E{emum} | The Only Woman in Her CDL Class. Now She Teaches It.

Million dollar loads they don't want to.

Open in front of you.

They don't want you to see what's in there.

So you're only allowed to stop at certain places only after, like we drive five hours and then you're designated to these fuel stops or these terminals or because they are high secure.

Why do you want to know, like, where I'm at every hour and you want me to check in and if I stop, you want to know it just, you know, it makes you wonder, right?

It's so much fun.

Every day is a new adventure.

And when look at them from the beginning days and how much they learn at the very end, it makes you so proud of what you do.

If you're thinking about a career in the trades and you want to know what employers actually look for, what the work is really like, and what nobody tells you before you get started, you're in the right place.

Built in the Midwest features conversations that'll help you figure out if this path is for you.

Well, good morning, Penny.

Good morning.

Thanks for being on the Built of the Midwest podcast today.

Sure.

As somebody that I've known for several years now and someone that I've got the pleasure of working with, I, I really thought everyone would love to hear your story.

And, you know, it's something.

Well, just in my truck last class, there was a couple of, couple of females and, and in today's day and age, there's still this stigma out there.

How this is a, this is a, this is a man's job.

And, and it's something that, that I want to be able to empower females out there that are interested in, in the trades and, and interested in trucking.

Tell me about your story.

Kind of going back from when you realized you wanted to get a CDL and that, that process to eventually being over the road.

Yeah.

So I was working CNA at Pycrest and my husband was in the trucking for a year and he said, why don't you take a ride with me?

Because I had a vacation coming up.

So I said, sure, why not?

And I went out with him over the road for a week.

And I think at the time he was doing 11 states.

And I thought, you're getting paid to do this here?

I'm slaving, working very hard.

Oh, my God.

And CNAs are tough.

I know a few people that I should say were CNAs.

It's kind of, correct me if I'm wrong, kind of a burnout job.

That's something that's hard.

It seems Like, I don't see a lot of them doing it as a career.

Yeah, physically it was really hard on someone, but mentally it was amazing.

Working with old people is great.

I do miss that all the time.

But to get back to it, I'm over the road with them and I thought, you know, this could be fun.

This could be something I could do.

And I got home and I was thinking, well, how do I start?

And I started doing research and you guys came up well, checked it out.

You got good reviews, good recommendations.

And I had that amount of money in the bank, so I said, why not?

I'll give it a try.

It was one of the best things I have ever done.

I had more fun with you guys.

And when I started, I did not know a dang thing about trucking.

Nothing.

Just a little bit with my husband.

And I thought, am I gonna do this?

I was the only girl in class, so I was kind of scared.

I don't want to look stupid in front of all these guys.

So I worked really hard and got through it and it was a lot of fun.

You guys made it easy.

So when I got hired with my husband as a team, I ended up at the place and as a family oriented trucking place, which it was a great place, they thought I was an implant because you guys trained me so well that they thought someone stuck me in there.

Like, there's no way.

You just came out of school, you know, that much ready to go.

And my husband won an award and he got a coat.

Only trainers got this coat.

Well, I wore the coat and you guys taught me up to back up so well that they thought I was implanted.

To check on their trainers?

No.

To check on their trainers.

Yeah, they did.

It was.

You were.

You were that good.

So not only did you excel, but you kind of blew them out of the water.

Oh, yeah.

The only one that did slow maneuvers.

Oh, correctly without hitting anything.

Yeah.

Because the way you guys out, straight, turn late, how you turn here, how you turn there.

You were one of my trainers.

Mac was one of my trainers.

It was great.

Yeah.

You know, and that's.

And that's something that I think a lot of people don't realize that they think, okay, truck driving school.

I'm just getting a cdl.

And, And I think there's.

There's so much more to that.

And honestly, it's hard to articulate everything that, that an individual learns.

And when you're talking about backing, because we do a lot of backing.

I mean, we spend a lot of time backing through cones.

But, but why is that so important in your own experience?

Why was that so important to actually being successful on the road?

Because I didn't want to hit anything.

Yeah,.

You have to.

And you're in tight situations.

There's a, there's a place in Chicago I used to pick up and I drove 4pm to 4am so I drove in the dark and I would have to pull in, go around, and then I only had so many feet, and then I had to back up to this trailer, which you only had like two inches?

Oh, yeah, not even two inches.

And then they're a brick, brick wall.

So I had to kind of get in there.

And you only have a tiny little space.

You can't.

In order to get under to do your landing gear, you had to go under the trailer.

Oh, geez, it's so tight.

And that was just one of the places we'd have to back up over the road, come down.

My first backup was a blindside.

Oh, down the hill through all these cars and trailers in the dark.

Sounds like the perfect storm to me.

