Truckin' with Tamie
From CEOs to mechanics to truck drivers, women are revolutionizing the transportation industry. Tune in to "Truckin' with Tamie" where host Tamie explores the ins and outs of trucking, showcasing how this formerly male-dominated field is now opening its doors to women worldwide. We cover the issues affecting women entering the industry for the first time, CDL Schools and training programs, and adjusting to life on the road. We will interview women in various positions in the trucking industry, and get the real scoop on what to expect as a woman in this field.
Truckin' with Tamie
Episode 2 with Jennifer Laurin
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.
Good afternoon and welcome to Trucking with Tammy. I'm your host, tammy. Today I have the pleasure of Jennifer Lauren, as everybody calls her Trucker Jen Trucker, jen, welcome to Trucking with Tammy. Thanks Great to be here so great to be here to come on. So, Jen, introduce yourself and let's hear your crazy life story.
Speaker 2:Well, I can't give you all the details in this short period of time, but it's definitely been a crazy ride or crazy drive. Maybe I should say Right, crazy drive. So way back, before you decided to get into trucking, you were married, correct?
Speaker 1:Yes, briefly, briefly, briefly, you were married, correct? Yes, briefly. So what the day that you were like, want to get into trucking what, what, even get into your picture?
Speaker 2:well, when I was a little girl, I had two uncles that were in trucking, and one of my uncles he's one of the ultimate old-school crazyers like 40 years trucking and just the what would you call it. I don't know how to explain him.
Speaker 1:He's just old school yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So he used to come and visit us when I was a little kid and I remember seeing his trucks and things and thinking that was kind of cool. But then when I became a teenager I kind of I started riding buses and stuff and I I, the city bus drivers would tell me, oh yeah, you know CDL, and he was a good job, and I just thought, you know, I don't want to do any paperwork jobs, I didn't want to be in an office.
Speaker 1:So I think the uncle introduced you to trucking.
Speaker 2:So what was the moment where you said now it's my turn, now this is what I'm going to do? Well, after my divorce, um, I had just bought a house I was actually working for aol at the time, when they were big still and, um, I decided I don't want to do customer service anymore. It sucks, I don't like it. Um, I was really really good at sales. I just didn't like it. Um, then I tried a couple little things. Uh, worked, worked at the mall, did a car dealership. I said this is not working for me.
Speaker 2:So I finally was able. I started looking into trucking schools, and I didn't have money for that and I couldn't get a scholarship. So then I found a trucking company that would hire me and train me. So I decided, all right, I hopped 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 was licensed from my training and then my um, my, you know, within six months I was an owner, operator and doing my own thing so where you went to school then where did you go to school?
Speaker 2:well, I went to the trucking school through Prime Inc, the trucking company in Springfield, missouri.
Speaker 1:So back in 2004, as a female student, what was the experience like?
Speaker 2:It was pretty good. I mean, I've always been professional and open-minded and all those things. You know I can get along with anybody. And, yes, they did put me in trucks with men. So my first trainer was an older 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 up and how to, you know, do everything. And I came back and I tested out and then I ended up with a female trainer for a little while after that, but that didn't work out because of a couple of crazy situations. So I ended up with another male trainer to finish off my, my regular driving training and then after that I teamed up with a boyfriend temporarily and then we split and then I ended up, you know, leasing my own truck and that's, that's the beginning.
Speaker 1:So we just didn't really talk about you. How long were you a solo driver before you decided to become a lease purchase?
Speaker 2:um, actually I jumped from um teaming with a boyfriend to finish out training uh into becoming a solo driver. Uh, leasing immediately after that because I decided I didn't want to just be a solo driver, leasing immediately after that because I decided I didn't want to just be a company driver. So I immediately signed a lease for a truck and then I think I was only actually even licensed for about six months until they let me become a trainer myself. So I started bringing on people that were fully licensed already, that needed to have their training so, and then within only a few months after that, I told them look, I want to be an instructor and I was bringing on permitted people and training them how to drive, and I had a couple of female trainees and things like that. So, yeah, it all kind of moved really fast for me, because that's kind of how I am, I learn quick and I don't like to just sit in the same situation for very long, I like to go to the next, next, next, you know.
