 So how's your ride along going so far today? Yeah, it's good. The truck's not even starting. As it works out, you can try jump starting and hopefully that'll take care of it. We'll see! Alright. Hopefully that's all it is. Hopefully, right? Yeah, because I thought I was going to put the cold in so you can start it. There's too many things to look at at one time. I'm texting and driving. Oh no! Somebody was trying to kill you. He backed into my sleep or with the trailer. I have worked with some amazing drivers over the years, and even though I will only be able to experience a small part of it, I want to better understand the challenges that are in dirt while living a life on the road. I was in the Army. I lived in Texas for like 20 years. Yeah? Yeah. Where in Texas? I was stationed in El Paso. How did you like El Paso? It was nice. Yeah? Yeah, I really liked it. What happened earlier? Somebody was trying to kill you while you were taking a nap. I parked at Costco making a delivery that was bought at 9 o'clock, and I was backed into the door, and then there was another driver backing into the door next to me, and he backed into my sleeper. He backed like what part of his truck hit the sleeper? The trailer. He backed into my sleeper with the trailer. He was backing up, and he hit my sleeper over on the driver's side. With like the backside of the trailer? Yes, with the right side over here. Was that like a rookie mistake, would you say? Well, I guess I don't know whether he was nervous or... Did you talk to him? I know, huh? He's like, wait a second. We'll be right back. All right. Yeah, I did talk to him because when he hit the truck, I got out, and I don't even think he... Well, he pretended he didn't know he didn't do it, but it's like, dude, you were right next to me. I know you did it. And I could see the paint on your trailer, the way you just scraped it off my truck. But then the damage, I don't know what it's going to cost right now. Like a few thousand, you think? Yeah, it'll be easy. Because the whole door? Like right back here, see where he says, at least tonight, right here? Yeah, yeah. But right behind that, where it says certified clean air, right there, and then the little part back there, and then on the bottom. So like multiple panels? Yes. Oh, yeah, so he... Do they just replace? Yeah, they can be replaced. Yeah, they just replace, they just take them off and replace the parts. There's damage. That's the good thing about... In fact, that's like the hood. Yeah. The hood comes in like three separate pieces. Oh, that's nice. So... So it could be cheaper. Yeah, so if you just need like one half of the hood, it just replaced that one panel over there. Aren't there windshields like that? Well... They're like two pieces. And the freight liners? Yeah, they have two separate windshields. I don't think I like that. And then the internationals and the Vobos, they have just like one big windshield, but the freight liners have two. Is it cheaper then? Yeah, because you can replace just... As you said, you can replace one half, and you can replace that half. But so it's... So being an independent contractor, do you have to... Or are you owner-operator? Or is it one and the same? It makes me the same. Yeah. We're always changing the terminology. Yeah, that's all they do, but you're an independent contractor or an operator. They're the same thing. How does it work if you have like a chip in your windshield? Like... Well, yeah. I have... Like maintenance funds? No, you have... I have glass coverage, just like you have for your car. And we pay, I think it's like... Two dollars is something a week. And you can get up to... I think it's three windshields a year. So that's like... Say if I had a bunch of little chips here, if I wanted to get it changed, I'd talk to the glass guy over here in the yard, call the insurance company, they give me a number for it, and I give it to him, and he changes it, and he calls them up, and he gets paid. Just like they do at the car wash. When I get my car washed, and they like inspect my windshield. Yeah, when they... Leave it alone, it's fine. Yeah, so... And it comes in handy. This is called... It comes in real handy. It's cheaper than buying a new windshield out of pocket, you know, all the time. How much are they? It all depends on... What are you putting it in? Well, dude, I can't back up, so you don't have to. See, that's the one thing, that's a no-no. What? You never back up. Really? No, you don't. Even if you're bobtailed, doesn't matter? Nope, don't back up. Really? I don't back up. I don't back up. Because... What do you do if they can't get by? Well, you don't have to wait. Oh, I tell you the truth. You know, because if I back up... Yeah? Because sometimes you can't see, even if it's a car behind you, you can't see it. And if I back up and I back into him, then it's my fault, and then he's going about his business, and I gotta sit there and deal with that. You were being the nice one, and then it backfired? Yep. How long have you been an independent contractor with us? Fourteen years. So you started company then? Because you've been here, you've been with Nightwater than that, yeah. I started company three years, I drove company for three years, and then I got my own truck, and been an independent contractor ever since. What do you think has kept you at night all these years? Seventeen years. Well, when I started here, I was like, I'm only going to do this for a few years, and then I'm done. Was it the first company you drove with? No, I drove with a couple of other companies, but they were just like small companies. And when I started here, I was like... What's that mean? That's just... Hired. It's the... Idol. