00:05 And he literally just gifted me a 2003 Mustang Shelby GT with 800 original mile.

00:15 Get out of town.

00:19 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 the fine folks here in Norton Transport. And we are glad for you to be joining us yet again to hear the ins and outs of the trucking industry from the people who know it best. Of course, that’s the men and women who are behind the wheel making all these moves with all these trucks and making commerce happen. And joining us tonight, we are extremely happy to have Edward Thomas with us on tonight’s episode. Edward, tell us first off, where are you right now?

01:10 Miami, Florida.

01:11 So that’s home for you, right?

01:14 That’s correct.

01:15 Did you sustain any damage, any high winds, any water, anything from Hurricane Ian? Nah, it was more Central Florida that got hit. We escaped down here in South Florida.

01:27 Did you have any family up in Central Florida? Any relatives, any friends up that way that may have seen some of the storm’s path?

01:34 Yes. The eye went right over my mom, but she lost a couple shutters on her roof and that’s it.

01:41 I’m sure you were in close contact with your mother.

01:43 Yes, sir. I was.

01:44 Was What was it like for her to go through that storm?

01:48 Oh, I mean, we used to it. We was in Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the worst hurricane that ever hit Florida. So we’re used to it. By her being pretty much in the eye, we knew that the eye is usually get the weakest part of the storm. You know, hurricanes usually the exterior what caused the most damage. So we kind of knew that she was going to get a, you know, the good part of it.

02:12 Yeah. It’s kind of like the eyes kind of like it’s sort of isolated where you are in the center where there’s not as much devastating force there. Now, let’s see if Hurricane Andrew that was in 92. Where was that? Homestead, Florida. Is that right?

02:26 Correct. Yeah.

02:27 Now, did you live down that area? I mean, you said you’ve been through it.

02:31 Yeah, I was actually living in Miami when Hurricane Andrew hit in ‘ 92. Yeah.

02:36 How old of a were you a young man then?

02:39 Oh, yeah. I was born in ‘ 86. So 92, I want to say I was six.

02:44 What was that like? I mean, as a six-year-old, seeing a storm of that magnitude, I’m sure it shaped a impression upon you.

02:51 Yeah, it tore up South Florida. I was traumatized for a while. I was scared of hurricanes, but the next year we had another one and pretty much had one ever since then. I’m born and raised in Florida, so like I say, I grew used to them, but after that first hurricane, yeah, I was a little traumatized, but you know. Gotcha. Born and raised in Florida, South Florida. What teams do you pull for? Are you a Hurricanes fan, Gator fan, Seminoles fan, college football fan at all?

03:20 Oh, yeah. Hurricane all day, Dolphin all day, Miami Heat all day.

03:24 Gotcha. You’re straight up Miami all the way. Now, did you see the game last night between the Dolphins and the Bengals?

03:32 Unfortunately, I didn’t. I was at the airport and flying home, so I didn’t get to catch it. I caught the highlights.

03:40 Did you see what happened to Tua?

03:42 Yeah, I seen that hit, man. It was a scary hit.

03:45 Yeah, his reaction afterward. I mean, just as a Dolphin fan and a South Florida native, what did you think about seeing that? I mean, it was kind of freaky there.

03:53 It was scary, especially when I seen his hands kind of like tighten up, like twitch, his hands kind of froze.

03:59 I knew it was more serious than, you know, just typical hit.

04:04 Gotcha. What kind of things do you like to do? Obviously, you’re a sports fan there. What kind of things do you do when you’re not on the road?

04:11 Oh, well, thankful for Norton and the trucking industry. I was able to, you know, get enough capital and start my own jet ski rental business down here. So, I rent out jet skiis. I’ve been on the water a lot. Yeah, I’m definitely a water junkie, adrenaline junkie. I go to a lot of games, sports games.

04:29 Tell us a little bit about that as far as renting out your jet skiis. Obviously, I’m assuming you have a place on the beach where you work with the customers coming up, the tourists there, and try to appeal to them. I’m assuming that’s the way the jet ski business works.

04:45 Yeah, I got a couple docs that I dock from. Oh, just for the record, Norton Drivers, you guys get 75% You get 70% off Geek Watersports. Y’all hit me up. But no—

04:57 No, go ahead, man. Go ahead. Plug it. Do it again.

05:01 Yeah, man. Norton driver 70% off. I give y’all a good discount, man. I’ve had one or two drivers from Norton, man, that actually came down and rent it. Lexia, my girl, my home girl, she came and rent it. She’s a driver for Norton. And I had some other drivers come down and I give Norton drivers great discounts, man.

