00:04 As far as the trucking families, regardless of what we do, what color we are, where we are, get them to go out and let everyone know that we’re one family. We have to stay together, come together, help each other, and stand by that. Welcome to Six-Figure Trucker, the podcast where we share advice on how to be successful in trucking and have fun while doing so. We’ll share stories, news, and advice on how to earn six figures in trucking. And we’ll speak to guys and gals that are already doing so. Let’s get to the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. And we have a very special guest with us tonight, Nathaniel Sensley. He is joining us now. And Nathaniel, how are you?

00:56 I’m doing great today, sir. How are you?

00:59 I couldn’t can’t complain at all, man. Doing great. It’s the end of the week. It’s on a Friday. Of course, you’ll hear this on a Thursday. Nathaniel, kind of set the scene. Tell us where you are now.

01:08 I’m actually in Louisiana.

01:11 So, what part of Louisiana are you in right now?

01:14 Botan Rouge. Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

01:17 Okay. Okay. Any crawfish atufet?

01:22 Crawfish at tufet, gumbo, red beans and rice. You name it, they’re on the menu.

01:27 Have you indulged in any of that?

01:30 Oh, yes. I’ve been miserable for the last day and a half. So, you know how it is when you’re running the road, you’re a little homesick.

01:37 Gotcha. Now, where is home for you?

01:40 Baton Rouge. I stay right north of Baton Rouge, an area called Zachary, Louisiana.

01:45 Okay. Been living here in Louisiana most of my life.

01:49 So you’re used to that food that’s part that that is a part of life for you.

01:53 Yes sir. Yes sir.

01:55 Gotcha. Now coming from that that style of food which is so delicious kind of a you know has made its mark certainly on the culinary side. Now what is what’s your favorite food? And if Nathaniel’s going to sit down, what’s your favorite food? My favorite food, if you had to call it your last meal, the meal that you just wanted to be full off, it would be a Tony special. And that’s basically a broccoli casserole rice flattened out, you know, about 2 in high. Baked fish laid on top of it with covered a crawfish at fake. Oh—

02:40 The gravies, the fixings. Oh, man.

02:43 Now, is this something you cook prepare yourself or does someone close to you prepare it?

02:48 Oh, it this is actually a customer that I used to deliver seafood to and they’ve been running a seafood restaurant and warehouse for a long time. And being a person that delivered seafood to them, know the managers, know the people there, you learn what’s good, what’s not. And it was a dish that was created by them and it’s been my favorite ever since.

03:13 Scale of 1 to 10, where is it?

03:15 About a 32 plus 64.

03:21 That that good.

03:22 Oh, it’s great.

03:23 How often do you get to consume that?

03:25 Well, when I’m running on the road, you don’t you know, of course, you know, food is never like it is away from home. Usually when I do come in, maybe once a month, maybe once every three months, maybe even once a year. It just depends on how I feel, what I’m running, who I’m running for the passion that I put in. But there’s always drivebys. You got to get them on driveby.

03:53 Gotcha. How much do you miss that kind of food when you’re on the road? You miss it a lot, but it’s just like anything, you kind of put it to the back of your mind and you just, you know, find the other indulgent that you like. So, you know, when I’m out in California, I like to try stuff out there. When I’m up on the east coast, I love to eat clam chowder. When I’m in Chicago, Wisconsin, I like to eat the Chicago style pizza. M.

04:26 So with just where you at, you learn to really be versatile in your sleep.

04:32 Kind of a chameleon, blend into it.

04:34 Yeah, most definitely.

04:36 Now, it’s talking about life on the road here. You’re at home now. And I think you were telling me, are you hanging out with your sister tonight?

04:43 Yes. Yes. Yes, we are. Hanging out with the families spending time.

04:49 I basically been out for about a month and a half. And before that I ran about nine months straight.

04:56 So you run?

04:57 Yeah. You in this industry you learn to do the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unthinkable.

05:02 I gotta I gotcha. Now I was going to ask you. I wanted to kind of get back into the food question there. What’s the best food that you’ve had on the road? Where was it and what was it?

05:12 Okay. Is that also determining a certain area?

05:17 Sure. Sure. Sure. Let’s do that. Let’s break it up into regions. In the south—

05:22 Okay—

05:23 Best food you’ve had, not when you’re at home, but when you’re on the road, you’re in the truck, you’re driving, you’re making your living, but you got to eat, of course. What’s the best food you’ve had in the South?