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a high exhaust tip. It's just like when it regains, when it regains, you have a real high exhaust tip. That's all it is. It's saying the temperature is hot? Yes. In other words, don't stand next to the exhaust because it can burn. We're not flammable right now, though? Nah, nah, we're not. Spontaneously combust? Nah. We don't know what happened to them on their riddle. And then it's a new truck. They have all kinds of glitches, so therefore... Let's see it already went off. When I started here 17 years ago, I was just... I'm going to do this for four or five years, just to... get on my feet, and then I'm done with it. But that's what a lot of guys say. Really? Yes. That's what a lot of guys say. I'm just going to do this for a little while. And then what happens? It's so amazing that you can't leave. But then you know, that's like me. I don't mind driving. I like to drive. It doesn't bother me. You know, you got your own... You got your own independence, your freedom, and it's like nobody's bothering you. Well, we do have a lot of guys, okay, a fair amount of guys, and some gals that come off the road, and they go into the office, and it does not last very long. Nah. I don't know how I've gotten Steve to stay in the office for as long as I have. I'm just kidding. You're trying to get rid of me, Steve. I'm just kidding. I'm not going anywhere. You've got to force me. Like Chris McCarroll. Yeah. I rode along with him, obviously. He had a few different positions over the road, and I think he lasted like a year and a half, maybe, in the office, maybe a year, and then he's like, no, I need to get back out on the road. I don't think I could, you know, be there in the office all day, every day. Yeah. I'm so used to doing this, you know, and nobody's looking over my shoulder, and nobody's telling me what to do. Hmm. So, but... That might be the biggest adjustment. I mean, I can't speak from experience, but you usually run only to L.A. and back. Yeah. Back when I was in operations, I remember you would go to El Paso. Yeah, I used to ride El Paso and back. And you would do the discount tire loads? Yes. And you would tell me, oh, is it a workout? Like, this is good for me, because this is my workout, because it was a driver-unload? Yeah, it was a driver-unload. Every day, five days a week. In the summertime even? Yep. Like, so sweaty? Over a thousand tires a day. Oh my gosh. That's weird. The exhaust beep. Yeah, I've been seeing that a lot. The sun is just... Every time I get into a different truck, it's beeping about something. And then it goes off. It's like very... I don't know. Like, this one here, this truck only has a thousand miles on it, a thousand, two hundred miles on it. But it hasn't even broken in yet. Yeah. It's going to have all kind of... because I can smell the heat from the motor. Really? Yeah. I can't... Oh, yeah, here you go. I smell like new Carson plastic. No, you can smell. That's where the heat's up. You can smell the heat from the engine and all that stuff. That's because I've been doing this for a while. You're like, I can detect the scent. Yeah. Some of these guys, they leave the keys in the truck like... What's happened over there? That's been some time. Really? Oh, no. It's like a little Chinese restaurant or something. I think she really wants to nod to it or something. But it's a different... Well, there's a driver coming from the vet and he's not going to be able to take it over here. So I'm going to drop my trailer tonight in Ontario that he's going to drop his trailer in Fontana and I'm going to pick it up and bring it back here. Yeah. Yeah. Leave back here for tomorrow morning. Tell him. Tell him. I don't know who the driver is. What the hell is going on? I'm going to have questions for you. I'm going to test your knowledge at this point. Just awarding a cheese. Complicated. No, I'm not. This is crazy. I see somebody probably with me like, are there cheese on top of that? Eating a giant plate of enchiladas. This is not normal for her. You know today is a special day. There's no cheese. Only because Steve is here. Only because Steve is here. Not you. Whoa. This is a graphic. This is a graphic. This is not you and the points are right there. Next. Whoa. Look at the parking lot at Burger King. That must be giving away free stuff. It's not that good. Isn't that good? Burger King? And I'm not aware. No, I don't like Burger King. Do you eat fast food? It depends. It's like every now and then I grab a hamburger but I'm like, yeah. You told me you had strawberries in your fridge. Yeah, I have strawberries in my fridge. I have a protein shake. Protein shake in my fridge and actually with apples. Are they like the prepared protein shakes or did you like blend it at home and then put it in the fridge? Yeah, but I used the protein powder with peanut butter. Nice. Steve? You got to try to take care of yourself. It's hard, you know. Didn't you tell me that you started working out again? Yes, I went back to the gym. Yeah. I went back to the gym then about, was it in September? September of last year, I quit smoking? I didn't know you smoked. I don't anymore. Nice work. I'm so proud. September of last year? Yeah, September of last year. What was the trick? I just quit. And then what, did you pick up like eating carrots or anything? No, I just went back to the gym. I started eating more fruits and vegetables and... Did you gain weight? I've heard that people gain