00:07 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. Next, it’s your host, Justin Scott. Let’s get to the show. All right, guys. Welcome back to the Six-Figure Trucker. I’m your host, Justin Scott. With me here, I have Speed Racer one of the best tech drivers we have on our roster right now, Charles Lacomb. Charles, how you doing, buddy?

00:41 Good, Justin, man. Good. How are you?

00:43 Good, good. Well, man, thanks for joining us today. You know, we’re really excited to have you on the Six-Figure Trucker. Been keeping an eye on you. You’ve been really shining on our driver leaderboard, which of course I watch, you know, constantly. And I got your name wrong. It’s Sleep Racer.

01:00 Yeah, you said it right. Sleeper.

01:01 Sleep Racer. Okay. What’s the story behind Sleep Racer?

01:05 You know, it’s my old CB handle. And the best CB names are the ones that’s given to you by someone else.

01:13 That’s true.

01:13 Back in the day, we used to, you know, haul cars and we used to drive the 11 hours and we’d be there undecking for five or six hours and you’re allowed to work as long as you want. You just can’t drive anymore. So we pull in some 20our days and the next day I’d sleep like 12 to 14 hours and my friend be ready to go after 10 and I’m like nope. So that’s how he came up with the name Sleep Racer.

01:38 I like it. I like it. You got your rest in so you can go full throttle when your name was called on.

01:43 Yeah, that’s right. Yep.

01:45 Well, cool, man. Well, that I love that story and I just got to say, you know, watching you and Big E, who we’ve had on the show before, you guys have been battling it out. You know, one of you guys will be ahead of the other, then the next one will pull away. So, I understand you guys have kind of, you know, met each other and, you know, talked to each other every now and then. So, it’s cool to watch you guys battle it out.

02:05 Yeah, he’s a great guy. I met him at a small truck stop, but actually he saw me in a small truck stop and decided to get ahead of me at the undecking. I come out with my coffee and I see a deck set with purple trucks ahead of me. I’m like, “Oh, man, that coffee is going to cost me.” And find out, you know, he’s with Norton and he saw the placard and like he said on your show, he got all excited. He’s like, “Oh, we’re going to, you know, work together and this and that.” And, you know, he’s got more experience than me. And usually if a guy says, “Let’s work together.” Sure. I work together. To me, it’s kind of the same time.

02:41 Sure.

02:42 But, camaraderie and, you know, I don’t want him working harder than I’m working. So, we kind of like, you know, it kind of pushes you a little bit. And great guy. We went out to eat afterwards and you know I was just getting going over here and he paid for my meal. Wouldn’t take no for an answer and solid guy. Talk every once in a while.

03:03 Yeah, I love stories like that man. That’s cool just to you know have Norton drivers out there you know creating relationships helping each other out and obviously the camaraderie that that you know comes out of that especially when you’re on the road is awesome. So so cool story and again I’m enjoying you guys battle it out. Can’t wait to see who takes the lead here towards the end of the month here. It’s going to be fun to watch.

03:25 I think he’s going to have it. I’m sleep racing, remember.

03:29 You’re close. You’re close, though. Oh, well, cool, man. Well, tell us a little bit about yourself, man. I’m interested to hear more. You know, I’ve seen you just knocking the loads out and kind of doing it quietly, which is good. I mean, sometimes no news is good news, man. You just got a guy out there that’s busting out his loads and rocking and rolling. So, you know, how did you get started decking, you know, or truck driving, you know, what’s so what’s your story?

03:54 The first time I ever saw a truck in Pennsylvania, I’m from New York if you can’t tell from my accent, but—

04:00 I can—

04:01 I went to college at 17 years of age and there was a truck stop near me and they had those pamphlets out and I don’t remember, it’s going back now probably 30 years. So, I remember looking at the dollar amount per mile and I think it was like lease purchase or owner operator and I’m thinking had no idea about the laws. I’m like, man, a dollar a mile, man, I could bang out like 900 miles in a day. I can make a grand a day. So, I was young and I come from New York, so no one in my family had a license. Only my aunt Louise was the only one who had a license. So, we didn’t even drive cars, let alone semiis. So, you know, just it kind of got me, you know, thinking about it and went back to New York and, you know, we don’t have Peterbilts long nose there chromeed out. They usually beat up trucks, you know, rusted out and so kind of forgot about it for a while. I dropped out of college, got a good offer on Wall Street. I was a clerk on the floor and actually passed my series 7 exam.

05:04 So I was white collard actually was a stock worker.

05:07 Not easy. Not easy.

05:09 So again, you know, I would go outside on my little break and I’d be staring at these Lincoln Town cars and I’m like, you know, they’re shining them up. It was like Uber XL before Uber was there. So these guys would bring around the bankers to wherever they need to go. And here I am on Wall Street, but I was looking at these guys jealous that they got brand new luxury cars, two years old and, you know, armor on them. They got fully loaded leather, moon roof, everything. And I’m like, man, I’d rather be doing what they’re doing, you know.

05:39 Yeah.

05:40 So, actually, I got into that and you know, part of the story is that kind of setup was an owner operator thing where you have, you know, you pay a small commission for the work and, you know, the car is yours, the repairs are yours. So, that kind of actually got me on the path, you know, with trucking too with the lease purchase. So I did that for a while. Unfortunately, September 11th happened. We lost accounts in the World Trade Center. So I switched over to a yellow cab. Drove a yellow cabbie and did that for a while and then I said, I don’t want to do this the rest of my life. Went in the military and got trained to be an air conditioner mechanic. And funny story is I went up to Alaska. There are no air conditioners in Alaska.

06:28 So, so they’re like, “Huh, mechanic, mechanic.” So, again, they put me on trucks, slap it in axles, and now you know with decking that he really helped me now to undeck these trucks and slap some axles.

06:43 That’s some good, you know, that’s good exposure.

06:45 Yep. And then basically that was kind of I got a little taste of the owner operator thing with the town cars. I learned how to slap in axles in the military. After that, you know, my friend’s wife came up to me and was like, “Oh, I need someone to help me run my company. You need a CDL.” And I was like, “Well, how much you make?” And she’s like, “2,000 a week.” She didn’t tell me that was her brother’s best week ever. And it was probably for eight days.