But, you know, but that's, but that's why, but that's why it's important where, you know, and I know you've heard some students say, well, can we, can we, you know, why do we have to back up so much?

Why do we have to do all these different backing exercises?

And, and it's like, you know, we know something that they don't know that in real life, it's your accidents aren't going to happen going straight down the road.

They're just.

That's not where accidents happen.

They happen in manufacturing plants and yards that really tight, really tight docks where you got a wall right there.

And understanding what you're looking at in the mirrors.

And so many people nowadays.

Yeah, they're so important.

And to know what, what you're looking at, what you're looking for.

And I think, you know, backing up as much as we do between cones, where cones are kind of hard to see in a mirror.

So it really forces you to really look and pay attention a lot more than you would normally do it.

I think that's, that's super, super important.

You know, the other thing you mentioned is the, you know, having fun and the experience in the course also something that's hard to talk about, right?

Because people think, oh, it's truck driving school.

You know, you go there to get your cdl.

Why was the experience, you know, so important to you with it, with how you, you remembered the course?

Why was it important.

Yeah.

Like how.

How was that experience?

You know, how'd that experience impact you?

Because it wasn't just about.

For you.

It wasn't just about getting a cdl.

No.

It was about proving because I'm a girl that I can do it.

And you guys took us places.

We went on adventures every day.

It was a new thing, but we were still learning the basics, the.

The safeties, how to control it.

The skid pad.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Too bad we didn't.

I know that.

But that was a lot of fun.

I was very blessed to have that experience and knowledge.

Now, did you get to go on some long trips as well to like, you know, Marquette or.

We went to Marquette.

We did the roundabouts.

We did.

We went to Mackinac.

You went to the Mackinac Bridge.

Okay.

Yeah.

So we don't though, you know, I like to do it more, but it's just hard to fit in the schedule nowadays with everything that we have covered so far.

Yeah, it is, it is.

But it's something that, you know, with a lot of students that we get, I'm always surprised by.

There's always quite a few of them that have never been across the Mackinac Bridge.

And that was the world's largest suspension bridge for a long time.

It is a pretty immaculate bridge, you know, to be able to check out.

And there's a lot of truck specific rules and regs on that, on that bridge.

But that's something that I think is really important and is to that good quality training where you're not going on the same route every time and, you know, talk about that and why that's important, you know, for.

For new students to be hitting different cities and different roads and different highways and how that makes you a better driver.

It does.

I mean, granted that the Mackinac Bridge was a nice, nice long trip.

Everybody got to take an hour or so driving.

And to me, it's more fun to go up to Gwynn and you got the mountains and, you know, the nice curvies.

Yeah.

You get more time to downshift, upshift, downshift, upshift.

And that's what you really want.

I mean, yeah, it's great to drive 55 for an hour, but a couple times.

Yeah.

But then I wanna, I wanna see them be able to go down fast, go up fast, go down fast.

This.

Yep.

And be safe.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I think all those little, little trips in the places we go, you know, there's.

There's learning objectives that are weaved into the program where, yeah, you're going up and down Marquette Mountain, you're going to be doing some shifting.

I like to have them practice.

All right, let's turn on our jake break and get a feel of what that feels like going down the road.

And then up in Marquette, you have a lot of hill starts.

It's almost anywhere you stop at.

You got a hill start taking off and, and that to not roll back and how to kind of ride that clutch and, and everything else.

So.

So kind of going back to, you know, kind of getting on the road.

What challenges did you face while you're on the road?

You know, kind of looking back when.

I first got on the road, my very first night, I was in the mountains and I didn't ever really drive in the mountains.

No.

So I'm glad that you guys took the time to, to, you know, teach a little bit of it.

And then my company would teach what speed you want to be at, what gear that is down and through there.

So it was a little safety.

There's a lot more safety in the mountains.

Well, yeah, and the mountains are, I mean, and we've seen some really bad accidents in the mountains, you know.

So from your experience, I'm curious your thoughts on this.

Why.

Why have we seen some really bad accidents in the mountains?

Speed.

Just going too fast.

Going too fast for your load.

There's suggested speed limits for weight, weight of your truck.

If you don't follow that, a lot of people don't follow it and they speed up and then they're pushing on their brakes and they're stabbing their brakes and then their brakes get stuck and then they cause fires and then they lose their brakes.

And some mountains have only one or two escape ramps and some of them have it on the other side of the road.

And you're not allowed on the other.

Side of the road.

No.

In order to get to that escape ramp, you have to, you know, do a lot of defensive driving.

Absolutely.

Mostly it's speed.

Yeah.

Just going, going too fast.

And I think for me, I know the first, first few times going through the mountains was, was one of the scariest in trucking that I've ever had because these mountains are so big.

And if people have never been to like, we don't have mountains in the Midwest.

