00:08 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.

00:23 Let’s get to the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And you know, if you join us each week, this is where we elevate and celebrate the drivers of Norton. Couldn’t do it without them. Last week, we introduced you to Earnest Walker. He’s joining us this week. Earnest you’re at home in Indianola, Mississippi. Wanted to talk a little bit about things you do off the road and you’d shared with me on the phone you’re a country boy at heart. Yes. Yes, absolutely, man. Absolutely. Now, what do when you’re at home, you got some free time, what does a country boy do? Now, when I actually have free time—

01:09 So you know, I hop out, man, and I hop on my four-wheelers and I go find me a mud hole and I get dirty with me and my girls. You know, I got three girls and often time I my wife have to remind me that I don’t have any boys.

01:27 I’m sure they love it still the same. Oh, absolutely. That’s cool. That’s fantastic. Now, we had said last week, kind of hinting what we were going to talk about this week. You have three passions in addition to the four-wheeling and the country boy stuff, all of which start with the same letter, the letter M. Let’s start with the one that is your highest passion. What would that be that starts with the letter M? Oh, man, I’ve got to say I’ve got to save ministry. Because it’s one of the most fulfilling things to do you know, being able to you know, spiritually guide people and help people find peace in the midst of so much turmoil and their trials and tribulations in their life. It’s very fulfilling. Even when I’m on the road when I run across drivers, man, it seemed like they maybe down in spirit, you know, I always have an encouraging word and locked down on the inside of me, too, to help them get through out their day.

02:30 So, that that’s the most fulfilling thing that I have on me. So, you— So, you’ve got the ministry at home and you take it on the road with you. And what kind of drill down a little bit for us. What kind of ministry is it? So, I’m a minister at my local church. We have a small church. So, I’m a minister to them about 30 35 people there. They’re quite faithful. New Beginning Restoration Ministries Church. So, I’ve been doing this year makes my second year. May is my second year. Okay. Are you the head pastor there and I’m assuming it’s in Indianola? Yes, mhm. I am here in Indianola, yes.

03:21 Okay. Now, tell us a little bit about some I guess success stories you’ve had with your ministry on the road with other drivers. Man, I’ve had people from all walks of life. And as a matter of fact, some of them still call me and you know, check in with me when they have things going on to get my opinion or to get some advice about some things that go on. Yeah, man. And surprisingly, there are— Well, I won’t say surprisingly because you know, once you spread the word, you know, it helps everybody. But I do have a few Muslims come on that call me as well, you know, to consult with me about certain things spiritually. So, that that’s a plus. They kind of let me know that I was doing something right. That’s cool, man. You’re able to touch people out there like that. Yes, absolutely.

04:21 Now, I want to kind of segue to your second passion, also starts with the letter M. I’m assuming that it’s connected to your ministry, but I don’t want to assume too much. And you’re a musician. Yes. Yes. I absolutely love music. So, starting out, music was my number one passion until I got into ministry. Now that I’m doing ministry, music has become number two. And so, I started with music back in the ninth grade. I was introduced to— Oh, wow. Band. And so, I when I joined the band, I really liked it. And so, I played the I started with the tuba. And then I learned to play a few more other things along the way. Like the baritone and stuff like that.

05:23 And then I went and went on to be pianist. And so, I really enjoy playing piano. Got you. Do you play in your church services, the piano? Yes, I do. I do. Me along with my daughter. I play some and then you know, once it’s is for me to get closer to delivering the message when my daughter gets on and she finishes the finishes it the rest of the way. That’s cool. That’s cool. Nice little ministry type intimate congregation and your family support there. That’s got to be rewarding to you. Yes. Yes, it is. It is. So, my daughter and so actually my oldest daughter’s into it. And my wife she’s been into it since she was a teenager. Since which was actually you know, how we met.

06:20 So, when I was younger, I guess about 15, I was playing the piano at a service well, at that time I was playing the keyboard and we were at a service on South Mississippi. And she was the drummer there. She was the drummer there. And that’s how we met.

06:40 That’s how you guys met? Yes. That’s cool. That’s cool. Super cool. Now, you’re listening to Earnest Walker here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. We’ve talked about two of his three passions that start with the letter M, ministry and being a musician. Now, the other one you are also in addition to being a very qualified driver, you’re a mechanic. Yes, absolutely. ASC certified, might I add. So, yeah. Okay. And you got some work to do today. We’re talking on the phone. You got some mechanic work to do and then your ministry and musicianship on Sunday, but tell us how you got into being a mechanic. When I was a kid, I always liked tearing things down and try to put it back together. I was always interested in how it was working. And so, you know, as I got older, I started tingling with cars. My mom had this old vehicle in the backyard that wouldn’t run for a while.

07:45 And so I would go out and play with it. Go out and play with it here and try this and try that, man, and figure out how to try to get that thing running. And I got it running, man. That was probably one of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever felt, you know. I had no training. Nobody taught me anything. I just went for it, tried to figure out how to make the thing work, man. I really got it. It was amazing— It was an amazing feeling. So I’ve been into it ever since. You had some feeling of accomplishment when you take something that’s broken and repair it. Yes. Now, how did you grow from being a backyard mechanic to an ASE certified mechanic? What was that process like?

08:32 Well, it was Well, when I got older and graduated high school I was kind of in this I’ll say like this limbo state or gray area state. I didn’t really have a lot of direction in what I wanted to do because also coming up younger, I always wanted to drive trucks. But of course when you first graduate high school—

08:58 Okay. You’re not old enough to get into trucking yet. So so my wife my now wife got gave me this idea. She was like, “Eric, I’m in the town.” She said, “Well, you like working on cars, why don’t you just go to school for it? And then you get certified.” And so that’s what I did. I went to school for it and I got my degree in automotive technology. And then I went on to become ASE certified. So I went through the ranks and went through dealerships working at I was a Nissan certified tech. So, once I did that until I got old enough to drive trucks. I got you.

09:50 Now, we were talking about on the phone. You got a job you’re about to tackle today. Timing chain on a car? Yes. Yes, man. I got a Honda Accord that I got to do the timing chain on, so I got a Ford today. And of course, I got to try I got to have all of that finished for date night tonight.

10:12 So, you’re on the clock. You’re on the clock today.

10:14 Yeah. Yeah. Well, being an ASC certified mechanic and also being a very experienced truck driver, I would imagine those two go hand-in-hand. If you get out there on the open road and truck breaks down, something’s not acting right, can you self-diagnose? Does that help you? Yes, absolutely. Most of the time I can— The only time my I think I’ve had to get towed probably twice. And that was when some injectors went out. I just— It just nothing you can do about an injector on the side of the road. And the second time transmission went out, so but for the most part, I can get it going once where it breaks down that I can get it up and going on my own. That’s a good tool to have in the toolbox for sure, no pun intended.

11:08 Oh, absolutely, man. It has saved me a whole lot of money. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Us, too. Us, too. We’re happy about that. Earnest Walker here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Earnest, thank you for spending time with us, sharing your life stories with us last week telling us about the life on the road. And you’ve got some interesting passions there for sure. And we here at Norton Transport wish you the best in your ministry, musicianship, and your mechanical skills that you have. Thank you again for joining us, Earnest. Thank you, John. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. All right, be safe out there on the road. Yes, sir, I will. And you have a good day.

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