Episode 8 *Recorded Live* with Marie Norris

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What does it take to break generational boundaries and embrace a path less traveled? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Marie Norris, a fourth-generation truck driver and the pioneering woman in her family to embrace the trucking profession. Despite familial concerns and a challenging home environment, Marie found solace and independence on the open road. Her journey from managing her family’s business operations to becoming a professional driver is a testament to her resilience and determination.

Marie’s story is not just about trucking; it's about overcoming adversity and finding a new sense of family within the trucking community. Her transition from Georgia to Indiana marked a new beginning, fueled by the hope of escaping trauma and discovering self-worth. Through her narrative, Marie shares the challenges and rewards of being a lease operator in a male-dominated industry, offering invaluable insights and advice for aspiring female truckers. Her experiences underscore the importance of supportive networks and the strength found in unity.

Beyond her trucking career, Marie leads a parallel life as a singer-songwriter, weaving her love for music with her passion for the trucking community. Her creative endeavors, including the album "Perfume and Diesel," address significant themes like suicide prevention, offering a voice to those who may feel unheard. Marie’s dual journey as a trucker and musician becomes a powerful narrative of empowerment and resilience, encouraging listeners to embrace their dreams, recognize their worth, and find healing on their unique paths.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey girl, I see you've come a long, long way.
You're not alone anymore.
Come sit with me and tell me astory.
You've come a long way, girl,pulled yourself out of quite the
mess.
Those were some dark times backthen, but it's all over now.

(00:24):
You're not alone anymore.
Come sing with me and tell meyour story.
This is trucking with Tamey,where your journey's heard and
your voice is free.
You're not alone.

(00:45):
Come share your story with me.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Hi, thanks for joining.
Trucking with Tammy.
I'm your host, tammy.
Today we have guest MarieNorris.
She's joining us live from theroof.
Let's go ahead and bring her on.
Bring her on, well, bring usboth on.

(01:14):
There we go, hi, marie.
Hi, welcome to.
I'm great as Saturday afternoon.
Thank you for taking some timeout to join us today no problem
so we are going to start withtalking about some of the
history.
So while we were waiting for ourintro to start, you told me you
have been driving since youwere 16, but you've only been

(01:34):
licensed for the last 11 years.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour beginnings driving, any
driving.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
I grew up in a trucking family so it's kind of
you know, it's kind of par forthe course to be kind of thrown
in when you're a kid.
You know going on the road andtaking trips with uncles and dad
and all that good stuff youknow when you're a kid.
So you just learn.
You learn the businessnaturally, because I mean
everybody in the family did it.

(02:03):
You know when you're a kid soyou, you just learn.
You learn the business naturally, because I mean everybody in
the family did it.
You know generation.
I think I'm a fourth generationtrucker, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
So fourth generation truck driver.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wow, that's impressive yeah, but I'm the
only girl that that that drove atruck that's in my family.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Now, when you were growing up, did your dad want
you to be a truck driver, or washe one of those?
I've been doing it.
I don't want you to do this,dad.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
No, he wanted me to.
My mom didn't want me to.
She was the one that said itwas a mindless profession and
that she would prefer that Ididn't do it.
That's exactly what my mothersaid, and it's nothing against
truckers, but she said it wasmindless, I think it's anything
but mindless.
Oh yeah, I agree 100% Okay.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
so you tinkered around.
Did you try anything out inbetween being a kid and making
that leap 11 years ago?

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, I mean I did some stuff.
You know, for the most part Ijust went to school and I did
the books and all that stuff fora couple of businesses that my
mom had and for a friend of hers, because I was really good with
numbers and able to be a technogeek pretty much.

(03:27):
I was pretty good withcomputers.
So I did all of her books and Idid her friend's books and
pretty much acted as a secretary, cut all the payroll checks,
basically ran the company exceptfor, you know, like doing the

(03:47):
work with the stuff that wasinvolved.
You know I did all of thebackground, all of the paperwork
, you know, all of the hiringand firing and all that good
stuff.
And then after that that was allI did was school and that.
And then after that all I didwas school and that.
So before I never worked at youknow any strange places, I was

(04:11):
doing all of that after schooltoo, you know, because I was
doing odds and ends all the timeas a kid.
You know, because I wanted tomake my own money so I could go
to the skating rink or, you know, go out with my friends to eat
or go to the movies.
You know, get my butt out ofthe house, because home life

(04:31):
wasn't always that great.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
So yeah, I am with you on that one.
So you home life a little rough.
What made you transition intogetting your CDL?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
I don't know, I guess just after a while I was able
to kind of let my own hair down,you know, and do what I wanted
to.
Eventually, you know, and Idecided that I wanted to do it
professionally, you know,because I had driven, you know,
not so much legally, but I haddriven, you know, from one point

(05:11):
to another, here and there orwhatever, but never did anything
professional.
But what I decided to, you know, and decided I wanted a new
start.
That was basically whattrucking was for me.
It was a new start.
It was getting away from a verybad situation and getting into

(05:32):
a good one and becomingindependent again and being able
to, you know, have freedom andindependence that most women
don't have, because trucking isa very good independence maker
it it helps a woman to be ableto support herself and not have
to depend on a man so you left abad situation.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Can you elaborate on that a little bit, on what you
were going through at the timethat you decided to make that
big change?
I, I was.
You don't have to give too manydetails, but for women who were
in that position that you werein, maybe they can see that they
haven't out as well.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Well, it's not your typical situation.
You know how sometimes you it'sa relationship is the reason
why you leave A very bad one.
That wasn't the reason why Ikind of went through a very
rough, rough life, but it was todo with family, real family and
family of the heart.

(06:35):
I went through quite a bit ofdifferent things and lived
through quite a lot of trauma,physical and mental abuse
because, quite frankly, I wouldrather you beat me than to
verbally abuse me, and I wentthrough a lot more verbal abuse
than I did.

(06:55):
Physical abuse and the onething that the people didn't
know that did this to me.
All it did was make me strongerand make me eventually be able
to pull myself out.
And you know, yeah, like I said, I came out of a very bad
situation.

(07:15):
It was due to family, familyand people that I considered
family and I had been ascapegoat.
Pretty much is the is the Iguess that's the proper term.
I've been a scapegoat and I didhave a relationship that kind of

(07:36):
caused me some issues too,which I'm not going to elaborate
about that either, but itcaused me some issues and I was
being stopped and did not reallyfeel comfortable where I was at
because I even was threatenedto be killed by some of those
family people that I consideredfamily.

