00:04 I do wish that I’d had this job when I was following Great and Dead or Fish or Widespread Panic around. Getting paid to go to shows would have been real nice. Yeah, it’s fantastic. You just can’t beat this job.

00:21 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.

00:43 Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. This is a venue, a time when we look back and reflect and elevate and celebrate the drivers, the truck drivers that move all the trucks for us and basically for all companies across the country that move all those trucks that make such a difference in your life. And tonight we have a very special guest with us. Chris Woods is joining us. I spoke with Chris earlier today before he agreed to come on our podcast. Chris, thank you very much for that. And tell us where you are right now.

01:16 I am in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

01:21 What’s the weather like there?

01:23 It’s hot, surprisingly. It’s been cool all week, but I got here and it’s hot.

01:28 Gotcha. Now, are you settled in for the evening? Kind of paint a picture for us.

01:33 Yes, I am. I usually sleep in my Jeep. I’ve got it set up pretty nice as a tow car and bed, but occasionally, at least once a week, I try to just get a room where I can relax and have a shower and be lazy for a night. So, that’s what I’m doing.

01:52 It’s hard to put a price on that.

01:55 Yeah.

01:56 Now, you mentioned the Jeep. Obviously, you’re a towbehind driver. How long have you been doing this and how long have you followed the towbeahhind model? I have almost been doing this for a year. I think I’m about 10 months in or so. I had a friend of mine that I grew up skateboarding with. And I was working I got moved back up to Illinois from Texas working for the post office and the life to work ratio was not working for me. And he talked me into going on a ride with him and we got done. He helped me out. Luckily I had a Jeep, so it didn’t cost me a whole lot to get involved with it. He helped me get some hitch equipment and I love it. I’ve always loved driving and traveling and you know, doing this and making good money and being able to spend a week at home whenever I want to or however much time with my little ones means the world to me.

02:56 Gotcha. You were talking about the Jeep you had. Kind of explain describe if you know if you will the configuration of your hitch.

03:03 It just splits between the frame and locks down and then it kind of it reminds me of transformers as a kid. So it’s got just your basic part and then you can get just about any other parts to come out, drop down, go further out. Just depends on what you’re towing. But it works pretty well for me. I’ve not other than climbing underneath box trucks to get it hooked up occasionally. I love it.

03:34 Do you keep all the accessories and parts in the Jeep there so you can if you have?

03:39 Yeah. Kind of run us through that. I mean—

03:41 Yeah, I keep everything there. I keep everything in there. If I didn’t have the kids at home and I’m working on getting me another Jeep so I can just straight make it out into a nice sleeper and compartments, it would be great. But for now, it works. I still can manage to fit a full fulls size mattress in the back there, an air up one. And at 6 ft, I’ve got just enough room that I can fully stretch out and still fit all my gear in there.

04:07 Gotcha. Now, what type is it? A Wrangler or what kind of Jeep are we talking about here?

04:13 Yeah, it’s an 09 four-door JK. No bells and whistles. It roll up crank windows, no no extra computer, anything. It’s got almost 200,000 miles on it. And I love it. Never had any problems.

04:27 Must be a good one. Now, kind of explain to us how what do you have to do? I guess the back seats out of it if you got the air mattress back.

04:34 No. So, so in the four doors, the back seat just folds down—

04:39 Right?

04:40 So once I do that, I’ve got the space behind me, driver’s side, for equipment and just extra whatever I need. You know, I keep a little bit of extra everything in there and all my different hitch pieces for panel hooks and other things of the sort. And then behind the passenger seat, I can slide it all the way forward and I’ve got a little it’s a blowup mattress. Kind of looks like a raft for a pool.

05:11 Oh, yeah. But it’s for a camping mattress. So, it fits in there perfectly. And with a Jeep with a seat pushed forward—

05:18 I can stretch out as much as I want and get comfy. I’ve got a little fan I plug in and then just hang out and relax. Once I stop for the night—

05:28 What’s it like? I mean, be honest with us. Sleeping in the Jeep there. Even with the creature comfort, you got the inflatable mattress there and the or the air mattress and the fan. What’s it really like sleeping? I love it. I mean, I traveled and camped plenty in much more uncomfortable places. And other than my bed, I really get pretty good sleep in the Jeep. Especially right now, it’s been kind of hot towards the evening, but cooling off at night. And nice cool breeze. Keeps me warm and cozy all night or cool and cozy, sorry. Well, one thing we do on this podcast here through the course of the conversation, we come up with a title for the episode. I think you just nailed it.

06:12 All right.

06:12 Good. Sleep in the Jeep. Sleep in the Jeep.

06:15 There you go.

06:17 Sounds good.

06:18 But for this evening, you’ll be sleeping in a bed in a hotel.

06:22 Yes. So, you don’t have to disclose the name of the property you’re in you were in this evening, but is it a nice place or are you trying to keep the budget in line there?

06:33 Oh, no. I’m a budgeter. And it’s just me. I’ve been through enough that dirt bag seed hotels don’t bother me.

06:42 Gotcha.

06:43 So, the cheapest I can get is usually what I go for. Long as it’s got a shower and a bed.

06:48 That’s all. No frrills. You don’t need that fancy stuff.

06:52 Yeah. No.