05:20 Oh, fantastic. Who was your girl that came down that you were talking about?

05:25 Lexia Daniels.

05:26 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

05:29 Absolutely. Now, kind of break it down for us how this jet ski business works. When you started it and how you were able to get the capital together to make that happen.

05:39 Well, we know how I got the capital Norton. You know, it works you guys. You know, you can hit me on my website geekwatersports.com. That’s geek. Or you can go to my Instagram atge geekwatersports. Same tag tab. And you know, you just book a time. You reach out and I meet you at either one of three docks down here in Miami. One of the docks I meet you at and I give you the jet ski, you sign the waiverss and either you go on your own or you know I can give you a tour I can ride with you.

06:12 Gotcha.

06:12 And it’s hourly.

06:14 Do you guys I mean do your people ride on the inner coastal or are you out in the ocean?

06:19 More inner coastal but if you want to go out in the ocean it’s possible have to give you one of my bigger skis. How many vessel I mean how many watercraft do you have?

06:29 I have a couple at the moment but it’s more me and a couple friends. So combine all us together we got about 12.

06:37 So you guys got a partnership going on there—

06:40 Right?

06:40 Gotcha. Is this something that you wanted to do for a long time?

06:44 Just an opportunity I seen that presented believe it or not. I was went to drip some jet skis one weekend and literally all the companies that I called was booked. Like I called back to back and I’m like, “Wow, if I have some jet skiis right now, I’ll be in business.” So, I just decided to do it.

07:04 Gotcha. Now, you said you were a water junkie. What made you what drew you into the water? I mean, so I’ve been swimming since I was a baby, you know, and it’s just I don’t know. Like I growing up seeing those guys out there on the water on the different PWC’s, I was like, you know what, man, I just I don’t know, started really liking it and got into it. And once I got on the water, it was a route, man. I was a jockey, man. I’ve been a water junkie ever since. I guess, you know, when you look at it from a consumer standpoint, you look at the price point to participate and you’re thinking as a business person, you’re like, there may be some opportunities here that could prove advantageous—

07:50 Right? Yeah.

07:51 Now, how long have you had Geekwater Sports?

07:54 I’ve been in business now a year. Officially, a year. I was kind of doing things on the wrap just, you know, riding with friends, renting out to friends a little longer than that, but I officially been in business a little over a year.

08:07 Gotcha. Gotcha. What’s the season down there in South Florida? I guess there you got to take a couple months off as far as water sports or what does it run like there?

08:16 It’s 365, man. You know, we got that. We hot all around. But mainly some more likely like Mar about January to just say at the end of December to April is where you get it get real slow.

08:32 I gotta gotcha. Now, not to pat ourselves on the back here at Norton Transport, but I would assume that the revenue, the income that you made driving for us as a deck driver is one thing that led to your ability to be able to open your own business on the side.

08:49 It’s the direct reason. Yeah, I made a lot of money with Norton, man. Norton been good to me.

08:55 How long have you been driving with Norton Transport?

08:57 I started August of 2020.

09:00 What’s it been like? Oh, it’s been great. It’s been great. I just— The only thing is I kind of kicked my behind myself in the butt for waiting as long as I did to go to the deck inside. I was doing singles and I was making a lot of money. I was considered Norton’s number one single driver. So, I got comfortable and I had, you know, I had people reach out from Norton a couple times to get in the deck in and I said I would eventually do it and I waited. But once I got into it, I really like I don’t know. I’m mad at myself. I should have been into it cuz the decking is totally different from single.

09:38 And kind of break that down for us. What are some of the key differences? I mean, there’s the obvious differences, but walk us through the obvious differences and to more of the nuances as far as some of the differences as an experienced driver. Kind of how does it play out as far as some of the differences between the two? Well, obvious you know the new the only downside if you’re a lazy person decking you know it requires physical labor but I would say the physical labor it get easier and easier as you go. So from the somewhat looking outside it might look like oh it’s hard work. It’s really not. Learning it was a little difficult for me at first cuz I had used to just used to been the driving but once I got the decking down pack. Oh man, it’s great man. Like you say it’s obvious the money is totally different. Quadr triple what I was making doing singles. What else I would say different? Of course you know the travel guys pay depending on whether you’re doing a three-way or four they pay for your travel. What else? It just opened up. It’s a bigger opportunity because like I said you can still see the singles on the load board.

