00:05 We’re all out here. We’re together. We’re going through these same things and experiences. And maybe you might not have went through that experience before. And if I can be a light or a guide, and just be here to help any way that I can, I will because the dream work makes the team work. And I think I tell Kelsey that every week. Yes, he does.

00:27 Welcome to Six-Figure Trucker, the podcast where we share advice on how to be successful in trucking and have fun while doing so. We’ll share stories, news, and advice on how to earn six figures in trucking, and we’ll speak to guys and gals that are already doing so. Let’s get to the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. This is a format where we elevate and celebrate the drivers that make our company what it is and of course make the industry what it is. And we’ve got a very special guest who’s joining us now, Raphael Hempstead. And before Raphael gets rolling here, we’ve also got Kelsey Camp is joining us here on the show with she’s going to interact with Raphael. So Raphael, great to see you. How are you?

01:14 Hey, how’s it going? I am doing so great, John. How are you doing?

01:19 I’m doing well. If I were doing any better, I’d have to sit on my hands to keep from clapping.

01:24 How are you, Kelsey?

01:25 I’m doing all right today.

01:26 Now, actually, Raphael, just a little bit of background here. It was Kelsey who suggested you be on the show with us because she said you’re such a good driver and a very interesting person. So, I’ll let you give your kudos to Kelsey.

01:40 Oh my gosh. Kelsey, honestly, that just means so much to me. I won’t even lie to you. I tell you the day that I met you and you hit became my dispatcher, I was like, “Oh, no.” This is one of those things, right? You know, especially like when you’ve been at trucking companies and you meet your dispatcher for the first time or you have to deal with them. It’s kind of like one of those things like, “Oh no, like I’m really not ready for this.” But it was the exact opposite. And I just fell in love with you as a dispatcher, honestly. And really as a person because Kelsey’s just really kindhearted and warm. She’s still stern. That that’s for sure. But, you’ve just been a great light for me since I’ve joined with Norton a year ago.

02:32 Well, I appreciate you too, Raphael. You’re one of my best drivers that I have and you always listen and I have to be stern but not too much cuz you do what you’re supposed to and you do what you’re told and you’re a really good driver for us so I really appreciate you as well.

02:47 Oh, thank you so much. It means a lot to be spotlighted.

02:51 I can back up what Kelsey said because there have been other drivers we have asked Kelsey to join in on the podcast with and Raphael, for what it’s worth, you’re the only ones she would do it.

03:03 Yeah. You’re the only one that I would do the podcast with. That’s what I told John.

03:07 Well, well, that’s good. That makes me feel somewhat special.

03:12 Let’s start right there about the relationship. We talk a lot about relationships between dispatchers and drivers, but now that we have both of you guys on the air, how would you describe it? Is it like a marriage? Is it brother sister? Friend to friend? How would you describe it, Raphael?

03:28 You know what, John? I would like to say that it’s fits a little bit of everything. When you explain the marriage, I could say that it’s like that aspect. The only thing is is we’re not nagging at each other.

03:42 Very true. We don’t— It’s my friend relationship, but it can be like I’m his work wife as well.

03:48 How would you describe it, Kelsey?

03:50 It’s really personal. Me and him have personal conversations. We also have work conversations, but he’s really easy to get along with and he’s really easy to work with and he also listens very well, but he also gives me like tips and stuff that I can call him and ask him a tip for one of my other drivers and he can usually help me out.

04:11 Talk about that, Raphael. The network, not only between you and Kelsey, but you and other drivers and how dispatch all kind of brings it all together. I have a phenomenal network of drivers that I associate myself with, John. All of them have just been a lovely light to this segment of my career rendition, I like to call it. And we just all been along. We you know what I find that because I like to make money and I like to work hard, I usually attract those other people who like to make money and work hard as well. And then just the whole combination relationship thing between us and the dispatchers. I honestly think that there’s just something that’s held special between us sometimes. And like Kelsey had said, you know, when you’re a driver who proceeds with all the right safety measures, and who’s just safe and always, courteous and just real responsible and respectful and professional of all things.

05:21 It just makes the relationship even better because there’s so many steps that you get to take out of that whole what would it be like management thing to staff thing because when you have drivers who can come together as a community and help and respect each other, right? Essentially, your job is kind of done as a dispatcher. Your job is done as anyone who works in any of the offices at Norton, correct? Or like any other company. And I just feel that that that’s all fundamental to bringing those relationships together and for them to become like the bond that me and Kelsey have found.

