say, “Do you speak English?” Or say, “I don’t speak French.” So, they could switch over to English, even though they don’t want to.

01:33 I gotta gotcha. Now, from talking to some of the other colleagues here at Norton Transport, we know that you do a lot of work in Canada. Tell us about some of the adventures you’ve had in the great white north.

01:45 I think I like it because it’s novel. I get to go to a lot of places that I have not been before and I probably never will go to again. I’ve got a trip in a couple of weeks to New Finland where I’m going to actually have to put the truck on a ferry for eight hours just to get up there. And so it’s just different than driving on the same interstate through Nebraska that I’ve been on probably 50 times. It just it’s different. I get exposed to a different culture, different people. It just keeps things fresh.

02:18 Tell us about your trip to Nova Scotia. What was that? How were the people? What was the weather like? And how was the food?

02:25 Yeah, the food is really good. I’m not a big fan of poutan, which is the French fries and gravy and cheese curds. I’m trying to do my best to keep healthy while I’m on the road. And unfortunately, all three of those are not something that you can eat all the time and keep healthy while trying to travel around. Nova Scotia itself is very pretty. I was there in the winter the first time I was there. And funny enough, this was when Texas was in a deep freeze last February and they were having power outages and all that. And it actually was colder in Texas than it was in Nova Scotia. Watch blowing my mind.

03:06 Well, that is mind-blowing. Now, you said you’ve got a load going to New Finland in the future.

03:12 Yes, sir. We’re doing a bunch of small UPS delivery trucks, and I’m taking them all over Canada. I’ve done them all the way from Winnipeg to Toronto to Montreal to the last one that I delivered before the one I’m doing now was in Longig, New Brunswick. And the account manager got with me about say three weeks ago and said, “Hey, can we look at doing a trip to Duke?” I said, “Yeah, sure. That sounds awesome.” So, I sat down and started looking at the fairies and trying to figure out like how much it would cost to put a truck on a ferry like that. But, I’m really looking forward to it because I don’t know of any other opportunity that I would have to go to a place like Newland.

03:55 Oh, exactly. Exactly. How much research? I mean, I’m sure Steve helped you out on his end, too. Steve being the account manager, but how much research do you have to do as far as figuring out the ferry, flight out, other unforeseen expenses that may come up, you know, from going to a location like that?

04:12 What I do generally is when I have a set of trips on my load board, I will kind of do when I first get them, I’ll sit down and the first thing I’ll do is I’ll look at general flight times and cost. I’ll look at, okay, what times does the fairies run? Okay, it runs at 11 o’clock a.m. And 11 o’clock pm. And every day I’ll look over that to make sure that I’m on schedule. And as I get closer, I kind of start zeroing in on, okay, I’m going to take that theory at that time and I go ahead and start making reservations and stuff like that. But as the trucking world, you have to be flexible. So, I’m always adapting to weather and to under things as they change.

04:55 Gotcha. Now, what are you going to do during that eight hours of the fairy ride? I’m assuming there’s a book involved or what will you do?

05:02 Probably I’ve got a good Stephen King book that I carry with me that I’ve been trying to read. So, I the fairy sit on the sketches. There’s actually an eight hour one and a 17hour one. And so, they actually it’s more like a cruise than a ferry. You actually, and it’s not very expensive, you can get a cat— Oh—

05:19 And so if you’re doing it overnight, you can get out, you could park the truck, you can get out of the truck, actually go and have a cruise cabin basically while you’re going to New. So that might be what I do.

05:32 Gotcha. That’s attractive if you could get a cabin if it’s not too much more monetarily. A 9 hours longer. Is that right? Is that what you’re saying? Nine hours longer.

05:41 Yeah. The store there’s two options. There’s an eight hour ferry, but then you have to drive an additional 500 miles to go across the island. Or you can take a 17-hour ferry and you end up right here at St. John. But the 17-hour ferry only runs three times a week, whereas the 8th hour ferry runs two or three times a day.

06:00 So it’ll take some good timing on your part if you’re going to do the quote unquote more luxurious of the two.

06:07 Exactly.

06:08 Gotcha. Now, how much difference is there? I mean, you kind of touched on it about like driving in Nebraska versus the statics of driving through Canada. Any other differences between driving and transporting in Canada versus America?

