00:05 And I love singing Elvis.

00:08 Well, bust out one of your favorite ones if you don’t mind. Just a couple of bars.

00:12 You know I can’t be found sitting home all alone. You can’t come around please telephone.

00:24 Welcome to Six-Figure Trucker, the podcast where we share advice on how to be successful in trucking and have fun while doing so. We’ll share stories, news, and advice on how to earn six figures in trucking, and we’ll speak to guys and gals that are already doing so. Let’s get to the show.

00:48 Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And you know, if you listen to this program each and every Thursday, it’s where we elevate and celebrate the drivers, the ones that make the wheels go round and round for Norton Transport. They’re an integral part of our business, obviously, what they do, and we are certainly grateful for everything they do. And last week, you heard from Richard Plumb talking about his successes as a driver for us. He’s been with us since September of 24 and he has a 100% on-time percentage. He’s perfect for this month, for this quarter, and we are certainly proud of that. But there’s a lot more to Richard than just jumping in a truck and driving and making that that transport successful. Richard joins us now. Richard, I think as you had pointed out last week, you were leaving Chillicothe, Ohio for a short run.

01:42 Now, let’s talk a little bit about short runs versus long runs. Most all drivers prefer the long ones because the money’s better. What about you? Do you see a balance between the two?

01:52 Yeah. I mean, for me, the balance is I like a shorter run. It just affords me a little bit more downtime, and I like that. I am not opposed to going out on the long runs. They do pay better, but the longer runs are I won’t lie, they’re harder. It’s just you’re on the road more and that’s a hard place to be in this industry is on the road.

02:18 Now, you live in Janesville, Wisconsin, right?

02:22 Yes, sir.

02:22 Now, do you like to be home when you can be home or do you mind being out on the open road for long periods of time?

02:30 I am not in Janesville very much. I don’t make it back there much at all. I am I’m mainly on the road. I like being on the road.

02:40 Gotcha.

02:41 Now, I’m I am getting ready to move. I’m looking to move to Kentucky. It’s a very central location and it’s a good location for this industry.

02:52 What part of Kentucky are you looking?

02:54 I’m trying to find a semiflat part of Kentucky, which is hard. I know Kentucky’s mountains, but I’m looking to buy land, and I’m looking to buy substantial land, but I don’t want to have to go out and climb a mountain to enjoy my land.

03:10 I gotta speaking of land, you had shared with us before you joined us last week, you’re a man who loves the outdoors.

03:19 I love the outdoors. Yes, I am a tree hugger.

03:22 Gotcha. Now, what about the outdoors strikes your fancy? I mean, what makes it so appealing to you?

03:30 It’s John, it’s just a peaceful it’s a peaceful place to be. I guess if I want to get deep, I will say that it’s a place that you can feel incredible energies and not be judged. And when I say that it’s deep, I mean everything out in nature is alive. Everything is living. And you don’t get judged by it. It’s just a peaceful place to be. That’s well said. Richard Plumb joining us here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Richard is a man who loves the great outdoors and we were speaking earlier actually in between these two episodes. You are somewhat of a hunter, somewhat of a fisherman, at least in your younger days.

04:14 Yes. Yes. It’s something that I’ve gotten away from. I was brought up and raised on it. I enjoyed spending that time out in the woods with my brothers and my father, but it just seems somehow or other in my later years, I’ve gotten away from it, and it’s something I’m working very hard to get back to, get back to that connection.

04:37 I would imagine there’s good hunting and fishing up in Wisconsin.

04:42 I have never got to do that up in Wisconsin, but there is amazing hunting and fishing in Wisconsin. Yes.

04:49 Okay. Well, I would think that you would see the same type of opportunity in Kentucky when you move there.

04:56 That’s one of my goals. When I say I’m looking to buy land, I mean I’m looking at places in Kentucky that have 100 plus acres wooded and rough and you know, rustic places.

05:10 Well, good luck in finding that place. Kentucky is a beautiful state and particularly if you like horses, raceh horses, you will see them as you drive through I-75 or on I-75 once you get into about central Kentucky going north. There are you’ll see the horses from the highway. It’s quite a fascinating site.

05:30 It is an amazing site. The ranches, I guess you would call them that the horse ranches that they have there. I mean I have driven by many and they are just amazing how beautiful they are.

05:44 Now speaking of beauty you had shared with me before we got on the Six-Figure Trucker painting is one of your big hobbies. Tell us first how you were introduced to painting.

05:58 Well my mother was an artist and I was just I grew up watching her and she started teaching me. Now my mother has passed. So that those lessons kind of stopped of course and then I found Bob Ross. Literally found Bob Ross and got interested in watching his shows and I consider him my second art instructor.

06:25 Bob Ross The Joy of Painting I believe was the name of his show that was on public television.

06:32 Yes, sir. Now, how old were you when you were introduced to Bob Ross?

06:36 I was 23 years old when I found Bob Ross.

06:40 And what was that like? I’m sure if you can remember, you were 23 when you saw him. What was it like as far as I’m assuming you sat down in front of the television and watched him on the regular.

