00:04 When you get in rhythm, just like driving, when you get in that rhythm, oh man, you can write 10, 15 pages and it just comes out. And it’s just like when I’m in a rhythm and when I’m making great money, I’m doing runs back to back to back to back. I don’t want to stop. I’m like—

00:24 “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. And those of you who tune in with us each and every week on the format of your choice know that this is a format where we lift up, elevate and celebrate the truck driver. Not always seen in the most favorable light sometimes by the general public, but that’s not what we’re about here. We lift them up for what they do for commerce. And of course, you know, the people here at Norton Transport, we don’t transport cargo and freight, but we move the trucks that move the cargo. And that’s an integral part of what happens in the American economy.

01:20 Now, today we’re going to do something a little bit different. We’re going to step outside of the Norton family, but not out of the trucking family. We have a special guest who is joining us this evening. He came recommended to us. He’s a guy that’s on the national scene. Very engaging story that you want to stay with. This is going to be very compelling for you. Mr. Jonathan Greene is joining us now. Now, Jonathan, where are you right now?

01:46 I am in Laredo, Texas right now, sir. Laredo, Texas.

01:50 Now, you are in your truck right now.

01:53 I’m in my truck right now talking to you.

01:56 Absolutely. So, I’m assuming are you parked at a truck stop somewhere? Are you got a safe place where you’re pulled over? Yeah, I am at an OC down here in Laredo, Texas.

02:06 Gotcha. Now, what’s the run that you’re making? Where were you coming from? Where you going to?

02:11 This run came actually I delivered a run at about 5 this morning in Dallas. I dropped that run off. Then I got stuck there because at 6:00 they had it was about 5:30, but at 6:00 they had shift change. So at 5:50 I sat there at the gate with another guy and by 6:15 they came out and started working again. So finally got out of there. Then I had to go over and do another pickup and where I went and did my pickup less than 10 minutes away. The trailer had a problem. So I had to make sure that trailer got repaired and then I shot down here to Dallas. I mean shot down here to Laredo.

02:53 Did you have a load or were you picking up? Yeah, the trailer was loaded and that was a load that I just delivered about an hour ago down here in Laredo.

03:02 Now, you’re an owner operator, is that right?

03:04 Yes, sir.

03:06 You’ve been in the business for a while. How did you fall into it and rise up to the level as an O and O?

03:14 Well, I have always been a driver. I was a guy who always drove. That was just it. Every time we went somewhere growing up, whatever, once I got of age driving, I was always the driver. It’s always something I love to do and I just took it to the next level and decided I wanted to be a truck driver. I always wanted my own truck. So, in 2013, December 2012, I graduated from trucking school. In 2013, I went to work.

03:44 Been doing it ever since.

03:45 Been doing it ever since.

03:47 Now, this is something we want to see here. We’re going to talk a lot about Jonathan and his driving as a truck driver and how he got into it and what he’s how he’s been able to flourish within it. But some of you may have already heard of Jonathan, but not by Jonathan Greene, but by Devon and Green. Devon and Green is a pin name and Jonathan is an author and he has a very engaging story. Jonathan, kind of walk us through from the beginning how this came about. Well, I decided to get back into writing a few years ago. And I wrote my first book, which is called Laredo Noeo, Rise of Aasta. And that was by a truck driver for truck drivers. And there are there’s a truck driver character in that book. And that was my first piece of that was my first thing I did. And I actually started that way back in 2013 2014 somewhere around then I finished it and once I me and my wife got together she told me just keep on writing.

04:57 So actually I’m on my fifth Book right now but we are about to release my second book called Palatin Brisco Deval’s Defender of House the floor.

05:08 Now there’s not a truck driver in there. I got you. I got you. Now, that first book that you wrote, 2013, approximately there, that was shortly after you got your CDL, which was 2012, and I guess you’d compiled a year’s worth of experiences of time on the road. Give us that title of the book again, particularly for our drivers that are listening, maybe something they want to see, read, and is it on a digital format?

05:33 It’s on Amazon. It’s on Goodreads. It’s called Laredo Noeo, Rise of Aata, and they can find it on Amazon, Goodreads, and a few of those formats out there. But I wrote that book. I was coming down here to Laredo a lot, and I listened to a lot of these stories a lot of these truck drivers were telling me. That’s where it all started from. That’s what that was sort of the emphasis or the spark that got me going on that book. Without giving the plot and the story away, give us a nutshell about what the book is about.

06:07 It’s about primarily it’s about a Sakario, an assassin named Ernesto Acasta. And Ernesto Acasta is out there in Mexico doing his thing. He kills people and nobody knows that how they got killed or that kind of stuff. He disappears and this that and the other. He works for a drug cartel. And the book comes together. It starts with a truck driver who comes to goes to his mother his mother’s funeral in Mexico. And his father, you know, he drives his big beautiful truck down there. And in the town that he goes back to, there’s one of the lost netas, one of the big wigs comes to the funeral and he tells the son, “Hey, you know, leave the keys there. I want that truck.”

06:58 He’s like, “What are you talking about? I’m not— It’s not for sale.” And that’s where the whole story starts.