06:53 So, okay. You’re in Chippewa right now.

06:56 Yes.

06:56 What where do you head next?

06:58 I’m on the last leg of I left out the beginning of the week and I’m headed to Milwaukee. Picking up a truck there and headed down to around the Louisville area. And then I just live a couple hours from Louisville and I’ve got a little girl’s birthday Tuesday to be home for. So—

07:20 Gotcha. And I’ll take a break all next week.

07:23 You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport and we’re recording this episode right around heading into the weekend of Memorial Day. You said you had a little girl’s birthday party to go to Tuesday. Are you going to try to make it a long weekend or will you be driving?

07:41 I’ll be home sometime Sunday evening. So then I’ll have Sunday evening, Monday, and Tuesday to relax and maybe do some grilling and just visit with family.

07:54 Gotcha. What’s going to be on the grill?

07:56 Oh, that’s rough. Hot dogs for the kids and I never know what I’m going to do. Maybe some meat, some chickens.

08:04 I don’t decide till I get there and can look at the meat.

08:06 Gotcha. It’s a game time decision.

08:09 Yes. Yes, absolutely.

08:10 Now, what kind of truck are you in right now?

08:13 I’m not. I’ll be picking up a little Penske. I think it’s a Forge E350.

08:21 Okay. A box truck you got?

08:23 Yeah. Yeah. Box truck.

08:25 That’s probably the lion share of what you pull or what you pull what you—

08:29 For the most part. Yeah. Probably 50 or 60% of it. Every once in a while it’s cap and chassis. I don’t mess with packaged cars because they won’t let me tow, but they’re also extremely uncomfortable and have no no good air. Plus, I worked for the post office for two years. The last thing I want to be in is a UPS truck or a postal service truck.

08:51 Don’t want to go back to that. I got you.

08:54 No, no, I can do without it.

08:55 I got you. Now, how much research do you have to do on the front end as far as what you can put on the back end, meaning what you can tow with? I mean, I guess you get that’s checkbox number one.

09:07 You mean my like as far as what kind of tow car or—

09:12 Well, with what you can take as far as in driveaway, say I can take this vehicle, can’t take this one or how much re how involved is the research? It’s, you know, I’ve been doing it for, like I said, about 10 months and you know, I’ve had a couple episodes where people wouldn’t send me a picture or this and that and haven’t been able to hook up behind it. But for the most part I’ve been able to hook up to just about everything except for a few of the smaller Isuzu that have the older lift gates with the—

09:46 The NPRs—

09:47 With the tail with the— Yeah. Yeah, the small ones. Some of the older ones have the hydraulics right in the middle there where I can’t get underneath it and come out without being about 3 in off the ground with my equipment from towing. So, so that’s generally a hard pass. I’ve learned a few things along the way. But for the most part, I don’t really have a whole lot of problems with anything. I’m looking forward to getting my CDL here in the next month or so that I don’t have to climb underneath box trucks. Works out a lot easier with those. A lot less work getting hooked up to the toe.

10:24 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, have you seen I don’t know if you can get this deep into the weeds or have you seen much of a difference a discernable difference in the MPG that you get with towing that Jeep behind a truck versus not having—

10:41 It depends on, you know, depends on the vehicle. But it’s not a huge difference. But to me, just having it there is so much just a piece of mind. You know, if something happens, I can’t pick up the load. Something happens. Like last week, I showed up and the truck wasn’t there. Nobody knew where the truck was. So luckily we found another one. But if that hadn’t worked, I’ve got my Jeep and I can go to the next job or just head home.

11:11 Right. You got options. So the miles per gallon doesn’t bother me cuz the peace of mind is totally worth the little bit that you lose.

11:19 I would think that the MPG would be inconsequential, not only to the peace of mind, but the money you save by having that vehicle there, not having to arrange travel. We’ve had a couple of others—

11:32 Towbehind drivers on the podcast here before and to me it seems like it’s a little bit—

11:40 Unusual that more people are not doing toebehind.

11:44 Yeah, I it’s something that I wouldn’t even have known about this job had my friend not been into it. But yeah, I couldn’t imagine doing it without a top. Well, I did. The first trip I went out to California from Indiana and yeah, I’m not really into having to try to find a bus or a rental car or, you know, bouncing around at least with my Jeep. I know I’ve got a place to sleep every night and I’m good. But yeah, the money I save is just ridiculous.

12:13 That’s what one of our other a veteran towbehind driver, I mean, he’s quite experienced in life, been doing this since the 90s and—

12:23 Oh, wow. Yeah, he does the toe behind all the way. Started out in California and doing the toe behind there and that’s the only way he can go by it. I mean he wouldn’t do it any other way. And do you see yourself staying in that pattern?

12:40 Yeah. Yes. I love it. I mean definitely will keep the tow car. And as far as work goes, I mean, you know, if I can go and work for a week, I was only seeing my kids for about 32 hours a week working for the post office. And now I, you know, may not see them for a week, but I’m home for a week. And it’s I love it.

13:03 I wish I had gotten into this a long time ago.