We don't.

We really don't.

And the mountains I'm talking about are like the Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains.

Those are some mountains.

When you have a, a 40 mile grade going down.

Yep.

California.

And I'm thinking Of like coming out of the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado.

That's insane.

Insane.

But I think it's really important, you know, for new drivers to kind of understand what that process is to go down a mountain.

So for.

For people out there that have.

That maybe have a CDL and have driven but haven't driven through the mountains, what would your advice be?

Make sure you're in the speed that you want to stay in before you get over the top or going up.

Yep.

You know, or when you're coming out of a tunnel, there is a big, huge wind push.

As soon as you come out of that tunnel, it hits you.

So always drive with your hands, both hands on the wheel in a good grip, because the wind can hit you at any moment.

And.

And you got a big parachute back there.

So that that wind hit you, it's.

It's going to move that truck.

And if you're not in control, you can end up losing control.

You can lose control fast.

And that's.

That's important.

I know something, something, you know, we teach as.

As, you know, is, all right, you're in the mountains.

Look for those advisory speed limit signs.

Look for those specific signs that apply to trucks that say, all right, 75 to £80,000.

We want to be at 25 miles an hour.

And if you're at that, which a lot of times you are loaded going through the mountains, that's where you want to be.

And I think what.

What's really hard for a lot of people, and it was hard for me, is I'm doing 25 miles an hour, and cars are passing me because it's six lanes.

Cars are passing me doing 65 miles an hour, and I feel like I'm standing still.

Right?

Yeah.

And I think that's really important to recognize that you can't let other drivers influence how.

How you drive, because those other cars, I mean, guess what?

They.

They're not £80,000.

And.

And if they want to drive, that's fine.

All right.

But you got to take care of you.

And I think that's where some of those really bad.

Where people have glazed their brakes and faded them.

That's.

That's where that's happened is because they're just going down mountains too fast and not being in a low enough gear, not having their jake brake on and not understanding the snubbing brake pedal method.

And I think those are.

Those are big things, and it's relatively simple.

Like, you know, after that, all my time through the mountains, aesthetically, I don't think there's anything more beautiful in the country, Would you agree?

There's a lot of beautiful.

No, there is, there is, but the mountains in my mind are just.

They were almost unbelievable because I didn't know there was anything that big in my life where we're like.

There's just.

You just look up and it's like the mountains just keep going and going and going.

You see snow on the tops of mountains and the, you know, summertime, and it's like what, like that?

Yeah, it's summertime.

So even when you go through there at night in the summertime, it can smell.

Oh, yeah.

Always have to be ready for that.

Yeah, absolutely.

The one of the prettiest pictures I've taken is I was on top of a mountain, on top of a mountain, looking at a tip of a mountain and I have clouds down below me.

It's just.

It's just gorgeous.

Yeah, no, I.

And I. I always thought that was interesting heading.

Heading east to west and how like you're in a desert a lot and then you get to the other side of a mountain and it's like a luscious forest, really thick.

And I remember asking somebody, why is that?

And they said, well, the clouds.

The clouds can't go over top of the mountain.

So all the rain just goes on one side of the mountain.

And so you have, you know, like a beautiful, luscious forest or a jungle if you're in those areas.

And then the other side, it's a desert.

So, yeah, I'm like, it's.

You have, you know, the extremes on either side of the mountain, which is super interesting.

What, what was your most.

Most fun thing about being on the road?

What did you enjoy most about it?

Waking up every day not knowing where you're gonna go.

It's like a box of chocolate.

Yeah.

You never know what you're gonna get.

That.

That was so exciting to me to be able to be in California and pick up a load and go to Pennsylvania or Florida.

It was just.

I just loved it.

So every day is a new.

A new thing, a new adventure and a new adventure.

A new adventure.

Yeah.

Like, one time we picked up.

I think it was in California and we dropped it in Oregon and Portland and we got another load and we went to Washington and we got to go to Nintendo as a high security load.

But as we're going down Zelda way, because they had their little streets.

Oh, yeah.

After him, a massive herd of reindeer, just beautiful reindeer, come trotting across right in front of me.

Just, just gorgeous.

Amazing.

Now, where was that at?

What was that town?

So it's like, very edge of Washington in the middle.

Up.

Okay, I'll be darn.

I'll be darn.

Because I remember going through, like.

Like Yellowstone.

Yellowstone and seeing like, the.

The grizzly bears and all the bison, and I didn't realize how big bison were.

Oh, they're huge.

They are gigantic.

I mean, they're like a semi truck by themselves, you know, with legs.

There's a.

There's a place in South Dakota where I think it's Teddy Roosevelt, the President, has a rest area and trucks are allowed in there.

