00:04 So I take it very seriously when people open up. You know, you don’t know what they’re going through. Really don’t. Just keeps me mindful. Hey, yeah, you drive trucks, but you know, you also still ministering to people while you’re out here. So be mindful of that. I was like, okay, Lord, I hear you. 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. Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. This is a format, a venue if you will, where we celebrate and elevate the drivers who make the world go round and round here in this country. And we are very proud to have them. And joining us this evening is Alonzo Seymour. Alonzo, how are you?

01:01 I’m great. How are you?

01:03 I’m doing well. Doing well. I’m a little under the weather, but feeling great. Other than that, it’s been one of those Fridays.

01:09 I understand.

01:10 One of those Fridays everything can happen. You never know what’s going to happen, and what you don’t expect to happen does happen. And I’m sure— That’s very true for you out there on the road. How are you, man?

01:21 Very I’m great. I’m actually in the hotel resting for a change.

01:26 What’s your day been like leading up to that time downtime?

01:30 Actually driving for the last three days or two and a half days from North Carolina over to Seattle, Washington.

01:38 Oh wow.

01:39 And it was a great trip. Really great trip for me.

01:43 Yes sir.

01:44 Long run there. So, when did you leave North Carolina and when did you arrive in Seattle?

01:48 I left I got left North Carolina Tuesday about 5:00 p.m. And actually I got here last night around about 10:10 p.m. And I usually don’t get a hotel. But this particular time since I drove so far, I got a hotel and just get some rest.

02:10 Gotcha. What kind of hotel does Alonzo stay in? This one here because I built up so many points is a Double Tree hotel in downtown Seattle. It’s really great. Really great.

02:24 So you got you could do a little walking around Seattle tonight if you want. Is it raining? I know it rains out there all the time.

02:30 It is beautiful here today. The sun is out. People are out. Actually I’m going to go out right after the park podcast and I’ll do some walking and you know and just look out look around. Can you see the Space Needle there from where you are?

02:45 I cannot. No, sir.

02:46 I got you. Got you. I think that’s Seattle if I remember correctly. Have you ever been to Seattle before?

02:52 This is my second trip to Seattle. So, actually, that’s why I chose it. It’s got a good feel. I like the feel of it. I can’t really put it in words yet, but it’s some reason I’m keep coming back here. And usually when I keep coming back to a place it’s something about it. It’s just a real peace when I come here. I’m able to really think about some things and it comes to me easily, you know.

03:18 I got you. I understand.

03:20 Yeah.

03:21 So, you had a long run from North Carolina to Seattle. What kind of truck was it that you were driving out there? Actually, this is the first school bus that I chose. And this is like a mini school bus Chevrolet Express 4500. So—

03:37 So like about 20 passengers or something like that. 15 20 passengers, something along those lines.

03:43 Yes. Yes. Yes, sir.

03:45 That that had to be a pretty smooth ride. I would think—

03:48 It was smooth. It was the truck rode very well. A lot of space in it. So yeah, it was great.

03:56 Good times. Good times. Now, Alonzo, how long have you been behind the wheel? Tell us how you got behind the wheel as a driver, as a professional driver.

04:03 How I started driving, actually, I own a car lot in Montgomery, Alabama. And I’ve sold cars actually since I was about, I’d say 19. And so, I have a used car lot there. And if you know, CO came and car market is up and down. And cars are just very expensive now, used cars. So I said, I really have to do something while these cars are so expensive. So prayed about it, went and got a CDL license last summer and I started driving on a Walmart account. Did that for about 6 months and then I got a buzz about being a transporter. I didn’t know what a transporter was actually and started doing some research. I said, hm, okay, I may try this out. But I didn’t know what company I wanted to go for. Just in prayer one day, people may not believe it. I was in a chair theater chair at my home. I heard Norton Transport ran to my computer, typed in my application, and about 3 seconds, it was 3 seconds, Garrett from Norton called me and it was on ever since.

05:16 And I know this is, you know, where I supposed to be. So yeah. So, you were saying that you were sitting in your chair and you heard Norton Transport.

05:25 I woke up abruptly. I heard Norton Transport and I didn’t know what it was, but I went and Googled it and I saw the website and it was a transport company. And like I said, I typed in the application. It was literally 3 seconds after I submitted it, Garrett called me. I was like, “Man, it’s God. This God all the way.” So, we got the ball rolling. That’s a great story, man. It’s like, had you ever heard of Norton Transport before that?

05:54 I have never heard of Norton, but I left this part out before I actually got in the chair and wanted to take a nap. I said, “Please show me where I supposed to be. I don’t want to be where I don’t want to be and waste a lot of time.” And it came to be just like that. Just like that.