06:23 Well, there’s the obvious, there’s the you have to know metric. You have your reading, your speed is in kilometers per hour, the truck clearances are in meters, stuff like that. I just got either the truck I just press a couple of buttons and it switches over the speedometer or I’ve just over time I’ve just learned that okay 45 miles an hour is 74 km an hour and vice versa. Driving wise you drive on the right side of the road it’s not any different than that. It’s not any different than the US and that would it other than that it’s very similar other than the speed limits are different numbers and the language might be different here and there.

07:04 Right. I wouldn’t think there’d be too many differences. What about the conditions of the road in Canada? I guess it depends upon which province you’re in and what part of that province you’re in.

07:13 Sure. Just like the US, there’s really good parts of the road and there’s really bad parts of the road. Just today, I was on a loop around Montreal and then there’s this nice new piece of pavement that was very smooth to drive on and then you go over this bridge and the road is just torn up from the previous few winters. So, and just like the US, it just depends on where they’ve gotten to reconstruct the road and just how many trucks and how many winter seasons it’s been through.

07:43 Gotcha. Now, obviously, you have to be vaccinated, boosted, and clearly have your passport. And you’ve been with us for two years. Were you driving with anyone prior to us?

07:54 Not specifically for a transporter. I works for a company called PARs. It stands for professional automotive relocation services. And I moved company vehicles for pharmaceutical companies for insurance companies anytime one of their drivers needed joined with their company and needed a company car. I would help transport the cars by doing driveaway services. So they let me do a lot of small ox trucks and boom trucks and stuff like that. And the truck moving paid better than the car moving. And so I really enjoyed moving the trucks around that and they would help me with travel, stuff like that. And I stumbled upon a gentleman at an Enterprise Rena car two years ago who we shared a shuttle ride going from the Enterprise to where he was picking up his trucks in Quintfield, Illinois. And he told me about North Transport. I thought it was a sounded awesome.

08:53 So, I put in the application and here we are.

08:56 That’s a small world story right there where you find not by a recruiter, not by a website, but a guy on a shuttle at an enterprise location. Well, we’re lucky to have Phillip Knowles on board here with Norton Transport. You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker and Phillip Knowles who makes a lot of runs into Canada for us. And you can check out his episode and all the other ones on iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Stitcher, Six-Figure Trucker. Now, Phillip, you were talking a little bit about working in Canada. When you decided that that’s something you’d want to do, was it much of a I guess a process as far as getting passported and your vaccine and that kind of thing?

09:42 Well, I already had the passport from travel that I had done in college. I was in a choir in college at Texas&M University and we had the opportunity to go to South Africa and China when I was in college and I’d done some European travel before that. So I already had the passport set up but I did have to make sure that I had the at least the two shots for co the COVID vaccine that you do have to go to Canada. So it wasn’t a big leap forward or a big adjustment. It was just the getting used to sitting at the border waiting. Sometimes it depends on the crossing. It depends on the time of day. Sometimes you may have to wait a little bit to cross the border. So there’s that. Getting the paperwork. North has been very helpful in getting me the customs paperwork that I need to cross the border efficiently.

10:33 So there it’s not as simple as say driving a truck from a point in the US to another point in the US that it’s not that much more difficult.

10:42 Right. Once you have your passport, vaccination, your manifest, I guess you’re in good shape. But you made a good point there. Some locations point of cross there port of entry. There is more of a wait. What’s the longest you’ve had to wait and were there just extenduating circum circumstances?

10:57 I had a situation. And I was taking a truck from Perrysburg, Ohio near Toledo up to Toronto. And because of where all the lakes are up there, I have to go through Detroit and something like 25 to 30% staff freight traffic because between the US and Canada across that one bridge in Detroit. And so if you hit it at the wrong time, I’ve sat there for four hours before just sitting there in the truck line. It’s spread out into eight or nine lines and you just pick one and you get there when you get there kind of situation. But on the flip side, there’s a lot of crossings like in Maine or in northern New York that you crash pretty quickly.

11:37 I guess you have to do some preparation because where you were talking about there at Detroit and Toledo up that way going to that crossing, you know, if you hit it at the wrong time, you’re sitting in traffic for 4 hours. You certainly want to have enough fuel.