And they have trails and you can see the Badlands, and they have bison and buffalo everywhere.

Everywhere.

You can walk down the trail and you can see them.

It's really cool.

Yeah.

You know, and I think that's something that people that haven't been on the road, you know, they, you know, you gotta travel and you gotta check out, like, the beautiful country that we live in.

And, you know, talking about the Badlands, I had no idea what the Badlands were and.

Yeah, no, exactly.

I'm like, like, what does that mean, the Badlands?

Like, what.

What.

What am I supposed to look for?

And then you go there and I'm like, wow, like the Dakotas and everything.

And it's just.

It's just gorgeous.

It's beautiful.

It's really pretty.

And then you see the animal life and.

And it's amazing that I. I think there's some people that don't even know what a bison is or that there's actual, you know, reindeer that are out there or wild horses.

Wild horses.

And a lot of people.

Yeah, I. I've seen them.

I've seen them in the middle of the night.

I saw this sign.

I had a horse on it.

I'm like.

And then all of a sudden, this whole herd comes in front of me.

It was just.

And a little baby at the end.

Yeah, but.

But it's those experiences that.

It's like, unless you.

You get to do it and experience it, you don't appreciate it, you know, and I. I talk to a lot of students that have never seen the mountains, and I think.

You ever been to a mountain?

And they say, I've been to Marquette, you know, Marquette Mountain.

I was like, that's not a mountain.

That's not a mountain.

That's.

That's a hill.

Right?

You know, I mean, it's a hill exactly.

Like, you know, you.

To really appreciate it, you gotta be there and you gotta experience it.

And, you know, as well, as.

Like, the Pacific Coast.

Right.

And in California.

And one of the routes I got to do, I got to go to Northern California and see.

Oh, my God, Northern California is amazing.

And you got to see the redwoods.

You got to see the redwoods there.

Yeah.

Oh, they're huge.

Huge.

Like, big enough that you could drive a car through.

Right.

And there are some places that they have carved out the road so you can drive a car through.

But I didn't know trees existed that were that.

That big before.

They're beautiful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Even the bark is massive.

Oh, yeah.

The bark is so thick in itself.

Could be a tree around here in the Midwest, like.

Like, we don't have.

We don't have trees that big even remotely that.

That big around here.

So, you know, it's stuff like that that I think people don't recognize that with this industry, you get the opportunity to.

To literally see the country and see all the different beautiful places that this country has to offer.

What was.

What was your favorite place that you got to go to?

Oh, my God.

So the first 11 months my husband and I drove, we saw all the states except Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and that's still on my bucket list.

But, yeah, because we drove so much, I even went to Rhode Island.

I picked up Walmart at a little Rhode Island.

A little Rhode Island.

I love it.

So the upstate New York is gorgeous.

Looks like here.

Washington is absolutely beautiful with the big trees and the mountain.

And Oregon, you can still see the Oregon trails in one of the rest areas from the Wagon Wheels.

Really?

Yeah.

It's just.

No way.

Okay.

I haven't seen that.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

That's pretty cool.

And then half of Oregon is trees and mountains, and it's gorgeous.

And then the other half, it opens up to, like.

You're in Ireland.

Yeah, it's more of, like, a desert, if I remember right or.

Well, at the right time.

At the right time, yeah.

Because you have the mountains there.

And I'm thinking of, what's the one big one right there?

And I remember I will know there might be Mount Hood.

Hood.

My hood.

Yeah.

And I'll never forget that mountain because it was raining down at the bottom.

And as I climbed the mountain, the rain turned to, like, a sleet, which turned to a freezing rain, which turned to, like, a.

Like a wet snow.

And then.

And then at the top was the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen.

Really?

Yes.

It was just huge.

And then.

And then it stayed like that for a while.

And then as I come down the other side of the mountain.

Literally the same thing.

I didn't know there were so many different states of water.

You know what I mean?

You think it's like, it's just snow and water?

No, exact.

But then you had like the big snow and then like the wet snow and then more like the, the sleet and then like a freezing rain and then the rain.

And then I was like, wow.

Like you got to see it all going up and coming back down and,.

And it's very slow moving.

Oh, if you're in the semi, you have to go.

Oh yeah, yeah.

I was, I was crawling, so I got to see everything, you know, which was just, just amazing.

But you know, it's those things that I think a lot of people, you know, appreciate about trucking once they're into it.

Like, wow.

Like these, there's all these cool things and cool experiences.

Pull over and.

Oh yeah.

Well, you work for a company.

The company we worked for had facilities all over the US where we could park there and say, hey, we want a week vacation.

They, you have a rental program.

You get in a car and you can see a place for a week.

Or they had company cars.

Absolutely.

I've.

I've known a few guys have done that in different places.

The one.

I talked to him here a little while back, but he did it in Vegas.