Speaker 1:Right. So how was training with such limited experience for you? I mean, did you, did you feel confident in your skills that you could teach that to new drivers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I'm the kind of person where, once I learn something, no matter how difficult it was to begin with, once I figure it out, I'm a master and I can teach anybody at that point, because I yeah, I'm really good at learning things.
Speaker 1:Are you and so?
Speaker 2:what kind of?
Speaker 1:training were you.
Speaker 2:I was. I try to be easygoing, I try to be um uh, you know what do you call it Like uh, how'd you get along with people? I try to be accommodating and things, and um my, uh, I apologize One second.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, no, my interaction seems to be the thing this morning yeah, I know go ahead. So she currently has a driver, um, who got stuck in the mud this morning, so she's kind of dealing with that while she's on the live. So we appreciate her still being able to be here and we'll allow her to take care of her business briefly there's one second.
Speaker 2:That's all I've been through there you have some checks on the other phone.
Speaker 1:No problem, no problem, tell them, stop bothering me so what would your students, if your students were here today? What would they say about you as a trainer?
Speaker 2: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 they enjoyed, you know, my instruction. Um, they, most of the time they didn't give me a hard time, they were, they all listened, they paid attention because they knew, I knew what I was doing.
Speaker 2:Because when I was showing them, I was very particular in how I taught them how to, you know, do their backing and different maneuvers and things.
Speaker 2:And when I would show them, like, especially where I'm teaching somebody how to do a dock for the first time, and I'd be like, okay, watch this, and I could do it with one hand and just whoop right in and then why you make it look so easy, I'm like, well, you know, at the time it was probably like 15 years, 15 years of driving. I'll do that to you, but here's how you can learn how to do it and do it as good as me. You know a little slower, but I would show them point by point and I wouldn't really like criticize them. I would just, you know, try to reinforce the good, like all right, good job. Next time we're going to try it this way, though you know, or whatever you know, I always have to try to put a positive spin on things, because when you put too much negative into things, it just discourages people. So positive reinforcement was a lot of what I did, but, yeah, I had pretty good success, and there was a lot of people there that shouldn't have had a regular car license. I don't know why they're trying to get their CDL.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I ran into that as well.
Speaker 1:So I get it, I get it. So you went from, you went through their full range of things that were available to you as a driver Solo teaming, lease purchase, you know reefer. So you ended up deciding to leave Prime, and then you went and checked out what was, the way you know, you switched a few companies and you went to drive away trucking, you did some car hauling, you did some milk tanker. I mean, you really expanded your horizons.
Speaker 2:What my favorite thing is being a stay-at-home mom now definitely.
Speaker 1:Right, we would all like that, but in trucking what was your favorite thing?
Speaker 2: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 got to do without anybody near me. I don't have a coworker, I don't have gossip. I don't have arguments with people, of course, except for when you get to the shippers and receivers sometimes. But just the solo time, plenty of time to reflect, plenty of time to plan things. You know, that's why I was able to. When I finally got out of driving I I had so many plans and thoughts and and I categorized things I was able to kind of get myself ready for what I was about to do next. But a lot of that thought came from just the quiet time in the truck, being able to organize my thoughts. Plus, I had a lot of like practice karaoke time too, where I'd have to wear everybody right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, trucker, jen is the queen of karaoke, so we'll let her tell you about that in just a second.
Speaker 2:So you did drive van.
Speaker 1: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 pulling reefer is for the women looking at getting into our industry.
Speaker 2:Well, generally reefer pays a little bit more for freight. That's one thing. But in the contract I have right now it's mostly plants and things and it is physical. It's, um, mostly plants and things and it is physical. We have to load and unload with a um, um, what do you call a lift gate? Because we do deliveries to stores. We, we deliver plants for a car. Uh, we have a contract with a company of a nationwide nursery that serves home depots a lot mostly, so we do plant deliveries.
Speaker 2: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 carts and then roll out and drop them in five or six different spots in the middle of the night, come back to the warehouse Maybe there's guys there that can roll them on for me or not. But yeah, I just it's kind of physical but it's it's good but it pays really well. Our contracts, when I recruit people do not believe the amount of money that our drivers make, because our drivers make basically like four times the average driver's take home pay because of what we do and how generous my partner is Because he's still not corrupted and, being in Florida, that's huge, Because we all know with Florida freight prices it's really hard to get good freight out of Florida.