13:07 It’s just a different way to manage your time and balance your experience your experiences with your family. Yeah, it’s fantastic. You know, I get to decide when I can stay home or if I need to work a little bit extra to be able to stay home for a little bit longer. I don’t have to miss birthdays. I don’t have to miss special events. I do wish that I’d had this job when I was following Grace from Dead or Fish or Widespread Panic around. Getting paid to go to shows would have been real nice.

13:37 Now, I was going to go down a different venue there, a different line of questions, but you brought it up. Grateful Dead Fish, Widespread Panic. I’m a widespread panic fan myself. And you follow those jam bands. What pulls you into those bands the most?

13:54 I mean, seeing the Grateful Dead at 16—

13:58 And probably 95 did it. And once I experienced that, Fish was kind of getting big. And to me, that was going to be our generation’s Grateful Dead. And I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see as much as I could. But then I moved down to Georgia and lived in Savannah, so I couldn’t get in a car without widespread playing.

14:22 Yeah.

14:23 So, they kind of converted me and I’ve run into the boys there and served dinner and had dinner with them and they were just really nice guys and—

14:33 So it was all three of them.

14:36 So, you’ve had dinner with John Bell?

14:38 Yes, sir.

14:38 All right. Well, you know, speaking of— Are would you consider yourself a spread head?

14:43 I’m sure everybody could call me that.

14:46 It’s okay. I’m more of a dead head than anything. That’s I think everything I need to know in life I can find in a Grateful Dead lyric.

14:53 There you go. There you go. I’m not a spread head. I’ve seen him a few times, but if you get in that vibe and you meet the people that go to these concerts, it is amazing how many times people will go to see this to see widespread panic—

15:12 Over and over just looking for that little bit of magic, not knowing what’s going to come next. And once you get a little bit of it, you just want more. I—

15:21 And it’s a whole communal, you know, it’s a whole kind of communal tribal feeling once you get to know people and are going to the shows. It’s like a family reunion. You know, if you haven’t seen five or 10 shows and then pick up somewhere down the road, then you get to see all your friends cuz I was doing it before cell phones. So, we managed to travel the country with Rand McNally and payoneses and meet up with everybody.

15:45 Talk to me, brother. Talk to me. Talk to me.

15:47 Yeah. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. I you know I’ll tell you a quick story here about Widespread Panic. I went with a buddy of mine. He got me into him and he said you know best show ever. Best show ever. And I said well I said really? He goes best show ever. Best show ever. And I said how many times have you seen them? He said I’ve only seen him about 50 times. I’m thinking that’s a lot. I’m thinking that’s a lot. Then we go to 420 Fest and I sold a band to one of the guys that was coming a wristband and I said how many times have you seen Panic? He goes, “Ah, not too many.” I said, “Well, how many?” He said, “Probably 185.” And I’m thinking, “Man, that’s a lot of times.” And he—

16:25 “Yeah, right.”

16:27 And then he says, “No, no.” He says, “Trey,” he said, “Trey over here has probably seen him 500 times.” I said, “No way.” And so Trey and I had a moment alone there during the 420 Fest waiting between shows and Panic hadn’t yet taken the stage. I said, “Man, these guys said that you’ve seen these guys five, six hundred times.” He goes, “Oh, no, man. I haven’t seen him 600 times.” He goes, “I’ve seen him.” He said, “I’ve seen him 500 times.” That just blows my mind. So, how many times have you seen Panic?

17:00 Probably in the 60s for sure. Fish is probably in the 90s to 100. And, I only got to see Jerry once, but I got to hear him twice.

17:12 Ah, well, that’s a benchmark right there. Yeah, absolutely.

17:17 To see Garcia and talking about fish and panic, sometimes those fans don’t jive with each other.

17:24 Yeah, it’s really weird, isn’t it? I think it’s a northeast and south thing, you know? They just want to have somebody to argue with.

17:31 Could be. Could be something to hang their hat on, so to speak.

17:35 Yeah. I love music, period. I’ve loved music all my life from old jazz and blues to, you know, that’s why I love the Grateful Dead. There’s a little bit of everything in it. You get the classic Americana stuff and rock and roll. You get some of the oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? The—

17:55 The 60s—

17:57 Psychedelic stuff folky psychedelic. Yeah. I just like music, you know. It’s a mood changer.

18:05 Absolutely. I agree with you 100%. Now, you said that you were in Savannah. Now, were you working with I-95 by chance?

18:16 I was—

18:17 I used to live in Savannah, so that’s why I knew that. But—

18:20 Okay. Yeah.

18:21 I 95 rocking up and down the highway there. So, what was your role there? With I-95.

18:29 I help they approached me. We would be I was a barfly at the time. So, we would be out and Jeff I want to say Jeff was his name. The guy that was in charge of the station. Apparently, they had been doing a kind of Grateful Dead hour on Saturday nights. But they had to let the guy go and they didn’t want to pick up a syndicated one, but I had talked to the station manager enough times. I used to work at some pizza shops around there and run into them and he said, “Hey, would you be interested in this?” And I was already a tape trader. I mean, I drove around with, you know, 400 cassette tapes in my car in the ’90s of just Grateful Dead, Fish Shows, Garcia Band. So, I was like, “Yeah, I can help you out.” And I did it for free. Whenever anybody came to town, they’d get me tickets if I wanted them, stuff like that. I just enjoyed doing it.