05:34 That will be the Tony special from Phony Feet Food out of Baton, Louisiana.

05:40 Gotcha. What about the Northeast?

05:43 The Northeast. If you’re around the Boston area, I love my clam chowder. The real clam chowder. If you’re up around Maine, then I would love what they call the seafood splash. Basically, it’s lobster, mullet, everything in a seafood bake with cheese. Oh, man. You got call.

06:06 I got you. Make your babies more naked right there.

06:11 Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Now, what about in the Midwest? Let’s get over to the heartland. Over in the Midwest there, let’s say you’re in Ohio. In that, you know, in the heartland, in the Midwest, what’s good there?

06:23 Well, anything as far as in that Midwest, you’re going to always be looking at soft berry steak. I mean, it’s just a different variety of meat, vegetables, you know, a lot of it is the same, but at the same time changed around. So, you get a lot of diversity there. I have to say, you have to be kind of neutral across that board.

06:49 I got you. What about when you move over into, let’s say, the Dakotas Montana, Idaho. I know you’ve been out there because we know you’ve driven a long time. Do you eat at the truck stops or do you look for the mom and pops? Where do you go to meet your hungry needs?

07:07 Well, I’m when I’m out there on the Dakota, Seattle, Oregon, it would be Cattleman. Cattleman’s is one of the best steak houses. It’s a different variety of beef. I mean, you’re gonna have your sirloins, you’re gonna have your ribe eyes, you’re gonna have your buffalo. It’s just a different type. And you can also get it on that buffet level as well as on a fine dining level.

07:39 And you make sure you bring your credit card because you’re going to pay a little bit.

07:46 Is it worth it?

07:48 Yeah.

07:49 Gotcha. Well, let’s work our way down the coast. We’re moving down from Oregon, Washington, moving down toward California. Let’s just look at California on its own. What’s the best food you’ve had there?

08:01 Oh man, San Francisco, of course, you know, coast, you’re going to get your seafood, different types of dungeonous crab, great. But when you get down to LA, downtown LA, Ford Street, you know, going down toward Compton or American Cole or right by the stadium, the best thing to do is hit the food truck. The food trucks have some of the best type of burritos and wraps. I’m talking be lobster wraps. You name it, it covers every nationality. I mean, I would buy from a lobster truck before I go to a restaurant.

08:41 You know, a lot of people might have the misconception, or at least some people look at it with a little trepidation about getting seafood from a food truck, but you’re one to testify that’s not the case. Food trucks are just as good as a restaurant.

08:54 Yeah. Yeah.

08:56 Now, you mentioned San Francisco. I spent about a week out there long ago. That was some of the best food I’ve had anywhere in the continental United States. Just fantastic food there. I had some pizza at in Hate Ashberry. It was fantastic. Is that the same experience you had?

09:14 Yes. But not only with the food, but just with the geological location. When you coming in on 80 and you coming into Oakland or, you know, whichever way you coming in on, you know, when you look at it, even though the city and everything big and you’re coming across the bridges and you’re looking down and you crossing the rivers, you see Alcatraz out there sitting on the island and as big as you know it is, it look like it’s the size of a cell phone.

09:41 Mhm. I mean, it’s the same thing with the food, sir.

09:45 Well, let’s see. Let’s work our way up from California. Let’s get over toward Arizona, New Mexico. What obviously, you know, everybody knows what kind of food you got there, but what’s the best you’ve had out in that atmosphere?

09:58 Of course, you know, your Mexican food is good. I’ve sampled a lot of it. And even sampling it, going to different places, especially a lot of food that’s coming out on the reservation. I mean, I’ve had no problem with it. It’s all great.

10:16 Good deal. Now, as we’ve taken a tour across the country here, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Texas. Of course, you’re a Louisiana guy, so you’ve probably had a lot of that Texas fair food. And of course, we’ve always heard about the brisket, one of the things most commonly known in Texas. Let’s say you’re out on the road. Oh—

10:34 Most definitely.

10:34 It’s a long road across Texas. Everything’s a long ways apart in Texas, but what’s the best food you’ve had in Texas?