Speaker 2:Yep absolutely.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you know reefer labor intensive, longer wait, but higher pay generally.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, you know, if you're doing it, you know we do contracts with. You know some broker loads with walmart and stuff like that, which is obviously just opening doors just like anybody else. But it's the it's, yeah, it's the contracts that we have that pay the best and that's why you know we have we focus on taking care of our higher paying clients. We just fill it in here and there with the little, the little broker things to meet up.
Speaker 1:You know a little right side, you know so if a new female driver was thinking about drive away, what would, what would your advice be to them?
Speaker 2:um, if you're looking to get in a drive away, get used to having everything in just a backpack, including license plates and permits, maybe a four or five pairs underwear, you know, a couple changes of clothes. But if you can run with just a backpack, you're going to eliminate your need for checking luggage. If you have to fly, losing luggage which happened to me and I had to wait a whole 12 hours to get those plates so travel light, like even when I went yeah, when I went to europe with my son nine days, we both had a backpack. That's it. We had one pair of sneakers, one pair of sandals, enough clothes to interchange and that's it. The travel. The lighter you travel, the quicker you're going to get around, make more money okay, and what about car hauling?
Speaker 1:what would your advice be to people looking at car hauling?
Speaker 2:uh don't do it no, yeah, it's very difficult, but if, if it's something that you're interested in doing, just make sure you're hooking up with the right brokers and you're getting the right pay, you're not getting undercut. Um, uh, one of the biggest things I could say is make sure your locks are locked, because ramps come down and crush cars and then it comes out of your paycheck. I know that.
Speaker 1:I've heard everything comes out of your paycheck. You know, chips, nicks, everything that can happen. I mean that's a lot of responsibility. Yeah, and tanker I mean milk tanker, I mean tanker's lot of responsibility. Yeah, and tanker I mean milk tanker, I mean tanker's a pretty laborious job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me it was pretty easy. It was more drop and hook. I didn't have to like fill up the tanks or anything, I just dropped and hooked. I went from Okeechobee to Miami twice in a night. It was an overnight, so the traffic wasn't too bad during the night, but yeah so, and the thing that I learned about tanker, which was interesting, is the fact that those milk tankers are not reefer units. They're insulated enough that for the time that you're picking up to dropping off, the temperature literally only goes down about three degrees.
Speaker 1:So oh, that's good, yeah, yeah, that's really good Okay. So we have all this experience. You did years over the road and then you're like no, I'm done with trucking, I don't want to be in the truck anymore. So you have a lot going on in your life right now. You know karaoke Jen, you have four trucks. You also have another side business. You want to tell us about that.
Speaker 2: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 what we're focusing on. My boyfriend also moved his shoe shop so we can fix soles on boots and sneakers and high heels and purses and all those things Also I forgot to mention. I am not only the recruiter for my CAMS transport partner, but I'm business creation. I start LLCs, s-corps, all those things for people that are trying to start their own businesses or just need to become an entity so they can be paid that way. And I also prepare business taxes. Well, I do those for myself and I do taxes for people. You know, just general tax cut.
Speaker 1: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 active real estate agent since what year? 2015. 2015. So you know, trucking has given you the opportunity to really go after your dreams.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really has. I bought the current condo that I own right now because I was able to save enough money for a down payment, which these days everybody knows you can't just buy a house with no money, you have to have something, and I would have never been able to save that kind of money in in any other job.
Speaker 1:Punching a clock, I tell you right now, especially being a single, yeah, so I I don't want the listeners to think it's all you know rainbows and butterflies and trucking because it's not, and it's a long road to get to where we are, where we're successful, and you have had a lot of challenges along the way. Oh, yeah what has been the most challenging for you through the years since you got your cdl um, wow, there's a lot of things.
Speaker 2:It's just a very cutthroat industry, to be honest with you. Um, the female part of it is obviously, you know, a challenge. But I've adapted and I feel like my personality comes through to most people who are intelligent, normal, decent human beings and they can respect and understand that what I'm doing as a man's job, the equivalent you know, even in the physical. So I've proven myself over and over again. So I have a lot of respect in the industry. You know people, I know mechanics, 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 can tell you right now I was literally.