06:51 I remember sitting down and I was surfing. I was just surfing two channels and I saw that and I just I caught it at the right time and saw the joy of painting and I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to oh, I want to check this out.” And from I was just amazed at the very first episode and every episode after. But it’s anybody in the world can paint and that’s what he made me realize. It’s not hard. It can be easy and it can be enjoyable. Do you still paint to this day?

07:26 Not as much as I’d like to, but yes, I do still paint to this day.

07:30 Wow, that’s great. How many paintings do you have? Do you have any framed that you’re really happy with? Some that you framed up, that kind of thing.

07:38 I’ve got two painting. I’ve done a lot of paintings. I’ve got two that I’ve kept and the rest of them I have just I have given literally given to family and friends as gifts and you know, hey, I just did this. Are you interested? View on it. And yes, I and I give most of my stuff away.

07:57 Well, being an outdoorsman and someone who loves nature, that seems to go hand in hand with the type of painting that Bob Ross does.

08:06 Oh, so it’s so connected it’s not even funny. It’s— Yes. Yes.

08:12 Now, you and I were talking about Bob Ross himself. Which you had heard this, I had heard it and was able to confirm it before we got on the air here. It’s hard to believe when you look at Bob Ross, but he was a drill sergeant.

08:26 I cannot imagine that man being a drill sergeant. The only Bob Ross I ever knew was the gentle, softspoken, you let’s, you know, let’s put a happy tree here or a heavy cloud. And I can’t imagine him being a drill sergeant.

08:44 Well, I had heard that and wanted to dive a little deeper into it. And he was actually a drill sergeant in the Air Force and he was in the Air Force from 61 to 81. And from what we were able to discover being a drill sergeant and you know yelling at other enlisted men bothered him personally. So he left in 81 and realized that he could use his voice for a different objective and that came about and that’s when he kind of fell into his painting and instructing others to paint. And for you as a follower of Bob Ross, is his voice as important as his painting?

09:30 Yes. To me it is. Yes. He is just captivating to me. Is I guess I would say in this world this I call this a hard rough world. It just is. But he was an incredibly soft gentle voice in this world.

09:46 And that’s something that is refreshing to see personally speaking. I mean a soft gentle voice and a soft gentle person in the world that we live in today. And you know it’s kind of unique or maybe ironic that he came out of the military where he was barking orders and now up until his passing he was sharing his passion with everyone else.

10:12 Right. The one thing that really struck me about him is in his gentle nature is just you could tell he enjoyed teaching because that’s what his show was. That’s what his show was all about. Teaching the techniques so anybody can paint. And I’ve proven that with people. I’ve had people say to me, you know, I, man, I wish I could paint. I’m like, you can paint. They’re like, no, I can’t paint. I can hardly hold a brush, you know. And I have gotten a chance to take those people and sit down, put the equipment and the tools in front of them and show them. And in just one session have those people turn out what I considered amazing paintings for, you know, the first time he ever painted something.

10:58 Mhm.

10:58 And he did this kind of thing with 4in paint brushes, 2inch paint brushes. He did these kind of things, paint brushes that you paint your house with.

11:09 That’s amazing. And so I’m assuming you paint oil.

11:12 Yes, I Yes, I paint oil. Yes.

11:15 And what for you? I mean, when you finish a painting and you stand back and you look at it, how would you describe that feeling?

11:22 I hate to say it like this, but it’s just joy. I mean, what it’s the joy of painting when I will think about it every time. I will stand back and or maybe leave that room and walk back into that room and see that painting and it just makes me happy to know that that I did that.

11:44 That’s fantastic. You’re listening to Richard Plumb here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Richard is a truck driver who’s been driving since 2018. He’s been with Norton Transport since September of 24. And he has a passion for painting. And Bob Ross was his second teacher. His mother was his first. But in addition to painting, you and Bob also have something else in common. Bob served this country. And you too, Richard, served this country. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I served in the Navy.

12:17 Tell us a little bit about your days in the Navy, when you were in and what you saw.

12:22 I joined the Navy because of one of my uncles. My uncle was in the Navy. I idolized him. Of course, I loved him and I just remember as a young boy sitting around hearing his stories and that’s what made me the I wanted to serve my country and that’s what made me chose choose the Navy. Speaking, you were in from let’s see, what was it? 87 to 94.

12:47 Yeah. 1987 to 1994. Yes.

12:50 Of course, you and I were talking about it during that time frame. There was the first Persian Gulf War, but you did not see action there, but it was close.

13:00 It was close. I watch they had a list on the base. I was serving my reserve duty at this time, active reserves. And I was 32. I was 32 on that list to get sent out and shipped out. But my tour ended and I was checked out of the Navy before I got sent away and they just they never called me in.

13:27 Gotcha. Gotcha. You were talking about your uncle and some of the stories he shared with you that that drew that made the Navy appealing to you. I’m sure you have some other fond memories and stories from the Navy. Do you care to share one with us?

