Liquid Trucking.

What’s good out there?

Welcome in to the Liquid Trucking Podcast episode 26.

And I’m really looking forward to this one,

but let’s not kid ourselves.

I get excited about all of them.

I hope you guys do too.

Uh Please don’t forget to like the podcast.

Subscribe to it.

Comment,

give us a rating and a review on whatever platform you listen to.

It helps us immensely.

I know I say it a lot but it’s because I’m really pushing for that type of stuff.

Uh You guys have done such a great job with uh the content of this podcast.

Everybody from top to bottom all the way up to the President Roger Schmidt and everybody that works the company beneath him that has helped out on this podcast has done a phenomenal job.

No notes,

no complaints,

keep doing what you’re doing.

The only thing I would add is leave a comment,

like,

subscribe that type of stuff.

Uh I,

I would love to hear any feedback that you have.

In fact,

today’s episode actually comes from feedback.

He’s talking to Liquid Driver Mike Stanfield and he goes,

hey,

you ever thought about doing an episode on driver backstories.

I’m interested to know where these guys came from.

I know some of them don’t know all of them.

I’d like to hear some of the backstories and bam,

we’ve got an episode for you.

I am going to be joined by Mike Stanfield coming up here in just a little bit.

He’s gonna lead it off after that.

We’re going to talk to Liquid Driver Robert Sanchez.

After that,

we will get on with Liquid Driver,

Rob Schroeder and Jason Eisenman.

Rob has been with Liquid since it was like four trucks in a field.

Ok.

So Rob has some great stuff to talk about and a great story to tell.

We’ll bring you that and then we will talk to Liquid Driver Damon Marvia who will join us for the second time here on the pod.

So that’s what I’m talking about.

You know,

uh I got a lot of drivers working for Liquid.

You guys text me,

you call me,

we chat,

you know,

all the time.

Whenever they’ve got something on their mind,

they’re sending me pictures of great food that they cook.

Uh,

you know,

Alex Shevchuk,

he’s always sending me recipes.

Um We’ve got,

you know,

Mike,

obviously,

I had this conversation with him that led to this episode.

Matt mckellar is out there.

He’s showing me pictures of some of the great places he’s hiking around.

Look and that’s only the very beginning that’s scratching the surface.

Ok?

I’ve had a lot of really cool drivers,

a lot of really cool conversations on this podcast.

And I want to keep that momentum moving.

We’re on a gravy train with biscuit wheels,

son.

And I want to keep that thing moving right down the griddle.

So if you’ve got any ideas,

if you’ve got uh just uh an itch and you want to come on the podcast and do a segment with me,

I would love to hear from you.

You can find me either by,

uh,

if you already have my phone number,

use it.

It’s good.

Otherwise,

head on over to Liquid trucking.com.

Click the podcast link right at the top of the page.

It’s a big banner with my face on it.

You can’t miss it or you can always send us an email podcast at Liquid trucking.com.

It’s that simple and,

uh,

look,

if you,

uh go through those steps,

you get in touch with me.

You could end up on the next episode where there we’re talking about driver back story or uh driver cars that you drive around personally,

or maybe we’re gonna tell some horror stories.

Best of the best,

worst of the worst.

Listen,

we’ve got time and we’ve got the space for you.

So if you want to be on this show,

give me a call,

get in my email inbox,

talk to Jason at the front office or your dispatcher,

they’ll put you in touch with me and we’ll get it moving.

But without further ado,

speaking of get it moving,

that’s enough homework for me today.

I’m ready to kick this episode off because I can’t wait to hear some of these awesome driver back stories from the drivers that helped comprise the roster at Liquid Trucking.

So let’s get into it.

Welcome to the Gold standard of podcast for the gold standard of Drivers.

This is the Liquid Trucking podcast with your host Marcus Bridges.

I wanted to kick this episode off with our very first driver that’s here to tell his back story.

And uh it’s a special case with this driver because he’s actually the one that gave me the idea to do this episode.

So,

uh please welcome Liquid Driver,

Mike Stanfield back to the show.

Mike.

Thanks for being here and thanks for such a great idea.

Yeah.

Yeah,

it’s always a pleasure being on.

Not a problem.

Anything I can do to help,

you know,

with the podcast or,

you know,

but Liquid in general,

man,

I love this company and now I wanna do what I can to earn my keep here.

Yeah.

Well,

uh we really appreciate it.

I can’t speak for the guys at the office,

but I’m sure they appreciate it as well.

Uh But having,

you know,

you’re not the only driver for Liquid,

that’s like that with me.

I’ve got,

I’d say there’s probably six or eight different drivers out there that any time I have a question or I just want to chat or anything like that.

Uh,

there’s such a big handful of you guys that are in touch with me and it’s awesome because it keeps me in touch with what’s going on out there on the road for the most part.

And,

uh,

when you guys have ideas like this,

I mean,

for those of you listening,

Mike knows Mike and I text each other all the time.

Uh send me a text man.

I’m always around my phone.

My whole life revolves around this thing and I don’t care what time it comes in,

it ain’t gonna wake me up.

So uh yeah,

take a page out of Mike’s book and start sending me your ideas because uh this is gonna be a really cool episode and Mike where,

what made you think of the idea?

Because you,

you texted me and you said,

hey,

have you ever thought about doing an idea about drivers telling their stories and like their backstories,

how they got into it?

Did you wanna tell yours?

Uh,

obviously you’re gonna do that,

but are there other drivers?

You’ve just heard so many cool stories that you wanted to hear some more?

What,

what,

where did the idea come from?

Well,

you know,

it’s always interesting to see where people have come from.

You know,

the challenges,

these challenges that they face in life and um how they’ve been prosperous um by becoming a truck driver because it’s a very demanding career and,

uh,

you know,

you get into the right company and it pays very well and it can change people’s lives.

So,

it’s just interesting to see,

you know,

how they got to that point where they’re like,

all right enough is enough.

I gotta do something and change something,

um,

to get,

you know,

my life on track,

you know.

So I just find it interesting,

you know.

Sure.

Well,

I do too and I’m really excited to hear your story.

So I’m gonna get the hell out of the way and just let you walk me through it.

Sure.

Sure.

So I grew up in Kansas City and I,

I’m gonna tell a short version because it can get quite long.

I grew up in Kansas City,

you know,

it was my mom,

uh remarried and uh I moved in with my stepdad and my mom.

Um I was one of those kids that,

uh didn’t like to listen to his parents.

So I did a lot of running around on the streets,

got into uh some bad crowds.

Um I ended up going to prison my first time in,

uh when I was 1718,

somewhere around there in and out of prison for 10 years altogether.

Um,

and my last time I was down,

I got out in 2011 was,

I was like,

man,

I gotta do something.

I gotta change something,

you know,

because what I’m doing is not working.

And so I moved down to Springfield to an uncle quotation marks because,

uh,

I didn’t have any family down in Springfield.

So I found somebody who I was locked up with that was their dad led me parole to their house and stay with them for a little bit,

um,

in Springfield,

Missouri.

So that’s where it’s all starting.

So now I’m out of prison.

Don’t know anybody.

Just the clothes on the back,

on my back and the bus ticket to get down there and a little bit of,

you know,

you know,

maybe two or three bucks,

uh,

left over from that,

that they gave me when I left,

starting from scratch and I’ll,

and being a felon and just getting out of prison,

it’s super hard finding a job.

Um,

I was walking the streets.

I didn’t have a car,

I didn’t have a license.

So I was walking the streets looking for jobs,

applying where I can.

Um,

finally I was able to get a job at Sonic.

That’s actually where I met my wife.

Oh,

that’s awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah,

she was a manager.

We were actually supposed to date but she was involved with somebody at the time who she had a kid with or two kids with actually,

uh,

that’s the whole different story but they had problems,

decided to split up and so got along really well from the get go.

Um,

she ended up becoming my best friend,

um,

because I didn’t know anybody and she always picked me up from,

uh,

from where I was living and would bring me to work and we would work,

uh,

open,

we’d open together and after a while we decided,

yeah,

we wanted to start dating even though it was,

we weren’t allowed to her,

the company because she was a manager and I was just a lowly fry cook.

But eventually we both ended up quitting.

She went off to do,

um,

other jobs she didn’t end up liking.

I finally started a job at laser equipment,

um,

with her mom selling printers and doing printer repairs and stuff like that.

That sounds better than managing a sonic.

I gotta be honest with you.

I’ve,

I’ve worked in food service before and,

uh,

II,

I wonder if I echo your sentiment when I say no,

thank you.

Uh I would rather do anything else.

So,

for me,

I didn’t have a very good skill set.

Right?

I don’t have,

I don’t have the,

the know how to do a lot of things because I was always out running the streets,

uh,

using drugs,

selling drugs.

Um,

and that’s what I knew.

So I knew how to cook.

I was in and out of restaurants and fast food restaurants while I was on the streets as a part time job.

So I knew how to do that.

So there for a while I was just back and forth from uh fast food restaurants to call centers,

back to fast food restaurants and then uh back to another call center.

And then I,

I got a job offer from Enterprise Ala O and National um which was booking car rentals,

but I would work from home and you know,

they pay off commission um just by booking car rentals.

I was like,

dude,

that sounds awesome.

So I was doing that for a while and I was like,

all right,

this sucks,

dude.

Like I love my family.

I love being at home,

but being home 24 7 is not ideal.

Like I got really tired of it really fast and I just wasn’t making enough money,

you know,

we had just bought a house and I needed to make money.

Well,

my father-in-law,

he was a truck driver and so that kind of gave me the idea.

I love driving.

Um I always have and I was like,

well,

what if I,

you know,

I talked to my wife?

I was like,

what if I do what your dad’s doing?

Your truck driver?

She’s like,

will you be out for a long period of time?

I was like,

yeah,

for a little while,

you know,

so we talked it over and we decided that,

yeah,

we’ll go ahead and try it.

So I finally got into a school at Springfield Midwest Technical Institute,

the name of it.

There’s,

there’s one in Springfield,

Missouri and there’s actually one in Springfield,

Illinois.

Um,

but they have a CD L program there.

Um,

I did some night schooling there while I worked during the day.

Um,

for Ean Enterprise Alamo National.

Um,

and then they were like,

well,

we don’t,

we can’t do night school anymore.

So I had to move two days and quit my job at Enterprise Alamo National because I just had the feeling that what I was about to do was gonna,

uh,

be more important for my family.

That’s a tough decision to make too when you have a job,

a job that’s paying you.

I mean,

regardless of,

if it’s enough to quit that job to jump into education for another job that isn’t necessarily guaranteed at that point,

that’s got to be,

uh,

a pretty hard decision to make Mike.

That was a hard decision,

a very,

very hard decision.

One that I had to sit down and have lengthy conversations with about,

uh,

to my wife about.

And I did have to end up borrowing money from my dad and his wife,

which I ended up paying them back for it.