Speaker 2:I remember one time in North Carolina one of my trucks had been broken down for a little bit and it was left at a shop and they said, well, we're closed, but we'll let you get in the gate and you can do what you got to do. So it was a rainy night, there was a puddle, my truck was stuck between two other trucks in the dark and I had to jump start it with the flashlight from my phone. 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 the trailer and I deal with all the things I had to deal with. But these are things like where I'm all alone in the dark in a shady place, I don't know the neighborhood, I don't know what's going on, and I just have to deal with it. I have to get through it. I have to do it. It doesn't matter, I have no choice, I have to do it.
Speaker 2:You know it's do or die in a lot of cases. I mean, you've got the people on the road that brake check you. I've almost lost loads and almost rolled my truck. I rolled the truck in 2017, 2007. That was avoiding another accident, of course, but yeah, there's. So I mean I, I shouldn't even be alive with the things that I've gone through. Honest to God, you know what I mean. So, yeah, my family they hated it. They didn't like me out on the road all these years. They hated it, especially when they were called after a rollover and I'm in Arkansas and my family's in New Hampshire. Now my dad has to fly in to come and save me and they don't know if I'm dead or alive. When the trooper is on the phone telling my sister you pull over. I need to tell you about my, your sister and everybody's like you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I almost died yeah, yeah, it's hard on a family, you know, and not just in trucking, but as a woman woman as a mom, as a sister, as a daughter. You know we face a lot of things behind the scenes in our personal lives that are challenging as well, and you have had more than your fair share of those challenges and you wanted to share those today, so tell us a little bit about that share those today.
Speaker 2:So tell us a little bit about that Fights. Fights with men, fights with women, road rages, dispatchers and brokers, and showing up on time or showing up at a scheduled time, only to find out now you have to sit there because they're actually not open till the next day. Uh, damages in freight whether it's my fault or not, you know, damages to cars and car hauling, the the list of negative things that can happen you in trucking is endless, and the only thing I can say the money is pretty much the only thing I can say. The money is pretty much the only thing that kept me here, the most of the park, because I knew that there was a possibility.
Speaker 2:It's like the lottery, though. It's like one day you're up, or like a casino, I would say, it's one day you're up, next day you're down. One day you're making ten thousand dollars, next thing you owe six thousand dollars and you're making $10,000, next thing you owe $6,000 and you're like, 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 like the educated risk kind of factors where the more you learn, the more you can prepare, the more you know you, you it's like um, you can never prepare for everything, obviously, but the more you're you know what's going to happen or could could go wrong, that you could compensate for it as much as possible, the better off you are. You just have to be quick, you have to think it. To be smart, you have to be very careful of your money because, and then out at all times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like like I said, I can make $11,000 this week and I can have it in my bank account. And, yeah, I can go on a nice vacation and enjoy myself. Or I can hold on to my money because next week I'm going to have a motor blown. It's going to cost me $25,000 to replace. So I can take that $11,000 and put it down on the motor and try to make payments on the rest of it and save myself.
Speaker 1: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 that something happens when you're on the road. You have a way to get yourself out of it?
Speaker 2:yeah, because I've heard plenty of horror stories where drivers have been abandoned by their companies. I was fired when I had I had been with the company for I don't know a month or so and I had a muscle spasm in my back. So they had a 911, they took me out of the truck. Hospital came back. I had to go home. They took the truck, everything was fine. About a week later my muscles calmed 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't take, you know we we uh terminate you. I was like, well, it would have been nice for you to call me and tell me that. So now I'm ready to find another job.
Speaker 2:Same with the time I had the rollover. I avoided other people's accidents but because of you know, my trying to not kill other people, I ended up rolling the truck to avoid that and I was in the neck brace. You know I'm sitting in the hospital 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, we hope you recover, everything's fine. So three weeks later I'm actually able to walk again, cause I had a broken vertebrae in my back and I was like, okay, I can do this, now I'm okay.
Speaker 2:And I had two broken arms I couldn't you know, so I call them. I'm finally healed enough that I can function and I need to get money again. And they said sorry, we terminated you, you had it, uh, and I just got a one-year safety award with that company too, isn't that silly. So I had no job again and I went like four months, you know, without work and I had to have people help me pay my bills and stuff until I was able to get back to work again.
Speaker 1:So difficult that is rough that, yeah, yeah, always have a backup plan so nobody.
