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 8 *Recorded Live* with Marie Norris
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.
Hey girl, I see you've come a long, long way. You're not alone anymore. Come sit with me and tell me a story. You've come a long way, girl, pulled yourself out of quite the mess. Those were some dark times back then, but it's all over now. You're not alone anymore. Come sing with me and tell me your story. This is trucking with Tamey, where your journey's heard and your voice is free. You're not alone. Come share your story with me.
Speaker 2:Hi, thanks for joining. Trucking with Tammy. I'm your host, tammy. Today we have guest Marie Norris. She's joining us live from the roof. Let's go ahead and bring her on. Bring her on, well, bring us both on. There we go, hi, marie. Hi, welcome to. I'm great as Saturday afternoon. Thank you for taking some time out to join us today no problem so we are going to start with talking about some of the history.
Speaker 2:So while we were waiting for our intro to start, you told me you have been driving since you were 16, but you've only been licensed for the last 11 years. So tell me a little bit about your beginnings driving, any driving.
Speaker 3:I grew up in a trucking family so it's kind of you know, it's kind of par for the course to be kind of thrown in when you're a kid. You know going on the road and taking trips with uncles and dad and all that good stuff you know when you're a kid. So you just learn. You learn the business naturally, because I mean everybody in the family did it. You know when you're a kid so you, you just learn.
Speaker 3:You learn the business naturally, because I mean everybody in the family did it. You know generation. I think I'm a fourth generation trucker, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2:So fourth generation truck driver.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's impressive yeah, but I'm the only girl that that that drove a truck that's in my family.
Speaker 2:Now, when you were growing up, did your dad want you to be a truck driver, or was he one of those? I've been doing it. I don't want you to do this, dad.
Speaker 3:No, he wanted me to. My mom didn't want me to. She was the one that said it was a mindless profession and that she would prefer that I didn't do it. That's exactly what my mother said, and it's nothing against truckers, but she said it was mindless, I think it's anything but mindless. Oh yeah, I agree 100% Okay.
Speaker 2:so you tinkered around. Did you try anything out in between being a kid and making that leap 11 years ago?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean I did some stuff. You know, for the most part I just went to school and I did the books and all that stuff for a 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 techno geek pretty much. I was pretty good with computers. So I did all of her books and I did her friend's books and pretty much acted as a secretary, cut all the payroll checks, basically ran the company except for, you know, like doing the work with the stuff that was involved. You know I did all of the background, all of the paperwork, you know, all of the hiring and firing and all that good stuff.
Speaker 3:And then after that that was all I did was school and that. And then after that all I did was school and that. So before I never worked at you know any strange places, I was doing all of that after school too, you know, because I was doing odds and ends all the time as a kid. You know, because I wanted to make 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 of the house, because home life wasn't always that great.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I am with you on that one. So you home life a little rough. What made you transition into getting your CDL?
Speaker 3: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 I decided that I wanted to do it professionally, you know, because I had driven, you know, not so much legally, but I had driven, you know, from one point to another, here and there or whatever, but never did anything professional. But what I decided to, you know, and decided I wanted a new start. That was basically what trucking was for me. It was a new start. It was getting away from a very bad situation and getting into a good one and becoming independent again and being able to, you know, have freedom and independence that most women don't have, because trucking is a very good independence maker it it helps a woman to be able to support herself and not have to depend on a man so you left a bad situation.
Speaker 2:Can you elaborate on that a little bit, on what you were going through at the time that you decided to make that big change? I, I was. You don't have to give too many details, but for women who were in that position that you were in, maybe they can see that they haven't out as well.
Speaker 3:Well, it's not your typical situation. You know how sometimes you it's a relationship is the reason why you leave A very bad one. That wasn't the reason why I kind of went through a very rough, rough life, but it was to do with family, real family and family of the heart. I went through quite a bit of different things and lived through quite a lot of trauma, physical and mental abuse because, quite frankly, I would rather you beat me than to verbally abuse me, and I went through a lot more verbal abuse than I did. Physical abuse and the one thing that the people didn't know that did this to me. All it did was make me stronger and make me eventually be able to pull myself out. And you know, yeah, like I said, I came out of a very bad situation. It was due to family, family and people that I considered family and I had been a scapegoat. Pretty much is the is the I guess that's the proper term.
Speaker 3:I've been a scapegoat and I did have a relationship that kind of caused me some issues too, which I'm not going to elaborate about that either, but it caused me some issues and I was being stopped and did not really feel comfortable where I was at because I even was threatened to be killed by some of those family people that I considered family. They weren't true family, but I considered them family, family and you know, when you're threatened, yeah, I mean it's time for a change. You know it's time to move on. I grew up in Georgia, you know, and I was born and raised there and I left Georgia and went to Indiana, first, up around Indianapolis, and got my first trucking job at Celadon Trucking.
Speaker 2:And I stayed there until they closed. So when Celadon closed I actually was part of Teddy's, where we set up, and was helping drivers find placement and helping with transporting animals and helping with the abandoned drivers and that was a pretty rough time for you guys.