06:12 Wow. That is Yes.

06:14 That’s an incredible story. Within 3 seconds, you had a phone call. Well, it would take—

06:18 Three seconds.

06:20 Wow. Now, Garrett, I know Garrett’s a great guy to talk with. I’m sure he was very professional and helpful with you. What was it like talking to your recruiter?

06:30 He was so patient because he knew I had a lot of questions as so many people and one of the biggest questions, can you make money? And he was just like, you’re going to make money. You know, probably not from the start, but if you get it tweet right, you’re going to make money. And you know he was right. He was right.

06:50 Now you had mentioned there it’s something you had prayed about and you sat in the chair and you had mentioned earlier a little bit about prayer. So prayer is obviously something that’s important to you Alonzo.

07:00 Yes. For making you know in a youth making mistakes doing things on impulse. You know I really wanted to tighten up my prayer life because I heard you know if you get the directions right you can save a lot of time a lot of money. And so that’s why I have such a great peace about Norton. Nobody can even take me away from it because this I know I’m supposed to be here.

07:24 And, and I think that’s why everything goes smooth for me.

07:27 It’s an answered prayer.

07:28 Yes. Yes. Now, talk a little bit about when you’re on the road and your days leading up to a load, when you’re on a load, and when you’re driving, and when you get to a hotel like where you are now, how much does prayer interweave in those activities?

07:45 Very much. You know, I pray for the people who I’m picking up from that I really encounter, the best people. You know and then while I’m driving you know I’m praying for the people around me of course myself to get there safely and to deliver safely and do I have problems sometimes of course I do but it’s how you handle it and you know if you pray about it you know you get through it you break down you know it’s going to work out you don’t get all agitated about it hey we going to get there it’s going to work out and it always does so yeah—

08:20 That’s good to hear now I’m assuming you’ve had a couple of breakdowns in your time. How do you approach them? You said, you know, you pray about it. I mean, let’s say take us back to one of the breakdowns. Don’t want to I mean, nobody likes to talk about a breakdown, but they’re you know, a matter of business. They happen.

08:36 I don’t want to, you know, discourage anybody, but you may have a breakdown. I only had one. I probably won’t have another one. Actually, it was in Montana in the snow back in February. And you know, I was right at a truck stop. So that’s where prayer comes in. You have to find a good in it. It’s always something good. And when something bad happens, you got to look for it, but it’s always some good. In my case, I broke down at a truck stop. What better place to break down than at a truck stop. I can still go to sleep. I can do what I got to do. And actually, it didn’t take no more than probably 45 minutes to get it fixed and I was back on the road. So—

09:18 That’s a great breakdown because they usually take days. I mean in 45 minutes.

09:24 Yes.

09:24 That’s another answer.

09:26 How did prayer become such a part of your life?

09:29 Actually I traveled with a preacher out of Dallas, Texas. His name is Dr. Mike Murdoch. He’s a evangelist and went many miles with him. Traveled all over the country really matter of fact all England to Costa Rica to Brazil. And one thing I noticed about this guy is that he always prayed. And I was like, “Wow, wow. What? This is amazing.” You hear people say they pray, but you really when you get to see somebody actually doing it, it’s like, “Wow.” And that’s pretty much I said, “Man, I got to really tighten up on my prayer life here.”

10:06 So yeah.

10:07 So So you learned it from him or picked up some tips from him?

10:10 I Yes. As people don’t want to talk about money when it comes to church, but it’s a business. And so, you know, he wanted to make sure that he was always doing the correct thing. So, he was praying in the morning and throughout the day. And when I say pray, it’s not just you may not be kneeling down. You don’t have to kneel down to pray. You can pretty much be doing anything and just going over it in your mind, praying, you know. So, and that’s what I saw him do and I just started implementing in my day, you know. So—

10:41 How long ago was that when you met him and picked that up from him?

10:45 I started working for Dr. Murdoch in 2005 up to 2010. You know, it was just an awesome experience to learn. Actually, that’s where I learned how to do radio and TV. Went on to do radio ministry and TV ministry actually and write books because of him. So, you know, I owe it a lot to him. Now, you and I had talked a couple weeks ago, and I knew that you that preaching was in your background. Is it still in your foreground? I mean, something that you do as well as trucking.

11:19 I do I don’t preach as much as I used to. And when I say that, I usually do more TV and radio. I’m not too much of a pull pit preacher. I’m more of a I like the radio and TV. I don’t know why you know, but it’s more comfortable for me, you know, to do it that way.