11:49 Sure. Sure. I always if I try to keep the fuel above a certain level all the time, but I’m always I’m try to be mindful so that I don’t get stranded on a bridge or on the side of the road needing to call someone to get some fuel.

12:05 Gotcha. I wanted to go off topic just a little bit here. I was making notes of one thing you said there about the going personal travel overseas when you were in a choir at Texas A&M. Now, are you a football fan? I Yes, sir. The—

12:20 Aggies and with the Aggies there. There’s a lot of speculation that this could be a very a banner year for the Aggies. Do you see that?

12:29 I hope so always, but I think they’ve said that the last 10 years. And so, it’s one of— It’s like being a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. I’m always hopeful, but I’ll celebrate when it actually does happen.

12:42 Cautiously optimistic.

12:43 Yes, sir.

12:44 Okay. Well, we’ll get back on the track on the road here. We’ll get back to talking about truck driving here. Now, you are from Texas. Tell us a little bit about where you were from in Texas and how long you’ve lived in Texas. If you’re a native, just give us a little background on Phillip Knowles.

13:00 Yes, sir. I was born and raised in Tyler, Texas, about 100 miles east of Dallas, about halfway between Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana. And I grew up there. I went to school at&m and my degree was in civil engineering, which I did for a couple years. I actually worked as a transportation designer, so I have to drive highways and I enjoyed the work, but it just got to the point where I couldn’t stand just sitting in an office staring at a computer all day. And it seemed like every day was just getting longer and longer and longer. And so I was going to I decided to step away from that and I was going to look for something like more in the construction world where I would work as like a construction inspector or work actually out on the highway projects themselves. And this was back when Uber and Lyft were getting really popular. Gotcha.

13:56 And I saw an advertisement for Lyft. And so I started driving for Lift while I was looking for employment and I really enjoyed that. I just like driving, taking people around the city, getting them to where they needed to go and that just Uber and Lyft became car transports became truck transports became North. So I think at some point in my future I may go back into engineering but it is one of those fields but the longer you are away from it you have to make sure that when you come back you haven’t lost a lot of the knowledge and stuff like—

14:32 Wow from civil engineering to driveaway trucking that that’s a nice spectrum you got there but what for you when you’ve settled into driveaway trucking and have become more familiar with it what’s the most rewarding part about the driveaway aspect for you.

14:48 I really enjoy knowing that I’m helping industries move. Like for example, with these GPS trucks, we’re doing them all over Canada and I know that I’m helping make sure that UPS can move its packages around in Canada for years to come because the vehicles that I’ve seen up there that these are replacing are starting to get toward the old side. So, it I’m glad that I’m able to at least do my own small part in keeping everything moving, keeping the wheels turning. Last Christmas season in November from October to December, I had the opportunity to work with Steve and we did a bunch of U-Haul trucks—

15:32 Right—

15:32 From various U-Haul locations in Vancouver and they were all they were going to Seattle and California. And what I did is for about five, six weeks, I just spent all day every day picking up Uval trucks that they were being rented by the package companies in the United States, but they couldn’t find enough trucks due to the trucking shortage. And so they had to get them from Canada. So what I was able to do is was just picking up the UVA trucks from the UVA locations in Vancouver and taking them one after another sometimes six or seven up the day, taking them across the border, parking them at a storage lot in Blaine, Washington, and then because Blaine is a small town on that side of the border, there was not really any Uber and lift, I would walk about a mile and a quarter back to the border, cross the border on and then get a get an Uber, go to the next location. And I just got into a rhythm where there are trucks available to move. I could do that six or seven times a day.

16:32 And this was in the winter time or late fall?

16:35 This one is in mid to late fall. It was getting ready for the Christmas package season in Seattle and in California.

16:43 I must confess I’ve heard that story from Steve. He and I sit side by side here in the office here at Norton Transport. But for a lot of our listeners, that’s a great story. Remarkable story to walk back and forth or walk one way to back to Canada to pick up your next load. Is that one of the highlights for you in the two years you’ve been with us?