Speaker 3:It was because they didn't let us know. They gave us no warning whatsoever, but thankfully I was under a lease at the time through TAIL. I don't know if you know what TAIL is, but it was a truck leasing program and I was able to actually make the decision to move my truck or either give the truck back and for a very short period of time I moved my truck. I didn't really go out for the company that I was going to move it to, but I didn't have an issue with being stranded. I was one of the very few that actually filled the tanks on my truck because me and my sister were teaming at the time, because me and my sister were teaming at the time and, um, we had filled it up as soon as we found out, because we actually found out the thursday before it happened and I was in orientation with another company on that following monday whenever they announced that they were doing the uh, that they were doing the bankruptcy, the shutdown, yeah, yeah, so you were pretty lucky then.
Speaker 3:I was very blessed because I was good friends with the dispatcher. That was our dispatcher and she called us and told us that we needed to call. Tell that she couldn't really elaborate on what it was because she really didn't know, but she knew that something was going on because Celadon had dropped all of the lease drivers. We had actually been dropped before the company drivers were dropped so. But then Celadon wanted us to run a load I believe it was a fedex load to north carolina. Had we took that load instead of turning it down, we would have got stuck in north carolina and been like all the other drivers right.
Speaker 2:But you, uh, you left home, you went up to indiana, so you're away from your bad situation. But you're also away from all your family, your friends, your support group. So you go up to Indiana. How did that go? How was your healing process in the first part of?
Speaker 3:that new chapter. I didn't have a support group in Georgia. My whole family, literally I'm just going to tell you this much always shot me down, my family and my family by heart. I always got shot down. I was never told chase your dreams. I was always told you'll never amount to anything.
Speaker 3:I was a loner from the beginning, so it wasn't really like I left anything behind, except I left a lot of begrudged feelings behind. I left a lot of anger that still resided inside me and still to this day I still harbor some of it, even though most of the people are gone now. That that, that that part of my life was with. Most of them are gone now and you know I hate to say it, but in some realm I feel it's a sigh of relief because of the way I was treated by these people, because of the way I was treated by these people, because you know human being that's the reason why I am the way that I am.
Speaker 3:No human being should ever be treated like that. No human being should ever be shot down so far that they are lower than poop on the bottom of a shoe. They should never, ever be like that. No human being should ever feel that way, no matter who you are, no matter what race, no matter what creed or religion. I don't care who you are or where you are. The same god made you and you still got red blood coursing through your veins, just like everybody else.
Speaker 2: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:I found more of a support network once I got into trucking and more of a family through 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 person that's involved in my life now you know even my sister. I met her at Celadon. I call her my sister because we're like sisters. I mean I don't have sister, because we're like sisters. I mean I don't have a really big circle anymore, though I mean seriously, I don't. I have not a real big circle. My circle is small and it continues to keep getting smaller because I allow certain people in to be very close to me and then things happen and they treat me wrongly.
Speaker 2:So coming into trucking, what was the hardest part for you in the beginning?
Speaker 3:Adjustment. I wasn't used to being away from home. I was not away from home that much. I mean I did go on trips with my family whenever I was a kid and up into my teens and all that good stuff, but I wasn't away from home the way that I was when I came out over the road and became a professional truck driver. So you know, it was an open door to freedom for me whenever I came out, um, and for being able to do what I wanted to do for a change and not have to go and tell anybody where I was going, because I felt like I lived in my whole life up until the point that I came out as a professional truck driver 11 years ago. I literally lived my whole life doing for other people and living my life as if it was theirs. Living my life as if to give it to someone else because I was living my life for another person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and for the first time in your life, you could live it for yourself. Right, but the first time?
Speaker 3:in my life. I could live it for myself. So I was like a kid in a candy store. It was like I was, you know. It was like I was in college again, which that I didn't even elaborate on. That I did go to college. I went to college to be a nurse and I took several other courses during the time that I wasn't driving a truck and was just working books and stuff. I was going to school too. Yeah, I had a very. I've always had a strong thirst for knowledge and I've always been a good writer.
Speaker 2:And we're going to get to that. I want to get a little bit of history with you and then we're going to talk about what you do besides trucking. So with you having such a rich history, you know, growing up in trucking, when you came out as a professional driver, did you struggle with any of the issues that some of the newer women, who don't have a background in trucking, struggle with when they came out in this male dominated industry?
Speaker 3:I've only experienced it a few times, but there are still those guys out here that think that this is a man's world and that a woman has no place in it, that think that this is a man's world and that a woman has no place in it. And they will very much say because I literally what was it? Three months ago? No, no, it was. I think it was October. The first part of October I was in Arizona. I was delivering a load in Arizona or picking up in Arizona, one of the two I can't remember, but I was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was picking up, I was picking up in Arizona and I was coming back across the country to go home. I was going home not too long after that and, dude, I backed into the spot within one minute, literally Backed in, pulled my brake, went out and put the chalk under my wheel or behind my wheel, and this mofo comes over, knocks on my door on the passenger side, jumps up on the side of my truck on my steps and tells me to roll my window down. And he's got a piece of paper in his hand and he goes. I can see you haven't been driving very long, so I wrote you a diagram on how you back into a spot, because evidently women can't do it right so he needed to draw it out for you, huh yeah, he drew me a diagram.
