December 20, 2024 • 42 mins
Jennifer Lauren, also known as Trucker Jen, joins me on "Truckin' with Tamie" to recount her extraordinary path from customer service to the open road. Inspired by her uncles, Jen left behind a brief marriage and an office job to pursue her passion for trucking. With determination, she earned her CDL through Prime Inc. and transformed into an owner-operator, even tackling the challenges of being a female in a male-dominated industry. Listen as she shares her experiences, including the transition to a trainer role, and the unexpected moments that come with trucking life, like dealing with a driver stuck in the mud during our live chat.
We explore the unpredictable, and often solitary, life of a truck driver through Jen's eyes, highlighting the resilience required to thrive amidst breakdowns, road rage, and financial uncertainties. Jen's story transitions from the challenges on the road to entrepreneurial ventures, as she expands her horizons beyond trucking. Discover how handling milk tankers led to opening a truck and trailer wash, diving into real estate, and even starting a shoe repair business. Each venture underscores the necessity of adaptability and the entrepreneurial spirit that trucking both demands and fosters.
As we wrap up, Jen and I share tales from the road that are both humorous and heartwarming, from quirky motel stays to karaoke nights that build community and camaraderie. The episode reflects on the concept of self-reliance, a theme that resonates deeply in the trucking world. With gratitude and humor, Jen bids farewell to her podcast 'virginity' with a nod to the patience and multitasking skills essential in this line of work. Join us for an engaging session filled with insights, laughter, and a touch of nostalgia for the unpredictable life behind the wheel.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good afternoon and welcome to Trucking with Tammy.
I'm your host, tammy.
Today I have the pleasure ofJennifer Lauren, as everybody
calls her Trucker Jen Trucker,jen, welcome to Trucking with
Tammy.
Thanks Great to be here sogreat to be here to come on.
(00:21):
So, Jen, introduce yourself andlet's hear your crazy life
(00:46):
story.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, I can't give you all the details in this
short period of time, but it'sdefinitely been a crazy ride or
crazy drive.
Maybe I should say Right, crazydrive.
So way back, before you decidedto get into trucking, you were
married, correct?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yes, briefly, briefly , briefly, you were married,
correct?
Yes, briefly.
So what the day that you werelike, want to get into trucking
what, what, even get into yourpicture?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
well, when I was a little girl, I had two uncles
that were in trucking, and oneof my uncles he's one of the
ultimate old-school crazyerslike 40 years trucking and just
the what would you call it.
I don't know how to explain him.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
He's just old school yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah.
So he used to come and visit uswhen I was a little kid and I
remember seeing his trucks andthings and thinking that was
kind of cool.
But then when I became ateenager I kind of I started
riding buses and stuff and I I,the city bus drivers would tell
me, oh yeah, you know CDL, andhe was a good job, and I just
thought, you know, I don't wantto do any paperwork jobs, I
didn't want to be in an office.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So I think the uncle introduced you to trucking.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So what was the moment where you said now it's
my turn, now this is what I'mgoing to do?
Well, after my divorce, um, Ihad just bought a house I was
actually working for aol at thetime, when they were big still
and, um, I decided I don't wantto do customer service anymore.
It sucks, I don't like it.
Um, I was really really good atsales.
I just didn't like it.
Um, then I tried a couplelittle things.
Uh, worked, worked at the mall,did a car dealership.
(02:31):
I said this is not working forme.
So I finally was able.
I started looking into truckingschools, and I didn't have
money for that and I couldn'tget a scholarship.
So then I found a truckingcompany that would hire me and
train me.
So I decided, all right, Ihopped on the bus and about two
or three months later or not,like I don't know, actually a
couple weeks later, I was, I waslicensed from my training and
then my um, my, you know, withinsix months I was an owner,
(02:55):
operator and doing my own thingso where you went to school then
where did you go to school?
well, I went to the truckingschool through Prime Inc, the
trucking company in Springfield,missouri.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So back in 2004, as a female student, what was the
experience like?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It was pretty good.
I mean, I've always beenprofessional and open-minded and
all those things.
You know I can get along withanybody.
And, yes, they did put me intrucks with men.
So my first trainer was anolder black man from Colorado,
so I was with him, I think,about at least three weeks or so
, so he teach me how to back upand how to, you know, do
(03:36):
everything.
And I came back and I testedout and then I ended up with a
female trainer for a littlewhile after that, but that
didn't work out because of acouple of crazy situations.
So I ended up with another maletrainer to finish off my, my
regular driving training andthen after that I teamed up with
a boyfriend temporarily andthen we split and then I ended
(03:59):
up, you know, leasing my owntruck and that's, that's the
beginning.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So we just didn't really talk about you.
How long were you a solo driverbefore you decided to become a
lease purchase?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
um, actually I jumped from um teaming with a
boyfriend to finish out traininguh into becoming a solo driver.
Uh, leasing immediately afterthat because I decided I didn't
want to just be a solo driver,leasing immediately after that
because I decided I didn't wantto just be a company driver.
So I immediately signed a leasefor a truck and then I think I
(04:33):
was only actually even licensedfor about six months until they
let me become a trainer myself.
So I started bringing on peoplethat were fully licensed
already, that needed to havetheir training so, and then
within only a few months afterthat, I told them look, I want
to be an instructor and I wasbringing on permitted people and
training them how to drive, andI had a couple of female
(04:58):
trainees and things like that.
So, yeah, it all kind of movedreally fast for me, because
that's kind of how I am, I learnquick and I don't like to just
sit in the same situation forvery long, I like to go to the
next, next, next, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Right.
So how was training with suchlimited experience for you?
I mean, did you, did you feelconfident in your skills that
you could teach that to newdrivers?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm the kind of person where,once I learn something, no
matter how difficult it was tobegin with, once I figure it out
, I'm a master and I can teachanybody at that point, because I
yeah, I'm really good atlearning things.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Are you and so?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
what kind of?
Speaker 1 (05:41):
training were you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I was.
I try to be easygoing, I try tobe um uh, you know what do you
call it Like uh, how'd you getalong with people?
I try to be accommodating andthings, and um my, uh, I
apologize One second.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Oh, no, no, my interaction seems to be the
thing this morning yeah, I knowgo ahead.
So she currently has a driver,um, who got stuck in the mud
this morning, so she's kind ofdealing with that while she's on
the live.
So we appreciate her stillbeing able to be here and we'll
allow her to take care of herbusiness briefly there's one
(06:26):
second.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's all I've been through there you have some
checks on the other phone.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
No problem, no problem, tell them, stop
bothering me so what would yourstudents, if your students were
here today?
What would they say about youas a trainer?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
well, when I was at the school, specifically, um, it
was mostly guys.
I had a couple of ladies too,but the guys absolutely loved me
.
They requested me.
Um, they always said that theyenjoyed, you know, my
instruction.
Um, they, most of the time theydidn't give me a hard time,
they were, they all listened,they paid attention because they
(07:05):
knew, I knew what I was doing.
Because when I was showing them,I was very particular in how I
taught them how to, you know, dotheir backing and different
maneuvers and things.
And when I would show them, like, especially where I'm teaching
somebody how to do a dock forthe first time, and I'd be like,
okay, watch this, and I coulddo it with one hand and just
whoop right in and then why youmake it look so easy, I'm like,
(07:27):
well, you know, at the time itwas probably like 15 years, 15
years of driving.
I'll do that to you, but here'show you can learn how to do it
and do it as good as me.
You know a little slower, but Iwould show them point by point
and I wouldn't really likecriticize them.
I would just, you know, try toreinforce the good, like all
right, good job.
Next time we're going to try itthis way, though you know, or
(07:47):
whatever you know, I always haveto try to put a positive spin
on things, because when you puttoo much negative into things,
it just discourages people.
So positive reinforcement was alot of what I did, but, yeah, I
had pretty good success, andthere was a lot of people there
that shouldn't have had aregular car license.
I don't know why they're tryingto get their CDL.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I ran into that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So I get it, I get it .
So you went from, you wentthrough their full range of
things that were available toyou as a driver Solo teaming,
lease purchase, you know reefer.
So you ended up deciding toleave Prime, and then you went
and checked out what was, theway you know, you switched a few
(08:29):
companies and you went to driveaway trucking, you did some car
hauling, you did some milktanker.
I mean, you really expandedyour horizons.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What my favorite thing is being a stay-at-home
mom now definitely.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, we would all like that, but in trucking what
was your favorite thing?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
My favorite thing about trucking in general is
just the fact of all the.
I know some people get lonely,but for me, peace and quiet,
solo time.
I can think I can do what I gotto do without anybody near me.
I don't have a coworker, Idon't have gossip.
I don't have arguments withpeople, of course, except for
(09:14):
when you get to the shippers andreceivers sometimes.
But just the solo time, plentyof time to reflect, plenty of
time to plan things.
You know, that's why I was ableto.