11:41 Well, we all have to find our niche, and that’s sounds like for Alonzo. How long have you been doing the radio and the television gig?

11:49 Since 2000. So, a long time.

11:54 Now, are you online? Are you online somewhere? I used to be online doing things, but as the trucking and the car actually the car business got me real busy. So I haven’t been really online, you know, I would say like I should, but it looks like it’s getting back to that where I am. So, who knows?

12:15 Gotcha. Let’s talk a little bit about the car business now. When you got— How did you fall into the car business?

12:22 Car business was pretty much just like Norton. Actually, it was just like Norton. Prayed about it. Everything lined up. I found the building. Just had so much favor from the owner. Owner just did so much for me. And you know, went in, started the car lot business. And my niche was selling cars from $5,000 to probably well $2,000 to $5,000.

12:47 This was a few years ago, obviously.

12:49 Still doing it. I still have a car lot. I’m not buying as many cars right now because cars are upside down.

12:57 What I mean by that, cars that I used to could pay $2500 for, now I’m ending up paying $5,000—

13:04 Right?

13:04 And I’m not doing that because I’ll be sitting on cars and I don’t want to sit on money like that. So—

13:09 Yeah. Yeah. Not much profit margin there when you have to pay that much.

13:13 No, no, no.

13:15 You’re listening to Alonzo Seymour here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Alonzo is in Seattle right now relaxing at a hotel after a long drive from North Carolina to Seattle. But Alonzo is from Montgomery, Alabama.

13:30 Montgomery, Alabama.

13:31 Now, for those of you who have not been to Montgomery, one thing about Montgomery, that place is hot.

13:39 It very very hot. Very hot.

13:41 Tell us about the heat there and what it’s like in Montgomery.

13:45 Oh my. The heat is almost year round when it’s actually winter in places. We’re still in the 80s in January and February. So, it can get hot there. Yeah.

14:00 Now, Alonzo, I understand I was looking up your profile there. You had a birthday not long ago. Well, actually this month.

14:08 51. I can’t believe it. 51.

14:11 51 and holding there. Now, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. And being 51, have you always lived in the Montgomery area?

14:20 I’ve had the privilege to live in Dallas, Texas Georgia, and Montgomery. So, yeah, I haven’t been there all my life. Yes, sir.

14:30 I got you. So, if I’m not I may make a mistake here geographically, but Montgomery is not far from Selma, is it? Selma’s pretty close to Montgomery.

14:38 Not very far. Probably about 45 minutes from Selma. I thought it was pretty close. What’s it like living so close to such an iconic and historic place in our nation’s history, civil rights particularly?

14:51 I have to say I really can’t tell you about that. When I was in Montgomery, I pretty much stayed in Montgomery. I didn’t know anybody from Selma, so I didn’t know their history or anything like that till I got much older. So it didn’t really affect me, you know, it didn’t have an impact on me. Yeah, it was such a huge moment in history that happened there on the bridge there. How would you describe Montgomery to the places the other places where you’ve lived and differences and similarities?

15:23 Montgomery will be a more relaxed place. Cost of living is low. Though I can really say from going living in Georgia is totally different. It’s more fastpaced. So is Texas. More fast-paced where I was in Dallas.

15:39 Gotcha. So—

15:40 But you’re in Montgomery now.

15:42 Yes.

15:42 I got you. Now, where is your next load taking you? You’re in Seattle now. You’re I’m assuming, have you already dropped off that small bus?

15:51 Yes, I did the bus at 7 a.m. And tomorrow I’ll catch a flight to Salem, Virginia. And I have a cab and chassis going home, actually, to Montgomery, Alabama. I like to choose loads that take me home.

16:07 That’s sweet, man. And Yeah. Very next day I’ll be back on the plane going back to one of my favorite runs is in Chillicothe, Ohio, taking that through Kansas.

16:20 Okay. So—

16:20 From Chile to Kansas. Now you got a busy week where you’ve crossed the country, flying back across the country, then back down from there to Alabama—

16:33 And then back up to Chillicothe, Ohio. You were talking about, you and I were talking about it—

16:39 The importance and the primary purpose of this business for you is planning. How do you approach your planning?