10:42 Most of my food that I’ve eaten out of Texas has been down out of San Antonio. I have eaten out of Dallas, Fort Worth. If you’re definitely going up toward 30 you have a barbecue brisket place right up there right before you go into Arkansas. I have to say that’s some of the best barbecue brisket I’ve had. You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transporter. We’ve been running down a lot of the food that he’s had out on the road because Nathaniel is a man who spends a lot of time on the road. Let’s talk about life inside the cab. You know, you and I talked before we got on here recording. You’ve been doing this for a long time. Kind of walk us through how long you’ve been doing it, how you got into it, and where you are today as a professional truck driver.

11:43 Well, as far as the start of it, it all had to come from my uncle. My uncle is a old school driver. I was taught old school way. Of course, you know, the CDL law came in effect. You couldn’t get your license before a certain time. I’ve been literally driving since 1988. A little over 31 years. I have been to different places, Canada, New York, Alaska. The only thing that I hate is that they didn’t build the long enough bridge so that I could drive to Hawaii.

12:21 But—

12:21 I hear you, brother. I hear you, man.

12:23 But, I’ve done a lot of driving. I’ve met a lot of beautiful people out here. White, black, it’s a trucker’s life. Regardless of whether you know anyone or you don’t know anyone, you’re still family. I can understand what other drivers are going through when they’re away from home. Long time, you know.

12:45 Let’s kind of drill down on that a minute. You said it’s a trucker’s life. You’ve met good people, all walks of life. What kind of take that apart for us. It’s a trucker’s life. What does that mean?

12:57 Okay. Trucker’s life. Well, of course, you know, it comes a time when a person like someone or a person will be married or a person have kids. Times that you got to sacrifice away from them kids to make sure that those kids have tuition or have education to be able to want to do or accomplish something better in life. The sacrifices that your wife has to make when you’re awake. The kids know you’re awake, but yet life still going on at home as well as it’s going on with you. So it’s a truck of life. You’re it takes everything and then we’re a part of everything and then most of the time we don’t know anything. It’s it sometimes can be confusing. But hey, it’s a trucker’s life.

13:50 When you talk about you don’t know anything, I’m assuming or presuming that you mean you come into situations cuz you’ve been out on the road for so long. Of course, you know, with obviously you can stay in touch with the what’s going on in the world, but maybe what’s most important, what’s going on at home. Is that what you’re kind of saying as far as—

14:09 Yeah. I mean, you can talk to your wife and the kids early that morning before they go to school or the wife goes to work by 12:00, you know, the wife might be calling you about this going on at home or a family member might calling you about this going on and then you’re a thousand miles away. And sometimes you could feel very helpless out here. You could feel very alone, but you know, sometimes the strength of that family can be what you got or what can make the situation change.

14:43 Have you ever been out on the road like you just kind of laid out that picture for us a thousand miles away from Louisiana and something happened where you needed to be at home is and you kind of described kind of alluded to it there. It’s you feel a little helpless. Have you had that situation happen where something happened on the home front and you’re like I really need to be at home but I’m you know 1,00500 2,000 m away. Yes, I have had that situation. And I believe that 99.9% of the trucker men, women, grandfathers, brothers done been through that headache too. It can get very vexing. But you just got to be able to overcome. Now at the same time, us being truckers, I’ve seen where we have gotten up and drove that thousand miles regardless of what the load is. I didn’t seen it. It happened. We’re human.

15:44 You know, we react to things as our families or every other person’s walking God green earth does. How do you deal with that situation? I guess you got to make a judgment call when you’re out there. It’s like you’re, let’s say, 1300 miles away from home. Something serious happens. You got to make that call. Do I go back? Do I abandon this load? Have you ever had to abandon a load?

16:10 No. I have not had to abandon the load, but I have adjusted the load situation. When you abandon a load, I mean, basically, you giving up on life. I that’s what I consider it, life, because you still have to take care of your family. You abandon that load that comes behind you, that chases you all over the world, it black balls you.

16:35 Mhm. But if you’re a person that has a great mind between you here, then all you got to do is call that broker, call that shipper, call the owner of the company that you may be driving for. Be able to relate to them and show them the situation to where you can make that situation a better situation.

16:56 Right now, you mentioned a broker, a shipper, the owner. That kind of speaks to your history. You’ve not just been doing driveaway since 1988. You’ve done a lot of different things. Kind of walk us through what you have done on the road.

17:13 Okay. When I first started, I ran reaper refrigerated three plus braid axle trucks all over the United States. Is that when you delivered the seafood?

