July 22, 2024 • 20 mins
Could your personal data be at risk? We kick off this episode of the Rolling 18 Podcast with urgent news about a significant security breach at AT&T that has compromised customer information. This alarming incident underscores the importance of safeguarding our personal data in today's digital age. Following this critical update, I'm excited to bring you an inspiring conversation with Miss Flatbed Red, a gifted artist and social media maven who has carved out a unique niche capturing the charm of classic semi-trucks. From sketching pet portraits to immortalizing the grandeur of historic rigs, she shares how a trip to the Mid-America Truck Show in 2017 transformed her artistic journey. You'll hear about her ventures at the Iowa 80 Truck Show, her dream trucks, and how her artwork has evolved over the years.
Next, we'll shift gears to discuss various truck styles and preferences, featuring her top 20 list split between cab-overs and conventionals. Managing a bustling social media presence across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube while juggling a rigorous schedule—teaching piano and creating digital truck renderings—is no easy feat. We also highlight memorable truck shows, such as the Great Lakes Truck Club event in Ontario, known for its warm and welcoming vibe. A recent investment in a new computer marks a significant commitment to improving video content quality. Wrapping up, we reflect on the joys and freedoms of life on the road, with a special nod to Miss Flatbed Red’s captivating YouTube content. Buckle up and join us for an episode packed with updates, inspiration, and a deep love for the trucking community.
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Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
welcome to rolling 18 podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date with the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with walter gatlin hello driversand welcome to rollingin' 18
(00:24):
Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I appreciate you folks listening to and or
downloading my podcast.
I have some good news and somebad news for you today.
I know it's been a while.
We had a busy week last week.
I had to do a bunch of editingfor other people, so I took the
week off from podcasting.
We knew this to be a situationthat would come up every once in
a while, because I'm a truckdriver and that's what happens
(00:45):
to us truck drivers.
Not everything goes as planned.
Now I'm going to give you thebad news first.
The bad news is that you needto contact AT&T if you use their
service.
They had a major breach andunfortunately, somebody stole
all of your contact informationand all of your text messages.
So if you are one of thosetexters that puts out
information that could be seenas volatile or dangerous,
(01:10):
somebody may be knocking at yourdoor pretty soon.
So thank you, at&t, forallowing all of our information
to get stolen.
I'm not with them, but I'm withanother major carrier and
chances are it could happen tome.
Now the great news I interviewedMs Miss Flatbed Red and, if you
haven't heard of her, she is anawesome person.
She is a great artist, she is agreat musician and she is a
(01:34):
great social media influencerand, thank God, she chose the
profession and the love ofclassic semi-trucks and truck
drivers because she goes to alot of truck shows, her and her
husband, and they have a greattime.
They interview truck drivers.
They get all kinds ofinformation.
Well, you're going to hear allabout this in the interview that
I'm going to play here in amoment, but remember, check out
(01:58):
Miss Flatbed Red at miss M-I-S-Sflatbed F-L-A-T-B-E-D M-I-S-S
flatbed F-L-A-T-B-E-D dot red.
I don't know why it's not dotcom.
I didn't even know they issueda dot red, but that is so cool.
So, missflatbedred,missflatbedred, you're going to
love it.
Go check out all of her stuffon YouTube.
(02:20):
The videos are just amazing towatch and the information you're
going to get from these truckdrivers that have been on the
road for years and years andyears is going to be so valuable
and so important and theentertainment of looking at
these classic trucks is going tobe awesome.
Anyway, check out the interviewI did.
I'm going to play it right nowand then when I get back we're
going to close out the show, sotoday's going to be a little bit
(02:42):
longer of a podcast than normal, but it is well worth it.
All right, drivers, today I havethe pleasure of interviewing
Miss Flatbed Red.
I put a link to her website inthe description of this podcast.
Now, when you visit her website, be sure to read her about page
and in part, the about pagesays Spring of 2016 brought Red
(03:03):
and her beloved cat Tasha backto Ohio.
She married an avid historictruck lover in May and in March
of 2017 she went with him to theMid-America Truck Show
Sketchbook in tow.
Now, while drawing her veryfirst semi, she received her
first truck commission and sincethen she has refined her
(03:23):
technique and developed her ownunique style.
Ms Flatbed Red was born in thesummer of 2017.
Hello, ms Flatbed Red, how areyou today?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Hello, I'm great.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'm good.
How did the truck show go atIowa 80?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Other than always being really warm.
It was fabulous.