He had a loadout to Vegas and he's like, oh, I want to take, take a week week in Vegas and go to the Hoover Dam and get all the sightseeing in and go on the Strip.

And he's like, you know, as opposed to having to fly out there and everything, he's like, I got paid to do it.

I got paid to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's.

I got to see the Raiders stadium being built.

Oh yes.

Beautiful.

Cuz we go through there a lot.

Yeah, gorgeous.

Come off the one where there's a, a mountain and at night it's just.

You see the whole Vegas.

It's just gorgeous.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

No, and, and people have never been to Vegas.

I don't think they've really appreciate how big it is and the buildings there.

I mean, it is, it's not a small city, it's a massive city.

And what they've made there and, and I mean it draws people in from all over the world.

I mean, you go there and you see every, every.

You go to the MGM grand or Caesar's palace, you'll see every country.

There'd be people from Germany and Finland and Switzerland and China and Japan.

It just.

Every country, all over the place, Right.

And the Hawaiians, I love the Hawaiians.

All right.

There was one I was talking to last time we were out there, and I'm BSing with them, and I'm like, what brings you to Vegas?

He's like, well, where do you think Hawaiian people vacation when.

When Hawaiians vacation, they go to Vegas.

That's what he said.

So.

Because, yeah, I mean, they live on an island.

They live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

You got to think, yeah, where does a local Hawaiian vacation?

They go to Vegas.

Everything's there.

It's just gorgeous.

Oh, it certainly is.

It certainly is.

So.

So it's.

It's one of those things that, you know, you've got, you know, a lot of time on in.

In the OTR world now.

What brought you back to wanting to be more local?

My husband.

Yeah?

Yeah.

He.

He just didn't want to go out anymore.

He wanted to be home.

And then we got a dog, and the dog we have, you're not allowed to have that one breed out there, which.

She's a big baby.

Oh, yeah.

So I thought, well, if I had to do anything because I was working, I went back in the healthcare field and was doing mentally challenged homes.

And I thought, well, what.

Out of all the jobs I've had, I've had so many jobs throughout my life, where was it the greatest, One of the greatest.

And I came back to you guys.

I thought, they don't have a female instructor.

And I've been coast to coast over and over and over and over and over years.

That's how it goes.

You're like a pinball bouncing around in the United States.

It was.

It was amazing.

And I thought, you know, I remember how I sat there and I felt being the only girl in class, and I thought, well, maybe if I could give a little instruction to some of the new females that want to come through or give them a little advice or just to be there.

Thought, well, I'm going to go there and beg for a job.

Well, Penny, you are.

You are amazing.

And the way you conn with people and it is something.

I talked to Zach about this and he gets calls regularly, like from females, like, hey, is there a female instructor?

Or, you know, it's like.

And yes, the school has one now.

Her name's Penny.

She's amazing.

But.

But I think there is a kind of.

Kind of connection that's automatically there just to, just to have that and, and how you encourage students and how you're there for students and how you're kind of, you know, you're giving to the students kind of the same thing that you got when you came to the course, you know, that.

That kind of phenomenal experience.

It's not just about getting a cdl.

It's so much more.

So much more.

And I think, wonderful job.

Well, you do a wonderful job, Penny.

It's so much fun.

Every day is a new adventure.

And when you look at them from the beginning days and how much they learn at the very end, it makes you so proud of what you do.

So proud to see these people go and succeed and how you help that.

Absolutely.

It's a great thing.

No, I think it's a great.

It's.

It is.

There's an intrinsic reward there that, you know, I felt for years, where it's like, you're really helping people, right?

You're really helping people get them back on their feet or get into a great career.

You know, somebody asked me the other day, well, who comes through the school?

Like, what is that?

You know, who are they?

And I'm like, I. I couldn't give you one demographic.

I mean, it's literally 18 to 80.

Men, women, everybody from all over the place.

You know, I. I think the school has trained from literally all 50 states over the last 30 years.

And a little bit of everybody.

And, you know, there's.

There'll be people right out of the military coming to the school.

There'll be people right out of prison coming through the school and.

Or right out of high school coming through the school, or there'll be somebody.

I'll never forget.

Cliff, super nice guy, and he was a chef for, like, 30.

You remember?

Yes.

He was in your class.

Yes.

And, yeah, because he made the barbecue ribs.

So if he's listening, Cliff, I want some more of your barbecue ribs.

But.

But.

But, yeah, he was.

He was actually chef out in Vegas, and he had done that for whatever, 25, 30 years, and he just wanted something different and just was.

Wanted a career change.

And so, you know, that is something.

We see a lot of people that are looking for a career change of the same thing for so many years and just looking for something different.

I mean, it literally is a little bit of.

Of everybody, you know?