17:03 It’s definitely the most unique project that I’ve ever worked on. What seems to happen is I’ll do a lot of drivers will do one trip and then do another type of trip and then go back and forth. I’ll zero in on something and say, “Okay, UPS needs all these package cards delivered.” So, I’ll just do those one after another either until I need to do something else or they run out. But, it’s just been it that particular case where we were helping move the U-Hauls. It was just it was a situation where because of COVID and because of the shortages and because of the labor problems, we were able to help the client make sure that they had enough rental trucks by helping them get them across together.

17:50 Gotcha. What was the weather like when you were making that track? That actually was when the flooding was all going when British Columbia flood flooded really bad. And so it there were some nice days but it rained most of the time that I left there as it’s per the as is the normal in that part of the world that time of year. There was even when the flooding got really bad, the a lot of the highways between Vancouver, which is Canada’s busiest port there being on the west coast of Canada, a lot of the high or all of the highways connecting Vancouver to the rest of the entire rest of the country of Canada got flooded. And so they were having to run all of their trucks through the same border crossing that I was trying to cross through five, six, seven times a day. And they were having to run all the freight down through Washington and Montana and Idaho to go back up in Canada.

18:46 So, there was some extra traffic and some delays, but it wasn’t too terribly bad because the US customs knew what was going on. So, they were trying to make it efficient as they could.

18:56 Gotcha. Did you get caught in any rain when you were on foot?

19:00 I did, but I just had a umbrella and it never really rained heavy enough that it impacted me too much. I just pulled out the umbrella and started walking.

19:10 Gotcha. You had mentioned and sort of talked about a in your words I think you said at least a small part of the process but how rewarding is it when you look at the big picture not just for UPS but for other companies and the industry at large to be a significant spoke in the wheel. How does that I mean how do you ever think about that kind of thing?

19:30 I just I like the work. I like the flexibility of the work, but I am I’m very glad that I get to help keep the wheels turning because our the economy that we’ve got in the US is adjusted in time economy and it seems like everything needs to be done faster. Everything needs to be done yesterday. And so I’m glad that I at least able to help move things along and not have things delayed and go off to works.

20:04 Gotcha. Well, speaking of the economy and what we’re going through now with the inflation, how does that impact Phillip Knowles as far as the model in which you conduct your business and how you go about it?

20:15 I mean other it doesn’t really change much. I have noticed prices have gone up like if I decide to stay in a hotel if whereas it used to be $50 $60 a night US dollars for a cheap hotel now it’s getting on up toward 100 and a lot of that depends on time of year and stuff like that but it’s been interesting to see the changes in price but while other costs are going up there’s examples like a lot of flights have gone back down a year ago I was moving some school buses to Toronto and the flights coming back were $500 $600 just to get back into the US and now while I’m doing GPS trucks I’m able to get flights sometimes day of for between two and $300.

21:03 Wow. So it there have been increases but then on the flip side I have seen I have had blessings where travel has actually gone down to make me be able to do it smoother because even say I could get a rental car one way from Canada to the US. And when I started doing the Canadian trips that’s how I would do it. I would drop off in Toronto just rent a car go to the mall across the mall then go wherever I was going in the US. I add the rental car shortage got really bad last year. It’s become difficult to rent a car. So, I’ve just tried to constantly be looking for what can make my job more efficient because at the end of the day, I’m balancing my travel expenses versus my prompt versus my income. And I’m just trying to keep ahead of that. Norton has been a really good way to make a lot of money and to do something that I really enjoy which is driving around.

22:04 Gotcha.

22:10 You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker. Joining us today is Phillip Knowles. Now, we wanted we were talking a lot about Canada and before we wrap up in the great white north there, kind of give us set the scene, paint the picture for us if you would, Phillip, of the prettiest thing you have seen in your two years here with Norton primarily when you’ve been in Canada.

22:31 One of the first trips that I did to Canada to Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, I was coming back. I was going to cross back into the US at Maine and I had my lunch with me and I was just going to go off the Grand Canon highway and see if I could just find a quiet place to just sit and relax and eat the lunch and I turned down this road and this is in the middle of February so it’s everything is completely frozen but I turned down this road. I didn’t even know there was a river there. And so when I turned, just this big raisin river is just laid out in front of me. And there’s a small park with the picnic table. So I parked the rental car, had lunch. Of course it’s cold, so I’m outside. But I do appreciate being able to see different places. And that’s one of the reasons I love working for Norton. No two days are exactly the same.

