00:06 It’s great to see women drivers out there. You know, men don’t like us like that, but we don’t care cuz anything y’all can do, we do it, too. And we do it better. I don’t think they like that.

00:22 Welcome to Six-Figure Trucker, the podcast where we share advice on how to be successful in trucking and have fun while doing so. We’ll share stories, news, and advice on how to earn six figures in trucking, and we’ll speak to guys and gals that are already doing so. Let’s get to the show.

00:45 Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport where every week in this space you guys that have listened to us you know it’s where we elevate and celebrate the driver. They make our company what it is. They make this country go round and round. They make our company succeed and without them I mean they truly are the backbone of our company. And we have a very very special guest with us tonight. We’re very glad to have her on. Erica Austin and she joins us now from the road. Erica, where are you?

01:13 I’m actually in Memphis, Tennessee.

01:16 How are you?

01:17 I am great. Thanks for asking. How are you?

01:20 I’m doing well. I feel even better talking to you. You’ve already lifted my spirit from our conversation before we started recording and just you’re an infectious kind of person and we like that about you.

01:32 Oh, well, thank you so much. Now, I have to go ahead and confess upfront, a lot of times the drivers that appear here on the podcast, the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport are recommended by our dispatchers because the dispatchers, you know, they have interactions every day, every hour. They interact with the drivers on the phone with them all the time, helping them piece their loads together and make their days better and help them through problems and such. But you are an exception. You were not recommended by a dispatcher, but you were recommended by Brent Parker, who is a yard manager and internal driver, communicator with our drivers that drive garbage trucks. He kind of shows them the ropes as far as some of the ins and outs, more technical things on the garbage truck. And he came to me today and he said, “You really need to talk to Erica Austin.” And, I went with that and followed up with it. And tell us about your meeting today with Brent Parker.

02:31 Well, let me just say this. I think Brent is a great guy. He and I we did a ride along and even though it was a short time spent, I feel like I’ve known Brent forever. And again, I can’t express you. He’s a really, really great guy. And I feel like he would be great. He’s a great asset to Norton. You know, the drivers if they ever connect with him, need anything. I just think Brent’s an awesome guy. I really do.

03:00 We feel the same way about Brent—

03:01 And I’m so honored. I’m so honored that he thought enough of me to share me with you.

03:08 Well, we’re honored to have you on here and I think this is going to be a great episode with Erica Austin here on the Six-Figure Trucker. Tell us a little bit about what that ride along was like and that sent you on to a load. Is that right?

03:23 It did. I actually drove from Fort Payne to Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio to be o be exact. Well, what we did is we went around a couple of blocks and after that it just wasn’t just a ride along. He actually followed me 43 miles away to drop off my rental car. And I think from the time, let me say this, from the time that he and I encountered each other, it was just dead on from that, you know, like we just connected so much, unbeknownst to me, that we will be riding in a car sharing stories, just life experiences. And like I said, he was very open and of course I’m I’ve always been that type of person and I feel like in life if you share with people you don’t even know who hearts you’re touching and you could be an inspiration.

04:16 So I’ve always told people there is absolutely no testimony without a test. So it was just great riding with him and I we actually exchanged numbers and I told them I was like hey call me sometime and I’ll call you know just to say hi. How are you today? Again, I think Brent’s a really great guy and I think he’ll be great with the drivers. Any driver that encounters him, I’m sure they’re they got to love him.

04:40 And you guys see things just who he is.

04:42 You guys obviously hit it off from the get-go.

04:45 I’m talking about from the jump. He pulled up. He was like, “Erica.” And I was like, “Yes.” He was like, ” dang. You almost beat me here almost, but okay, Mr. Parker.” And it just kind of went from there. Like honestly like the chemistry was just there and again I just think he’s a great guy and oh my god I probably can already write a book about him.

05:10 That’s amazing. You obviously have the personality where people open up to you, you open up to them.

05:15 I do. I feel like God has just been so amazing in my life for 50 years. And I think people really need to hear about things like that. You know, people are put in your lives for various reasons. Reasons sometimes, many times unknown to us why they are placed in your life.

05:34 Absolutely. And I tell people that all the time. And I feel like it’s by design. I do not believe in coincidences. I don’t believe in oh, I ran into you on accident or it was by chance. It’s by God’s design. The reason is always unknown. But you’re not there just because. Anything anybody you encounter in life, you better know it’s by design. And I tell people, take nothing for granted. And always look for God because there’s a message. It’s something either it’s something for you or it’s something he needs you to do. Either or. It’s totally by God’s design. That’s just my belief.

06:13 That’s some wise words right there. Those are some wise words. How did that after the ride along in the garbage truck, these are big garbage trucks. After the ride along, how did your transport go to Cleveland? How was it?