19:25 So—

19:25 That was about it. Me and Mike Roberts was the one that did the DJing on it. Every once in a while I’d go down to the station and sit in and talk about it if it was a special night or if something fun happened. Throw in a little bit of history.

19:45 You’re listening to Chris Woods here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And as you’ve heard, life has taken him down many paths. But he’s been in work worked for the post office, pizza shops, music lover, now he’s a truck driver. And of those professions you’ve had, which one brings you the most joy?

20:05 Truck driving does also. That’s I mean that’s I also did coal mining about,000 ft down and 5 miles in for about eight years, which I loved doing, but after a while that’s just the same as a post office. Too much work, not enough lifetime. So, this is the trucking. Trucking is it for me.

20:26 Now, one of your dispatch team members, your team leader there, Mike Hughes, had recommended you to be on the podcast, and he said you’re going to like Chris, which I do, and he said you were not only a skillful driver, but he said as far as making some money, you were good at it. And I think that is a skill. Is that something you would agree with?

20:51 I suppose. I mean I try to get out. I’ve always been I grew up with older parents that were farmers. So everybody is up and going soon as daylight’s up and doesn’t stop till dawn. So I guess I inherited that cuz I’ll go go until I just fall down. So this gives me about a week to get out, get things done, and get home. So I guess I’m good at it. Now, the work ethic you touched on there, but obviously you’ve brought some components into it that help you bring home more money, namely the towbeahhind and the sleeping in the Jeep, that kind of thing. Is that something does that come from your parents or is it something learned or a combination of?

21:35 No. That’s definitely a combination. That’s me having been in many, many worse situations of sleeping and I love sleeping in my car. I love the adventure of it. I was a huge Carowak fan on the road. So, all that stuff’s been ingrained in me for years. I was just excited that this was a job that I could do that with.

21:54 It’s a natural fit. Sleep in the Jeep.

21:57 Absolutely.

21:57 Now, you were talking about you’re going to get yourself back home. What’ you say? Sunday.

22:03 Yes, sir.

22:04 Now, tell us a little bit about this child that you’re going to have a birthday party with.

22:10 Oh, man. That’s going to take a while. She is my only daughter. She is about to turn 6 years old. She’s thrilled because for the next 3 weeks, she’ll be the same age as her older brother who will turn seven on the 19th of next month. But, Fibble is 100% a daddy’s girl. She got mommy’s curls and she looks just like me and she’s into the art and has stuck by my side since she’s come out and she does art with me and we’re both very oh butterfly and we’re gone. So we messed and we messed together real well. Plus being the only girl and a baby I mean you know there’s always that.

22:56 Gotcha. She’s amazing—

22:58 For you with her being your only daughter and as you just described a daddy’s girl, this profession, the way your time’s broken up where you’re on the road, you’re on the road for a while, but you’re at home for a while. How is that factored into seeing the maturation of your daughter?

23:19 Oh, it’s huge. It’s the whole reason that I left the post office and came to this. Well, that and that post office was having problems getting my pay correct for quite a while and wanting me to work six days a week, you know, 10, 12, 14 hour days. So, you know, that was and I was missing them. That’s I stayed at home with both my kids for 2 years. You know, so I brought them up. The mother worked a lot and hard and was there plenty. But for me being away from him that much and being that exhausted when I was at home was just terrible. So once I went with my friend and saw how much money he could make in two days and I’m thinking he did this in two days and it takes me 90 hours of, you know, overtime.

24:13 Well, you know, two full weeks and, you know, another 10 or 15 hours overtime to even come close to what he did in two days. So, I’m like had to rethink what I was doing and my approach to earning a living.

24:26 And if I’m picking up what you’re putting down, you not only are making a good living, but you are having a good time making a good living.

24:35 Yeah, absolutely. Turns out that traveling around and being a dead head and going to all the fish and panic shows, I know somebody just about everywhere. So, even when I’m in my Jeep, I still have the opportunity to stop and see someone that I haven’t even seen since high school. Or I stop in Chattanooga with a friend that I lived in Savannah with. I hadn’t seen him in 15 years. And in the last, oh, 6 months, I’ve got to stay and visit with him, meet his wife and his kid. Yeah. For somebody that’s that likes the adventure and being on the road and people you just can’t beat this job.

25:11 Now, you mentioned Chattanooga. For those of you listening to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport, we are in Ringgold, Georgia. That’s home base for us here, which is a suburb of Chattanooga. And you mentioned you were there. You’ve been by the office before, right?

25:26 Yes. Yes, I stopped by. I think I was extremely exhausted. It had been a really rough week. So so I probably just kind of looked like a zombie walking in and staring around, but I stopped by. Stopped by, saw Mike. It was funny. And Mike was there, but I didn’t get to meet Emily or Haley. Haley was there, but I think she was on the phone. But the last time I stopped in Chattanooga, I was eating dinner with a friend. And we were just about to finish up and go home and a girl gets up from the booth behind us and walked dead up to me and said, “Are you Chris Woods?” And it stops the table where, you know, my friends are like, “Who the what?” Like I thought we were the only people you knew in Chattanooga. And it turns out it was Emily. Apparently, she’d heard my voice and I have a Raleigh Fingers tribute mustache and she heard me talking about loads and recognized my voice and I think she sent her husband up to go and look and see if I had the mustache and I think she knew it was me before she asked. But it was a nice surprise.