23:25 Gotcha. And I’m always at one day I’ll be in New York City and by the end of the next day I could be in Los Angeles. It just it’s always changing. The scenery is always changing. It always keeps things fresh. But I do think that there are some beautiful parts of Canada and Americans know that Canada is a beautiful place. But until you actually did it—

23:49 There are some breathtaking parts of Canada. Now, what you were talking about, I had to ask you being in that place of a solitude that you found in February there down a frozen road with the frozen river there and the park bench there or the picnic table rather. What was it like enjoying your lunch there in that magical place being a Texan used to the heat?

24:14 Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong place because I actually do not like the heat and I do love the cold. I my favorite season is winter and I love being able to bundle up and be out in the snow and in the cold. I think it’s very refreshing because it Texas summers can just be hot and humid with no rain and it just seems like day after day after day that’s all you’re going to get. And so I do I think it’s probably because I grew up in Texas. We all we want what are not used to. And so I do enjoy being able to go to places like North Dakota Canada in the winter time just for something different. Now, there are some hazards about driving through places like that. If it’s extremely cold, if you get stuck, you have to be prepared to be able to keep yourself warm and stuff like that. But I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

25:09 Now, being prepared for cold weather and working in the driveaway transport industry there, you have to be selective about how you do that because it’s not like you can really, you know, throw a lot in your go bag because you’re constant constantly moving. How do you tackle that challenge?

25:27 I just make sure that like you mentioned earlier, make sure making sure I’ve always got enough fuel just in case something happens like if there’s a roadblock or something, I’m not going to run out of fuel. Just I always keep some extra water and food with me just in case and not even for if not even for safety reasons just in case I get hungry while I’m going down the road. I don’t have to find a place to stop to buy something. And in the winter time I do make sure that I’ve got my coat, I’ve got my jacket, I’ve got a couple of emergency blankets with me just in case something does happen.

26:01 Sure. Sure. You got to take care of the basics and be prepared for anything. Well, Phillip Knowles joining us here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Wanted to ask you, Phillip, you’ve spent the last couple years and it sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time in Canada, but let’s drop back down to the lower 48 here. What do you see as far as beauty that compares to Canada just on an aesthetical standpoint? I had the opportunity, of course, it was going to Canada, but for the first time, I was able to drive on I 87 north of Albany, New York, headed up toward Montreal. And it was the first time I’d ever driven at that part of the New York through the aderondic mountains. And there’s a couple of places when you’re when you turn on the road and you’ve got the Adirondacks on one side. And of course, this had this was a sunset, too.

26:54 So it was very pretty with the sun setting over them. But as you look to the right, there’s Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh and then Burlington, Vermont and then the Green Mountains in Vermont over to the other side. So that was a very pretty experience that I had. I do also enjoy driving through northern Oregon through the Columbia River Gorge, the interstate that goes east out of Portland, goes through the gorge forms by the Columbia River and it’s about 200 miles of just through the wrong canyon to the river next to you the whole time and it’s very pretty. California is pretty. I do enjoy Wyoming and Montana, Wyoming. There can be some boring parts of Wyoming, but there’s also some pretty parts like Yellowstone. Both countries are very are beautiful. I mean, we live in a beautiful place and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to drive around seeing it all.

27:49 That was my next question, which you definitely are already have answered, but how rewarding is it or I guess redeeming to see such beauty laid out in front of you?

27:58 It kind of put puts things in perspective. It calms me down if I’m having a stressful day for whatever reason. It just it there’s something about driving through a landscape that is all inspiring or is beautiful that just makes you realize that okay yeah everything’s going to be fine.

28:16 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now I wanted to circle back. We’re talking about your days at Texas A&M and you were in the choir tenor bass. What did you do in the choir?

28:25 I am a fcketer. The male chorus there is called the Texas A&M singing cadetses. And of course that name does go back to a time where Texas A&M was an allmale all military school. Now, even though I was not in the core of cadets, they had both core members and civilian members in the choir, but we did they do still have a military style to the uniforms that we wear while performing and a lot of the music that we do, patriotic and religious.

28:59 Gotcha.