07:03 I got you. Sounds very engaging, very interesting. And you know, you talk about your passion for writing.

07:09 I write at night in my truck.

07:11 I write.

07:12 Really? Tell us about that. I mean when you’re making when you’re taking your break.

07:16 Yeah. No, I at the end of the day, I will, you know, after I’ve eaten dinner and all that stuff, I’ll turn on the computer and write.

07:23 Nice.

07:25 I done that for years now.

07:27 What kind of truck do you have?

07:29 I have a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia, and I just got this one about three months ago. My original truck, I blew the engine a million three. And make a long story short, I never should have let a guy on the side of the road. He talked me into fixing it and I never should have let him do that.

07:47 You know, there’s a lesson learned there because when it comes time to repair, let’s hear it from you, a professional driver. Is there some comfort in going into a dealer per se or something equivalent? Well, there is a level. You have to find a mechanic, your primary mechanic that you trust. And I have a situation down here in Laredo. I have a group of mechanics that I have trusted for years. And they I can call them up anywhere in the nation and say, “Hey, man, listen. This just happened.” And they’ll tell me. Matter of fact, he saved me probably thousands of dollars. I can give you an instance when my truck broke down leaving here. My all the lights came on like what the what’s going on?

08:34 So I called him his name is Sergio. I called Sergio and we were talking and he told me to check this. And then he said you need to call I was up by San Antonio. He said you need to call a company that has an electrician on staff who can come out and check it out.

08:49 And that’s what did the guy came out. He found the problem charged me four for something. But they wanted $1,200 just to tow the truck back to Laredo. So, make a long story short, he really saved me a lot of money because I could have went up there somewhere and had it towed up there, but the lowest tow fee I had was 750—

09:09 Right? It’s good to know people and good— It’s not only good to know people, it’s going it’s good to know people you can trust.

09:15 Yes. And my just letting you know, man, I’m strongly into maintenance. I change my oil every two to three weeks and in between there I get a oil filter.

09:27 Saves you a lot of hassle and a lot of problems down the road.

09:29 It does.

09:30 Now, you were saying you do your writing with your computer in your truck. Do you kind of cozy up in the sleeper? I’m assuming you got a sleeper in that Cascadia.

09:38 Yes. Yes. I have a desk in this one. I actually have a desk so I can sit here—

09:44 And write and do what I have to do. And then, you know, I might write a paragraph. I might write four pages because it be quite honest with me it takes me about it takes four pages of text for me to write one page.

09:59 I got you. I got you.

10:00 I don’t know why I that’s just the way I write, man.

10:03 Now writing is something we’ve discussed and touched on is a passion and from looking at some of your past—

10:12 It kind of I guess you could say comes to you naturally. Your father is a man of note.

10:17 Yes. My dad was a writer. He wrote books. He wrote music. He did a lot of things in the industry in Los Angeles where I was raised. And you know, he that’s what he did. That’s all I knew him. He was when I’d come home from school, he was sitting on the piano doing something or sitting on the typewriter doing something. That’s what he did.

10:40 You’re listening to Jonathan Greene here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Now, Jonathan is not a Norton trucker, but he is an O and O driver and he’s also a writer and he goes by the pen name of Devon and Green. You can check him out. Now you said you’ve worked on you’ve completed five books. You’re—

10:58 I’m current on my fifth book right now.

11:00 On your fifth book right now. Now, let’s talk about where do you draw from to get the energy and the story lines for all these books?

11:10 You know, it’s just my passion. Everybody has a passion for something that they do. And I enjoy the I it’s just like I enjoy the challenge of driving a truck, getting there on time, doing the things I do as far as being safe on the road. I enjoy the challenges of every day of driving a truck. I also enjoy the challenges of writing something that I can leave here as a legacy that my people, you know, enjoy. And you know, I found an editor, my editor, when I first sent her the first book I did, and I took her the book, she said, she, “You wrote this?” And she probably called me four or five times in three or four hours, “You really wrote this?” I said, “Yes, I wrote it.” Cuz she was impressed.

11:57 So, I it made me feel good.

12:00 Now, we I’m looking at your biography here as a professional writer. There was a time in your life where I guess things were not ideal. Kind of take us down that path and where the circle turned. Well, to be quite honest with you, there’s been a few times in my life when things were not quite ideal and early on in my life well, I’m going to give you an example. When I was younger down the street from my house, there was a gentleman who had a Porsche. And I was a kid and I loved Porsches. I’d see this car and he would have these parties with these Porsche clubs and he would have a hundred cars parked up and down the street and it just amazed me.

12:48 Well, that gentleman turned out to be a drug dealer. And you know in my growing up in Altadena and Pasadena we would see this and my parents you know they wanted me to go to college and this and that and I actually had a baseball scholarship before I went to high school. I was supposed to go to USC but I wanted that easy money so I went the wrong direction and I ended up paying for it.

13:17 You’re listening to Jonathan Greene also known as Devon Greene. His pen name, successful author, working on his fifth book right now. And as you can tell, he’s got the passion and the inspiration to put pen to paper and come up with some things that are very compelling. He’s also got some stories from his past. And just tell us what you learned from that past and where it took you, what d what direction.