Speaker 2:I was nobody. I'm sorry, nobody is on your side.
Speaker 1:Let's just make that clear no, nobody yeah so you're a mom yep how did you balance being on the road and being a mom.
Speaker 2: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 road anyways. So I took that first portion of six months of his life, I believe, is when I was pretty much home all the time until my, his father, got deported, um, and then I ended up basically having to go back on the road again, so I left my infant son with my parents. I ended up, um, I was trying to figure out a way to get my husband at the time back into the country or somewhere other than mexico. So I ended up doing um, getting hired on with a company out of vancouver, canada. So I flew up there and I worked for them for about three months.
Speaker 2:But I was doing loads back and forth Arizona to Canada, holland, reefer and stuff, and it would have been okay, except for the fact that I had a less than one year old baby at home in Florida, which is literally diagonal across the world, you know, and so I kind of had a mental breakdown and I had to quit, I had to come home, I had to do, you know. So I um, you know, I've been on and off, on and off. I kind of had a mental breakdown and I had to quit. I had to come home, I had to do you know. So I, you know, I've been on and off, on and off, I'd come home, and you know, do home. But then money wasn't good enough, 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 an adult, but being broke sucks worse so, yeah, yeah, you know, money's a necessary evil, and that is the lure of trucking is the financial independence that it gives you.
Speaker 2:you got to make hard decisions in life if you want to succeed. You know I could have accepted welfare or I could have punched a clock at walmart and stay living with my parents for all eternity. You know what I mean, but that wasn't what I wanted, and I wanted better for my son. I want him to grow up and know that you can do whatever you want if you want it.
Speaker 1:You know you just have to want it and you have to reach out and get it so, looking back at all the sacrifices that you made, was it worth it where you're at now?
Speaker 2:yeah, it sucked, but it was worth it.
Speaker 1: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 be expanding? Are you happy and content where you're at? Do you have some ongoing dreams and goals?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So me and my trucking partners, we've discussed different things about what we want to do and with my fleet I got to the point where I was so frustrated with everything I decided I don't want to do trucking at all anymore. And that's why I got the shop, because I decided, okay, I'm going to separate myself from the driving side and try to get into the service side, which seems like where all the money's going, so maybe I could tap into that side. Yeah, and yeah, I hired my own private mechanic, so that's cutting down already on labor and parts and things. So I'm going to be servicing my own trucks with that. But I've thought about getting my own authority. But with the situation I'm in now, with the contracts we have, it's just too good to try to venture out right now. So I'm gonna stay where I am.
Speaker 2:Um, I thought about, at the end of this busy season, possibly selling out. If I have enough money to just focus on my shop. But then again, depending on the new administration and all the other things going on in our country, if things go better, then I may just renew my fleet, sell off some of the old ones and maybe buy one or two newer units and just kind of see where it goes. But it's all going to depend on the industry and where it's going, because you and I both know that for at least the past, since COVID, it's been worse than ever Freight and fuel yeah, yeah, the, not just freight and fuel, but the cost of um the, the part of our trucks, yeah, the cost of the repairs, the time it takes to get the part.
Speaker 1:I mean so our trucks are out of commission for so much longer and costing so much more to fix, and that is a huge problem in the industry right now.
Speaker 2:I'll give you a really recent example. This is terrible. Well, the one truck is down for four months because of the insurance thing I had talked to you about before. But that's four months loss of income, driver out of a job and all those things, and I still have to pay insurance and all the other things involved while that truck is sitting there. But this is another one I have. I had to get a new turbo on my Peterbilt. I have had a mechanic tell me that the turbo alone is going to cost $10,000 just for the part.
Speaker 1:I put a turbo in in Nebraska for the part.
Speaker 2: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 you about three thousand, right, so the part alone. Now this one guy is telling me ten thousand. So I hired my prior mechanic and he starts looking around. He found one for 6300, brand new. I said, okay, well, that's Well. Then we did a little bit more digging and I'm getting that supposed $10,000 part delivered on Monday to be installed in my truck for less than $800. That's a $9,000 markup.
Speaker 1:That's crazy, that is absolutely insane.
Speaker 2:This is why I'm broke, but not for long. I will tell you what.