It was super, super hot, buteveryone was in a good mood.
There were lots of cool trucksthey're always the ones that are
there pretty often, but plentyof new ones too.
So lots of stuff to see.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's awesome.
Yes, it was hot, and I believeit cooled off the very next day
after it was over, so that was ashame.
So anyway, on that fateful dayin 2017 that your About Me page
talks about what impressed youthe most, and did you even come
close to the realization thatthis day would redirect your
life to where you are now?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Oh well, every artist wants to find their niche and
until that point all I was doingwas pet portraits and portraits
, basically, and everybody doesthat as an artist at some point.
So when Tom Sircombe came up tome who of course I had no idea
who he was at the time now we'refriends and asked for a drawing
, I'm like, hey, there is, likethere's a potential here.
(04:33):
So it definitely had methinking from the very beginning
, and as I was sitting theredrawing the truck in front of me
, more people started coming upand asking me to draw theirs too
, and I was not prepared forthat.
I will tell you, I did not takeany real art supplies.
It was just a little sketchbookand one like liner pen not even
(04:53):
a ruler or anything and lots ofstraight lines on trucks.
So things have changed a lotsince then.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Well, if you could pick one truck out of all the
trucks that you've seen sinceyou've started this adventure
you know, the cab overs the longhoods and you could own that
truck and put it in your garage.
Which one would it be, do youthink?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, I own a cab over a 352 Peterbilt, but my
dream truck is probably a 4300.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
What year.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yeah, I don't care, I just want one with an original
paint scheme on it like afactory, multi-colored, awesome,
straight on it.
Um, that's, that's probably thedream truck.
Or a 47 db, just a trans starinternational now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Could you have over?
I'm not picky could you give usan example of what type of
transmissions those would have,because I know things have
changed over the yearsdrastically and everybody keeps
talking automatic.
But what transmission?
do you think would be in thoseprobably a 10 speed, I would
think yeah, because I think myfirst truck I ever bought right
out of the army I bought an 84kenworth cab over.
(05:58):
It was the first year they cameout with super queen sleeper.
That's what the salesman toldme and that's what I've been
telling all my friends for years.
But I was excited about it.
And then I went down and boughta trailer.
And then I went down and got mychauffeur's license because I
didn't realize you had to have aspecial license to drive a semi
.
All I know is I got out of theArmy, I wanted to be a truck
driver and I did it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
You bought it before you had your license.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Oh yeah, we drove everything without licenses back
in those days.
I rode my motorcycle for ninemonths before I realized I
needed to get a motorcyclelicense.
Yeah, me and my friends wereall crazy about that.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Oh my goodness, At least you got it eventually.
No drama.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Now I know which truck you would love to own and
I know which truck you do own.
Tell us a little bit about yourtruck real quick.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It's a 1980 352 Peterbilt and it's a factory box
truck.
It's got a 20-foot stainlessbox on it.
No, it's not refrigerated.
It did not haul produce.
It came from JD Hollingsworthin South Carolina and it hauled
machines JD Hollingsworth inSouth Carolina and it hauled
(07:07):
machines.
Teams drove it all over theplace to go get broken machines
to take back to the main placein South Carolina to have them
repaired.
They made, I think, fabric,something like that.
So that's what it did andeventually the fleet and the
company closed.
The fleet was sold and it endedup in Alabama and I ended up
with it.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
How long ago did you end up with that truck?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
2020.
That was a COVID purchase.
I'm sure everyone's familiarwith some wild COVID purchases.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh yeah, I've been there, done that.
So is it safe to say that thetruck style that you prefer is
the cab over, or are you stilllean towards the long hood?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I'm not really picky.
So last year I realized I'dbeen asked so many times what my
favorite trucks were that Imade a top 10 list.
At first it was like a top 40list and I wasn't able to
whittle it down much.
I got it down to 20 andrealized that it was basically
half cab overs and halfconventionals.
So I have a top 20.
(08:03):
Yeah, it's top.
Is it top 10 or top?
I don't remember if there arefive on each one or 10 on each
one, but I couldn't get itnarrowed down any more than that
.
So I'm split 50-50.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Would that happen to be on your website, or is that
privileged information?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I think I just posted it on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Okay, well, I'll have to check that out.
Yeah, I go through.
I have so many people thatfollow me because of what I
started, and then people that Ifollow because I'm so interested
.
You know I'm one of those ADHDguys that's like oh, look a
squirrel.
Next thing you know I'mfollowing, follow this such and
such.