17:25 Yes, sir. I delivered seafood. I delivered hamburger. I delivered IBT meat. I delivered chemicals, explosives different various stuff that need that temperature controlled environment. Right along with that once I got out of that did a little bit of flatbed full dry boxes of course on top of that took off for road a little while you know spending time getting to know my daughter hanging out and everything like that and then started doing driveaways and I’mma tell you I wish I could have actually been doing it since 98 I think I’ll be chin the Fort Knox you— What makes driveaway what separates it from heart cargo hauling from hauling freight there? What makes it better for you? What I love about it is yeah, you hauling cargo freight and everything.

18:28 It doesn’t move when you’re pulling four individual trucks with three or four different pivot points. You have to be on your toes. You have to pay attention to everything around you. The second you start moving that load down the road, everything that you see around you or passing by you becomes a rip to what you are moving. It takes a lot of pride, takes a lot of patience.

19:00 You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. You know, you made some great points there. We I fail to acknowledge to introduce to point out Nathaniel, which you guys probably know by now, is a deck driver here at Norton Transport. And he kind of laid out the picture for us, but you were not always a deck driver. You started as many as most of the drivers do as a singles driver.

19:29 Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much.

19:32 What led you to move to the deck side and how long have you been doing the decking? I’ve been doing the deck side almost two years. Two years solid. Just been having fun. I mean it’s an adventure. It’s something where you can enjoy what you do. I enjoy a challenge. Life is a challenge and we make it kind of through there without problems. So, you know, most of us, we like bigger challenges and it’s it just gets easier as you do it. But you still have to be on your TE’s and cues. Things can happen in a given second with doing it.

20:17 You know, deck driving, you know, if you make the baseball analogy, it’s like the major league of driveaway driving. I mean, because you know, like you said, the challenges, the preparation, the effort, the work, the planning that goes into deck driving is pretty considerable, but the payoff is also pretty sweet.

20:36 Yes, it is. It really is. I mean, you have a lot of great drivers out here. You got some guys that been out here 35, 45, 50 plus years driving. And these guys got millions and millions of miles on them. And yet all they might be doing is driving a truck or trailer, but imagine a deck guy that’s doing the same thing as that guy and got 20, 30 years experience. You know, that to me is unprecedented. That’s something that you can’t even bring someone into that caliber of work what that guy is doing. You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel is one of our top tier deck drivers and he brings a lot of energy to the game. You know, we talked before we started recording here, before we actually got on the air. You’ve got a great outlook on life.

21:36 How do you keep yourself so positive all the time? I think that that comes from others. When you’re delivering to a customer, when you’re getting, you know, directions and protocol from your dispatchers, your driver managers, your operational managers, the positive feedback come from them. Then that driver amplifies it by moving that deck load. Treating the customer with the highest respect. Treat the equipment with the highest respect. And then after you deliver it, it’s a natural high. It’s like something that nobody can’t take from you. And then you got a satisfied customer. You got satisfied office members, you know. And then at the end of the time when that contract get ready to get renewed, you got to satisfy a customer because he ain’t got no insurance claim.

22:32 You know, you said after you deliver, it’s like a natural high. Kind of break that down for us. Do you do three deck set, four deck sets?

22:41 Yes, I definitely do full four everywhere I go.

22:44 Four deck sets everywhere you go. Kind of break that feeling down for us. You said it’s like a natural high. That’s pretty self-explanatory, but you’ve dropped off you know, let’s say 432 and you got the lead truck and you’re about to drop the horse off. Is that a is it a weight off your shoulders? What kind of feeling is that?

23:03 Yes. When you get, you know, 432 off and then you’re driving one and truck one has put on a show for you. Whether you’re in bad weather, whether you’re in great weather, whether you in tracking from the shifting to pulling them up in the hill, from keeping them in a straight line going down the hill, once you get that performance of that truck, that truck becomes a part of you. When you give that truck away, it’s like you given a part of yourself away. And then all you can do is say, “Hey, yeah, she’s going to a good home. I hope somebody treat her the same way. And it’s a relief yet that you delivered that whole set unscathed, but it’s also deliver, you know, good when you done delivered that last one and you want to take it with you. It sounds a little difficult cuz if you got the right trucks like 57X’s, 49X’s, Cascadia, Max, Volvo, you got those good fully loaded trucks, they’ll rub off on you and it’ll get contagious after a while.”