26:27 Yeah, Emily’s a sweetheart. She’s a sweetheart. Good dispatcher. And talk about— We talk a lot about the relationship between dispatchers and drivers. Let’s talk about that for a minute. I mean obviously there’s a lot of key components that make it happen successfully, but for you is there anything added or required as a toebehind driver? Knowledge or information you can get from your dispatcher?

26:53 Yeah, Mike helps me out a lot. Because he knows that when I’m out I don’t usually other than my 10 hours I don’t dillydally and stop places for the most part. He helps me out a lot. With, you know, he’ll get me if I don’t have a contact number on there, you know, he’ll do a little research and send it to me. Occasionally he’ll help me find out what kind of truck it is and’ll figure out if we can tow behind it. It’s taken us a little while, but he’s kept me. I don’t remember when. I think shortly, probably a month into starting this, I got with Mike and I think they moved him around on a couple teams and he took me with him everywhere he went. So, we’ve built a great relationship and you know, it’s easy. Sometimes I’ve I work for other people as well and sometimes dispatchers can come off overworked and rude. Not that I’ve had that with Norton, but you know, I understand that their side of it, but you know, you got to understand each other’s sides of things, I think, to work well together.

27:58 I know that they’re super busy. They know that I’m out driving and, you know, am out to make money. So, you know, Mike me and Mike work really well together. Plus, he was, you know, he had his own food truck, so and I ran restaurants and pizzas for years, so we had plenty to talk about.

28:11 Sure. Sure. That speaks volumes for you, though, that Mike would take you with him as a driver to— Oh—

28:18 Absolutely. Different teams there. Now, you—

28:21 Well, I don’t know. I think I talk a lot and Mike was the only one that would listen long enough to long enough for me to pick out a load.

28:30 Hey, well, that speaks to the relationship, though. Absolutely.

28:33 Now, you were talking about, we were talking earlier about fish, dead heads Grateful Dead, widespread panic. Have you I’m reading between the lines here, but in your 10 months, have you been able to plan a load that will take you in the general area of where a show is happening? I have not got to a show yet, but a couple weeks ago, as much as I love shows, I did get to meet up with my kids and their mom down at Silver Dollar City. So, that was better than a show. But the shows I am I’m waiting for—

29:09 Because I’m going to I’m sure that’s crossed your mind and we’re entering into the summer months, which is prime season for jam bands.

29:18 Yes, sir. Are you going to think, “Okay, I’ve got this route going this way. I’ve got my Jeep. All I need is to plug in the entertainment.”

29:29 Yes, of course. I And I can find the shows, but being always around and having been in the taper tape trading, I know some apps that if I can’t get to the shows, I can still listen to them live while they’re going on.

29:44 I got you. But I am working on watching schedules and tours. I think the only thing I’ve got lined out right now is to see Billy Strings in St. Louis, but that’s close enough that I’ll be home for that show. So—

29:58 A little war.

29:58 I won’t have to work.

29:59 Little Wargasms dust in a baggie.

30:03 Absolutely.

30:04 Wanted to ask you, you’d mentioned about daddy’s girl, your daughter. She’s turning six or seven. What was what?

30:13 Yes. Yeah, she’s turning six and then in 3 weeks her brother will turn seven.

30:17 I got you. Gotcha. You’d mentioned art. Now, you guys kind of gravitate together on the art. And from what you and I had talked about before we got on the podcast here, the Six-Figure Trucker, you told me you do you’re an artist and tell us a little bit about that.

30:33 I’ve done it done art all my life. I went to art school in Chicago for a little while before I decided to just take off on tour. But while I was staying at home with the kids when they were young once mama had to go back to work, I had picked up playing disc golf and frisbee golf and found out that you could dye the discs. Kind of like tie-dye stuff you can there’s different ways to do it. Shaving cream, dyes. And just started messing around with that. And the two years that I was home, it worked out that people started seeing the stuff that I was doing. Friends let me practice stuff on their discs. And so I started doing that out of the garage and doing I don’t know 50 discs for some shops up in Austin. Disc Nation up there and luckily we were where we were at in Texas there is a huge disc golf community.

31:35 That’s a great community. Do lots of stuff for the four different parts of the community and get together. So, I did that for a little while. I don’t quite have the time for it now, but at the time it was tons of fun. And you know, I ended up being able to get some of my art into professional and world champion disc golfers, a couple hall of fame disc golfers. Being right there in the heart of disc golf in Texas, it was really easy to meet people and I’ve never been bashful to just walk up and start talking to somebody. So—

32:08 Sure. Sure. I get that vibe. I wanted to ask you, did they send the discs into you and then you put the artwork on it? How did that work out?

32:19 Yeah, that’s kind of how it would go. Or if they knew what they wanted, I would go do some shopping and find what they were looking for. Just kind of depended on if you were local or I had to mail it, but I have a Facebook page which is CDub Dyes on Facebook. It has all my stuff. So that was mostly where people would find me and they’d just mail me a disc or like I said, I’d go pick one up and we’d discuss what they wanted and what I was what I could do and couldn’t do. Kind of like a tattoo artist. You know, somebody wants something, but you know, it’s not going to look good on the disc. You kind of want to talk them, you know, into something happy or something that they’re going to enjoy—

33:03 Right?