10:41 So it just it makes your traveling trip planning a lot better because wherever you at, you know, it broadens what trucks you can get. So that that’s a great thing in itself. What else? I mean, my the brand the whole of my team, Brandy Jackson, I love my dispatch team. They’re great. Not saying my dispatch team when I was doing singles wasn’t great, but the dispatch team I have now doing decking is awesome. We actually I actually tried to get Jackson to come on with us tonight, but he had a schedule conflict. He couldn’t make it on, but he was bragging on you and it’s nice to hear you bragging on him, too. And Brandy there, both of them. What does it mean for you as a deck driver? Kind of walk us through the relationship and the importance of the relationship with your dispatch.

11:32 Learning each other. Just learning each other, understanding well from a dispatch standpoint. Jackson is I’m just I’m not trying to toot my dispatch horn or anything. I’m just, you know, answering your question and Jackson happened to be my dispatch. He’s real good at getting to know you. He has a great personality and he’s real good at you know knowing you know what makes you tick and what makes you talk. He know where I like to go. So he’s you know he’s always looking out for me on that. And it’s just little things like even if outside he’ll just call you and hey man I haven’t talked to you today. Is everything okay? Just little things like that is great and building that great relationship with each other. He know what I like and where I want to go and he literally would get the runs for me just you know him knowing that you know the direction I like going.

12:20 So just going and getting know each other.

12:22 Now you were talking about the direction you like to go. Where do you like to go? What’s your favorite path as far as lane specific? Where do you like to go?

12:30 I mean, of course it’s going to be Florida, but I go all over. I’m pretty much I go all over, but I like to go places where I’m not going to have too much trouble getting out of. So, that’s kind of key when it come to our trip planning where I want to go. I want to make sure I can get out. I preferly fly strictly southwest. So I try to make sure everywhere and he know that. So like try to make sure wherever I go the airport in that area has Southwest. But I go all over, man. I go to Oregon, Maine, you know, if I can get a way out of there.

13:09 But yeah, it’s going to be my first actual winter doing decking. So this going to be a little interesting.

13:16 We’re going to talk about that in a minute here. I had that on my to-do list questions here, especially for a guy from South Florida. I wanted to ask you a couple other quick questions about, you know, you were talking about ways to get out from certain locations and a lot of people who may listen to this are prospective drivers singles maybe becoming deck drivers. Talk about that load plan aspect of getting out. How do you approach that? Well, before you even what I like to do before I even like if I see on the load board I see a run I like I say I strictly fly Southwest because of the free bags. So I check and see the area that the truck is going to. So say for example I’m picking up on army and the truck is going to say Atlanta. I’mma think that all day because I know Atlanta a has Southwest and you know Atlanta is a real busy hub so it can pretty much do anything. Or another thing I do that I realize a lot of drivers don’t care to do is I get a rental car and drive six, seven hours.

14:24 A lot of drivers don’t like that. But I know if I go to an area, say like Orlando, I mean Atlanta, I know I have Cleveland, North Carolina, I have Mount Holly, I have all these areas that’s an hour’s drive of Atlanta. So I would go that that would be a no-brainer to go in that direction.

14:44 Yeah. And pick up a connecting load.

14:47 Correct. Yeah. So I look at all that when I’m going in wherever direction I’m going is when I’m getting out. Like I say, either A is do they have Southwest or B can I get it in a rental car and then a couple hours be to another truck.

15:01 Gotcha. How long have you been in the trucking business altogether?

15:05 December make five years.

15:07 Gotcha. Now I’m assuming you probably weren’t with Norton that whole time. You may have worked with some other companies.

15:15 Yeah, I started I actually started I came in the industry doing driveaway. I started with a small company called Global Transports. Their main office is out of Quebec, Canada. They have an office in Iowa. I started with them and I was with them about three years and I was at Oklahoma airport doing the CNG and I met a Norton driver and he was talking highly about Norton. So I gave Norton a shot and I’ve been with Norton ever since. What kind of things, not to brag on us too much, but what kind of things did that driver pass along to you that I’m assuming it kind of persuaded and appealed to you to give Norton a shot?