16:47 Well, when I’m looking at my load board and I tell people when I’m trying to bring them to Norton, I just don’t look at the money. You know, many times we’ll look at the load board and feeding the money, but I’m looking at the places. How is this going to affect me? You know, and what I mean by that, am I going to have trouble catching a flight? Am I going to have trouble getting the Uber? All of those things, if it’s not smooth for me, it’s not worth to me is not worth my time, no matter how much money it is. So, my planning is very important to me. And it may take me sometimes 30 minutes to plan something because I want to make sure that my health, you know, is right, you know, and my mindset is right. So, you know—

17:31 Plan is everything. Very good advice from Alonzo Seymour here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. We had a gentleman on here before, another driver who talked he approached planning this way. One of the first we’ve heard say this—

17:46 He would book his flights first based off of price without a load. He would find a price on a flight that was very low—

17:57 Extremely low, but he would fly to a city where he knew he could get a truck out, but he would get the flight before he got the load. And I’m like, that’s takes a little bit of courage to do that, but he saves a lot of money.

18:08 That that’s some faith.

18:11 Yes.

18:12 He would do that first. He said, I can drop here and fly to this city. And he would fly to a city where he could get the great fair and then get a load out. Mhm.

18:21 Now I planning is obviously very smart to you because or important to you because you’re talking about how you would rather have a smooth transition from load to travel and travel to load than the bottom line on the pay now. How has that worked out for you since you’ve been doing it?

18:39 It’s great actually. And one thing I if I had to train a trucker transporter, you want to make your dispatcher’s job easy. That’s— You know, I can’t stress that enough because when you choose a load and you don’t plan now, you put more pressure on them to try to find you a way out of that place and they have other drivers to deal with. So you planning makes their job easy. And when you make their job easy, I mean, it’s just everything just goes right, you know? So, that’s why I really plan. I don’t have just me in my mind. I have my dispatchers, you know. Do I want to be a burden to them? You know, I chose a load, but they don’t have a Uber now. They got to stop what they’re doing. Find your way, you know. You know, so that’s one of my biggest things.

19:32 Gotcha. Whose team are you on?

19:34 I can’t really— My main one was Emily, but I’ve been blessed to deal with all three people. I have Mike, Emily, and Haley.

19:43 Oh, yeah. And they love working with me and I’m so thankful I can call any one of them. Actually, Mike said, you know, you can call any one of us, you know. So, and I think it comes because he sees that, you know, Alonzo, he knows what he’s doing. He’s not going to be somebody that, you know, we have to take a lot of time with. So, you know—

20:05 I’m sure they appreciate hearing the kind words about you. And now that you said Emily, I remembered Emily telling me because I told her, I said, “Yeah, I’m talking to Alonzo.” She’s like, “Oh, Alonzo’s cool. I like”

20:15 Oh, damn. Great.

20:16 Yeah. It’s a mutual feeling. And we talk about this a lot on the podcast here on the Six-Figure Trucker, the relationship between a driver and a dispatcher. I mean, we it’s a frequent topic of conversation, but—

20:29 What does it mean to you? I mean, to have that type of relationship with Emily, Haley, and Mike?

20:35 It’s very important to me. Cuz you hear horror stories about dispatchers and I’m I can’t even tell, you know, I’m like, “Hey, I got great dispatchers, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But it means so much to me, you know, to be able to pick up the phone and everything goes so smooth. Go.

21:03 You’re listening to Alonzo Seymour here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Now Alonzo, you’re coming off the back end of a nice smooth road, smooth run—

21:13 Cross country and you’ve got a little bit of downtimes. Your flight’s tomorrow morning. Is that right?

21:18 Yes, tomorrow morning.

21:20 So kind of set the scene for us. You ended up in Seattle. It’s a beautiful day there. Tell us what you’re seeing, what you have on tap for the rest of the day and into the morning.

21:31 Right now I’m looking out over the I chose a room with a balcony, so I’m actually looking at it like a botanical garden. Later on I’ll talk to my daughter. We talk about four or five times a day. Being on the road, you need somebody that knows where you are, you know. I can’t stress that enough, you know. So, so we touch bases tonight and basically that’ll be what I’m doing for the night. I do some exercises, do my push-ups. You know, I’m not at home, so I can’t get on my treadmill or bike, but you can, you know, you have to find some other ways to do, you know, what you need to do. So—

22:09 Gotcha. Now, you said you talk to your daughter four or five times a day. How old is your daughter?

22:14 She is 30. I have one daughter who’s a teacher. That’s she’s 30 in Montgomery. And my other daughter is a nurse. She lives in Gainesville, Georgia. Actually, she’s in London, England now. Her birthday is next month. So that’s she’s visiting over there. So I won’t talk to her probably to when I get back home this weekend.

22:36 Obviously, they’re important to you if you talk to them that frequently.