(07:57):
They weren't true family, but Iconsidered them family, family
and you know, when you'rethreatened, yeah, I mean it's
time for a change.
You know it's time to move on.

(08:20):
I grew up in Georgia, you know,and I was born and raised there
and I left Georgia and went toIndiana, first, up around
Indianapolis, and got my firsttrucking job at Celadon Trucking
.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
And I stayed there until they closed.
So when Celadon closed Iactually was part of Teddy's,
where we set up, and was helpingdrivers find placement and
helping with transportinganimals and helping with the
abandoned drivers and that was apretty rough time for you guys.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
It was because they didn't let us know.
They gave us no warningwhatsoever, but thankfully I was
under a lease at the timethrough TAIL.
I don't know if you know whatTAIL is, but it was a truck
leasing program and I was ableto actually make the decision to

(09:13):
move my truck or either givethe truck back and for a very
short period of time I moved mytruck.
I didn't really go out for thecompany that I was going to move
it to, but I didn't have anissue with being stranded.

(09:33):
I was one of the very few thatactually filled the tanks on my
truck because me and my sisterwere teaming at the time,
because me and my sister wereteaming at the time and, um, we
had filled it up as soon as wefound out, because we actually
found out the thursday before ithappened and I was in

(09:55):
orientation with another companyon that following monday
whenever they announced thatthey were doing the uh, that
they were doing the bankruptcy,the shutdown, yeah, yeah, so you
were pretty lucky then.
I was very blessed because I wasgood friends with the
dispatcher.
That was our dispatcher and shecalled us and told us that we

(10:19):
needed to call.
Tell that she couldn't reallyelaborate on what it was because
she really didn't know, but sheknew that something was going
on because Celadon had droppedall of the lease drivers.
We had actually been droppedbefore the company drivers were
dropped so.

(10:41):
But then Celadon wanted us torun a load I believe it was a
fedex load to north carolina.
Had we took that load insteadof turning it down, we would
have got stuck in north carolinaand been like all the other
drivers right.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
But you, uh, you left home, you went up to indiana,
so you're away from your badsituation.
But you're also away from allyour family, your friends, your
support group.
So you go up to Indiana.
How did that go?
How was your healing process inthe first part of?

Speaker 3 (11:15):
that new chapter.
I didn't have a support groupin Georgia.
My whole family, literally I'mjust going to tell you this much
always shot me down, my familyand my family by heart.
I always got shot down.
I was never told chase yourdreams.

(11:38):
I was always told you'll neveramount to anything.
I was a loner from the beginning, so it wasn't really like I
left anything behind, except Ileft a lot of begrudged feelings
behind.
I left a lot of anger thatstill resided inside me and
still to this day I still harborsome of it, even though most of

(12:01):
the people are gone now.
That that, that that part of mylife was with.
Most of them are gone now andyou know I hate to say it, but
in some realm I feel it's a sighof relief because of the way I

(12:21):
was treated by these people,because of the way I was treated
by these people, because youknow human being that's the
reason why I am the way that Iam.
No human being should ever betreated like that.
No human being should ever beshot down so far that they are
lower than poop on the bottom ofa shoe.
They should never, ever be likethat.

(12:42):
No human being should ever feelthat way, no matter who you are
, no matter what race, no matterwhat creed or religion.
I don't care who you are orwhere you are.
The same god made you and youstill got red blood coursing
through your veins, just likeeverybody else.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
You got away from that and you got into trucking.
What did trucking?
You know what was it like.
Did it give you some peace?
Did you find a support network,you know?
Did you find some time to heal?

Speaker 3 (13:14):
I found more of a support network once I got into
trucking and more of a familythrough trucking than I ever had
in my whole life.
That was definitely a move.
That was a good one for me,because once I got into trucking
I found my family, every personthat's involved in my life now

(13:38):
you know even my sister.
I met her at Celadon.
I call her my sister becausewe're like sisters.
I mean I don't have sister,because we're like sisters.
I mean I don't have a reallybig circle anymore, though I
mean seriously, I don't.
I have not a real big circle.
My circle is small and itcontinues to keep getting

(13:59):
smaller because I allow certainpeople in to be very close to me
and then things happen and theytreat me wrongly.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
So coming into trucking, what was the hardest
part for you in the beginning?

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Adjustment.
I wasn't used to being awayfrom home.
I was not away from home thatmuch.
I mean I did go on trips withmy family whenever I was a kid
and up into my teens and allthat good stuff, but I wasn't
away from home the way that Iwas when I came out over the

(14:37):
road and became a professionaltruck driver.
So you know, it was an opendoor to freedom for me whenever
I came out, um, and for beingable to do what I wanted to do
for a change and not have to goand tell anybody where I was

(14:58):
going, because I felt like Ilived in my whole life up until
the point that I came out as aprofessional truck driver 11
years ago.
I literally lived my whole lifedoing for other people and
living my life as if it wastheirs.
Living my life as if to give itto someone else because I was

(15:22):
living my life for anotherperson.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, and for the first time in your life, you
could live it for yourself.
Right, but the first time?

Speaker 3 (15:30):
in my life.
I could live it for myself.
So I was like a kid in a candystore.
It was like I was, you know.
It was like I was in collegeagain, which that I didn't even
elaborate on.
That I did go to college.
I went to college to be a nurseand I took several other
courses during the time that Iwasn't driving a truck and was

(15:50):
just working books and stuff.
I was going to school too.
Yeah, I had a very.
I've always had a strong thirstfor knowledge and I've always
been a good writer.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
And we're going to get to that.
I want to get a little bit ofhistory with you and then we're
going to talk about what you dobesides trucking.
So with you having such a richhistory, you know, growing up in
trucking, when you came out asa professional driver, did you
struggle with any of the issuesthat some of the newer women,

(16:25):
who don't have a background intrucking, struggle with when
they came out in this maledominated industry?

Speaker 3 (16:34):
I've only experienced it a few times, but there are
still those guys out here thatthink that this is a man's world
and that a woman has no placein it, that think that this is a
man's world and that a womanhas no place in it.
And they will very much saybecause I literally what was it?
Three months ago?

