00:04 I’m at a level in my life of financial responsibility that I’ve never been at and I’m very grateful for the opportunity and then the chance to grow with Norton and it’s been a dream come true. I truly feel blessed where I am right now.

00:21 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.

00:42 Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. This is a venue, a place where we elevate and celebrate the drivers that make everything go round and round. Huge part of the economy for America. Absolutely the backbone of our company at Norton Transport. And we just want to lift them up in this show. And things are a little different this evening as we are recording. Typically, we record at Norton Transport in the offices of Norton Transport in the conference room or in our podcast room. But tonight, I’ve brought it down to my house and you may hear some birds chirping. And another thing you may hear is this. That would be me lighting up my cigar here. And those of you who have listened to the podcast before know that I enjoy cigars. And tonight, it’s a Victor Sinclair classic.

01:31 Now, we do have a very special guest, as always, is the case each week when we come to you. And tonight, it’s John Theriault. John, how are you out there this evening?

01:40 I’m doing well, sir. Doing well. Doing well.

01:42 You and I spoke just a few moments ago. Tell us where you are and where you are in the journey of your transport.

01:49 Well, at the moment, physically, I’m sitting in a rest area on my way up to Ohio. I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon. I got thinking in my journey of transport. I’ve just started. I’ve been doing this with Norton about a year and a half. I was private dealership before that for a couple years. So it’s I think fairly new in the industry itself. I’m a boom driver. A little bit different than what most of the driveaway guys do. And that is very interesting and challenging at times. I’ve enjoyed that. But it’s been a journey. I’ve loved it.

02:18 Gotcha. Where did you pick up today? I picked up this morning in Denton, Texas at there at the Gil factory there.

02:27 Now, did you pick up both trucks at the same place or did you have to—

02:31 No, sir. Both of them were there.

02:33 Okay. That makes it a little easier for you.

02:35 It does. It is. It can be a little bit more challenging when you do them individually or one at a time. A few extra steps, a little bit more tedious. Definitely more beneficial timewise when you can have everything there together, ready to go. Now, John, we’ve got a lot of people that listen to this show. A lot of them majority of them, we presume, are drivers who get down into the nuts and bolts of it, but we want to get down to the nuts and bolts of booming. Now, you said you joined us about a year and a half ago. Were you booming before then?

03:04 No, sir. No, sir.

03:05 Tell us about how you got into For there may be people out there who are not familiar with what the booming technique or method is. So, just paint a picture for us. Normally, you know, typically most drivers are doing single units. They’ll hop in there and go. Or they have a tow vehicle they connect with, you know, their type of hitch. Booming is a trailer that you pull behind your personal vehicle. And allows you to move two at a time. My mine is you’ll have one facing forward essentially and then the trailer’s connect to that and there’s a kingpin on the rear of the trailer that your rear truck will back up into. Essentially, you know, you’re pulling one, you’re driving one, and then you can tow your pickup sitting on the trailer and between the two trucks. There are different types of trailers. Some of them allow you to have them both facing forward. Some of them one forward, one backwards. Some of them multiple. You can do deck move deck trucks with a boom trailer and have one, you know, have your fourth truck behind that.

04:06 There is a few variances of it. But essentially they all do the same thing.

04:11 Yeah, I’ve seen the one the setup with the it’s a I believe it’s a patented trailer that where you can do three large trucks and your truck, your pickup truck also on the trailer there. Have you ever operated with that setup or what’s your normal setup?

04:30 No, sir. I have not. I’ve seen them on online and I’ve seen other drivers use them a couple times and those particular are a lot more flexible because you can do tractors that don’t have the fifth wheel on them.

04:44 Mhm.

04:45 So you versus, you know, the ones the majority of drivers use, they have to be tractors. So, you are using the fifth wheel to hook up.

04:53 Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, are you facing both are you forward and rear as far as the big trucks facing?

05:00 Yes, sir. The one on obviously be facing forward and the one in the back is facing backwards. They’re kind of butt to butt with the trailer in the middle.

05:11 Gotcha. What kind of pickup truck do you have that you have on the trailer?

05:14 I have a 2500 Ram, a 2021. Funny story. When I picked up the trailer at Norton’s office, I had a 1500 trailer and I didn’t know anything about the trailer. I knew I, you know, I need the hitch and I got there to pick it up and I live in Arkansas. So, I guess it was about a maybe 10 12 hour drive from the officer and wringled home. And I pull up in the driveaway and my wife comes out and she smells, “What is that smell? Is that your transmission?” So that trailer, it is a heavy trailer. It’s probably about 6,500 7,000 lbs. And I knew immediately that that truck wasn’t going to last long pulling that trailer. So I went that weekend and traded in and got the 3/4 ton. And I think the engine may have handled it, but the suspension is what is is the key difference.

06:07 That’s why I asked the question. I was just wondering what you had to pull that trailer. And so you’ve got the Ram now.

06:12 Yes, sir.

06:13 And how does the Ram hold up?

06:15 It does perfect. It’s fine. Mine is a gas burner. It has its advantages, disadvantages. I think I’d prefer a diesel one in the long run, but at the time that was what I could find that weekend before I could put that trailer to use. So, but it worked fine.