22:40 Oh, yeah. I don’t know. I wouldn’t be here without them. My parents passed away, both of them, last year. So, you know, they these girls mean a whole lot to me. So, yeah.

22:55 What’s it like? I mean, being on the road so much when you’re so tight-knit with your family. How do you balance that as far as communication, in-person visit, that kind of thing?

23:08 I guess, you know, I had to get used to it at first. But now, you know, I’ve tweaked it where I know I can get home. On a certain day you know whenever I can and nothing has changed you know I don’t say nothing has changed it’s still great—

23:26 Now you just turned 51 and how long have you been how long have you been a CDL driver I think you’d mentioned when you got started there around co so about how long—

23:37 Since June the 8th last year is when I went to CDL school and I graduated in four weeks from CDL and people say how you do it so fast. Well, you got to remember I own a car lot. So to get my cars, I had to buy a 40ft trailer. So pulling a, you know, a trailer was nothing to me. I had already known how to do it. So that’s, you know, how I learned so fast to do trucking. So—

24:04 So you were pulling this trailer behind a big pickup truck, I guess, or—

24:08 Run. Yes. A 3500 truck. People do hot shots now with them, but I only did it to pick up my personal cars.

24:16 I got you. So, yeah. Yeah.

24:18 So, that kind of lined up for you for your next step as far as your career. I mean, having that advantage of having that experience pulling a 40ft trailer. How much did that help you in the CDL in the course and then afterward?

24:34 Helped me tremendously. My teacher found out what I was doing. He was like, you know, you used to seem like you drove trucks before. I said, no, sir. Never drove a 18-wheeler before, but what I have done is been in tight places with a 40 foot trailer and I know how to be careful and I know how to bag and all that. He’s like, “Man, you’re not going to be here long.” And like I say, in 4 weeks I went and tested out, went on and started driving 18 wheelers. So—

25:01 Now, has that CDL been your ticket to ride? I mean, has it opened up a lot of doors for you? A lot of possibilities.

25:07 It has. You know, I have people that that wants me to do things for them since I have CDL, CDL license, but like we said earlier, Norton is what I heard in my prayer and I don’t deviate from it, you know, until I hear something else, you know. So, yeah, even though some doors can be open, you still got to be mindful, you know, am I where I’m supposed to be and I’m where I’m supposed to be and I don’t want to leave here until I, you know, hear something else. Now, how many how much time have you been with Norton? How long have you been with us?

25:42 I was looking at that the other day. February, I want to say 18th was my first run. And actually that was from Ohio. I think Ohio run teleontic to Kansas City. O Kansas City.

25:57 So you made several runs with us. If you started in February, you’ve been burning up the highway.

26:02 Oh yeah. Oh yes. Oh yes. What’s the transport life been like for us? Give us the real picture.

26:09 I don’t have any complaints. It’s what you make it. And like I say, I think it comes because I know it’s supposed to be here. I know how to plan and just it’s just easy. When it’s not fun, something’s wrong. You know, when you’re having fun, you know you’re doing something right. So, I’m having fun.

26:30 Oh, that’s that that’s great to hear. But we love to hear that that Alonzo Seymour is having fun working for Norton Transport, one of our best drivers there. Alonzo Seymour, we’re glad you have jumped on our team here. And you were talking about if you’re not having fun, something’s wrong. What do you see as the key components to having fun? I mean, you’ve got to be, you know, obviously professional, competent, and you obviously check those boxes. What’s your key for quote unquote having fun? Everything lines up. My dispatcher is all of them are excellent. My loads, the people that I meet, I’ve left that out that I when I’m dropping these loads, they are so respectful and they love to see me when I come. They was like, “When you coming back?” I said, “I don’t know.” You know, so that that makes it fun to be able to have people that say, “Man, we really want you to come back.” And I was like, “You know, if I choose to load, but sometimes I want to visit somewhere else, too.”

27:31 So, you know, that’s what makes it fun.

27:35 It’s hard to beat you know, being wanted by those customers to come back and—

27:39 Oh my.

27:41 Yes.

27:42 That’s a testimony to your professionalism.

27:45 Well, and we represent, you know, I know we say we’re our own business, but you represent Norton first. And so, you have to keep that in mind. It’s not just you. When they see you, they see Norton. So, you want to be professional when you go to these places because they may not know your name, but they know Norton name. And so, you know, you want to stay professional while you’re doing what you’re doing.

28:07 Now, being a CDL certified holder there, are you which classification are you as a CDL driver?

28:16 Class A. I don’t have any restrictions. I can drive the manual and the automatic. So—

28:22 So, you can drive about anything?

28:24 No. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes.

