How to Buy Your First Truck and Start a Trucking Business. — Transcript

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1. 0:00Welcome to the Trucking Podcast. My name
2. 0:01is Sebastian. Today our guest is Julio
3. 0:05Pena. Julio joined my trucking business
4. 0:08group in the beginning of the year. He
5. 0:10has a an interesting story. Wanted to
6. 0:13become an owner-operator. Been He'd been
7. 0:15driving in the as a company truck driver
8. 0:18for a very long time and he finally
9. 0:19wanted to do something about it. So,
10. 0:21once he joined, we found him a truck and
11. 0:24now he's been running for about few
12. 0:25months now, making money. And [music]
13. 0:28so, let's dig into his story.
14. 0:34>> [music]
15. 0:36>> All right, Julio, welcome to the
16. 0:37podcast. Thank you for being here.
17. 0:40>> Thank you, Sebastian.
18. 0:41>> Thank you. Thank you for taking the
19. 0:42time. I know it was a short notice and I
20. 0:44wanted to tell your story cuz you are
21. 0:46one of my first members in our trucking
22. 0:49business group and you bought your
23. 0:52truck. You've been You've been making
24. 0:53money. And I wanted to quickly
25. 0:57talk to you and share your story. So,
26. 0:58tell me just introduce yourself very
27. 1:00quick and tell me uh your name and where
28. 1:02you live and what truck do you have?
29. 1:05>> Uh my name is Julio Pena. I'm a local
30. 1:07driver out of um the South Shore,
31. 1:09Massachusetts. Home base out of
32. 1:11Plymouth, hometown of America.
33. 1:14Uh and I drive a a Kenworth, a 2000
34. 1:18Kenworth W900L day cab. Uh I'm local
35. 1:22gravel hauler here, moving sand and
36. 1:24gravel and aggregate.
37. 1:26>> Perfect. And tell me So, tell me about
38. 1:28the start. You came to me you wanted to
39. 1:32uh buy a truck and become an
40. 1:33owner-operator. You've been doing it.
41. 1:35Tell me how long have you been driving
42. 1:36for before you started thinking about or
43. 1:38planning about buying a truck. How long
44. 1:41What was your experience before that?
45. 1:42>> So, I was working um for a local company
46. 1:46uh just delivering business material,
47. 1:49you know, construction, window siding,
48. 1:51roofing. I used to operate a crane as
49. 1:53well. And uh so, the company got sold
50. 1:57and it just a chance of dynamic of the
51. 1:59company, and I just wasn't happy there.
52. 2:01So, I started looking for a war for a
53. 2:03job, and uh ended up working for a
54. 2:06construction company driving a triaxle
55. 2:08dump trailer.
56. 2:10Um and then that's what got me into the
57. 2:12dirt game. And then I left that company,
58. 2:15I started working for a smaller company.
59. 2:17Uh this is uh my my last employer. And
60. 2:19uh I just started seeing that you know
61. 2:22how the numbers work, and uh you know
62. 2:25that kind of picked my interest. And
63. 2:26another friend of mine, he went he
64. 2:29bought his own truck, and he um I was
65. 2:31starting asking him that was last
66. 2:33summer. Um and I just started getting
67. 2:35more interested in knowing the business
68. 2:38behind the business. So,
69. 2:40I started, you know, looking at YouTube,
70. 2:43uh getting as much as information as as
71. 2:45I could, trying to learn the business
72. 2:47cuz driving is the easy part. Anybody
73. 2:49can do that, but running a company and
74. 2:51running a business is just different.
75. 2:53It's just totally different. Um so, back
76. 2:57in December, I was kind of getting ready
77. 2:59to make a decision, and uh I came across
78. 3:02you. I think we hooked up somewhere
79. 3:04around New Year's or so.
80. 3:06Um and you you know I saw that you had a
81. 3:09group trucking business group and all
82. 3:11that helping uh
83. 3:14uh
84. 3:14owner operators. And then um I started
85. 3:17looking into it, and you know you had
86. 3:19all the all the answers to the questions
87. 3:21that I had pretty much.
88. 3:23Um so, February I pulled the trigger,
89. 3:25and I bought a truck, and then um a
90. 3:27couple months later I bought a trailer,
91. 3:29and here we go.
92. 3:31We're doing We're doing it.
93. 3:32>> so let let We're doing it. Then let let
94. 3:34me let me re- reverse a little bit back.