06:33 Gotcha. Yeah, I’ve we’ve seen these trailers before. They are pretty heavy. But obviously they serve a major purpose and allow you to be more efficient on a couple of I mean you know deliver two trucks at one time and be able to move on and drive away after it’s all over.

06:51 Oh absolutely that that flexibility and time I think the value in your and your time that you can save it’s hard to put a price on that. It opens you up to so many more options. There’s more loads that I can take that that I may not be able to take if I didn’t have my personal vehicle to get out of there. Not have to worry rely on public transport, Ubers and planes and buses and taxis. It just I drop my trucks off and I’m on to the next one.

07:18 That’s cool. That’s cool. Now, we talked about getting in into the nuts and the bolts of it. You gave us a nice overview of how it works, but as far as connecting the two, what do you have to do to connect the two trucks there? As far as the I mean and literally the nuts and bolts of it.

07:35 I’ve got it down to a methodical process step by step and it consistent every time so you don’t miss anything. There’s a lot of things that that could theoretically go wrong if you don’t pay attention to the details. I mean you’re towing a 20,000 vehicle behind you and you certainly don’t want to come loose or you know if you forget something. I’ll run you through the process. You know, first thing you’re going to do is line it up straight with your trailer and lower suspension on it so you can chain up your axles and that’s key. Make sure you do that right and key in the end process so that you’re not rubbing tires on the pavement making turns and causing damage to the trailer in that matter. And so when you get your trailer, you know, hooked up in a straight I’ll go ahead and run my lights, you know, you’ll run the light bar to the back. And that’s that goes through the trailer and that’s pretty easy to do. You just run your light cord and hook on your light bar. And again, pay attention. You got to make sure you’re using some type of padding.

08:36 You don’t want to do cause any scratches. All these details, they count. And once you get your light bar set up, I’ll strap down my steering wheel, make it secure, secure. I like to use two straps and a seat belt. You should never be too redundant when safety cuz if that steering wheel comes un loose that that truck will start swaying and that’s just you definitely don’t want a swaying truck going down the freeway. Once you get everything secured and set up, I’ll go ahead and lower the truck and you can start the process of backing your pickup on there and my trailer operates as a bend in the middle. So when I back it up, that front end is lifted and lowered with a hydraulic boom, and that’s I guess where the term comes underneath it. So I can raise it and back in the lead truck, and it’ll back in just like a normal trailer. Hook up to the fifth wheel—

09:27 Right?

09:27 And from there, it’s just a process of getting it balanced. It works as a counterbalance. You’ll straighten the trailer out, so to speak, with the booms. They’ll extend—

09:39 And you can you’ll wrap your support chains around the frame. And that’s another key thing. You have to make sure that’s exact. Positioning. Pay attention. That’s a key process. If you’re too far forward, you may cause damage to the airbags, to the brake chambers. Too far back, you might start bending part of the light frames or get caught in the wires. And then it’s got to be even on both sides or that’s going to cause your trailer to tilt and swerve to one side or the other. So, very very meticulous pay attention to the details. And, once you get it done, it straightens out. And as it straightens, it just lifts the rear end of that back truck off the ground. And so, you’re towing it with the wheels off. The front ones are your trailer tires now. And once you secure your vehicle, use straps on the tires. You’re good to go. Give it a good once around. Walk around. Make sure everything’s working, your lights are working. In theory, if everything’s working good, you don’t have any issues along the way, you can it’s about a two and a half hour process.

10:40 That was my very next question. You’re right. Right on queue there. Is that including your pre-trip inspection? I guess pre-trip is going to be more extensive with this setup.

10:52 It is all in all from start to finish when I get to a location. I’m usually out of there with within 3 hours from the time I talk to who I need to speak with, find the trucks, inspect the trucks, make sure they’re good to go, and then proceed with everything. Usually about 3 hours total. Pre-trip, hookup, paperwork. And then, you know, proceed with your day.

11:15 That’s not bad when you measure that against the time you’re going to save in the overall trip.

11:21 Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I’ll sacrifice, you know, those three hours to basically double my income and move two trucks at once.

11:30 Right. What about unhooking? How is that faster? I would think so, but I don’t know.

11:36 It is. To unhook about 45 minutes. Usually no longer than that. Maybe you I’m go usually by the time I arrive and I can leave it’s about an hour process to unhook and you know take care of paperwork and see if I need to and sometimes you know of course they’re going to want to do their own inspection on the vehicles and depend on how long that takes but no longer than normal.

12:01 Have you had any squirrely situations with the boom configuration in your time doing it? There’s been some of the trucks I guess are built different and their components are not in the same place. It’s not universal. For instance, your Peterbilt and Kenworth, their suspension and airbagged are a little bit more forward on the frame. Very easy to work with. Very very easy to wrap your support chains around the frame. And I’ve noticed the Freightliners, which I don’t do very often, but their support, the suspension and airbags are towards the rear, and it’s very challenging a lot of times to find a safe place to wrap those chains around so you’re not damaging anything—

12:46 Right?