15:54 Yeah, I was. So, at that time, I was still learning the industry. I didn’t know as much about the industry as I know now. So, basically telling me about the load board because the company that I was with was basically force dispatch. So, that alone had me like, “Wow, they have a load board. I can go on there and pick what I want.” He was talking about the pay. He was just talking about the people at the office, man. He thought highly of you guys. So, I don’t know. I took him up on his offer and I can honestly say that everything he said was 100% spot on. You’re listening to the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport and Edward Thomas on the horn with us tonight. Let’s talk a little bit about you said you’ve been in the driveaway for five years. What are some of the things that you’ve learned from driveaway as far as give us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

16:50 The good is the freedom. I’m an entrepreneur at heart. So, I have a lot of other things going on outside of driving. So with driveaway, I know that, you know, I can drop a truck off and then just catch a flight home or to whatever city I need to go to have whatever meeting easy as to you know, traditional trucking. I either either got to, you know, work my way back home or leave the truck. So that freedom in itself, I love. Another thing about driveaway, I’m a people’s person. I’m very friendly. So, I meet a lot of people at airports, Uber drivers, you know, my different ways of, you know, getting around. I’m really in contact with a lot of people. As the traditional truck driving a lot of them might not admit it, but it could be a little lonely.

17:43 I bet. Now, you were talking about you’re a people person. That’s obvious to see from this you know, interaction we’re having here on the Six-Figure Trucker. Tell us about some of the coolest people you’ve met in your five years on the road. Be it at an airport with an Uber driver, just a total stranger. I’m thinking you’re one of those guys who’s never met a stranger.

18:03 Ah, the most best person I met just gave me a birthday present. I’m saying this on the podcast. I met a guy about five years ago. Good friend of mine. We’ve been friends ever since then. And he literally just gifted me. My birthday is Monday, by the way. October the 3rd, he gifted me a 2003 Mustang Shelby GT with 800 original miles on it.

18:31 Get out of town.

18:33 Right. I got to get it. I got to get it transported from Tucson, Arizona. Yeah.

18:39 What color is it?

18:41 White.

18:42 A 2003 Mustang Shelby GT. Would you say 8,000 miles on it?

18:47 No, no, no, no. 800. Not even a thousand miles on it. And piggy.

18:52 How did you meet this guy?

18:54 I met him on the road.

18:56 You obviously made an impression on him for him to give you this Mustang. Is there a story behind why he decided to give it to you?

19:03 He’s an older guy and I always be like I always be kicking it with him like, “Hey man, just leave me there.” Cuz he has a bunch of cars and trucks. So I was old school and I tell him like I tell him all the time, “Hey, just leave that on the wheel for me. Leave me that on the wheel and it was just always a joke and for him to call me and tell me his mind was kind of like shocking.”

19:26 Yeah. How did you react to that?

19:28 I didn’t really that night when he called me that night because we’re talking about some other stuff. It didn’t really dawn on me what he said till the next morning. I’m like I was talking to my girlfriend and my girlfriend was like you might want to call him and make sure everything okay. You know, we went to thinking about his health because like I say, the next morning is when it really dawned on me. So, I called him and he his health is perfectly fine. Nothing. He just decided to get me the car. So—

19:56 That got to be the most dopest person I’ve met on this road.

19:59 No doubt about it. So, how are you going to get it transported and when?

20:03 That’s to be figured out. I got to figure that out. I haven’t really put a lot of thought to it because I had a lot going on, but I’m definitely going to sit this week and try to figure that out. Gotcha. What are you going to do with the car once you get it? I mean, you going to baby it? You going to store it? You going to do it?

20:18 Oh, yeah. I’m going to do the same. I’m gonna do the same thing he’s doing. He’s I’m put it in the garage. I’m put it in the garage.

20:25 That’ll be your 85 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky car to drive.

20:31 Yeah.

20:32 Gotcha.

20:33 Yeah.

20:34 Now, let’s talk about being a South Florida guy, born and raised there, Dolphins fans, Hurricanes fan. What’s it like for you approaching your first winter as a deck driver? What kind of things are going through your mind?

20:47 I love the challenge. I love the challenge. I’ve worked in below weather. I’ve done physical labor in below weather before. So, I mean, it’s been years, so I know I can do it, but it’s going to definitely be a challenge, and I look forward to it.

21:03 What do you think is going to be the most challenging part of it?

21:06 I don’t know. Like I said, it’s my first time, but I would think that some of the parts, you know, that come off now easy may be frozen and, you know, have issues, you know, just being screwed off inside the in the winter. Maybe a lot of the driving is it may be a lot difficult, you know. What else? What else? Of course, the black eyes slip in and—

21:30 Mhm.

21:32 But I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I’m thinking that the payoff, you could kind of underscore that the payoff is worth, you know, your hands up on obviously you’re going to have gloves when you’re getting the saddles off and that kind of stuff where it’s a, you know, where you got close contact with a cold metal. I guess the payoff’s worth it.

21:51 Oh, yeah. It is. It is. Now, let’s talk a little bit about what are some of your favorite cities to go to when you might have a little bit of downtime? We know deck drivers don’t have a lot of downtime, but if you did have some downtime, what are some of your favorite cities to go in just to be there?