You know, and the other thing is being able to work with all these different kinds of people as well as people with learning disabilities.

You know, I had no idea how many people out there have learning disabilities and have dyslexia and ADD and adhd, and they had just had.

They and they struggled.

And a lot of them have never even graduated high school.

And being able to see them succeed in this industry, get great jobs and being able to provide for themselves, like, I think is super exciting.

And then, you know, guys like Hunter, you know, that I'm gonna.

You know, he's a great guy.

He's not gonna mind me, you know, showing a little spotlight on him, but he was completely deaf, and he really wanted to be in this industry.

Completely deaf.

And so, you know, we'd communicate with lights and on our phones and the.

The talk to speech and everything.

And.

And.

And I tell you what, he was.

He was a joy to have, and this was a huge dream of his.

And so being able to be that catalyst so that he can achieve one of his goals and dreams, I mean, that's.

It's exciting.

Yeah, it really is.

So it's.

Many, many aspects of life can come through and succeed and.

Absolutely.

Well.

And I mean, and there's a.

There's a couple guys in this class that, you know in the beginning, like, okay, what are you interested in doing?

And they're like, I really don't plan on driving, don't plan on doing anything in this industry, but they're coming through just to have it in their back pocket because they want a backup plan that they have a wife or husband and kids, and they have families that they need to provide for.

And they said, hey, you know, if something does go awry or maybe I want to do something different later on.

They said, you know what?

I got my CDL in my back pocket.

And I think that's.

There is a peace of mind to.

You have a CDL in your back pocket.

You always have a job, a good job, for that matter, and you always have a way to provide.

And you have a job anywhere.

Your CDL to California and get a job out there.

You go to Florida, get a job down there to Texas.

If you want to live in the frozen tundra, you get a job here in the Upper peninsula of Michigan.

You know, there's.

That's why.

That's why we love it here.

Yes.

Speaking of, you should see Penny in the wintertime.

Maybe RJ can.

Can.

Can pull a picture of Penny.

She's just all.

She's.

She's got the.

The Elmer Fud hat on, you know, 19 layers.

All right.

She's.

I was warm.

Yes, you were cozy.

Right.

But.

But.

But that's.

To train up here.

That's what we need.

Right?

I have the same.

I have to say, everyone makes fun of My hat, Penny.

And I don't care because it keeps me warm.

Exactly.

Crawl under the trucks.

You do your job.

You have to check everything out.

Like when we went to North Dakota, it was negative 27 degrees.

You have to be prepared, you have to dress.

It's.

It's brutal.

Absolutely.

It's very brutal.

Like the tunnel comes right through there.

The wind and,.

And guess what?

It's tough.

It's tough.

And that's the beauty of trucking is, you know, one week you could be, you know, sunny and 95 in California or Florida and it's like, wow, this is nice.

And then the next week you're in snow covered mountains and.

Yeah.

Minnesota with 40 mile an hour winds and negative 25 wind chill and you're back to Florida and everything in between.

Yeah, it's just, you know, that's the lifestyle and so have all that in.

There and you just never know.

And you really, if you do team drive, you really have to like the person, you know, Otherwise.

Yeah, absolutely.

So do you see now?

I don't see a lot of people team driving anymore.

No, no, not a lot.

Do you see?

Is there still, is it still pretty popular?

Oh yeah, yeah.

Oh yeah.

Companies love team drives.

Yes.

But they don't, they don't force you to team drive, do they?

No, no.

Okay.

No, it's a choice.

Yeah.

Because back in the day that used to be more common where companies.

Okay, yeah, you're starting off, we're going to put you with Joe Schmo and you're going to team drive.

Yeah.

So.

And they kind of went away from that, but they, so now it's more, more people that want to do it.

Absolutely.

Those opportunities are there, but most of them aren't.

You know, I don't know any that are forcing you to do that nowadays like you, like you saw maybe back then.

So yeah, it's, it's, it's interesting.

Solo would be good too though.

Oh yeah.

They say it gets lonely, but you don't.

It doesn't have to be lonely.

You can social, socialize when you go into this truck stops, they have lounge rooms, they have all kinds of things.

They have face, you know, FaceTime on your phones.

You can contact your families and.

Absolutely doesn't have to be lonely.

No, no, it really doesn't.

Well, and so with that, what would your advice be to somebody that's looking at getting a cdl, looking at going through truck driving school and are thinking about, you know, otr, regional, local, looking at the different things, what would be Your advice to that person depends on.

How their home life looks.

You know, your kids could be young, you want, you want regional or around town?

Sure.

Then you can still have your family life.

If your kids are grown and it's just your wife there, have her get her cdl or you want some space.

Yes.

Then you go out for a couple weeks, come home.

Yeah.