95. 3:36So, let's talk about one more
96. 3:38let's talk about a truck a little bit
97. 3:40cuz you specifically
98. 3:41wanted a truck that's going to be good
99. 3:43for the type of work that you do. So, so
100. 3:45let's talk about what engine do you have
101. 3:47in there? Is it What transmission? And
102. 3:49then uh I think you already said it was
103. 3:51a day cab, right? But, can you talk
104. 3:53about the specs for a second?
105. 3:54>> So, looking at at the the classes that
106. 3:57you have in the group, I learned how to
107. 3:59spec out the truck for the you know, to
108. 4:02the applications for you whatever you
109. 4:04want to do. So, that's important. You
110. 4:06don't want to buy the wrong truck. So, I
111. 4:08kind of wrote down everything I was
112. 4:09looking in the truck, you know, the
113. 4:11horsepower, the the ratio, the
114. 4:14suspension, and then um I just, you
115. 4:17know, went out and started looking for a
116. 4:19truck. Uh, I have the truck that I have
117. 4:21now, it's a it's a 3406E CAT. Uh, it's a
118. 4:242WS factory 550, 18-speed, uh,
119. 4:2846 rears.
120. 4:30Uh, that's kind of the the type of truck
121. 4:32that uh that we need to do what I what
122. 4:34what we do in here, you know? A 10-speed
123. 4:37or a 400 horsepower
124. 4:39motor it wouldn't it's just not going to
125. 4:41do it. You're going to struggle.
126. 4:42>> And how many trucks did you look at
127. 4:45before you found that that specific one?
128. 4:47>> I um I looked at a couple of local
129. 4:49trucks. They just were um asking for too
130. 4:51much or they just
131. 4:54uh they just weren't there. It just, you
132. 4:57know, too much rust or you know, not the
133. 4:59specs that that I wanted. Especially the
134. 5:02price, you know, and people were just
135. 5:03asking for too much for what they were
136. 5:05selling. So, I ended up I kept looking
137. 5:07and looking and I found the truck that I
138. 5:10have now in New York. I went out to New
139. 5:12York. Uh, I hooked up with my cousin.
140. 5:14He's a local driver out of New Jersey
141. 5:17and we inspected the truck up and down,
142. 5:20you know, checked that out. And the
143. 5:20truck checked out. So, ended up buying
144. 5:23it.
145. 5:23>> Okay, good. And and you bought it from a
146. 5:25known operator, right?
147. 5:26>> Yeah, it was a guy that had a small
148. 5:28small trucking company. He has like
149. 5:30three or four trucks.
150. 5:31>> Okay. And tell me, how did you come up
151. 5:32with what did how did you come up with
152. 5:35money to buy it? Cuz I know I know
153. 5:37that's a little bit interesting how you
154. 5:38you you approached it.
155. 5:40>> Yeah, so I had a budget in mind. Um I
156. 5:43know how much you talk about gliders cuz
157. 5:45not in the grand scheme of things,
158. 5:47that's what you want. You want a glider
159. 5:49and you want a newer freight truck with
160. 5:51an older engine.
161. 5:52That would be the ideal truck. It's just
162. 5:54like the market at the time I was
163. 5:56looking was beyond my what my budget,
164. 5:59you know, could stand. So, I had a
165. 6:01budget in mind and then I went up
166. 6:04and I started looking looking around and
167. 6:07and I applied for a small business loan
168. 6:10as well and
169. 6:12I also was looking into getting a HELOC
170. 6:14from my home so I can you know, just
171. 6:16start my business.
172. 6:18I did get approved for the for the small
173. 6:20business loan
174. 6:22and then I used also money from the from
175. 6:24the HELOC to to buy the truck because I
176. 6:26bought the truck even before I getting
177. 6:28the the loan approved because I already
178. 6:31have made a decision. It was going to
179. 6:33happen one way or the other, but
180. 6:35thankfully
181. 6:35>> very determined. I I can tell you that
182. 6:37right when you came you were very
183. 6:38determined and very thorough with you
184. 6:40not only your homework and how you were
185. 6:42going through content in my classes and
186. 6:46the questions and when we were hopping
187. 6:47on calls and you really I I knew you
188. 6:50were determined so that that confidence
189. 6:52was
190. 6:53>> Mhm.