33:03 So, it was a lot of work and a lot of time. I’d spent 16 20 hours on some discs, but some of them were, you know, easy I could have done in 15 20 minutes. So—

33:14 Right now, when you’re looking at the top of the disc, was it easier or more complex? I would think the smaller the disc, the more difficult, but maybe not necessarily. So, when you get up to the driver discs and that kind of thing—

33:29 They’re all about the same size. A lot of it just depended on the plastic.

33:34 Okay. Gotcha.

33:35 Some plastics can’t hold dye. They’re too they’re not as absorbent as others.

33:42 The adhesion’s not as good.

33:44 Yeah. Yeah.

33:45 Now, you said you did that for a couple of years. Is that right?

33:48 Yeah. Yeah, I did it actually probably for four or five years. Kind of as the kids got older and weren’t taking as many naps is kind of when it trickled down. So I still do it here and there for some friends.

34:01 I got you. Was it a lucrative thing or more for a more of a hobby thing?

34:06 It was more of a hobby thing. I just enjoyed it and you know if I was lucky enough to get both of them asleep at the same time, you know, I could have 3 4 hours to do something. So, yeah, it was just more to keep me busy and keep me sane.

34:23 Gotcha. Gotcha. You’re listening to Chris Woods here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. If you’re just joining us, Chris is a towbehind driver. He is an artist, former postal office worker, worked in a pizza shop, music lover, worked as alongside a DJ in Savannah for a rock and roll radio station down there. He’s done quite a bit in his life there. And we wanted to ask you this, Chris. You’re out on the road, you’re making a transport, you’ve got the Jeep and tow behind you. Do you have a set amount of miles you’re like, I can go, I’m going to drop here and I’m going to drive x amount of miles to my next load or to home. Or do you have are you limitless on your range? You’re like, I’ll go wherever.

35:09 I could go wherever, but I really like to keep it, you know, about four or five hours in between. The only bad thing about the Jeep is I don’t get quite the gas mileage I could in other cars, but the trade-off is that I can completely stretch out in it.

35:25 Oh, yeah. Sleep in the Jeep.

35:27 Yeah, I try to keep it, you know, four to five hours. I’ve made longer tracks out of necessity, but I don’t like to.

35:35 Where does is there a part of the country that gives you more opportunity to do that with frequency of loads and pickups where you don’t have to go as far? Yeah, certainly the east coast with Norton it’s, you know, it’s pretty saturated. I’m right in the Midwest and sometimes you know, there’s not a load, you know, within six or eight hours of me. So, but I know if I’m headed to the east coast after that, you know, it’s not a bad tradeoff, but that’s just to start out. Generally between loads, I don’t like to go that far. Now, I wanted to ask you, you said you’ve been in this for about 10 months. How much longer do you see yourself in it? You see yourself staying in it for quite some time?

36:22 Yeah, as long as it keeps working. I don’t think they’ll do anything but get better. Like I said, I’m working on getting at least my B-class CDL taken care of and should make a lot more loads available. Because I’m only non CDL currently, which is getting the bills paid and I can get some money put away and keep everybody happy. But you know, I think moving up in class it’s just going to open up more possibilities. So yeah, I love it. I don’t see any foreseeable future that I would stop doing this job until I just wanted to or needed to.

36:59 Now, how often are you on your app checking out loads? I try to keep it to a couple times a day. Like I said, I don’t usually kind of sit or dilly. I’ll check it in the morning and you know, when I stop and grab something to eat and, you know, just kind of there at the end of the day. But I think the more that I watch it, the more I get irritated if I see something and then it gets grabbed. So, I try to just check it when I know I’ve got time to sit down and figure everything out instead of checking it all the time daily and then being like, “Oh, I should have grabbed that. Oh, I should have done this. I try not to deal with that.”

37:34 It’s like a puzzle.

37:36 Yes, it certainly is.

37:38 Now, you were talking about getting your CDL. We talk about this internally. You know, we do a lot of load grouping where we put different groups together and a lot of times we will combine a nonCDL and a CDL together. Yeah.

37:54 If it makes sense logistically. Of course, that would eliminate the nonCDL driver from taking one of those portions of the load. But—

38:05 Yeah.

38:05 Is that one of the things you’re thinking of? It’s like, I need to get the CDL. What’s the motivation behind getting the CDL other than the obvious?

38:14 Well, mostly is to cut down on the dead heads, you know, from I’ve seen some CDL boards. And they’re a little bit they’re scattered more all across the country. A lot more options for pickup and delivery places. Where with non CDL it can be kind of tricky. Seems like there’s you know there’s a few places that they’re always coming out of but then the connecting cities is sometimes difficult for more availability of jobs and less spending money in between jobs and more making money at jobs.

38:50 I got you. Makes perfect sense. And a tip of the cap to you and to other nonCDL drivers, you guys will go I mean, you’re road warriors. You will go a long ways like South Dakota to pick up a load.

39:04 I won’t, but somebody up that way. May money would have to be certainly right for me to get all the way out to South Dakota, but if I’m in the area, I would. Yeah, I have no problem with that.