But that kind of helped us get through the four weeks of training that I had to be able to,

uh,

get my city to get out.

I knew that from being in school,

uh,

truck driving school.

Once I got in these trucks and I started moving around in them,

I knew that this was what I was supposed to be.

Doing,

like,

I was like,

I took,

trying to think of the word.

I got a whole,

I got the hang of everything so fast.

Um,

that I got really good at,

you know,

offsets,

uh,

parallels 90 degree and a dock 45.

So,

like all that,

you know,

I got really good at everything and so when it was time for me to take my test I passed the first time.

Oh,

nice.

Yeah.

Yeah,

it was,

it was,

it was awesome.

I only missed like two points and that was because one of them I turned to wide or whatever the lady said,

like,

ok,

I didn’t know you could do that.

I didn’t hate anything but whatever.

Um,

and then,

uh,

it was a 90 degree alley dock was my skill and I missed a couple of points on that because I pulled up one too many times.

But,

yeah,

other than that,

I mean,

still I did a really good job.

I’d say,

I’d say that’s a pretty good,

pretty good go at it.

Considering some of the horror stories.

I’ve heard people go through on their first run at that test.

So,

hats off to you there,

man.

Yeah,

there was only like one,

two,

I think there was three of us that passed the test that day out of seven of us.

So,

yeah,

I mean,

it’s not,

it’s not easy,

you know what I mean?

It really isn’t and you don’t know what you’re gonna get for as far as the skill set.

They kind of just tell you when it’s time,

whether you’re gonna do an offset or,

well,

you always do an offset.

Whether you do a stupid roads.

These fucking like this freaking I 80 I’m on the turnpike and you’d figure that these roads would be pristine because of the turnpike.

Hell,

no,

they’re the bumpy as hell roads anyway.

Your money’s going elsewhere,

Mike.

But we don’t know where at this point but elsewhere is what we know.

I know where it’s going but we’re not,

we’re not gonna get into politics anyway.

Yeah.

So you don’t know what you’re gonna get,

you know,

you’re gonna either get,

um,

uh,

parallel or you gonna get a 90 degree,

uh,

alley dock and everybody got the 90 that day nobody got the,

uh,

the parallel parking,

which I was way better at parallel parking than I was at the nine.

But anyways.

So,

yeah.

Um,

and then I started with this company PTL and I’m not gonna say too much about them because,

um,

I don’t like putting down other companies.

Uh,

but let’s just say I didn’t make it all the way through their training program.

Um,

I moved on to RBX which was a great company to start out with,

especially if you’re a new driver.

Um,

they really give you some good training.

Yeah,

they stay in the Midwest and Southeast,

uh,

regions.

You know,

they don’t go out west,

they don’t go upper,

uh,

east or anything like that.

So,

it was really good for me to start out with them.

I worked for them for,

uh,

like a year and a half.

Um,

I was on the road for like,

six months and then,

uh,

my wife got pregnant and when she had our son,

I talked to them and I said,

hey,

I’d really like something local if you have it so I can be,

uh,

make sure that I’m there for my wife while being,

still being able to,

uh,

to work.

And so they set me up with this,

uh,

yard driving position,

um,

at the French’s plant in Springfield,

Missouri,

basically hauling back and forth,

empty and loaded trailers,

12 hour days,

six days a week,

no breaks.

Worst freaking experience of my entire trucking career.

I will never ever do anything like that again.

Boy.

And,

and when you looked in the mirror after the first week of that schedule,

were you like,

why in the hell did I ever ask for this?

Well,

the first week was ok.

But then after that,

I realized how tired I was because when I was home I worked overnight too.

So I would work from like three o’clock in the evening to three o’clock in the morning.

So when I’d come home,

I would take a shower,

go to bed.

And then by the time I woke up,

it was almost time for me to leave again.

So I was hardly able to see my wife and kids and I was just so tired all the time.

It just wasn’t worth it.

I mean,

the only way I was making money is working all the overtime.

If I was just working regular 40 hour weeks,

my checks would be like fast food,

restaurant checks.

I finally moved on from that went over to,

well,

companies.

Um,

which was another really good company that,

uh,

me and actually Rex is where I’ve met Damon.

He was my trainer,

believe it or not.

And then,

um,

he followed me over to,

well,

I told him,

hey,

come over to this company.

It’s really good.

It was all in reaper trailers.

So,

uh,

frozen foods,

cheese milk,

you know,

all that good stuff,

all the good stuff.

Yeah.

All the good stuff that y’all fatties.

Like I’m just joking.

Hey,

man,

I’m a fan.

I have,

I have no room to talk to.

I got a soft spot for cheese and ice cream.

My friend and I don’t have any bones to pick about it.

Yeah,

I know,

me too,

dude.

I’m lactose intolerant too.

Oh,

the curse.

I’m sorry to hear that.

It doesn’t matter to me,

dude.

I’ll still shove down some ice cream in my back up.

So you’re working for the rain for company now?

You like that?

A little bit better.

Damon comes along with you.

Yeah.

Yeah,

so we’re doing good,

man.

Um And I had a pretty good,

um,

pretty good setup,

man.

I was home every weekend,

um,

there for a while and it was the same runs.

Um So it was pretty easy.

The paychecks were pretty decent.

Um But then COVID hit,

you know,

and uh stuff,

you know,

started happening like money wasn’t coming in like it should,

for some reason,

my stuff started slowing down really bad.

So I had to start staying out two weeks at a time,

uh,

to be able to actually afford,

um,

my four kids and wife and all of our bills,

um,

did that for a while,

man.

And then finally I was like,

man,

I’m,

I’m tired of this,

I’m tired of sitting in docks for 8 to 10 hours a day.

Um,

you know,

waiting to get loaded and unloaded,

um,

and not making any money because they don’t r these regular companies that hold traditional freight,

uh,

like frozen foods and drive ins and stuff like that.

If you’re sitting in a dock for 8 to 10 hours,

most of the time,

they’re not paying you what you deserve in downtime,

they’re not paying you that for that entire time.

Right.

They have like a,

like a set three hours or something that they’ll pay you and then when that runs out it runs out.

Exactly.

Yeah,

exactly.

You know,

if you’re sitting in docks for 10 hours,

you’re not making nowhere near the money that you should be making.

Um,

so finally I got tired of it.

I talked to my wife.

I was like,

it’s time to start looking for something else.

Came across some Facebook ads for liquid trucking.

I mean,

when you see ads on,

on Facebook,

man,

you just don’t know anymore.

You know,

like back in the day you’d see ads on Facebook.

You’d be like,

oh,

yeah.

You know,

it’s legit,

you know,

but now there’s so many scamming companies is out there.

You just don’t know.

And everything,

a lot of bait and switch to with those,

uh with those,

uh,

you know,

sign on bonuses and things like that.

I hear all sorts of horror stories about those advertisements.

People click them,

they get all the way through training,

they’re driving and that money never shows up.

It’s hard.

You’re right.

You really have to pay close attention these days.

Yy.

And,

you know,

we’ve ran a,

across a couple of companies like that.

Me and my wife have,

um in,

in my seven years of trucking,

but I was looking through everything that,

you know,

they were promising.

I was like,

dude,

that seems too good to be true,

man.

And so I told my wife about it.

She’s like,

I don’t know,

man,

that just,

that doesn’t seem right.

You know what I mean?

Like that much money in a year and they do this and they do that and I’m like,

yeah,

I don’t know.

So I just kind of put it on the back burner for a little while and I kept,

you know,

running reapers for a little bit.

And then I got that one paycheck that changed everything,

you know,

that one paycheck where I had been busting my ass for two weeks and on that second week that paycheck was like $500.

I’m like,

oh,

hell,

no,

no,

no,

done.

So I took a shot emo I took a shot called up Liquid Truck and I spoke to Nick when he was in recruiting back then,

you know,

I liked everything I heard.

Um I talked to a couple of other different companies.

Um Liquid was by far the one that,

you know,

we wanted,

wanted to pursue.

First of all,

it was a totally different type of r which was I was,

I was really excited about because I was so sick and tired of falling reefers and I wanted to do something new.

I wanted to upgrade my life.

I was sad whenever I became a truck driver,

I wasn’t just gonna be the average Joe that sticks with one thing I wanted to learn how to do this,

learn how to do that,

learn how to do this.

But um yeah,

man,

ever since my first day walking in,

uh walking on into the terminal,

I’ve freaking loved it ever since Paul and freight like this,

it’s,

it’s so interesting.

And everything is so different.

Every trailer is so different.

Every loads so different every place we go to is so different and it just,

it changes up all the time and it’s what makes it so much fun,

you know.

But uh yeah,

man,

I can,

I don’t know,

I just can’t say enough good things about this company.

Um If you are listening to this podcast and you’re not part of liquid trucking and you’re looking for a career switch,

definitely,

definitely get a hold of recruiting.

Um You will not regret it.

I promise you that.

Yeah,

it’s hard starting out,

but um it’s definitely worth it.

Um Like when they say this company is like a big family,

they ain’t joking.

I mean,

I walk into the terminal,

everybody’s like,

hey Mike,

hey Mike,

hey Mike.

You know,

everybody knows my name.

It’s crazy.

It’s,

you don’t get that with some of these other companies,

you know,

you really don’t,

Mike and,

and I can,

I can testify to that as well and just say that what a fantastic group of people to work for and to work with as well.

I mean,

if you’ve got those guys at your job that are like,

man,

every day I come in and this guy is running his mouth.

I don’t see that at Liquid.

I see people getting along.

People like coming to work,

you know,

you listen to our 500 year flood episode and you’ve got a guy like be whipple whose house is underwater and he’s at liquid saving the company next to everybody else.

Uh,

because he knows that not only the company is,

is so important to him,

but,

hey,

this is a community.

They’re gonna help me out.

If I help them out.

It’s a,

it’s a give and take.

And,

uh,

I mean,

you hit the nail on the head with it.

If you’re out there looking right now,

you ought to take a look in a good long one at Liquid Trucking because I talked to a lot of drivers and they’re all happy and I can’t say that about every other company that I work with.

Yeah.

Very true.

Very true.

Of course,

you’re gonna come across some drivers that are like,

oh,

I’m freaking quick.

I can’t believe this shit,

you know,

and you’re like,

dude,

what are you talking about?

You know what I mean?

You must have something hair up your ass or something like that.

You just must not be a very happy person because I mean,

I get a lot great with everybody.

I don’t have any problems at this company whatsoever.

Uh But yeah,

that,

that uh 500 year flood episode really opened my eyes more to,

to uh what this company has been through and,

um,

how they came out ahead from that,

how the community just came together and supported each other and lifted each other up.

It was an amazing podcast.

That’s probably one of my favorite ones so far.

Oh,

that’s cool,

man.

I appreciate that.

Thank you for that.