07:11 That’s how it goes.

07:12 You know—

07:14 So I got my CDL and that’s going on 12 years now. Been all around trucking since that point, like different kinds. I did drive in, I did reefer, I did flatbed. I really enjoyed the car hauling and so much so I got my own authority and I did that for a while. I really enjoyed that a lot. I just didn’t like going into residential areas and my friend who worked at another company very shortly told me I’m too old for this. I don’t know but you would be really good at this. You really know about, you know, mechanics and axles and airlines and I was like yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I just I hit like Eric Ryan. I hit that brick wall. I couldn’t afford an engine. I couldn’t afford rear ends anymore. And I said, “You know what? Let me try it.” And I bumped to bumped into a guy out on the road in South Dakota. And he’s like, he told me a little bit about his company, the one I started with. And he’s like, “Oh, I can even train you.” And they train me. And you know, I went with that company for a while.

08:15 And rates went down. And my friend actually suggested Norton in the very beginning. So that other company trained me and then I came over here.

08:26 Well, we like that story. No, how long that’s you know that’s an incredible journey to get to where you are and you know you say you know what you’re mentioning about the owner operator side is you know what I hear a lot and you know transportation wise for me driveaway has been you know the only you know side of the transportation that I’ve seen on this side of things and on that you know a lot of guys are say you know the expenses of being an owner operator and all that adds up— And of course, you still have expenses, you know, when you’re driving decks, but it’s a lot less you’re a lot less chained down to those expenses, if you will. You know, you can always decline something or it just seems like the flexibility for a lot of folks that come out of the owner operator side, they just seem to enjoy it more. Is that the case with you?

09:15 Absolutely. I have a friend of mine with the company I started with. I got to know a few guys and you know he asked me you know should I get my own authority and you know you did it and you have a good head on your shoulders and I’m like well to tell you the truth and when you have your own authority and you’re doing something specialized you can make more. Like when I hauled cars and motorcycles not too many people can haul motorcycles because you got to tie it down a certain way. Don’t scratch them. You have to have a license to do it and you know it’s you can make more money but the repairs are through the roof. That’s the problem.

09:54 We put money aside in an escrow and you can cover a rear end, you can cover brakes, tires, but when that engine goes, I had three engines go on me now all through all these years. One was during a lease purchase and two were with my own authority. And you just you can’t say for that. I mean, yeah, it’s like 20 25,000 in one shot.

10:17 I mean, it’s really a lot of money. If you want a new crate engine, we’re talking 40 grand.

10:22 Yeah. Yeah.

10:23 So, you can make more until your engine goes.

10:26 Yeah. Yeah. And it’s going to happen. But, no, and I get that. But, you know, you’ve done a good job for us and obviously, you know, from a money perspective, you know, how is decking and being, I guess, in the decking industry, not only with us, but with other companies that you’ve worked with or company that you worked with, how is the income in that space for you? Or how does that compare?

10:49 Well, tell you the truth, it’s kind of sad in a way because it’s I’m still paying bills from when I had my own authority.

10:58 Oh, wow. So, the money I’m making with you guys—

11:02 I wish I could keep it to myself, but I got to pay back people I borrowed from or some credit cards. You know, during co I had to let some of it go. But yeah, I’m making money now to pay for owner operator expenses if you could believe it. I don’t even have the business anymore. I still have the truck, but you know, I don’t even have the business and I’m still paying back on it. But I’m almost done with it. So, the money is great. You know, the other company I was with, I’m not going to mention their name. I’m very grateful for the shot they gave me and they trained me and so I had two trainers now. I had one trainer at my old company and I had James Garcia over here. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been around the block a few times, you know. So, I really look at that as a blessing that I got trained twice and now I got people like Eric Ryan, other folks that I can call if I have a question or just to confirm. I doubt something. And I’m like, man, I think that truck moved. You know, what should I check? And I just called Eric two days ago.

12:03 He was like, yo, if anything moved and you’re not comfortable, shut it down right away. Call driver services, call breakdown. Do not take a chance, you know, and you know, he I really trust him and his opinions. So, it’s great. It’s really working out well for me.

12:23 Well, that’s great. And he’s exactly right. I mean, you know, I, you know, in our industry and probably a lot of industries for that matter, but, you know, proceed with caution when safety could be an issue, safety of yourself, safety of others. So, you know, you never know what’s going on, but to have it double checked and to feel confident that that we’ve done all we can to make sure that we’re in as safe position as we can put ourselves in. So, I think that was top-notch advice from Big E there, as I know he always provides. So that’s that was awesome that he was able to help you out with that.

12:56 Yep.

12:57 So—

12:58 Actually I was able to help him out one time.

13:00 Oh, let’s hear it.

13:02 So now and that’s what I like about Eric Biggie. You know, he has more experience than me in undecking, but he always keeps his eyes and ears open. He’s never one of these pompous guys like, “Oh, I know everything.” So we both had a load out of Champlain, New York. Mine was going to Kansas City, Missouri. His going to Kansas. And he calls me up and he’s like, “Oh, I took this Chillicothe load in the meantime and you’re coming down. Want you to help me.” And I’m thinking to myself, “Is this guy being lazy?”

13:38 Is he trying to like mess me up on my reward points and get ahead of me? You don’t seem like that type of a guy.

13:45 Yeah.

13:46 And he’s like, “Man, I really need your help. I really don’t feel comfortable.” And I still don’t believe him. So I’m like, you know, I’ll think about I’ll see where I’m at. And I’m like, oh, when you do these kind of Z bars, make sure you do A, B, and C, you know. And he’s like, okay, why would you do A? As soon as he said that, I was like, I’m coming. Yeah, that’s it. You questioning something like that and you don’t know off the top of your head. I’m coming. So I went over there to Rochester, New York, and it was night time and he really hustled because he only had two hours of me. He had everything done except separating the Zbar from the truck. He had the axles in the airlines. So, he wasn’t trying to take advantage of me at all.

14:26 Yeah.

14:27 And we got under there and I struggled with the first one. I was like, “Man, it shouldn’t be this hard.” And he was about to give up. But I’m like, “Dude, don’t give up. Don’t give up. We’ll get it. We’ll get it.”