13:42 Well, I’ll tell you there was a time in my life when my daughter my wife and my daughter came to see me. My wife, my daughter was maybe one and a half when she came to see me and it broke my heart and I knew that day that I was never going to be incarcerated again. So that was a changing point in my life and that’s when I got out, you know, I started doing working regular jobs. But be quite honest with you, man, I couldn’t McDonald’s refused to hire me. Do you believe that?

14:22 That’s crazy, man.

14:24 Yeah. So, so it you know, it was a difficult time and you know, you got to get through it. You got to got to have that resolve. You got to have that belief in yourself. And you got to have if you’re with somebody, they have to believe in it as well. And it turned out I ended up getting a job in the beer business. And once I got the job, the rest is history. I excelled at that job. And in six months time, I got a position with a major brew beer company. And I had a car allowance and I was traveling Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. And that was a great job and it paid me great.

15:06 That’s fantastic, Jonathan. That’s good to hear from you. Also wanted to ask you kind of going back into the you were kind of drawn to this as a young man which you know it can be flashy and attractive when you see all these Porsches the crime and the cartel side of it but what did they get you for and how much time did you spend in prison? Well, I was 18 months in the penitentiary in Pennsylvania for drug sales. And then well, be quite honest with you, I was a care I was careful—

15:44 And I the it turns out because I was actually careful. Years later, the police officer that said he caught me on tape so forth and so on. There was a he lost a job and you know all his cases were up for review because he had lied he got caught in other lies and they sent me you know attorneys sent me stuff you know I can get out of this for $5,000 they can get it off my record and so forth and so on but you know it was done it was in the past I and I at the time I wasn’t you know willing to pay any money to go through that but hey I did my time I did the crime I did the time either way which I did the crime, you know, maybe not exactly what he tried he got me for, but I did the crime, right?

16:33 So, you know—

16:34 How old were you at this time?

16:36 21 roughly.

16:40 Gotcha. Now, what did you learn from that experience spending 18 months in incarcerated? And you know, you talked about that that touchstone, that keynote moment when your daughter came to see you, but before that kind of that moment came to be, what did you learn exhaustively being in incarcerated? I mean, everybody I mean, unless they’ve been there, it’s hard to put into words what incarceration’s like.

17:08 Yeah. You know it’s a degrading situation. It’s a demeaning situation. You know, they I’m a talker, so I’m going to get along. I’m going to get by and get along with people so forth and so on. But I have seen these officers just take advantage of people and you know it’s a demeaning and demoralizing situation. And you know it I’ve I have seen a lot and be quite honest with you a lot of people just don’t make it through the system because and then if they do make it through they’re going to come back. They’re going to keep on coming back because then you get I can’t even remember the term is there’s a term for it but you get in that cycle of going in and out of prison and keep on going back.

17:59 I know what you’re talking about.

18:00 Yeah. But that’s great to see that you’ve been able to go from that life to a life of triumph and be successful and not only as an owner and operator driver, but also an author. And how does that all kind of sink together? I mean, you’ve kind of touched on it being able to write in your truck, got a desk and the sleeper. The experiences you’ve drawn from in the past being you know that that were not favorable for you but what you were able to draw from inspirationally and what you’re doing now. How does that all sink together?

18:36 Well, I was always I was it was always encouraged in my household growing up to read. So, I’ve been reading all my life and I’ve enjoyed certain books, The Millionaire Next Door, The Think and Grow Rich, and you know, books of that ilk. I’ve been doing that, you know, I’ve been reading financial books like that for years and I have always had that that that yearning to be successful and to grow and to be well be successful both financially, mentally and physically and be blessed as well.

19:22 So, you know, I try to try I’ve tried to live that my life that way, but I’ve had my ups and downs, don’t get me wrong.

19:29 Sure. Got to ask you this question.

19:31 Yes, sir.

19:32 Two passions. I’m sure there are others.

19:35 Riding and owning and operating a truck.

19:39 Yes.

19:39 How would you rank them and why? Oh, well, owning operating a truck is it’s a challenge every day, you know, but it is extremely rewarding. And I’ll give you an example there. For the first time, me and my wife went on a trip last year to them on a cruise in the Mediterranean.

20:05 Mhm.

20:06 Around the Mediterranean, 10day cruise. Had a blast. Saw a biza Paris Spain, Barcelona, Spain’s where we started and it was we went to Cans—

20:21 Where the cans film festival is. We were there just a week before the cans film festival.

20:25 Well, good for you, man. It’s a beautiful part of the world there.

20:29 So, being able to do stuff like that and be quite honest with you, man, I wouldn’t have been able to do stuff like that if it wasn’t for my wife. My wife’s an accountant, so she you know, she I if I won a lottery today, I’m a giver, man. I’m gonna give away a lot.

20:47 With my wife, I’m not going to give away so much.

20:51 I got you.

20:52 You understand?

20:53 I understand. I understand.

20:54 Yeah.