When I finally got out ofdriving I I had so many plans
and thoughts and and Icategorized things I was able to
kind of get myself ready forwhat I was about to do next.
(09:35):
But a lot of that thought camefrom just the quiet time in the
truck, being able to organize mythoughts.
Plus, I had a lot of likepractice karaoke time too, where
I'd have to wear everybodyright.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yes, yes, trucker, jen is the queen of karaoke, so
we'll let her tell you aboutthat in just a second.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
So you did drive van.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
You did reefer, you did um drive away, car hauling
and tinker, so drive in.
I mean it was pretty.
So what would you say?
The pros and cons of pullingreefer is for the women looking
at getting into our industry.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Well, generally reefer pays a little bit more
for freight.
That's one thing.
But in the contract I haveright now it's mostly plants and
things and it is physical.
It's, um, mostly plants andthings and it is physical.
We have to load and unload witha um, um, what do you call a
lift gate?
Because we do deliveries tostores.
We, we deliver plants for a car.
(10:32):
Uh, we have a contract with acompany of a nationwide nursery
that serves home depots a lotmostly, so we do plant
deliveries.
So, yeah, I go to warehouse,even if it's two in the morning
and nobody's there.
I load up my own truck 41 cartsand then roll out and drop them
in five or six different spotsin the middle of the night, come
(10:52):
back to the warehouse Maybethere's guys there that can roll
them on for me or not.
But yeah, I just it's kind ofphysical but it's it's good but
it pays really well.
Our contracts, when I recruitpeople do not believe the amount
of money that our drivers make,because our drivers make
basically like four times theaverage driver's take home pay
(11:15):
because of what we do and howgenerous my partner is Because
he's still not corrupted and,being in Florida, that's huge,
Because we all know with Floridafreight prices it's really hard
to get good freight out ofFlorida.
Yep absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, so you know reefer labor intensive, longer
wait, but higher pay generally.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Well, yeah, you know, if you're doing it, you know we
do contracts with.
You know some broker loads withwalmart and stuff like that,
which is obviously just openingdoors just like anybody else.
But it's the it's, yeah, it'sthe contracts that we have that
pay the best and that's why youknow we have we focus on taking
care of our higher payingclients.
(12:01):
We just fill it in here andthere with the little, the
little broker things to meet up.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
You know a little right side, you know so if a new
female driver was thinkingabout drive away, what would,
what would your advice be tothem?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
um, if you're looking to get in a drive away, get
used to having everything injust a backpack, including
license plates and permits,maybe a four or five pairs
underwear, you know, a couplechanges of clothes.
But if you can run with just abackpack, you're going to
eliminate your need for checkingluggage.
If you have to fly, losingluggage which happened to me and
(12:36):
I had to wait a whole 12 hoursto get those plates so travel
light, like even when I wentyeah, when I went to europe with
my son nine days, we both had abackpack.
That's it.
We had one pair of sneakers,one pair of sandals, enough
clothes to interchange andthat's it.
The travel.
The lighter you travel, thequicker you're going to get
around, make more money okay,and what about car hauling?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
what would your advice be to people looking at
car hauling?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
uh don't do it no, yeah, it's very difficult, but
if, if it's something thatyou're interested in doing, just
make sure you're hooking upwith the right brokers and
you're getting the right pay,you're not getting undercut.
Um, uh, one of the biggestthings I could say is make sure
(13:24):
your locks are locked, becauseramps come down and crush cars
and then it comes out of yourpaycheck.
I know that.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I've heard everything comes out of your paycheck.
You know, chips, nicks,everything that can happen.
I mean that's a lot ofresponsibility.
Yeah, and tanker I mean milktanker, I mean tanker's lot of
responsibility.
Yeah, and tanker I mean milktanker, I mean tanker's a pretty
laborious job.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, for me it was pretty easy.
It was more drop and hook.
I didn't have to like fill upthe tanks or anything, I just
dropped and hooked.
I went from Okeechobee to Miamitwice in a night.
It was an overnight, so thetraffic wasn't too bad during
the night, but yeah so, and thething that I learned about
tanker, which was interesting,is the fact that those milk
tankers are not reefer units.
They're insulated enough thatfor the time that you're picking
(14:13):
up to dropping off, thetemperature literally only goes
down about three degrees.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
So oh, that's good, yeah, yeah, that's really good
Okay.
So we have all this experience.
You did years over the road andthen you're like no, I'm done
with trucking, I don't want tobe in the truck anymore.
So you have a lot going on inyour life right now.
You know karaoke Jen, you havefour trucks.
(14:43):
You also have another sidebusiness.
You want to tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, I just in August opened up my shop over in
Fort Pierce.
It's a truck and trailer wash,also truck parking, rv parking
and storage and that's whatwe're focusing on.
My boyfriend also moved hisshoe shop so we can fix soles on
boots and sneakers and highheels and purses and all those
(15:08):
things Also I forgot to mention.
I am not only the recruiter formy CAMS transport partner, but
I'm business creation.
I start LLCs, s-corps, allthose things for people that are
trying to start their ownbusinesses or just need to
(15:29):
become an entity so they can bepaid that way.
And I also prepare businesstaxes.
Well, I do those for myself andI do taxes for people.
You know, just general tax cut.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So you wear a lot of hats on a day-to-day basis.
And the realtor, yes oh yes,yes, I forgot about that.
She has been a licensed activereal estate agent since what
year?
2015.
2015.
So you know, trucking has givenyou the opportunity to really
(16:07):
go after your dreams.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, it really has.
I bought the current condo thatI own right now because I was
able to save enough money for adown payment, which these days
everybody knows you can't justbuy a house with no money, you
have to have something, and Iwould have never been able to
save that kind of money in inany other job.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Punching a clock, I tell you right now, especially
being a single, yeah, so I Idon't want the listeners to
think it's all you know rainbowsand butterflies and trucking
because it's not, and it's along road to get to where we are
, where we're successful, andyou have had a lot of challenges
along the way.
Oh, yeah what has been the mostchallenging for you through the
(16:49):
years since you got your cdl um, wow, there's a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's just a very cutthroat industry, to be honest
with you.
Um, the female part of it isobviously, you know, a challenge
.
But I've adapted and I feellike my personality comes
through to most people who areintelligent, normal, decent
human beings and they canrespect and understand that what
I'm doing as a man's job, theequivalent you know, even in the
(17:21):
physical.
So I've proven myself over andover again.
So I have a lot of respect inthe industry.
You know people, I knowmechanics, I know and things
like that.
But just, I mean, overall,trucking is not for the faint of
heart, I'll tell you.
It is, yeah, it's, it's.
There's days where I was, I cantell you right now I was
(17:41):
literally.
I remember one time in NorthCarolina one of my trucks had
been broken down for a littlebit and it was left at a shop
and they said, well, we'reclosed, but we'll let you get in
the gate and you can do whatyou got to do.
So it was a rainy night, therewas a puddle, my truck was stuck
between two other trucks in thedark and I had to jump start it
(18:06):
with the flashlight from myphone.
So I'm standing in a puddle,trying to jump my truck off of
another truck that I drove in,you know, and I got it done and
I went and reattached thetrailer and I deal with all the
things I had to deal with.
But these are things like whereI'm all alone in the dark in a
shady place, I don't know theneighborhood, I don't know
what's going on, and I just haveto deal with it.
I have to get through it.
I have to do it.
It doesn't matter, I have nochoice, I have to do it.
(18:28):
You know it's do or die in a lotof cases.
I mean, you've got the peopleon the road that brake check you
.
I've almost lost loads andalmost rolled my truck.
I rolled the truck in 2017,2007.
That was avoiding anotheraccident, of course, but yeah,
there's.
So I mean I, I shouldn't evenbe alive with the things that
(18:48):
I've gone through.
Honest to God, you know what Imean.
So, yeah, my family they hatedit.
They didn't like me out on theroad all these years.
They hated it, especially whenthey were called after a
rollover and I'm in Arkansas andmy family's in New Hampshire.
Now my dad has to fly in tocome and save me and they don't
know if I'm dead or alive.
When the trooper is on thephone telling my sister you pull
(19:11):
over.
I need to tell you about my,your sister and everybody's like
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, I, I almost died yeah, yeah, it's hard on a
family, you know, and not justin trucking, but as a woman
woman as a mom, as a sister, asa daughter.
You know we face a lot ofthings behind the scenes in our
personal lives that arechallenging as well, and you
have had more than your fairshare of those challenges and
(19:38):
you wanted to share those today,so tell us a little bit about
that share those today.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
So tell us a little bit about that Fights.
Fights with men, fights withwomen, road rages, dispatchers
and brokers, and showing up ontime or showing up at a
scheduled time, only to find outnow you have to sit there
because they're actually notopen till the next day.