14:37 And the second one, he’s like, “Man, screw this. I’m getting out of here.” I’m like, “I’m telling you, I h I got this before and I got it easily.” I’ve done about four or five of those short little Z bars and I was like, I got it to where those straps come out easily. Just let’s give it one, you know, the second truck. Let’s give it a shot. Man, we got it perfect. They came out like butter. And I actually learned something on it. So, I’m glad I went to help him because I learned something that I could do better to make those straps come out. And now he’s more comfortable. And it’s better for the company too now because a lot of those Chillicothe loads they sit on that board for a while. Guys shy away from it. Exactly. A little difficult. Yeah.

15:18 Big guys have difficulty getting under there.

15:21 So I mean the more people that are trained on these chilicopy loads the better for the company. And if we service those accounts you know it’ll bring money to Eric’s pocket my pocket. So one you know everyone helps everyone and it’s be it’s best for the company.

15:37 Absolutely. And I love that that scenario because, you know, now you’re you might have learned the hard way, but a lot of the stuff is, you know, when you when you’re getting in it, you know, you’re going to find more efficient ways to do things the more you do certain things. And that goes along with anything that you do, especially mechanically, you know, when it’s mechanical or related. But on the back end of that, you said a great thing like you know when you and I’ve had customers say this to me and you know those of you listening customers love to say this but hey you got to take the good with the bad you know the bad with the good and vice versa. I’m like I know because it’ll be like you know they want to move this you know load from you know one place to another and nobody’s going to want it. And I know it’s going to be a shitty run or whatever, but they’re right. You know, hey, if you take care of them on those harder ones, then they’re going to give you more of the better ones. And I think that’s across the board.

16:29 So, you know, folks that are willing to train and willing to learn, you know, some of the harder Z bars and the Z bars that folks are, you know, may shy away from, it’s going to be more for everybody, more for us. So, the benefits there, just a little bit of elbow grease that that has to go in it on the front end. So, good story, man. That’s a good picture. So I guess have do you doing that have you ever you know you’re undecking? Have you ever done decking in the field like used trucks or decked them up yourself?

16:57 A funny story is James Garcia was offered that and they were you know he was thinking about doing it and I think I believe Michael was there and that’s the time that they visited the van army yard.

17:08 Yeah. Yeah. And it was like my first trip or sec— No, I think it was my second trip training with James Garcia and Michael Norton was there, but I was busy putting in lights and stuff. So, when I passed him, I didn’t get a chance to say hello. He was doing some intense business on the phone. I could tell it was like pretty intense. And I’m like, “Oh, he might be trying to get an account. I’m not going to bother him.” I just gave him the head nod. And so, we get into the office and Michael Norton leaves with Danielle. She was there. They left. So David, our terminal manager, who I tell you has really helped me out more ways than one. We go in there and he’s like, “Okay, you know, do we keep him or cut him loose? Is he good?” And James Garcia turns to David and says he should be training. And then he’s like, “What?” He’s like, “Yeah, this guy’s telling me what to do.” And I thought he was being facicious. He’s like, “No, serious.” Cuz I told James Garcia a couple things, you know, like, “Hey, man, we should put this here or that there.” And, you know, it’s just I was trained different.

18:07 So, I had like a little shortcut for something or a safety issue that I saw and I was like, “Oh, we need to do this.”

18:14 So, you know, he was offered to do this fuel decking.

18:19 And they asked him, “Who do you want with you?” And he was like, “Charlie, right here.” And they’re like, “He’s brand new. He’s in training. What do you mean?” No, he listens. He’s attentive. He’s careful. I want him with me. So, I told him, “Hey, I don’t know if I’m ready to do that yet. I got a lot of personal things going on. I’m still trying to, like I told you before, cleaning up that old,”

18:40 But it’s something I might do once I’m more relaxed.

18:43 Absolutely. Yeah, I did think about it.

18:46 Well, I the only reason I mentioned that is just because of your experience in the decking world and everything that you’ve done and, you know, just wondering if that ever crossed your mind. I know there’s a lot of money out there and we certainly have a lot of great opportunity out there. But, you know, it sounds like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. You know, once you get everything squared away, you know, with taken care of from when you had your own authority, it sounds like things are going to be, you know, financially really good for you. Is that how you feel? Do you see that?

19:13 Oh, yeah. It’s there’s extra money. So, now like I’m paying my current bills and like a lot of people, we all got screwed up on the COVID. I wasn’t at this company during that time. Time I was with another company and we were starving. I was begging for singles just to keep my cell phone on and you know I had to go on a payment plan for the cell phone and I’m grateful for that company for doing that.

19:37 Sure.

19:38 But man, I was paying the cell phone for my whole family like me and my wife. I got three kids and my mother-in-law who’s helped us out a lot. So it’s five lines. I tell you by the time I didn’t pay for three or four months they’re like don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. When that time came, my bill was $600 a month.

19:56 Oh—

19:57 And then everyone since we didn’t buy phones because we were broke, you know, it was 800 a month. We just finished paying that. So now our cars almost paid off in four months. We paid back everyone personally, you know, that lent us money. And you know—

20:13 The thing is actually when we paid them back now—

20:17 They have lost their jobs. Like people that were in a restaurant industry, they tried to hold on, you know, during COVID and finally the restaurant had to close its doors. So, they were out of a job and we’re like, “Oh, he hasn’t mind. We owe you.” And they’re like in tears. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What are you talking about? So, I owe you like you don’t know. It came at a bad time. I was like, “Well, that’s what happened with us,”

20:39 You know?” So, always try to do the right thing. You know, someone helps you out, you help them back. I mean, you know, even getting back to Eric, man, when we were first started at that one undecking when I first met him, he’s like, he looked at me square in the eyes. He’s like, “I’m not leaving till you’re leaving.” And I was like, “Really?” And I It took me a back like, “All right, help me with this or help me with that, and I have another 45 minutes of cleaning up. No, I’m staying until you are done.” And I mean that that’s great to have that kind of help and support, you know, at the company.”