20:55 Now, both are passions, equal passions, I’m assuming. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but which one do you enjoy more? Does one give you more satisfaction, more rewarding? The putting pen to paper or driving that big truck down the road.

21:10 Well, both actually it’s like your children. You can’t pick one. I enjoy both doing them both to be quite honest with you and I’ve made it work been able to do them both. I really enjoy try driving trucks and I really enjoy riding.

21:25 Gotcha.

21:25 And you know that that’s just me.

21:29 Now, do you have anyone that works for you in your company or how does that play out? Well, my wife works for me. She is the company accountant. She does the payroll. She does you know, all of our trips are business trips because I have a LLC. That’s—

21:49 You.

21:50 That’s fantastic. You know, you kind of touched on something that you could probably lend a lot to our audience, which is primarily independent contractors. Our drivers are independent contractors—

22:02 And you have the LLC. What advice could you give to an IC who works in driveaway trucking which of course Norton Transport does? What advice would you give them from that kind of framework?

22:16 Well, I would tell them the first thing you do is get yourself an LLC. I have we have an LLC that we set up that we originally set up in California. Then we had to move it to Arizona and we were able to move it from state to state. We have EIN numbers. We have there’s a lot of I run all my me all my medical for the family. The phone bills through my LLC. The phones are you can take advantage of all the tax benefits that an LLC offers. So when you travel and as long as you do certain things for business while you’re traveling and you can write it off. My wife and I have written off a lot of things and then also we have a self-directed 401 401k through my LLC.

23:14 So, you know, there’s a whole lot of benefits per having something like this. And then all my maintenance on my trucks, you know, tax deductible. So, it lowers my tax burden every year. So—

23:28 You got to do what you got to do and be smart about it.

23:31 Talking about being smart about it, the steps you have to take for write offs. I mean, it certainly doesn’t hurt that you’re married to an accountant, but that that’s a plus. That’s a check. That’s a check box right there. But I mean again going back to the IC drivers, how much would you encourage them to take those extra steps to get those write offs that are in the end going to benefit them?

23:57 I would encourage them beyond all measure. There is no once you get into that boat and once you start taking advantage of those write-offs write offs and once you see what you paid in taxes out of your pocket at the end of the year verse the year before you’re going to thank me—

24:20 Bottom line. But got to get somebody who knows trucks. They have to know the trucking business. They have to be they have to have an inkling of how the trucking business works.

24:31 So you got to be selective when you’re choosing your profession.

24:34 Yes. Yes. Yes.

24:43 You’re listening to Jonathan Greene here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Jonathan is an owner and operator. He’s, as we said at the beginning, we’re going outside the family, but not really. He’s a trucker and he covers the roads makes his way across America there and is also a an author. He’s been published four times. Working on his—

25:06 No, no, I’ve only been published once. I’ve only released first book.

25:10 Okay. He’s written four books.

25:12 Yes, I’ve written four books. I’m just about to release the second one, but I’ve only been p— The first book is the only one out right now.

25:19 I gotcha. Now, tell us about that next one that’s coming out. You had alluded to it at Paladin there or Paladin. Tell us about that book. What’s it like?

25:29 Well, I let me first let you know that we have something special for your audience at the end of this broadcast. We are going to give everybody listening to this broadcast a free first chapter of my next book called Paladin Brisco Devals the defender of House of Laflur. We’re going to give them a free copy. We’re going to give them a website they can go to and sign up for a free first chapter of that book. Absolutely free.

25:58 That’s fantastic. We appreciate that. Jonathan who goes by the pen name, Devon and Green can you give us kind of a glimpse, a precursor if you will, into this book?

26:11 Well, Brisco Devol is you know, I like to say even heroes have flaws. He’s a guy who’s a billionaire and he is there’s a murder in New Orleans, Louisiana and he’s called in to try to solve it. Now his background is he was a billionaire and on top of the world but he was a drug abuser, a alcoholic, a wife abuser, woman ab womanizer and so forth and so on. And his wife was murdered. And the caveat is he has not been able to solve that murder. So he changed his life. And once he changed his life, he changed his way, stopped drinking, stop all stopped all that stuff. And his whole lot in life now is to help people who he’s able to help. But he helps pretty much the wealthy. Because he likes give getting he like they pay and he gives that money to charity.

27:12 But make a long story short, it’s this is a path that he goes down. It involves voodoo. It involves beheadings. It involves from Mexico I mean from excuse me from New Orleans to Texas in Colorado and steps and beyond steps in between. He they have to follow the clues to find out who actually killed Bartholomelor, the head of the Laflor family. And it goes back to actually there was a curse put on the Laflor family years ago because they stole land from some Haitians. The Batist family and the head of the Batist family is a voodoo queen.

27:59 That’s what I was going to say.

28:01 That’s where it goes.

28:02 That’s the introduction of the voodoo there. So you got a good murder mystery entwined intertwined with a lot of things going on there. Now, we’re gonna, as you said, you were going to issue some books for the people who would like to have those. Now, what do they need to do to get a copy of Paladin?