(20:05):
Uh, damages in freight whetherit's my fault or not, you know,
damages to cars and car hauling,the the list of negative things
that can happen you in truckingis endless, and the only thing
I can say the money is prettymuch the only thing I can say.
The money is pretty much theonly thing that kept me here,
(20:29):
the most of the park, because Iknew that there was a
possibility.
It's like the lottery, though.
It's like one day you're up, orlike a casino, I would say,
it's one day you're up, next dayyou're down.
One day you're making tenthousand dollars, next thing you
owe six thousand dollars andyou're making $10,000, next
thing you owe $6,000 and you'relike, ah, what do I do?
Or whatever, you know it's,it's like a gamble, but it's one
of those, uh, I would call likethe educated risk kind of
(20:53):
factors where the more you learn, the more you can prepare, the
more you know you, you it's likeum, you can never prepare for
everything, obviously, but themore you're you know what's
going to happen or could couldgo wrong, that you could
compensate for it as much aspossible, the better off you are
.
You just have to be quick, youhave to think it.
(21:15):
To be smart, you have to bevery careful of your money
because, and then out at alltimes.
Yeah, like like I said, I canmake $11,000 this week and I can
have it in my bank account.
And, yeah, I can go on a nicevacation and enjoy myself.
Or I can hold on to my moneybecause next week I'm going to
have a motor blown.
It's going to cost me $25,000to replace.
(21:37):
So I can take that $11,000 andput it down on the motor and try
to make payments on the rest ofit and save myself.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know, this is the kind of scary daily things that
happen.
Yeah, when you're an owner,yeah, it is definitely.
And as a company driver, um,it's always great to have a
backup plan too so thatsomething happens when you're on
the road.
You have a way to get yourselfout of it?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
yeah, because I've heard plenty of horror stories
where drivers have beenabandoned by their companies.
I was fired when I had I hadbeen with the company for I
don't know a month or so and Ihad a muscle spasm in my back.
So they had a 911, they took meout of the truck.
Hospital came back.
I had to go home.
They took the truck, everythingwas fine.
(22:22):
About a week later my musclescalmed down, I was fine.
I was ready to go back.
I called and they said no,ma'am, sorry, within 90 days, if
there's any incidents we don'ttake, you know we we uh
terminate you.
I was like, well, it would havebeen nice for you to call me
and tell me that.
So now I'm ready to findanother job.
Same with the time I had therollover.
I avoided other people'saccidents but because of you
(22:45):
know, my trying to not killother people, I ended up rolling
the truck to avoid that and Iwas in the neck brace.
You know I'm sitting in thehospital and I call the company
and we talk and stuff.
And then I went home and I,because they're all just take
care of yourself, you know, wehope you recover, everything's
fine.
So three weeks later I'mactually able to walk again,
(23:05):
cause I had a broken vertebraein my back and I was like, okay,
I can do this, now I'm okay.
And I had two broken arms Icouldn't you know, so I call
them.
I'm finally healed enough thatI can function and I need to get
money again.
And they said sorry, weterminated you, you had it, uh,
and I just got a one-year safetyaward with that company too,
isn't that silly.
So I had no job again and Iwent like four months, you know,
(23:29):
without work and I had to havepeople help me pay my bills and
stuff until I was able to getback to work again.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So difficult that is rough that, yeah, yeah, always
have a backup plan so nobody.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
I was nobody.
I'm sorry, nobody is on yourside.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Let's just make that clear no, nobody yeah so you're
a mom yep how did you balancebeing on the road and being a
mom.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Okay, well, um, when I first started trucking, I had
no child.
Then, in 2011, I had my son,and it was a period of time
where I was on and off the roadanyways.
So I took that first portion ofsix months of his life, I
believe, is when I was prettymuch home all the time until my,
(24:18):
his father, got deported, um,and then I ended up basically
having to go back on the roadagain, so I left my infant son
with my parents.
I ended up, um, I was trying tofigure out a way to get my
husband at the time back intothe country or somewhere other
than mexico.
So I ended up doing um, gettinghired on with a company out of
vancouver, canada.
(24:39):
So I flew up there and I workedfor them for about three months
.
But I was doing loads back andforth Arizona to Canada, holland
, reefer and stuff, and it wouldhave been okay, except for the
fact that I had a less than oneyear old baby at home in Florida
, which is literally diagonalacross the world, you know, and
(25:00):
so I kind of had a mentalbreakdown and I had to quit, I
had to come home, I had to do,you know.
So I um, you know, I've been onand off, on and off.
I kind of had a mentalbreakdown and I had to quit.
I had to come home, I had to doyou know.
So I, you know, I've been onand off, on and off, I'd come
home, and you know, do home.
But then money wasn't goodenough, so I had to go on the
road again because, you know,living with your parents is not
fun as it is when you're anadult, but being broke sucks
worse so, yeah, yeah, you know,money's a necessary evil, and
(25:23):
that is the lure of trucking isthe financial independence that
it gives you.
you got to make hard decisionsin life if you want to succeed.
You know I could have acceptedwelfare or I could have punched
a clock at walmart and stayliving with my parents for all
eternity.
You know what I mean, but thatwasn't what I wanted, and I
wanted better for my son.
(25:44):
I want him to grow up and knowthat you can do whatever you
want if you want it.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
You know you just have to want it and you have to
reach out and get it so, lookingback at all the sacrifices that
you made, was it worth it whereyou're at now?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
yeah, it sucked, but it was worth it.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So now you're sitting on your you know multiple
companies of your own.
You're dabbling in real estate.
What's your plans?
I mean, are we going to beexpanding?
Are you happy and content whereyou're at?
Do you have some ongoing dreamsand goals?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Oh yeah.
So me and my trucking partners,we've discussed different
things about what we want to doand with my fleet I got to the
point where I was so frustratedwith everything I decided I
don't want to do trucking at allanymore.
And that's why I got the shop,because I decided, okay, I'm
going to separate myself fromthe driving side and try to get
(26:43):
into the service side, whichseems like where all the money's
going, so maybe I could tapinto that side.
Yeah, and yeah, I hired my ownprivate mechanic, so that's
cutting down already on laborand parts and things.
So I'm going to be servicing myown trucks with that.
But I've thought about gettingmy own authority.
But with the situation I'm innow, with the contracts we have,
(27:03):
it's just too good to try toventure out right now.
So I'm gonna stay where I am.
Um, I thought about, at the endof this busy season, possibly
selling out.
If I have enough money to justfocus on my shop.
But then again, depending onthe new administration and all
the other things going on in ourcountry, if things go better,
(27:26):
then I may just renew my fleet,sell off some of the old ones
and maybe buy one or two newerunits and just kind of see where
it goes.
But it's all going to depend onthe industry and where it's
going, because you and I bothknow that for at least the past,
since COVID, it's been worsethan ever Freight and fuel yeah,
yeah, the, not just freight andfuel, but the cost of um the,
(27:51):
the part of our trucks, yeah,the cost of the repairs, the
time it takes to get the part.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I mean so our trucks are out of commission for so
much longer and costing so muchmore to fix, and that is a huge
problem in the industry rightnow.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I'll give you a really recent example.
This is terrible.
Well, the one truck is down forfour months because of the
insurance thing I had talked toyou about before.
But that's four months loss ofincome, driver out of a job and
all those things, and I stillhave to pay insurance and all
the other things involved whilethat truck is sitting there.
But this is another one I have.
(28:30):
I had to get a new turbo on myPeterbilt.
I have had a mechanic tell methat the turbo alone is going to
cost $10,000 just for the part.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I put a turbo in in Nebraska for the part.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, yeah, I put a turbo in in nebraska.
Yes, my truck listen to this,though that part a few years ago
cost twelve hundred dollars,and then the labor to put it in
it probably would have cost youabout three thousand, right, so
the part alone.
Now this one guy is telling meten thousand.
So I hired my prior mechanicand he starts looking around.
He found one for 6300, brandnew.
I said, okay, well, that's Well.
Then we did a little bit moredigging and I'm getting that
(29:07):
supposed $10,000 part deliveredon Monday to be installed in my
truck for less than $800.
That's a $9,000 markup.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That's crazy, that is absolutely insane.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
This is why I'm broke , but not for long.
I will tell you what.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
when I was when I owned my truck.
It was a rude awakening when Ihad to do a fuel pump and you're
you know, as a woman I've seenfuel pumps go in cars and
they're a couple of hundredbucks Right.
Well, mine with rails is likeseven grand and I'm like holy
moly yeah it's crazy expensiveum in the owner op world.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
So yeah, that is something definitely that that
people need to know, uh in womenwhen they come out here is is
what they're looking at costwise well, my, my, we do a 50-50
split after the company takestheir percentage and then the
fuel comes out and whatever'sleft, it's 50-50.
(30:12):
So if my driver makes $4,000this week, which anywhere from
two to 4,000, is what ourdrivers take on a weekly basis
during our busy season so let'sjust say the best week he had,
he took $4,000.