22:10 Oh, I got a couple. I love Charlotte. I love Charlotte, North Carolina. I built I just being on the road, I gained a lot of friends out there. I love Phoenix, Arizona, and I love Houston because I’m a fat boy at heart. The food.

22:24 What is it about Charlotte that appeals to you the most?

22:28 I met— It’s, you know, that’s the Bible belt, man. They got some real good people there. Good character, Christian folks I met out there. So, it’s a lot of the friendship I built. I built a lot of friendships out there in Charlotte.

22:41 What about Phoenix?

22:43 Friendship as well. Friendship. I got a good partner out there in Tucson. And I like Phoenix because whenever I’m out there with my partner, I got Las Vegas up the road this way, you know, not too far from California that way. And the people don’t care too much for the weather, but yeah, the people.

23:01 Now, you were talking about you got Vegas right up the road there. Do you ever make your way to Vegas to try your luck at the tables?

23:09 No, I work too hard for my money to give it away, my brother.

23:12 Gotcha. There’s just, you know, there’s several schools of thought on that as far as when it comes to gambling. I hear what you’re saying, man. It’s like you can be gone in a second.

23:20 Yeah. I never been a gambler.

23:23 Gotcha. Gotcha. And you know, it’s talking about gambling. I mean, when you look at it, what you do now and driveaway, you don’t see that as a gamble. I mean, obviously, it seems like something pretty solid for you.

23:33 Oh, driveaway. No. Me getting this industry was one of the best decisions I ever made. No, that not— If it was a gamble, it paid off a long time ago. You’re talking about one of the best decisions. How did you approach it? I mean, when you got to that point when you said, “I’m going to try this.” What was the I guess deciding factor for you?

23:52 So, when I was, like I said, I told you I worked in one of before. I used to work for a company and we delivered like brand new trash cans to cities all over. And what happened was that’s how I got into the industry. I was at a hotel in St. Louis and I seen a guy pull up in a brand new garbage truck and it was like in the evening and we started talking and I asked him what you know what he do and he told me he was a transporter and it went from that to you know me and him sat down and went and got something to eat that whole that evening and we talked about it and he just told me everything about the industry and I was fascinated about it just to start flying all over the place picking up trucks delivering them—

24:32 You know if there’s one common theme that we have when we do this podcast with every driver we talk to here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport is the freedom. How would you characterize that freedom? Let’s say for I mean if you were talking to another deck driver in driveaway and if you were talking to somebody who wanted to become a driver in driveaway, how would you describe that freedom?

24:57 Every I said it like this. I like to travel a lot. I travel out the country. I do a lot of traveling. My friends that travel to they have to put in, you know, ask for time off and all of this stuff. And it’s just it got to the point was disgusting to me to hear them say that. Like, you know, hey man, I got to request this time or I got to do this. I’m like, you know, in this industry, man, I just literally just, you know, tell my dispatch, “Hey, I’ll be off for a week and with no repercussions, no anything, you know, go out, handle my business, come back and get right back on the road or just roll out of bed and get on the lower board, find runs that I want.” You know, there’s no set 8, 10 hour workday. There’s no boss. If you a driver that’s handling your business like get, you know, getting the trucks there on time without any issues. Oh, man. It’s great. It’s amazing feeling, man.

25:57 Gotcha. Now, you were talking about doing some traveling. Where you been lately? Not in the truck, but personally—

26:03 I’ve been busy this year. I just got back from the Bahamas.

26:07 The Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Jamaica.

26:12 Wow.

26:13 Well, you know, you as you said, you’re a water guy. Did you take your girl with you?

26:18 Yeah, on all three. Yeah, me and my grand went on all three.

26:21 That’s got to be solid for the relationship.

26:23 Oh yeah.

26:24 Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. That’s hard to beat. Three destinations there all in one year. Which of those three was the best time?

26:33 Well, see, Jamaica was because I met my girl in Jamaica, so it was kind of like a reunion type thing.

26:41 I gotcha. Special time and place for both of you—

26:45 Right? Yeah.

26:46 Now, was she a tourist or was this a Jamaican girl?

26:51 No, she’s from Miami. She was a tourist. She was with her friends on a ladies trip and I was with my fellas on the fellas trip.

26:59 And kind of walk us through, if you don’t mind, how you met her and how you approached her.

27:06 I seen her at the airport in Miami. Well, actually my friend who’s actually driving and he don’t want to say anything.