Um And it was,

it was a phenomenal podcast to get to be a part of and just hear the story and you’re right,

man.

How many companies uh can,

can weather a historic flood like that come out smelling like a rose on the other side?

Um It takes a village as we talked about in that podcast and,

and you’re in the right one man.

Liquid is a great place and I,

I can’t say enough nice things either and,

and I can’t say enough good things about your story as well,

Mike,

you know,

as I,

as I look at the whole story that you just told there in kind of three different chunks.

I heard,

I heard you tell three different love stories.

I had you tell the one where you met your wife and fell in love and built to life.

I heard you tell the story about falling in love with the truck the first time that you got in it.

And now I hear you tell a story about falling in love with the company that you’re working for right now in Liquid trucking.

And uh to come from where you came from,

uh having a little bit of a rough road starting out there man and end up where you are today.

Uh is,

is just great hats off.

To you for deciding to,

to make a change in your life and,

uh,

and look at where you are and,

and this is something that everybody can do if things aren’t going well.

And we’re gonna tell more stories as this podcast goes on today that,

that confirm if things aren’t going well,

you can always make a positive change and it sounds like you’ve done just that.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And,

you know,

change doesn’t come easy.

You know,

you’re gonna have to put in work.

Like right now I’m on,

I put myself on a diet.

I’m on a strict no sugar diet and I’m doing Weight Watchers because I told you,

I told you before Marcus,

I’m gonna lose weight and I need to and I’m really gonna do it this time and I have my head into it and I know it’s not gonna be easy.

But yeah,

change is possible.

It’s hard,

hard work.

But if you put your mind to it,

you can do it and you can make your life better.

Well,

said,

man,

well said and good luck on the diet,

dude.

Strict.

No sugar.

I don’t know if you want to be around me for the first week or so because I’d probably be a handful,

but I’m pulling for you,

dude.

Thanks,

man.

I appreciate it,

dad.

I just want to say one last thing to all the office workers really appreciate you guys.

Um,

working as hard as you do.

I just listened to uh,

the great podcast.

Uh It really opened up my eyes to what you guys have to go through each and every day trying to find a one to keep us moving.

So,

really appreciate you guys.

Um I’m probably not gonna retire with this company,

but I’m not,

this is my last company before I go local,

which is gonna be a long time from now.

So I really appreciate it.

I appreciate you Marcus and everything that you do uh to keep us entertained out here while on the road.

Hey man,

I feel privileged to get to do it,

Mike and I feel privileged to get to uh be associated with people like yourself and all the other great liquid drivers and staff members that uh share their time with us on this show.

Um I wanna say a huge thanks to you for coming on and telling your story and uh just tell you,

man,

keep the shiny side up,

be safe out there and uh we’ll talk again soon.

I know we will most definitely,

I appreciate you Marcus joining me next here on the Liquid Trucking Podcast.

I’ve got Liquid Driver,

Robert Sanchez joining us for his first appearance on the podcast.

Robert.

We’re very happy to have you here.

Thank you so much for the time.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you for the invite.

Appreciate it.

Of course.

Uh Now,

since this is your first time on the podcast.

I want to,

uh,

introduce you a little bit.

Let’s start off right at the top.

How long have you been driving for Liquid?

Uh,

I have been driving for Liquid since Halloween 2022.

So,

I think we’re a year and a half,

you know,

into,

uh,

this great relationship.

So,

yeah,

a year,

a year and a half years or 1.5 years?

Ok.

Cool.

So,

I mean,

you just called it a great relationship so I gotta assume that you’re liking it thus far.

Uh Yeah,

I absolutely love it.

Um,

I,

I think,

I think what,

uh,

everything from the job,

everything from the beginning,

um,

you know,

I was in a process of,

uh,

uh trying to,

you know,

further my career as a driver and I was doing my first job,

uh,

trucking was a flat bed but I,

you know,

I,

I wanted to,

you know,

continue to learn and grow.

So,

uh I wanted to get him to take her and from the job to Nick was just honest and,

and,

and welcoming and had a,

had a good,

positive things to say about him working with Liquid and other drivers in the past.

So,

yeah,

very cool.

Now,

where did you start your career at?

And you don’t have to mention the company,

but you said you were,

you were uh driving flatbeds.

How long did you drive flatbed before you got hooked up with Liquid?

I drove flatbed for two years in Denver,

Colorado.

I would drive up the mountains on I 70 for about maybe a 2.5,

3 hour drive to go to,

to a facility that may drywall.

And then,

um,

would bring that drive all back to,

um,

the whole,

uh,

Lowe’s and Home Depot in the metro area.

So,

yeah,

II,

I,

uh,

it was a good experience.

Um,

even,

even,

uh,

I would say I’m a pretty good,

uh,

seasoned driver,

uh,

when,

uh,

the snow was.

Yeah,

honestly comes on and you have to chain up for that.

Yeah.

What a good way to train yourself by just driving straight up a mountain,

uh,

every day,

you know,

you want to get tempered in the fire,

man.

That’s the way to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So what types of things do you like more about tanking,

uh,

over flatbed?

Well,

I think,

you know,

for me it was just kind of like,

uh,

you know,

it’s considered,

you know,

a local or regional what I love about this,

you know,

it just kind of like you,

you don’t know,

you know,

I,

I guess every,

every load presents its own challenge,

you know,

cause you,

you don’t know where you’re going.

So,

you know,

you know,

as far as like location,

there might be some places where I’ve gone before.

But I know,

uh,

but even then,

you know,

you got traffic weather and then,

you know,

if you don’t know where you’re going,

you know,

you kind of do your due diligence and,

you know,

find the safe and right way,

you know,

to get to the,

to the customer and then,

you know,

uh the handling of the,

of the product,

you know,

the safety gear,

you,

you just,

you know,

you wanna,

you know,

make sure that you’re prepared and that you’re safe,

you know,

and,

and for all parties involved and,

uh,

that,

that’s a challenge,

you know.

So it kind of sounds like you like the challenge,

like you’re up for it.

You would rather have a day of work that is,

uh,

gonna test you a little bit than a day of work.

That’s gonna put you to sleep.

Exactly.

You know,

it,

it keeps me,

you know,

keeps the mind,

uh,

keeps my mind sharp and,

and,

and,

you know,

just,

just on my toes cause you never,

you never wanna,

uh,

get,

you know,

complacent,

you know,

because that’s when you get complacent,

that’s where,

you know,

the error is happening,

you know,

and you make a mistake,

you know,

and it’s just like,

well,

you know,

I’ve got to a customer and say,

well,

I called the soybean oil for,

for every day,

you know,

you just get complacent and,

you know,

you have a,

you have a big spill unfortunately,

you know,

and then that,

that looks bad on you.

That looks bad on liquid,

you know,

everybody,

you know,

and then it’s just not a good feeling,

you know,

you wanna,

uh,

my personal take is,

you know,

these guys and I,

I mean,

guys,

you know,

liquid and they,

uh,

did a favor for me in hiring me and it has bettered my life and I wanna just practice what they preach,

do what,

you know,

do what they say,

asking the drivers be safe,

be on time,

you know,

be professional and,

you know,

it’s a,

it’s a,

it’s a,

it’s,

it’s a good uh relationship.

Absolutely.

No,

it sounds like it and,

and you know,

they say iron,

sharpens iron,

right?

You’re talking about staying sharp.

Uh you’re never gonna be able to stay sharp if,

if the job doesn’t have those challenges and that tedium,

those details that you have to pay attention to.

And I would say haul and liquid is by far the most tedious.

I mean,

I’ve never driven myself but I talked to a lot of drivers and uh based on what you liquid drivers tell me.

Yeah,

you gotta be on your toes,

man.

There’s no,

uh there’s no staying out late and uh getting up early and feeling like garbage and having a good day,

you gotta get your rest and you have to make sure you’re at 100% so that you can keep yourself safe.

Keep the product safe and keep all those people around you safe.

Yeah,

I mean,

Yeah.

Again,

you’re absolutely right.

And,

you know,

they’re,

they’re like,

when I do the hazmat loads like a caustic or something and,

you know,

they got a suit up,

wear protective gear,

you know,

I just think having this conversation is like,

you know,

just having flashbacks of,

of those type of love that I haul,

you know,

and I,

I take my time,

you know,

I tell the customer,

hey,

you know,

this is some serious stuff.

Let’s just be safe.

Let’s,

let’s get all the safety measures,

you know,

what,

what’s needed,

what’s required,

what could go wrong,

you know,

what’s the protocol for that?

You know,

and uh,

uh our buckets making sure,

you know,

we’re,

we’re sealed on,

on our,

our fittings and everything,

you know,

just,

um,

you take it a little bit slower there cause that’s the more dangerous stuff and obviously you want that,

um,

transported in the safely matter.

But,

you know,

you also want to go and do your next load,

you know.

You know,

so that and not have any accidents per se.

And it’s,

it’s a big deal too.

I mean,

you never see a dry van get under loaded properly and have the entire trailer just crunch into like a smashed pop can that can happen with the trailers you guys are hauling if you’re not paying attention,

right?

Yeah,

absolutely.

It can.

And,

uh,

that was one of the things,

one of the many things you know,

that was uh on my on boarding process and orientation,

you know,

hey,

make sure you bet um the top of the trailer.

So,

you know,

you don’t have a trash can and whatnot and,

and you,

you know,

when I dropped the empty trailer in the beginning,

I saw a couple of the pop can um trailers and I was just like,

whoa,

like that something must have happened,

you know,

from,

from a different job.

You just,

you just see the physical gratifications of,

you know,

not being sharp and remembering your steps,

you know,

and what you need to do before,

you know,

you start to,

to unload the product.

Yes,

for sure,

for sure.

Well,

that’s all great.

I,

I feel like we know you a little bit better now,

Robert and,

and I want to ask you to kind of tell me your story.

It sounds like you’re,

you’re still,

uh compared to some of the guys that we talked to on this show.

Four years in give or take.

You’re still kind of relatively new.

How did you start out in trucking?

What was going on in your life?

Did you,

did you make a big career change or did you come right out,

fresh out of uh out of school and decide you were gonna jump into trucking?

Uh What did,

what did that entail for you?

No.

Um You know,

um so I am uh I turned 36 uh last month and I’ve been doing this since I was 32.

Uh,

the adulthood part of my life after high school,

I,

I served in the military,

I was in the air force for four years and then I got out and,

you know,

for,

you know,

close to 8 to 10 years,

you know,

I kinda really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and I was kind of really set on construction,

you know,

trying to learn a trade.

Um But then whenever I got serious about it,

COVID hit,

you know,

and the lockdown and the quarantine and stuff.

So I got laid off and um I didn’t know,

you know,

I was at that time,

I was just kind of like,

well,

what’s next?

You know,

cause I’ve,

I’ve always worked,

I’ve always had a job,

you know,

I,

I didn’t,

you know,

I,

I never really had a gap of,

you know,

any type of employment and uh you know,

I had saved some money.