12:47 There’s been a time or two when I think the safest thing was just let’s just not chance this. It doesn’t fit right or it’s rubbing too close and it may have worked but and at the end of the day you don’t want to damage a truck and when not necessary.

13:01 Yeah. Not run that risk. Now after you get to Ohio what’s where do you dart off to from Ohio?

13:08 More than likely I will go to Chillicothe. I don’t have anything set but that’s usually my cycle. I try to go leave from Den, Texas Monday mornings headed up north as close to Ohio as I can to the Kenworth factory and I’ll take Kenworth back towards home. That’s another reason I love driveaway the flexibility to choose and me personally that’s how it works for me and my wife works for the state of Texas. So Monday through Friday she’s at her other property there in Texas. So, it works to my benefit to be gone Monday through Friday doing this and then, you know, usually home Friday or Saturday when we get the weekends together at our house here in Arkansas and it just works. A lot of freedom, a lot of flexibility.

13:52 I love the word that you use there, my cycle. You talk about we with many of our guests, they talk about planning, flexibility, and by the obvious it’s clear that you do that as well with the using the word cycle. So I guess you’ve got it down to a pretty good routine, pretty good process.

14:14 Yes, sir. And I think that comes with experience. The more you get out there, you start to know I you hear the term trucking lanes, where the trucks move, where they’re coming from, of course, your key points, where the factories are, and you just learn you’ll learn over time what goes where and where it’s going and what to what you can expect. And when you’re consistent, then you start planning and it just makes things a lot easier.

14:40 You can work all the kinks out in the early days and ride the smooth off of it. In the latter days—

14:47 Right. Right. We all got to get in there, get our feet wet, and it’s a learning process. I you know, I remember when I was moving singles, there was still times when I would, oh, that’s a great load. Let me take that truck. And I get there and I realize why that load’s not there. Cuz it’s a hard place to get out of. And with anything, it’s a learning process. And a learning curve. And I think the more effort you put into it, the more successful you can be, the more you learn.

15:11 How long did it take you to get acclimated to boom driving? The physical aspect of it and the logistical aspect of it.

15:18 The physical aspect. Well, there’s times now that I’m still reminded I’m doing something completely different than moving a box truck. And it because your vehicle sits in the middle, I guess the whole design, your whole unit is very topheavy. So going around curves, it almost felt like I was learning to drive a truck again and in a lot of aspects because it just handles so much differently than your traditional tractor and box trailer.

15:45 Mhm.

15:46 There’s things, you know, you can’t make a U-turn in a boom trailer or you will flip that unit over its side—

15:52 Right?

15:53 You know, all your turn turns have to be really broad and or squared off. You just can’t do a U-turn like that. And your weight distribution is different.

16:03 Mhm. And I’ll give when I say I’m still reminded last week. I was booming two single axle trucks and you know I was in the far right lane. Cruise control set at 55 just like a normal trip and we’re coming over a hill and right on the other side of that hill traffic was at a dead stop. And when I had to stop suddenly you’re reminded of how you’re a you’re in a different vehicle, you’re in a different setup. Your weight, you know, you can’t stop those trucks in the same way you could a normal tractor. You know, you don’t have the trailer brakes back there just to help you stop. It’s a little bit different. You can’t necessarily jerk and swerve to the side or, you know, you’re more up to jack knife because you’re so topheavy.

16:53 All these things play in a factor when you’re driving in safety and you have you’re like constantly reminded you’re doing something different. I guess you have to be super aware of your surroundings, particularly like what you were talking about topping that hill and all of a sudden traffic stopped. I guess it’s somewhat similar to riding a motorcycle where you got to keep your head on a swivel.

17:12 Yes, sir. At all times. And they teach you that. And I remember going through truck school that was you’re always looking for a way out. You’re always looking ahead of you, see what’s going on beside of you. You know, what are you going to do if this happens? What are you going to do if that happens? You always be prepared. Gotcha. Do you see out on the open road, do you see many other boom drivers? How often do you see them at truck stops, rest areas, things like that? Do you see them often or they’re or are they kind of rare?

17:42 That’s hit or miss. There may be one week when I’ll see two or three and, you know, other than the pickup locations, you know, they’re at the factory yards, I haven’t seen one on the roads in a couple of weeks, personally. But then you know next week I might see two or three of them.

18:00 Gotcha. Do you guys talk to each other? I mean I know we’ve got several boom drivers at Norton Transport, but do you guys talk to each other here at Norton and also out there on the open road maybe with other companies?

18:12 We do. I know there’s a few Facebook groups that that we’re all part of or a lot of us are part of and me personally that was a great resource for information. Even now, you know, I have questions, you know, about a certain type of truck or a certain type of bumper, how are we doing this? We, you know, we can ask questions and post on Facebook and we get a lot of feedback. It is a lot of help.

18:37 Get down into the technical aspects of things.

18:40 Yes. That and different things. We will about what scale houses are working with the boom. That is one aspect that is kind of iffy is because you’re going to be overweight on your tires on the rear trucks, right?