13:42 Well, my favorite the favorite story about my uncle is he was a signalman on the ship. So he used flags and semiore and Morris code with the lights and he was receiving a message from another ship and he didn’t understand it and he sent a signal back slower. So the person slowed down and sending their signal. He didn’t get it. He asked him slow. By the time it was all done, he was go he was working his flight like click and just a snail’s pace for a signal and the commanding officer of the ship came up and was his name was William Salt Marsh and he’s like salt marsh what’s going on and he’s like I don’t understand this word and he’s like what word he goes I don’t know what a bugle is The person was spelling bugle, but in his mind—

14:49 It was buggle.

14:50 His mind was perceiving buggle and he literally couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

14:57 Oh, that’s a classic story right there. That’s a classic one. What about for you? What’s what for one of your stories that you’ll cherish? Well, I’m going to say the most memorable story for me was the very first time I was boarding. I was stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I was attached to VF 103 fighter squadron. And that squadron was attached to the USS Saratoga. And the first time I was getting ready to go out to sea on the Saratoga, I’ve seen pictures of aircraft carriers, of course, but I never seen one in person. And I remember standing in line and looking at this ship that was a thousand feet long.

15:42 They’re massive. And just in awe and amazement and just talking to other people in line and a first class petty officer standing behind me heard me talking and he said oh man well this is your first time getting on the sink and Sarah and I just turned around and looked at him I said excuse me he says yeah this is your first time getting on the sink and Sarah I said why are you calling the ship that why I don’t want you to call the ship that the story behind that was the Saratoga sank three times, but luckily it sank while it was in port. So, it just took on water and settle down to the bottom. So, you know, not completely submerged under the water. But that was the history behind that story. And I really didn’t like it.

16:34 I could imagine—

16:34 When I’m getting ready to go out into the middle of the ocean on it.

16:37 I can imagine. I can imagine. You’re like, “Thanks. Thanks for that.”

16:42 Right.

16:43 Do you stay in touch with your naval your comrades from back in the day?

16:48 I have several friends. This is one of the reasons I’m thankful for Facebook because I’ve been I lost contact with a lot of them, but I’ve been able to reconnect with a lot of them. And it’s a pretty neat feeling. It’s a you know, I served during peace time, but it doesn’t matter. There’s a camaraderie. There’s a brotherhood there. I mean, peace time or not, that my job that I did, being on that ship is dangerous. No matter what your job was, it’s dangerous.

17:17 Sure.

17:19 But, but I enjoy— Yes. I’ve reconnected with several of my friends that I served with, and it’s really awesome.

17:26 Have you had an opportunity to see any of them in person?

17:30 I’ve only got to go see a couple of them. I’ve only got to go see a couple of them. I guess I just I hate to say this, but life gets so busy.

17:41 Sure. It does. It does indeed.

17:43 I’m just grateful to be able to chat with them, you know? I just send them a message and chat with them and it’s I’m grateful for that.

17:52 Now, we were talking we’ve learned a lot more about Richard Plumb here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. One of your other passions is singing and you made it very clear that you will not bust out a tune for us here on the podcast.

18:09 I did I do plan on I look John I am not afraid to sing. I have sang in public. I will bust out a tune. I mean—

18:20 What kind of music do you sing?

18:22 I love I’m eclectic. So I love all genres of music. I can usually listen to anything and find something I like, but I’m partial to country and I’m very partial to Elvis. I love Elvis Presley and I love singing Elvis Presley.

18:42 Well, bust out one of your favorite ones if you don’t mind. Just a couple of bars.

18:46 Well, let’s see. My favorite one is I guess I would say don’t be cool when there’s a story behind it. But you know I can’t be found sitting home all alone. If you can’t come around at least please telephone. Don’t be cruel to a heart. That’s true.

19:09 Sounds pretty good. Sounds pretty good. Richard sounds pretty good.

19:14 Now do you sing?

19:16 I make my living.

19:17 You make your living on in a truck. But you love to sing. Make my living driving trucks. I’ll never make my living singing. I just like to sing. Right.

19:26 Do you do the karaoke at karaoke bars or whatnot?

19:29 I do. I do karaoke. Yes, I John. I catch myself singing. I’ve been in stores before and just not even realized it, but maybe shopping or whatever and then the next thing I know somebody saying, “Well, oh, that that was really nice. I really like that.” And I just don’t even realize I’m doing it. I just do it. Something pops into my head, I sing.

19:52 Just secondhand.

19:53 It’s just secondhand. Right.

19:55 Absolutely. Well, Richard, thank you very much for joining us again here on the Six-Figure Trucker and sharing your passions with us. And you know, when you get a chance, we talked about in the first episode, Cornflakes, also known as Carson, your dispatcher. Has she seen any of your paintings?

20:15 No. No.

20:17 Well, if you got a picture of one, clip it. Take a shot of it. Send it to her. I’m sure that would make her day.

20:23 I’ll I will do some digging. I’ll send it I’ll either send it to Cornflakes or Sunshine.

20:29 Okay.

20:30 Courtney. Courtney is Sunshine.

20:32 Gotcha. Gotcha. Richard, thank you so much for joining us. I deeply appreciate it.

20:38 Thank you, John. I appreciate everything Norton does.

20:42 All right. Well, have a good evening and be safe out there on the road. All right. Thank you.

20:50 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.