I'm like no, there's.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I mean, I already spend so much time of my day
editing videos for my YouTubechannel and monitoring comments
on Facebook and Instagram andTikTok and YouTube that I don't
really have time to watch thatmany videos that require focus
(09:01):
and attention, so I'm like amindless TikTok scroller
personally.
Yes, I do watch other stuffsometimes, but only when I'm not
exhausted from everything else.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, I've seen some real funny ones out there and
I'll tell you what.
I'll watch that one 1000 timesbecause it's just amazing.
Some of the short videos theydo.
They're so funny and you justhave.
You can't believe they just didthat and did it perfectly.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yep, I need silly stuff like that to help me
unwind.
At the end of the day, I alsoteach piano, so I spend about.
Let's see, well, I have 26students, so 13 and a bit hours
a week teaching, plus all thevideo editing and drawing, and I
have a wait list of students.
I have a wait list for artworkand I have probably, at any
(09:43):
point, about 30 videos that neededited for YouTube.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So it's safe to say you don't have somebody working
in the office with you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It's just me.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Well, when you start branching out and getting much
bigger and it looks to me likeyou're going to.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
you're probably going to have to hire some help.
Yeah, it's actually at thepoint where I think it would
make me more efficient to beable to hire someone to do the
editing and all that.
And I do digital renderings oftrucks, so like I'll use my iPad
to change the stripes orsomething, add different stacks,
change bumpers, lower it,stretch it, all that stuff.
I do a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So let me, let me ask you how many truck shows have
you been to?
Do you think that you can justguess?
You know, since you've startedall this, and which ones stand
out the best for you?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Let's say I go to about 12 a year on average.
At first it was probablysignificantly fewer and then now
this year I wouldn't besurprised if I ended up at 15 or
16.
Let's see the best ones.
I actually there's a show inOntario.
We go to the great lakes truckclub in Clifford.
(10:51):
Ontario does a show everyCanada day weekend and we say
that's like a.
It's like a family reunionwhere you actually like your
whole family Right andeverybody's super friendly.
It's a good range of trucks,basically 25 years or older, or
if it's a newer truck it has tohave exposed air cleaners and
stacks to make it fit thevintage vibe.
(11:13):
So I definitely prefer antiqueshows, so ATHS shows all over
the place.
Even if it's just a littlelocal chapter show with 20
trucks, still plenty of stuff tosee and plenty of people to
talk to.
In general I like how friendlypeople are at truck shows.
If you go to a car show it'snot necessarily likely someone's
(11:34):
going to chat with you, but ata truck show everyone's happy to
talk.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I hit as many truck showsa year that I can because I
work 12-hour shifts.
I started working for a farmabout three and a half years ago
and I can tell you that workinga 12-hour shift, five days a
week, is sometimes harder thanactually being out on the road
and you get less rest.
So, out of all the things thatyou have done since your 2017
(12:03):
explosion into the world oftrucks and paintings and going
to truck shows, Do you see anysignificant changes in the near
future other than addingsomebody to your employee list
Because you're getting you know?
Piano is cool.
I was raised partly by mygrandmother and she had a piano
and I loved piano.
Never learned how to play,always played by ear, but I
(12:24):
loved piano and people that canplay piano excite me greatly.
Do you see any directionalchanges you're going to be
making in the near future?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
as far as Miss Flatbed Red, Well, I made a big
purchase yesterday to help withmy whole YouTube especially side
of my social media.
If I haven't made that clear sofar, just by mentioning it so
many times, that's definitely myfavorite platform.
At the York ATHS conventionthis year, I started doing my
(12:53):
interviews a little bitdifferently, so that redirection
is actually already begun.
I've started clipping amicrophone to myself and the
person I'm interviewing ratherthan like holding my microphone
phone in their face, so it's alittle bit more casual laid-back
and they they actually talkabout three times more, so my
videos are at least three timeslonger than they used to be.
(13:16):
So more information, bettervideos, and all of that is
taking more time to edit.
So I finally splurged yesterdayand I bought myself a new
computer.
So rather than using my phoneto edit everything and my
10-year-old laptop obviouslycouldn't even handle the videos
(13:36):
I've ordered a new computer, soI'll get to start editing
everything much better, muchmore professionally, and
hopefully that improves theviewing process for everyone.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I ended up having to buy a laptop because
my older one wasn't keeping upand my older computers on the
desk.
I have two on the desk, threemonitors, and I just can't edit
video on a on a smartphone Ican't do it, it's too small.