Speaker 1:when I was when I owned my truck. It was a rude awakening when I had to do a fuel pump and you're you know, as a woman I've seen fuel pumps go in cars and they're a couple of hundred bucks Right. Well, mine with rails is like seven grand and I'm like holy moly yeah it's crazy expensive um in the owner op world.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that is something definitely that that people need to know, uh in women when they come out here is is what they're looking at cost wise well, my, my, we do a 50-50 split after the company takes their percentage and then the fuel comes out and whatever's left, it's 50-50. So if my driver makes $4,000 this week, which anywhere from two to 4,000, is what our drivers take on a weekly basis during our busy season so let's just say the best week he had, he took $4,000. That means that I got $4,000. Well, he gets to go home with his $4,000 and take his wife to dinner, pay his mortgage, buy his kids clothes and all those things. I take my $5,000 and I put it down on parts and if I'm lucky to have a couple bucks left at the end of the day, I'm ahead of the game lucky to have a couple bucks left at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Um, ahead of the game. Yeah, truck payments if you got truck payments, maintenance and all that extra stuff that you have as an owner you know there's a lot of behind the scene expenses. Um, you got, if you got, all the the back things that you have to pay to the company you're leased under one of my drivers one of my drivers parked in a tow zone calls me up.
Speaker 2: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 bill was? Six thousand dollars actually. It was legal.
Speaker 1:The cops said, oh well, yeah there is no cap on how much a tow company can charge it. I've seen some crazy tow amounts before yeah, very short distance and um. Is that coming out of that driver's pocket, or is that a cost that you have to eat?
Speaker 2:we. We started taking it out of him for a little while, but he was just not a good driver to begin with. So we ended up having to bite the bullet and let him go because it was cheaper to pay it off ourselves and not deal with the driver anymore. To be honest with you, um, and then you know, uh, the other problem, another major situation like we talked about with parts and stuff is if, if, if there's a breakdown on the road, you got to pay a service call. And now you got this guy who knows he's got you on the hook because you're not home, he's going to charge you whatever he wants.
Speaker 2:I had a driver I ended up paying over $900 for one tire, for a road call, one tire. Everywhere I've gone I've had breakdowns on the road. If I was able to tow my truck home for $3,000, it was cheaper than keeping it where it was and dealing with that mechanic. I've had mechanics do work, pay somebody $23,000 to rebuild a motor. It blew two days later and he said, oh well, too bad, $23,000?. Now I just struggled to get that money to pay the guy and 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 suicide rates in trucking.
Speaker 1:On the flip side, would you rather be doing anything else? Yeah, of course I would rather Really.
Speaker 2:Not me, I'm like you know, it's horrible I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1:It's horrible, it exists. I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it. The thrill of trucking went out the door, probably at least after the first two or three years. I'd been there, I'd done that, I've seen it. I've been to every corner of the country, I've been to Canada and then, of course, in my private travels I've been everywhere else in the world. But it's like the service side is where the money is these days. The trucking side is like slavery in a lot of senses, because there's drivers. I've had friends who have driven flatbed, for instance. That's a very labor-intensive job, throwing tarps and strapping and all the crazy stuff. And I remember the guy telling me sometimes like man, I only make 400 bucks this week, and this week I didn't make anything. Like man, you know, you can punch a clock at McDonald's and make 400 bucks a week, right? So what do you do? Yeah, I've got guys calling me all the time for advice. Jen, what kind of motor should I put in my truck? My engine just blew, jen. What do you think about this? What's your advice on that? Men all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just had one here a couple weeks ago. Oh, I'm looking at a lease operator. What do you think of this company and this company? And I'm like have you done your research? Because both of those are really 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? I mean, what's your dream career, job, then what would you do?
Speaker 2:I think being a lounge singer somewhere where maybe it's an older crowd and there's no drama and I can just sing and make silly little slapstick jokes to the crowd this is karaoke. Gin entering the room a little stand-up. A little stand-up, you know, comedy, because I have plenty of hilarious stories that people wouldn't believe that are absolutely true. I mean, I kind of like that Give us one, what is it?
Speaker 1:A story. Yeah, give us a story. Give us an unbelievable story.
Speaker 2:Oh man, oh yeah. Yeah, let me see Nothing like being put on the spot. Here's a silly one, this one's kind of it's. It's trucking related, but it's kind of so.