Speaker 3:He literally had a diagram there how, how to back into a, a dock, and I said, sir, I said I apologize 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 for being or for taking too long for you or something, because I don't know, maybe he was mad that minute was way too long right, yeah, a minute was way too long because it was less than a minute from the time I got out of my truck, opened my doors, went and looked to see where my spot was, because they gave me the door right next to his and I guess my taking, um, oh, no, more than 30 seconds to back into that door was too long yeah, I, I had a situation last year.
Speaker 2:yeah, it was. I was trying to remember it was the spring or last year. Um, I went to hook up to a trailer and it was too hot so I had to crank it down. And I mean, when I'm talking, I mean it was way too high, so I'm cranking it down, so I don't high hook it. This driver walks up to me he says, says hey, young lady, he's like you don't need to crank that trailer up. Well, no, no, I know I'm cranking it down Like I'm cranking the trailer up.
Speaker 3:He showed his intelligence, though. I mean, dude, how long have you been out here? Don't you ever have to do that?
Speaker 2:I was like why would I crank a trailer up? So zero, zero faith in us, or some of them might be all of them, because I have the respect of a lot of male drivers, but there are some out there who have zero faith in our ability as a woman oh yeah, because I hear it all the time.
Speaker 3:Whenever, uh, you're backing into a spot or whatever, if you make one little single bobble and you have to make an adjustment to back in and a man walks past you, they'll mumble under their breath oh, it's a woman driver, no wonder.
Speaker 2:Heard that a time or two. Yeah, I'm always thankful for the ones who stand up for me when that is said. So, but yeah, you always have that. So you are a lease purchase operator now and, as you said with Celadon when you were with them, you were a lease operator there as well. So has that kind of been your preferred position. You know at least lease operator over your last 11 years.
Speaker 3:Yes, I mean lease operator is more. It gives you more freedom. At most companies Some companies you still are kind of held to the same standard of being forced, dispatched and you really don't get a choice. In the loads that you haul, even though you're the one hauling them, they still give you no choice. And you're the one paying for the fuel. You're the one doing this, that and the other. You still really get no choice. And some companies crack down so much that you don't even have a choice to where you fuel. So and being a lease operator owner operator pretty much because you're paying their truck payment, you're doing this, you're doing that, you're paying 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 my truck idle? What business is that of yours?
Speaker 1:you're not paying for the fuel.
Speaker 3:Right, you know, but also I am too. I'm paying for it until I get paid for the load, okay, whatever you know I mean. But then, there know, I never had that issue before until I went to work at the current company I'm at. That's why I won't say their name. Right, everybody knows what company I work at.
Speaker 2:So as a lease purchase operator obviously each lease is different. Do you have any advice for drivers who are considering becoming a lease purchase operator?
Speaker 3:Well, every contract is about the same. There's not a lot of contracts that differ. I mean, if you call many of the companies, I mean if you call many of the companies, a lot of the contracts are the same and some of them have variable leases. I would not go with that. Go to a company that has a straightforward lease, that's not a variable, that you can pay a set payment regardless. I mean, it'll hurt you when you want time off, obviously, but um, cause a variable lease you only pay for when you run. That's the way it's supposed to be anyway. Um, but the uh, the downfall of that is is it costs you a lot more money when you run a lot more miles and it's not beneficial to the driver to run all over the miles. And then it's not beneficial To the driver To run all of the miles and then have to pay a $2,000 truck payment Every week. That's not very beneficial.
Speaker 3:So I would always suggest to go, if you're going to do lease purchase, to go to a company that has a set payment Per week.
Speaker 2:Right. Have you paid any of your trucks off? No, through the years.
Speaker 3:No I have no intention of ever owning a truck because I don't. I don't expect to drive my whole life. You know, right, I love my trucking family and I have loved this job and trucking in part saved my life. But no, no, I don't expect to be driving the rest of my life. So what's the need to own a truck? I use the truck as a tool, I take care of it while I've got it and I really am looking forward to getting to come off the road. I'm just really what I'm doing right now is I'm finishing out the contract here at this company, and you know. Then after that, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to go local until I decide to retire from trucking completely. I decided to retire from trucking completely.
Speaker 2:Because, other than trucking, you actually have a whole other side going on behind the scenes.
Speaker 3:Yes, I do.
Speaker 2: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 on YouTube. Um, you're actually. Uh, there is a, a channel. I believe I saw you on um Road Dogg, I can't remember where it was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I have my own, uh, youtube channel too. It's Marie Norris Music. Um, it's Marie Norris Music and I, if you look me up on YouTube or anywhere like that, you're going to find tons of interviews, tons of podcasts, tons of radio 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:You actually have an independent label. Right now, you're not under anybody, and that gives you a little bit more control. Yes, sound records what have you done? I mean, how many songs have you released at this point?
Speaker 3: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 label and I removed that whole album because I wanted to go in a different direction. I shouldn't have released it in the first place, but, without being certain of the songs, I wanted to go on it. But there's Perfume and Diesel and then my new single, end of the Road, which is a song that is dedicated to survivors. Pretty much I mean it's pretty much a positivity song for people that are contemplating suicide, because it's for suicide prevention and awareness amongst truckers and everybody. Heck, it is universal.