I don't know how people do allthat stuff with their little
finger touch and everything.
It's just like I'm.
I end up dropping the phone andit's crazy.
So how involved is your husbandin all this?
Speaker 3 (14:10):
He has a Marmon so we've been taking my trucks then
at the mechanic a good chunk ofthe summer so far.
So we've taken his truck to afew shows, left mine at home.
I think I've missed four showsalready this year.
But Stu's home now.
Everything's good, truck'sready to go to the next show.
That's not going to be probablyfor a month or more.
(14:30):
Nothing really happens end ofJulyuly around me, which I
appreciate.
I need the break no doubt but uhyeah, it's been a wild
beginning of the year already.
Oh, there's the blackbird.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'm turning around so I'm, so I'm showing the next
seventh annual gear jammer truckshow.
You know you won't be at thatone I think a 14 hour drive for
me oh gotcha I'm probably gonnagive that one a miss.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
So I think next for me will be harvester homecoming
in fort wayne, indiana, the oldinternational plant here or
there that's awesome yeah well.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Thank you very much for your time.
You've been a pleasure.
Um, I really appreciate all thehard work you do.
Try not you and your husband,try not to work yourselves to
death.
You do provide a lot of greatcontent for the drivers out
there and we really doappreciate you.
There are times that I'vewatched many of your interviews
with folks with classic trucksand the last question I have for
(15:28):
you is to me, it would be hardto lose somebody.
You know, you meet somebody,you interview them and then a
year or two, or three or five orten, whatever, down the road
they pass away, and to me it'slike we're losing an icon.
It's like losing WaylonJennings or Johnny Cash.
You know, some of these driversout there are just amazing and
the stories they have to tellare awesome.
(15:48):
What advice can you give toanybody that's at a truck show,
just a normal person?
When they walk up and talk tosomebody, what are the good
questions to ask them?
Because this is the kind ofstuff we need to try and retain.
The old style of trucking was,I think, one of the best and had
some of the most honorablepeople behind the wheel.
What can we learn today fromthose drivers of yesterday?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Oh.
So that's a very good question,and on my channel I have two
different playlists.
One is truck tours, where it'sfocused mostly on the truck, and
then I have the trucker tales,where in those cases I either
know or I find out when I'minterviewing them about their
truck that they have a whole lotmore to share that they are
totally willing to share.
So I sit down in the truck withthem and they tell me their
(16:35):
life story in a nutshell.
So if you have a lot of time tokill, you can ask a different
set of questions, but if you'rejust sitting and chatting,
questions I like to ask to justsort of break the ice, are how
old were you when you first gotbehind the wheel of a truck?
You might be surprised withsome of those answers.
(16:56):
I think someone said they were10.
Over the weekend at Walcott,someone I interviewed was 10 the
first time they drove a truckon the road, huddling something.
And another one I like to askis what's the first truck you
ever drove?
Because that can often open awhole nother part of the
conversation about why theyended up with that truck.
(17:19):
Nobody else wanted to drive it,that's all there was Then I had
to learn how to drive two, six,etc.
So those two questions areprobably good ones to start with
it's just totally amazing to methis woman and her husband.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
They go out there and they talk to truck drivers from
the past, truck drivers oftoday, and we can learn so much
from the past and move it to thefuture we can.
There's a lot of informationthat can be allocated to the
future truck driver, even ifeverything goes autonomous and
all battery and all that stuff.
I don't even like to thinkabout that.
(18:00):
But yeah, change is coming, bigchange is coming.
And the cool thing about MsFlatbed Red she is authentic.
That's what made me reach outto her to begin with to
interview her, because I lovepeople like this and
entertainment.
Authentic, honorableentertainment is very hard to
(18:23):
find these days and everybody'sjust scrambling to find out
what's going to go viral, what'snot Just relax, enjoy your life
.
When you're driving down theroad and things seem a little
tough, drivers just rememberthere is a life out there and if
you have to stop somewhere, getout of the truck, shut it down,
get out of the truck, walk outin the field and just smell the
(18:44):
flowers and go look for somelavender or some whatever and
just enjoy your life, becauseit's not all about working.
You know you're out there andyou're experiencing the entire
country.
If you travel over the road,you're experiencing so much and
we let life climb into our headsand say, oh, I can't do that,
you know.
Oh, we got to be there on time,or this or that.
(19:06):
Yeah, that's understandable,but I know from experience that
we let all this little stuffcreep up into our head and it
takes away from all the coolthings that we can absorb that's
out there in life.