That means that I got $4,000.
Well, he gets to go home withhis $4,000 and take his wife to
dinner, pay his mortgage, buyhis kids clothes and all those
(30:34):
things.
I take my $5,000 and I put itdown on parts and if I'm lucky
to have a couple bucks left atthe end of the day, I'm ahead of
the game lucky to have a couplebucks left at the end of the
day.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Um, ahead of the game .
Yeah, truck payments if you gottruck payments, maintenance and
all that extra stuff that youhave as an owner you know
there's a lot of behind thescene expenses.
Um, you got, if you got, allthe the back things that you
have to pay to the companyyou're leased under one of my
drivers one of my drivers parkedin a tow zone calls me up.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Uh, I went to go do laundry and I came back.
The truck's gone.
Well, come to find out.
Yeah, they towed it away.
And guess how much the tow billwas?
Six thousand dollars actually.
It was legal.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
The cops said, oh well, yeah there is no cap on
how much a tow company cancharge it.
I've seen some crazy towamounts before yeah, very short
distance and um.
Is that coming out of thatdriver's pocket, or is that a
cost that you have to eat?
Speaker 2 (31:38):
we.
We started taking it out of himfor a little while, but he was
just not a good driver to beginwith.
So we ended up having to bitethe bullet and let him go
because it was cheaper to pay itoff ourselves and not deal with
the driver anymore.
To be honest with you, um, andthen you know, uh, the other
problem, another major situationlike we talked about with parts
and stuff is if, if, if there'sa breakdown on the road, you
(31:59):
got to pay a service call.
And now you got this guy whoknows he's got you on the hook
because you're not home, he'sgoing to charge you whatever he
wants.
I had a driver I ended up payingover $900 for one tire, for a
road call, one tire.
Everywhere I've gone I've hadbreakdowns on the road.
If I was able to tow my truckhome for $3,000, it was cheaper
(32:22):
than keeping it where it was anddealing with that mechanic.
I've had mechanics do work, paysomebody $23,000 to rebuild a
motor.
It blew two days later and hesaid, oh well, too bad, $23,000?
.
Now I just struggled to getthat money to pay the guy and
(32:42):
now I have no truck and I owe$23,000 for a loan.
Like now, what do I do Like?
It's amazing.
I don't know what the suiciderates in trucking.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
On the flip side, would you rather be doing
anything else?
Yeah, of course I would ratherReally.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Not me, I'm like you know, it's horrible I love it, I
love it.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
It's horrible, it exists.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
I love it.
The thrill of trucking went outthe door, probably at least
after the first two or threeyears.
I'd been there, I'd done that,I've seen it.
I've been to every corner ofthe country, I've been to Canada
and then, of course, in myprivate travels I've been
everywhere else in the world.
(33:31):
But it's like the service sideis where the money is these days
.
The trucking side is likeslavery in a lot of senses,
because there's drivers.
I've had friends who havedriven flatbed, for instance.
That's a very labor-intensivejob, throwing tarps and
strapping and all the crazystuff.
And I remember the guy tellingme sometimes like man, I only
(33:54):
make 400 bucks this week, andthis week I didn't make anything
.
Like man, you know, you canpunch a clock at McDonald's and
make 400 bucks a week, right?
So what do you do?
Yeah, I've got guys calling meall the time for advice.
Jen, what kind of motor shouldI put in my truck?
My engine just blew, jen.
What do you think about this?
What's your advice on that?
(34:14):
Men all the time.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, I just had one here a couple weeks ago.
Oh, I'm looking at a leaseoperator.
What do you think of thiscompany and this company?
And I'm like have you done yourresearch?
Because both of those arereally bad, high complaint lease
programs, you know, yeah, yeah,I see it, I see it.
So it's crazy.
So, what would you rather do?
(34:40):
I mean, what's your dreamcareer, job, then what would you
do?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I think being a lounge singer somewhere where
maybe it's an older crowd andthere's no drama and I can just
sing and make silly littleslapstick jokes to the crowd
this is karaoke.
Gin entering the room a littlestand-up.
A little stand-up, you know,comedy, because I have plenty of
(35:09):
hilarious stories that peoplewouldn't believe that are
absolutely true.
I mean, I kind of like thatGive us one, what is it?
Speaker 1 (35:18):
A story.
Yeah, give us a story.
Give us an unbelievable story.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh man, oh yeah.
Yeah, let me see Nothing likebeing put on the spot.
Here's a silly one, this one'skind of it's.
It's trucking related, but it'skind of so.
One time I was, I was um doingdriveway with a boyfriend and we
would stay in motels becauseyou know, it's a day cab, you
don't want to just sleep sittingup, sitting up sometimes, so
(35:45):
get a motel.
So it's like midnight, we're inlike new mexico.
We see a sign it says uh, 1999at night.
I'm like holy crap, that'scheap, but we're only gonna be
there for like five hours, solet's just go.
So we pull in, we check in anduh, we go into the room, open
the door and it's straight 60s,60s, pristine, because it's
(36:16):
clean but never been updated.
So I'm all right, walk in and Igo to the sink because I'm
gonna like wash my hands andthere's a scorpion in the sink
and I said, ah, you know I freakout, of course, like yell and
scream.
My boyfriend oh, my god, yougotta get.
There's a scorpion.
I don't know what's on thesheets in here.
But so we go to the, we go tothe office and we said it's like
now, it's like after oneo'clock in the morning said
ma'am, you know, can you callmaintenance?
So she woke up, whoever the guywas, and we're standing across
the, across the um, you know thecourtyard.
(36:39):
I could see the door to theroom from the office and I see
the man, as a man go in.
I see him come out and then Isee him stomp, stomp, stomp and
I'm like, oh, I guess that'stheir version of pest control
here for $19.99 a night.
So I was like, yeah, I've beenin.
Oh, did you sleep there?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Did you sleep there I ?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
shook the sheets out.
I shook the sheets out Reallyreally good yeah, but I ended up
sleeping there.
There's this funny thing Idrove by and I just saw it again
recently.
Somebody finally posted it.
But 20 years I was looking forthis.
I was driving down I-10 inTexas, middle of nowhere and
there's some rinky dink truckstop and on the side of the
building it's you know, words,big words to attract you from
(37:24):
the highway, and on the side itsays diesel and right next to it
fried chicken, diesel, friedchicken, dang, that sounds good,
you know, and I wanted to takea picture but I could never find
it.
And recently somebody postedand I said that's the one,
that's the one, I remember thatone that's funny that is great.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
So, how many nights a week do?
Speaker 2 (37:49):
you do karaoke?
Wait, say that again.
How many nights a week do youdo karaoke?
Well, when I was trucking itwas random.
You know, I might come homeevery couple weeks and go once
or twice when I was home.
But these days my boyfriend,he's a pool shark, so we're
always out doing pool.
He plays in tournaments andthings, and so we go out a
(38:10):
couple, two, three nights a weekusually and, um, so, yeah, I, I
sing locally here in Florida.
I've, I've been a couple oflittle places around the country
, not anything big, but peoplestill message me from the places
that I've gone to.
But, yeah, I, I do, I I sing,um, I do mostly like Adele or
Lady Gaga.
I do a little bit of MariahCarey.
(38:31):
I like to do ballads.
I like, you know, jewel andMelissa Etheridge.
I like to sing in her suit.
You know I do rock, I do pop.
I do a lot of variety ofeverything, but my lately, gaga
and Adele are my two, you know,main go-tos for songs, because
they have a lot of really goodstuff and and I have people
(38:52):
request me to sing.
I have people that show upbecause they know I'm gonna be
at a place, um my kjs, theyalways introduce me.
They know.
You know, oh, trucker jen's inthe house, you know.
You know it's always a big deal, so it's kind of fun.
It's like a little localcelebrity.
I go whatever bar goes.
Obviously they're.
You know I'm regular, so youknow all the bartenders know me.
(39:13):
I walk in 20 or 30 peopleimmediately gotta hug them all
and you know they're like singthis, do that when you're
singing.
Uh, I have guys that requestdoing duets with me.
So I'll sing like old schoolr&b with somebody or I'll sing
like shallow.
That's one of my go-tos withGaga.
I love that song.
Yeah, I have a couple of guysthat love singing that song with
(39:33):
me, so yeah, you know I getaround musically.
I like it, I love it.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do is to sing.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Awesome.
Well, I'm not going to keep youbecause I know you have a ton
to do and a driver to stressright now.
But to wrap things up, you knowthe topic of my series right
now is hashtag.
I saved myself.
So when you look at those wordsand you think of trucking what?
How does that apply to yoursituation and how do you?
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Well, like I said before, no one is on your side
in trucking.
Nobody, not even your co-driver.
They'll throw you under the bus.
So you have to save yourself.
You have to be prepared to swimwhen you got lead boots and
nobody's gonna help you.
You have to figure it out andyou have to be willing to do
(40:28):
whatever it takes.