Speaker 2:And with the amount of solitude that truck drivers uh have to do on a daily basis. Suicide is one of the top killers of the truck driving community yes, it is.
Speaker 2:It kills more truck drivers in in a sense than heart attacks do out here yeah, I, I've actually lost a couple truck drivers that I was, you know, in the last couple years, so that has definitely female drivers at that who were going through a lot of emotional distress and the extra solitude and the loneliness while dealing with that was just too much, and so that song actually people can relate to it across the board.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's the way I felt whenever I wrote it, and I wrote it with a co-writer, of course, bill D Luigi, and I wrote that song, you know, because I don't do the melody at all and I need somebody to make sure that everything's good and all that good stuff you know and and you know help with the putting together. I mean, I haven't used anybody in a while, like my last several songs I've done by myself but, up until End of the Road.
Speaker 3:End of the Road was the last song I used a co -writer on, and I told Bill DeLuigi that I would never choose anyone else other than him whenever I need a co-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. Nice, one of my favorites anyway.
Speaker 2:Is he? I actually wrote my first song the 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 music either. You know, I had somebody do that for me, um, so it's nice to have that crew that can do that and knows your style.
Speaker 3:yeah, exactly, and and he always knows, and sometimes he'll ask how I want it to be or whatever. Always knows, and sometimes he'll ask how I want it to be or whatever. Do I want it to have a pop theme, or do I want it to sound more country? Or do I want it to sound rock or do I want it to sound, um, you know, rockabilly, because we, um, we've done all different kinds, we even did blues. You know, I've done, uh, a blues, right him. So you could do just about anything with a songwriter. I mean the best ones. They can do anything, they can manipulate anything and make it sound great. That's a big part of it being able to create the melody.
Speaker 2:What's your preferred style country rockabilly. What do you like?
Speaker 3:I like everything. That's what I tell everybody. I don't like labels and I don't like labeling myself as a particular type of singer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, country music is close to my heart and I love it, but I don't want to be boxed in to where I can't do anything else. I like to be able to try Rockabilly, which is Perfume and Diesel, perfume and Diesel's Rockabilly, and be able to do End of the Road, which is more of a well, it's a modern pop style country, and then you got that has the old school fling too, because End of the Road kind of does have that old school sound too of the old school 90s country. But it throws in several styles in that one. And I like producers that are willing to go with me on what I want. And I've had three different ones so far.
Speaker 3:Like, the first album was produced by Pat Holt and Pat Holt did a wonderful job on Perfume and Diesel and all of the songs on that first album. He did a wonderful job at producing it and he and I we clicked. But after that first album it was almost horrible to get into contact with him. I mean, I just never could get in contact with him after that first one. So I was like, ok, so I just won't, I guess I'll find somebody else, slowly but surely, to do my music and because he was almost impossible to get a hold of thereafter Perfume and Diesel.
Speaker 3:But I went with a guy named Adam Knight, which is another guy there in Nashville, and he does it at cut rate prices for the second album, which is why that album came down. I'm not saying anything bad about Adam at all. I mean he's wonderful as a musician and and I feel that he gave me what I paid for in a sense. But those songs that's why the album came down is because I was really not happy with the songs and I sent them back and he basically sent them back to me again. He likes raw, he doesn't like to tweak and he likes all in one take and not take much time. Whenever I went to the studio with him, we did 10 songs in an hour and a half.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, no, no.
Speaker 3:Okay, that is unheard of whenever you're trying to get your music perfected.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You get two hours per song minimum to work recording studios with each song that you do, each song that you do, and he wanted to, you know, to be able to treat it like he did the production of the music and just take one or two takes and then choose the best one and not even splice them together or take the best parts from one or whatever. I guess I got spoiled with Pat Holt, cause he did that and that was the way that I had started out in Nashville was having two hours to record. So that second producer, like I said, he's good for people because he's cheap and affordable to get your music recorded.
Speaker 2:But you get what you pay for.
Speaker 3:But you get what you pay for. But you get what you pay for in a sense, yeah, and, like I said, I ain't saying that he's horrible or any of that and in fact we meshed. I liked him as a person. He's awesome person, he's a preacher and he does great things for people and him offering this to people for for a cut rate price is awesome because you cannot get you know, a class, a studio musicians for the price that he gives them for. But the only thing that I didn't like was the fact that it wasn't a you know, I felt like I was being pushed out before we really got the songs perfected and he would put them in the chord that the songwriter would send them to me and that had wrote my melody and I'm not a man, so I don't sing in a man's key, so they would also be in the wrong chord and we'd have to switch the chord so you know that.
Speaker 3:That's why I wouldn't do another one. I did 10 songs or 13 songs with him yeah, 13 songs with him and I wasn't happy with any of them, not 100% satisfied. And when I finally decided that I wasn't 100% satisfied, I ripped that whole album down and decided that I would redo those songs with somebody else. I haven't done them yet, but I can use the tracks that I have with somebody else producing them.