24:14 I smell what you’re cooking, brother. Now, I wanted to ask you this quick question here about you kind of really gave us a nice picture of dropping all those off and when you get that lead truck delivered. Is it do you feel like not in a prideful sense, but a job well done?

24:33 Yeah. It’s never a pride thing even though it’s a building of your pride for delivering great loads to the customer. Customers giving you great feedback. Yes, that’s good. But it is not that pride to where you get the big head, you think you can do anything. It’s just a great feeling to build you up as a driver to show that if you can do it one, you can do it a 100 times. You can do it a 100 times, you can do it a thousand.

25:04 Now—

25:05 And it all don’t do nothing but just build you up. Now, do you see out there on the road, you know, the delineation what you’re talking about where it’s a good feeling, you know, you’ve done a job well, but you see some drivers out there who may think they can do anything, invincible. Do you see some on both sides of the fence there as far as the ones that are more like you and others that are kind of you know, I’m not talking about Norton drivers. I’m just talking about drivers in general.

25:33 Yes. To be blunt honest with you, yes, there is a difference. Anybody can take one truck in a 53 foot trailer or a 48T trailer and drive down the road. They can back up, but can you back a deck set of three? Can you back a FD combo? Yes, some of us guys can. You talking to one that can’t. Don’t get me wrong, we know the trickation of looking for it. And again, that’s why I say it’s comparing apples to oranges. Yes, those guys over there, but those guys come back over here and try to do what we do, they will be rookie. It’ll be the first day at school soon. Now, who’s to say? They may have not done it before. They may have done it before. They may have seen it. They may catch on to it, but everything has its own little trick with it. But again comparing apples to oranges, those guys that driving those trucks come over here.

26:35 It’s like going to school all over you. You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel, I got to ask you this question. Do you go by Nate? Nathan, Nathaniel, which is your preference? My original name, Nathaniel. Nate, a lot of people call me that, especially at work or you know, out and about.

27:06 Well, we spent a half hour with you, so I think we can call you Nate now. Nate, does that work for you?

27:10 Yeah, that definitely worked. But you know, they can also call me by my nickname, King Kong.

27:15 King Kong.

27:16 Yep.

27:17 How did that nickname come about?

27:18 Oh, that came from a very stern mother. The kind that did not play. Tell us more. My mother, she raised me as a single mother. She was a very beautiful woman. She was a very, you know, she did her job. She raved me. She worked at a grocery store. She worked at a hair salon. She got a hair license. She went through cool school. She graduated from college. She married my dad. I think a year or so later they both separated and she raised me by herself. Of course, you know, coming out of that time, hey, you know, a lot of people are not born with golden spoons in their mouth—

28:04 Right?

28:04 So, she was the type of mother that did not play and she showed me how much she love it, you know, she loved me and to this day, yes, she’s not here any longer, but she has made me who I am. When I got into trucking, you know, learning everything about a truck was hard and boy, you know, you had to take your test and this and that. I wanted to give up. Well, that stern mother told me, “Stay, if you give up, especially with the money that I did invested in you, I’m going show you something, young man.” I took her very seriously, and you can see why I am a trucker today.

28:43 Well, that nickname makes sense now.

28:45 Yes, sir. And I wanted to kind of dovetail back to what we were talking about there as far as the difference in drivers in your opinion and in your experience as you’ve driven so much cargo hauling deck set single driver which would you put at the top of the tier as far as difficulty and as far as mastery as drivers go? Is deck set driving the hardest there is? I would say deck set heavy haul stretch trailer. I think all of those are one category because you have to look at everything you do. Heavy haul, you got a D1 or you got a cherry picker back there or whatever, you know, windmills, whatever it is, you got to watch everything around you. You got to watch your load. You got certain standards that you got to do, certain places that you can fart, go to sleep, places where you be able to stop and unhook and go get fuel.

29:51 Same way with debt. Yes, we are able to go into a lot of the truck stop, but look at a lot of the tight cities that we have to go into. Look at a lot of the roads that we have to go, traffic area, construction areas. When I look at it, those two right there I would think top tier level nook one is your worst stuff. Other than that, the only other thing that I would say would be close to equal to that would be hauling explosives over speed on the whatchamacall you know that that’s right there. Top of the line.