21:13 Yeah. Yeah. And you and he mentioned that, you know, when he we had him on the show and he talked about, you know, making sure that he keeps that top of mind because obviously old saying, everybody knows that what goes around comes around. You can use that both ways. But I think that’s a true believer of that. If you know help out, you know, you’re going to get that in return. Not always, but I think the majority of the time karma exists and you know that when he’s in a tough spot and you can help, you know, you’re going to be there because of what he did for you. So, I love that. So you mentioned, you know, you’ve got a wife, three kids. Are you still live in New York?

21:48 No. No. I’ve between Wall Street, between the yellow taxi and getting my CDL. I did three years in the military and I joined and met my wife in Aberdeen Proving Ground during our AIT, which is right after boot camp, advanced individual training. And good woman. And I was like, you know what? I’m not going to date this woman because I’m just going to date her and, you know, we’re gonna get separated and she’s a really good woman. You know, there’s plenty of girls out there that, you know, free spirit or whatever you want to call it. But I was like, I’m going to stay off of this one. This is a good girl. So, she got her orders. She’s Mexican and, you know, hasn’t been around snow. So, they stationed her in Alaska.

22:33 Oh, wow.

22:33 So, I requested Alaska just, you know, out of coincidence and they gave it to me. They’re like, “Oh, you want to go to Alaska?” “Yeah, we’re going to send you.” So, we both got stationed in Alaska. It was different duty stations, but it was like 5 hours away. So, we, you know, we started dating. We got married. And when we got out, went back to New Jersey for a little bit of work. I worked out of Texas. I worked in California. I was a manager of a warehouse out there for a New York company. So, she’s kind of followed me around. So, kind of been all around the country. I’m now in Wisconsin, kind of close to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’m up on the west part of Wisconsin.

23:12 Yeah.

23:13 And we’re here and maybe when the kids graduate, we might move down to San Antonio.

23:20 You know, David’s down there. That’s a great guy. He’s helped me out a lot with, you know, just the phone calls like, “Hey, I have this problem. Oh, you have to do this. You have to do that.” He’s got me plane tickets. He’s got me rental cars, you know, because my dispatcher Thomas goes home, you know, at five o’clock. I’ll call him at 8, nine o’clock and he’ll get me a flight.

23:41 He’s Johnny on the spot, man. Ah, that’s great.

23:44 I love that.

23:45 He is instrumental for me being successful at Norton. I wouldn’t be in the top 10 of that rewards, that leaderboard, if it wasn’t for him, because I would be losing time. I’d be losing jobs.

23:56 Yeah. Yeah.

23:57 So, he’s really instrumental to my success here. Absolutely. Well, man, I’ll tell him you said that. Of course, I know he listens, and we’re going to have him on the show, too, just because of his knowledge of decking just in general. I think would be fascinating. But yeah, I love the area that you’re in, but I love San Antonio, too. And, you know, I was in Minneapolis. Guess it’s been about a year and a half since I’ve been there, but loved Minneapolis. I loved being in the city. I got to visit the outskirts and visited Rochester and went up north a little bit further than that and just cool to drive around Minnesota for a little bit. And then of course San Antonio weather is great with the exception of a crazy ass February that nobody’s seen in however many years. But every time I go down there, it’s always beautiful. It’s hot, you know. I love the yard. Love the area that that’s at. And you know, we usually stay downtown at the Riverwalk and eat too much food and drink too much beer and I love it. I love it down there.

24:56 But that’s the beauty of this job. So now I’m out of New York and you know, of course we have the best pizza, you know. Oh yeah, I agree.

25:03 Someone can argue, but we have the best pizza.

25:06 Love this. Yeah, I agree.

25:09 So now if I ever want pizza, I you know, if I ever want to see my daughter, she’s grown. She’s 26 years old. She’s up in Ithaca, New York. So, I can pass by with a single or if I have a rental car going to Champlain, New York, I can visit my daughter. That’s the beauty of this job. I can pick where I want to go.

25:27 Yeah.

25:27 And if I’m staying at her house, guess what? I’m not spending money on a hotel now. So now I’m actually saving money in addition to making the money. So this job is great where you could go wherever you want to go. Well, I think that’s that exactly, you know, and that that leads me to what I wanted to ask you too is, you know, it looks like from a terminal standpoint, you know, you’ve pulled out of, you know, all of our terminals and, you know, there’s not necessarily a rhyme or reason, but then when we look at the driver leaderboard, you know, you and Big E are right there on top. And for those that are listening, the leaderboard is a way for drivers to keep track of their points. And once they hit certain you know they once they hit you know certain points they start getting additional bonuses for a full quarter the next quarter.

26:15 So you know the more points that you earn the more money that you could put in your pocket for future runs up to 8 cents in addition 8 cents a mile in addition to what we’re already paying. So you know it could be pretty fruitful to be successful. But my question to you is that, you know, when I see, you know, somebody like you that’s out there that’s, you know, throwing up points, ranking high on the leaderboard, what is there a method to how you do what you do, or, you know, h what are you thinking about when you’re load planning or when you’re working with your dispatcher? You know, how do you select what you like to do and what you end up doing? I’m kind of slow and steady. I try to be really— This is a dangerous job. I mean—

27:02 Yes. No—

27:02 We have a couple of bolts holding these trucks together and you got to do your safety checks. I do not skip safety to get more money or be higher on the leaderboard. It is a serious business that we have to be safe out there. I like leaving out of Texas because it’s, you know, far, a lot of miles, and, you know, we stay at a hotel every night. We get, you know money for that. And wherever I drop, I just try to go to the closest place. So, if I’m going to the Northeast, there’s Chillicothe loads. Now, they don’t pay as much as a Texas load, but it’s quick. And a lot of them, believe it or not, get me right back to my house. So, it’s like a little triangle. And I just started in November at this company.

27:51 So, I’m not here that long. And during the month of November, my wife is like, “What are you doing here? How are you here? I don’t understand. You were just here a few days ago.” And I’m like, “Oh, well, I dropped two when I have two.” You know, so that’s it.

28:07 Or I have a single or I have a rental car going, you know, back east to Chillicothe. So, it’s I’m passing through the house. So, I really don’t need to take that much time off right now because I’m passing through the house. And, you know, we’re prior military, so we’re used to separation. So, for us, you know, if I’m gone two weeks, it’s that’s nothing.