27:14 This you actually said something to him at the office. What that was about two weeks ago. Marlin Bird. Yeah. Put his name out.

27:22 Oh yeah.

27:23 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marlon Bird. Yeah. I’m actually in the car with him.

27:26 Hey Marlin.

27:28 Hey. What’s up?

27:29 What’s going on, brother?

27:30 We was at the airport on our way there and he seen her and he know my type. He spotted out like there she go. But the thing was once we seen at the airport, but once we landed we didn’t see each other again at all no more. The whole time it was on the island. It wasn’t until we was on the flight back to America that they put me right next to him.

27:52 That’s some fate right there. You know, like it was meant to be.

27:56 Yeah. Well—

27:57 Now how long have you guys been together? A—

27:59 Little over a year.

28:00 Oh, so it’s obviously working out there. Now, not to get too personal, but what is your type? I mean Marlin obviously knew.

28:07 What is my type? Oh, you know what? They had Marley out there. What’s my type, bro?

28:13 You know, I like what kind of th you put me on the spot, man.

28:21 You got tall skin.

28:24 Tall and dark skin. Sure. I hear you, brother. I hear you, man.

28:28 Tall, dark, dick.

28:30 Okay. Okay. She checks all the boxes, huh? All over them.

28:34 A that’s good. And it’s good to hear that you’ve been to the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Jamaica with your girl, and you were able to do that because of the freedom and obviously the income that driveaway has provided for you. Now, Maron Bird’s in the car with you.

28:49 Yeah, we right here. We’re actually walking through the mall right now, but he can hear you right now.

28:53 Okay. Okay. Now, are you guys just hanging or you got a ride together or what’s the circumstance that’s brought you two together?

29:01 Oh, I got a birthday party this week. Weekend. I tell you my birthday Monday, so we just home taking it.

29:07 I got you. Now, how old will you be come Monday?

29:10 Oh, man. 36.

29:12 36. That’s not old at all, man. You’re still in the prime of your life right there.

29:28 Now, let’s talk, let’s shift gears kind of back to the trucking side here. I heard you mention you’ve driven CNG. What’s your stance on G on CNG?

29:38 It’s a challenge. I love it’s a drilling rush thinking you going to run out of fuel. No, let me stop. I like CNG. I like CNG. A lot of drivers don’t like them. It’s trip planning. You got to trip plan to the tea. If not, you would definitely be on the side of the road.

29:53 Now, let’s talk about the benefits. We’ve talked about this with other drivers. CNG is not going to eat into your pocket as much as conventional diesel fuel cuz I mean by and large CNG is cheaper.

30:06 Right. Correct. Yeah.

30:07 How much does that impact you? I mean being a deck driver it’s a little different when you’re just fueling the horse.

30:14 I haven’t done a CNG as a deck driver as of yet.

30:18 I gotta— So you do you still take singles?

30:21 I maybe took about one or two singles. I usually take them like as a connecting if I see one in that area that I’m dropping off and I can get to another truck and make money in the process. Yeah, I grab a single.

30:33 I got you. I got you. You kind of stepped right into my next question about what makes singles appealing. Of course, you know, putting you to your next load is obviously one thing. Now, when you were a singles driver, what was your state of mind then as a singles driver? I mean just you know getting up every early in the morning get my miles in. It was a lot more freedom far as with parking you know get a hotel parking and then I could really enjoy the cities that I was in a lot more when I was doing single as to with the decking. Now it’s kind of like you know the parking is you know how it is with the deck and it’s the parking could be a little difficult but with the singles I was I honestly wasn’t planning on being in the trucking industry as long as I am now when I was doing singles. I thought I would be out by now. I thought one of my other ventures would have took off by now. But I’m still here and I’m loving it.

31:29 Now do you by chance I’m going to do a little name drop on you. Do you know Michael Coll? He’s one of our drivers. Michael Colody. Michael Col. Nah, I don’t know that name—

31:38 Because well, the reason I bring up his name is because you were talking about hotels and parking. He’s what they call the hotel guy, which I’m sure you could find him through a little networking, but Michael’s got a thing. He’s actually on one of our podcasts where he they call him the hotel guy because he can find a place that accommodates for parking for deck drivers and he’s put that together. So, if you go to Michael’s podcast, which will be it’s already out there, Michael Col, and that’s with a K, and he looks out for you guys as far as finding the hotels that will accommodate the parking. And I believe he told me that for CDL drivers, you guys, you get 15% off.

32:21 Okay. His name, you say his name? Michael Coll.