I have,

uh you know,

throughout my life,

my parents kind of taught me as,

uh you know,

just saving some money when you get paid for a rainy day,

didn’t know exactly what a rainy day was but got some money saved up,

you know,

quarantine lockdown and that stuff happens.

And,

you know,

I,

I uh I watch the local news and they talk about the uh the,

the supply chain issue,

you know,

with with all the toilet paper and,

you know,

people,

you know,

everything’s not on,

you know,

the shows aren’t stocked and,

you know,

we need truckers out there and it just dawned on me,

like,

say,

hey,

like I should do this.

What do you kind of,

uh,

kind of baffles me even more.

Is that my father drives ad a dump truck for a living?

Oh,

really?

And you know?

Yeah.

And,

you know,

um,

now looking back at it,

you know,

I,

I wish that,

you know,

he kind of would have pushed me into this career earlier.

Um,

but,

you know,

it is what it is and I’m thankful I eventually got,

uh,

into this career down the road.

But,

you know,

I,

I,

you know,

I tell everybody,

you know,

I do this first and foremost because I love to drive.

I don’t think that I just,

I just love to do it.

You,

you ask me,

hey,

hey,

Robert,

what do you like to do in your free time?

Well,

you know,

I like to watch sports and like to,

you know,

get on the treadmill and run a little bit exercise a little bit.

And then,

you know,

I like to,

I like to just get my,

my vehicle or my motorcycle.

I just love to,

to,

to,

to feel the wind,

to drive,

to get behind something and,

um,

you know,

a part of,

you know,

you know,

yes,

I am safe.

I am safe,

you know,

but at the same time,

it’s just kind of like,

you know,

to me that this doesn’t feel like work and it’s just,

you know,

it’s kind of like a passion,

just,

just driving.

That’s really cool,

man.

II I,

you,

you’re uh drumming up the,

it’s kind of a cliched statement but it,

I,

I feel like it stands true because I live this every day a lot like you are and that is do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life is what they say.

Right.

And,

and so you don’t feel like it’s a job because you feel privileged to get to be out there on the open road.

A absolutely.

And,

um,

you know,

II,

I,

I’m just,

I’m so thankful,

um,

you know,

for,

uh,

liquid trucking to allow me to,

to live out of,

you know,

this dream of mine.

And,

I mean,

it’s so simple.

It’s,

it’s,

you know,

um,

but,

you know,

it,

it,

it’s fine but it’s also,

it’s also,

you know,

a,

a responsibility with it too and,

you know,

the responsibility is,

you know,

you,

you’re driving this huge truck,

you know,

£80,000 you know,

60 miles a miles an hour,

uh,

65 miles an hour,

70 miles an hour,

you have a responsibility,

you know,

for yourself or the company you represent,

you know,

and,

and for other drivers,

you know,

I,

I wanna get home or I wanna end my day and,

and do my 10 hour break and,

and whatever,

and I’m sure other people the smaller cars,

you know,

they wanna get home to their family too.

So,

you know,

I think there’s a,

there is that responsibility as well.

Sure.

Well,

I can tell that you take it very seriously just in the way that you talk about it.

And II,

I wanna say first before I ask this question,

uh Thank you for your service to this great nation,

uh four years in the Air Force.

That’s awesome.

We really appreciate,

uh you know,

you going in and,

and,

uh,

and,

and volunteering to serve because I,

I could never,

uh there was something my dad kind of tried to push me to a little bit.

He wasn’t super over the top about it.

You know,

we don’t have a,

a huge history of military service in my family,

but I was never able to,

to make that jump and it’s something I have a tremendous degree of respect for.

So thank you for the service to our great country,

first and foremost.

You’re welcome.

Yes.

Nice to hear.

Thank you.

And II,

I guess following up on that question,

Robert,

I’ll ask you,

what did you learn in the Air Force that kind of applies to the career that you have now?

Was there anything that you really took with you out of your military service that’s helped you as you’ve ventured into a career in trucking.

I think the one thing that,

uh,

that,

that has always stood out,

um,

was just,

um,

in the air force,

you know,

at the time,

you know,

just kind of like,

you know,

they call it customs and courtesy,

you know,

and it was just always,

you know,

the,

yes ma’am.

No,

ma’am.

Yes,

sir.

Um,

you know,

certain kind of concept,

you know,

being,

being respectful and polite,

you know,

that’s just,

and I is that,

you know,

uh a lot of truckers out there are very impatient.

Um I see it with different companies,

you know,

whether it’s that at the truck stops or at the c you know,

at the customers or hit you or whatever you,

you um work,

you know,

and I say that to say it’s just kind of like,

you know,

I uh when I go to get delivered or,

or to get loaded or,

you know,

to,

to pick up,

you know,

I,

I’m,

again,

I’m a rep,

I’m a representation of liquid trucking just like I,

I was uh a representation of the United States Armed Forces for America,

you know,

and I,

I need to present myself in,

in a good respectful um way and in an image that does it,

you know,

do any harm to,

to who I’m representing.

And I,

I,

you know,

I think that’s just,

that’s big.

Um you know,

cause you know,

I could go somewhere and have a bad day and,

you know,

to get loaded or unloaded and,

you know,

the,

the customer are,

you know,

it’d be like,

what’s,

what’s wrong with,

uh,

the,

the company,

what’s wrong with liquid trucking,

you know,

are the majority of the guys like this.

Do they have bad attitudes?

You know,

do we want them handling our,

our freight from now on because of this one bad experience with this driver?

And,

um,

you know,

I don’t,

I don’t wanna ever put myself in that position and,

and have somebody maybe judge my character and,

and,

and look what as well.

So,

you know,

I,

I just,

like I said,

the customs and courtesies and being professional at the end of the day,

this is a professional career.

We,

we’re truckers are,

are hauling,

you know,

America and it’s good,

you know,

and services all across this great nation,

you know,

we,

we need to,

to,

in my opinion,

you know,

just,

just always keep that in mind,

you know.

So,

yeah,

you know,

it’s,

it’s interesting to hear you uh highlight that aspect of,

of what you learned in the military because I think that a little kindness and a little courtesy in every workplace in all the way across the country from coast to coast goes a long way.

Um,

you know,

I,

my,

my mom always used to say kill him with kindness and,

and that,

you know,

as a younger kid that was hard for me to do.

You want to match anger with anger or aggression with aggression?

And as I’ve aged,

I,

I start to realize,

man,

you can talk somebody out of a real rage fest by just being nice to them and by just listening to them and,

and feeling out what’s going on in their day.

And,

and I think another thing that’s always important to remember is that everybody out here is fighting a battle that we know nothing about and it doesn’t matter who you come across in the day,

you don’t know what they’re doing.

It’s been like what their life has been like.

So the fact that you carry that in your back pocket all the time,

Robert,

I think is,

is very commendable because regardless of what goes on in your day,

people are always gonna get the best of you on the other end of the conversation.

And,

and I can feel that right here in this podcast,

it’s,

it’s very evident that you,

you live by this code.

Yeah.

And,

and you,

and you know,

um,

like there’s just so much stuff that,

that,

that goes on in people’s lives that,

I don’t know.

I mean,

I don’t,

you know,

99% of the people I interact with every day.

I don’t know what’s going on in their lives.

Ok.

And,

and so,

um,

you know,

dad,

um,

financial issues,

um,

coworker issues,

boss issues or whatever things that cause them stress.

And I’m sorry,

I don’t like to be stressed.

The only time I’m stressed is either I’m in Houston,

Atlanta or Chicago and,

and,

and,

you know,

I,

I wanna be,

you know,

on my,

on my Ps and Qs in,

in those three cities,

even though it stresses me out because if I’m not,

things could get,

you know,

pretty dangerous pretty fast.

But it’s just,

um,

it takes a lot of energy out of your own self.

When you go out to not be,

uh to not be a jerk to somebody.

It takes a lot of energy to,

to be a jerk to somebody.

Let me say that again.

And so,

you know,

a as I’ve gotten older,

you know,

II I don’t like that type of energy because it just drains you.

You know,

I,

I,

you know,

it,

and in my circumstances it,

you know,

if,

if,

if I’m getting some type of energy that just a situation that makes me upset or,

you know,

a jerk,

you know,

it’s,

it’s gonna cause the remaining 11 hour drive time or 14 hour,

you know,

day shift on my clock,

it’s gonna ruin the whole day.

And I,

I can’t have that.

It,

it’s not worth,

it’s not worth to,

you know,

to continue the road rage if that was the case,

you know,

to,

to make a customer or,

or anybody unhappy because,

you know,

my focus needs to be 10 and two what’s in front of me,

you know,

and,

and my side being mirrors and,

you know,

I don’t,

I don’t really have a time for that.

Well,

that’s a great mindset to have Robert and,

and I,

I think that people would clone it if they could because it’s,

it is,

uh,

you mean,

we both talked about it,

it’s hard to make that adjustment in your life because,

you know,

everybody wants to stand their ground,

everybody wants to,

you know,

it’s a lot like the drive defensively,

uh idea.

You wanna be,

uh,

you wanna take care of.

Number one,

look out for number one and,

and be defensive and protect yourself.

And I think a lot of times those emotions get met with anger,

they get met with aggression,

they get met with vitriol and uh it’s just such a nice,

such a much nicer place for us if we all just smile and just try to have the best possible day that we can even if we’re in Atlanta and we know that that’s not possible.

Uh,

oh my gosh,

you’re so right,

man.

You,

I take,

I uh I’m 285 down there.

I just move that,

take breath and just say,

well,

we’ll get to wherever we need to go eventually there,

man.

Good on,

you,

get there safe all the time.

Well,

Robert,

it’s been a pleasure having you on here.

Uh First time on the podcast.

I feel like you’re you’re seasoned at it already,

man.

Uh It feels like we’ve had you on here 10 times already.

It’s been a great conversation.

I do want to open the floor up to you real quick.

If there’s anything else that you want to say to anybody that might be listening,

friends or family coworkers,

anybody from the office,

uh,

take a,

take a minute here and,

and say what you have to say.

If there’s anything else,

you know,

I’ll just,

I’ll just start from the beginning,

you know,

Nick,

who was um the hr um you know,

just thank you um Bo,

bo,

you know,

kind of did my um my on boarding and my orientation.

Thank you.

Uh my uh dispatcher James.

Uh Thank you and safety da you know,

thank you as well for,

you know,

helping me.

So,

I mean,

that’s kind of like the four people,

you know,

since,

oh,

and my trainer uh Rick.

Uh Thank you so much,

man.

And um yeah,

I mean,

all the trainers,

thank you so much for helping me continue to help me too.

So that,

that’s all and uh a great environment.

I’m just,

I’m a,

I’m a,

I’m,

I’m,

I’m lucky to be a part of Liquid Trucking story.

That’s all I can say.