I mean, it's do or die, and youknow, even if your mama was
there, she would probably bailon you too.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Just that's how difficult it is definitely a
tough industry.
You know there's nobody there,you know when, when things go
down and 99 of the time whensomething happens, you are alone
.
I appreciate you so much foryour patience this morning.
Multitasking Right, it wasdefinitely multitasking morning.
(41:02):
I'll let you get to your driver.
Thank you so much for joiningTrucking with Tammy today and
you have a great day.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Wait, one more thing.
Yes, I was a podcast virgin.
I am no longer.
Thank you so much you arewelcome.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I'm so grateful that you came on.
It was wonderful hearing yourstory and chit-chatting with you
this morning.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
You too, girl, you have, thank you.
Good afternoon and welcome to Trucking with Tammy.
I'm your host, tammy.
Today I have the pleasure ofJennifer Lauren, as everybody
calls her Trucker Jen Trucker,jen, welcome to Trucking with
Tammy.
Thanks Great to be here sogreat to be here to come on.
(00:21):
So, Jen, introduce yourself andlet's hear your crazy life
(00:46):
story.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, I can't give you all the details in this
short period of time, but it'sdefinitely been a crazy ride or
crazy drive.
Maybe I should say Right, crazydrive.
So way back, before you decidedto get into trucking, you were
married, correct?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yes, briefly, briefly , briefly, you were married,
correct?
Yes, briefly.
So what the day that you werelike, want to get into trucking
what, what, even get into yourpicture?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
well, when I was a little girl, I had two uncles
that were in trucking, and oneof my uncles he's one of the
ultimate old-school crazyerslike 40 years trucking and just
the what would you call it.
I don't know how to explain him.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
He's just old school yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah.
So he used to come and visit uswhen I was a little kid and I
remember seeing his trucks andthings and thinking that was
kind of cool.
But then when I became ateenager I kind of I started
riding buses and stuff and I I,the city bus drivers would tell
me, oh yeah, you know CDL, andhe was a good job, and I just
thought, you know, I don't wantto do any paperwork jobs, I
didn't want to be in an office.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So I think the uncle introduced you to trucking.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So what was the moment where you said now it's
my turn, now this is what I'mgoing to do?
Well, after my divorce, um, Ihad just bought a house I was
actually working for aol at thetime, when they were big still
and, um, I decided I don't wantto do customer service anymore.
It sucks, I don't like it.
Um, I was really really good atsales.
I just didn't like it.
Um, then I tried a couplelittle things.
Uh, worked, worked at the mall,did a car dealership.
(02:31):
I said this is not working forme.
So I finally was able.
I started looking into truckingschools, and I didn't have
money for that and I couldn'tget a scholarship.
So then I found a truckingcompany that would hire me and
train me.
So I decided, all right, Ihopped on the bus and about two
or three months later or not,like I don't know, actually a
couple weeks later, I was, I waslicensed from my training and
then my um, my, you know, withinsix months I was an owner,
(02:55):
operator and doing my own thingso where you went to school then
where did you go to school?
well, I went to the truckingschool through Prime Inc, the
trucking company in Springfield,missouri.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So back in 2004, as a female student, what was the
experience like?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It was pretty good.
I mean, I've always beenprofessional and open-minded and
all those things.
You know I can get along withanybody.
And, yes, they did put me intrucks with men.
So my first trainer was anolder black man from Colorado,
so I was with him, I think,about at least three weeks or so
, so he teach me how to back upand how to, you know, do
(03:36):
everything.
And I came back and I testedout and then I ended up with a
female trainer for a littlewhile after that, but that
didn't work out because of acouple of crazy situations.
So I ended up with another maletrainer to finish off my, my
regular driving training andthen after that I teamed up with
a boyfriend temporarily andthen we split and then I ended
(03:59):
up, you know, leasing my owntruck and that's, that's the
beginning.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So we just didn't really talk about you.
How long were you a solo driverbefore you decided to become a
lease purchase?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
um, actually I jumped from um teaming with a
boyfriend to finish out traininguh into becoming a solo driver.
Uh, leasing immediately afterthat because I decided I didn't
want to just be a solo driver,leasing immediately after that
because I decided I didn't wantto just be a company driver.
So I immediately signed a leasefor a truck and then I think I
(04:33):
was only actually even licensedfor about six months until they
let me become a trainer myself.
So I started bringing on peoplethat were fully licensed
already, that needed to havetheir training so, and then
within only a few months afterthat, I told them look, I want
to be an instructor and I wasbringing on permitted people and
training them how to drive, andI had a couple of female
(04:58):
trainees and things like that.
So, yeah, it all kind of movedreally fast for me, because
that's kind of how I am, I learnquick and I don't like to just
sit in the same situation forvery long, I like to go to the
next, next, next, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Right.
So how was training with suchlimited experience for you?
I mean, did you, did you feelconfident in your skills that
you could teach that to newdrivers?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm the kind of person where,once I learn something, no
matter how difficult it was tobegin with, once I figure it out
, I'm a master and I can teachanybody at that point, because I
yeah, I'm really good atlearning things.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Are you and so?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
what kind of?
Speaker 1 (05:41):
training were you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I was.
I try to be easygoing, I try tobe um uh, you know what do you
call it Like uh, how'd you getalong with people?
I try to be accommodating andthings, and um my, uh, I
apologize One second.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Oh, no, no, my interaction seems to be the
thing this morning yeah, I knowgo ahead.
So she currently has a driver,um, who got stuck in the mud
this morning, so she's kind ofdealing with that while she's on
the live.
So we appreciate her stillbeing able to be here and we'll
allow her to take care of herbusiness briefly there's one
(06:26):
second.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
That's all I've been through there you have some
checks on the other phone.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
No problem, no problem, tell them, stop
bothering me so what would yourstudents, if your students were
here today?
What would they say about youas a trainer?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
well, when I was at the school, specifically, um, it
was mostly guys.
I had a couple of ladies too,but the guys absolutely loved me
.
They requested me.
Um, they always said that theyenjoyed, you know, my
instruction.
Um, they, most of the time theydidn't give me a hard time,
they were, they all listened,they paid attention because they
(07:05):
knew, I knew what I was doing.
Because when I was showing them,I was very particular in how I
taught them how to, you know, dotheir backing and different
maneuvers and things.
And when I would show them, like, especially where I'm teaching
somebody how to do a dock forthe first time, and I'd be like,
okay, watch this, and I coulddo it with one hand and just
whoop right in and then why youmake it look so easy, I'm like,
(07:27):
well, you know, at the time itwas probably like 15 years, 15
years of driving.
I'll do that to you, but here'show you can learn how to do it
and do it as good as me.
You know a little slower, but Iwould show them point by point
and I wouldn't really likecriticize them.
I would just, you know, try toreinforce the good, like all
right, good job.
Next time we're going to try itthis way, though you know, or
(07:47):
whatever you know, I always haveto try to put a positive spin
on things, because when you puttoo much negative into things,
it just discourages people.
So positive reinforcement was alot of what I did, but, yeah, I
had pretty good success, andthere was a lot of people there
that shouldn't have had aregular car license.
I don't know why they're tryingto get their CDL.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I ran into that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So I get it, I get it .
So you went from, you wentthrough their full range of
things that were available toyou as a driver Solo teaming,
lease purchase, you know reefer.
So you ended up deciding toleave Prime, and then you went
and checked out what was, theway you know, you switched a few
(08:29):
companies and you went to driveaway trucking, you did some car
hauling, you did some milktanker.
I mean, you really expandedyour horizons.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What my favorite thing is being a stay-at-home
mom now definitely.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, we would all like that, but in trucking what
was your favorite thing?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
My favorite thing about trucking in general is
just the fact of all the.
I know some people get lonely,but for me, peace and quiet,
solo time.
I can think I can do what I gotto do without anybody near me.
I don't have a coworker, Idon't have gossip.
I don't have arguments withpeople, of course, except for
(09:14):
when you get to the shippers andreceivers sometimes.
But just the solo time, plentyof time to reflect, plenty of
time to plan things.
You know, that's why I was ableto.
When I finally got out ofdriving I I had so many plans
and thoughts and and Icategorized things I was able to
kind of get myself ready forwhat I was about to do next.
(09:35):
But a lot of that thought camefrom just the quiet time in the
truck, being able to organize mythoughts.
Plus, I had a lot of likepractice karaoke time too, where
I'd have to wear everybodyright.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yes, yes, trucker, jen is the queen of karaoke, so
we'll let her tell you aboutthat in just a second.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
So you did drive van.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
You did reefer, you did um drive away, car hauling
and tinker, so drive in.
I mean it was pretty.
So what would you say?
The pros and cons of pullingreefer is for the women looking
at getting into our industry.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Well, generally reefer pays a little bit more
for freight.
That's one thing.