32:23 Michael Col. Yeah, Michael Col. They just call him the hotel guy. I’m sure you could find him on Facebook or on the podcast. He’s a guy that could help you out. Now, speaking about that, how much of a challenge is it as a deck driver, particularly if you’re you know, you got a triple or you’re pulling four to find parking?

32:42 I mean, it’s difficult, but it’s manageable. But you definitely my thing is my trainer told me, you know, no matter where you go, you know, if you’re going inside a parking lot or anything, man, throw on those hazards and walk that parking lot, man. Get a visual of where you’re going so you won’t be put in the situation where you can’t get out. So that’s what I do. I pull over. So I go to a parking lot. I pull over and I throw my hazards and I just go out and I walk the parking lot and I get, you know, a good visual like, “Okay, I can make it. If not, I can’t make it.” I find somewhere else to go.

33:16 Have you ever been stuck where you couldn’t make it out?

33:19 Un I mean, fortunately, I haven’t had that happen yet. Do you think that’s because of the pre-planning you do, walking the parking lot, looking at every potential scenario?

33:29 Yeah, walking that. And as far as when I go places, I Google them and you know, you can Google maps and it’ll show you, you know, you can go through and it actually show you what the parking lot look like as well. So, I’m real good on that. Getting that out the way before I go anywhere.

33:46 Gotcha. Now, you’d mentioned that you like Charlotte, you like Phoenix, and I’m trying to recall the other city you like. Houston. Houston. Houston. Charlotte. Phoenix. Houston.

33:56 What about the ones that you despise?

33:59 A good question. A city that I do not care for. I haven’t ran across any that I really like don’t I can say I don’t like. I have places like pickups and drop offs I don’t care for. But I actual city in itself, I don’t have any cities that I can say I don’t like.

34:17 You like it all?

34:18 Yeah, I like it all. I mean, I’m just pushing through anyways. If I really like it, I stop and kick it. But if I mean, just keep pushing through. So, I haven’t ran across any city I can say I don’t like.

34:29 I got you. Now, you were talking about the freedom that you get with driveaway. Monday is your birthday. Will you be on the road or you guys are having I think you’d mentioned you guys are going to celebrate it to next week.

34:40 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This weekend we celebrating my birthday.

34:43 What’s on the menu for the birthday?

34:46 I know and I don’t I just got to show up, man. My girlfriend got she got the itinerary, so I know it’s multiple dinners and we’re having a party, but the details I can’t tell you. My girlfriend planned it.

34:58 Now, do you roll pretty large when it’s birthday time?

35:02 Yeah.

35:03 Yeah, I do.

35:04 Now, how many people do you anticipate will be at this party for you this weekend?

35:08 I have no idea. Like I say, my girlfriends plant everything. I’m just showing up, but I know I got a lot of family and friends be there. So, probably north of 30 people.

35:17 That’s fantastic, man. Again, you know, from Norton Transport, we want to say happy birthday to you. And we’re very fortunate to have you with us. And you know, you talked about you’d been in it, you’ve been in it for 5 years. You didn’t think you’d be in it this long. How long do you think you will be in it?

35:33 That’s a good question. I don’t got a exact expiration date, but I am, you know, I got my hands in multiple things outside of trucking. So, who knows, man. Two years, 20 years, I don’t know. Whatever, you know, whatever, whatever’s God plan—

35:53 Whatever comes down the pipe there. Now, you’ve told us about your jet ski business that you have, but you just had mentioned that you got your hands in some other things. Any ventures upcoming?

36:05 Yeah, my baby my number one venture is less link. I have a date and an event app that I’m getting developed. I had some setbacks I supposed to launch actually the app was supposed to launch the beginning of this year. But I had a series of setbacks. I had some incompetent developers that I was dealing with. But I got another team of developers on board. So hopefully if everything go well, we can have that launched by the end of this year.

36:34 Well, tell us a little bit about it. What is it exactly that you got going there?

36:38 Les Link, we’re a dating event where we’re bringing back date and back to actual locations. You can meet up with people, you know, see who’s all in the actual location you are you’re at, buy drinks, buy gifts, everything through the app at, you know, locations. So, that’s kind of a niche you’re trying to create for yourself that separates you from all these other dating apps—

37:03 Correct? Yeah.

37:04 Now, how long has that been in the plans in the progress there?

37:08 I got the idea about two years ago. I got serious about it maybe a year and a half ago. I had a first version of the app developed I want to say last year, the end of last year I had it. I wasn’t satisfied with it, so I didn’t tell him to scrap it, but I kind of got a little frustrated and, you know, sent the team back to the drawing board. And—

37:31 When do you hope to go live with it?