(16:54):
No, no, it was.
I think it was October.
The first part of October I wasin Arizona.
I was delivering a load inArizona or picking up in Arizona
, one of the two I can'tremember, but I was.
Yeah, I was picking up, I waspicking up in Arizona and I was
coming back across the countryto go home.
I was going home not too longafter that and, dude, I backed

(17:19):
into the spot within one minute,literally Backed in, pulled my
brake, went out and put thechalk under my wheel or behind
my wheel, and this mofo comesover, knocks on my door on the
passenger side, jumps up on theside of my truck on my steps and

(17:41):
tells me to roll my window down.
And he's got a piece of paperin his hand and he goes.
I can see you haven't beendriving very long, so I wrote
you a diagram on how you backinto a spot, because evidently
women can't do it right so heneeded to draw it out for you,

(18:04):
huh yeah, he drew me a diagram.
He literally had a diagram therehow, how to back into a, a dock
, and I said, sir, I said Iapologize for that, but uh, no,
I didn't say that, I can't lie,I'm not gonna say what I said
but, but you know, I'm sorry forbeing or for taking too long

(18:30):
for you or something, because Idon't know, maybe he was mad
that minute was way too longright, yeah, a minute was way
too long because it was lessthan a minute from the time I
got out of my truck, opened mydoors, went and looked to see
where my spot was, because theygave me the door right next to
his and I guess my taking, um,oh, no, more than 30 seconds to

(18:58):
back into that door was too longyeah, I, I had a situation last
year.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
yeah, it was.
I was trying to remember it wasthe spring or last year.
Um, I went to hook up to atrailer and it was too hot so I
had to crank it down.
And I mean, when I'm talking, Imean it was way too high, so
I'm cranking it down, so I don'thigh hook it.
This driver walks up to me hesays, says hey, young lady, he's
like you don't need to crankthat trailer up.
Well, no, no, I know I'mcranking it down Like I'm

(19:38):
cranking the trailer up.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
He showed his intelligence, though.
I mean, dude, how long have youbeen out here?
Don't you ever have to do that?

Speaker 2 (19:50):
I was like why would I crank a trailer up?
So zero, zero faith in us, orsome of them might be all of
them, because I have the respectof a lot of male drivers, but
there are some out there whohave zero faith in our ability
as a woman oh yeah, because Ihear it all the time.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Whenever, uh, you're backing into a spot or whatever,
if you make one little singlebobble and you have to make an
adjustment to back in and a manwalks past you, they'll mumble
under their breath oh, it's awoman driver, no wonder.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Heard that a time or two.
Yeah, I'm always thankful forthe ones who stand up for me
when that is said.
So, but yeah, you always havethat.
So you are a lease purchaseoperator now and, as you said
with Celadon when you were withthem, you were a lease operator
there as well.
So has that kind of been yourpreferred position.

(20:50):
You know at least leaseoperator over your last 11 years
.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
Yes, I mean lease operator is more.
It gives you more freedom.
At most companies Somecompanies you still are kind of
held to the same standard ofbeing forced, dispatched and you
really don't get a choice.
In the loads that you haul,even though you're the one

(21:17):
hauling them, they still giveyou no choice.
And you're the one paying forthe fuel.
You're the one doing this, thatand the other.
You still really get no choice.
And some companies crack downso much that you don't even have
a choice to where you fuel.
So and being a lease operatorowner operator pretty much

(21:41):
because you're paying theirtruck payment, you're doing this
, you're doing that, you'repaying the fuel cost and they're
trying to tell you okay, well,you need to save money doing
this.
So what if I want to let mytruck idle?
What business is that of yours?

Speaker 1 (22:03):
you're not paying for the fuel.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
Right, you know, but also I am too.
I'm paying for it until I getpaid for the load, okay,
whatever you know I mean.
But then, there know, I neverhad that issue before until I
went to work at the currentcompany I'm at.
That's why I won't say theirname.

(22:25):
Right, everybody knows whatcompany I work at.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
So as a lease purchase operator obviously each
lease is different.
Do you have any advice fordrivers who are considering
becoming a lease purchaseoperator?

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Well, every contract is about the same.
There's not a lot of contractsthat differ.
I mean, if you call many of thecompanies, I mean if you call
many of the companies, a lot ofthe contracts are the same and
some of them have variableleases.
I would not go with that.
Go to a company that has astraightforward lease, that's

(23:11):
not a variable, that you can paya set payment regardless.
I mean, it'll hurt you when youwant time off, obviously, but
um, cause a variable lease youonly pay for when you run.
That's the way it's supposed tobe anyway.

(23:32):
Um, but the uh, the downfall ofthat is is it costs you a lot
more money when you run a lotmore miles and it's not
beneficial to the driver to runall over the miles.
And then it's not beneficial Tothe driver To run all of the
miles and then have to pay a$2,000 truck payment Every week.
That's not very beneficial.
So I would always suggest to go,if you're going to do lease

(23:52):
purchase, to go to a companythat has a set payment Per week.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Right.
Have you paid any of yourtrucks off?
No, through the years.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
No I have no intention of ever owning a truck
because I don't.
I don't expect to drive mywhole life.
You know, right, I love mytrucking family and I have loved
this job and trucking in partsaved my life.
But no, no, I don't expect tobe driving the rest of my life.

(24:23):
So what's the need to own atruck?
I use the truck as a tool, Itake care of it while I've got
it and I really am lookingforward to getting to come off
the road.
I'm just really what I'm doingright now is I'm finishing out
the contract here at thiscompany, and you know.

(24:44):
Then after that, you know, Idon't know what I'm going to do.
I think I'm going to go localuntil I decide to retire from
trucking completely.
I decided to retire fromtrucking completely.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
Because, other than trucking, you actually have a
whole other side going on behindthe scenes.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yes, I do.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
So Marie is a singer and a songwriter.
You're on the socials.
Your songs are out there.
You're on YouTube.
You, um, yeah, you're onYouTube.
Um, you're actually.
Uh, there is a, a channel.
I believe I saw you on um RoadDogg, I can't remember where it

(25:27):
was.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah, yeah, I have my own, uh, youtube channel too.
It's Marie Norris Music.
Um, it's Marie Norris Music andI, if you look me up on YouTube

(25:52):
or anywhere like that, you'regoing to find tons of interviews
, tons of podcasts, tons ofradio shows that I've been on,
because I do as many as I can,because I want to get my name
out there.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
You actually have an independent label.
Right now, you're not underanybody, and that gives you a
little bit more control.
Yes, sound records what haveyou done?
I mean, how many songs have youreleased at this point?