28:22 Okay. To get your free first chapter of Paladin, all you have to do is go to divine andgreen.com, my website, and there will be a picture or a free chapter page in there. You’ll see a little button and you hit it. You put in your email and your name and we will send you a first chapter of the book absolutely for free. Hopefully you enjoy it and hopefully you know when the book comes out you can purchase it and hopefully you can give us a review.

28:58 Now do you have a target date for publishing?

29:01 It will be published late January, early February. Now, have you completed it or are you still—

29:08 Oh, yeah. That that book is well completed. Yes.

29:12 Just waiting on the publishing process to run it.

29:16 We want to Exactly. Exactly. And then we want to build up to the release and we’re we want to make sure that we get 100 reviews in the first 90 days. So, that is our goal because as you know, Amazon everything has a system. Amazon has an algorithm. If I hit that 100 reviews, then it shows up in front of more people.

29:38 Gotcha. Now, Jonathan, I got to ask you this question. Where do you find your creative voice? Where does that come from—

29:45 Man? I think it comes from my dad. I really be quite honest with you, I just think it’s it was in my blood. I’ve been writing since I was a kid. And the first book I wrote, I wrote maybe 12, 13, something like that. And I had an uncle named Saul David. And we went to his house because my dad didn’t want to read it. He wanted to let my uncle Saul read it. And I guess my dad dropped it off to him and then we went over there about a week later. Saul David produced Logan’s Run in a bunch of other movies in the past and so we were over there and we was reading it and Saul tells me, “Jonathan, you know, you did a good job, but you got to paint a picture. Just remember, you got to paint a picture.” And then his critique slowly got worse and worse.

30:31 So, you know what? I stopped writing for a while.

30:36 Well, there’s some truth in the advice that he gave you. You do have to paint the picture and give people a reason to come inside. And how do you tap into that painting a picture?

30:45 Man, I now when I write, I don’t know what when it started happening, but when I write, I see the scene. I can actually see the scene that I’m writing and I can twist it around in my head and I can write it from different angles, but I see the scene when I’m and if I can’t if I can start it and if I the scene doesn’t come become clear, then I got to stop and start erasing and backtracking because it’s not going to work. But I see the scenes in my head.

31:14 I visualize it. I’ve heard the stories more specifically for musicians when they’re writing a song. I think they call it stream of consciousness where they can almost write the song in the exact real time that the song plays out. It just comes to them so quickly. Do you have those moments in the cab of your Cascadia where it just flows out—

31:39 When you get in I call it rhythm. When you get in rhythm, just like driving, when you get in that rhythm, oh man, you can write 10, 15 pages just and just write and it just comes out. And it’s just like when I’m in a rhythm and when I’m making great money, I’m doing grunts back to back to back to back. I don’t want to stop.

32:00 I’m like I don’t want to do a 34, but it is what it is, man.

32:04 The mojo’s rolling, man.

32:06 Yeah.

32:06 In both cases. In both cases.

32:09 Exactly. You know, we’ve just mentioned it. Jonathan Greene says, “Go to Devon and Green after you listen to this very engaging conversation with Jonathan.” And you can get that first chapter of Paladin, which is coming out in January of next year. So definitely worth a check there. Now, you’ve been, as we talked about, let’s kind of shift back, switch gears back to trucking. You’ve been doing it for 11 years. What are the highs? What are the highs and the lows of it?

32:36 Yes. Well, you know, I’m gonna be honest with you guys. When I first started, I drove for a company called Snyder. My first year, I made $26,000. That was depressing—

32:49 Right?

32:50 But I had a trucks that I had one truck that was in the shop seven times for the same problem.

32:56 Oh my goodness.

32:57 So, you know, you got to do what you got to do. Now, fortunately, I stuck with it. I ended up buying my first truck in November 2015. And that truck I got a million three out of up to three months ago when I blew it up outside Beaumont, Texas. I blew the engine and I just bought my I had to buy a 2020 and fortunately I was in a position to buy a 2020. You know, I had all these crazy PE financing people giving me these crazy numbers. But fortunately, I was in a position to get a good deal on my 2020 and I do not have any payments.

33:39 Gotcha. You know, this is a question we often talk about with drivers here at Norton Transport. What are the for you? What’s the most picturesque place you’ve seen on the job? And what’s the one that was the least favorite for you on the job as well? The least favorite was in Pennsylvania going up a steep grade into the clouds and it was a two-lane road and you hit that cloud thing and you were going slow and it was really sketchy.

34:19 It sounds like frightening.

34:21 Yeah. Yeah. I mean— Yeah. That that was what however you want to say it was. And it was that was one of the least favorite trips I’ve ever been on. And I will never do that road again.

34:34 I just remembered it was in Pennsylvania and— No.

34:37 Made a mark on you.

34:39 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And then I remember I’ve come across just like coming down Donner Pass into the San Francisco Bay area and coming over that hill and catching it at right at you know sundown when you’re like, “Oh man, look at this.” And it’s just beautiful. And you know there’s other things across Utah. The salt what is it? Salt lakes or the salt flats or whatever.

35:08 Yeah, the salt flats. Yeah.