Speaker 2:And you kept the rights for that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, I have the rights Absolutely when you pay for somebody to do. Oh, absolutely, I have the rights to all that stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:They don't hold any rights because I paid for all of it. All of my stuff is paid for by me and they hold no rights to any of the music or any of that, even the studio from the work tape. Yeah, they don't hold any rights, so do you have any?
Speaker 2:appearances scheduled. Do you do appearances when you're not on the road?
Speaker 3:I do, and right now I'm working on 2025. So I don't have a whole lot set in stone. I usually post them as I get them. I'm looking to start getting them pretty good here in the near future, because I really haven't had the chance to set up any. I mean because I'm pretty much on 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:Yep, yep, yeah, did you do that in Louisville I?
Speaker 3:did in 2023. I haven't really been back since. I went then and I didn't go this year because I had a schedule conflict. I couldn't be home for both. So the first one I met, or this year, I missed it because of that. But I, you know, I'm not. I've not been invited to sing or perform at Matt's, so I feel a little bit. You know, tony justice gets invited because he's a truck driving singer. I get it. He's been out there longer than I have and all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, you just need some recognition. Marie, the right people have seen you, maybe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I thought about going back or whatever this year, because they do have it where you can sign up if you're an artist, and you have have it where you can sign up If you're an artist, then you have music out when you can like do an acoustic set or something like that. So I'll probably go this year, in 2025, to do that at least.
Speaker 2:It'd be great to see you. I haven't got down to the Searcy one, but I have been to the Louisville one A couple times.
Speaker 3:Well, I was there in 2023. And I was all over the place in 2023.
Speaker 2:Now with the appearances. Do you have any music you're working on?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I have music that I'm working on. I just haven't got it finished yet. I mean, I do have some finished but I haven't made up my mind yet which ones are going where. I I told uh, I sent one the other day. Or I did an interview the other day with jerry petito and, um, I told her because I just started working on a song called uh, barbara and Elvis, because those are my influences and the people that kind of saved me Well, not saved me particularly, but you know, had I not had them in my life whenever I was going through all the crap that I went through, I don't believe I'd still be around to this day. So it's kind of a tribute song to God, barbara and Elvis. I've already wrote one for Barbara. It's called Hard Act to Follow. I can't do a tribute song to people that saved me and and and and kept me going in all of the horror in the in the uh days of my life that weren't all that great uh and the only positivity that I had. I could not include her.
Speaker 2:So at least you can put all that into your music, you know.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's great to be able to write down emotions and feelings and get them out to where. It doesn't make me do things or make me get in that dark place, because, trust me, that's where End of the Road came from. That's why the words are what they are, because I've been there, I've done that.
Speaker 2:I felt that I know exactly what you're going through, because every word of that song I have been through finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel yeah, when I reached out the other day and I said I was doing this podcast and my hashtag is I saved myself, what would be the words I saved myself mean to you when it comes to your life and trucking?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I saved myself. That is the truth. I saved myself with trucking because had I not left when I did, I would have either gotten killed by somebody that was really peed off at me or I would have, you know, took my own life. I mean, because it was dark, it was gloomy, I didn't really know what end was up, I didn't know how I was gonna, what I was gonna do and how I was gonna make it with all the things that were happening. That was positive, and then some of them were positive, but most of them were negative and I didn't know what in the world I was going to do and how I was going to make it work. And then, all of a sudden, it came to me that I needed to go and be a truck driver. I think I really am, if I ain't mistaken, the first woman in my family that has been a truck driver. The rest of them has always been males.
Speaker 2:I am definitely the only female that's been, and there's not even been a male trucker in my family prior to me. Well, I have a great uncle that was, but I am definitely the first female. So a lot of people talk about how the road saves them, the trucking industry and their job saves them financially, but a lot of people don't talk about how trucking actually being on the road is a healer.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is, and it almost can be too much. I mean because when you're out on this road, that's why I you know why I talked about darkness. Even since I've been out on the road, I've had those dark times when things weren't going right at home or things weren't going right in a relationship that I had, you know, and I could mean friendship or whatever when I say relationship. So things weren't going right in a relationship I was having and I was. You know, I don't know what to do. You know, because it's hard to get through to people in a situation that believe what they say are right or is right. You know, I'll get into a dark spot in my life because I should not ever have financial difficulties.
Speaker 3:I, for the most part, up until the last three or four months, made great money. You know my whole career aside from you know about an eight week stint during the first part of COVID back in 2021 or 2020. No, it was 2020. I went eight weeks without a paycheck at that one little company that I was at before I came to work here, and but in 2020, you know, that was the only time that I didn't make no money. I have made great money out here ever since that eight-week stint up until the last three or four months. But you know, it's funny how when you do, do, do, do and you make sure that other people are okay instead of yourself and you do for people, they get to where they expect it.
Speaker 3:Normally I wouldn't even talk about it because of the fact that you know it's just a part of life yeah it's been a part of life for me because that's just the type of person I am, and I don't normally share that with people because it's kind of like um tooting your own horn saying that you do things for people. But it gets really rough whenever you feel like you ain't appreciated for anything you do and it's just an expectation now because, well, you did it all of this time. So why are you upset that you're doing it now?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because sometimes things have to be over. You know you cannot expect to live your life with a gravy position. You know where one person is doing more than the other for all your life, especially when you've already taken it too far and it's gotten to the point to where I don't want to do it no more.