30:31 Gotcha. Now, you said you exp you have hauled chemicals and things in the past.

30:36 Yeah. Yes, I’ve hauled explosives. I’ve hauled chemicals. Some chemicals that you, you know, can’t talk about. You can put it on the head of a needle and you know, wipe out a small city. But it’s the type of stuff that you just can’t talk about. I mean, your cords for customers privacy and stuff like that.

30:57 But, yeah, chemical can be very dangerous. How nerve-wracking or is it to be hauling something like that? Compare the difference in I guess pressure on hauling sensitive chemicals and a Ford deck set. I mean how do you compare the two?

31:17 Well, when you hauling like those type of chemicals and everything, you clackered out it, you know, the second you come into a scale, you know, it’s basically, hey, look at me. I got something dangerous. And the first thing they want to do is check your credentials. They want to see what you’re about. They want to make sure that you’re not a threat. And then you got people that’s passing by you don’t care or don’t know and you know they kind of ignorant to what you’re doing and they do stupid things. So you always want to try to protect yourself. Show of course the officers do b that you’re on one accord and that you’re operating in the standards that you want to operate in.

32:04 Now what about the pressure of a deck set? What’s it like? I mean let’s say you’re picking up—

32:09 I’m assuming you pick up in the down at Von Ormy a lot.

32:13 Mhm.

32:14 And—

32:15 Yes, I picked up all over.

32:17 And let’s say you’re taking one from Von Ormy out to Seattle. What kind of pressure do you feel? Or have you done it enough where you don’t feel the pressure? Or what’s your frame of mind, your vibe that you’re feeling when you pick up and you’re like, “Hey, I got 1,800 miles to go.”

32:34 Well, my first day is like the very the first day of trucking from me, period, is like the very first day of me hauling deck set. Every day is the first day. You can prepare yourself as much as you want. You still got to also prepare yourself for the unknown. I’ve taken deck sets up through Boston. Boston is a very tight city. I’ve taken them into Indianapolis. I’ve taken them into a lot of your major cities. I’m talking about had to even go down to oneway street, but they don’t—

33:11 That’s got to be something else going down a oneway street in Boston.

33:14 Oh yeah. So yeah, I mean it’s just that type of challenge. Usually when it gets to those type of challenges, a person like me, I accept that challenge. I go at it. I go do it. As long as you, you know, real space situation, you know, you don’t hurt nobody, you know, everything stable. You don’t get no type of hurt in with the law officers or anything like that. Oh yeah. It’s all about getting the job done.

33:47 These are things that make you tick. I mean, we talked about this. You were talking about the reaction you get from delivering to a customer. That feeling of the natural high when you deliver and your interaction with customers interaction with dispatchers, operation managers. But from an internal standpoint, what gives you that positivity? What gives me the positivity after that whole load has been delivered or I just cleared that load with a customer and I sit here and I do all my paperwork and push everything through and it goes into the office and then here 10 15 minutes later you call just to check to see if they received it and then they tell you, “Oh yes, we got your BL. Yes, we received everything.” Boom this here and everything just goes through without a headache. That is to me the ultimate because that means yes the company’s getting paid the customer he’s gotten paid with his equip equipment and that also says that he’s going to order more equipment and then of course you the individual you’re here to do a job to get paid and you will get paid too.

35:05 Now, one thing, of course, I’m going to toot our own horn here a little bit. Norton Transport you guys, a lot of the drivers we’ve had here on the Six-Figure Trucker talk about this. You guys get paid quickly when you deliver the units. How does that compare? How does the way we pay timeliness compare to other jobs you’ve had as a driver? Well, just as far as using my own experiences, you know, running as an independent, running Seafood, you know, you might have to run a couple loads before you get paid. Might be even two weeks or three weeks before you get paid. Comparing this over here to what I do here with the deck set. You know, you set here, you run two days and if you have a great load or just depending whether you’re dropping all four trucks at one place or if you dropping all four trucks at an individual, you can still get it off in the time and get paid twice or three times before you would even get paid on that other job.

36:13 And it’s yes, everybody has to get paid. Yes, everybody has to work. But it’s also about being comfort. When I say comfort, for the driver to be comforted to where he knows his bills are getting paid at home, the company that’s getting comfort knowing that the driver is happy and he loves what he’s doing and he’s having fun, and then the comfort of the company getting paid. That’s what that driver knows. Okay, I got more jobs to do. I got the company’s going to be around for a minute. So, at the end of the day, everyone is still out here working for a paycheck and they’re going to be happy.