39:14 Yeah. I mean having that Jeep behind you offers up a whole new world of possibilities there. And, obviously you plan on keeping the tow behind with you on the CDL side.

39:27 Yes, sir. Absolutely. I’m looking forward to not climbing underneath box trucks every time.

39:33 I got you. That’s that makes sense there. Now, what all what’s in front of you as far as to what do you have to do to get that CDL? Have you already started the process? Yeah. I just have to go and so I think I have to finish my air brakes tests and then schedule my driving test. But the only thing difficult is in Illinois. I’m not sure how other states are, but you know, you have to supply the truck. So luckily I know enough farmers in southern Illinois, I think I’m going to be able to do that without much problem.

40:07 Okay. Get a truck.

40:08 So it could be within the next month or so.

40:10 Gotcha. Gotcha. Will you start off what classification will you start off as in the CDL?

40:16 Just Class B.

40:17 Class B.

40:19 Class B is all I really need. And occasionally I’m a high stress person. So I try to keep anything stress-wise low. And if I’m just towing my Jeep, I’m fine with it. But I’m not all the equipment that I drove in the coal mines. I had a very large learning curve with new equipment. So, I try to stick I’m comfortable with what I know and I’m just going to try to stick with that as long as the money continues to be what I need.

40:44 Nothing wrong with that. Now, you said you’re a high stress person. What do you mean? You don’t strike me as a guy who gets stressed out at all.

40:51 Okay. In my head, I get stressed. Physically, I don’t. I get a lot of worry bugs in my head sometimes. So, I would definitely be my nerves would be shot trying to learn trailers and you know, all that stuff. I think I know myself well enough to know that that would make my nerves go crazy. And I ran into a couple guys on the road, you know, holding full bottles of pills for nerves, talking about pulling their, you know, oversized loads and stuff and I’m just like, “Yeah, I don’t need that.”

41:22 Yeah. Driveaway’s the space for you, man. No, no trailer behind.

41:26 Absolutely.

41:27 The only thing behind you is your Jeep. Yes, sir.

41:29 Now, after you spend some time with your daughter and celebrate Memorial Day, hit the barbecue pit there, what’s in store for you next week after you—

41:42 Are you going to take some downtime or you going to get back on the road?

41:45 Yeah. Yeah, next week. No, next week I’m going to I’ve been running pretty hard the last couple months. You know, occasionally I have a bad week. I try to make up for it. Luckily that their mom’s amazing. So she’s pretty easygoing with it. But no, I’ll take I try to do a week on, a week off, but next week I’m going to stay at home, spend the time with the kids, and try to finish getting everything lined out to get my CDL done in the next month or so.

42:12 Cool. Now, did it take you was it hard to adapt to week on week off when you had come off of a more, I guess, conventional schedule with a post office where you work, you know?

42:24 Yeah. Continuous.

42:25 It’s really strange.

42:27 How do you adjust to it? How did—

42:28 I’m not sure that I’m completely adjusted to it just yet. But, yeah, having all that freedom you don’t even realize how much you have until, you know, it just kind of starts settling in. You’re like, “Oh, wait, wait. Okay, I’m not waking up stressed out. I don’t have a million things I need to do today on top of go work 14 hours for grumpy people, you know?” So, it’s been interesting to kind of watch that progress.

42:57 Which schedule do you prefer? I think I know the answer to it, but which one do you prefer and why?

43:01 Oh. Oh, well, you know, I mean, I’d much rather laid to death in a postal truck for 90 hours a week with no AC and half to pay.

43:10 Exactly.

43:10 No, no, no. I believe the week on week off or, you know, around that area. I try not to stay gone for more than 10, 11 days top.

43:17 Right. So yeah, it works out.

43:19 With that week off, does that afford you the opportunity to do some things obviously that you couldn’t do when you were working, you know, and you only had two days off in a conventional job there? But do you do some travel in your time off or what do you do in the time off?

43:34 No. I’m at home with the kids usually. That’s or the park. I usually have a day or two of errands to run, but they go with me. We get stuff done and then just go and then hang out really got a beautiful tree that’s got like four swings on it or we make some art, go to the park. It’s nice. It’s it affords me the time that I want with him. So—

44:00 Now we talked about your disc art and then your love for it, your affinity for it, your daughter’s affinity for it. What kind of art do you guys make together?

44:10 We usually draw together. But we’ve done a lot. We’ve done— Oh, let’s see. We’ve done some sculptures. You know, with them. Usually I’ll just try to find one of the art projects in the Walmart aisle or Michaels or something or we’ve had, you know, she’s done actually she just did a disc with a disc all on her own. I set up everything and then showed her how to drag a stick through the glue to make patterns. And so we do that. My son’s a builder, so he builds. He’s been drawing a little bit, but we just do whatever, you know, whatever comes around, whatever we have laying around material-wise, depending on the scissors. We got to watch the scissors cuz somebody likes to cut things open and see what’s inside of them.

45:00 Oh, sure. Sure.

45:01 So So, but yeah, just markers and, you know, just spend time talking and drawing. Now, do you think being an artist and also being a truck driver that you might break down some misconceived stereotypes that people may have of truck drivers?