35:10 Seeing that kind of stuff and you know it’s amazing to you. And then even I7 going in I7 in the snow and you’re going around these curves and you’re looking at how beautiful our country is. We have a beautiful country and people should get out and see it some more.

35:26 Mhm. Now the imagery that you have seen— Yes. Does it make its way into your writing?

35:34 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I try to matter of fact if you look when you start reading Laredo in the prologue I describe Mexico I describe it in detail with some visually enhanced words or however you want to call it. But yeah, the imagery I try to put it in my writing. That’s what I was kind of getting to was I mean as far as the scenes you see or the images you see from the cab, does that get into your book? I mean—

36:12 You know I have well kind of I mean I have seen a lot of things especially you know drivers explosions and stuff like that as far as trucks go and some of that stuff has made it way has made its way into my books because I describe SUVs blowing up and stuff like that and you know fires and stuff like that but those things have impacted me and gave me visual ideas that I translated into my writing.

36:46 Gotcha. I want to go back to you writing in the cab. Take us there. Paint a picture. I’m assuming I don’t want to assume, but I have a good feeling that you’re at peace when you’re sitting in the cab.

37:01 Oh, yeah. When I’m sitting in the cab alone, my wife knows not to call me. Don’t I’ll call you when I’m done. But some nights I’m just riding and I get caught up and it might be late, you know. But then again, if I’ve driven 700 750 miles in a day trying to get down the road, I’m not going to write that much that night, but I will go I will elaborate a little bit. When I’m sitting here, I can I don’t know. There’s some people who can write, you know, who can talk into those little microphones during the day and say little tidbits that they want to put down in writing. I can’t do that. I have a pad that I will put a I will just write a little something on, maybe two words or maybe four words, just a little sentence, and then at night I’ll take that and I’ll translate it to my writing and put it where it was supposed to go.

37:55 Kind of build it out.

37:57 Yes. Yes, because I mean that’s just the way I write. I write I might write one the first part of a chapter and then write the end of another chapter because in my head I’m putting it together.

38:07 It’s kind of an old school style going back to the pad.

38:11 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. However you want to look at it, it’s just that’s just what I do. Everybody has a different style. That’s how I write.

38:18 Another question that comes to mind, you let’s say you’ve done 695 725 on the road. You’re exhausted, but you’ve got some great thoughts coming to your mind—

38:29 And you got to put them down on paper. Does that give you a— Does that give you— Does it rejuvenate you for the next day?

38:35 Yes. Yes. Yes. If I have something that has to be done, I will do it. No questions. It’s going to get down.

38:45 Now, let’s not to get too deep into the personal finances. Which one? I think I know. But does one fuel the other monetarily speaking?

38:54 Well, you know, right now trucking has paid I mean trucking is my primary source of income and it has been that way since 2013. Mhm.

39:05 And you know, even though I enjoy writing books, maybe one day it will surpass it, maybe it won’t. But either way it goes, I enjoy trucking, you know, and to pull me away, I probably have to retire. My whole goal was to get two million miles out my last truck and then maybe retire. But I got a million three and I’ve only got maybe 10 15,000 miles out of this truck so far. So, I have another roughly 700,000 mi to go. Then after that, you know, we’ll see what happens. But, trucking has paid for everything right now.

39:43 700,000 miles. How long would it take you to roll up that many miles?

39:50 Four years, maybe three, four years.

39:53 I’m looking at your picture here. Don’t know how old you are, but I’m guessing I don’t want to guess.

39:59 I’m in my mid-50s.

40:01 That’s what I would have said that. I mean about 54 maybe.

40:04 Yes sir.

40:05 And another part of your life that is very important to you is family.

40:11 Yes sir.

40:12 Tell us about that. Tell us about that.

40:14 I have well between me and my wife we have eight children. My wife’s first son who is now in college. His father you know my wife was married once. I was married once, but his father passed not that long ago, so I love him. And but all our children have now graduated high school and most of them are in college or have went to college. My oldest daughter is now a flight attendant and she has two granddaughters and her youngest granddaughter, Zazi, just melts my heart. She can look at me and I’m done. Stick me with the I’m done. What do you want, baby? And she just pop on this and that. And she will call me. I talk to her more than any of my kids.

41:09 She will just call me. Yeah. She’ll just call me and she’ll—

41:12 She’ll hi pop on. Just start talking and this and that and the other and I’m just listening. Okay, baby. Okay. But she’s four now. So—

41:20 Okay.

41:20 But she’s got my number, man. She’s got my number.

41:23 Now, let me ask you this question. And being four years old—

41:26 She’s not only has she got your number, she’s got you wrapped around her pinky.

41:30 Yes, sir.

41:30 What’s her reaction when she sees you pulling out in that truck?

41:35 Oh, she loves the truck. Oh, man. They love the truck. Can we go on grandpa’s truck? They love the truck. The girls love the— They just— It’s like a big giant play thing. They’re all over and they love it. What about for your children who saw you your actual children who saw you coming up through the starting off in 20 when you first got your CDL and started off on this path? What’s their impression of seeing you drive this big truck?