28:30 Yeah. You know.

28:30 Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s great.

28:32 That’s all I do. I just keep going around a little triangle. I do like Champlain, New York for some reason. It’s just kind of up there. I like the colder regions. I do like snow. Just requested a Fargo the other day and in the middle of the night someone was like, “Oh, this fool wants to go to North Dakota with this negative 14.” They gave it to me right away. So, so I just kind of like bounce around and just go for whatever, you know, there just slow and steady. I don’t take that much time off. Now, Big E on the other hand, I you know, I look at him as my peer. I forget that I’m older than him, but I guess he looks at me like I’m new kid on the block. I’m coming from a different company and I am older than him and I got ahead of him on that leaderboard. He’s like, “Oh no, I can’t have this.”

29:19 So, it kind of pushed him and he had taken four weeks off. So, him and him and I are like battling it out, but he had close to four weeks off in January.

29:31 Yeah. So—

29:32 I remember that he I remember he took some time off for the holidays and then he just kind of kept out.

29:36 So, I don’t look to be number one on the leaderboard. I just, you know, it’s nice—

29:42 To see that.

29:43 It’s just nice to see. That’s a sense of pride. I thought when I came here, I thought I was slacking off. I thought I was taking too long to do these loads. And then next thing you know, I’m on that leaderboard pretty high. And I’m like, well, I guess I’m not doing that bad. And Eric, you know, he looked at me and he’s like, “Yeah, you’re doing pretty good.” You know, so yeah, I just steady, slow and steady. I look to, you know, be safe, do a good job, go home, pass through the house. That’s all it is, just working.

30:10 Well, you said some really good things there and I want to revisit them before I forget. But it you know what you said I thought was amazing because you know a lot of times you know what you know you’re trying you’re pulling a triangle you’re going here. You’re coming there coming out of there. You’re finding the load that’s closest to the load that you’re delivering. And then you know you’re spending less time in an airplane, more time picking up loads. So, this is allowing you to complete more loads even though they’re not all, you know, beautiful big paying loads. The mileage is not there on every one of them, but every other one, you know, you’re getting more miles out of. So, you’re because of you’re cutting down expenses. You’re, you know, quickly planning your next trip because you’re not having to spend a whole day flying or waiting on the, you know, an airplane every time you deliver. You’ve created an efficiency pattern within the, you know, the terminals that works for you. You get to go home.

31:06 So, I’d say you got this figured out. That’s what I would say.

31:12 I think it has to do, you know, I am a hard worker. I really I don’t slack off that much, you know, but I think and you know, Big E also here, he had his own authority and I had my own authority. So, ju I’ve listened to his podcast like five times. I mean, so much that he has said is it really hits home. You know, we work hard and just try to produce and, you know, be efficient. Don’t try not to spend too much outside. Don’t go into the truck stop, spend $30, $40. Get the cheaper hotel. If you got a cousin or a friend that lives in a certain town, you stop there. So, that’s what it’s about. Just slow and steady and just killing it, you know?

31:55 Yeah. We got I mean, it’s we’ve got to be safe. I mean, like you said, it’s, you know, the saddles that connect the frame and just how they’re held on by J-bolts and it, you know, it’s like what, you know, you’ve got to check that stuff. You got to make sure that, you know, you’re doing your pre-trips. Make sure that you’re stopping and checking everything out to make sure it’s tied because it’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous gig. Not only when you’re driving, but when you’re done driving now, you got to put take these things apart and get them ready to be presented to the customer. And, you know, it’s not an easy job and it’s not for everybody. You know, I guess take me back to when you first, you know, doing your caller stuff, you had a lot more experience than some of the guys doing different type of stuff with axles and different things, but when you first, you know, undecked training, you know, was it were you like, okay, this is not that bad, or did you say, I don’t know, this might not be for me. Or what was your thought process?

32:48 My first trainer at the other company was a rush type of guy. He showed me how you can, you know, reduce your downtime and go. But, you know, he wasn’t putting stacks on. He was making mistakes. He had, you know, slight damage. He’d open the door into the hoist, you know, and dent the door. Just things like this cuz he booked a flight. Like for instance, today I just, you know, finished my load today. I didn’t book a flight. There were a bunch of flights today. I got done undecking. I looked for flights. They’re all gone. I looked for a rental car. None available. Guess what? Getting a hotel. Yeah.

33:24 And I’m flying out tomorrow. Yeah.

33:26 But the customer got their trucks perfect. I do. I was nervous for a good six months—

33:33 Because—

33:35 You know, if you go into a dead-end street, you can’t back these things up.

33:38 No.

33:38 And then you have to have a record come out at your expense and undeck them. And then, you know, I don’t know how that would work because now you’re going to have miles on a vehicle that the customer asks, you know, to be pulled along to have zero miles on it. So, I Yeah, I was nervous for a good six months. Now, I went to a Penske place that we delivered to and they kept telling me you could deliver 24 hours. They kept, you know, insisting. I’m like, “Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.” So, I went there 7:00 at night and I started on deck and I had my flashlight with me and I’m working in the dark and the customer, you know, comes over. He’s like, “Hey, you don’t have a flashlight.” Like, I do, but I know where all the pieces are like by feel. So, I’m that comfortable now that, you know, I know how to do the job basically with my eyes closed. You still check everything obviously, you know, brake lines and stuff. This is, like I said, even on decking is serious. I mean, guys have gotten hurt. You know, James Garcia did get hurt a long time ago and he, you know, gave me that knowledge like be careful of this.

34:42 I got hurt. You know, I was in the hospital. So, it is a serious job, but you just have to be careful and, you know, just listen to other guys. Listen to their stories. You know, oh, you had a truck come away from you on the hoist. Oh, how’d you stop it? You know, why did it happen? What could I do to prevent that? So you really have to take in the experience of other drivers too.