45:16 I don’t know. I’ve been always a little bit different than most people all my life, so I certainly think I surprise people. Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe. I had really thought I hadn’t really thought about that. I did I get away with a lot with my southern accent that people don’t expect from me when they see Illinois plates. Hey, that it’s good to have that. Good to have that.

45:39 Yeah.

45:40 Now, when you’re out and about and you see drivers, we’ve as you and I were talking before we got on the podcast, we see drivers that have all kinds of abilities and talents outside of driving a small truck, a medium-sized truck, or a big truck. And how does that help you? I mean, do you rely on some of your other skill sets to push you through when things get tough on the road?

46:07 Yeah, there’s definitely, you know, I’ve learned I’ve been around a lot, travel a lot. There’s definitely some skill sets and situations that I’ve been in that you know, when it gets rough I try to keep my calm. I think Mike will tell you that I’m pretty calm for the most part. I don’t get upset if, you know, something’s not there or this and that. So yeah, it’s helpful. But I mean, as far as, you know, if you’re doing something else where you’re an entrepreneur or doing something that maybe isn’t paying the bills, but it’s your passion, this job’s the easiest way to create the time to hone in on that.

46:44 Man, you are good at segways. You led me to my next question. It’s you right there making it easy for me. What would you say to someone who may be looking for a new path in life? What would you say to them? And be candid, be honest here with us about driveaway. I mean, is it something that you see as is it for everyone or does it take a certain type of person? What’s your vantage point?

47:10 It’s certainly not for everyone with all the people in the walks of life that I know. I can definitely tell you it is not for everyone, but you know, the people that are up for adventures and going out and kind of not having plans and just going which way the wind takes you. You know, it’s great if you’re a very if you’re organized, it’s super helpful, but it’s also difficult to keep up when you’re, you know, in your toe car or traveling with papers or bus, train, stuff like that. So, you know, if you’re the type that gets super upset easily, if something doesn’t go right, it is certainly not for you. But, if you can handle change at the drop of a hat, then you may as well give it a try.

48:00 If you can roll with the punches, it’s something that could fit in your wheelhouse.

48:04 Yeah, absolutely.

48:05 Now, any big plans for you this year that maybe materialized because of your time in driveaway, I.e. You’ve got the money to do it now.

48:17 No plans this year. I’m looking at saving up to get an RV. A little 32-footer that I can park somewhere and me and the kids can go wherever and saving up for some land in the Shauny National Forest and hoping to build a disc golf course and kind of a little retreat to hang out and do art with the kids and meet disc golfers and play and go out and do some driving if I got some projects I need to work on and come back and play disc golf and make some art.

48:52 That sounds fantastic, man. You know, you opened up a whole new avenue there of things you got going on. Doesn’t surprise me. We’ve only spoken for roughly an hour, but the RV 32-footer and the disc golf that seems like it’s pretty laidback and right up your alley.

49:10 Yeah, absolutely. And the cheapest I can live. I don’t have a lot. Don’t need a lot of space. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

49:19 Have you already been searching the web for those that RV?

49:22 Oh, yeah. I’ve got one. I’ve got a friend that’s looking to get rid of one that’s in it’s an older one, but it’s been redone on the inside. It’s real nice. I can actually sit down in the tub. It’s not a tiny bathroom. Yeah, I’m I’ve got her ready to go. Just trying to get everything all my ducks in a row.

49:40 So, you’ve already spotted one. Already found one. Just got to take care of seeing it through to fruition there.

49:46 Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I’m working towards it. I got goals.

49:50 That’s fantastic. Fantastic. You’re listening to Chris Woods here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Chris has ridden out in the driveaway sphere and it has taken him to new places and he’s used his background before to kind of bring it all together. And Chris, how would you describe your life right now? Has it been enhanced stayed the same? How would you describe it as far as the last 10 months? What it’s meant to you? Oh, I’d say it’s probably saved my sanity. You know, there’s a reason lots of people are post office is always hiring. So, you know, going from that and, you know, yeah, going from that to this freedom and the time with my kids, it’s definitely saved my sanity and a little bit of a new lust for life as opposed to rotting away in a mail truck.

50:47 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, being in a mail truck versus or against being in a box truck, how do those compare?

50:57 Well, I’ll get in a box truck anytime, but you won’t catch me in a mail truck ever—

51:02 Ever again.

51:02 Again—

51:03 Ever again. You heard it here first from Chris Woods here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Chris, thank you so much for joining us. You’ve been a great pleasure to talk to you and hear about all your experiences and things that are going on in your life. We’d certainly appreciate it. Anything you want to say? I want to open the floor up to you for the last piece of advice you may have for somebody. I mean, you talked about what this job can offer. Anything else that comes to mind?

51:31 You know, just I’d understand people’s situations. You know, dispatchers got a rough day. Dealing with as many drivers as they do, calling and being grumpy and getting an attitude with people, whether it’s people you’re working with or people that are trying to help you isn’t going to make it any easier. Job’s fairly laidback as far as I can tell from everything I’ve done, but I think it makes a huge difference. I know that’s what Mike and I’s relationships definitely built on. So, just keep that in mind.

51:59 Wise words from Chris Woods. Thank you very much, Chris Woods here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

52:07 You bet.

52:11 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.