They also have programs like we did it too 21 and 21.

We'd go out 21 days, come 29 days.

Excuse me, and then repeat or 28 and 7 or.

I think the longest we stayed out was 53.

53 Days.

Okay, so you're, you were out there for over six weeks.

Yeah, that's.

Or even longer because we went out October 2nd and we spent, stayed till the 23rd of December.

Wow.

But we got bonuses, you know.

Well, yeah, absolutely.

You know, cuz especially leading up to Christmas there's a lot of, I mean I, I know freight picks up big time.

Freight picks up because they, you know, everybody's online, everybody's buying.

So you can run, you run and.

You can stay busy though, the whole time.

Busy.

And you're in different states.

And so Many took us 2.5 days to go coast to coast.

Wow.

So.

And you were, you were teaming.

You were teaming.

So, so for people that don't understand what teaming is, you know, talk about that if you will.

So some people, you get a 10 hour or 11 hour drive time.

You can do that and then you can switch and then you have the three hours on duty time, 14 hours.

But some, some companies want you to switch.

We worked for a company that we kept the same schedule, so then we didn't have to drive different hours of the day because then your fatigue plays in.

I worked 4pm to 4am and then my husband worked 4am to 4pm and then we would do a rolling reset.

So we'd drive all week, we'd get 70 hours, we'd just drive, drive, drive.

And then when he got done at 4pm on Friday, he didn't drive until 4am on Sunday.

So the truck only sat for 24 hours.

Now would you both do a reset at that time or would you.

Okay, gotcha.

Rolling reset.

So when I got off at 4am on Saturday, I didn't drive until 4pm on Sunday.

Yep.

So then we'd go again.

Yep.

So you, you get your 34 hour reset set in and you're good.

Now did you, did you run?

Did you run or recap?

Sometimes if you, if you had the.

Hours I had to I would run a recap.

But you, you really want to start on a 70?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Then, yeah.

And well, and if you're running, if you're running a lot.

Yeah.

You're gonna, you're gonna eat that up.

You're gonna eat that up?

Yes.

Yeah, it doesn't need to eat up.

140 Hours.

Fast.

Pretty quick.

Wow.

So how many miles would you as a team driver put on as a team?

3,000.

6,000 A week.

Is that 6,000 a week?

Wow.

So was that over 300,000 miles?

Probably a year.

That's a lot.

That's a lot of miles.

That's a lot of miles.

That's a lot of miles.

That's a lot of miles to say the least.

Did you have a product that you preferred hauling?

Because I imagine that was a lot of dry van.

We, we were the first reefers for the company.

Really?

Yeah.

We did pharmaceuticals.

So they would buy and sell pharmacies and then you'd have to ship them.

Right away because they're temperature controlled and everything else.

Interesting.

So.

So you would bounce.

Yeah.

So all that stuff had to be cooled.

Cooled down.

Yeah.

And then we done food.

We did high security loads.

Lots of those.

Oh yeah.

Million dollar loads.

Those are fun.

What were they?

Electronics or Some, some, some.

I don't know if I'm supposed to say what the products were.

Absolutely.

Really?

Yeah.

So we did Nintendo.

Lots.

Those are high security coach purses.

Yetis.

Yeti.

Yetis are expensive too.

Yetis.

Cigarettes.

Oh, yeah.

Cigarette tobacco.

Tobacco.

Yeah.

Super.

Super expensive loads.

Samsung.

Samsung.

Yeah, we did.

And they had those special metal seals on the back of the trailers and.

Oh yeah.

Locks.

We had high security locks.

Yeah, they.

Some of them really tape them up, really do them.

And then high security locks, you're.

They designate your trail so you're only allowed to stop at certain places.

Only after like we drive five hours or straight, you can't stop.

And then you're designated to these geo stops or these terminals are because they are high secure.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I imagine they wanted, they wanted to know where that trailer was too.

That the trailer.

Tracking.

We have tracking and then sometimes we have people follow us for extra security and then you meet at a certain place and then you get your.

You pick your security up and then you go deliver it.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

You know, because I've, I've heard of like even stuff where, you know, where like the U.S. treasury will ship money in dry van trailers and they'll hide it in a, in a, you know, a load so it's just kind of inconspicuous, you know what I mean?

And that's.

And that's more common, I think, people think.

And there's a, There's a car a few cars behind you that just keeps an eye on that load all the way.

All the way there.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's, it's one of those things where you get on the road and you start hauling different things.

You never know what you might encounter.

And.

And then there's stuff like that where you got million dollar loads.

It's like that's.

You have to be on time.

That's where your trip planning is so important because you can't, you can't be an hour early.

You can't be an hour late.

You have to be right on time because that, that load is timed and the people are there to pick it up or whatever it has to be.