But in the contract I haveright now it's mostly plants and
things and it is physical.
It's, um, mostly plants andthings and it is physical.
We have to load and unload witha um, um, what do you call a
lift gate?
Because we do deliveries tostores.
We, we deliver plants for a car.
(10:32):
Uh, we have a contract with acompany of a nationwide nursery
that serves home depots a lotmostly, so we do plant
deliveries.
So, yeah, I go to warehouse,even if it's two in the morning
and nobody's there.
I load up my own truck 41 cartsand then roll out and drop them
in five or six different spotsin the middle of the night, come
(10:52):
back to the warehouse Maybethere's guys there that can roll
them on for me or not.
But yeah, I just it's kind ofphysical but it's it's good but
it pays really well.
Our contracts, when I recruitpeople do not believe the amount
of money that our drivers make,because our drivers make
basically like four times theaverage driver's take home pay
(11:15):
because of what we do and howgenerous my partner is Because
he's still not corrupted and,being in Florida, that's huge,
Because we all know with Floridafreight prices it's really hard
to get good freight out ofFlorida.
Yep absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, so you know reefer labor intensive, longer
wait, but higher pay generally.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Well, yeah, you know, if you're doing it, you know we
do contracts with.
You know some broker loads withwalmart and stuff like that,
which is obviously just openingdoors just like anybody else.
But it's the it's, yeah, it'sthe contracts that we have that
pay the best and that's why youknow we have we focus on taking
care of our higher payingclients.
(12:01):
We just fill it in here andthere with the little, the
little broker things to meet up.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
You know a little right side, you know so if a new
female driver was thinkingabout drive away, what would,
what would your advice be tothem?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
um, if you're looking to get in a drive away, get
used to having everything injust a backpack, including
license plates and permits,maybe a four or five pairs
underwear, you know, a couplechanges of clothes.
But if you can run with just abackpack, you're going to
eliminate your need for checkingluggage.
If you have to fly, losingluggage which happened to me and
(12:36):
I had to wait a whole 12 hoursto get those plates so travel
light, like even when I wentyeah, when I went to europe with
my son nine days, we both had abackpack.
That's it.
We had one pair of sneakers,one pair of sandals, enough
clothes to interchange andthat's it.
The travel.
The lighter you travel, thequicker you're going to get
around, make more money okay,and what about car hauling?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
what would your advice be to people looking at
car hauling?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
uh don't do it no, yeah, it's very difficult, but
if, if it's something thatyou're interested in doing, just
make sure you're hooking upwith the right brokers and
you're getting the right pay,you're not getting undercut.
Um, uh, one of the biggestthings I could say is make sure
(13:24):
your locks are locked, becauseramps come down and crush cars
and then it comes out of yourpaycheck.
I know that.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I've heard everything comes out of your paycheck.
You know, chips, nicks,everything that can happen.
I mean that's a lot ofresponsibility.
Yeah, and tanker I mean milktanker, I mean tanker's lot of
responsibility.
Yeah, and tanker I mean milktanker, I mean tanker's a pretty
laborious job.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, for me it was pretty easy.
It was more drop and hook.
I didn't have to like fill upthe tanks or anything, I just
dropped and hooked.
I went from Okeechobee to Miamitwice in a night.
It was an overnight, so thetraffic wasn't too bad during
the night, but yeah so, and thething that I learned about
tanker, which was interesting,is the fact that those milk
tankers are not reefer units.
They're insulated enough thatfor the time that you're picking
(14:13):
up to dropping off, thetemperature literally only goes
down about three degrees.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
So oh, that's good, yeah, yeah, that's really good
Okay.
So we have all this experience.
You did years over the road andthen you're like no, I'm done
with trucking, I don't want tobe in the truck anymore.
So you have a lot going on inyour life right now.
You know karaoke Jen, you havefour trucks.
(14:43):
You also have another sidebusiness.
You want to tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, I just in August opened up my shop over in
Fort Pierce.
It's a truck and trailer wash,also truck parking, rv parking
and storage and that's whatwe're focusing on.
My boyfriend also moved hisshoe shop so we can fix soles on
boots and sneakers and highheels and purses and all those
(15:08):
things Also I forgot to mention.
I am not only the recruiter formy CAMS transport partner, but
I'm business creation.
I start LLCs, s-corps, allthose things for people that are
trying to start their ownbusinesses or just need to
(15:29):
become an entity so they can bepaid that way.
And I also prepare businesstaxes.
Well, I do those for myself andI do taxes for people.
You know, just general tax cut.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So you wear a lot of hats on a day-to-day basis.
And the realtor, yes oh yes,yes, I forgot about that.
She has been a licensed activereal estate agent since what
year?
2015.
2015.
So you know, trucking has givenyou the opportunity to really
(16:07):
go after your dreams.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, it really has.
I bought the current condo thatI own right now because I was
able to save enough money for adown payment, which these days
everybody knows you can't justbuy a house with no money, you
have to have something, and Iwould have never been able to
save that kind of money in inany other job.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Punching a clock, I tell you right now, especially
being a single, yeah, so I Idon't want the listeners to
think it's all you know rainbowsand butterflies and trucking
because it's not, and it's along road to get to where we are
, where we're successful, andyou have had a lot of challenges
along the way.
Oh, yeah what has been the mostchallenging for you through the
(16:49):
years since you got your cdl um, wow, there's a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's just a very cutthroat industry, to be honest
with you.
Um, the female part of it isobviously, you know, a challenge
.
But I've adapted and I feellike my personality comes
through to most people who areintelligent, normal, decent
human beings and they canrespect and understand that what
I'm doing as a man's job, theequivalent you know, even in the
(17:21):
physical.
So I've proven myself over andover again.
So I have a lot of respect inthe industry.
You know people, I knowmechanics, I know and things
like that.
But just, I mean, overall,trucking is not for the faint of
heart, I'll tell you.
It is, yeah, it's, it's.
There's days where I was, I cantell you right now I was
(17:41):
literally.
I remember one time in NorthCarolina one of my trucks had
been broken down for a littlebit and it was left at a shop
and they said, well, we'reclosed, but we'll let you get in
the gate and you can do whatyou got to do.
So it was a rainy night, therewas a puddle, my truck was stuck
between two other trucks in thedark and I had to jump start it
(18:06):
with the flashlight from myphone.
So I'm standing in a puddle,trying to jump my truck off of
another truck that I drove in,you know, and I got it done and
I went and reattached thetrailer and I deal with all the
things I had to deal with.
But these are things like whereI'm all alone in the dark in a
shady place, I don't know theneighborhood, I don't know
what's going on, and I just haveto deal with it.
I have to get through it.
I have to do it.
It doesn't matter, I have nochoice, I have to do it.
(18:28):
You know it's do or die in a lotof cases.
I mean, you've got the peopleon the road that brake check you
.
I've almost lost loads andalmost rolled my truck.
I rolled the truck in 2017,2007.
That was avoiding anotheraccident, of course, but yeah,
there's.
So I mean I, I shouldn't evenbe alive with the things that
(18:48):
I've gone through.
Honest to God, you know what Imean.
So, yeah, my family they hatedit.
They didn't like me out on theroad all these years.
They hated it, especially whenthey were called after a
rollover and I'm in Arkansas andmy family's in New Hampshire.
Now my dad has to fly in tocome and save me and they don't
know if I'm dead or alive.
When the trooper is on thephone telling my sister you pull
(19:11):
over.
I need to tell you about my,your sister and everybody's like
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, I, I almost died yeah, yeah, it's hard on a
family, you know, and not justin trucking, but as a woman
woman as a mom, as a sister, asa daughter.
You know we face a lot ofthings behind the scenes in our
personal lives that arechallenging as well, and you
have had more than your fairshare of those challenges and
(19:38):
you wanted to share those today,so tell us a little bit about
that share those today.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
So tell us a little bit about that Fights.
Fights with men, fights withwomen, road rages, dispatchers
and brokers, and showing up ontime or showing up at a
scheduled time, only to find outnow you have to sit there
because they're actually notopen till the next day.
(20:05):
Uh, damages in freight whetherit's my fault or not, you know,
damages to cars and car hauling,the the list of negative things
that can happen you in truckingis endless, and the only thing
I can say the money is prettymuch the only thing I can say.
The money is pretty much theonly thing that kept me here,
(20:29):
the most of the park, because Iknew that there was a
possibility.
It's like the lottery, though.
It's like one day you're up, orlike a casino, I would say,
it's one day you're up, next dayyou're down.
One day you're making tenthousand dollars, next thing you
owe six thousand dollars andyou're making $10,000, next
thing you owe $6,000 and you'relike, ah, what do I do?
Or whatever, you know it's,it's like a gamble, but it's one
of those, uh, I would call likethe educated risk kind of
(20:53):
factors where the more you learn, the more you can prepare, the
more you know you, you it's likeum, you can never prepare for
everything, obviously, but themore you're you know what's
going to happen or could couldgo wrong, that you could
compensate for it as much aspossible, the better off you are
.