So enjoy your life and missflatbed red, thank you so much
for the interview.
You guys go check her out atmiss m-i-s-s-f-l-a-t-b-e-d dot
(19:28):
red.
You will not be disappointed.
Check her out on YouTube.
You're going to have a blast.
And some of these rigs are justamazing, just gorgeous engines.
You know, it's just amazing.
I appreciate you once again forlistening to and or downloading
my podcast and, like I alwayssay, god bless, be safe and, as
(19:50):
always, keep it between thelines.
Driver WGBHorg.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
WGBHorg WGBHorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,
wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,
wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,wgbhorg.
welcome to rolling 18 podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date with the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with walter gatlin hello driversand welcome to rollingin' 18
(00:24):
Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I appreciate you folks listening to and or
downloading my podcast.
I have some good news and somebad news for you today.
I know it's been a while.
We had a busy week last week.
I had to do a bunch of editingfor other people, so I took the
week off from podcasting.
We knew this to be a situationthat would come up every once in
a while, because I'm a truckdriver and that's what happens
(00:45):
to us truck drivers.
Not everything goes as planned.
Now I'm going to give you thebad news first.
The bad news is that you needto contact AT&T if you use their
service.
They had a major breach andunfortunately, somebody stole
all of your contact informationand all of your text messages.
So if you are one of thosetexters that puts out
information that could be seenas volatile or dangerous,
(01:10):
somebody may be knocking at yourdoor pretty soon.
So thank you, at&t, forallowing all of our information
to get stolen.
I'm not with them, but I'm withanother major carrier and
chances are it could happen tome.
Now the great news I interviewedMs Miss Flatbed Red and, if you
haven't heard of her, she is anawesome person.
She is a great artist, she is agreat musician and she is a
(01:34):
great social media influencerand, thank God, she chose the
profession and the love ofclassic semi-trucks and truck
drivers because she goes to alot of truck shows, her and her
husband, and they have a greattime.
They interview truck drivers.
They get all kinds ofinformation.
Well, you're going to hear allabout this in the interview that
I'm going to play here in amoment, but remember, check out
(01:58):
Miss Flatbed Red at miss M-I-S-Sflatbed F-L-A-T-B-E-D M-I-S-S
flatbed F-L-A-T-B-E-D dot red.
I don't know why it's not dotcom.
I didn't even know they issueda dot red, but that is so cool.
So, missflatbedred,missflatbedred, you're going to
love it.
Go check out all of her stuffon YouTube.
(02:20):
The videos are just amazing towatch and the information you're
going to get from these truckdrivers that have been on the
road for years and years andyears is going to be so valuable
and so important and theentertainment of looking at
these classic trucks is going tobe awesome.
Anyway, check out the interviewI did.
I'm going to play it right nowand then when I get back we're
going to close out the show, sotoday's going to be a little bit
(02:42):
longer of a podcast than normal, but it is well worth it.
All right, drivers, today I havethe pleasure of interviewing
Miss Flatbed Red.
I put a link to her website inthe description of this podcast.
Now, when you visit her website, be sure to read her about page
and in part, the about pagesays Spring of 2016 brought Red
(03:03):
and her beloved cat Tasha backto Ohio.
She married an avid historictruck lover in May and in March
of 2017 she went with him to theMid-America Truck Show
Sketchbook in tow.
Now, while drawing her veryfirst semi, she received her
first truck commission and sincethen she has refined her
(03:23):
technique and developed her ownunique style.
Ms Flatbed Red was born in thesummer of 2017.
Hello, ms Flatbed Red, how areyou today?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Hello, I'm great.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'm good.
How did the truck show go atIowa 80?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Other than always being really warm.
It was fabulous.
It was super, super hot, buteveryone was in a good mood.
There were lots of cool trucksthey're always the ones that are
there pretty often, but plentyof new ones too.
So lots of stuff to see.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's awesome.
Yes, it was hot, and I believeit cooled off the very next day
after it was over, so that was ashame.
So anyway, on that fateful dayin 2017 that your About Me page
talks about what impressed youthe most, and did you even come
close to the realization thatthis day would redirect your
life to where you are now?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Oh well, every artist wants to find their niche and
until that point all I was doingwas pet portraits and portraits
, basically, and everybody doesthat as an artist at some point.
So when Tom Sircombe came up tome who of course I had no idea
who he was at the time now we'refriends and asked for a drawing
, I'm like, hey, there is, likethere's a potential here.