35:06 Absolutely. Knowledge is power and you know we want you know drivers to talk to each other as much as they can about their undecking experiences because you’re right. I mean, somebody unfortunately having to learn something the hard way may save somebody else from having to go through that. And you know, that’s a great thing, you know, and I think, you know, trying to get that information out. And I like you said about Dave, like he’s I’ve got so many stories that he’s told me. I wish I could have recorded every one of them, but you know, he’s been doing this a long time. And, you know, he’s learned some things the hard way, but he’s seen a lot of people do things the wrong way and hurt themselves or somebody else. And so that knowledge to share to our drivers is, you know, there’s not a amount of money that could help with that.

35:53 I have a little story to tell you.

35:55 Please.

35:56 I really tried to get this in writing. I wish I could. So my trainer, I still talk to him from my old company. He’s a good guy. So they have a sign on bonus, which is a lot less than what we have for signon bonuses, but nevertheless, they have a sign on bonus. So the recruiter calls him and is like, “Hey, if you get anybody from Norton Transport to come over, we’ll give you another 500.” I’m like, “BS, man. Come on. They did not single us out.” He’s like, “No, no, they did.” And I spoke to my other friend who was asking about, you know, should he get his own authority? And he verified it. He’s like, “No, he’s not BSing. They actually said that.”

36:41 And they wouldn’t. It’s not a— It wasn’t a text message. I was trying to get a text message I was going to send to David, but it’s like two things I see there. Number one, they’re losing a lot of drivers to us because their rates, they’re taking advantage of the drivers—

36:55 Right?

36:56 You know, during COVID, the rates went down and they never went back up. So, number one, they’re taking advantage of drivers and we come over to Norton. We keep both for a minute, but we still have to do one load a month to be active with them. Now, the problem is that one load is500 or $600 cheaper.

37:15 Oh, wow.

37:16 So, it’s really not even worth it, you know, to do it. Cuz I can do a single over here—

37:23 And make more money than their hub loads. Hub loads are where you take a deck set and you don’t undeck it. Yeah, right. You bring it to a terminal, they undeck it. So you’re you know you have a three or four-way and it actually pays less or just about equal to our singles. So I quickly turned in my plates over there. And what I’m thinking is I think it’s not only to do with the jealousy factor. I think we have made such a name for ourself that they want Norton drivers because they know we care about our job. We do our job well. And we don’t cut corners. We don’t rush. We take our time. We do everything right. So, I think that’s why they’re offering the extra 500 because of our reputation. Really?

38:13 Absolutely. And you know, obviously I’m biased. I work here and you know, love this company, you know, and you know, it’s been such a crazy ride the last few years, you know, just you know, from where we were. We’ve been around over 20 years. Our founder and President Calvin Norton is still with us, you know, and you know, his main philosophy is, you know, listen to your drivers. He started off as a driver. He still is a driver. He goes to Chillicothe and picks up. I mean, this guy is still just driving and he’s open this, you started this company over 20 years ago. So, that that tells you something there just in itself. But he, you know, his main philosophy that he’s that he, you know, has preached is listen to your drivers. And we do that and yeah we make mistakes and I think all companies do but it’s you know how do we react to that and you know what can we learn from that and we are going to listen and we’re going to change things to make them better. Not everything’s perfect and you know I don’t know that it ever will be but you know keeping an open ear to your drivers and your employees I think is an important philosophy and I’ve heard a lot of great leaders say that and it’s true and I think that’s why we’ve been able to be successful is because we listen and here we are you know and like you said people are wanting you guys because you guys are out there doing such a fantastic job and it’s not easy work so the people that can do it great what company wouldn’t want to have them right—

39:33 Right yeah I even see a lot of union drivers trying to recruit us, too. They’re like, “Man, you really do a good job. You know, you don’t want to consider working for us.” I’m like, “No, I’m good. I get paid very well.”

39:46 Yeah. Yep. Yep.

39:47 And you know, just something else to touch on, too. Those, you know, we I talk about the Chillicothe loads, you know, that they’re a little bit cheaper, but like you said, you can bang them out quick, reduce your down time, but also there are incentives. If that load stays there for too long, I was offered, you know, another $200 on the load. And I was like, “Wow, that really brings it higher than any other, you know, per mile than any other load.”

40:17 Yeah.

40:17 But and you know, I try to look out for the company, too, because they’re doing me a favor. So now I was able to get a rental for $40 at time. So the travel expense with the, you know, gasoline might have been like $65. And you know, so you know, one hand washes the other. You know, you look out for us and we look out for you, too.

40:37 Yeah. Yeah. We got to deliver trucks. You know, customers, you know, they don’t give a where it’s picking up or how long the route is. They just want their trucks. So, you know, we got to figure out how to do that, you know, and a lot of times if it’s old like that or if it’s sitting there, then we know, hell yeah, nobody wants this load. But that don’t mean we don’t have to move it cuz whoever’s trucks that are, they don’t give a how long the load is. They just want their trucks. So that’s always a tough balance to have. But so you’re in Would you say you’re in Kansas City? Did you say that?

41:08 I’m in I’m in Kansas City and this is what we us we say homeless. Delivered the load. I do have a plane right now scheduled for tomorrow. But before when I spoke to you earlier today, I didn’t have a rental. I didn’t have a plane ticket. But that that’s on me because I don’t like to be rushed.

41:26 You did it right. I like to do my job and make sure everything gets signed. You know what if the customer like yesterday for instance, customer was like, “Oh, this airbag doesn’t look like it inflated.” I was like, “Well, that’s probably when the wrecker lifted it up from the rear. It kind of just folded over on itself when it came back down.” I was like, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it for you.” So, that was, you know, another 10 minutes that I took to give the customer their truck and, you know, how they wanted it. But what if I had something scheduled now? I’d be like, you know, under the gun to try to make that plane or something. I don’t like that stress. I do this job stress free. And that’s that is a big key, too. It’s I’m just chilling here, hanging out.

42:10 Well, yeah, you’re right. That does that that does, you know, force you to cut corners because you know, you’ve got a plane or you’ve got pre-existing things that you’ve got that you’ve committed to and you know, it’s going to force you into a situation where you may not be completely done, but you have to be or you have to cut a corner here and it’s going to cost you because that stuff’s going to add up and you know it’s not winning. You know, complete it out, look good, look good for the customer. Everybody wins. Everybody wins. Exactly.