You just have to be quick, youhave to think it.
(21:15):
To be smart, you have to bevery careful of your money
because, and then out at alltimes.
Yeah, like like I said, I canmake $11,000 this week and I can
have it in my bank account.
And, yeah, I can go on a nicevacation and enjoy myself.
Or I can hold on to my moneybecause next week I'm going to
have a motor blown.
It's going to cost me $25,000to replace.
(21:37):
So I can take that $11,000 andput it down on the motor and try
to make payments on the rest ofit and save myself.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know, this is the kind of scary daily things that
happen.
Yeah, when you're an owner,yeah, it is definitely.
And as a company driver, um,it's always great to have a
backup plan too so thatsomething happens when you're on
the road.
You have a way to get yourselfout of it?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
yeah, because I've heard plenty of horror stories
where drivers have beenabandoned by their companies.
I was fired when I had I hadbeen with the company for I
don't know a month or so and Ihad a muscle spasm in my back.
So they had a 911, they took meout of the truck.
Hospital came back.
I had to go home.
They took the truck, everythingwas fine.
(22:22):
About a week later my musclescalmed down, I was fine.
I was ready to go back.
I called and they said no,ma'am, sorry, within 90 days, if
there's any incidents we don'ttake, you know we we uh
terminate you.
I was like, well, it would havebeen nice for you to call me
and tell me that.
So now I'm ready to findanother job.
Same with the time I had therollover.
I avoided other people'saccidents but because of you
(22:45):
know, my trying to not killother people, I ended up rolling
the truck to avoid that and Iwas in the neck brace.
You know I'm sitting in thehospital and I call the company
and we talk and stuff.
And then I went home and I,because they're all just take
care of yourself, you know, wehope you recover, everything's
fine.
So three weeks later I'mactually able to walk again,
(23:05):
cause I had a broken vertebraein my back and I was like, okay,
I can do this, now I'm okay.
And I had two broken arms Icouldn't you know, so I call
them.
I'm finally healed enough thatI can function and I need to get
money again.
And they said sorry, weterminated you, you had it, uh,
and I just got a one-year safetyaward with that company too,
isn't that silly.
So I had no job again and Iwent like four months, you know,
(23:29):
without work and I had to havepeople help me pay my bills and
stuff until I was able to getback to work again.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So difficult that is rough that, yeah, yeah, always
have a backup plan so nobody.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
I was nobody.
I'm sorry, nobody is on yourside.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Let's just make that clear no, nobody yeah so you're
a mom yep how did you balancebeing on the road and being a
mom.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Okay, well, um, when I first started trucking, I had
no child.
Then, in 2011, I had my son,and it was a period of time
where I was on and off the roadanyways.
So I took that first portion ofsix months of his life, I
believe, is when I was prettymuch home all the time until my,
(24:18):
his father, got deported, um,and then I ended up basically
having to go back on the roadagain, so I left my infant son
with my parents.
I ended up, um, I was trying tofigure out a way to get my
husband at the time back intothe country or somewhere other
than mexico.
So I ended up doing um, gettinghired on with a company out of
vancouver, canada.
(24:39):
So I flew up there and I workedfor them for about three months
.
But I was doing loads back andforth Arizona to Canada, holland
, reefer and stuff, and it wouldhave been okay, except for the
fact that I had a less than oneyear old baby at home in Florida
, which is literally diagonalacross the world, you know, and
(25:00):
so I kind of had a mentalbreakdown and I had to quit, I
had to come home, I had to do,you know.
So I um, you know, I've been onand off, on and off.
I kind of had a mentalbreakdown and I had to quit.
I had to come home, I had to doyou know.
So I, you know, I've been onand off, on and off, I'd come
home, and you know, do home.
But then money wasn't goodenough, so I had to go on the
road again because, you know,living with your parents is not
fun as it is when you're anadult, but being broke sucks
worse so, yeah, yeah, you know,money's a necessary evil, and
(25:23):
that is the lure of trucking isthe financial independence that
it gives you.
you got to make hard decisionsin life if you want to succeed.
You know I could have acceptedwelfare or I could have punched
a clock at walmart and stayliving with my parents for all
eternity.
You know what I mean, but thatwasn't what I wanted, and I
wanted better for my son.
(25:44):
I want him to grow up and knowthat you can do whatever you
want if you want it.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
You know you just have to want it and you have to
reach out and get it so, lookingback at all the sacrifices that
you made, was it worth it whereyou're at now?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
yeah, it sucked, but it was worth it.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So now you're sitting on your you know multiple
companies of your own.
You're dabbling in real estate.
What's your plans?
I mean, are we going to beexpanding?
Are you happy and content whereyou're at?
Do you have some ongoing dreamsand goals?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Oh yeah.
So me and my trucking partners,we've discussed different
things about what we want to doand with my fleet I got to the
point where I was so frustratedwith everything I decided I
don't want to do trucking at allanymore.
And that's why I got the shop,because I decided, okay, I'm
going to separate myself fromthe driving side and try to get
(26:43):
into the service side, whichseems like where all the money's
going, so maybe I could tapinto that side.
Yeah, and yeah, I hired my ownprivate mechanic, so that's
cutting down already on laborand parts and things.
So I'm going to be servicing myown trucks with that.
But I've thought about gettingmy own authority.
But with the situation I'm innow, with the contracts we have,
(27:03):
it's just too good to try toventure out right now.
So I'm gonna stay where I am.
Um, I thought about, at the endof this busy season, possibly
selling out.
If I have enough money to justfocus on my shop.
But then again, depending onthe new administration and all
the other things going on in ourcountry, if things go better,
(27:26):
then I may just renew my fleet,sell off some of the old ones
and maybe buy one or two newerunits and just kind of see where
it goes.
But it's all going to depend onthe industry and where it's
going, because you and I bothknow that for at least the past,
since COVID, it's been worsethan ever Freight and fuel yeah,
yeah, the, not just freight andfuel, but the cost of um the,
(27:51):
the part of our trucks, yeah,the cost of the repairs, the
time it takes to get the part.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I mean so our trucks are out of commission for so
much longer and costing so muchmore to fix, and that is a huge
problem in the industry rightnow.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I'll give you a really recent example.
This is terrible.
Well, the one truck is down forfour months because of the
insurance thing I had talked toyou about before.
But that's four months loss ofincome, driver out of a job and
all those things, and I stillhave to pay insurance and all
the other things involved whilethat truck is sitting there.
But this is another one I have.
(28:30):
I had to get a new turbo on myPeterbilt.
I have had a mechanic tell methat the turbo alone is going to
cost $10,000 just for the part.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I put a turbo in in Nebraska for the part.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, yeah, I put a turbo in in nebraska.
Yes, my truck listen to this,though that part a few years ago
cost twelve hundred dollars,and then the labor to put it in
it probably would have cost youabout three thousand, right, so
the part alone.
Now this one guy is telling meten thousand.
So I hired my prior mechanicand he starts looking around.
He found one for 6300, brandnew.
I said, okay, well, that's Well.
Then we did a little bit moredigging and I'm getting that
(29:07):
supposed $10,000 part deliveredon Monday to be installed in my
truck for less than $800.
That's a $9,000 markup.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That's crazy, that is absolutely insane.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
This is why I'm broke , but not for long.
I will tell you what.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
when I was when I owned my truck.
It was a rude awakening when Ihad to do a fuel pump and you're
you know, as a woman I've seenfuel pumps go in cars and
they're a couple of hundredbucks Right.
Well, mine with rails is likeseven grand and I'm like holy
moly yeah it's crazy expensiveum in the owner op world.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
So yeah, that is something definitely that that
people need to know, uh in womenwhen they come out here is is
what they're looking at costwise well, my, my, we do a 50-50
split after the company takestheir percentage and then the
fuel comes out and whatever'sleft, it's 50-50.
(30:12):
So if my driver makes $4,000this week, which anywhere from
two to 4,000, is what ourdrivers take on a weekly basis
during our busy season so let'sjust say the best week he had,
he took $4,000.
That means that I got $4,000.
Well, he gets to go home withhis $4,000 and take his wife to
dinner, pay his mortgage, buyhis kids clothes and all those
(30:34):
things.
I take my $5,000 and I put itdown on parts and if I'm lucky
to have a couple bucks left atthe end of the day, I'm ahead of
the game lucky to have a couplebucks left at the end of the
day.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Um, ahead of the game .
Yeah, truck payments if you gottruck payments, maintenance and
all that extra stuff that youhave as an owner you know
there's a lot of behind thescene expenses.
Um, you got, if you got, allthe the back things that you
have to pay to the companyyou're leased under one of my
drivers one of my drivers parkedin a tow zone calls me up.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Uh, I went to go do laundry and I came back.
The truck's gone.