06:02 The relation relationships with drivers help a lot cuz if you’re stuck somewhere, you can call another driver and help you out. Raphael is actually running with another one of our drivers right now and he’s helping him because he’s newer to our company and he’s actually going to pick up another truck with Raphael on Monday that’s his first CNG truck and Raphael’s going to help him like teach him the ropes and show him how to find stations and all that stuff and he kind of just ran into him but now they’re running together and the same driver that he’s running with actually saved one of my drivers up in Pennsylvania because he was stranded for like 7 hours and he came and picked him up and took him to the next pickup location cuz I couldn’t get him out. So, it kind of helps a lot having relationships with your dispatchers and with your drivers because it makes it just easier the job easier and travel easier and sometimes it helps you on the loads as well.

06:55 It’s like pieces of a puzzle coming together.

06:57 Oh, most definitely. And I’ll tell you, John, I could not ask for anything any better or different or to change the situation. There’s been times that some of the guys over there at the office would call me and be like, “Raphael, like you applied for this other job. You’re not leaving, are you?” And you know, I have to tell them like, “No, I’m not leaving.” But honestly, John and Kelsey, Norton has my heart and it will forever have my heart. It’s a company that I take up for online and in various different instances because, you know, it a job is what you make it, right? A career is what you make it and a company is what you make it. And not everyone is going to have those same experiences at all. And for me it’s just really been a big like a good experience. Everything positive has happened for me since I’ve come to Norton and I honestly would never change it.

08:04 Gotcha. Well, Raphael, I wanted to ask you this. I mean, Kelsey had mentioned before we got on the air here that you were a hard worker and that you really like to run. So, where are you now? And, I know you’re headed west at this moment. Are you down for the night?

08:20 I’m not down for the night, John. I got a couple of more hours left in me. We’ll end up in Tim Car I can never say that name, right? New Mexico, but every everyone knows that town. Little small desert town when you get in to New Mexico. Coming from Texas. But right now I’m in a little town called Herald, Texas, right off of the 287 going northwestbound. Talk about what Kelsey was mentioning about the kind of the hard work ethic that you have. Where did that come from?

08:55 Well, John, oh, we’re going to open up a Campbell right about now or shall I say light one up. Not in a bad way, but hard work ethic. I’m going to tell you this. I’m 30 years old now. I’m not old. I’m not young, but I’m still kind of young. And I was raised by my grandmother. Okay. Being raised by my grandmother and at the time when I was eight years old, she was in her 60s7s. Literally, that woman went to work day in and day out because she had to make sure her baby, which was me, had everything that he needed and could have wanted. And just watching her go to work six, seven days a week was a really big thing for me. And I felt like that set me up in life to be better or to be great. And not even just my grandmother, John. I mean, watching my dad go work at a steel mill every single day to make sure he can put me through daycare and school and things of that nature.

10:01 It just really taught me that, okay, I want to be like that. I want to work, you know, I want to be able to afford things in life. I want to be able to live a good life. And you know, you get what you put in right—

10:15 Now. Those experiences that you came up with. Does that kind of factor over or blend over, we should say, into helping others? Like Kelsey was laying out that story, how you’re helping the new driver, showing him the ropes.

10:28 Honestly, yes, it does. I come from a family where no matter what we have or don’t have, we’re always going to help someone even if we’re less fortunate at that time because it’s when you go I’m not going to gather too much into religion. But when you just think about how religious my family is we just think that what you put in is what you get back, right? So yeah, that definitely segus into the whole part about helping other drivers. I mean, because who else is going to do it? You know, we’re all out here. We’re together. We’re going through these same things and experiences. And maybe you might not have went through that experience before. And if I can be a light or a guide, and just be here to help any way that I can, I will because the dream work makes the team work. And I think I tell Kelsey that every week.

11:23 Yes, he does. Every week and he’s very good about helping anybody out if he can. I try and help him as much as I can and sometimes he even helps me as a dispatcher. I’ve learned new things from him every week.

11:35 What are some examples that you’ve learned from him throughout the weeks?

11:39 He explain he tells me all about his CNG stations. He’s really thorough in it. He has multiple apps that he uses. He even like has he keeps his computer with him and he’ll spreadsheet like everything out before he even starts the run. He also gives me like tips about like little gas stations in the middle of nowhere where you can get cheaper gas or like he also uses like he uses a I think it’s Frontier if I’m right, Raphael. And he keep he gathers points and he can get cheap flights. He tells me about that or he’ll like sign up for different gas stations points and he gets cheaper gas that way. He gives me tips about that for like certain drivers or if he’s or he’ll tell me, “Hey, there’s a station and it’s not working anymore. You might want to tell your any drivers that are going my way.” And he kind of helps me that every week. There’s other options. I can’t really think of any more right now, but he like teaches me something every week, every time we talk.