(04:33):
So it definitely had methinking from the very beginning
, and as I was sitting theredrawing the truck in front of me
, more people started coming upand asking me to draw theirs too
, and I was not prepared forthat.
I will tell you, I did not takeany real art supplies.
It was just a little sketchbookand one like liner pen not even
(04:53):
a ruler or anything and lots ofstraight lines on trucks.
So things have changed a lotsince then.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Well, if you could pick one truck out of all the
trucks that you've seen sinceyou've started this adventure
you know, the cab overs the longhoods and you could own that
truck and put it in your garage.
Which one would it be, do youthink?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, I own a cab over a 352 Peterbilt, but my
dream truck is probably a 4300.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
What year.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yeah, I don't care, I just want one with an original
paint scheme on it like afactory, multi-colored, awesome,
straight on it.
Um, that's, that's probably thedream truck.
Or a 47 db, just a trans starinternational now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Could you have over?
I'm not picky could you give usan example of what type of
transmissions those would have,because I know things have
changed over the yearsdrastically and everybody keeps
talking automatic.
But what transmission?
do you think would be in thoseprobably a 10 speed, I would
think yeah, because I think myfirst truck I ever bought right
out of the army I bought an 84kenworth cab over.
(05:58):
It was the first year they cameout with super queen sleeper.
That's what the salesman toldme and that's what I've been
telling all my friends for years.
But I was excited about it.
And then I went down and boughta trailer.
And then I went down and got mychauffeur's license because I
didn't realize you had to have aspecial license to drive a semi
.
All I know is I got out of theArmy, I wanted to be a truck
driver and I did it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
You bought it before you had your license.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Oh yeah, we drove everything without licenses back
in those days.
I rode my motorcycle for ninemonths before I realized I
needed to get a motorcyclelicense.
Yeah, me and my friends wereall crazy about that.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Oh my goodness, At least you got it eventually.
No drama.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Now I know which truck you would love to own and
I know which truck you do own.
Tell us a little bit about yourtruck real quick.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It's a 1980 352 Peterbilt and it's a factory box
truck.
It's got a 20-foot stainlessbox on it.
No, it's not refrigerated.
It did not haul produce.
It came from JD Hollingsworthin South Carolina and it hauled
machines JD Hollingsworth inSouth Carolina and it hauled
(07:07):
machines.
Teams drove it all over theplace to go get broken machines
to take back to the main placein South Carolina to have them
repaired.
They made, I think, fabric,something like that.
So that's what it did andeventually the fleet and the
company closed.
The fleet was sold and it endedup in Alabama and I ended up
with it.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
How long ago did you end up with that truck?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
2020.
That was a COVID purchase.
I'm sure everyone's familiarwith some wild COVID purchases.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh yeah, I've been there, done that.
So is it safe to say that thetruck style that you prefer is
the cab over, or are you stilllean towards the long hood?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I'm not really picky.
So last year I realized I'dbeen asked so many times what my
favorite trucks were that Imade a top 10 list.
At first it was like a top 40list and I wasn't able to
whittle it down much.
I got it down to 20 andrealized that it was basically
half cab overs and halfconventionals.
So I have a top 20.
(08:03):
Yeah, it's top.
Is it top 10 or top?
I don't remember if there arefive on each one or 10 on each
one, but I couldn't get itnarrowed down any more than that
.
So I'm split 50-50.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Would that happen to be on your website, or is that
privileged information?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I think I just posted it on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Okay, well, I'll have to check that out.
Yeah, I go through.
I have so many people thatfollow me because of what I
started, and then people that Ifollow because I'm so interested
.
You know I'm one of those ADHDguys that's like oh, look a
squirrel.
Next thing you know I'mfollowing, follow this such and
such.
I'm like no, there's.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I mean, I already spend so much time of my day
editing videos for my YouTubechannel and monitoring comments
on Facebook and Instagram andTikTok and YouTube that I don't
really have time to watch thatmany videos that require focus
(09:01):
and attention, so I'm like amindless TikTok scroller
personally.
Yes, I do watch other stuffsometimes, but only when I'm not
exhausted from everything else.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, I've seen some real funny ones out there and
I'll tell you what.
I'll watch that one 1000 timesbecause it's just amazing.
Some of the short videos theydo.
They're so funny and you justhave.
You can't believe they just didthat and did it perfectly.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yep, I need silly stuff like that to help me
unwind.
At the end of the day, I alsoteach piano, so I spend about.