42:07 Well, to be quite honest with you, since that’s what we do on this show, my I have four children in California who really never saw me drive driving. I would go visit them, but you know, they never saw me really driving the truck. I do have the other two my wife’s my youngest one, me and my wife had together and then her son, they’ve seen me in the truck. They enjoyed the truck, but my wife actually will get in the truck with me and go riding with me. But my oldest two kids, they see me when I’m visiting Dallas and you know, dad, you know, they like the truck. My daughters loves a truck because she that’s her thing, trucks.

42:55 She wants I’ve always had trucks. I’ve always had forge or something and she wants a Ford a big Ford Excursion or something like that. She wants—

43:06 Gotcha. You’re listening to Jonathan Greene here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Of course, Jonathan goes by the pin name of Devon and Green. You can get the first chapter of his next book to be released on Devongreen.com. Just check that out. Fascinating story. Now, how do you see that book hitting the audience? Obviously, we want success for you. You want success for yourself. You want to see it sell a lot of copies. How do you see it playing out and what will you need for it to play out the way you need it to?

43:41 Well, it the first thing I just want people to enjoy it. That’s first and foremost. If they enjoy it, everything else will come. If they really like it, everything else will come. And that that’s all I want. As far as you know I have put together I think a strong team who we built a website that’s actually a funnel that you can you know you’ll get the free book I mean the free first chapter you can go through there and sign up for if you actually buy the book you’ll get a free companion piece that I wrote you’ll get access to some insider things that we have coming down the line. Early access to my next book. And we, you know, I have a social media team that that I have people who have really helped me out along the way and it really pays off when you find the right people.

44:43 Oh man, you feel like you can conquer the world when you have the right people around you and I believe I have done that. Jonathan, I got to ask you now that you’ve seen tasted and lived through such success as an author and also as an owner operator, do you ever find yourself out on the open road thinking back to the course of what your life has traveled from a young man incarceration and to where you are now?

45:12 Yes, I do. In my I when I think about those times I look I think about my parents both of them in heaven and I just want my parents to be proud that that is the that is one of the most important things to me I want them to look down and say I’m proud of you son—

45:30 Well it sounds like you’ve laid out the groundwork for yourself personally with your wife and also with your family and extended family what motivates you I mean we know about your passions— We know about the passion to write, the passion to keep your company, your trucking company moving forward successfully. But what motivates you? What drives you?

45:54 Yeah. You know, I guess it would be family, legacy, desire, you name it. I don’t want to fail. I want to be an example for my boys. I want to be an example for my girls. I want them to look up to their father and be proud. That’s what motivates me.

46:22 Gotcha. Now, you acknowledge that you’re in your mid50s. We’ll say on the younger side. We’ll say on the lower side of 55.

46:30 Okay.

46:30 Just for the sake of argument. But where do you see yourself as far as the truck itself hanging up the keys for good and just riding? I don’t want to preconceive what may happen, but is that how you see it playing out or what’s the future look like for Jonathan Greene?

46:51 Well, either way it goes. And you know, I don’t know. I see myself one day giving it up, but I don’t see myself giving it up anytime soon. Even if I won a lottery, my me and my wife were talking about this. I don’t know if I would want to stay home all the time and write because my every time I’m home, I’m spending money. So, when I’m out on the road, I’m doing what I have to do. And there’s also some other ventures I have thought about and hopefully maybe we put together in the next two or two to three years coming down the line and those ventures would be in the trucking field itself.

47:35 Gotcha. Now you’ve got you know we’re looking at roughly a decade in the trucking business—

47:42 And you’ve got that fortitude. What would you say to people who are moving into driveaway? You talked a little bit about the tax purposes or the tax framework on the legal side setting up as an LLC—

47:55 But what would you say to drivers? How do you keep the wheels turning, not on the truck, but internally?

48:02 How do you stay on top of your game? What would you say—

48:05 To those drivers out there?

48:07 You have to find that selfotivation. It’s within everybody. You have to find your button and you have to do it. Then you have to get in the in you have to get in the habit of success. So I tell everybody I eat a salad every day. I make sure I eat a salad every day because that’s my body. I need to eat a salad every day. I try to exercise every day. I try to write every day. Once you get in those habits, all that becomes easier. You know, Jonathan, you touched on a very good point. We talked to a lot of drivers about that and you would know better than anyone the diet of a truck driver. It’s easy—

48:49 To fall into a bad diet. I mean because I mean we’ve all seen the food at the truck stops. You’re on the go all the time. You’re eating in your cab or you’re you know you’re eating for three minutes then you’re back on the road. How do you discipline yourself? I mean you just told us that eat a salad every day and that’s important. How do you discipline yourself and what should others do to get into that that mindset?

49:15 Well, if you gain 20 I gain about 30 lbs my first three months of driving and I realized something was not right. So, I sat back and said, “Okay, I have to change my diet. This, that, and the other.” And you know, you evaluate and you say, “Okay, you know, I eat oatmeal in the mornings most days. I drink a lot. I drink at least 2 liters of water every day. I do I have a push-up routine, a stretch routine. I stretch first thing in the morning. I do at least my push-ups every day in the truck during my 30-minut break. And then I try to walk at night. I try to walk around wherever I’m at and try to get some exercise. I try to do a mile or two maybe, you know, depending on the lot just to get out and exercise and move my feet and do what my body needs to stay on top of things.”