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Well, that is available on any platforms.
I have Perfume and Diesel.
The whole album is still up.
Um, I did have another album,but it was taken down due to um
other reasons.
Uh, I was with a hybrid labeland I removed that whole album

(26:36):
because I wanted to go in adifferent direction.
I shouldn't have released it inthe first place, but, without
being certain of the songs, Iwanted to go on it.
But there's Perfume and Dieseland then my new single, end of
the Road, which is a song thatis dedicated to survivors.

(26:59):
Pretty much I mean it's prettymuch a positivity song for
people that are contemplatingsuicide, because it's for
suicide prevention and awarenessamongst truckers and everybody.
Heck, it is universal.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
And with the amount of solitude that truck drivers
uh have to do on a daily basis.
Suicide is one of the topkillers of the truck driving
community yes, it is.
It kills more truck drivers inin a sense than heart attacks do
out here yeah, I, I've actuallylost a couple truck drivers

(27:38):
that I was, you know, in thelast couple years, so that has
definitely female drivers atthat who were going through a
lot of emotional distress andthe extra solitude and the
loneliness while dealing withthat was just too much, and so
that song actually people canrelate to it across the board.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yes, that's the way I felt whenever I wrote it, and I
wrote it with a co-writer, ofcourse, bill D Luigi, and I
wrote that song, you know,because I don't do the melody at

(28:23):
all and I need somebody to makesure that everything's good and
all that good stuff you knowand and you know help with the
putting together.
I mean, I haven't used anybodyin a while, like my last several
songs I've done by myself but,up until End of the Road.

(28:44):
End of the Road was the lastsong I used a co -writer on, and
I told Bill DeLuigi that Iwould never choose anyone else
other than him whenever I need aco-writer, because I think he's
the best I really do.
I think he's one of the best,if not the best, songwriter in
Nashville right now.

(29:05):
Nice, one of my favoritesanyway.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Is he?
I actually wrote my first songthe other day.
It wasn't a whole song, though,just the lyrics to my new intro
, and it's not easy, it's not,it's not, you know, um, I didn't
have to do all the the musiceither.
You know, I had somebody dothat for me, um, so it's nice to
have that crew that can do thatand knows your style.

Speaker 3 (29:31):
yeah, exactly, and and he always knows, and
sometimes he'll ask how I wantit to be or whatever.
Always knows, and sometimeshe'll ask how I want it to be or
whatever.
Do I want it to have a poptheme, or do I want it to sound
more country?
Or do I want it to sound rockor do I want it to sound, um,
you know, rockabilly, because we, um, we've done all different

(29:53):
kinds, we even did blues.
You know, I've done, uh, ablues, right him.
So you could do just aboutanything with a songwriter.
I mean the best ones.
They can do anything, they canmanipulate anything and make it
sound great.
That's a big part of it beingable to create the melody.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
What's your preferred style country rockabilly.
What do you like?

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I like everything.
That's what I tell everybody.
I don't like labels and I don'tlike labeling myself as a
particular type of singer.
Yeah, country music is close tomy heart and I love it, but I
don't want to be boxed in towhere I can't do anything else.
I like to be able to tryRockabilly, which is Perfume and

(30:44):
Diesel, perfume and Diesel'sRockabilly, and be able to do
End of the Road, which is moreof a well, it's a modern pop
style country, and then you gotthat has the old school fling
too, because End of the Roadkind of does have that old

(31:04):
school sound too of the oldschool 90s country.
But it throws in several stylesin that one.
And I like producers that arewilling to go with me on what I
want.
And I've had three differentones so far.

(31:25):
Like, the first album wasproduced by Pat Holt and Pat
Holt did a wonderful job onPerfume and Diesel and all of
the songs on that first album.
He did a wonderful job atproducing it and he and I we
clicked.
But after that first album itwas almost horrible to get into

(31:50):
contact with him.
I mean, I just never could getin contact with him after that
first one.
So I was like, ok, so I justwon't, I guess I'll find
somebody else, slowly but surely, to do my music and because he
was almost impossible to get ahold of thereafter Perfume and

(32:13):
Diesel.
But I went with a guy named AdamKnight, which is another guy
there in Nashville, and he doesit at cut rate prices for the
second album, which is why thatalbum came down.
I'm not saying anything badabout Adam at all.
I mean he's wonderful as amusician and and I feel that he

(32:39):
gave me what I paid for in asense.
But those songs that's why thealbum came down is because I was
really not happy with the songsand I sent them back and he
basically sent them back to meagain.
He likes raw, he doesn't liketo tweak and he likes all in one

(33:04):
take and not take much time.
Whenever I went to the studiowith him, we did 10 songs in an
hour and a half.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
Oh, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Okay, that is unheard of whenever you're trying to
get your music perfected.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
You get two hours per song minimum to work recording
studios with each song that youdo, each song that you do, and
he wanted to, you know, to beable to treat it like he did the

(33:44):
production of the music andjust take one or two takes and
then choose the best one and noteven splice them together or
take the best parts from one orwhatever.
I guess I got spoiled with PatHolt, cause he did that and that
was the way that I had startedout in Nashville was having two
hours to record.
So that second producer, like Isaid, he's good for people

(34:11):
because he's cheap andaffordable to get your music
recorded.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
But you get what you pay for.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
But you get what you pay for.
But you get what you pay for ina sense, yeah, and, like I said
, I ain't saying that he'shorrible or any of that and in
fact we meshed.
I liked him as a person.
He's awesome person, he's apreacher and he does great
things for people and himoffering this to people for for

(34:39):
a cut rate price is awesomebecause you cannot get you know,
a class, a studio musicians forthe price that he gives them
for.
But the only thing that Ididn't like was the fact that it
wasn't a you know, I felt likeI was being pushed out before we

(35:00):
really got the songs perfectedand he would put them in the
chord that the songwriter wouldsend them to me and that had
wrote my melody and I'm not aman, so I don't sing in a man's
key, so they would also be inthe wrong chord and we'd have to

(35:20):
switch the chord so you knowthat.
That's why I wouldn't do anotherone.
I did 10 songs or 13 songs withhim yeah, 13 songs with him and
I wasn't happy with any of them, not 100% satisfied.
And when I finally decided thatI wasn't 100% satisfied, I

(35:44):
ripped that whole album down anddecided that I would redo those
songs with somebody else.
I haven't done them yet, but Ican use the tracks that I have
with somebody else producingthem.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
And you kept the rights for that.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yeah, oh, I have the rights Absolutely when you pay
for somebody to do.
Oh, absolutely, I have therights to all that stuff.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
They don't hold any rights because I paid for all of
it.
All of my stuff is paid for byme and they hold no rights to
any of the music or any of that,even the studio from the work

(36:33):
tape.
Yeah, they don't hold anyrights, so do you have any?