28:59 And so it just it was an opportunity to travel, which I’ve always loved traveling, which is how I ended up where I am now. But it just was an opportunity to travel and fulfill my hobby. While I was studying to be an engineer, I was able to have the hobby of singing, which I enjoyed so much. I’ve always enjoyed singing. I’ve been in the symphony chorus in Dallas, Texas. I’ve been in some church choirs in the Dallas area before I started traveling. So, it’s always I’ve always appreciated the ability to have an outlet while I’m either working your hair or doing something else.

29:37 Do you sing when you’re on the road by yourself?

29:40 I sometimes do. I It’s one of those kind of like singing in the shower or something. You’re singing and you hope nobody see you or near you. A couple of days ago, the I was driving and the stat started poking it poking its head poking itself off about that rides. And then of course what instantly popped into my head was that song from the beginning of— The Lion King, which I started humming to myself. But it just you just have to I mean when you’re driving down the road 600 700 miles a day, you have to keep yourself entertained. You have to keep yourself aware and fresh. And so anything that I can do to keep myself from counting the tree to the sheep, I will try to do.

30:24 Gotcha. Do you bring music with you? Obviously on your phone there, but do you have some music with you to keep you occupied and pass the miles by?

30:34 I listen to a lot of satellite radio, a lot of series. I’ve got a couple of SiriusXM channels that I like to listen to. I listen to a lot of audio books. I even have been able to listen to like books like layman.

30:49 Oh, nice.

30:49 Yeah. Stuff that’s like 60 70 hours of audio that if I ever had to force myself to sit down to read, I never would be able to read. But I’ve been able just because I’ve spent so much time on the road. I’ve been able to listen to books and to music and to just pass the time. You know, you talk about passing the time, but what you just laid out there, it’s also broadening your horizons like you had just said that you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

31:15 Exactly. And I also like have I subscribe to Rosetta Stone and so I will go through like for example I’m in Quebec right now and I’m always trying to improve my French while I’m up here and I will go through some audio companions from that and just be going over French vocabulary so that I can be driving down the road and see that word on the side that actually know what a me.

31:39 Gotcha. Bust out something in French for us here. I’m not going to try to put you on the spot, but say something just basic conversationally that you could give us a little French there.

31:47 Like earlier, I just said like when I go to the UTF facilities up here, I the first time I was up here, I thought, “Okay, everybody up here speaks French. Nobody speaks English.” So, I just walked up to the gentleman and I just said, “Paul and he responded to me like, “Sorry, like, what are you saying?” And I just assumed that people in because I’d never been to Quebec before. I just assumed that everybody would want to speak French. So I was getting very good at all. I don’t speak French. I pronunciation is probably a mess, but that I have a new truck just in case they needed to point me to the right direction. You had enough just to get by there. It sounds like it worked out. And I wanted to ask you again to kind of circle back. We were talking about your days in the choir. Those days in the choir took you outside the country. Kind of walk us through those trips, what you did there when you were outside the country.”

32:48 Well, when we went to South Africa, we had the ability to tour all around South Africa. We went to Johannesburg. We went to Cape Town. And this was within the couple of weeks actually leading up to the World Cup in 2010. And so everything was under construction. And there were a lot of people already in the country for the World Cup thing. But it just was amazing being able to tour a different country. We got to go to the Cape of Good Hope. We got to sing with a gospel choir in Suetu, which is Southwest Township, part of Johannesburg. We got to see the lions and the giraffes in Krueger National Park. And it just it I mean, I appreciate being an American. I appreciate the blessings that we do have in the United States, but it’s always amazing to me to see other parts of the world because sometimes I forget just how big this world really is and how varied it is and its people, its languages, its cultures. And so I’ve always appreciated the ability to just absorb to be able to see things that I may not be able to see otherwise.

33:56 And then three years later we went to China and one of the things we did is we actually were able to perform in what is there Carnegie Hall in Beijing and so that was definitely something that I enjoyed and China is a beautiful country as well. You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. This is Phillip Knowles who as if you have listened in on this one, you can certainly pick up that Phillip has had some great travels in his life. Some he’s gotten paid to do, some he’s done out of his own leisure. Right now, he is in Canada making a delivery in Quebec. And Phil, Phillip, tell us what’s on the menu literally for you this evening. I actually I’m gonna go to I’m gonna make the delivery and then go to the airport in Montreal and I’ll probably just sit down and have a salad.