weight when they stop smoking. Yeah, you do it in the end, like I say, not a lot, you know. But I just started going back to the gym and I started eating more fruits and vegetables and... Could you like, would you tell people get carrot sticks and when you want a cigarette, just put a carrot stick in your fingers and it's the same? I just used a chew gum. Oh, that's good. I'm really obsessed with chewing gum, so... Steve told me that I'm not allowed to chew gum and we record these because I like chomp on it really aggressively. Is it like, well, because... Okay, I've never smoked a cigarette before, so I... Yes, I don't know, but I don't know about the urge. But it's kind of like when you have idle time, so some people will just have a snack. Yeah. If they didn't smoke, so instead of having a snack, you would just grab a cigarette. Yeah. Same thing. You know, you're like, oh, I smoked a cigarette. Really? Yeah. And they're like, now I just eat an apple or eat an orange or... Yeah. That's good. I'm proud of you. I always try to keep like almonds or peanuts in the truck or something like that. Something that you can snack on that's not gonna make you all full and just give you just enough to say, okay, I'm all right. Like a few calories. Yeah. Is your wife healthy? Yes. Yeah. Does she go to the gym a lot? She goes to the gym and then they have a gym at her job also. Oh, really? Yeah. Where does she work? She works in Tempe. Oh. She works for a trucking company? No, no, no. She works for... They do like the Medicaid, Medicare and all that stuff. Oh, that's cool. Is it a big company? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So... Like healthcare-ish? Yeah. And then, because they work a lot with the state of Arizona. She commutes to Tempe. Every day. Oh my heavens, that's far. I pay her well. So... Does she want to move over there and you're like, no. No. I'm not moving over there. I wouldn't want to live in Tempe in there. But she works over by Tempe Town Lake. Okay. Yeah, right there. She works right there. It's a nice area. There's a lot of stuff there. She probably has a whole lot of lunch options. Oh, yeah. There's a lot to do over there. But she probably brings her own lunch. Yeah, she does. It's like what I talked to her yesterday. She's like, hey, what do you do? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. She goes, hey, what are you doing? She's, I'm making my lunch for the next couple of days. Yeah. So she, you know, she'll make like a real chick here with Brussels sprouts. I hate Brussels sprouts and broccoli and all that stuff. My kind of lady. Do you think that it was hard on your relationship when you first started going over the road? Well, when I first started going over the road, I was single. Oh, okay. Yeah, I was single. How old is your daughter? You only have one daughter? Two. Two. How old are they? The one that lives here, she is 26. Because she went to ASU? Yes. And she's done now? Yep. And then the youngest one, she's 24. Wow. So they're adults. Where does the 24-year-old live? In Las Cruces. Oh, okay. That's a lot. I remember when your daughter here started going to ASU. Yeah. I remember when you took her to the orientation. Yeah. Yeah, I remember you telling you about it. That is crazy that it was that long ago. It's Lolo's chicken and waffles. Lolo's. We're not going there. It's not healthy. It's not on your diet plan. So you had one daughter. No, you had both daughters. By the time you started driving. Yes. I got into this industry. Yes. Was it hard to be away from them? Well, it was, you know, you miss them when you're gone. Yeah. You know, but you call them every day. Yeah. For most of it, you were... Yeah. And my oldest daughter, she would always, she would, because when I first started driving, I used to go everywhere. And she would keep a map in her room. And then when I called, she was like, where are you? And she would put like her little pens in. Oh, that's so cute. For that night, you give to guys that are just joining the industry, or guys that are thinking about joining the industry, kind of two sets of people. Well, it's like, you know, it's a stressful business. First of all, you know, it's really a stressful job. It's got to be patient and, you know, just take it as it comes. Every week's not going to be a good week. Every day's just keep calm and just do the best you can. Truck on. Yeah. Just be patient. Yeah. And be patient, you know, and as long as you're patient, you'll be okay. Yeah. Just learn patience. Would you say, like, are there any personality types that you would recommend not to get into trekking? Well, it all depends. Because some people, you know, they get into it and they learn. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Or they have a heart attack. Every day is something new out here. Yeah. Every day is something new. You got to deal with traffic. You got to deal with the shippers, you got to deal with other people. And every day is something new. I think a lot of people have a perception that it's a job where you don't have to engage with others that often. But you are. There's a difference as much as a waitress would. No. But still, there's a lot of different personality types too. Yeah, because you can go somewhere and that person is having a bad day. Yeah. And they take it out on you. Yeah. And you have nothing to do with it. But it's like, wow. It could be like that anywhere. I feel like learning how to deal with different personality types and learning how to deal with others that are not having the best day ever. Yeah. So, if you're in any single job