36:56 You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. You know, Nathaniel, one thing we talk about a lot is relationships. And you’ve talked a lot about relationships with people out on the road, people you meet from all walks of life, dealing with the customers, interacting with the customers, but I guess I’ll let you speak to it more than what I can, but your relationship with a dispatcher, what’s that like?

37:25 Oh man. I look at the relationship with my dispatchers as a husband and wife relationship. I call I get my information. I give her the information that she needs to make her job easier, make her life fulfilling. I got to make sure that everything is moving and it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. If we don’t have that communication, if we don’t have that understanding of why we’re out here doing this, then how are we supposed to keep a company afloat? If we can’t even understand how everything should be working now, at the end of the day today, as we’re talking here, Brandy walked by me and she said, “Who’s on your podcast tonight?” I said, “Well, it’s Nathaniel Sensley.” She said, “I love him.” What kind of relationship is it like with you and Brandy?

38:29 She spoke highly of you. What kind of relationship is it like between you two?

38:34 I’m going to tell you why me and Brandy are so peas in a pot. I love her versatility. I love her management. I believe that she is very strong. Even though she may be a lady, you know, it don’t matter. We’re both out to do the same thing. We’re showing the love and passion for the work that we do. When I first met Brandy, I had a chance to actually talk to her and say how I felt. And I told her from the start, I said, “I’m here to work. I’m here to bust my butt. I’m not going to make no excuses. I got your back and I want to stand by you all the way to the end. Everything else is taking care of the company and making sure.”

39:26 So when people understand where you are, it makes your jobs twice as easy.

39:31 You know, that’s a great analogy you made. We’ve had drivers on in the past. They talked about relationship between driver and dispatcher. Some is some took the sports analogy went with Brady and Gronk. Some would say, you know in an overall generalization, hand and glove, but husband and wife, that’s the way you see it.

39:54 Oh, yeah. Well, my three dispatches, Brandy Brooke and Riley, we are husband and wife. I am the husband, the truck, it’s the boundary, and they are the ones that take care of everything else. And I love them and respect them for it. And for the respect that they have shown me the due diligence they have shown me. Oh man, it ain’t nothing they can’t ask me to do, you know, on the legal loving trucking company. I mean, just having each other’s back.

40:30 What do you think from your side and from their side takes to reach that level of cohesion that you’ve described?

40:38 You have to be able to relate. You have to be able to relate. You have to not only be able to understand what you do, but you also have to understand what they do because they have a boss to answer to. They have rules that they have to abide. And yes, don’t get me wrong, it comes a day when everybody has to push the rule here, push the rule there. But you also got to be able to have the understanding to work together to help each other make things better.

41:12 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, we talked a lot about your travels all over the country. You’ve seen how many miles you may have it locked down. You may have an a running total, but how many miles do you know you’ve logged since 1988. Do you keep a running total of it? No, I don’t keep a running total of it, but if I had to say how many miles, I think every dotted line that’s on every highway across the United States, I think that would give me my total. Sometimes seeing those same dotted lines two or three or four times.

41:46 You’ve seen them all.

41:48 Yeah, I think some of them I got addresses on them, I just hadn’t gotten to them yet. You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. You know, you’ve seen all the dotted lines, you’ve seen the yellow lines, you’ve seen the white lines. What’s the prettiest thing you’ve seen on the open road?

42:07 Wow. Honestly, the prettiest thing and this might sound a little this might sound a little I don’t know most people I don’t know if their mind are open at you know as far as the country everything is beautiful. People are beautiful. You cannot just pick out one thing in God’s creation. If I had to say to me what was the most beautiful thing being 35 40 thou,000 feet up in the air on an airplane and being able to look out hundreds and hundreds of miles thousands of miles over the creation and see how small we really are. That is something that you just can’t describe. You can’t speak on it. You can’t— You won’t know it unless you see it.

43:00 What about—

43:01 For me, that’s the beautiful thing.

43:02 Sorry about that. What about from the cab of a Freightliner Cascadia 125 or a Peterbilt or a Mack or a Volvo? What’s the most I guess took your breath away and put you in your place? It’s like that is just—

43:17 You know, stopped you in your tracks from a truck. What’s the most awe inspiring thing you’ve seen?