34:50 So just chicken salad probably. Nothing special, nothing unusual.

34:55 Gotcha. In your two years in Canada, what’s the best food you’ve had there?

34:59 I really like Tim Bolton. I know that is a very cliche thing to say, but I really do like Tim Bolton. I think Canadian fast food is better than American fast foods. I’m probably gonna get some kickback about that, but I think the way they I think they it seems like fast food in Canada, like say if you go to a truck stop or something, it’s always seems to be fresher and it always seems to be maybe it’s just because it’s new and it’s not what I’m used to, but other than like the local and regional stuff, there isn’t a lot of difference between the food that you can find in the United States and in Canada.

35:38 Gotcha. Now, after you finish, what’s your load plan look like after that?

35:42 I’ve got this delivery. I going to the airport. I’ll fly back to North Carolina tonight through New York City. And then I’m going to pick up another truck and it’s going to Mocs, New Brunswick. And I will do that over the weekend. And I try to when I’m go like up the east coast of the United States, I try to do a lot of knife driving because when you’re going through places like Washington DC and New York City, you can get caught in some nasty traffic during the day trying to cross the Jordan Washington Bridge or going through other places. And so I try to drive at night if I can. Sometimes that could create some interesting scheduling with the hotel. If I want to stay in a hotel, I’ll walk in at 10:00 in the morning and be asking for a room and they’re basically staring at me. But it after I do the New Brunswick one, then I’ve got two more to suburban Montreal and then after that I will do the New England trip over Labor Day weekend.

36:39 So I’ll end up in Newfoundland the middle of the week following Labor Day, which I’m really looking forward to. I don’t think there’d be any other reason I would ever go to Newland for any reason. So, I’m really looking forward to this trip. Gotcha.

36:52 Do you ever sleep?

36:54 I do. I give absolute sleep. I do a lot of traveling through the night, but I do of course make sure to stop for the 10 hours as per the requirements. I But I do like to travel at night a lot less people on the road. Like if you go to a truck stop, you don’t have to wait in line as long.

37:13 Is that something that you picked up on quickly once you got into the business? I just I try to be as efficient as I can and I would like I would get to stop for the day at like two o’clock in the afternoon one day and I realized well if I stop at 2 that means I could start again at midnight and I thought no I’ll just wait I’ll sleep in and I thought well if I get up at midnight then I could be eight hours down the road by the time I would think about getting up otherwise. So, it’s just it’s just something I got used to because I’m always trying to not necessarily push myself, but I’m always trying to be as efficient in the state as I possibly can be.

37:55 Make the most out of your time when it’s on the road.

37:57 Yes, sir.

37:58 Okay. We’ve talked a lot about Canada with Phillip Knowles. Now, he is a Texan as you had heard. Take us back to the Ben Wheeler, Texas. When you do get back home, what kind of things do you like to do? I because I’m moving around so much, I like to like sit down and relax. Like I’ll make myself go grocery shopping and see family and go to the gym and stuff like that. But I do when I get when I do get the chance to go home, I do like to either catch up with friends or go see a movie or something. But I do a lot of decompressing, just relaxing because when you spend your life moving around a lot, sometimes it is nice to just sit down and be quiet for a while.

38:40 Gotcha. Good time to chill in Texas.

38:42 Yes, sir.

38:43 Gotcha. Now, what do you see? We talked a little bit about inflation and how it impacts the drivers on the road, but we have talked to a number of drivers and people in the industry where it’s been kind of slow. Maybe not for you because of the companies that you’re delivering for, but do you see an uptick coming? What’s your gauge looking into the future as far as on the I guess you know, are we going to get past the supply chain issues?

39:10 I think we will. I think there’s a good example of the all the semiconductor plants that they’re now building in the United States trying to get ship manufacturing pushed forward. Of course, it takes a while to get those plants manufactured. But once they do, I think that we’re going to see things even out over time. As long as something like CO doesn’t happen again soon, I think it will the economy will be given a chance to work itself out. And I think there’s going to be an uptick. Fuel is going down a little bit and so it’s a lot more truck drivers are going back into freight hauling and owner operating and stuff like that. So, we’re starting to see a little bit of flack in the system and I think it’s gonna get benefit.