06:24 Smooth. Of course, I don’t know if the drivers know this or not, but it’s always better to drive the garbage trucks at 55. I know they’ll give you 65 on the dash, but 55 is very efficient on gas. It’s not such a bad ride. You know, the garbage trucks are very huge, so they’re bumpy. We got all this construction and stuff going on. Even if it’s not construction, but the construction just really doesn’t help. So, if you ride them at 55, you’ll do great.

06:54 I mean, when you think about it, a lot of them are governed down to 62, but you might be able to squeeze 65 out of them, but in the grand scheme of things, just those few miles, I mean, you’re going to get there what, 10, 20 minutes later, but a lot easier, a lot better, a lot smoother transport.

07:12 Yes, you’re not. Again, they’re going to be bumpy. It’s just a given. They’re garbage trucks. But if you keep them go, if you just put them at 55, just set the cruise control. Don’t try to control it with your feet. But if you keep them at 55, the ride is going to be so so much better. And not only that, the gas you don’t those trucks are so heavy. Like hitting them at 65, you’re going to burn so much in fuel. And it just it’s a whole lot better. I promise you. That wasn’t my first time driving a garbage truck. Let me tell you that. I’ve driven many of them, but it’s been a while since I had driven one. And that was the reason for the ride alone. Again, Norton might think they’re doing something great by having Brent there, but I promise you it was God. He is right where God would have him to be. That’s just me.

08:04 And what are you driving now? You’re in Memphis. You’re at a truck stop, right? I think we just talked. You were at a truck stop getting refreshed. Yes, I’m actually driving a Peterbilt, a day cab, and it’s been great as well. I drive a lot of these, too.

08:19 Drivers tell me that Peterbilts are kind of the Cadillac of the trucks out there.

08:24 And they are I was just about to tell you that, too. But let me tell you now, it’s kind of a toss right now because they’ve come out with the new I believe it’s the International or was it a Kenworth? It was a Kenworth that I drove last week. Actually took it to the dealer and I am telling you I it’s kind of like a toss up right now, you know, with the newer things that they’re doing with these trucks. And I’m seeing the grill on this truck, not this one, the one that I drove last week. Oh my god, it’s amazing. It’s like no other. I’m so serious. So, it’s kind of like a toss up. And it drives so smooth. Like it’s almost— You don’t even almost know you’re driving a truck.

09:04 That’s sweet. That’s sweet. That’s got to be a nice feeling.

09:07 That’s— And they both do great on fuel.

09:10 That’s good. What do you get? What’s— What do you usually get on a in a Peterbilt?

09:14 Actually, this one is giving 15.9. And that’s kind of unusual. But now, let me say this about this one. This is not a newer model either. This is a older model, but oh my god, you wouldn’t know the difference in driving. This is a 2018 that I’m actually driving today, but it’s no different than the 24s, and I’m so serious. A 23. Like, it’s just it’s awesome. I couldn’t believe it. I was like oh my god. I almost don’t want to drop it off in the morning, but I know I have to. I won’t have a job come Monday.

09:50 That’s too funny.

09:51 I am serious. It’s great.

09:53 If you’re getting that kind of mileage, I understand why you don’t want to let go of it. I mean, because that’s great.

09:58 I’m telling you. Yeah, it is. It’s really a great truck and whoever is getting it, they’re going to be like, “Yay!”

10:04 So, it’s a smooth truck you got. Now, where are you dropping?

10:07 I’m actually dropping here in Memphis. This truck also came from Ohio. I dropped off in Ohio yesterday and I drove this down from Ohio today.

10:16 It sounds like you didn’t have much head.

10:20 I did not at all. You know, that’s kind of the greatness about having a great dispatcher. Kim and Mike, they’re awesome. I’ve been with Mike since the day I started. And I believe if they ever tell me yeah, Mike can’t dispatch you anymore, I think I’m going to have to try to just give me a job in the building with Norton. I’m sorry.

10:41 That’s awesome that you have that kind of relation.

10:43 Awesome, guys.

10:44 Mike Hughes.

10:45 He’s awesome. No, no, no, no. I’m Mike Chandler.

10:48 Oh, okay. Michael Chandler. Okay, I got you. We got quite a few mics in the building, but—

10:53 Yeah, I heard that. I—

10:55 But you I understand which Michael you’re partial to there. Now you’re already at your you’ll be turning around tomorrow. And where do you go? Where’s your next load take you?

11:07 I’m actually going to Tulsa in the morning and I’m going to be picking up a bus tomorrow and I’ll be driving it to Conway. One of them things might I just have such a hard time telling him no. I was actually going home tomorrow. I live in Little Rock, Arkansas. So, I was going home somewhere and then he called me, “Hey.” And I’m like, “You know, you only call me cuz, you know, I’m going to say yes.” But the good thing, the bus is only going to Conway, so I’ll still be, you know, at home. So—

11:39 You’ll be home for the weekend.