Speaker 2:One time I was, I was um doing driveway with a boyfriend and we would stay in motels because you know, it's a day cab, you don't want to just sleep sitting up, sitting up sometimes, so get a motel. So it's like midnight, we're in like new mexico. We see a sign it says uh, 1999 at night. I'm like holy crap, that's cheap, but we're only gonna be there for like five hours, so let's just go. So we pull in, we check in and uh, we go into the room, open the door and it's straight 60s, 60s, pristine, because it's clean but never been updated. So I'm all right, walk in and I go to the sink because I'm gonna like wash my hands and there's a scorpion in the sink and I said, ah, you know I freak out, of course, like yell and scream. My boyfriend oh, my god, you gotta get. There's a scorpion. I don't know what's on the sheets in here.
Speaker 2:But so we go to the, we go to the office and we said it's like now, it's like after one o'clock in the morning said ma'am, you know, can you call maintenance? So she woke up, whoever the guy was, and we're standing across the, across the um, you know the courtyard. I could see the door to the room from the office and I see the man, as a man go in. I see him come out and then I see him stomp, stomp, stomp and I'm like, oh, I guess that's their version of pest control here for $19.99 a night. So I was like, yeah, I've been in. Oh, did you sleep there?
Speaker 1:Did you sleep there I?
Speaker 2:shook the sheets out. I shook the sheets out Really really good yeah, but I ended up sleeping there. There's this funny thing I drove by and I just saw it again recently. Somebody finally posted it. But 20 years I was looking for this. I was driving down I-10 in Texas, middle of nowhere and there's some rinky dink truck stop and on the side of the building it's you know, words, big words to attract you from the highway, and on the side it says diesel and right next to it fried chicken, diesel, fried chicken, dang, that sounds good, you know, and I wanted to take a picture but I could never find it. And recently somebody posted and I said that's the one, that's the one, I remember that one that's funny that is great.
Speaker 1:So, how many nights a week do?
Speaker 2:you do karaoke?
Speaker 2:Wait, say that again. How many nights a week do you do karaoke? Well, when I was trucking it was random. You know, I might come home every 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 and things, and so we go out a couple, two, three nights a week usually and, um, so, yeah, I, I sing locally here in Florida.
Speaker 2:I've, I've been a couple of little places around the country, not anything big, but people still 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 Mariah Carey. I like to do ballads. I like, you know, jewel and Melissa Etheridge. I like to sing in her suit. You know I do rock, I do pop.
Speaker 2:I do a lot of variety of everything, but my lately, gaga and Adele are my two, you know, main go-tos for songs, because they have a lot of really good stuff and and I have people request me to sing. I have people that show up because they know I'm gonna be at a place, um my kjs, they always introduce me. They know. You know, oh, trucker jen's in the house, you know. You know it's always a big deal, so it's kind of fun. It's like a little local celebrity. I go whatever bar goes. Obviously they're. You know I'm regular, so you know all the bartenders know me. I walk in 20 or 30 people immediately gotta hug them all and you know they're like sing this, do that when you're singing. Uh, I have guys that request doing duets with me. So I'll sing like old school r&b with somebody or I'll sing like shallow. That's one of my go-tos with Gaga.
Speaker 2:I love that song. Yeah, I have a couple of guys that love singing that song with me, so yeah, you know I get around musically. I like it, I love it. It's one of my favorite things to do is to sing.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, I'm not going to keep you because I know you have a ton to do and a driver to stress right now. But to wrap things up, you know the topic of my series right now is hashtag. I saved myself. So when you look at those words and you think of trucking what? How does that apply to your situation and how do you?
Speaker 2: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 swim when you got lead boots and nobody's gonna help you. You have to figure it out and you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. I mean, it's do or die, and you know, even if your mama was there, she would probably bail on you too.
Speaker 1: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 when something happens, you are alone. I appreciate you so much for your patience this morning. Multitasking Right, it was definitely multitasking morning. I'll let you get to your driver. Thank you so much for joining Trucking with Tammy today and you have a great day.
Speaker 2:Wait, one more thing. Yes, I was a podcast virgin. I am no longer. Thank you so much you are welcome.
Speaker 1:I'm so grateful that you came on. It was wonderful hearing your story and chit-chatting with you this morning.
Speaker 2:You too, girl, you have, thank you.