Speaker 2 (36:38):
appearances scheduled .
Do you do appearances whenyou're not on the road?

Speaker 3 (36:43):
I do, and right now I'm working on 2025.
So I don't have a whole lot setin stone.
I usually post them as I getthem.
I'm looking to start gettingthem pretty good here in the
near future, because I reallyhaven't had the chance to set up

(37:07):
any.
I mean because I'm pretty muchon the road.
But I do do truck shows.
In fact I just did Searcy,arkansas in October, at the end
of October At the oh gosh,what's it called?
The American Truckers Jubilee?

Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yep, yep, yeah, did you do that in Louisville I?

Speaker 3 (37:29):
did in 2023.
I haven't really been backsince.
I went then and I didn't gothis year because I had a
schedule conflict.
I couldn't be home for both.
So the first one I met, or thisyear, I missed it because of
that.
But I, you know, I'm not.
I've not been invited to singor perform at Matt's, so I feel

(37:54):
a little bit.
You know, tony justice getsinvited because he's a truck
driving singer.
I get it.
He's been out there longer thanI have and all that good stuff.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
Sometimes, you just need some recognition.
Marie, the right people haveseen you, maybe.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yeah, and I thought about going back or whatever
this year, because they do haveit where you can sign up if
you're an artist, and you havehave it where you can sign up If
you're an artist, then you havemusic out when you can like do
an acoustic set or somethinglike that.
So I'll probably go this year,in 2025, to do that at least.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
It'd be great to see you.
I haven't got down to theSearcy one, but I have been to
the Louisville one A coupletimes.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Well, I was there in 2023.
And I was all over the place in2023.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Now with the appearances.
Do you have any music you'reworking on?

Speaker 3 (38:47):
Yeah, I have music that I'm working on.
I just haven't got it finishedyet.
I mean, I do have some finishedbut I haven't made up my mind
yet which ones are going where.
I I told uh, I sent one theother day.
Or I did an interview the otherday with jerry petito and, um,

(39:11):
I told her because I juststarted working on a song called
uh, barbara and Elvis, becausethose are my influences and the
people that kind of saved meWell, not saved me particularly,
but you know, had I not hadthem in my life whenever I was

(39:34):
going through all the crap thatI went through, I don't believe
I'd still be around to this day.
So it's kind of a tribute songto God, barbara and Elvis.
I've already wrote one forBarbara.
It's called Hard Act to Follow.
I can't do a tribute song topeople that saved me and and and

(39:58):
and kept me going in all of thehorror in the in the uh days of
my life that weren't all thatgreat uh and the only positivity
that I had.
I could not include her.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
So at least you can put all that into your music,
you know.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
Yes, it's great to be able to write down emotions and
feelings and get them out towhere.
It doesn't make me do things ormake me get in that dark place,
because, trust me, that's whereEnd of the Road came from.
That's why the words are whatthey are, because I've been
there, I've done that.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
I felt that I know exactly what you're going
through, because every word ofthat song I have been through
finally saw the light at the endof the tunnel yeah, when I
reached out the other day and Isaid I was doing this podcast
and my hashtag is I saved myself, what would be the words I

(41:01):
saved myself mean to you when itcomes to your life and trucking
?

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Yeah, I mean, I saved myself.
That is the truth.
I saved myself with truckingbecause had I not left when I
did, I would have either gottenkilled by somebody that was
really peed off at me or I wouldhave, you know, took my own
life.
I mean, because it was dark, itwas gloomy, I didn't really

(41:28):
know what end was up, I didn'tknow how I was gonna, what I was
gonna do and how I was gonnamake it with all the things that
were happening.
That was positive, and thensome of them were positive, but
most of them were negative and Ididn't know what in the world I
was going to do and how I wasgoing to make it work.
And then, all of a sudden, itcame to me that I needed to go

(41:54):
and be a truck driver.
I think I really am, if I ain'tmistaken, the first woman in my
family that has been a truckdriver.
The rest of them has alwaysbeen males.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I am definitely the only female that's been, and
there's not even been a maletrucker in my family prior to me
.
Well, I have a great uncle thatwas, but I am definitely the
first female.
So a lot of people talk abouthow the road saves them, the
trucking industry and their jobsaves them financially, but a

(42:28):
lot of people don't talk abouthow trucking actually being on
the road is a healer.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
Yes, it is, and it almost can be too much.
I mean because when you're outon this road, that's why I you
know why I talked about darkness.
Even since I've been out on theroad, I've had those dark times
when things weren't going rightat home or things weren't going
right in a relationship that Ihad, you know, and I could mean

(42:59):
friendship or whatever when Isay relationship.
So things weren't going rightin a relationship I was having
and I was.
You know, I don't know what todo.
You know, because it's hard toget through to people in a
situation that believe what theysay are right or is right.
You know, I'll get into a darkspot in my life because I should

(43:22):
not ever have financialdifficulties.
I, for the most part, up untilthe last three or four months,
made great money.
You know my whole career asidefrom you know about an eight
week stint during the first partof COVID back in 2021 or 2020.

(43:42):
No, it was 2020.
I went eight weeks without apaycheck at that one little
company that I was at before Icame to work here, and but in
2020, you know, that was theonly time that I didn't make no
money.
I have made great money outhere ever since that eight-week

(44:03):
stint up until the last three orfour months.
But you know, it's funny howwhen you do, do, do, do and you
make sure that other people areokay instead of yourself and you
do for people, they get towhere they expect it.
Normally I wouldn't even talkabout it because of the fact
that you know it's just a partof life yeah it's been a part of

(44:27):
life for me because that's justthe type of person I am, and I
don't normally share that withpeople because it's kind of like
um tooting your own horn sayingthat you do things for people.
But it gets really roughwhenever you feel like you ain't
appreciated for anything you doand it's just an expectation

(44:48):
now because, well, you did itall of this time.
So why are you upset thatyou're doing it now?