18:58 You know, you’re fine on your axle, but the tires themselves are usually not rated for that much weight. And some states someway stations will pick at it and some don’t. But you’ll see a lot of drivers communicating about that, you know, if there happens to be somewhere that is cracking down that day or that week. Things of that nature.

19:19 Is there a state in particular that’s higher standards? Or as you said, we’ll be picking at it. Is there a state that you guys talk about? It’s like be careful when you go through this state.

19:30 Illinois is a well-known state. The I’ll say that the scale house at the at Lichfield is one of the most well-known ones for I don’t want to say harassing boom drivers, but—

19:42 They’re strict.

19:43 They do and I in I guess the year and a half I’ve been doing this, that’s the only place I’ve ever had an issue.

19:51 Well, that’s good. That’s good. Limited issues are good. Good for you. Good for us. Where what’s the longest boom run you’ve made since you’ve been doing it?

20:00 Oh goodness. I’m sure I’ve gone coast to coast at some point. I do remember there was a trip last year that I want to stay started in Georgia and one truck I dropped off in Arizona at an oil field in Arizona and a second truck went on to California.

20:21 Wow. That’s— How long did that trip take?

20:24 Probably about 5 days. I would say I want to say it was probably it probably been about 23 2400 miles. That would have taken four or five days—

20:33 Times two. So that probably was a nice little paycheck.

20:36 It was—

20:39 Yeah—

20:39 It definitely had an advantage and that’s me personally. I’m thankful for Norton for the opportunity with them. I stated earlier I started with a private dealership as their driveaway driver. You know, I would fly out and bring back their trucks for them. And as they grew, I could they needed to outsource their work. And so other driveaway companies were coming in bringing trucks. And that’s how I gained knowledge that there was it was even an industry. I had no idea it was just an industry the way it was. And I started to branch out and learn about it. And that’s how I got on with Norton. And I happened to have like my tow vehicle was already set up from a group of trucks that the dealership had bought and we outfitted my pickup specifically for that group of trucks and it never got used again. And so, you know, I had a go a money maker sitting there ready to be put to work when I got on with Norton and I went from that to being a boom driver and I’m at a level in my life that that of financial responsibility that I’ve never been at.

21:41 And I’m very grateful for the opportunity and the chance to grow with Norton and it’s been a great time, a dream come true to be able to live the freedom and the life that that we do.

21:53 That’s fantastic.

21:54 We’re very blessed.

21:55 That’s fantastic. You’re listening to John Theriault here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And John, it really makes us happy and it makes us very pleased to know that you’re reaping the rewards of your work, your labor, your effort, your attention to detail. I mean, like you said, all these details, they count. And I did want to ask you, do you see yourself ever moving away from boom driving or do you want to stick with it for the foreseeable future?

22:23 I think I will stick with it for the foreseeable future. On a personal level, I think I would like to know learn to do the decking just to say I know how to do it. Just say it’s been done. And I know that there that can be incorporated with the boom trailer itself to where like you can do a deck load and boom a single truck behind it—

22:45 Right?

22:46 Just to, you know, further your income. So I think that would be fun to do at some point, but I think I’m satisfied doing the booming just overall. I wouldn’t change anything.

23:00 Now, when you’re out on the road booming do you sometimes when passengers, cars are passing you do you get that g- whiz look when they look up and say, “Man, that guy’s got a big truck behind him and a pickup truck in between.” I do more times than not I would say is I get all the questions is when I’m just pulling the trailer with my pickup when I’m going from location to location whenever I stop and get gas 90% of the time there’s somebody who’s going to come ask me what is that trailer for. It never fails. There’s I’ve never seen a trailer like that. What does it do? What kind of cars do you put on there? And I keep a picture handy. I said, you know, honestly, let me show you. I can show you better than I can tell you. And they’re amazed every time.

23:46 I was going to say I bet that blows a lot of minds when they see it in operation.

23:51 It really does. It’s cool to see.

23:53 Now, you mentioned there that you and the wife live in Arkansas and this is this driveaway has worked out well for you. She’s in Texas Monday through Friday. You’re on the road typically Monday through Friday. And Arkansas is not you and I had talked earlier before we got on the recording here. Arkansas is not your home. What was home for you before Arkansas?

24:18 I grew up in Dallas. You know, I was a city kid. Went to school there, graduated there, been there most of my adult life. When my wife and I got before we were married, we got together and she was in Long View and her daddy passed. Well, he was a farmer. He raised cows and had chicken houses and whatnot. And she inherited the farm, the cows and everything that went with it. And we just I mean, we had to take care of it. So, we moved there, made that our primary residence. And I learned how to be a farmer, learned how to raise cows, learn how to work cows. Everything that involves it. It’s a take care of the land, fixing fence, cutting hay, bailing hay, every stuff you see in movies and on old westerns, but it’s fun. It was a lifestyle change and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s been a learning experience. And it’s you see true peace out there in nature getting away from the city stuff that I’ve never even seen.