37:33 I think we should be able to go live within the next 60 days.

37:37 Oh, wow.

37:38 But portions of it, not the main, not the main because it’s going to be a couple different parts of the app that we’re not going to be able to go live with just yet, but just mainly the dating portion, messaging, and all that. Going to be able to go live.

37:51 I’m picking up that you are a true entrepreneur and that’s something that’s a passion for you—

37:56 I guess. So, yeah.

37:57 Gotcha. Now, do you see that as being something that could take you into the next phase as you’re still staying on the road making the money that you are as a deck driver here in driveaway, of course, which is funding your other businesses.

38:15 Yes. Yeah.

38:17 All right. Well, let’s talk a little bit about you got the birthday weekend coming up and then are you back on the road come Monday?

38:23 No, my birthday’s actually Monday. I’m I’mma fly out Tuesday.

38:28 Gotcha. Where’s your next load?

38:30 I haven’t got it yet, but I know I’m probably more than likely going to fly into San Antonio. But what my next load? I haven’t grabbed it yet.

38:40 Gotcha. What does the rest of the year look like for you before we get into too much cold weather? I mean, you just going to kick it on the road and hold on to your other two business ventures as far as making those two succeed.

38:56 Correct. That’s the plan, you know. Yeah.

39:00 All right. Edward Thomas joining us here this evening on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Edward, I’ll usually ask this of all of our deck drivers, our driveaway drivers. What would you say to someone who is considering going into this business? What would your advice be to them?

39:17 Do it. Don’t think twice about it.

39:21 Do it.

39:22 I hear Marlin back there, too. Both of you guys echoing that.

39:25 Do it. And to the decking part, don’t be intimidated by it. That’s what I say. Like, don’t I meet a lot of drivers that— Well, I meet a lot of guys that’s intimidated by decking. Don’t be intimidated. You’re going to take your losses, man, out here coming. But what you do is, man, you know, you pre-plan, you pre-trip, you be careful, and you just use all your senses, man. You hear, listen, smell, and I promise you, you’re gonna be all right.

39:50 Now, when you first got into decking, did you find it intimidating? And how did you break through that if you did find it intimidating?

39:58 You’re going to find you’re going to run across a lot of pessimistic drivers on the road. And so, when I would bring it up to these drivers, they oh, you don’t want to do that, man. That’s too much work. And it, you know, they a lot of drivers were telling me not to do it. So what happened was that discouraged me for a while. And then I ran across some drivers. They just kept telling me about the money and you know it’s worked but it’s not as bad as you know people make it out to be. So I just said you know what I’mma try. I just stopped one day by was doing a single through Laredo and I just stopped at the yard and went talking to the people at the yard like hey I’m interested in getting a deck and— That’s where you got some education there. Picked up some valuable information in Von Army.

40:42 Yes, sir.

40:43 Haven’t looked back since.

40:45 Haven’t looked back since. Best decision I made.

40:48 Gotcha. Edward Thomas joining us here on the Six-Figure Trucker brought to you by Norton Transport. Edward we really appreciate you being on the show with us this evening. And of course, looking forward to your I guess it’ll be your 37th birthday. Is that right?

41:03 36. Come on, man. Come on, man.

41:06 Okay. You’re turning 36. I got you. You don’t have 36 behind you yet.

41:10 Gotcha.

41:11 All right, Edward. Thank you so much. Marlin, a big shout out to you over there in the side. Are you guys still in the car or you at the mall now?

41:19 No, we’re in the mall.

41:20 You doing a little shopping for the girlfriend?

41:22 It’s my birthday, bro.

41:27 That’s a good way to end right there. It is Edward’s birthday, hanging out with Marlin. And of course he’s had a big year as he’s had kind of shared with us here. He’s been to the Caribbean there, had some good times out on the beach there. He’s a water guy and all made possible for his by his experience in the driveaway world. We’re lucky to have you, Edward, here with Norton Transport. And thank you so much for your time.

41:51 Hey, no problem. Hey, y’all remember, man, Norton drivers, man, Geek Water Sports, man, y’all get amazing discounts. Y’all in South Florida, y’all want to ride some jet ski—

41:59 You heard it right there from Edward Thomas. GeekWports. He said 70 to 75% off. If you guys hear this and you’re on the you’re in the Norton family, take advantage of it when you get down to South Florida and you want to get on that jet ski. All right, Edward, thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy your birthday weekend and your actual birthday on Monday.

42:18 Awesome. Awesome, man. Thank you guys.

42:20 All right. Have a good evening.

42:27 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.