Well,

it sounds like they’re lucky to have you be a part of their story as well and they’re lucky to be a part of your story.

Robert.

Uh Thank you.

So much for the time.

Drive safe out there.

Keep the shiny side up.

We will definitely be back in touch with you.

Get you back on the podcast again.

All right,

I wanna say I just forgot uh another trainer.

I’m sorry.

I didn’t,

I didn’t think of his name but Jerry.

Jerry as well.

Thank you so much.

Hey,

man,

I don’t want to leave you out.

Yeah,

we gotta get them all in,

man.

That’s important.

So,

all right,

Robert,

you take care of yourself.

We’ll be in touch.

Ok.

All right,

you do as well.

Thank you.

Bye bye.

We’re cruising through,

telling our driver back stories and talking about people’s history here on the Liquid Trucking podcast today and it’s been a fantastic episode so far.

Let me warn you that it’s about to get even better as I am joined by my guy.

You hear him on this podcast all the time,

Jason Eisenman,

uh VP of hr uh for Liquid Trucking and Jason always good to have you here,

my friend.

Like I say,

you’re,

you’re my de facto co-host at this point.

Good to be back.

Especially with today’s guest.

Yes.

And today’s guest,

we hold in very high esteem.

We’ve got Liquid Driver,

Rob Schroeder with us,

uh and Rob,

we really appreciate you coming on the podcast.

Thanks for being here today.

Oh,

thanks for having me.

Now,

I understand Rob that you’ve been around for quite some time when it comes to Liquid trucking.

Uh,

Jason was telling me that you drove one of the first three trucks.

Is that true?

That is absolutely true.

And you’re still out there cruising right now,

aren’t you?

I’m making my best attempt.

It’s crazy.

So,

you’ve been with Liquid since the very beginning,

uh,

for,

for a very long time,

you’ve had a ton of experience.

Why don’t you tell us kind of how things started out with you and Liquid Trucking way back in the day.

Well,

I actually drove the truck,

the truck that I drove for Liquid Truck before Roger the truck.

But I was working for Dick Seli and,

uh,

I put quite a few miles on that truck.

Wow.

So you were driving liquid trucks before they were even liquid trucks?

Yeah,

they,

they didn’t have Liquid to clear that up a little.

There was a,

I don’t know if we talked about this story with Roger but in one of the history episodes,

but Roger bought three trucks from a gentleman that he knew through the junkyard.

Right,

Rob.

Yeah.

And that’s that,

that’s that gentleman’s name.

So when Roger bought those three trucks,

you were,

you kind of came along with that?

Yeah,

I think there was actually four of them,

but he bought another one right after that.

So I think that made it five when we first started.

So,

and what were things like when you first started out,

Rob?

I mean,

I I imagine it looks a little different today than it did when it was just,

uh,

four or five trucks.

Right.

It was,

uh,

it was pretty small operation but it grew fast.

And when,

when you first started out,

where did they have you running?

What were you hauling?

And where were you headed?

Were you going all over the country or were you just kind of regional?

Like,

what was the kind of steps to leading to where we are today from?

From where you started out?

Well,

we first,

the truck that I drove was leased to Hill Brothers and,

um,

I actually worked for Hill Brothers for,

um,

I don’t know,

my,

for six years or seven years,

something like that.

It was uh box trailers and Reapers is all they had.

So,

and what do you like?

Do you like,

obviously you’ve been hauling liquid for a long time now or do you prefer hauling liquid over hauling,

uh,

you know,

box trailers,

dry vans,

reefer,

all that good stuff.

Uh Yes.

Uh There’s no grocery warehouses to deal with and the unions that uh like to drag your feet,

unloading you and stuff like that.

So it’s a lot nicer.

Yeah,

I,

you know,

I,

I talked to so many drivers on this podcast that tell me that liquid has just such a great base of customers and,

and they’re always,

uh,

you know,

it’s,

it’s always a different challenge with each customer.

Uh you know,

whether the load be Hazmat or,

or you’ve got some kind of,

uh,

you know,

precious product in the back.

But,

uh,

it sounds like you guys get in and out most places.

Uh,

and,

and,

and that’s because liquids maintain such good relationships with their customers over all these years.

And I’m sure somebody that’s been around for as long as you have with the company,

uh,

you’re a big part of that.

Uh Rob,

can you speak to that at all about,

you know,

keeping customer relations up and,

and,

uh,

and making sure that everybody treats everybody right.

Well,

I’ve always been under the idea that if I don’t have something good to say,

I just keep my mouth closed and sometimes it’s hard,

but that’s the best policy.

Oh,

I have a lot of people that would tell you I could take a page out of that book and do myself a favor,

Rob.

But,

uh,

you know,

uh I just keep talking and,

uh that’s,

that’s why we’re here today.

So,

um,

Jason,

you set this interview up for me,

uh got in touch with Rob and I know that this uh interview holds kind of a place in your heart just like it does mine.

Um,

I,

I’ll,

I’ll kind of turn the table over to you.

Is there anything that you’d like to ask Rob,

uh,

to kind of,

you know,

parse out this history a little bit.

Hear a little bit more about the back story.

Oh,

Rob’s probably got some of these stories.

Um,

more stories than all anybody probably even listening.

You know,

if you think about how long just to be in trucking in general,

let alone just to be at one company or,

you know,

so like he just talked about,

you know,

Roger buying some trucks and he came along and then Roger leases some trucks on the Hill Brothers and,

and there was all kind of like just building locks,

you know,

steps along the way that Roger put together to get the company going and people like Rob that,

that snuck around and dealt with all the changes that not only just at a company that’s growing,

but like an industry that’s ever changing and evolving through,

you know,

regulations and who,

who you’re on the road with every day.

So,

Rob,

if I had to ask anything,

like,

was there ever a moment in time where you thought like,

I’m gonna get out of trucking or just get out of this or is it always been,

was there ever like that?

I’m on the edge and this might be just my,

my,

uh too much for me.

Well,

in the past it’s,

it’s been not too hard to stay with,

but the,

the,

the,

the longer we go,

the more regulations that we have to follow,

it’s,

it makes it tougher for me.

I just,

uh I’m not really good with change and doing things the old way isn’t always the right way,

but that’s the way we hit things.

It’s,

uh,

I guess new must be better because they keep making new policies that have to follow,

makes it tough.

But we talked about some of this in the office.

You know,

some of those policies have led to,

like,

you know,

where you don’t have to drive as much.

You know,

you were telling me about some of those outlaw trucking days versus now,

uh,

talk a little bit about that.

Well,

I,

the toughest part is,

uh,

your sleep regulations when,

when you,

uh,

you can drive for 10 hours and then you have to,

for 11 hours and then you have to sleep for 10 hours and sometimes you’re not tired when you have to sleep and you can’t sleep and then when you,

uh,

sleep,

you’re not getting enough sleep because you can’t go to sleep right away.

And then you could feel like after your 10 hours of sleep,

you have to get up and take off whether you’re tired or not,

whether you slept any of the 10 hours or not.

So,

it’s,

it’s,

I was always used to my own schedule and it was,

it was easier for me,

I think in the old days.

But,

um,

my body doesn’t require as much sleep as a lot of people,

I guess.

And that’s what makes it difficult.

Sure.

Now,

would,

would you say that that the,

the electronic log devices is the,

is the kind of the biggest change that you’ve,

uh,

weathered over the years,

Rob.

Oh,

yes,

definitely.

I get more sleep than I need to.

But I guess if,

uh,

the government says you gotta sleep,

you gotta sleep.

So,

yeah,

how was that adjustment coming in from,

you know,

moving over from paper logs to the electronic logs.

How long did that take you to adjust?

I’m sure those first few months were probably a nightmare if,

if it really changed your schedule that much.

No,

I’m a,

I’m not used to it.

Do you think you’ll ever get used to it?

I don’t think so.

Yeah,

I’m too old.

Well,

you’re not too old to be out there driving around though.

That’s the crazy part is you’re,

you’re,

I mean,

you’re still just out there kicking out miles like the rest of them.

You’re,

uh,

you’re,

you’re rolling along and,

and still,

it seems like at least enjoying the job.

So,

I’m glad to hear that.

And Jason,

I’m sorry,

I kind of walked on you there.

No,

you’re fine.

I was just gonna,

you know,

although most people,

I don’t know,

you know,

if you,

if you drive for today and,

you know,

Rob or if you haven’t,

but,

you know,

Rob is pretty fun personality too.

He’s always good with a joke.

He’s,

um,

note around the note around the office to,

to,

to have some good like local connections.

You know,

he’s always bringing in meat and different things.

And so he’s,

he’s just like,

not only a person or a driver but kind of a personality and,

you know,

when he comes walking through the office,

we’re like,

oh,

there’s Rob.

I,

you know,

I wonder what he’s been up to the last month because he stays out on the road quite a bit.

Um,

at least I think that,

like,

you have to tell me,

Rob,

how often do you go out and come back?

Uh,

is it shorter now than it used to be?

Well,

it goes in spurts.

You never know when you’re gonna be home.

But,

uh,

I don’t mind staying out for three or four weeks if the pay is a little fair that way.

But whatever comes up,

whatever dispatch hands me.

That’s what I do.

I don’t complain about it.

Oh,

that sounds like a,

an,

a plus employee right there,

Jason.

I don’t know about you but,

uh,

I’m sure the dispatchers love dispatching Rob.

If he’s never complaining about anything,

that’s probably,

uh,

a great day when you get to work with Rob.

Um,

Rob,

I,

you,

you’ve driven all over this country and I have to ask this,

I asked a lot of drivers this question out of all the places you’ve been out of all the places you’ve seen and dealt with.

What’s your favorite place to be in the country when you’re working?

Um,

it has to be on the west,

uh,

part of the United States.

It doesn’t really matter whether it’s northwest or southwest,

it’s,

uh,

a little more friendly,

I think,

driver friendly and,

uh,

the people are a little more friendly,

I think.

Did you expect?

He was gonna say that Jason,

he was gonna call out my,

uh,

the,

the region that I live in is,

is one of his favorites.

I know that most drivers in general do not enjoy going to the east coast.

You know,

south.

I hear most commonly south or west,

you know,

because it’s warmer,

the weather’s nicer.

I hear all kinds of reasons.

Now,

if I’m personally,

when I was driving I,

I only had to go into the Ontario Fontana and the port of Long Beach for three regular stops and,

and I personally would never go back there if I didn’t have to.

So,

um,

you know,

everyone’s got their,

like,

uh,

pick.

Right.

Yeah,

absolutely.

And I think it’s interesting,

Rob,

because we talked about,

you know,

all the regulation.

Uh,

it doesn’t sound like you mind driving in California too much.

There’s a lot of red tape in that state.

I hear a lot of drivers complain about when they have to go to California,

but it doesn’t seem to bother you that much.

Oh,

not unless you had caught speeding.