11:40 I will with the babies.

11:42 With the babies. You’re listening to Erica Austin here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. She’s one of our drivers, one we absolutely love. She does. She, as she said, we know she’ll take the load. She always does. She’s got a great outlook, great personality, great spirit about her. Now, you mentioned the babies. Now—

12:00 The babies—

12:01 Tell us about the babies. You have a large family.

12:05 I do. I have seven of my own. I have five boys and two girls. My oldest is 33, my youngest is eight, but I have seven grandb babies as well. Four boys and three girls. And I have a girl on the way. So that’ll give me number eight. And when I say babies, I know people think, “Oh, little bitty babies.” No, they’re all my babies from the 33year-old down to the 2-year-old. That’s my youngest grandson. Like, and I love them and they absolutely loves me. Like, we are not just a family, we are a team. We make it happen.

12:43 And it sounds like family means a awful lot to you.

12:47 Oh my god. Look, God first and after him, it’s them. Without them, I really feel like there’s no me.

12:54 Now, you’re no stranger to driving. You’ve been driving with us for let’s see, I’d written this down here. How long have you been driving with us here at Norton?

13:02 I think I’ve been with Norton for a year and a half, but before Norton—

13:05 Yeah, I’ve been a driver for over 15 years. Not only that, when I first started with Norton, I worked for three other companies. Needless to let you know when I started with Norton, everybody else had to go. It was a wrap. I don’t drive for anybody else but Norton. And I’m not exaggerating. This is the only company I drive for. I mean, it’s a great it’s just a great atmosphere. And the things that Norton does for people, the drivers, I’ve never known driveaway to do that for anybody. If you have a will to work, Norton will make sure you get there by any means. This is fair. If you want to fly, if you need a bus ticket, if you need to get a rental car, the Uber, they’ll put all of that up front for you. And nobody does that and driveaway. I’ve never seen it ever.

13:53 Well, that makes us very very glad, warms the cockals of our hearts to hear you say that about us. And it’s drivers like you that that that make it happen. And you know, you were explaining the things that we do for the drivers, but you guys do so much for us. And you were talking about you’ve been driving for a long time and you were telling me before we got on the air. It’s a passion for you. What makes it a passion for you?

14:16 It is.

14:18 I think it was because of the road trips that I used to take when I was a little girl with my dad. And then my dad taught me how to drive when I was 11. And no, he was not a truck driver or a driver. He just used to do family trips. And it’s just the peace the found peace on the road. And just the things that you see on the road, like God’s greatest creations, if you just look in the sky, one minute it’s blue, it’s the beauty of the road and you’re just able to just think, relax, you just it I just love it. It’s always even before I started driving professionally, me and my babies, everywhere I went, no, we’re not flying. We’re not getting on a bus. I’m driving. And they be like, “Well, we can’t fly. My friend told me it’s hey we will one day but this trip we’re flying I think they got tired of hearing it too but it’s just always been my passion. I love to drive and why not get paid while I do it.”

15:16 There you go. There you go. You’re listening to Erica Austin here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Now Erica, you were talking about your passion for driving and how much you love it. And I will say confession here. It’s been way too long since we’ve had a lady on the show. We’ve got so many female drivers, but it’s been too long since we’ve had one on. And thank you for agreeing to be on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And as a woman, as a lady out there driving, do you see a lot of other women out there driving when you’re on the road?

15:48 I do. And you know, it’s so funny because we always kind of give each other the thumbs up or, hey sis, and it has nothing to do with race. I don’t care what color. Hey sis, you’re looking good out there. You know, it’s great to see women drivers out there. You know, men don’t like us like that, but we don’t care cuz anything y’all can do, we do it, too. And we do it better. I don’t think they like that.

16:13 What’s your key to being a great driver? What’s your give us your kind of thumbnail, your you know, your top three, top five things that make you a great driver.

16:23 I think of the awareness. You have to stay alert. I think what makes me different from a lot of people is help. I’m always willing to help. I want to help a fellow driver. I don’t care if it’s letting you just get in front of me in a lane and paying attention. And if it’s something I know, I’m going to pass it along. You know what I’m saying? So, and I think that’s something drivers really need to be mindful of. It’s enough road out here for everybody. Let’s share the road. Just being careful.

16:54 Now, you were talking.

16:56 You were talking about helping each other out. And we’ve had several drivers on the podcast talking about how they will lend a hand whether it’s at a truck stop or whether it’s a breakdown or talk about the network of drivers and how you guys reach out to each other if it’s in person physically or if it’s on a forum, if it’s in social media. How do you guys do that? How would you describe the network of driveaway drivers?