Let's see, well, I have 26students, so 13 and a bit hours
a week teaching, plus all thevideo editing and drawing, and I
have a wait list of students.
I have a wait list for artworkand I have probably, at any
(09:43):
point, about 30 videos that neededited for YouTube.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So it's safe to say you don't have somebody working
in the office with you.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It's just me.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Well, when you start branching out and getting much
bigger and it looks to me likeyou're going to.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
you're probably going to have to hire some help.
Yeah, it's actually at thepoint where I think it would
make me more efficient to beable to hire someone to do the
editing and all that.
And I do digital renderings oftrucks, so like I'll use my iPad
to change the stripes orsomething, add different stacks,
change bumpers, lower it,stretch it, all that stuff.
I do a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So let me, let me ask you how many truck shows have
you been to?
Do you think that you can justguess?
You know, since you've startedall this, and which ones stand
out the best for you?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Let's say I go to about 12 a year on average.
At first it was probablysignificantly fewer and then now
this year I wouldn't besurprised if I ended up at 15 or
16.
Let's see the best ones.
I actually there's a show inOntario.
We go to the great lakes truckclub in Clifford.
(10:51):
Ontario does a show everyCanada day weekend and we say
that's like a.
It's like a family reunionwhere you actually like your
whole family Right andeverybody's super friendly.
It's a good range of trucks,basically 25 years or older, or
if it's a newer truck it has tohave exposed air cleaners and
stacks to make it fit thevintage vibe.
(11:13):
So I definitely prefer antiqueshows, so ATHS shows all over
the place.
Even if it's just a littlelocal chapter show with 20
trucks, still plenty of stuff tosee and plenty of people to
talk to.
In general I like how friendlypeople are at truck shows.
If you go to a car show it'snot necessarily likely someone's
(11:34):
going to chat with you, but ata truck show everyone's happy to
talk.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I hit as many truck showsa year that I can because I
work 12-hour shifts.
I started working for a farmabout three and a half years ago
and I can tell you that workinga 12-hour shift, five days a
week, is sometimes harder thanactually being out on the road
and you get less rest.
So, out of all the things thatyou have done since your 2017
(12:03):
explosion into the world oftrucks and paintings and going
to truck shows, Do you see anysignificant changes in the near
future other than addingsomebody to your employee list
Because you're getting you know?
Piano is cool.
I was raised partly by mygrandmother and she had a piano
and I loved piano.
Never learned how to play,always played by ear, but I
(12:24):
loved piano and people that canplay piano excite me greatly.
Do you see any directionalchanges you're going to be
making in the near future?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
as far as Miss Flatbed Red, Well, I made a big
purchase yesterday to help withmy whole YouTube especially side
of my social media.
If I haven't made that clear sofar, just by mentioning it so
many times, that's definitely myfavorite platform.
At the York ATHS conventionthis year, I started doing my
(12:53):
interviews a little bitdifferently, so that redirection
is actually already begun.
I've started clipping amicrophone to myself and the
person I'm interviewing ratherthan like holding my microphone
phone in their face, so it's alittle bit more casual laid-back
and they they actually talkabout three times more, so my
videos are at least three timeslonger than they used to be.
(13:16):
So more information, bettervideos, and all of that is
taking more time to edit.
So I finally splurged yesterdayand I bought myself a new
computer.
So rather than using my phoneto edit everything and my
10-year-old laptop obviouslycouldn't even handle the videos
(13:36):
I've ordered a new computer, soI'll get to start editing
everything much better, muchmore professionally, and
hopefully that improves theviewing process for everyone.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I ended up having to buy a laptop because
my older one wasn't keeping upand my older computers on the
desk.
I have two on the desk, threemonitors, and I just can't edit
video on a on a smartphone Ican't do it, it's too small.
I don't know how people do allthat stuff with their little
finger touch and everything.
It's just like I'm.
I end up dropping the phone andit's crazy.
So how involved is your husbandin all this?
Speaker 3 (14:10):
He has a Marmon so we've been taking my trucks then
at the mechanic a good chunk ofthe summer so far.
So we've taken his truck to afew shows, left mine at home.
I think I've missed four showsalready this year.
But Stu's home now.
Everything's good, truck'sready to go to the next show.
That's not going to be probablyfor a month or more.
(14:30):
Nothing really happens end ofJulyuly around me, which I
appreciate.
I need the break no doubt but uhyeah, it's been a wild
beginning of the year already.