Yeah,

I hear they’re,

uh,

they’re pretty tight about their speed limits out there.

Oh,

yikes.

And is that more expensive coming out of California than say,

if you got a,

a 10 mile an hour ticket,

uh,

you know,

in Nebraska or something like that in Nebraska on the interstate,

it would have been a $10 fine.

A $10 fine.

Are you serious?

I had no idea that these were that much different.

Exactly.

Yeah,

it’s pretty scary.

So,

you’ll,

you’ll drive in California but you’ll just keep it at 55 is what you’re saying.

I think.

Well,

I know,

I know where I can get by with a little bit more than that,

but if there’s certain spots where I de definitely do not go over 50 times.

Yeah,

it’s gotta be so tough changing states like that and driving across state lines all the time,

you know,

I remember I was driving,

uh,

with my dad.

I,

I believe we were up in the state of Washington.

I’m,

I’m from Oregon Rob just to establish that.

And we in Oregon,

if we see 65 we know we can do about 73 comfortably and nobody will say anything to you.

55 you can do about 63 comfortably.

You know,

you’re good that 8 to 10 miles an hour over.

And we were up in Washington and got pulled over and,

uh,

the cop took my dad’s ID and saw it was an Oregon ID and he said,

uh,

Mr Bridges,

I don’t know about where you come from.

But in Washington our speed limits aren’t merely a suggestion and he got nailed for doing,

you know,

four or five over the speed limit.

And just,

there’s no,

there’s no signs when you cross state lines that tell you that this is how the police are gonna be in this area when they’re different someplace else ha has that.

Does that just come with experience over time,

Rob?

You just kind of figure out where those places are?

Yeah,

I think,

I think that’s about right.

I know there’s a place in,

uh,

Oklahoma that,

uh,

doesn’t like you to do over 45 miles an hour.

But,

uh,

that’s just 11 of the places and I interject,

I’ll,

I’ll throw in there just a little,

you know,

because I’m sure Rob hears it and,

and all the rest of the drivers that are listening here,

you know,

we’ve been pounding the speed,

you know,

to not speed even if it’s won over because we’re seeing it left and right all across,

you know,

the country from drivers and east,

west,

north south doesn’t matter.

You know,

we’re,

we got guys bringing in speeding tickets left and right,

and,

and that hurts the company overall with the,

the scores and it hurts their driving records.

And then just to give an example,

we haven’t shared this with the fleet yet,

but we had a,

a truck and,

and I’m sure it may be the driver hotline,

but we had a truck rear end five cars about a week ago and,

uh,

speed and,

and,

uh,

you know,

they were just five cars sitting there on a freeway.

So,

you know,

they can be really life changing from fines or,

and,

and,

you know,

or injuries and,

and not to turn this into a safety talk,

but it’s just one of those things like speed is always a factor and,

and man,

I don’t know how we get people,

not just the trucks,

but Rob will be the first to tell you,

but the cars around the trucks,

you know,

it’s like when they’re out there driving the trucks,

the cars around them are like in the Indy 500.

So Rob,

that kind of brings me to a question.

I had jotted down here.

Um,

you know,

we’ve asked this to some drivers in the past and we’re talking about this and,

and drivers,

four wheel drivers obviously being,

uh,

something you deal with all the time.

It’s a very frustrating if you could give one piece of advice to every four Wheler driver about how they handle themselves around a big rig.

What would that be?

Just pay attention to turn signals and try and keep a little bit away from that sides if you can to get on by or get back behind one or the other because it’s not dangerous to be in the blind spot.

Sure.

Yeah,

I,

I remember seeing those old uh,

those old stickers on the back of,

uh,

of dry vans that said don’t hang out in the no zone.

And I think that kind of referred to where the blind spots are.

And man,

it’s got to be tough if you got a little mini cooper sitting down there.

I mean,

what do you do?

How can you see it if they’re just hanging out next to you like that?

I,

I gotta assume you can’t,

you just gotta be constantly checking those blind spots.

Well,

we’ve got,

we’ve got enough mirrors on those drugs that we can see.

But if,

if the color of the vehicle is the same color as the pavement,

then it’s really difficult to see it.

Oh,

yeah.

Especially in the rain,

I bet.

And,

and let’s take,

let’s take this opportunity to say if it’s raining,

if it’s even sprinkling out there,

you ought to have your headlights on because I’ve seen some pictures in rearview mirrors that truckers have taken when a car is behind them in the wash,

you can’t see a gray car or a silver car,

uh,

when it’s raining and all that water’s washing up,

they don’t have their headlights on.

Right.

Right.

Well,

always a good opportunity to,

uh,

send a safety message out to the four wheelers in our lives on this podcast,

uh,

and glad to do it as well.

Uh,

we’re kind of running up against the clock here,

Jason before we let you go a anything else that you’d like to,

uh,

to talk to Rob about?

No,

I just,

uh,

just say thanks.

You know,

uh,

I was new to the company at one time and Rob’s always been a good guy to stop in and have a conversation and learn history from and learn trucking from.

And,

you know,

uh,

all they,

they,

each one of the drivers teaches us a little bit all the time about their life out there.

And Rob has been one of those,

uh,

I’ll close with.

We found that title,

Rob that you were talking about and we brought it over to the office,

uh,

of that first truck that we were talking about the beginning of the show.

So we’ll,

we’ll have to,

uh,

get a picture or something someday and,

and,

um,

we’re planning to put kind of,

uh,

uh,

uh,

a kind of a trophy hallway or an award hallway in the new administrative building.

And so that where we’ll show history and of the company and things like that.

So that’ll probably sitting there at one point.

All right.

How cool that you still have your hands on that thing.

I mean,

that’s a piece of history at this point in time frame.

That thing.

Get it up on the wall for sure.

Yeah,

ironically,

it’s already framed.

It was,

uh,

sitting up in the old dispatch office,

probably got put up there by Roger Josh,

uh,

years ago and just didn’t make the move,

you know,

to the new admin building.

So we went and took it down out of that office and brought it over.

Very cool.

Very cool.

Well,

Rob,

uh,

we really appreciate you jumping on here with us and sharing some time during your day,

uh,

before we get you off here.

Is there any message that you’d like to send to anyone that might be listening?

Could be your friends and family.

Uh could be other liquid drivers or staff members.

Uh The floor is yours?

Well,

everybody drive carefully and have a good day.

Well,

I like it too.

Jason,

that’s exactly what I was gonna say.

All right,

gentlemen.

Well,

uh uh Jason Eisen and Rob Schroeder,

thank you guys both so much for your time again.

Uh Love having you guys on here and we’ll be in touch for sure in the future.

All right,

sounds good.

See you,

Ron.

Thank you next up here on the Liquid Trucking Podcast making his second appearance here on the show as Liquid Driver,

Damon Movia,

Da Damon.

I,

I was so worried about screwing up your last name.

I just called you David.

Uh Wow,

sorry about that.

My friend.

How are you doing out there today?

I’m doing all right,

man.

I’m doing really good.

Thanks for asking.

Uh Super glad to have you here on the show.

Um Of course,

our,

our buddy,

Mike Stanfield,

our mutual buddy,

Mike Stanfield was the one that gave us the idea for this episode.

He said,

hey,

uh,

I want to hear about driver’s backstories.

And I asked him just straight off.

I said,

hey,

who else should I call?

Uh,

that,

that,

you know,

that has a,

a backstory.

That would be an interesting one to listen to.

And he said,

Damon hands down,

that was the only word that came back from him.

So that’s why I’m on the phone with you today,

man.

And uh I appreciate you being willing to come in and tell your story.

I’m gonna get out of the way here and just let you talk to me about your back story.

How’d you get into driving?

How uh what happened to you to bring you to where you are today?

Well,

man,

let’s see if I can get that accomplished,

man.

I mean,

you know,

it’s,

it’s kind of a,

a weird situation like all kids,

man.

It started back in 1974.

But um I’m Hispanic.

So I grew up,

I grew up in the uh in the,

in the farm towns in California.

Uh kind of growing up the hard way.

A lot of uh a lot of nothing to do and hard work to go with it.

But,

uh you know,

growing up in a little town,

man,

I uh didn’t really have much to do.

So I was one of those troublemakers,

a little bully in school and always getting in trouble,

you know,

I had a,

I had a hard time getting along in life but kind of moving forward from there.

I,

uh I,

I,

like I said,

I was,

I was a troublemaker so I,

I did get into some trouble and uh I ended up going to prison and,

you know,

learning my lesson after I got out of prison,

I was determined to change my life to be something different,

you know.

So moving forward,

you know,

II I got out,

I got out of prison when I was 24.

Um You know,

I love knuckle ahead doing stupid stuff and I was determined to change my life,

man.

I uh I didn’t want to live that life.

I wanted to be something better man.

Uh You know,

I wanted to be able to,

to succeed in life and,

and not be that person that everybody looked at as uh literally a piece of crap,

you know,

because back in those days,

I mean that,

that’s what it was,

you know,

you,

you,

you’re prison tattoos,

you’re,

you’re a piece of crap.

Um So,

you know,

moving forward,

I,

I struggled,

I struggled a lot.

Um I listen to everybody that would always say,

well,

you know,

you’re a felon,

you’re not gonna get a job,

you’re not gonna amount to anything.

You,

you know,

uh you can’t get this job because of this reason or,

you know,

so,

you know,

I,

I had a lot of friends that were in trucking at that time,

friends from my mom’s from my mom’s church and,

you know,

they were like,

well,

you should go into trucking,

you should,

you should do so with your life and then get into trucking.

I started looking into it and everybody’s like,

no,

you know what?

You’re,

you’re a felon so nobody will accept you.

You can’t,

you can’t do that,

you know.

So,

uh being having that fear,

you know,

fear of failure,

I just didn’t,

I didn’t follow through,

man,

you know,

so I uh went to school,

went to college.

Um I uh studied information technology,

uh cybersecurity and I also,

I also got a uh an associate team.

Oh Business.

OK.

So,

you know,

I,

I got that and I looked around,

I looked at myself,

I was like,

what the hell,

excuse my language.

What the heck am I gonna do with this,

man?

I mean,

why did I get these?

There’s,

there’s no reason for it.

So I went into cooking.

I,

I got a job with uh with a Chinese restaurant in Springfield,

Missouri.

They took a chance on me and uh I stayed there for 10 years cooking Chinese food.

That’s a good,

that’s a good run in a restaurant.

A lot of people,

not a lot of people last 10 years at one place in the food industry.

I’ve been there,

man and I understand it.

So that’s a heck of a run.

I mean,

it was,

it was awesome.

I mean,

they,

they treated me like family,

you know,

they,

they,

uh,

they didn’t judge me.

They,

they loved me for who I was and I’ll always be grateful to them for that.

Moving forward again.

Um,

girl came into my life at that time.