28:28 Now, being 51 years young, how long do you see yourself staying in staying in this game?

28:35 I can’t say, sir. I’m having fun doing it. I don’t want to tell people I’m not. Is it something I want to do for the rest of my life? I don’t see myself. I see preaching because that’s my passion. That’s probably what I’m going to end up doing. But for right now you know, I’mma do my best with Norton and you know, stay focused on what I’m doing.

29:01 Now, you, you know, we had talked a little bit before we got on the podcast here about making a good living, and you’ve been in it for a while. You’ve been able to see the ins and the outs. What’s your key focus when it comes to making the most out of the least as far as turning a good paycheck? Cutting my expenses you know if you can you know tweak it where you can have you know very little expenses you can make money now when I say now everybody’s different now some people see me in a hotel and say man you’re just spending too much money you know but I know how to plan remember everything’s planned out so when I’m staying in a hotel that people say expensive but believe me I’ve done my homework and it works for me, you know.

29:54 So—

29:55 You had mentioned you had points built up before you took that hotel.

30:00 So, if you work at a trip and it’s like—

30:03 Is that a game changer for you? It’s like I’m not going to stay in the hotel unless I have points to go toward it.

30:10 Yes. I wasn’t going to stay in the hotel this time. But remember, I dropped a bus at 700 a.m. This morning. So, I had two choices. Either I can stay at the airport all the way to Saturday, you know, or where else am I g going to go, you know? Right.

30:29 So, I had to choose a hotel. You know, when you come to places like that, it makes sense to get a hotel. I’m not, you know, so—

30:36 It’s all part of your plan. All part of the plan.

30:38 Yes. Yes. Yes. Now, let me tell people, sometimes you have to sacrifice there. Sometimes I stay in the airport. I have no problem with that. But, you know, being this long from Friday, you know, really Thursday all the way to Saturday, that’s a little bit too long to stay in airport, you know.

30:54 Well, I’m happy for you that you’re getting some good downtime, get to relax, and the weather’s right, and you’re in a beautiful city. It’s good time to recharge there. Now, what do what does Alonzo do when he’s recharging? Tell us a little bit about some of your steps, your plans, your things you do to recharge and get your batteries recharged there.

31:13 I like spas myself. I like to go to the spa. You know, it may sound a little corky, but I like to go to a spa and just relax and let them pamper me and, you know, that’s just me.

31:33 Hey, you know, whatever blows your skirt up. Absolutely. Have you—

31:39 Have you found a spa there in Seattle?

31:43 I have not. Who says I may not find I may find one tonight. You know, it hasn’t been on my mind. I really want to talk to my daughter tonight. So, that’s probably what I’m going to do.

31:53 Yeah. Yeah.

31:53 Kind of unwind with her and talk about life and such.

31:59 Just some things happened on this trip that really just amazed me and I like to show, you know, share those things with her. You know, there are certain trips that I take where I know God is with me that, you know, I was like, man, this is awesome. This is one of them. One of the trips.

32:18 I got you. Is it anything you were comfortable sharing with us or is it more of a personal thing to share with your daughter? I mean, not crying. I mean, it’s just—

32:26 No. No. Like the hotel, you know, just things that that just happened. The people I don’t know anybody here in Seattle and just so many people come up to me like something about you. What do you do? You know, why are you smiling all the time? Those little things like that just really let me know that I’m where I supposed to be. You know—

32:50 Everything’s lining up for you. That’s good.

32:53 Yes. Yes. Yes.

32:55 Everything’s lining up and I’m sure you can share the more intimate personal details with your daughter and that’s where it should be. And thanks for sharing what you did share with us just to know that things are lining up and you know you’re shifting gears and things are going the way you want it to be and you had talked a little bit about we talked a little bit kind of touched on it about tweaking—

33:18 Your planning—

33:20 Now when you talk about tweaking your trips kind of take us a little deeper in the weeds how you do that—

33:27 Tweaking my trips simply when I my first run I went to Chillicothe and I went that was going to Olay Kansas and I got a hotel room which I shouldn’t have got but remember I’m just starting—

33:42 So I don’t really don’t know the ropes. I ended up filling up the tractor full of gas, something that you do not do, you know, you know, I learned that, you know, when you drop it off, you don’t have to have a full tank in there. So, a lot of wasted money happens on my first runs. And so, that’s what I mean by tweaking. You get to the point where you say, “Okay, you know, I got to make this work for me here.” So—

34:10 A lot of it’s just it’s learning the ropes like you said, learning the system, learning the procedures.

34:16 Yes. Yes. Yes.