Oh, there's the blackbird.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'm turning around so I'm, so I'm showing the next
seventh annual gear jammer truckshow.
You know you won't be at thatone I think a 14 hour drive for
me oh gotcha I'm probably gonnagive that one a miss.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
So I think next for me will be harvester homecoming
in fort wayne, indiana, the oldinternational plant here or
there that's awesome yeah well.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Thank you very much for your time.
You've been a pleasure.
Um, I really appreciate all thehard work you do.
Try not you and your husband,try not to work yourselves to
death.
You do provide a lot of greatcontent for the drivers out
there and we really doappreciate you.
There are times that I'vewatched many of your interviews
with folks with classic trucksand the last question I have for
(15:28):
you is to me, it would be hardto lose somebody.
You know, you meet somebody,you interview them and then a
year or two, or three or five orten, whatever, down the road
they pass away, and to me it'slike we're losing an icon.
It's like losing WaylonJennings or Johnny Cash.
You know, some of these driversout there are just amazing and
the stories they have to tellare awesome.
(15:48):
What advice can you give toanybody that's at a truck show,
just a normal person?
When they walk up and talk tosomebody, what are the good
questions to ask them?
Because this is the kind ofstuff we need to try and retain.
The old style of trucking was,I think, one of the best and had
some of the most honorablepeople behind the wheel.
What can we learn today fromthose drivers of yesterday?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Oh.
So that's a very good question,and on my channel I have two
different playlists.
One is truck tours, where it'sfocused mostly on the truck, and
then I have the trucker tales,where in those cases I either
know or I find out when I'minterviewing them about their
truck that they have a whole lotmore to share that they are
totally willing to share.
So I sit down in the truck withthem and they tell me their
(16:35):
life story in a nutshell.
So if you have a lot of time tokill, you can ask a different
set of questions, but if you'rejust sitting and chatting,
questions I like to ask to justsort of break the ice, are how
old were you when you first gotbehind the wheel of a truck?
You might be surprised withsome of those answers.
(16:56):
I think someone said they were10.
Over the weekend at Walcott,someone I interviewed was 10 the
first time they drove a truckon the road, huddling something.
And another one I like to askis what's the first truck you
ever drove?
Because that can often open awhole nother part of the
conversation about why theyended up with that truck.
(17:19):
Nobody else wanted to drive it,that's all there was Then I had
to learn how to drive two, six,etc.
So those two questions areprobably good ones to start with
it's just totally amazing to methis woman and her husband.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
They go out there and they talk to truck drivers from
the past, truck drivers oftoday, and we can learn so much
from the past and move it to thefuture we can.
There's a lot of informationthat can be allocated to the
future truck driver, even ifeverything goes autonomous and
all battery and all that stuff.
I don't even like to thinkabout that.
(18:00):
But yeah, change is coming, bigchange is coming.
And the cool thing about MsFlatbed Red she is authentic.
That's what made me reach outto her to begin with to
interview her, because I lovepeople like this and
entertainment.
Authentic, honorableentertainment is very hard to
(18:23):
find these days and everybody'sjust scrambling to find out
what's going to go viral, what'snot Just relax, enjoy your life
.
When you're driving down theroad and things seem a little
tough, drivers just rememberthere is a life out there and if
you have to stop somewhere, getout of the truck, shut it down,
get out of the truck, walk outin the field and just smell the
(18:44):
flowers and go look for somelavender or some whatever and
just enjoy your life, becauseit's not all about working.
You know you're out there andyou're experiencing the entire
country.
If you travel over the road,you're experiencing so much and
we let life climb into our headsand say, oh, I can't do that,
you know.
Oh, we got to be there on time,or this or that.
(19:06):
Yeah, that's understandable,but I know from experience that
we let all this little stuffcreep up into our head and it
takes away from all the coolthings that we can absorb that's
out there in life.
So enjoy your life and missflatbed red, thank you so much
for the interview.
You guys go check her out atmiss m-i-s-s-f-l-a-t-b-e-d dot
(19:28):
red.
You will not be disappointed.
Check her out on YouTube.
You're going to have a blast.
And some of these rigs are justamazing, just gorgeous engines.
You know, it's just amazing.
I appreciate you once again forlistening to and or downloading
my podcast and, like I alwayssay, god bless, be safe and, as
(19:50):
always, keep it between thelines.
Driver WGBHorg.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
WGBHorg WGBHorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,
wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,
wgbhorg, wgbhorg, wgbhorg,wgbhorg.
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