Speaker 2 (44:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Because sometimes things have to be over.
You know you cannot expect tolive your life with a gravy
position.
You know where one person isdoing more than the other for

(45:17):
all your life, especially whenyou've already taken it too far
and it's gotten to the point towhere I don't want to do it no
more.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
You know I may be selfish for saying this, maureen
, but when I go through thingslike that, I'm really glad I'm a
truck driver and I'm multiplestates away, because I could
turn the truck, the phone off.
They can't knock on my door,yeah, but some point, but but

(45:55):
right, and you know I have otherplaces I can be.

Speaker 3 (45:59):
I mean it's not, uh, you know some, but I shouldn't
have to go somewhere elsebecause I, I don't want to go
there you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
You shouldn't.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
That's right, that's right, because I you know, it's
my house too, but I really dofeel that way.
I'm only going home forchristmas, because it is what it
is.
You know, um, I love my dogs.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
My dogs are there, so well, you're hearing the same
thing that thousands of truckdrivers, male and female, hear
from their other halves all thetime, because we're gone, we are
the absent party and we, webear a lot of that guilt for,

(46:42):
you know, not being there tohandle the things on a
day-to-day basis.

Speaker 3 (46:46):
That's true.
That's what's maderelationships not work for me.
Again, like I said, freight'sbeen really slow at the company
I'm working with.
They're wanting to dictate tome where I go to work at and
that's not something I can doand I already know deep down

(47:09):
inside I can't go home, right,not while they're still there.
They got to get out before Ican go home and I know, like I
said, I probably shouldn't evenbe this open, but it makes me it
kind of makes me feel a littlebetter to get it out in the open
and to say it in a publicsetting, because I know this
goes on your show, it does.

(47:35):
I really, really just want tosee this over so I can go home
and I can be home, be a localtruck driver, because that's
exactly what I want to do in thefuture, once this contract is
up.
I want to be a local driver,but I can't be if I can't get
along with the people that arein my house, right, I'd rather

(47:56):
take care, because they pay forthe electricity and the water.
So I'd rather take care of allof that myself and take care of
the little $250 they give me forthe rent.
I would rather take care of allof that than to be not wanting

(48:17):
to go home to my own houseBecause I just like funky butt
attitudes.
I don't, I just don't.
I can't deal with it.
My psyche don't allow me todeal with that because it's
making me have flashbacks.
I can't do it.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
So I don't know if you're this way, I find myself
being this way but do you evernotice that because you spend so
much time alone in a peacefulenvironment that when you go
home, you demand the same kindof peace?

Speaker 3 (48:53):
yeah, that is dang true.
I mean, I don't necessarily.
You know, I'm miserable, kindof sort of being still out here
because I'm not able to have thelife that I want.
I'm not able to go home and dogigs and all that stuff like I
want to do, because Lord knows,I could get them set up if I

(49:13):
needed to or wanted to to.
I just I don't want to go homebecause, first off, I'm trying
to finish out this contract, doit the right way and leave on a
good note, because I don't burnmy bridges.
I try not to.
Anyway, I've always been thatway.
I don't like to leave horriblefeelings and I'm just not that

(49:36):
person.
And I hate it when people tryand make me that person because,
oh, you're not making enoughmoney at this company right now.
You need to make more money soyou can take care of my children
, right, you know?
Or you need money so you cantake care of my man and me.

(50:00):
And do more or whatever, so wedon't have to worry about this
and that and the other.
Well, the rent got paid, therent gets paid, so what are you
worried about?
You got a roof over your head.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Right so you got a lot going on right now, marie.
You definitely have a lot goingon.
So what's your plans for thefuture?
What Marie, the musical singer,songwriter, slash truck driver?
What's her next step in life?
What's your goal?

Speaker 3 (50:31):
Well, I guess I literally just let everybody
know that I am a human being,and then I have the same
problems that everybody elsedoes.
I have a personal life and Ihave people that drive me nuts,
just like everybody else does.
Absolutely, I don't want to bearound and I just don't want to
make nobody homeless.

(50:52):
I really don't.
But in the future there's goingto be more gigs, of course, and
I will post them as they becomeavailable.
And there will be more gigsespecially after I end this
contract with the company, andthat will be in May.

(51:14):
My contract will be done in May, the middle of May, done in May
, the middle of May.
Once all of that's taken careof, I will go home and get me a
local job.
Either that or I'll stay outhere a couple more months, or
three months, or whatever I haveto do in order to get them out
of my house, because that'sbasically the only reason I'm

(51:37):
not going home whenever thattime comes is because they're
still going to be there.
I gave them until July.
Yeah, personal issues in there,but that is an issue I'm having
right now and I'm dealing withit as best I can.
So the truck is saving me againbecause I have to be in the

(52:00):
truck rather than go home,because you know, I I don't want
to be involved in all of thatright here are the dogs but,

Speaker 2 (52:10):
that's what you were supposed to do to have the roof
over your head yeah, well, youknow what marie life is messy,
and right here I'm trucking withtammy.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
We are everyday girls who are going through the same
things you are going through, soyou know we need to sugarcoat
it here, we know, and, like Isaid, that's how the songs got
around, because I reallysometimes that's why I said I am

(52:42):
right there with you Iunderstand what you're going
through, because sometimes Ifeel like I'm alone too and
there ain't another person inthis world that's going through
the exact same thing that I'mgoing through.
But then I do realize there areother people that are going
through that and worse 100%,100%, 100%.

(53:03):
But yeah, a lot of shows comingup in the future.
I will be doing a lot more nextyear as soon as I can get out
of the OTR situation and get outof the lease and all that good
stuff.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yeah, and is that what you want?
You want to dive more into yourmusic.
Is that what you want?
You want to dive more into yourmusic.
Is that what you want to do?

Speaker 3 (53:23):
Yes, I want to make a career out of my music.
I don't want to be a truckdriver for the rest of my life.
No, I don't.
I mean, I love trucking, I lovethe industry, I love the people
, but it's getting so dangerousout here and you know people are
so dumb on the highway it's noteven funny.