You can't stop.

No.

Like you're driving and you're in that area.

You have to keep driving.

And then pull on in at your time.

They're very.

And they're very strict.

Very, very strict about that.

Yeah.

And you know, all black building.

Exactly.

And then you get there and here's my bill of lading.

You know, Swiss cheese, the only one there.

Yeah, yeah.

But they typically unload you pretty quick when you got loads like that.

They don't, they don't mess around or.

They take your trailer.

Yep.

Yeah.

Because they don't.

They don't want to open in front of you.

They don't want you to see what's in there.

And so that always keeps interesting.

What's that place?

This was a long time ago, but it was Missouri, maybe.

Delivered inside of a mountain.

Oh, yeah.

I didn't get to go there.

Oh.

Oh, I tell you what, it was very tight and the docks are in the mountain and it's very secluded.

And they don't really tell you what it is that's really in your trailer because they close the doors and they put a big lock on it and you're like, what am I hauling?

And on the bill of lady, it doesn't say much.

No, no.

It says magazines or Swiss cheese.

All kinds of freight.

Yep.

General freight, I think, was my favorite.

You know.

What does that mean?

You know, I mean, but why do you want to know, like, where I'm at every hour and you want me to check in and if I stop, you want to know, it just, you know, it makes you wonder.

Right.

And.

But that's, that's a part of trucking that I think is a lot of fun.

And that's what you really enjoyed, is that that adventure where you, where you, where.

You didn't know.

There's this one place I stopped at Lenexis, Kansas, and it's a FedEx.

I'm driving through there and there's this deer and just keeps following me, just keeps following me.

I'm thinking, what in the world?

So I started throwing out peanut butter and M M's.

They stop eating.

I go drop my trailer off.

He comes up to me, comes right up to me, and I'm like, this thing is just adorable.

And I pick him, switch my trailers and I go to leave.

And his name's Bucky.

They kept him because he was hurt when he was a baby.

So he lives in the FedEx place?

No.

Yes.

He's just a friendly, great big buck.

Friendly gift follows you everywhere.

So it's like all kinds of exciting things.

Yeah, that reminds me of the, the paper mill here in town and, and the deer there are just not afraid of you.

Just monster bucks just roaming around right next to the road and stuff.

And I'm like, man, I sit out in the woods a long time trying to get one of those puppies, and here it is right there, just hanging out, eating some grass in the ditch.

I'm like, unbelievable.

Yeah, I've fed foxes.

That came right up to you.

Coyotes.

California has tons of coyotes that are that friendly.

Oh, yeah, they come right up to me.

No, Come on.

No.

Yeah, I got, I got videos, you.

Know, talking about safety, Penny, you know, that's important.

Yeah.

So as, you know, as a, as a female were there.

Is there any other advice, you know, when it comes to safety, on how, how you, how you managed that and how you were able to.

Things that you did to make sure you were safe on the road?

You can carry pepper spray on your keys.

I would, I would recommend that always walk in an open area, well lit area.

If you're a female.

If you're going to park, park by the, the lights, the street lights.

I always did that.

Or if I stopped at rest areas and stuff that I didn't know, or if they didn't have cameras, I would parked by lights, street lights or.

So everything was lit up and everything.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I didn't really talk to strangers that much.

Stranger danger.

So I'm trying to teach my kids,.

You know, you can, you can just tell, you know, the people.

Yeah.

So.

And I think that's important because if somebody's from, from like, like us, you know, from the Midwest.

And.

And maybe not.

Not, you know, always having eyes in the back of our head.

But, you know, you get out there, you just.

You got to be more careful and.

And you have to be more attentive to what's going on.

And don't put yourself in those potentially dangerous situations as well as, like, pick the right truck stops.

Right.

That's huge as well.

Like, you know, you get into bigger cities that trucks have better have a fence around it.

Right?

Yeah.

I mean.

Yeah, you can get stalled.

Yeah.

Everything.

You park on the wrong off ramp.

In some places, you wake up and your load's gone.

Exactly.

So you always park up next to a pool or a building or another truck or keep your area safe.

Yeah.

I always knew.

Knew my surroundings, knew my exits, knew my enters.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, Penny, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I tell you what, it's.

This is.

This has been great, and I think.

I think it's exciting to be able to.

To be able to empower other females that are interested in this trade that wants more information and.

And talking about somebody that.

That.

That went through the school, got a cdl, drove on the road, and now is one of the certified instructors here at the school.

I think it's just.

I love your story, and I think it's exciting, and I think it really empowers other women and females that are thinking about this trade and tells them that, hey, it's a viable career option.

It's a beautiful career.

Yeah.

And women can do it.

Absolutely, Definitely.

Absolutely.

Go out there and be safe and strive for better.

Absolutely.