12:39 That’s too cool, Raphael. We appreciate you sharing that wealth of knowledge. Like Kelsey was laying out there. It certainly makes a difference saving a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter everywhere you can.

12:50 It does, John. And honestly, every day you might see people go out there and they’ll just pass up a driver or they’ll just ignore a driver and then that driver just gets to the point they where they feel like they’re not heard or seen. And I know our dispatchers at Norton do like such a beautiful job at doing whatever they can to take care of us. And sometimes I know that they’re really busy. So driver, I tell drivers, if your dispatch are busy, just reach out to me. It’s okay. Like the communication is going to be good throughout because I’ll even communicate back to Kelsey. She’ll communicate back to their teams and, you know, and things of that nature. Just in case that person couldn’t get to the phone to get back to them in time and everything just works out. I it’s just beautiful. It goes back to that thing that we were talking about having a community. This is not a driverless community. And even for the people in office, it’s not a driverless community. It’s a driven community.

13:49 You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. We got Raphael Hempstead on the line with us and his dispatcher Kelsey Camp was kind enough to sit in with us after hours. Taking a little time out of herself. That’s how much Raphael means to her. And we were talking about the relationship between dispatcher and driver and drivers to driver. What about person to person, Kelsey?

14:12 I mean, person to person, he’s always he I mean, I’ve met him three or four times. Every time he comes in the office, he’s always nice. He’s always presentable. He always shows off Norton as well. He wears N he tries to wear Norton gear every time he goes anywhere. And just people to people. Raphael would be a friend to me out in the real world if I met him. He’s one of the most one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And I think he makes this job. It shows this job is even better. And it shows that great people we find everywhere, right?

14:46 And it brings everybody together. Even at a job, it brings you friends and you find people all over the world. Raphael, what was it like for you dropping into the office three, four times?

14:58 Oh man, it’s a lovely experience. I get a little jealous. I’m not going to lie. I sometimes I want to be like, Kelsey, save me a plate for next week or two weeks from now, if that could be even possible. Cuz food goes bad. But at the office, you know, it’s the community. It’s the opening. It’s the openness and just the vibe that they have going there. There’s not one time I’ve went to the office and I’ve been upset. Even when I first started and I had went to the office because I had kind of did something wrong, but it wasn’t a bad thing that I did it wrong. It was a learning experience because I had to kind of like translate I had to like reposition my thinking and the way that I did logs from when I went from freight trucking now to driveaway trucking. And even during that time when it was audit that I had went through it was still pleasant. I wasn’t upset or angry about anything. Everyone in the office is just so pleasant.

16:00 I love going to the office. Every time I get the chance to stop through Chattanooga or somewhere in that area of Georgia, I will stop through Ringgold and come into the office and say hi.

16:13 I know. We’re glad to see you and I’m sure Kelsey is too. And she was sharing some things with me with about you and we’re going to get into that. I mean because we understand you’re a very interesting guy and we’ve just been talking to Raphael the truck driver, the one of six children, a great guy all the way around, friend to all, one who will lend a hand to another driver. We’ve heard a lot about that, but wait until next week and what you hear about Raphael. But before we close up this week, I want to leave it open to Kelsey and Raphael. You’ve said a lot about each other, what you mean to each other. How do you see the future between the two of you?

16:53 The future is all up from here. Me and Raphael are on the road and we’re going to do as much as we can and get him as much and the most success we can. We’re a team and we will we only have up from here. There’s no going down. Right, Raphael?

17:12 Right, right, right. That’s true. I cannot disagree with you ever on that on those statement fragments. Literally, it’s a combination that worked. I know a lot of combinations don’t work between driver and dispatcher, but that’s why you just keep changing and you figure out, you know, and you get to the person that you actually should be with. But it’s been good since day one. It’s solid now. Great communication and I think it’s just it’s a duo that’ll never stop. Raphael Hempstead, thank you so much for joining us in week one on the podcast. And speaking of podcasts, a little birdie told me you know a few things about podcasts.

17:57 Yes. So, we’ll get into that in week two. So, Raphael, thank you so much for joining us and be careful on the rest of your journey out to New Mexico this evening and we’ll catch up with you for week two. All right, John, you folks just thank you so much for having me this time.

18:18 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.