17:21 For the most part, I think it’s great. As for me, I know we go a lot of places and it’s kind of hard to get out. Every time I go somewhere and it’s, you know, kind of rough getting out, I always relay that information back to my dispatch immediately. Hey, you know, in case we get another driver that’s going down there, this is the out. This is what they need to do. Far as the networking goal, I am actually in a group on Facebook and it’s called driveaway and kind of what you do is you know drivers just join and you can always ask questions even if it’s something about a vehicle or you know again where you’re going and if somebody’s going this way you might can catch a lift. You know what I’m saying? It’s just kind of our thing. Or a lot of times, you do you meet people at the truck stops and businesses you go through go to and they’ll ask, “Well, who do you drive for and well, how do you do this and how do you do that?” And to me, you should I try to always give helpful information because you never know when your day is going to come and you’re going to need somebody.

18:30 And people think, you know, it’s this little saying in the Bible that God keeps a ram in the bush. If you’re really riding around looking for a ram, yeah, open your eyes. The ram is the people that God placed in and you know in your time of need, you don’t even know it, but they’ve already met you there—

18:50 Waiting on you to arrive. So, I kind of, you know—

18:53 That’s deep. That’s deep. Now, Erica, I it came back to me when you said Michael Chandler and I remembered a load that we had to do and it had to be and I didn’t think it could be pulled off within the time strains, the time constraints that it would make it by the deadline, but Michael assured me, he said, “It’s Erica Austin and it’ll happen.” How do you always hit those marks? Those, you know, you’re always making it on time. What’s your key to that kind of success?

19:27 Well, first of all, you always have to plan your route. That’s first and foremost. You want to make sure you’re well rested. Some days you might have to drive 11 hours, 10 hours and then you know in the morning you refresh and I think if you start early for sure you’re going to always make your mark because you know now it’s so much construction going on out here. So many drivers that’s in a hairy so there’s a lot of accidents. Actually today on the way up here I actually sat in traffic for 3 hours in Dick Dickerson Tennessee. A 18-wheeler had flipped over. It was upside down and it spilled Bibles all over the highway. And you would think that was an accident, right? Was it God trying to tell people get you one, get you one, get you one, get you one? I don’t know. I’m just saying. But I certainly think if you start your trip and you plan, you know what I’m saying? You have to give yourself time.

20:29 I got you.

20:29 So, that’s just kind of been my thing. But, yeah, I try to I do my best to always make the art.

20:35 How important is it going to be to you to be at home this weekend with your babies?

20:39 It’s very important to me. And let me tell you why. I never tell them when I’m coming home. So, when I make it home, when I walk through the door, it’s just the love I’mma receive. Not just the giving. The giving is the easy part. It’s the receiving that makes it so great. And I’m not kidding you, I have a two-year-old grandson. He’s not very very verbal, but my 25 year old son lives with me, him and his wife. And it kind of helps me out with my two younger boys. And so when I get home, that two-year-old, he don’t even know mommy and daddy exist. It’s granny, granny, granny, granny. His dad is so jealous. That’s my mama. Your mom over there. I’m like, “Hey kid, get away from here. You’re out of there. You’re 25. Go away, you know.”

21:25 So, yeah, it’s going to be great. And I have some things I’m going to do with them when I get home that they don’t know about. Of course, like I say, I it’s just the excitement of seeing me. She’s home. And they’re not ever looking for anything. And this weekend, you know, as much as possible, I take we go on vacation. I don’t call it vacation, I call it holiday. We do a lot together, but they’re in school now. So, I’m going to go have lunch with them on Monday, which they don’t know, you know, stuff like that. It just makes the kids day. And I think kids are very important—

22:01 For me. They’re everything.

22:02 Keep the surprise there and make them happy.

22:05 Yes. Yes.

22:06 Now, you’re a youthful 51 years old. How much longer do you see yourself doing this?

22:12 For as long as God will allow my son, the 25 year old, of course. I’m ready for you to come off that road. You should be at home relaxing. Do you realize you half of a 100, honey? Do you realize you better pray you get there? Cuz I am doing what Erica loves. My limbs are still working and I’m going to utilize them until Hey, I just can’t do it anymore. I have no prediction of coming off the road anytime soon. And really in the future, like I said, as long as God gives me the strength, I’m riding. You’re listening to Erica Austin here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Erica is one of our great drivers. We really love her. She’s does a lot, gives her all. We appreciate that. And we’re going to— You probably picked up on this week’s episode the infectious spirit of Erica Austin. And there’s a reason behind that. Some time back she went through a lifechanging event and was able to come through it. And we’re going to share that with you next week.

23:14 Erica, we appreciate you being with us this week. Thank you so much for everything you do. Be safe out there and enjoy your weekend at home with those babies.

23:24 We’ll do and thank you God for having me.

23:26 That’s Erica Austin on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Join us next week and you will hear Erica’s amazing story of coming through something that was lifealtering. You’ll hear that next week.

23:41 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.