(53:46):
I mean, you don't even have tomake an attempt to try and hurt
somebody.
They are trying to hurtthemselves at your expense.
Distracted driving Absolutelydistracted driving absolutely,

(54:06):
and I don't want to be thatperson that has to have that on
my conscience as well.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
So as soon as I can, I'm getting my butt off this
road.
Yeah, we had a nice storm herea couple weeks ago and it was
snow and ice and you know trucktrucking.
As a truck driver, you know Iwas good the roads I was
handling.
But the drivers around me andyou know, while we can handle it

(54:30):
, the people around we can'ttrust the people around us.
You know, what I needed issomebody on their phone sliding
to me because they're not payingattention to where they're
going.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Right, exactly.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
So it is getting very dangerous out here.
I agree, 100% Too dangerous.
I went to YouTube and I checkedout your songs and I listened
to them with my daughter and Ilove them.
I mean, we can all relate tothe lyrics Very much so out here
I look forward to seeing whatyou got going.

(55:06):
I don't know if you can shareus a line or two with this new
song you have in the works.

Speaker 3 (55:14):
I don't want to share it until I've got it put
together.
I'm a perfectionist.
I like to at least have thewhole chorus written.
And I don't quite have thewhole chorus written because I'm
working on it piece by piece.
It's one of those that Ihaven't really.
I mean, I want to write it, butI want it to be perfect that's

(55:40):
the word for it.
I want it to be as close toperfect as I possibly can
because it's a very importantsong about my life.
I say it all the time.
I don't do this just for me.
Yes, I love my music and it's apassion.
But music is a universallanguage.

(56:00):
It makes people feel good and Ilike to make people feel good.
I like to make them smilebecause I know what it's like
not to be happy.
I know what it's like not tohave a smile because I forced
smile so much in my life.
But I want to be a naturallyhappy person.
But I want to be a naturallyhappy person and if I can do one

(56:24):
thing and I say that all thetime for one person, every
single day, whether they listento my song, they listen to one
of my posts because I try to dopositivity videos but I always
wind up too busy during the dayto get them done every single
day, so they wind up being likea once a month thing sometimes,
or sometimes once a week.
It depends on how much time Ihave to devote to it or if I

(56:49):
make the time to devote to it,which is very difficult for me
because I sing six hours a day.
At least six hours a day goingdown the road.
I am doing a karaoke concertand a track concert with my own
songs.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Why don't you play your own songs?
I am definitely karaoke-ing inthe driver's seat.
I love my jam time and you knowI don't like to spend a lot of
the time on the phone,especially my first couple days
out.
Maybe my last day a little bitmore, but my first few days it's
just me, the road and my musicand so right, and I usually but

(57:28):
every single day I will do atleast about six hours of singing
, because it keeps the voice.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Your voice is nothing but an instrument.
You have to treat it as suchand if you use it and hone it,
it becomes more and more andmore and more closer to perfect.
You know it gets closer toperfect.
I don't think that I'll everreach perfection, because if I

(57:58):
do, I'm done.
Ever reach perfection becauseif I do, I'm done.
But at least I can get closerto it every day, because there's
nothing more that I enjoy inlife than being able to sing.
It makes me happy.
That is the one spot during myday.
Whether or not I have a goodrest of the day with people or

(58:20):
not, I am happy when I sing.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
And that is important .

Speaker 3 (58:28):
No matter what song it is, I am happy when I am
singing.

Speaker 2 (58:32):
Yeah, and that is what is most important.
I know you're under load rightnow and you took quite a long
time for me today, so I won'tkeep you very much longer, but
do you have anything else you'dlike to share with us or any
advice for other women driversthat are looking at coming into
our industry?

Speaker 3 (58:54):
Well, I'll give them the same advice that I gave to
my students, because I used totrain whenever I was at Celadon
too.
I trained quite a few.
I graduated 13 students, andmost of them were women.
Only three of them were men.
So I had 10 ladies that Itrained and graduated, and I

(59:16):
always told them you know, neverlet nobody tell you you ain't
got this, because, no matterwhat anybody says, you can do
anything a man can do and youcan do it better.
That's what they don't like isthe fact that we come in here
and we do it better than they dobecause we pay more attention

(59:38):
to detail.
Men don't pay attention at allto detail.
Detail is something that theylook over.
They literally don't have thedepth perception that women do,
and they're going to think thatI'm hating on them.
No, I'm not hating on you.
You do not have the depthperception.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Women take their time .

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
They don't get in a hurry, they're more safety
conscious, correct.
So you know.
But don't let any man or anywoman, anybody in the world,
belittle you, because you can dowhatever you choose to do, and
if this truck thing is what youwant, don't let nobody tell you

(01:00:20):
you can't do it, and always be,positive.
Don't let somebody get you downin the dumps and get you in a
dark spot.
Don't let somebody tell youthat you're not good enough,
because you are.
You're always good enough.
You are the queen of that seat,you're the queen of the highway
when you're driving down theroad, because that's exactly

(01:00:40):
what every woman is is afreaking queen.
I almost said the other wordand I don't think you're right.
But you are a freaking queen.
That is exactly what you areand you deserve to be treated as
such.
Don't let nobody treat you less.
I ain't saying be arrogant, butbe the queen of the seat, be
the queen of the highway.

(01:01:01):
When you're driving, own it andalways chase your dreams and
your aspirations and never giveup.
Reach for the stars, go as highas you possibly can.
Don't give up, never surrender.
If you haven't heard it today,you're worth it.

(01:01:22):
You're beautiful, you are thequeen.
You can do this, you got this.
You ain't got to ask no one fornothing.
You're Miss Independent, sochase it and do your thing.
Reach for the stars, becausethere's no dream you can't have.

(01:01:45):
Nothing is too big or too far.
You can have anything.
You choose All you have to dois have the want to.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
That's some great advice and some great
affirmations there.
We might have to hook you up,marie, and do some daily
affirmations for the girls,because you would rock it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:07):
Oh, absolutely I would, if I was able to do it.
I mean, if we could get thattogether, heck, I'd at least
have a reason to do it becausemyself, just me, myself, and I,
I'm going to procrastinate, Iain't going to lie.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Well, when I need a daily boost, I'm calling you.
I'm going to be like Marie.
I need those daily affirmations.
Remind me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Oh, absolutely.
I love to pep people up.
I could be a doggone good pepcoach, a pep talk coach.
I could do that Because I needthat same pep talk.
I tell people that all the time.
I need that too, so whenever Ido you know the positivity

(01:02:52):
videos I am talking to me tooget yourself up.
You don't need to feel likeyou're negative, nancy, today.
You don't need to feel likeyou're in a pity party.
Get yourself up, go chase it,get it Because you got this.
You can do this, you know.