She was a waitress there and,

uh,

I was in a relationship with a,

with another girl and she was keeping me down.

I had actually got uh accepted into a,

uh,

a culinary art school in uh,

in Chicago.

Oh,

wow.

And I had a guy,

I had a daughter at the time and she basically told me,

hey,

look,

you know what if uh you go to the school?

Um we’re done.

You’re never gonna see your daughter again.

So being the person that I was,

I wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

So I did not follow through with that dream and then we’ll move on back over to the waitress.

Uh We retired,

we had hired a waitress there and,

uh,

you know,

we started talking and we ended up getting together and,

you know,

where I was telling her about my ambitions and my dreams and she’s like,

well,

you know,

you need to,

you need to do this,

you need to go ahead and do it.

It was like,

no,

I’m too young.

I have this fear of failure.

You know,

it’s,

it’s what if,

what if this you know,

all the what ifs started coming in,

man,

you know what if I what?

You know what if so she held my hand,

literally,

man,

she held my hand up to uh up to a tech school,

held my hand through the whole process,

man.

Get me,

get me in,

get me set up.

And uh you know,

from there,

I just continued to move forward,

man.

I’ve been doing this for about 10 years now.

Going 10.5 years I believe,

started out with Snyder had a migraine incident and,

and they,

they are just so picky about their drivers and,

and the medical,

you know,

they,

they use a third party medical uh company and that company,

the company was uh basically saying,

hey,

you know,

you can’t,

uh you can’t,

you can’t work unless you,

unless you do this,

this and this and I was like,

well,

you know,

I’ve,

I’ve already been to the doctor.

I mean,

the doctor says I’m cleared,

it’s just a migraine.

It’s ok.

Well,

I ended up leaving that job moving on to a different one and it was,

it was after that,

it kind of,

it kind of turned rocky.

Um just had a bunch of uh problems at home and just everything started going south.

So it’s been a push,

it’s been one of them push,

pull,

stride things since then.

And when did you,

when did liquid come into your story?

Liquids in my story for 1.5.

Well,

since,

uh January,

February,

March,

April,

we’re going on 1.5 years now.

Ok.

And,

and so did they kind of,

when you got the job with Liquid,

did that kind of turn things around for you.

You said things were kind of heading south and,

and getting hard at home.

Um,

but,

you know,

you got the job with Liquid,

you’re still here.

So talk to me a little bit about that.

How did things change for you?

Once you found the job you’re currently in?

Well,

it just,

it,

it hasn’t really changed.

I’m that type of person with a black cloud over him and I think I mentioned that before,

you know,

I,

I’ve got this constant black cloud over me,

man.

It doesn’t matter.

And you know,

you talk to any of,

you know,

most people in the office so they’re like Damon.

Yeah,

he’s got quite a bit of problems,

you know,

I,

I’ve had,

uh,

you know,

I uh well,

since we last talked,

man,

my uh my mom ended up passing away.

Oh,

Damon,

I’m so sorry to hear that.

Hey,

you know what?

She’s in a better place man.

And uh you know,

she got to,

she got to go with,

with surrounded by all her grandchildren.

So it was,

you know,

it was a,

it was the right time.

Um,

she had COPD.

So no,

uh but anyways,

yeah,

I’m that one with that black cloud man.

I mean,

I literally had a black cloud this whole time that you know,

my driving,

you name it,

I’ve had it happen,

man and going back to that,

going back to that things started going south thing,

man,

you know,

uh I uh I turned to alcohol during that time as well and you know,

it,

it got to the point where,

you know,

I allowed all the stress and all the uh stupid stuff to get to me and I didn’t know how to function correctly.

You know,

thankfully I never got into a truck drunk.

I never drank when I was driving,

I always drank when I got home,

but it was when I,

when I did drink,

it was to the to the point of no return.

Um You know,

and you know that black cloud just,

you know,

got dark man and you know,

sometimes stuff gets too heavy on you and you,

you don’t know where to go and you just gotta figure it out.

Moving forward to liquid,

man.

You know,

I’ve had some,

I’ve had some black clouds on me with,

with liquid man.

But you know,

the the difference is they give a crap about you here,

you know,

they don’t,

they don’t treat you as a number,

they treat you as a person.

And that’s what’s actually kept me here,

man.

You know,

the fact that I’m willing,

I’m willing to push as hard as they want me to because they’re willing to push as hard for me.

You know.

So it’s,

it’s,

it,

it,

the,

the turnaround,

you know,

the turnaround point was five years ago for me.

But in trucking the turnaround point with lately,

that’s great.

Well,

and I’m glad to hear that you’ve got turnaround points in both areas because,

you know,

one of the things about it’s,

it’s ok to take pride in your job.

It’s ok to be proud of what you do for a living and to,

to sing the praises of the company or the industry,

whatever it is.

But a lot of times I think we forget when we’re doing that,

that there is a whole different set of problems sometimes waiting for a set employee at home and knowing that you have an employer that is willing to work with you and,

and willing to help you solve these problems or at least help you while you solve these problems.

Uh is huge,

man.

You’re not the first person to say it to me about liquid.

We say it on this podcast all the time.

I mean,

you’ve heard other drivers talk about uh the things that liquids done for them and it’s,

it’s really great.

Like I’m very happy just in the,

in the small amount of time,

I’ve gotten to know you as,

as a person.

You know,

we’ve,

we’ve only done one of these before,

but we had a great conversation and we’re,

you know,

12 minutes into a great conversation right now.

I feel like you’re a good dude.

I feel like you deserve to win.

And I hate that you have a little black cloud over your head,

but I’m really happy to know that you’re with liquid so that they can assist you in uh in,

in brightening the sunshine on your day from time to time,

right?

I mean,

it,

it’s,

it’s not even,

you know,

just,

just something,

it,

it’s just something about liquid,

man.

I,

I,

you know,

just something about liquid that keeps,

that keeps a person going,

man.

You know,

you,

you don’t find a company like this man and,

and you know,

in my uh in my downslope man,

iii I went through quite a few companies.

Um I’m not proud of it,

you know,

because like my work ethic is,

is,

is not want to go to a job and,

and leave quickly,

you know,

they’re,

they’re always there for you,

man.

You know,

they’re,

they’re willing to go that extra mile for you and they,

they,

they,

they take pride in,

in,

in what they do,

you know.

Oh,

granted they’re gonna,

they’re gonna re you if you’re doing something wrong.

But yeah,

don’t do it.

Don’t do it wrong,

man.

It only takes months to figure out that it’s a mistake.

Right.

Exactly,

man.

I love it,

man because you know,

there’s,

there’s certain things that happen to all of us as individuals as we live our lives.

And sometimes,

you know what I mean?

You talk to me about,

you know,

you were 24 when you got out of prison,

man,

I would punch 24 year old me square in the nose,

uh probably repeatedly for the things that I did when I was 24 just thinking that I knew everything.

And,

and one cool thing I think that liquid has shown me over the course of doing this podcast and all the Liquid Drivers I’ve talked to is that man,

your past doesn’t necessarily define you.

You can let it define you,

but it doesn’t have to and your past has not defined you.

Um,

and Liquid understands that they know that what they’ve gotten you is a great driver,

dude that’s willing to bend over backwards for him and it seems like they’re willing to do the same thing for you.

That’s a match made in heaven in my eyes.

Oh,

definitely,

definitely.

That man,

if I’d married,

man,

I’d divorce my wife and then just go ahead and marry them,

man.

You know,

I probably wouldn’t have as many headaches,

but you know,

we,

we definitely try.

Oh,

that’s great,

man.

That’s great.

Well,

um,

you know,

Damon,

as far as your,

your home life is concerned,

um How’s the family and everything now that you’re,

you’re,

you’re doing,

uh,

you’ve got liquid,

you know,

locked in,

you’re not a number,

you’re a person.

Uh are things on the up slope now,

are we,

are we seeing the uh the dark cloud kind of split a little bit and a few rays of sunshine peak through?

Oh,

there’s always rays of sunshine,

man.

Um Yeah,

there’s always rays of sunshine and the the family life.

I mean,

you,

you you gotta learn how to balance it,

man.

I think that was one of my problems back in the days is I could,

I couldn’t,

couldn’t really balance everything going on and,

and truck at the same time,

man,

you know,

it just wasn’t gonna happen.

Um,

but now,

you know,

there’s a little,

there’s more balance,

I mean,

you know.

Yeah,

I still,

I still get the calls.

I still have to deal with,

you know,

you know,

all the issues at home from,

from driving.

But I mean,

it’s,

it’s,

it’s a little different now,

man,

you know,

I’m not so stressed out about it.

I’m able to make clear decisions back,

you know,

versus back when,

when I was with those other companies,

man,

I just,

I was just too overwhelmed and yeah,

I,

the way I look at it man is I’m making,

I’m making,

you know,

I’m making an ample amount of money with this company that I don’t have to really worry about much and my kids no longer have to worry that’s been paid hourly versus,

well,

that’s great,

man.

I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.

And uh you’ve got,

I,

I don’t know if anybody’s ever told you this before and I hope that they have,

but you’ve got a fantastic attitude.

Damon.

You’re just,

I mean,

like you said,

you,

you just on the same breath you told me,

you’re the guy that’s got the black cloud that follows him around.

You told me,

hey,

there’s always a ray of sunshine.

I don’t know any better mindset to have if you have bad luck in life uh than to look for the rays of sunshine because it might be the only thing pulling you through.

It might be your kids or,

or your dog or your spouse or your parents or any of those people in,

in your support system that you can look to for that ray of sunshine.

But it sounds to me like you find it where you need to find it and that keeps you moving forward and just so happens that you’re hooked up with a great company like liquid who’s going to help propel you in that direction.

Right.

Right.

I,

I appreciate the compliment man.

And you know,

if,

if we were talking,

if we were talking five years ago,

you,

you were saying something totally different man.

You know,

I,

I had,

you know,

I,

I heard that health experience man,

you know,

I,

you can’t allow everything to get at you,

man.

I mean I do stress out,

I do,

I do have times where I just want to crawl and,

you know,

curl up in a ball and forget about everything,

man.

But,

you know,

I,

I can’t allow that to happen because I know I know what the end result is and,

you know,

that’s,

that’s something,

a lot of us truck drivers don’t talk about,

man.

Is,

is,

you know,

that,

that end result,

you know,

I,

I struggled,

man,

you know,

I,

I struggled with the alcoholism.

I ST I struggled with,

uh,

you know,

wanting to just die,

man,

you know,

and it,

it allowed,

you know,

I,

I,

I allowed trucking to rule my life and,

you know,

I had to understand that I,

I can’t allow trucking to rule my life and that there’s more out there,

you know.

Um,

and if anybody out there is listening man,

I mean,

and they feel that way they,

you know,

they should pick up the phone and talk to somebody,

you know,

never be afraid to talk,

man because,

you know,

I,

I didn’t talk,

I refused to talk,

I refused to express myself man.