42:41 Well, cool. So, so any dinner plans for tonight? Do you I mean, Kansas City, I love Kansas City. I’m going to talk about Kansas City. So many places I would go. Any plans? Are you going to save a little money and do something quick and easy or you going to go, you know, relax and get something that’s going to make you slower tomorrow?

43:01 My plan today is to get laundry done.

43:05 That’s a good plan. I just kind of got screwed up on so many of these hotels not having guest laundry and you know it’s just one of those things, you know, it’s that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to do some paperwork and do laundry and I’ll probably just get something quick to eat.

43:21 Yeah. Get some R&R. Get something quick. Get some laundry done. I like it. Fresh get some fresh clothes. I guess you know that’s something too to talk about when you’re talking about being on the road for so long. Like undecking can be a dirty job. So, you know, for guys that are listening out there that are either singles drivers or they’re thinking about being a deck driver, you know, what’s some strategy that you have? You know, you want to get, you know, just how do you make sure you stay fresh?

43:50 Well, that’s one thing why I like Norton because this company allows us to rent cars. So, if you know I don’t feel fresh, I don’t want to get on a plane. So, if I’m taking a plane, normally I get a hotel room to take a shower, get rid of the grease, and do laundry, but I’m spending this extra day at the hotel. Normally, what I try to do is, you know, just quickly wash up wherever I’m delivering, if they allow us to use the restrooms now because of COVID. That’s another—

44:21 Big thing. Yeah.

44:23 And just, you know, be presentable enough to walk into a car rental place, deal with someone for five minutes, then you have that rental car. Now you can go anywhere. You go to truck stop to take a shower.

44:34 Yeah. You got the flexibility now.

44:37 Yep. So that’s what I like about Norton is that we’re given the option to travel like, you know, take a rental car, have someone give you a ride. My wife has given me rides in the Minneapolis area. I’m like, “Oh, there’s a load over here. You know, just pick me up and drop me off. It’s 40 miles. I’ll take her out to dinner or lunch or whatever it is.” Yeah—

44:58 She sees me and keep the expense down. Keep the expense down for Norton.

45:02 Hell yeah.

45:04 Also, if we keep the expenses down when we can—

45:08 You know, our pay is not going to be decreased because we’re being productive at a, you know, a cheaper amount. So, they’re going to keep paying us as long as we keep doing a good job.

45:18 Yeah, that’s efficiency. You know, we, you know, you have to, as a company, you have to be able to invest resources and money, you know, back into your company to grow, you know, to get to where, you know, you need to be and to be successful. And if you’re if you don’t take care of that and if you lose sight of that, you know, take care of your drivers, but don’t lose sight of and there’s a balance, you know, don’t lose sight of making sure you’re investing back into your business, otherwise, you know, you won’t be successful. So feel like we’ve done a really good job of that and we think about that a lot and there’s you know a lot of planning that goes into that. So it’s great that you notice. So you know what else we got? So future plans. Let’s talk long term. How long do you expect to do a job like this and to be into this space?

46:07 H man I really enjoy this job. I don’t think I’m going back to my own authority. You know, we know how to do it. Like me, me and Big E, we know how to have our own authority, but I just don’t think we’re gonna do it. I’m pretty much gonna stay doing this. And also, you know, you guys have taught us certain things like fuel decking. Not myself, but other drivers. You are actually training them where they could actually be your competition one day. They could go out on their own and do field decking. So you’re, you know, the company does take a little bit of a risk by showing them the skills in order to do it, but you won’t have the backing of Norton. Like if you need something, Norton’s there. They pay for the saddle.

46:52 Well, they lease you the saddles. So like you give us the equipment if we want to go and do field decking. So it just it doesn’t pay to really go back on your own. So I think I’m going to be here for the long haul. I don’t see anything happening. If I feel lazy or I get too tired on the load—

47:12 I just take a single from Norton. It pays pretty well and that’s my way to relax. I took a single to Portland, Oregon, close from my house two weeks ago.

47:22 Oh, cool.

47:23 So, yeah, if I’m lazy or I feel tired, you have that option.

47:28 Yeah, that’s awesome.

47:29 Well, all right. So, let’s say this then. So that being said, those that that may be listening that are not deck drivers, is there any advice or advantage that you would give them to as they’re thinking about because the loads are there, right? We could we can take as you know, there’s plenty of meat out there to have everybody be successful. So, you know, is there any advice or guidance that that you would give them if they’re thinking about, you know, jumping into decking or wanting to be trained as a deck driver? The only thing I really comes to mind again is that safety issue. I’ve heard of guys, you know, is highly illegal and very dangerous. They will do safety checks on the go. They will put in their little computer, their tablet that they stopped and checked that load, but they’ll keep driving. Do not cut corners like that. That this is very serious. You really need to check that load. That is the most important thing that I could tell anyone.

48:33 Definitely do not cut corners with those safety checks. Make sure it’s, you know, nice and tight. Nothing moved. The money is here. You have to work a little bit, but it’s like anything else. You get used to it and it’s just like second nature now.

48:47 Yeah, that’s good advice. That’s great advice. You’re absolutely right. Don’t come into this expecting to cut corners because that could result in serious injury of yourself, somebody else, or even death or even multiple things. So, it’s very serious business and it’s very serious business undecking. So, I thank you for sharing that and I’m sure our safety department will love to hear you say that as well. So, thank you.

49:13 Sure they would.

49:14 But well, awesome. Well, you know, when you’ve been you’ve lived in Alaska, you know, you’ve been stationed in Alaska for the military. You’ve driven out of every terminal that I can see. You had your own authority. You’ve seen the United States, obviously. Well, where is your favorite place to visit?

49:33 Oh, Alaska. I haven’t been there for a while, but Alaska, it’s just beautiful. And I do like the cold regions. I like Wisconsin.

49:42 I don’t hear that a lot, by the way. It’s a rural area and just people are nice. You meet country boys like Big E and you know just guys down to earth. It’s really great to be in a rural area and we love winter activities. The boys they play hockey so you know it’s a lot of fun. I like it.

50:03 That’s awesome. Have you ever driven to Alaska from you know from somewhere?

50:10 Oh yes. So I was ETSs end of term of service for my military contract. Yeah.

50:17 I finished before my wife did.