25:23 You were talking about that when we were talking on the phone earlier this evening about the culture change now as far as learning to work a farm mend a fence work the cattle did you turn to other people other resources or did you just kind of you know fake it till you make it figure it out as you went along what was your process there—

25:47 Luckily you know she’s got other family there in the f same cattle business and that first year I made a lot of phone calls and I was like, “Hey, you know, we got a sick cow. What can I do, you know, or they we’ll get a phone call from the sheriff. Hey, we got cows in the highway. You know, we need to come get them.” And so here we are 3:00 in the morning going to find cows, trying to find out where they’re getting out and the process of putting up a fence. You know, that’s a lot of times you can YouTube things, but until you actually see how you run bob wire, you’re it’s not as easy as it looks. I’ll tell you that.

26:23 I bet it’s not. How large of a farmer are we talking about?

26:26 We usually keep around 50 mama cows, give or take. And depending on the time of season, if they’re cabin, we’ll have, you know, we’ll have up to 70 70 80 head a total at a time. And you usually wait till the calves get about a year old and then off to the market they go.

26:44 Speaking of the market, what are the prices like now as far as it is it good for you? I mean, can you make a good living there or a good supplemental income off of the cattle?

26:55 It’s a good supplement. Honestly, right now, I think we don’t necessarily do it for money. It was just something that like we took on and we’ll process one or two a year for food. And right now, we’re down to about 35.

27:12 Okay. And I guess with and then with the 35 mamas, the bull, and we have about 20 calves right now. So, I guess we’re about 55 almost 60 total.

27:26 Gotcha.

27:27 And the market is good. It is. Last year was rough. We had that drought come through and you know usually you prepare to have hay during the winter to get into the winter but we were not prepared to need to feed hay during the summer—

27:43 Right—

27:44 And you know that that’s another thing that that caught us off guard and prices dropped and tric fell because everybody wanted to sell their cattle cuz they didn’t want to buy hay to feed them—

27:56 That’s farming at its core right there when you get caught with something you don’t expect I mean I guess you have to expect the unexpect expected when it comes to farming.

28:05 You do. You do. I mean, it’s a difference when you’ve done it your whole life and you know it’s coming versus here I am brand new to this and— Well, I didn’t know I was supposed to have a barn full. Hey, you ready for it?

28:19 What kind of tractor do you have out there? I’m assuming you have a tractor on the farm.

28:23 We did. And I It’s my pride and joy. I never thought I’d have to buy a tractor, but we went and I guess year before last went and got a John Deere.

28:34 Good old classic. My wife—

28:37 She thinks my tractor’s sexy. Now, what kind of adjustment was for you being a city guy in Dallas there, big city, moving to Horatio, Arkansas? I said earlier a one-stop sign town, but that’s not exactly accurate.

28:55 No sir. There’s not even a stop sign down the main strip. You blink and you’ll miss it.

29:00 Gotcha. Is I’m sure it’s one of those places. Pardon the cliche, but everybody knows everybody.

29:06 That is true. That that is it’s funny cuz you know my wife grew up there. And we can’t go anywhere without her running somebody she went to school with. Her dad knows her. It’s just they’re are related to—

29:20 Right—

29:20 Now. Town’s related to each other. What was that like for you coming from a city with millions to a no stop sign?

29:28 It was different. It was quiet. It I was It took me a while to get used to the quietness to all the nature sounds, you know, frogs and crickets and birds and when you don’t have the cars in the city to drown that stuff out, you don’t realize how low how loud those noises are.

29:50 How clear they are. Yes, very clear. And I mean, well, we have I mean, we have owls that that live in the shop next to the house, so we constantly hearing them. And there’s a lot of noises. I traded one set for another.

30:06 I gotta— But as you said earlier, you wouldn’t trade this one for anything.

30:12 Oh, no. No, I wouldn’t. I truly think that it’s peaceful. It’s a level of peace and serenity that I’ve never had before and it’s nice.

30:24 Gotcha. Now, kind of take us through your wife works in Texas Monday through Friday. You’re on the road Monday through Friday. What’s a typical weekend like for the Terry’s?

30:34 Typical weekend? Usually Friday night we’ll go to Texas Arcana. That’s about an hour south of us and that’s the biggest city. We’ll usually do our date night Friday night or Saturday night, Saturday night. And a lot of times we’ll stay the night in town and go go have crab legs. That that’s our favorite meal to have. And you know, we can go home and get some work done around the farm. There’s always something to do. This past weekend, you know, I spent half a day trying to bush hog and get the fields ready and we have a tree that that blew down on the fence. So, we had to run the cows to the back side of the property and pin them up on that side until we can get the fence fixed. And it’s always something.

31:18 Gotcha.

31:18 We do stay busy.

31:20 Any children for you guys?

31:21 No, sir. Neither one of us do have children.

31:24 Now, are you may need a ranchand down the road there.

31:28 I thought about it. It was a joke. I said, “You know, we can look into to being foster parents or something down the road.” And I said and I told her, I said, “Well, I said, I need them at least to be about 8 n years old. Don’t know what to pick up a hammer or stretching fence.” Absolutely. Stretching a fence is a— That’s a job right there. It’d be tough for a nine-year-old unless you got the tools appropriate there to stretch a fence and mend a fence and put a post down. I’ll tell you that’s the probably the biggest reoccurring project there is.

32:01 I’ve done it myself on a much smaller scale. That’s hard work.