Well, come to find out.
Yeah, they towed it away.
And guess how much the tow billwas?
Six thousand dollars actually.
It was legal.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
The cops said, oh well, yeah there is no cap on
how much a tow company cancharge it.
I've seen some crazy towamounts before yeah, very short
distance and um.
Is that coming out of thatdriver's pocket, or is that a
cost that you have to eat?
Speaker 2 (31:38):
we.
We started taking it out of himfor a little while, but he was
just not a good driver to beginwith.
So we ended up having to bitethe bullet and let him go
because it was cheaper to pay itoff ourselves and not deal with
the driver anymore.
To be honest with you, um, andthen you know, uh, the other
problem, another major situationlike we talked about with parts
and stuff is if, if, if there'sa breakdown on the road, you
(31:59):
got to pay a service call.
And now you got this guy whoknows he's got you on the hook
because you're not home, he'sgoing to charge you whatever he
wants.
I had a driver I ended up payingover $900 for one tire, for a
road call, one tire.
Everywhere I've gone I've hadbreakdowns on the road.
If I was able to tow my truckhome for $3,000, it was cheaper
(32:22):
than keeping it where it was anddealing with that mechanic.
I've had mechanics do work, paysomebody $23,000 to rebuild a
motor.
It blew two days later and hesaid, oh well, too bad, $23,000?
.
Now I just struggled to getthat money to pay the guy and
(32:42):
now I have no truck and I owe$23,000 for a loan.
Like now, what do I do Like?
It's amazing.
I don't know what the suiciderates in trucking.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
On the flip side, would you rather be doing
anything else?
Yeah, of course I would ratherReally.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Not me, I'm like you know, it's horrible I love it, I
love it.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
It's horrible, it exists.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
I love it.
The thrill of trucking went outthe door, probably at least
after the first two or threeyears.
I'd been there, I'd done that,I've seen it.
I've been to every corner ofthe country, I've been to Canada
and then, of course, in myprivate travels I've been
everywhere else in the world.
(33:31):
But it's like the service sideis where the money is these days
.
The trucking side is likeslavery in a lot of senses,
because there's drivers.
I've had friends who havedriven flatbed, for instance.
That's a very labor-intensivejob, throwing tarps and
strapping and all the crazystuff.
And I remember the guy tellingme sometimes like man, I only
(33:54):
make 400 bucks this week, andthis week I didn't make anything
.
Like man, you know, you canpunch a clock at McDonald's and
make 400 bucks a week, right?
So what do you do?
Yeah, I've got guys calling meall the time for advice.
Jen, what kind of motor shouldI put in my truck?
My engine just blew, jen.
What do you think about this?
What's your advice on that?
(34:14):
Men all the time.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, I just had one here a couple weeks ago.
Oh, I'm looking at a leaseoperator.
What do you think of thiscompany and this company?
And I'm like have you done yourresearch?
Because both of those arereally bad, high complaint lease
programs, you know, yeah, yeah,I see it, I see it.
So it's crazy.
So, what would you rather do?
(34:40):
I mean, what's your dreamcareer, job, then what would you
do?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I think being a lounge singer somewhere where
maybe it's an older crowd andthere's no drama and I can just
sing and make silly littleslapstick jokes to the crowd
this is karaoke.
Gin entering the room a littlestand-up.
A little stand-up, you know,comedy, because I have plenty of
(35:09):
hilarious stories that peoplewouldn't believe that are
absolutely true.
I mean, I kind of like thatGive us one, what is it?
Speaker 1 (35:18):
A story.
Yeah, give us a story.
Give us an unbelievable story.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh man, oh yeah.
Yeah, let me see Nothing likebeing put on the spot.
Here's a silly one, this one'skind of it's.
It's trucking related, but it'skind of so.
One time I was, I was um doingdriveway with a boyfriend and we
would stay in motels becauseyou know, it's a day cab, you
don't want to just sleep sittingup, sitting up sometimes, so
(35:45):
get a motel.
So it's like midnight, we're inlike new mexico.
We see a sign it says uh, 1999at night.
I'm like holy crap, that'scheap, but we're only gonna be
there for like five hours, solet's just go.
So we pull in, we check in anduh, we go into the room, open
the door and it's straight 60s,60s, pristine, because it's
(36:16):
clean but never been updated.
So I'm all right, walk in and Igo to the sink because I'm
gonna like wash my hands andthere's a scorpion in the sink
and I said, ah, you know I freakout, of course, like yell and
scream.
My boyfriend oh, my god, yougotta get.
There's a scorpion.
I don't know what's on thesheets in here.
But so we go to the, we go tothe office and we said it's like
now, it's like after oneo'clock in the morning said
ma'am, you know, can you callmaintenance?
So she woke up, whoever the guywas, and we're standing across
the, across the um, you know thecourtyard.
(36:39):
I could see the door to theroom from the office and I see
the man, as a man go in.
I see him come out and then Isee him stomp, stomp, stomp and
I'm like, oh, I guess that'stheir version of pest control
here for $19.99 a night.
So I was like, yeah, I've beenin.
Oh, did you sleep there?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Did you sleep there I ?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
shook the sheets out.
I shook the sheets out Reallyreally good yeah, but I ended up
sleeping there.
There's this funny thing Idrove by and I just saw it again
recently.
Somebody finally posted it.
But 20 years I was looking forthis.
I was driving down I-10 inTexas, middle of nowhere and
there's some rinky dink truckstop and on the side of the
building it's you know, words,big words to attract you from
(37:24):
the highway, and on the side itsays diesel and right next to it
fried chicken, diesel, friedchicken, dang, that sounds good,
you know, and I wanted to takea picture but I could never find
it.
And recently somebody postedand I said that's the one,
that's the one, I remember thatone that's funny that is great.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
So, how many nights a week do?
Speaker 2 (37:49):
you do karaoke?
Wait, say that again.
How many nights a week do youdo karaoke?
Well, when I was trucking itwas random.
You know, I might come homeevery couple weeks and go once
or twice when I was home.
But these days my boyfriend,he's a pool shark, so we're
always out doing pool.
He plays in tournaments andthings, and so we go out a
(38:10):
couple, two, three nights a weekusually and, um, so, yeah, I, I
sing locally here in Florida.
I've, I've been a couple oflittle places around the country
, not anything big, but peoplestill message me from the places
that I've gone to.
But, yeah, I, I do, I I sing,um, I do mostly like Adele or
Lady Gaga.
I do a little bit of MariahCarey.
(38:31):
I like to do ballads.
I like, you know, jewel andMelissa Etheridge.
I like to sing in her suit.
You know I do rock, I do pop.
I do a lot of variety ofeverything, but my lately, gaga
and Adele are my two, you know,main go-tos for songs, because
they have a lot of really goodstuff and and I have people
(38:52):
request me to sing.
I have people that show upbecause they know I'm gonna be
at a place, um my kjs, theyalways introduce me.
They know.
You know, oh, trucker jen's inthe house, you know.
You know it's always a big deal, so it's kind of fun.
It's like a little localcelebrity.
I go whatever bar goes.
Obviously they're.
You know I'm regular, so youknow all the bartenders know me.
(39:13):
I walk in 20 or 30 peopleimmediately gotta hug them all
and you know they're like singthis, do that when you're
singing.
Uh, I have guys that requestdoing duets with me.
So I'll sing like old schoolr&b with somebody or I'll sing
like shallow.
That's one of my go-tos withGaga.
I love that song.
Yeah, I have a couple of guysthat love singing that song with
(39:33):
me, so yeah, you know I getaround musically.
I like it, I love it.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do is to sing.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Awesome.
Well, I'm not going to keep youbecause I know you have a ton
to do and a driver to stressright now.
But to wrap things up, you knowthe topic of my series right
now is hashtag.
I saved myself.
So when you look at those wordsand you think of trucking what?
How does that apply to yoursituation and how do you?
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Well, like I said before, no one is on your side
in trucking.
Nobody, not even your co-driver.
They'll throw you under the bus.
So you have to save yourself.
You have to be prepared to swimwhen you got lead boots and
nobody's gonna help you.
You have to figure it out andyou have to be willing to do
(40:28):
whatever it takes.
I mean, it's do or die, and youknow, even if your mama was
there, she would probably bailon you too.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Just that's how difficult it is definitely a
tough industry.
You know there's nobody there,you know when, when things go
down and 99 of the time whensomething happens, you are alone
.
I appreciate you so much foryour patience this morning.
Multitasking Right, it wasdefinitely multitasking morning.
(41:02):
I'll let you get to your driver.
Thank you so much for joiningTrucking with Tammy today and
you have a great day.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Wait, one more thing.
Yes, I was a podcast virgin.
I am no longer.
Thank you so much you arewelcome.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I'm so grateful that you came on.
It was wonderful hearing yourstory and chit-chatting with you
this morning.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
You too, girl, you have, thank you.
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