Speaker 2:You know I may be selfish for saying this, maureen, but when I go through things like that, I'm really glad I'm a truck driver and I'm multiple states away, because I could turn the truck, the phone off. They can't knock on my door, yeah, but some point, but but right, and you know I have other places I can be.
Speaker 3:I mean it's not, uh, you know some, but I shouldn't have to go somewhere else because I, I don't want to go there you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:You shouldn't.
Speaker 3:That's right, that's right, because I you know, it's my house too, but I really do feel that way. I'm only going home for christmas, because it is what it is. You know, um, I love my dogs.
Speaker 2:My dogs are there, so well, you're hearing the same thing that thousands of truck drivers, male and female, hear from their other halves all the time, because we're gone, we are the absent party and we, we bear a lot of that guilt for, you know, not being there to handle the things on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 3:That's true. That's what's made relationships not work for me. Again, like I said, freight's been really slow at the company I'm working with. They're wanting to dictate to me where I go to work at and that's not something I can do and I already know deep down inside I can't go home, right, not while they're still there. They got to get out before I can go home and I know, like I said, I probably shouldn't even be this open, but it makes me it kind of makes me feel a little better to get it out in the open and to say it in a public setting, because I know this goes on your show, it does.
Speaker 3:I really, really just want to see this over so I can go home and I can be home, be a local truck driver, because that's exactly what I want to do in the future, 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 are in my house, right, I'd rather take care, because they pay for the electricity and the water. So I'd rather take care of all of that myself and take care of the little $250 they give me for the rent. I would rather take care of all of that than to be not wanting to go home to my own house Because 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 to deal with that because it's making me have flashbacks. I can't do it.
Speaker 2:So I don't know if you're this way, I find myself being this way but do you ever notice that because you spend so much time alone in a peaceful environment that when you go home, you demand the same kind of peace?
Speaker 3:yeah, that is dang true. I mean, I don't necessarily. You know, I'm miserable, kind of sort of being still out here because I'm not able to have the life that I want. I'm not able to go home and do gigs and all that stuff like I want to do, because Lord knows, I could get them set up if I needed to or wanted to to. I just I don't want to go home because, first off, I'm trying to finish out this contract, do it the right way and leave on a good note, because I don't burn my bridges. I try not to. Anyway, I've always been that way. I don't like to leave horrible feelings and I'm just not that person. And I hate it when people try and make me that person because, oh, you're not making enough money at this company right now. You need to make more money so you can take care of my children, right, you know? Or you need money so you can take care of my man and me.
Speaker 3:And do more or whatever, so we don't have to worry about this and that and the other. Well, the rent got paid, the rent gets paid, so what are you worried about? You got a roof over your head.
Speaker 2:Right so you got a lot going on right now, marie. You definitely have a lot going on. So what's your plans for the future? What Marie, the musical singer, songwriter, slash truck driver? What's her next step in life? What's your goal?
Speaker 3:Well, I guess I literally just let everybody know that I am a human being, and then I have the same problems that everybody else does.
Speaker 3:I have a personal life and I have people that drive me nuts, just like everybody else does. Absolutely, I don't want to be around and I just don't want to make nobody homeless. I really don't. But in the future there's going to be more gigs, of course, and I will post them as they become available. And there will be more gigs especially after I end this contract with the company, and that will be in May. My contract will be done in May, the middle of May, done in May, the middle of May. Once all of that's taken care of, I will go home and get me a local job. Either that or I'll stay out here a couple more months, or three months, or whatever I have to do in order to get them out of my house, because that's basically the only reason I'm not going home whenever that time 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 with it as best I can. So the truck is saving me again because I have to be in the truck rather than go home, because you know, I I don't want to be involved in all of that right here are the dogs but,
Speaker 2:that's what you were supposed to do to have the roof over your head yeah, well, you know what marie life is messy, and right here I'm trucking with tammy.
Speaker 3:We are everyday girls who are going through the same things you are going through, so you know we need to sugarcoat it here, we know, and, like I said, that's how the songs got around, because I really sometimes that's why I said I am right there with you I understand what you're going through, because sometimes I feel like I'm alone too and there ain't another person in this world that's going through the exact same thing that I'm going through. But then I do realize there are other people that are going through that and worse 100%, 100%, 100%.
Speaker 3:But yeah, a lot of shows coming up in the future. I will be doing a lot more next year as soon as I can get out of the OTR situation and get out of the lease and all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and is that what you want? You want to dive more into your music. Is that what you want? You want to dive more into your music. Is that what you want to do?
Speaker 3:Yes, I want to make a career out of my music. I don't want to be a truck driver for the rest of my life. No, I don't. I mean, I love trucking, I love the industry, I love the people, but it's getting so dangerous out here and you know people are so dumb on the highway it's not even funny. I mean, you don't even have to make an attempt to try and hurt somebody. They are trying to hurt themselves at your expense.