43:25 My first beautiful sight of the Grand Canyon. The sun going down, sun riding right across the top of the mountain. That was before truck, you know, could go right at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Now you can’t go up into the national park. Being able to come down through the redwood forest again, this was before the just seeing it, it’s beautiful. Trees that have been here since creation. Another place I like is when I’m going out west and I’m either on 10, 20, 40, or 70. The sun’s coming down. You’re going west and it take two hours for the sun to go down. Just watching that sun just take a flow troll down. That’s very beautiful sight.

44:15 It’s got to be relaxing.

44:17 It’s very relaxing. And the sun can actually look like he just reached through the windshield and just touch it and he’s so far away.

44:26 What a picture you’re painting here. You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel, I wanted to ask you, you’ve been doing this for quite a while on the driveaway side and a very long time in totality there from since 1988. What would your counsel be, your advice, your guidance be to someone who’s thinking about sticking their toe in the water of driveaway?

44:52 Oh, wow. If someone was coming in the driving, they didn’t have an idea what they was going to do. My law would be to them, absorb as much knowledge as you can across all fields. Not only that, but even if you was planning on going out into the owner operator, owning your own truck, absorb that knowledge before you jump into it. You have to understand what you’re getting into to be a more qualified driver to do this job. Because if you don’t be qualified, you don’t understand what you’re doing, you can hurt somebody very quickly out here. Whether it’s on driveaways, whether it’s driving commercial vehicles, heavy haul, pulling tankers, you can hurt somebody very bad. You have to understand your job before you can do your job more effectively.

45:59 Be able to listen to other people. Be able to relate to other people. You have question, you know, get those questions answered. Even if you got to go through 500 different drivers and put piece together to help you be better. You’re listening to valuable advice from Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel, you’ve been doing this a long time and we certainly appreciate everything you’ve offered for us here. Wanted to ask you this question as we wrap up and head out the door here. What has driveaway done for you? Not asking you to tell us how much money you’ve made, but what kind of lifestyle has it afforded you?

46:40 Driveaway, I love it. I love it. Driverway has given me a more respect for trucking, especially in the field of what I do, how dangerous it is. It gives me a life to earn to be able to at any moment if I needed to go do this or I needed to go do this, I can do it, you know, no problem, no question. And yes, in driveaway you will make money. But the more dedicated you are to your job, the more you’re willing to do your job, the more your job is going to be willing to do for you. So, I love it. I enjoy it and as you said earlier, it’s almost like a drug. It gets contagious.

47:35 You’re listening to Nathaniel Sensley here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel, I wanted to as we wrap it up, I didn’t really have a question for you. Well, I had one and then we’ll let you just have the floor. Close us out there. How long do you see yourself doing this? I’m guessing if you’ve been doing it since 1988, you’re not 21 anymore.

47:58 Yeah, you are totally right. I’m not 21, but I’m definitely a young 12. My faith in Almighty Father that takes us up and down the road each and you know each and every day protecting not only me but you. Give us that talent. You know he gave me a talent to do what I’m doing. He knew this before I even stepped here and I just have to thank him for that. I’m going to do it to the day they put me in the matchbox sir. That is the dedication that I give because that’s the same dedication that he gave to me. You can’t change it. That’s just that undying passion there, sir.

48:45 All right. That is That’s hard to top right there. I’m going to do it till they put me in the matchbox. Nathaniel, you’ve been great. Just anything you want to offer us or close us out with? Yeah, I will give this it as far as the trucking family. Regardless of what we do, what color we are, where we are, get this is to go out and let everyone know that we’re one family. We have to stay together, come together, help each other, and stand by there. For the new people that’s coming out, get with someone. Get with your team. Get with your company. Become one with that. If that’s what you want to do, fine. Do it. If that’s not what you want to do, search for what you want. But don’t give up on your dream. Everyone out here is my family. I love you. It’s days we may meet, may days we may never meet, but I still want the best for everyone out there. I thank you guys so much.

49:46 There’s nothing I can add to that. Nathaniel Sensley on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Nathaniel, thank you so much for spending some time with us, offering us so much wisdom and guidance, sharing your stories, sharing your road, your life on the road, everything that’s happened, what you see in front of you. Thank you so much.

50:06 You got it, sir. Thank you.

50:12 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.