32:07 Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It is. And it can be painful at times, too, if you’re not careful that bob wire.

32:13 I got you. Now, I’m going to make a stereotypical assumption here. Being a guy from Dallas, you probably are no stranger to cowboy boots.

32:22 No, sir. And now you’re wearing work boots on the weekends.

32:26 Yes, sir. And it’s funny because I used to wear, you know, tennis shoes, your Nikes or Adidas, you know, that was the city style and I wore them. And my wife would tease me sometimes saying I was such a city kid in the country. And here we are.

32:45 Well, we I guess we’ve been together about four years. Friday actually will be our 2-year anniversary.

32:49 Well, happy anniversary.

32:50 And thank you, sir. And she teases me because when we met I was tennis shoes, sneakers, and now I’m wearing Ariots and work boots and jeans all the time. I was Oh, we laugh about that. Yes.

33:07 City boy to farmer. Here it is.

33:10 Mhm. Farmer John.

33:12 Farmer John. There you go. Now, it would have been a lot more difficult to do this when your father-in-law passed away and you were working say in a different profession to make that move, that shift. How grateful I mean you’ve mentioned how grateful you are to be in the spot you’re in now, the position you’re in now. I guess do you reflect on that somewhat?

33:34 I do to an extent. I’ve always been one to kind of thankful for the opportunities that are they’re provided and I know I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I’m very very thankful for every opportunity. And even for the ones that may not panned out that the way I wanted to originally that just may not been my past and I’ve stood fast and done the right things I felt and I truly feel blessed where I am right now. You’re listening to John Theriault here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Also, John, I got to ask the obvious question. Being from Dallas, Cowboys fan?

34:18 Absolutely.

34:18 Is everyone in Dallas a Cowboys fan? I think they are.

34:21 They should be.

34:23 Have you had the chance to go to Jerry World?

34:25 I have. Surprisingly, I haven’t been to a game there yet. But I’ve been to some concerts and a few events. Well, if you if you’ve been to a concert at Jerry World, it had to be a big- time artist. Who did you see?

34:38 It was Blake Shelton and Usher. Well—

34:41 Not together, were they? Or were they there together?

34:44 Yeah, they were together, actually. It was the United Ways Met Gala and I had a we had a mutual friend that that got us tickets to go and Usher and Blake Shelton were their performances for that evening.

34:57 Wow. That’s a good— That’s great, Bill right there. As a Cowboys fan, that was phenomenal event because I actually got to meet a lot of the old I got to shake hands with the Emtt Smith and Ed tall Aman a lot of the great ‘ 90s players that were there. I got to meet him. So that that was had a lot that was a great event to attend.

35:18 That’s a fantastic evening there. And Usher, as a side note, Norton Transport is in Ringgold, Georgia, which is a bedroom community of Chattanooga. And Usher is from Chattanooga. I didn’t know if you were aware of that little piece of trivia.

35:32 I was not.

35:32 He Yeah, his younger years he was here in Chattanooga, then he moved to Atlanta as his music career started exploding. Now, speaking of Blake Shelton and Usher, you’re on the road. What’s on your playlist?

35:46 Oh my. I like I’m still stuck in the 90s. I like a lot of that 90s alternative. Pearl I play Pearl Jam, Nirvana definitely.

35:56 Maybe some sound garden mixed in there.

35:59 Some There we go. Sound garden. I like a lot of tool. Maybe some of the harder stuff. Corn.

36:05 Little rage against Dave. I need to be awake.

36:07 Little rage against the machine—

36:09 If I’m going through traffic. Absolutely. Keep me interested in the drive.

36:14 There you go. Now, you said your wife works in Texas. What kind of work does your wife do?

36:19 She is a supervisor for the Health and Human Services. She’s got three offices in East Texas that she’s over. Wow. That sounds like an important job there. A big job. It is. She’s been there. I think next year be her 10 year anniversary. She’s very proud of it. Very done very well for herself and you know definitely support her and in her career and it’s worked out for us the way things are.

36:44 You guys got two landmark anniversaries upcoming. Her work anniversary and the union between you and her.

36:51 Yes, sir. Now, are kids in the future or is that something you’ve talked about or are you guys very happy as you are?

37:00 I probably not of our own. We have talked about being foster parents. I mean, secret is I’ll be 41 this year, so I don’t know if I want to start fresh, honestly. But I do feel that we have the opportunity and the means to provide you know an a couple excellent opportunities for some children and I had an experience last year an old friend of mine that I grew up with and we lost contact for various reasons in our early 20s and late or I guess early last year we reconnect over Facebook and caught up and he’s got a son and he you know like I said I haven’t talked to this man in 17 years and over the course of about a month or so reconnecting and he was my best friend he told me I’m having problems with my kid you know I don’t want him to go down the same path that that we did and he’s making wrong choices and I want to give him another pity you know you think you take him for a semester Sure.

38:12 And we did we talked about it and I said, “Sure, you know, let’s see what we can do.” And that just opened up to my eyes to a whole new I don’t even know how to describe it. A whole new experience that I’ve never other than my wife, I’ve never been responsible for another person’s life.