that you have, it's just good to have it in life. I'll offer training. For the most part, it's easy, you know? Yeah. Because you spend, I'll say, maybe 80% of your day, you don't have to interact with anyone unless you want to. Yeah. The more over the road you go, you know, that's like me, when I leave here, you know, I don't interact with anyone for at least five hours. Yeah. You know? What do you do when you're driving? Listen to serious exam. Music too? Yeah. Yeah. Listen to music, you know, talk radio. You know, see what's going on sports. Yeah. What about podcasts? No. What? Tour and kinds. Oh. Sometimes church podcasts, sometimes like stuff about weightlifting or food. Okay. A lot of times, I just put on some old-school music and just drive down the road and just dance on. Yeah. Yeah. Something that gives you power. Are there good speakers in here? In this one, I don't know, but mine does. Yeah. Did you change fancy? So. Does it have Bluetooth so it doesn't have to? Yes. Yes, it does. It has Bluetooth and all that in there, so. Do our our trucks have an auxiliary cord, right? They should, yeah. Like just the company ones? Yeah. They should. Yeah, they should all have one. If not, there's one right there. Yeah. Yes, sir? If Tiffany decided she wanted to drive a truck, would you be her trainer? Of course. Good driver. The question is do I trust him? No, you don't. She has lots of faces. Have you seen the video yet where she drives the simulator? Are you sure you trust him? No, I haven't seen the video. Have you driven the simulator? Yeah. Yeah, that thing that thing is wild. That was annoying me because it like the whole chair was vibrating. Yeah. You're not expecting it like, yeah, the truck vibrates. Of course, when you're in it, but like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it makes you feel like nauseous. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's not like when I'm actually behind the wheel and but no, that thing makes you feel kind of weird. Yeah. So when you're ready Did you get that face expression? Are you ready? My chair is shaking. I'm not ready. You're not ready for this. Really? I need to put my cell phone away. No texting and driving, Tiffany. That is bad. Do you want to see a break? So this is your clutch. You don't need that. We're going to automatic. Okay, good. So can you I'm just testing. Okay. So you ready? Hold on. I feel like my posture is not good. Oh, my seatbelts not on. Didn't you learn that in the last video? Yeah. You're here. I'm here to move your seat. Everybody, she wants her seat belt in the last video. Just so you know, I would never let that happen. Are you too straight up? No, it's good. That's good. I drive like an old lady. So right here and when you're ready to go hit that yellow and red. My trailer? Yep. And then push the yellow. Now you're ready. I'm not in drive. Yes, I am. Yep. I didn't put it in drive. I did. Oh. So right here, you're going to come up right here. You're going to make the right hand turn. Is that illegal? No, no, no. You want to follow both. So the truckers want to be in the outside lane because this would be the radio. Don't worry. There's not jams. Just trying to put on the best at 90 station. So go ahead and let off your pushy accelerator. What do you mean the simulator doesn't have hands and bump on it? Well then I just need to feel it out. Like how heavy is my load? Like can I stop quickly? Yeah, you're on the floor. You're fully loaded. Oh my gosh, just making me sick to my stop. Yeah, you're fully loaded. So keep going up to this line and you're literally... Is there traffic in this line? Yeah, you're on the floor. You're fully loaded. Yeah, you're fully loaded. So keep going up to this line because there's traffic in this game. Oh yeah. Okay. Well then I need to put my turn signals. So when you get right here you're going to look down this way to see the ice. Look at that. I feel like I'm driving. Is there going to like a dog going to run out around the corner? You're going to back your mirror on that side. Is it? I can't tell. Is it stuck? No, you're good. So you see traffic coming right here. The chair is responsive. Oh my gosh, this is so weird. You have to keep going until you can see sight right here. Like all of the lanes? Hold on, I think a grandma's walking on the sidewalk. Yeah, it's her. Is it good? Yeah, you want to turn your wheel now to the right. Already? Yeah, keep turning it. Now aim for this sidewalk. Like all the way right? Yeah. Now turn it back to the left a little. Keep going. Right, left. The trailer has a night logo. What was that? Jerk? I'm in all of the lanes until then. I'm taking up like three lanes. There's too many things to look at at one time. Oh, my turn signal's been on for an hour. That's fine. Where am I going? What's my route plan? Whatever you want. What city am I in right now? Red light was optional. I feel like I'm at Chuck E. Cheese. It's fine. Excuse me, I'm just going to Yeah, right. Are you kidding me? Oh, my gosh. This is making me want to vomit. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I can't. Oh, my gosh. Ew. It's like moving the chair. Oh, I'm getting sick. I want to crash. Can I see what will happen? Yeah. Go to the barn. Oh, I think she's already got two. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, I think she's already got two violations. Hold on. I'm texting and driving. Oh, no. Which way? Oh, it just put it just magically put me back on there. That's a really cold riker in your safety department. I'm trying to go, bro. 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