And I ended up,

you know,

trying to kill myself,

you know,

and it,

uh it opened my eyes,

man,

you know,

II I quit trucking for probably six months and went out and did anything but trucking to kinda reassess and,

and get to,

you know,

get to know myself again because this driving,

it’s a,

it’s a wicked life.

Man.

And you know,

you,

you see this quite a bit nowadays out there on the road,

you see a lot of truckers committing suicide,

man.

And you know,

we can’t allow that.

We’ve got to be there for each other man.

And that’s one of the things about this company,

man,

they’re here.

You know,

I can pick up the phone call,

call anybody man and say,

hey,

look,

man,

you know what I need to go home.

Mhm.

Well,

why,

dude,

you know what,

I’d rather just not talk about it.

I just need to go home please.

You know,

um my dispatcher would be up my butt,

you know,

trying to find out why.

So,

you know,

apparently he,

he would care,

you know,

so you know,

this,

this attitude and,

and this,

this,

this demeanor that I have now is all because of the that catalyst five years ago.

Would I go back to it?

No,

never will,

man.

I’ve got five kids at home and I’ve got kids that show up at my house that need somewhere to live,

man that,

you know,

we make a bid for.

So you can’t let truck and rule your life.

I mean,

that’s the best way to say it,

man.

And if anybody,

anybody feels that way,

I mean,

call dispatch asking for my number and we’ll sit down,

I’ll take,

I’ll take you out my steak and we’ll talk about it,

man.

So,

you know,

that’s awesome.

Dude,

that I didn’t mean to go there,

man.

I just felt that I had to.

It’s fine.

I’m glad you did,

man.

Because a lot of times,

look,

we have fun on this podcast.

We,

we,

we have fun,

we learn about things,

you know,

I constantly talking to drivers and this is one aspect that you’re right,

you see it out there and it’s not really talked about that much because people think it’s almost taboo to,

to admit that they’re going through something and especially in a,

in a job like trucking,

it takes trucking takes a hell of a person.

I don’t care if you’re a man,

woman or something in between.

Uh,

if you’re gonna go out and do this job,

you gotta have some fortitude,

you gotta have guts,

you gotta have strength,

you have to have,

um,

a mindset that is independent of,

of a lot of different things that might be going on in your life because you’ve got so much to focus on and such an important job.

But we should talk about these things.

II,

I,

I’m glad that you’re willing to do that.

You’re,

you’re,

you’re telling liquid truckers right now.

Hey,

I went through this,

if you need help,

you call me and we’ll go,

go through it together.

I,

I mean,

that’s,

that’s irreplaceable because that might be the only thing that,

that one person needs and maybe they’re listening.

I hope they are.

II,

I hope they do,

man.

I,

you know,

it doesn’t matter who they talk to,

man.

As long as they talk to somebody,

brother.

You know,

it’s,

it’s,

it’s a scary feeling,

man.

It’s,

it’s,

it’s,

it’s scary to be alone out there,

man.

It’s scary to,

to have all these thoughts and,

and nobody to talk to or at least thinking you can’t talk to anybody because you don’t want to tell your wife.

You don’t wanna tell your best friend,

man.

I mean,

I didn’t even tell,

but I didn’t even tell Mike man.

You know,

you know,

Mike did.

Mike didn’t even really know about all my uh you know,

he knows he knows about all my crap now.

But you know,

he’s there for me when I need him,

man.

And that’s,

that’s,

you know,

that’s what somebody needs is somebody to be there for and not be judgmental and not,

you know,

not put you down for,

for how you’re feeling.

Yeah,

it’s true.

And look,

everybody’s fighting a battle.

Yeah,

I talked about this with Mike.

Everybody’s fighting a battle that we know nothing about,

you know,

nothing about whoever you cross paths with each day.

You just don’t know what’s going on.

And so I think that being kind,

being friendly,

uh you know,

sharing a smile,

that’s all that we can do sometimes to make people’s day a little bit better and it,

it’s really,

it’s free,

it doesn’t cost anything.

Sometimes it’s hard to smile when you got stuff in your teeth.

But,

you know,

uh put that behind you for a minute and there’s a,

there’s something else I want to mention here,

Damon,

since we’re kind of on the subject,

uh,

we,

there is a great hotline out there if you’re having suicidal thoughts,

if things are going bad for you and you need somebody to talk to,

but maybe you’re not ready to let your family in or maybe you’re not ready to let your friends in yet.

You wanna talk to somebody independent of the situation.

There’s three numbers 988,

that’s suicide prevention.

Uh,

there,

suicide and crisis lifeline.

That’s all you have to dial.

988.

You’ll get to talk to somebody that will help you out and it sounds like,

you know,

Damon,

that,

what you’re saying is that,

that will help you.

You’ve,

you’ve experienced it,

you need to talk to somebody,

you got to talk to somebody.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And you know,

they’ll be macho about it,

man.

It’s ok to cry.

It is.

It is,

man.

And I mean,

it,

it’s important to sometimes and it sucks.

Nobody likes it.

Uh,

a lot of times it happens to me when I’m out driving actually,

and I’ll be on a real long stretch.

I’ll be thinking,

thinking,

thinking and then that one song will come on,

it’ll melt me into a puddle.

And you know what,

when I was 30 I was worried that somebody was gonna see me crying in the truck.

What’s gonna happen?

I’m in a,

I’m in a full size pickup.

I’m a man and I’m crying now,

I’ll roll down the windows and share the volume with everybody.

I don’t care because I’ve learned that it helps purge the system every now and then.

Right.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Man.

It’s,

uh,

you know,

it,

it,

it feels better afterwards,

man.

I do,

I do it quite a bit,

man.

You know,

I like,

you know,

we talked about my son,

my son who commits suicide and you know that my mom and you know,

just my mom dying.

And so we have those,

we have those that,

that,

that music that they don’t have me crying,

man,

you know,

and it’s,

it’s ok.

I don’t care if anybody sees me.

Yeah,

if it’s at a red light and people are looking up at me while I’m crying,

you know what,

I’ll wave at them and smile,

keep on crying and sing the song while I’m at it.

You know,

you got,

you’ve got to be able to get past those things,

you know,

and if it,

if it’s too hard for you,

then,

you know,

maybe you need to take a step back and say,

hey,

I need help.

That’s great advice and great advice from somebody who did that and look at how it worked out for you,

you know,

I mean,

it’s just like I said,

man,

I,

I know that these things can’t be easy to talk about Damon and,

and I’m,

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming on and sharing this with us because it’s important.

There are other people out there going through this right now.

It’s a guarantee and I only hope that they can hear your,

your segment here on this episode and they can get themselves some help in the way they see fit.

Uh,

because,

you know,

we only get one crack at this life man and,

and nobody wants to see it cut short for any reason.

Um That was preventable.

Especially not if it’s a friend,

family member,

somebody that you care about.

Definitely,

definitely Damon Marvia.

Thank you so much for coming on here,

my friend.

Uh I’m gonna let you get back to it.

Uh You’ve,

you’ve joined me,

I know you’re dealing with your truck right now.

You’ve been backing into bays and getting the thing cleaned out while you’re talking with us,

which makes this even cooler to me.

You’re,

you’re taking time out of your actual work day to come on and,

and have this conversation,

which is not an easy one,

dude.

I can’t.

Thank you enough.

No,

I,

I appreciate you putting up with me in and give me the time,

man.

I mean,

like I said,

you know,

if we can help one person,

that’s,

that’s really what I’m looking for is just to be able to help somebody.

Absolutely.

Well,

it’s a great mindset to have Damon again.

Thank you for being here.

I will get you back on the show sometime in the future and,

uh,

we’ll talk about,

uh,

this again.

If we have to,

we’ll talk about something different.

Have a little bit more fun one way or the other.

Can’t wait to get you back on the podcast.

All right,

I can’t wait either.

I appreciate you,

man.

Take care,

Damon,

you too.

And you know,

getting to do what I do uh for,

for a living sometimes doesn’t even feel real what a phenomenal podcast episode that we just got to do.

Uh I,

I feel so privileged to get to work for a company that has so many people working for it that will come out and just pour out all of the love that they have for Liquid Trucking.

It’s phenomenal to me,

the changes that Liquid Trucking has kind of facilitated for a lot of the people not only that we had on this podcast today,

but uh the podcast in general,

I mean,

we’ve talked to a lot,

a lot of you drivers out there at this point and we’re always looking for more to tell your stories.

But it sounds to me in the aggregate like Liquid Trucking is the place to be.

All right,

if you’re listening to this and you’re a driver right now,

and you’re thinking,

if my company leaves me sitting in a shipper for 14 hours one more time.

I am going to put the keys on the dash and walk away from my truck.

Well,

hey,

we understand that at Liquid,

we wouldn’t ever want you to walk away from your truck and leave it abandoned if you work here.

But maybe it’s time to,

uh,

put in a call,

head over to the website Liquid trucking.com.

See what we have for you.

I mean,

you never know.

Ok,

what we heard here today were some stories for some guys that decided,

hey,

I’m gonna make a change and they ended up finding Liquid trucking and I think that you’ll have to pry liquid trucking out of their cold dead hands because they ain’t going anywhere.

And that is something that is a bit unique in today’s transportation industry.

So if you’re out there,

looking take a page out of Robert’s book,

take a page out of Mike’s book and uh give them a call.

They might have something there for you and it might just change your life for the better.

I wanna say thank you to Mike Stanfield a for the idea without him.

We don’t do this episode so big ups to Puff on that one.

And I also want to say thanks for the time coming on,

sharing the story,

Mike.

It was great.

Robert Sanchez.

Exact same thing,

man.

First time on the show felt like a 10 year vet.

I might,

I mean,

that guy could take my job if he wanted it.

No questions asked so huge,

thanks to Robert.

Uh We also want to say a giant.

Thank you to Rob Shroder.

You’ve been around forever,

man.

You know what this company is all about and you told the story.

Uh So cool to have him on with Jason Eisen and thank you to Jason as well.

Jason’s like my,

my uh honorary co-host man,

Love having him on the show,

helps me out.

Coming up with ideas,

things for you guys to listen to.

That’s gonna be engaging,

entertaining and educational,

uh could not do this podcast without my guy,

Jason.

And then finally thanks uh to Damon R VA for coming on second time on the podcast.

Absolutely killed it.

This was a roster of heavy hitters.

You know,

if you’re putting together a baseball lineup,

I’m thinking,

who’s batting third,

who’s batting fourth,

who’s leading off doesn’t matter with this roster that I had today,

pick one and get them up to bat because they’re gonna knock it out of the park.

Thank you guys.

Can’t.

Thank you enough.

Keep the shiny side up liquid.

We’ll see you around the corner next time.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for tuning in and being the gold standard of drivers on the road.

Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel and tune in next week for another episode of the Liquid Trucking podcast.