Speaker 3:Distracted driving Absolutely distracted driving absolutely, and I don't want to be that person that has to have that on my conscience as well.
Speaker 2:So as soon as I can, I'm getting my butt off this road. Yeah, we had a nice storm here a couple weeks ago and it was snow and ice and you know truck trucking. As a truck driver, you know I was good the roads I was handling. But the drivers around me and you know, while we can handle it, the people around we can't trust the people around us. You know, what I needed is somebody on their phone sliding to me because they're not paying attention to where they're going.
Speaker 3:Right, exactly.
Speaker 2:So it is getting very dangerous out here. I agree, 100% Too dangerous. I went to YouTube and I checked out your songs and I listened to them with my daughter and I love them. I mean, we can all relate to the lyrics Very much so out here I look forward to seeing what you got going. I don't know if you can share us a line or two with this new song you have in the works.
Speaker 3:I don't want to share it until I've got it put together. I'm a perfectionist. I like to at least have the whole chorus written. And I don't quite have the whole chorus written because I'm working on it piece by piece. It's one of those that I haven't really. I mean, I want to write it, but I want it to be perfect that's the word for it. I want it to be as close to perfect as I possibly can because it's a very important song about my life. I say it all the time.
Speaker 3:I don't do this just for me. Yes, I love my music and it's a passion. But music is a universal language. It makes people feel good and I like to make people feel good.
Speaker 3:I like to make them smile because I know what it's like not to be happy. I know what it's like not to have a smile because I forced smile so much in my life. But I want to be a naturally happy person. But I want to be a naturally happy person and if I can do one thing and I say that all the time for one person, every single day, whether they listen to my song, they listen to one of my posts because I try to do positivity videos but I always wind up too busy during the day to get them done every single day, so they wind up being like a once a month thing sometimes, or sometimes once a week. It depends on how much time I have to devote to it or if I 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 going down the road. I am doing a karaoke concert and a track concert with my own songs.
Speaker 2:Why don't you play your own songs? I am definitely karaoke-ing in the driver's seat. I love my jam time and you know I 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 bit more, but my first few days it's just me, the road and my music and so right, and I usually but every single day I will do at least about six hours of singing, because it keeps the voice.
Speaker 3:Your voice is nothing but an instrument. You have to treat it as such and if you use it and hone it, it becomes more and more and more and more closer to perfect. You know it gets closer to perfect. I don't think that I'll ever reach perfection, because if I do, I'm done. Ever reach perfection because if I do, I'm done. But at least I can get closer to it every day, because there's nothing more that I enjoy in life than being able to sing. It makes me happy. That is the one spot during my day. Whether or not I have a good rest of the day with people or not, I am happy when I sing.
Speaker 2:And that is important.
Speaker 3:No matter what song it is, I am happy when I am singing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that is what is most important. I know you're under load right now and you took quite a long time for me today, so I won't keep you very much longer, but do you have anything else you'd like to share with us or any advice for other women drivers that are looking at coming into our industry?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll give them the same advice that I gave to my students, because I used to train whenever I was at Celadon too. I trained quite a few. I graduated 13 students, and most of them were women. Only three of them were men. So I had 10 ladies that I trained and graduated, and I always told them you know, never let nobody tell you you ain't got this, because, no matter what anybody says, you can do anything a man can do and you can do it better. That's what they don't like is the fact that we come in here and we do it better than they do because we pay more attention to detail. Men don't pay attention at all to detail. Detail is something that they look over. They literally don't have the depth perception that women do, and they're going to think that I'm hating on them. No, I'm not hating on you. You do not have the depth perception.
Speaker 1:Women take their time.
Speaker 3:They don't get in a hurry, they're more safety conscious, correct. So you know. But don't let any man or any woman, anybody in the world, belittle you, because you can do whatever you choose to do, and if this truck thing is what you want, don't let nobody tell you you can't do it, and always be, positive.
Speaker 3:Don't let somebody get you down in the dumps and get you in a dark spot. Don't let somebody tell you that 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 the road, because that's exactly what every woman is is a freaking queen. I almost said the other word and I don't think you're right.
Speaker 3:But you are a freaking queen. That is exactly what you are and you deserve to be treated as such. Don't let nobody treat you less. I ain't saying be arrogant, but be the queen of the seat, be the queen of the highway. When you're driving, own it and always chase your dreams and your aspirations and never give up. Reach for the stars, go as high as you possibly can. Don't give up, never surrender. If you haven't heard it today, you're worth it. You're beautiful, you are the queen. You can do this, you got this. You ain't got to ask no one for nothing. You're Miss Independent, so chase it and do your thing. Reach for the stars, because there's no dream you can't have. Nothing is too big or too far. You can have anything. You choose All you have to do is have the want to.
Speaker 2: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:Oh, absolutely I would, if I was able to do it. I mean, if we could get that together, heck, I'd at least have a reason to do it because myself, just me, myself, and I, I'm going to procrastinate, I ain't going to lie.