50:19 And so there was six months I was just the military spouse. I was, you know, on base with her while she was still enlisted. So I was just bored. So I would go down to the east coast and buy old Subaru cars, fix them up a little bit, and I’d drive them up to Alaska and sell them. And they went for a premium up there. Damn. It’s either—

50:41 You have to have either a pickup truck or an all-wheel drive car. So, if you know you were short and, you know, feminine and didn’t want a truck, you got a Subaru.

50:50 You got a Subaru.

50:51 I have a Subaru right now.

50:53 So, that was I did that about 15 times. It wasn’t enough.

50:59 Wow.

50:59 Wasn’t enough to live on, but it was a paid vacation.

51:03 Sure.

51:04 And I did it with my wife a few times. We went up with two cars and you know it was great. It was a good time going back and forth. But hey, I’m going to get my passport here pretty soon. Do some kind of little—

51:16 Yeah. Say we’ve got another terminal there that they that you can take advantage of. We did have a few, you know, and it’s few and far between because of the cost, but you know, we’ve had a few loads that that were delivered to Alaska and I don’t know that we’ve ever picked any up, but you know, hearing the stories about the drive is crazy and, you know, just in general about some of these little towns that you stop by and talk to some of the locals throughout Canada. It’s just a crazy experience. I’d love to do it if I ever had the chance because I would enjoy the scenery, the pictures that I’ve seen, you know, that would probably be pretty cool, too.

51:53 Yeah, it’s beautiful. The whole trip up there, people are friendly and you get to, you know, we have our little spots where we stop at, you know, like town 101 is actually the 101 mile marker on the Alcan Highway. There’s Watson Lake and every time we go there, you know, we look at all the license plates that are on this, you know, on this pole really. So, there’s always like these little spots we stop at. It’s changed. It used to be a rough road, but now, you know, you can get fuel every 100 miles. It’s not like every 200 like it used to be. So, yeah, you can go up there now. It’s not as bad as it used to be. It’s really nice.

52:34 That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Well, I like to talk a little bit about at the end of this or, you know, obviously if you have anything to share, please feel free. So, but one of my favorite things to ask is, is there one place, you know, anywhere that you would like to recommend to drivers, to anybody listening, your favorite place to eat? And if you and you could say New York, a place in New York for pizza, I know that’s probably where you’re going to go. But if there’s any if you’re any if there is that, put that thread in there. But is there any other place that you would recommend where drivers are on the road and you know close to terminals that they pick up and deliver at or anywhere that you could think of that you like to visit?

53:17 I do have one place in mind, but before I say it, obviously anywhere in the East Coast, you get Italian, you get pizza, you have to do that. The bagels and cream cheese in the Northeast. Out in the Midwest, Waffle House because Waffle House cooks everything fresh for you right there. It’s not frozen or it’s really, you know, good food and it’s cheap.

53:39 Yeah, I love—

53:40 One place and I’m surprised Big E didn’t say it. This is where he took me. I kept suggesting it and he’s like, “Man, that’s the third time you mention this town. We better stop there.” So, it’s halfway between Dodge Center where we make a lot of deliveries. Yeah. And the Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul.

53:57 Okay.

53:58 On route 52, there’s a little town called Cannon Falls.

54:03 There is a Mexican restaurant there, and it is really good food, and it’s humongous. They actually I had the fajitas, which is the combo, the steak, the chicken, and the shrimp. So, it was so much food. I’m looking at Big E and I’m like, “This is ridiculous. This is no way.” So, I’m looking at the menu and it was fajitas for two. And I’m like, they probably gave me fajitas for two.

54:28 I bet they did.

54:30 And yeah, you know, like, well, we’ll see when the bill comes. Nope. Single serving.

54:35 Oh, wow.

54:36 And I we could not finish it at all. So, it was crazy good. I think it’s called Rancho.

54:44 I’m looking it up. Rancho Loco Grill and Bar Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Damn it. I got a visit there. I’ve made the drive from Rochester into Minneapolis, you know, a few times. And next time I do that, I know exactly where I’m going. And it looks like it’s closer to Minne Yeah, it’s closer to Minneapolis than it is Rochester. Is that right?

55:10 Yeah, that’s— Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. And the town is good. They have a Speedway truck stop. You can stop at a big empty parking lot if you want to eat a McDonald’s. But with that Mexican restaurant there, you don’t want to eat at McDonald’s.

55:22 Yeah. No, no, that’s awesome. Rancho Loco. Awesome, man. Thank you so much. I love sharing places like that, especially places that, you know, that’s an area that I’m familiar with, so I can’t wait to go. Well, man, that’s it for me. Anything? You know, I’ve enjoyed this. I love hearing about what you do, how you do it, how you’ve been successful. It’s been fantastic. I can’t thank you enough. But anything else you’d like to share before we jump off? So this is great that you’re doing this podcast and I really enjoy listening to them. You know, it’s just interesting to hear people’s, you know, success stories also where they made mistakes in life too and you can learn from it. So just hearing people’s stories from all different walks of life. I did it like kind of one-on-one in the yellow cab. So I really enjoy listening to them.

56:10 Well, man, that’s great. That’s great to hear. And you’re right. Yeah, you know, we have so many different types of people in the industry and I hate the typical stereotype of not just truck driver but driveaway driver and you know you hear that and you know within our community and it’s just like come on you know so I’m hoping that you know obviously driveaway space listens but you know now we’re getting out there we’re sharing different people’s backgrounds different ethnicities female male you know it’s just so Cool to hear all the different types of folks that are in our industry, what their background is, you know, what they like, how much money they make, what they don’t like. Everybody’s, you know, different. We’re individuals, so there’s no need to stereotype not only truck drivers, but driveaway drivers, right?

56:58 That’s right.

56:59 Oh, so cool. Cool, man. Well, I appreciate it. I’ve enjoyed it. You know, we’re going to keep this going for as long as Michael Norton will let me. So, hopefully we’ll have you on again soon. So, awesome, man. Well, thank you so much. Hope you have a good night in Kansas City and enjoy your flight to Dallas tomorrow.

57:16 All right, take care, Justin.

57:17 Thanks, buddy.

57:19 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.