34:18 But once you get that going, it’s a welloiled machine.

34:22 It is—

34:24 No pun intended.

34:25 No, no, no. And especially now when I run I pretty much know if I’m in a tractor how much gas is going to get me there. I can’t tell you how I know. I just don’t, you know. So, I’ve got it down to a science now. So—

34:41 Work out the fuel. Yeah. Know the MPG—

34:44 Do the miles, do the calculations.

34:46 Absolutely.

34:47 And I want to share this. We had a in, if you don’t mind, I want to share this. I was in Montana, Wednesday night about 2:00 in the morning and pumping gas in a place that I do not know. And I put my card in and it allowed me to get $78 worth of gas. So, it didn’t print out a receipt. I went in to ask for a receipt and the lady said, “You didn’t pump, you know, sir, you didn’t pump any gas.” I was like, “I know I’m not tired that tired.” I said, “Yeah, I just pumped $78 worth of gas.” And she couldn’t find a record of it at all. At all. And you know just things like that happen you know I mentioned that because you can run into some things that’ll tie you up. That tied me up one whole hour.

35:41 Oh boy.

35:42 You know. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. At 2 in the morning.

35:48 Well, how did it ever get resolved? I worked at a convenience store in my teens and so she was getting a error—

35:57 Saying that my car doesn’t allow me to get gas—

36:02 Right?

36:02 I said, “Ma’am, I can’t spend a lot of time here.” I said, “What you do? Do not ring me up under gas. Ring me up under miscellaneous. $78 under miscellaneous. That way you’re going to have your money. I can get out of here.” And now you going to have to void that and move it over to the gas cuz you going to be, you know, positive on, you know, but I ain’t got time to explain that to her. So she run it up under miscellaneous. She had her money. I said, “Now give me a receipt so I can have that for Norton.” And that’s how I got that resolved.

36:34 Everybody’s happy. Everybody’s happy.

36:36 Everybody’s— Yes. Yes.

36:38 That’s good. That’s good to hear. That’s a good story. Two o’clock in the morning, Montana. You never know what’s going to happen.

36:45 Oh my goodness.

36:47 Share another story with us. We know you’ve only been on with us since February, but share another story with us from the road like that. I’ve got a feeling that you’ve got some good stories. Share another story with us.

37:00 Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Airports.

37:06 Talk to me, brother.

37:07 Sometimes it gets— Yeah, get it gets crazy. So if I got to run, I’m the type of person if I’m dropping a load, I don’t have a lot of time to do a whole lot of talking. So when I’m dropping this tractor, I don’t need to hear about your mom or your daddy and all of that stuff. I’m trying to get this going so I can get to the airport cuz remember, I’m always scheduling something that keeps me moving.

37:32 Oh yeah. So, you know, we got one person that just wants to talk and talk and I’m just like, man, I got to get out of here. But, I’m representing Norton. And then, you know, I was like, Lord, you got to get me out of here. But you got to get—

37:49 Finally, yeah, it hit me. The young lady said, you know what? I really needed to talk to you because I was so down today. And that really hit me. We can be so busy trying to get to the next thing that we get agitated and somebody we’re being a blessing to somebody—

38:09 Just there listening to them.

38:11 And that really taught me, you know, to settle down, you know, settle down. You’re going to get to the airport. You know, you know, you’re going to get there.

38:19 You know, you made a very, very good point there talking about that one person you met, you’re in a rush. You’re in a rush to get to your next stop and get to your next delivery, but you just don’t know what that other person’s going through, what they may need.

38:36 You don’t.

38:36 But it’s kind of like what you had said earlier, you find the good and the bad. And—

38:41 You do.

38:41 And that sounds like something that happened for you and her.

38:45 Yes. Very great lady. And she didn’t, you know, we don’t want to know what’s going on in their lives, but it was something for her to be able to open up to me and you know, just keeps me mindful. Hey, yeah, you drive trucks, but you know, you also still ministering to people while you’re out here. So, be mindful of that. I was like, okay, Lord, I hear you.

39:09 How much has driving trucks, being a transporter, opened up your ministry? Is it I mean expanded it somewhat.

39:17 It’s expanded it. The places that I go to it’s like cuz people take to me and I’m like these people don’t know me. I mean you know but they always coming to me you know. I’m like man and so this it lets me know that they see something on me that they feel comfortable to share personal I mean I really hear some personal things. I’m like, man, Lord, you trust me with that type of information. You know, you know, it’s amazing. You know, it’s that. So, I take it very seriously when people open up. You know, you don’t know what they’re going through. Really don’t.