Speaker 2: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:Oh, absolutely. I love to pep people up. I could be a doggone good pep coach, a pep talk coach. I could do that Because I need that same pep talk. I tell people that all the time. I need that too, so whenever I do you know the positivity videos I am talking to me too get yourself up. You don't need to feel like you're negative, nancy, today. You don't need to feel like you're in a pity party. Get yourself up, go chase it, get it Because you got this. You can do this, you know. But that's why I do them is because some days I wake up and I need them more than others. Yeah, I always tell people are.
Speaker 2:I need them more than others. Yeah, I always tell people are you crying? Are you crying? Yeah, are you done crying yet? Nope, cry, get it out, get it all out. And when you're done crying, get your butt up, dust yourself off. You know, and start over. It doesn't matter how many times you fall, it doesn't matter how many times you stumble. It doesn't matter how many times you fall. It doesn't matter how many times you stumble it doesn't matter how many times you need to start over.
Speaker 2:All that matters is you do start over that.
Speaker 3:you try again, you get back up and you dust yourself off and you try it again until you get it right, because there is no such thing to me as quit. I don't know the meaning of the word quit. I do not do that.
Speaker 2:Me neither.
Speaker 3:No, I will keep getting up and I will get up until I die, because I will go to my dying breath. That's the type of person I am. I mean, I don't have a quit bone in my body. I am no quitter.
Speaker 2:Me either.
Speaker 3:I get that. I'm still coming back. I'm going to come back and I will be stronger. That's what women need to know. You are strong, you are 10, 100 times, hundred times. Excuse me, I almost choked on my own spit, but you need to. That was funny, okay. Um, hey, I, I did too it's okay because I'm a very, I'm a talker, I talk, so I mean, I guess you can't tell.
Speaker 2:but Nah, not you, Marie.
Speaker 3:But you need to know that you're a very strong person. That's why, you know, that's why 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 in this industry. It's because they can't be us. They cannot trucking the things that we do.
Speaker 2:I mean because our pain tolerance is a lot higher than men's yeah, well, I see trucking and I see all these women who come in as victims and they leave domestic violence, they leave abuse, sexual abuse, they leave all these horrible environments and they get into trucking and then all of a sudden they have strength, they have courage and they go from being a victim to being a survivor and their whole mentality changes and their whole outlook changes. Whole mentality changes and their whole outlook changes. And you know, it's a huge transition to see somebody go from that victim to that survivor yes, exactly I am.
Speaker 3:I am that survivor too. I think all of us ladies are survivors. I mean that's a really good word, 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 common territory, a lot of you know. You know a lot of similarities. I mean we may not be exactly the same, but they're similar. So I mean we may not be exactly the same, but they're similar. So I mean I love the fact that women are in the spot that we are in, because I am definitely pro-woman.
Speaker 3:I don't hate men, like I said in the beginning, I don't hate them, but I'm pro-woman all the way. I want us to be able to have the things and not have to work twice as hard as a man does for the same thing. And men will sit there and tell you it's bull, but it's not. We do the same amount of work that you do and often in most industries we get paid less for this. Absolutely, we work harder at it and then we have to work twice as hard in any industry we're in to get anywhere because we are women. It's more of a hand me, because men get handed a lot because they're men.
Speaker 2:Women have to earn it yeah, most may come out here. No, that's gonna go on and be a truck driver they're like cool, you know making back a trailer? Maybe do is no big deal. A woman comes, no, most people come 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 big deal. A woman comes out here and says, oh, I want to drive a Sidmite. And all of a sudden you have to prove yourself.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm. Yeah, you wind up still proving yourself for your entire career. You never come out of that prove myself stage no, because I still run into that. Even my company they do have some women that they're okay with, but my company, I am treated as no favorite. Let's just put it that way. I am not treated like a favorite and that was very difficult for me in the beginning. I'm told that I'm a favorite but am not treated like a favorite, and that was very difficult for me in the beginning. I'm told that I'm a favorite but it don't seem like it, because I'm always told of the bad things that I do, or what they think is bad things that I do, but never the good. So you know, and that's very difficult. That's been very difficult for me because I'm usually, like I said, I'm a survivor and I don't like change.
Speaker 2:I like to stay in the same place and a lot of employers aren't give a positive reinforcement, so a lot of them the only time they call us in is when they need to talk to us about something, and they just assume that you already know the good right, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, and uh, like I said, I'm not used to not being a favorite. I was a favorite, even at celadon. I was always one of the top drivers at celadon. And when you're at a company that uh won't give you the miles for you to run, and then they blame you for not giving them to you, that's crazy, yeah yeah, it's a broken market.
Speaker 2: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:I didn't expect to be talking this long. I think I got off because I normally don't even go into any sort of conversation about my personal life, so you got a little more out of me than normally.
Speaker 2:Oh, I appreciate that, Marie. I definitely appreciate you being open with us. That's what us women need, is you know, so that other women can relate to you and see that they're not alone. And that's what we want.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely. If I can ever help anybody in any way, my phone line's always open. You know, I don't mind talking to anybody that's in distress, no matter who it is.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, everybody, thank you so much for listening in to this segment of Talking With Tammy. Y'all have a great night. And thanks Marie for being an awesome guest.
Speaker 3:Oh, I appreciate you having me. Thank you so much and I look forward to possibly doing something else in the future.