38:27 Mhm.

38:28 And being able to have an opportunity to teach somebody, you know, to help him with the schoolwork and talk to him about things and growing up and whatnot. And I just I thought about it and I was like, you know, we do what we have here, the farm and the land and the animals and the community. We really could provide an opportunity for some foster kids. So, we’ve seriously thought about it and I think that that probably is in our future. I’ve said, you know, within 5 years, I’d like to be a point to where we could do that.

39:01 That’s awesome, man. That is awesome. So, I’m assuming that that time that semester that the young man spent with you on the farm kind of prompted the thought or the genesis of maybe becoming foster parents.

39:15 Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. It was just a feeling that I’ve never had before. I’ve just— Yeah. Like I’ve never been a parent. I’ve never cared or held my own child my I don’t know that feeling. But being able to help him and guide him and that was just the start of something I think that that I would like to learn more about to experience more.

39:38 What was it like for the young man?

39:40 It was different. It was a culture shock. I can’t say that he was a willing participant at first, but in the end I think he did walk away with a lot more knowledge and understanding than he came there with.

39:54 Gotcha. Now, what did you do when you lived in Dallas? What was your profession there?

40:00 Before I went to CDL school, I was a catering manager for Jason’s Deli, downtown Dallas.

40:06 Oh, that’s cool. That’s cool. So, I completely switch of professions. I got tired of being in the highrises all day and in and out and doing that and just being in downtown hustle and bustle. So, I just wanted something different and that’s that was the career path I chose. My best friend at the time, him and his wife previously went to trucking school and I saw the changes that they made in their life and how they were to better themselves and the progress that they made and I wanted to follow those footsteps.

40:41 How does your former life being a manager with Jason Zelli compare to your current life? I don’t know if there’s any comparison. I mean, there two different lifestyles. One was I dealt with people non-stop all day, and there’s a lot of solitude in the driveaway industry, but at the same time, a lot of the skills necessary to be in the business world, you know, your customer service and way you speak with people and your manners and whatnot, that definitely those skills will pass over the driveaway cuz you’re still dealing with people. Well, you’re still going to see your customers and interact with them and you definitely want to maintain a professional image. But I think a lot of those skills have transferred to help me in that aspect. You’re listening to John Theriault here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. John is a boom driver. He’s been cross country. He is on his way to Ohio. Should arrive in Ohio tomorrow here in the late stages of spring on the edge of summer there.

41:44 Now, John, if you were going to describe what you do to someone who has no idea, no concept of it, how would you describe it to someone?

41:54 I let people know that when they ask, I tell them I take trucks that are brand new from the factory and I deliver them to dealerships. That that is essentially 95% of what I do. Brand new trucks from the factory dealerships and I’ll mix in a couple of used trucks and used dealerships here and there to connect the dots. Now, on the used side, there is a few differences when you’re booming used as opposed to booming new. How would you I guess lay those out as the differences.

42:25 When you’re moving used trucks, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. You definitely want to be prepared to invest a little bit more time and you really need to be more attention to details with the used trucks because there’s things that that will come into play. You know, the sitting for a while and what’s the pressure like on the tires? Are they even going to start? Can you move it? Are these wreck trucks? Are they runners? Do you have pieces falling off these trucks? Then there’s they’re being sold for a reason and a lot of times I mean they are used trucks so you’re not quite sure you know what the condition of them are until you get there. Have you ever run into the situation on a used run where you couldn’t get to the truck the horse or the non-runner? Sometimes they’re stacked in so deep at places. Have you ever run into that?

43:16 No. I you I’m pretty good about making sure wherever I’m picking up knows I’m coming. I like to do that that way if they do need to get out there and get a truck started or get it moved, I don’t have to get there and wait for that process to start. You know, they know usually a day or two in advance that that I’ll be there.

43:34 Gotcha. Not going to ask you certainly wouldn’t would not ask you how much you make in driveaway, but what has it afforded you to be able to do that you couldn’t do before you moved into the driveaway arena?

43:47 A lot. And I guess in a personal nature that’s sometimes it’s hard to grasp the changes that that it’s the money that that I make now has made cuz you know I come from a very modest lifestyle and I think you know there’s times when I take for granted what all this opportunity has provided and hey I’m saying I don’t want to say I’m wasting the opportunity but there’s times when I’m like gosh you know I really should be saving more putting you know I’m not accustomed to dealing with this type of cash flow. Cuz when you are doing a boom driver, you are moving two trucks at a time. And so you’re essentially making double what a single driver makes, you know.

44:33 So all your single drivers, if you know, you guys know what you make, essentially double it. And you know, you may have a few more expenses and whatnot, but the opportunity, the money’s there. And I think that that’s people need to money management is a skill that you really need to have or be ready to acquire to stay successful—

44:57 As an independent contractor. Talking about managing that money, I’m assuming that you’ve gone through some learning processes as an independent contractor. Yes. Yes, I have. Even, you know, before I started booming, when I first started as independent with the private dealership, that that was the first time I had ever been an independent contractor. And I didn’t know too much about how the tax process worked until it was too late. You know, I it was too late for me to go back and get the receipts for this and that and fuel and flights and so that first year, I learned the hard way. You know, you lose a lot of deductions when you can’t prove it. And even now, it’s still a learning process how to stay organized and how to stay on top of it. Because if these things, oh well, I’ll do the paperwork on that when I get home next week or I’ll do the do that trip next week or get these things organized. Before you know it, the end of the year’s there and now you have 12 months worth of files and taxes and paperwork that you’re trying to scramble and get together.