(01:03:13):
But that's why I do them isbecause some days I wake up and
I need them more than others.
Yeah, I always tell people are.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
I need them more than others.
Yeah, I always tell people areyou crying?
Are you crying?
Yeah, are you done crying yet?
Nope, cry, get it out, get itall out.
And when you're done crying,get your butt up, dust yourself
off.
You know, and start over.
It doesn't matter how manytimes you fall, it doesn't
matter how many times youstumble.
It doesn't matter how manytimes you fall.

(01:03:41):
It doesn't matter how manytimes you stumble it doesn't
matter how many times you needto start over.
All that matters is you do startover that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:49):
you try again, you get back up and you dust
yourself off and you try itagain until you get it right,
because there is no such thingto me as quit.
I don't know the meaning of theword quit.
I do not do that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:07):
Me neither.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
No, I will keep getting up and I will get up
until I die, because I will goto my dying breath.
That's the type of person I am.
I mean, I don't have a quitbone in my body.
I am no quitter.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Me either.

Speaker 3 (01:04:28):
I get that.
I'm still coming back.
I'm going to come back and Iwill be stronger.
That's what women need to know.
You are strong, you are 10, 100times, hundred times.
Excuse me, I almost choked onmy own spit, but you need to.

(01:04:48):
That was funny, okay.
Um, hey, I, I did too it's okaybecause I'm a very, I'm a
talker, I talk, so I mean, Iguess you can't tell.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
but Nah, not you, Marie.

Speaker 3 (01:05:05):
But you need to know that you're a very strong person
.
That's why, you know, that'swhy we are hated by a lot of
people.
You know it's not exactly hate.
It's because they can't be us.
That's why men don't like us inthis industry.
It's because they can't be us.

(01:05:26):
They cannot trucking the thingsthat we do.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
I mean because our pain tolerance is a lot higher
than men's yeah, well, I seetrucking and I see all these
women who come in as victims andthey leave domestic violence,
they leave abuse, sexual abuse,they leave all these horrible
environments and they get intotrucking and then all of a
sudden they have strength, theyhave courage and they go from

(01:05:51):
being a victim to being asurvivor and their whole
mentality changes and theirwhole outlook changes.
Whole mentality changes andtheir whole outlook changes.
And you know, it's a hugetransition to see somebody go
from that victim to thatsurvivor yes, exactly I am.

Speaker 3 (01:06:09):
I am that survivor too.
I think all of us ladies aresurvivors.
I mean that's a really goodword, for the whole thing is we
are all in one way or another.
Our stories may not be the same, but they're not exactly
totally different either.
They share a lot of commonterritory, a lot of you know.

(01:06:31):
You know a lot of similarities.
I mean we may not be exactlythe same, but they're similar.
So I mean we may not be exactlythe same, but they're similar.
So I mean I love the fact thatwomen are in the spot that we
are in, because I am definitelypro-woman.

(01:06:54):
I don't hate men, like I said inthe beginning, I don't hate
them, but I'm pro-woman all theway.
I want us to be able to havethe things and not have to work
twice as hard as a man does forthe same thing.
And men will sit there and tellyou it's bull, but it's not.

(01:07:16):
We do the same amount of workthat you do and often in most
industries we get paid less forthis.
Absolutely, we work harder atit and then we have to work
twice as hard in any industrywe're in to get anywhere because

(01:07:40):
we are women.
It's more of a hand me, becausemen get handed a lot because
they're men.

Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
Women have to earn it yeah, most may come out here.
No, that's gonna go on and be atruck driver they're like cool,
you know making back a trailer?
Maybe do is no big deal.
A woman comes, no, most peoplecome out and they go, oh, I'm
going to be a truck driver.
And they're like cool, you know, maintain back a trailer.
Maintain, dude, it's no bigdeal.
A woman comes out here and says, oh, I want to drive a Sidmite.
And all of a sudden you have toprove yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:08:10):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you wind up still provingyourself for your entire career
.
You never come out of thatprove myself stage no, because I
still run into that.
Even my company they do havesome women that they're okay
with, but my company, I amtreated as no favorite.

(01:08:35):
Let's just put it that way.
I am not treated like afavorite and that was very
difficult for me in thebeginning.
I'm told that I'm a favoritebut am not treated like a
favorite, and that was verydifficult for me in the
beginning.
I'm told that I'm a favoritebut it don't seem like it,
because I'm always told of thebad things that I do, or what
they think is bad things that Ido, but never the good.
So you know, and that's verydifficult.

(01:08:57):
That's been very difficult forme because I'm usually, like I
said, I'm a survivor and I don'tlike change.

Speaker 2 (01:09:04):
I like to stay in the same place and a lot of
employers aren't give a positivereinforcement, so a lot of them
the only time they call us inis when they need to talk to us
about something, and they justassume that you already know the
good right, exactly, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09:22):
Yeah, I mean, and uh, like I said, I'm not used to
not being a favorite.
I was a favorite, even atceladon.
I was always one of the topdrivers at celadon.
And when you're at a companythat uh won't give you the miles
for you to run, and then theyblame you for not giving them to

(01:09:44):
you, that's crazy, yeah yeah,it's a broken market.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
Well, I tell you what I can hold you up for an hour
and a half today.
So I appreciate all your time,marie, um.

Speaker 3 (01:09:58):
I didn't expect to be talking this long.
I think I got off because Inormally don't even go into any
sort of conversation about mypersonal life, so you got a
little more out of me thannormally.

Speaker 2 (01:10:11):
Oh, I appreciate that , Marie.
I definitely appreciate youbeing open with us.
That's what us women need, isyou know, so that other women
can relate to you and see thatthey're not alone.
And that's what we want.

Speaker 3 (01:10:27):
Oh, absolutely.
If I can ever help anybody inany way, my phone line's always
open.
You know, I don't mind talkingto anybody that's in distress,
no matter who it is.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
All right.
Well, everybody, thank you somuch for listening in to this
segment of Talking With Tammy.
Y'all have a great night.
And thanks Marie for being anawesome guest.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
Oh, I appreciate you having me.
Thank you so much and I lookforward to possibly doing
something else in the future.