39:51 I guess it’s been a fertile ground for you as far as giving and taking as far as within your ministry terms.

39:59 Yes. And sometimes I’m going through stuff too. I don’t want to say my life happy every day. There’s some stuff I’m sad about, you know, and I’m like, “Hey, I need somebody to talk to me, you know. So,”

40:12 You just never know where the blessing may come on the open road.

40:15 So true. So true.

40:16 Obviously, it sounds like you’ve had a great week. Should be a pretty good money week for you as far as running a long run like that.

40:23 Yes.

40:24 We’re coming up on the summer.

40:27 Do you have any plans for vacation, any big trips, or are you gonna just going to keep moving down the road?

40:34 I’mma keep moving down the road. I got a plan. I’mma mash the gas probably real hard until October. Then you’ll see me kind of wing off a little.

40:44 You got—

40:45 I’ve got some stuff that I want to do.

40:46 You got something big brewing, don’t you? You got something big brewing.

40:50 Yeah, I’m I’mma push it. I’m pushing it to October. And yeah, I’m not playing.

40:57 I got you. Yeah.

40:58 Are you going out of the— Are you going out of the country in October?

41:01 I don’t think so, but I want some other stuff to do with my girls. I like basketball, so I like to travel to different places and see basketball games, you know. Yeah.

41:14 We’re on the heels of March Madness. What a crazy March Madness this was. I’m assuming you watched—

41:20 I haven’t been watching it cuz I’ve stayed gone.

41:24 I got you. It was crazy. I mean, the team I mean Yukon won it all on the men’s side. LSU on the women’s side.

41:31 Wow.

41:31 But there were a lot of I wouldn’t say Cinderella stories, but a lot of unexpect unexpected teams there, but didn’t know if you took it all in. Are you more of an NBA guy?

41:43 I’m both the NBA and college. Yes.

41:47 Gotcha. Gotcha. So, let’s see.

41:49 Yeah. And you would think I’m football because Alabama good in football, but— Yeah. But, you know, I like basketball better.

41:57 I got you. I was going to say you’re right there in the heart of SEC country there.

42:02 Exactly. Yes.

42:03 Well, Alonzo Seymour joining us here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Alonzo has been sharing a lot of his wisdom and knowledge with us about planning, tweaking your planning and being a blessing to others and others being a blessing to him. Alonzo what do you see in the next couple of days in front of you?

42:24 Smooth ruins. Again, going to some places I’ve been before. I get to see some people that I like seeing. So, it’s going to be a good week for me. It’s going to be a great week.

42:34 What’s the temperature out there in Seattle right now? Of course, we’re talking to Alonzo Seymour here at the end of April. What’s it like out there right now?

42:42 It’s actually 78° here and the people here say that’s kind of rare cuz it’s been so cold.

42:50 Yeah, we’re coming to you here from Norton Transport. Our home offices are in Ringgold, Georgia, just outside of Chattanooga. But, yeah, 78. You may be warmer than us right now. I haven’t been outside lately, but I You may be warmer than— Yeah, it is rare.

43:04 Hey, take it when you can get it. Take it when you can get it.

43:07 Yes. Yes.

43:08 Well, Alonzo, you’ve certainly warmed our hearts a lot with your stories from the road how you came to Norton Transport the answered prayer 3 seconds before you got the phone call. That’s amazing. Those are great stories to hear.

43:25 That’s amazing. Amazing.

43:27 Great stories to hear. And we thank you so much for joining us. And you know, we had talked a little bit before we got on the air about why you would recommend Norton Transport. I just want to leave it open to you. Why would you recommend Norton Transport to another person?

43:43 My first one would be the stability of the company. It’s stable. I don’t think the company is going anywhere no time soon. Second would be the dispatch is just super awesome. You can’t get a better dispatch. And if you want to see the country you know and have time off, this is the place to be. This is the place to be.

44:04 You say that with some conviction and we appreciate that. With you just being with us for a few months. Clearly, it’s been a good few months for you.

44:13 I It’s been awesome. It seems like I’ve been here much longer, but it’s just awesome.

44:18 Alonzo Seymour here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Alonzo, thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy your evening out in Seattle and your conversations that you have with your daughters and your return flight back across to this side of the country and then back on the road.

44:35 Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.

44:37 Anything you want to leave us with? Words of wisdom.

44:40 No, sir. Just go making the money. It’s out there.

44:44 All right. You heard it from Alonzo Seymour here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Alonzo, thank you so much. Be careful, be safe, and enjoy yourself out there. Thank you, sir.

44:59 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.