45:58 And that has been a learning experience personally, just trying to stay focused and organized and controlled. What advice would you give to a singles drivers and boom drivers in that regard as far as getting your ducks in a row?

46:13 Don’t feel you have to do everything yourselves. When if you’re going from being a singles driver to being a boom driver, you’re going to see the sudden increase in income. And I would say right off the bat, use it and make you know, get a tax person. Find somebody who can help you with your bookkeeping. Get those things done first before it’s to your before you’re trying to backtrack and make up for loss time. That’s something you absolutely want to stay ahead of. At the end of the year, there’s a big difference, you know, from a lot of drivers and trying to pay taxes on 40 50,000 to when you’re getting to that six figures. That’s a lot of money to try and pay taxes on.

46:57 You don’t want to get behind on that. Do you pay quarterly or do you do it all at one time?

47:02 I do it all at one time.

47:03 Gotcha.

47:04 This year I’m doing it different. This will be the first year. I again I learned the hard way. So, we are making those changes.

47:14 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, with this extra flow of money coming in, this surplus of income coming in, have you been able to take that dream van vacation or is that something you guys are planning down the road? I mean, you’re still relatively a young man, you and your wife. I mean, is that something in the future, a dream vacation?

47:34 We do our we travel a lot as it is. That’s and it’s something that I love to driveaway that I can, you know, when she racks up her vacation time and can take it as she, you know, can’t needs to. And I have the flexibility of whenever she wants to take off. If she wants to take off two, three days here or a whole week there, I can do that with her. And on average, I would say I probably take a week off, if not every month, every month and a half. Pretty frequently we’ll take the time off together and we’ll either go camping at the, you know, we like to go camp a lot. We also like to go to the resort, go to the casino there. Winstar in Oklahoma is a big one we like to go to or our return to Vegas. We got married in Vegas. That’s another place that that we’ll just take a quick trip out there.

48:19 Have you guys thought about without going overseas?

48:22 We have it was funny not too long after I started doing the boon driver. We you know having pillow talk she we woke up and she said that she wanted to go to overseas. I can’t think of it. The they have a lot of all the exotic cars. You see a lot of hip-hop hiphop stars there. Oh my goodness. Right there in the Middle East. Oh, Dubai.

48:45 Dubai. There we go. I woke up one morning, she said she wanted to wanted to go to Dubai and I was passing and so that I think that that is our dream vacation and we are getting the process and we get our passports and do that before while we still can. I mean, I know we’re not that old, but I think that’s probably our dream vacation that we definitely want to do.

49:08 That’s fantastic. You’re listening to John Theriault telling his stories on and off the road here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. John, we appreciate you spending a little time with us here as you’re resting up there in the rest area. Are you going to will you be sleeping tonight? Are you going to drive through the night? What’s the plan for the rest of the evening?

49:29 No, I’ll get back on the road here for a little while. Let’s see. I would imagine now that it’s still daylight, we can still get some more miles in.

49:36 Gotcha. Gotcha. Before you have to—

49:38 Turn in for the evening.

49:39 I try to gauge my 10-hour break and I know I’m not naturally an early riser if I can avoid it.

49:47 So so I’ll generally try and drive to about 11:00 p.m. That’s right around that hour 11 between anywhere between 10 10 and midnight I’ll try and stop that way. My 10-hour break is usually up about 9:00 a.m. And that, you know, I’d much rather get up around that time than I would at 6:00 or 7.

50:07 Gotcha. Everyone has different schedules. We’ve talked to so many drivers. Some will drive through the night. Some like to start at the beginning of the day at the crack of dawn—

50:17 And some, you know, like you ease into the day and let the wheels take you where they go.

50:24 Yes, sir.

50:24 John Theriault here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. John, thank you so much for joining us here. We’re going to sign off, but thank you so much. And last question is not really a question. Anything you would say to people who may be considering driveaway as a form of income?

50:40 I absolutely support anybody who wants to chain change the way they see the trucking industry and do something different within that industry. There’s certainly a lot of opportunities in the driveaway, a lot of different things you can do, a lot of different types of trucks you can move. If you want something different, a little bit more responsibility, a little bit more freedom, they go hand in hand, I encourage it. I think you’ll be it might be the change you’re looking for. You heard it there from John Theriault on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. John, thank you so much. Enjoy your time in the rest area and be safe on the on your way to Ohio, which you’ll be there tomorrow and I’m assuming you’re close to Memphis now. Is that right?

51:25 Yes, sir. Yes sir. I just left Memphis about 20 mi back.

51:29 All right, John. Thank you so much for joining us. Have a pleasant evening and a safe drive tomorrow. Thank you, sir. Thank you for having me.

51:40 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.