50:10 How much would you tell drivers a benefit that is to do all the above that you just listed?

50:15 Oh. Oh, man. Once you get in these once you get in those habits, it’s you’ll realize, you know, you’ll realize the benefits once you get in those habits and your bones aren’t you know, you’re not limping around and you’re not you know, cuz you’re going to see these truckers. I seen them and I know you’ve seen them. I saw a guy get out a truck one time. He must have been 400 lb and 6 foot three. And my whole thinking was how the hell did he get in that truck?

50:46 Mhm.

50:47 You know, I mean I’m just going to be quite honest with you because I don’t want to I would rather try to take care of my body right now and not get to that point where I have to change where I just want to be healthy for my grandkids. I want to be healthy for myself. I want to be around here a while longer. So I try to eat healthy. I try to do the right things. And my wife encourages me and I encourage her as well.

51:14 You know, one thing that drivers tell us that have been on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport is the absolute value in being mentally sharp. Not just physically—

51:29 Ready to go, you know, 10 11 hours in a day, but to be mentally sharp. Does your writing help you become sharper as far as your awareness, situational awareness on the road?

51:42 I believe so. I believe so. It’s just like I still read. I will take time out and read and I’m reading a James Patterson book right now. You know, it’s you I believe all that helps your mental acuity, whatever you want to call it. It sharpens. It’s like you know, it’s like your body. It’s an exercise. It’s an exercise for your brain mentally.

52:07 Now, are you a driver who likes to log his hours in the early morning, midafternoon, or do you do most of your driving at night?

52:16 I normally start my day by 4:00 a.m. Yeah, I’ve started as early as 2:30, maybe 3, but normally my normal days are 4:00 a.m. To 400 p.m. And well, 4:00 a.m. To 2 to 4:00 p.m. Depending. And when I in my days, I can normally find parking. So that’s why that’s— And then I can get down the road a lot longer, a lot farther than if I start at 7.

52:42 Well, you beat the rush hour, too, if you’re in a city there at 4:00 in the morning.

52:46 Exactly. Exactly.

52:47 Well, I got to ask you this question as we come to as we’re about to wrap up. Okay.

52:52 We got that new book coming out January. We’re looking at it hitting the public then. Is there another book in the works?

53:01 Oh, yeah. That that next one’s already done. It’s already done. Sitting in the wait cycle. And as long as this one does get some people interested, we will release that one either later on in the year or the first of next year.

53:19 Now, how long are these books? Are they easy read? What would you how would you gauge them? Well, this one, be quite honest with you, man. This one was kind of a battle between me and my wife because my wife thinks we should because this is a long book. This is roughly 600 pages.

53:39 And my wife was thinking we should cut it in two. And I was like, “No, I don’t really want to do that. I don’t— It’s just like those movies. I just saw Doom not that long ago.” I was so mad that it was Doom, the first part, not the whole movie. I was pissed because I got to go see Dune 2. So, I said, “No, no, we’re going to do one.” And we ended up doing one. But it’s a long book.

54:05 It is not a lightweight book, but once you get into it and once you get stuck in it, you can’t put it down.

54:12 That’s what we want from all good books. You can’t put them down.

54:14 Yes. Yes. Exactly. Jonathan Greene here has joined us on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And as we laid out there, Jonathan is outside the family of Norton, but not outside the family of the greater brother and sisterhood of the trucking world there. And published author, got more books coming O and On the trucking side there. And Jonathan, thank you so much for joining us. And again, for those of you who have listened, his book Paladin coming out in January of 25. You can get the first chapter for free simply by going to divineandgreen.com. And at the end of this show, if you look on our platform, go to show notes, we will have that link for you where you can check that out and his website there at Devongreen.com. Jonathan, I just wanted to leave the floor open to you. Anything, any advice, any counsel you may give to drivers, those who are considering this, anything you’d like to interject right now, feel free to do so.

55:15 Well, first and foremost, I want to say thank you for the opportunity to be on your platform. You know, as a truck driver, we need more platforms like this. And if you thinking about getting in trucking, jump in and stick with it. Because if you stick with it, you’re going to find your way. You’re going to find your path. You’re going to find your lane that you want to be in where you’re going to make the money that you want to make. There’s all different kind of ways you can go out there, but there’s all different kind of opportunities in trucking. And hey, the future, you know, you can do it if you put your mind to it. Good luck to you.

55:55 That’s a great place to stop right there. Great words of advice from Jonathan Greene. Pen name Devon and Green. Go to devon green.com to get that first chapter of his book. Again, that will be in our show notes just to take you down the path you need to go. Jonathan, I got to say, personto person, manto man, thank you for joining us.

56:14 Thank you so much, sir. You have a good day and it was a pleasure.

56:18 Absolutely. Take care.

56:22 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.