39:58 Now, you’ve been in driveaway trucking for two years and if you’re just joining us, this is Phillip Knowles here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Phillip, what would you say to a person, say a man or a woman out there who’s considering going into driveaway transport, which is different than some of the other methods of trucking? Give us your sales pitch.

40:18 Give it a try. I it was one of those things that when I started doing this kind of work, I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I thought, well, you get paid to travel. Well, sign me up because I love to travel and it over time, I’ve just gotten used to being out on the road. I do enjoy it. It does have its challenges. I’m not going to lie, but I’ve been able to take my love for traveling, take my love for driving, and make the most out of it. And the beautiful thing about driveaway trucking and being a contractor is that you can work as little or as much as you want. And that’s what I’ve appreciated. I’ve appreciated being able to push myself a little bit for a couple of months and then pull back and then take a couple of weeks off. And other than okay, hey, by the way, telling the people who need to know, hey, by the way, I’m gonna I’m going to step back for a little bit. I’ve been able and it’s very I do appreciate the ability to change pace a lot whereas if you were in a traditional employment setting you had the same 9 to5 employment pace the whole time.

41:27 So I do appreciate the ability to change things based on what’s going on in my life at the time. We have heard from other drivers, specialists in driveaway transport, talk about the flexibility that they’ve had. And you had mentioned when you do get back to Texas, it’s time to chill and relax. And we know you love to travel. So, have you had a memorable vacation, say in the last 12 to 18 months?

41:53 At the middle to end of May, I decided to go to Hawaii for two weeks. And it was a spur-of-the- moment thing. I two days before I left I booked a flight and I went to Hawaii and I really enjoyed Bville.

42:07 What part of Hawaii were you able to take in?

42:09 I stayed in Waikiki Beach but I did a lot of island hopping stuff with airlines very cheap service between the islands of Hawaii and so one day I would go to Maui and drive around in a rental car in Maui all day have lunch at a seafood place and then go to the beach and then make my way back to the airport to catch my flight. But it’s just it’s a beautiful state. It was a very nice time to be there. It was sunny the whole time. So, I really enjoyed the ability to step back a little bit and relax. Now, I would have to think that working in driveaway gave you the ability and the monetary position to do such a thing of that. Has driveaway been good to you monetarily speaking?

42:52 It has. I have appreciated the abilities to make a lot of money, not necessarily make my a lot of money quickly, but if I do have an expense or bills that are coming up, it’s pretty simple to be able to pay, okay, I’ll do three or four trips and that’ll be able to cover that. And the beautiful thing about Norton is I deliver the truck and get the paperwork to them and sometimes I’m paid that day. And if it’s not that day, it’s the next day. So it I’ve appreciated the ability to have a lot of cash flow that I could move around rapidly.

43:29 Gotcha. That’s got to be nice. I mean, particularly for someone who loves to travel.

43:32 Yes, sir.

43:33 Gotcha. Phillip Knowles joining us today here on the Six-Figure Trucker, brought to you by Norton Transport. You can catch it on iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple, and Google podcast, and Stitcher. Phillip, thank you very much for joining us. If there’s anything we may have left out that you feel would be pertinent to people who are considering going into driveaway trucking, what would that be?

43:54 I think it boils down to being able to get paid to travel because a lot of people they pay a lot of money to be able to go to some of these places that I’ve been. And I am now granted I am working for it but I do love the fact that I can go to Quebec to Nova Scotia to California to Newlands and be able to get paid to do it and I think that’s the best thing about it in my opinion.

44:24 There you have it from Phillip Knowles who is in Canada now and is soon coming back to the States but he has joined us and been gracious with his time here. Phillip, we certainly appreciate you for your time here working with Norton Transport and for joining us on the Six-Figure Trucker.

44:39 Yes, sir. Thank you for having me.

44:40 All right, we’ll see you next time on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport.

44:50 Six-Figure Trucker is brought to you by Norton Transport. Norton Transport is a driveaway trucking company that customers can rely on. It offers excellent independent contract driving opportunities to professional, courteous, and qualified drivers that can provide the kind of service we deliver. If you’re interested in learning more about Norton or just want to subscribe to the show, check out Six-FigureTrucker.com. That’s Six-FigureTrucker.com.