191. 6:54>> very very clear to me. That's why I'm
192. 6:56glad you took the route of going out and
193. 6:58seeking help because you've I mean here
194. 7:01we are months later you're doing great
195. 7:03and I wanted to make sure that we share
196. 7:04that story because it was an unusual and
197. 7:07some you know, not everybody can pull
198. 7:09those strings. Not everybody has
199. 7:12things like that, right? Like where am I
200. 7:14going to go get an SBA loan? Am I even
201. 7:16going to try? Should I try? Am I going
202. 7:17to get it? So it did work out at the end
203. 7:19of the the day it worked out for you,
204. 7:21right?
205. 7:21>> Yeah, it did. You know, you also, you
206. 7:23know, that if you look around, there is
207. 7:25help out there. There's grants. Also I'm
208. 7:27I'm a minority immigrant, you know,
209. 7:29owner of a trucking company so I put all
210. 7:32that in there too. So if you look
211. 7:33around, there are grants and there's
212. 7:35help for you to get started off the
213. 7:36ground. So that's something to look into
214. 7:38for someone that be interested in doing
215. 7:40what I did.
216. 7:41>> Yeah.
217. 7:41>> Truckers a few seconds of your time, if
218. 7:44you go to Trucker Path.com, you can join
219. 7:46our free school community.
220. 7:48We have weekly classes.
221. 7:50We help each other. It's a great
222. 7:52owner-operator community.
223. 7:54Click the link below. I'll see you
224. 7:56there.
225. 7:57What would you say to somebody that's
226. 7:58thinking about becoming an owner and is
227. 8:00confident they want to do it, but
228. 8:02they're they're not really sure that if
229. 8:05they have enough money or they don't
230. 8:06have any money?
231. 8:07Right? Like cuz cuz you you have that
232. 8:10unique
233. 8:11kind of confidence and the
234. 8:13you like I know I want to do it. I want
235. 8:14to be creative on how I'm going to
236. 8:15actually find money for my truck.
237. 8:18Uh but I want I want you to speak to
238. 8:19that for a little bit. Like what how
239. 8:21what would you tell to somebody that
240. 8:23hey, I don't I'm I don't have money yet.
241. 8:24Like what can I do and what
242. 8:27>> So, so so what I'll say like what helps
243. 8:30him prepare to to make the jump Um it's
244. 8:33also to build relationships with the
245. 8:35people that you work you you working
246. 8:36around the being the field that you want
247. 8:38to do. So, if you want to go work drive
248. 8:40some for somebody, like don't you know,
249. 8:43don't leave if you have a pizza shop,
250. 8:45you don't want to become a truck driver.
251. 8:46You want to get in the field first,
252. 8:48build relationships that way because if
253. 8:50you buy a truck, you know, you know, you
254. 8:51need to get have the work.
255. 8:53Um so, that's one thing that helped me
256. 8:55prepare. Um what was the second part of
257. 8:57the question?
258. 8:58>> Like what how you how you prepared and
259. 9:00how you how you
260. 9:03you took risk with the SBA and you took
261. 9:06risk with HELOC, but you you prepared
262. 9:09yourself to it. And maybe I should speak
263. 9:11to it because I I was along
264. 9:14your journey with you. And and that's
265. 9:16what I think I wouldn't recommend
266. 9:18anybody doing that route, right? But I
267. 9:19knew that you were financially prepared
268. 9:22because not only you were very uh I
269. 9:24would say diligent about your numbers
270. 9:27and prepping and almost coming up with a
271. 9:29business model, which I don't often see
272. 9:31with somebody that's prep preparing to
273. 9:34be an owner-operator. And that's why I
274. 9:36wanted to highlight it a little bit
275. 9:37because you I I had confidence in you
276. 9:40pulling it off and and and
277. 9:43being diligent about it because you were
278. 9:45always ready and had questions and had
279. 9:47numbers ready and and everything was
280. 9:49analyzed and you crunched the numbers
281. 9:52and that is pretty much what I'm getting
282. 9:54at, right? Because you you I don't think
283. 9:57it's a good move for anybody to do what
284. 9:58you did with risking getting a loan and
285. 10:02not because what what I also want to
286. 10:04avoid is somebody maybe looking at oh,
287. 10:06you know what? Maybe I'll pull a HELOC.
288. 10:07I'll I'll go buy a truck. You had
289. 10:09everything already in place before you
290. 10:11even pulled the trigger on it.
291. 10:13>> Right. So
292. 10:14>> which which which the which buying the
293. 10:16truck was pretty much the last last
294. 10:19thing that you were you were doing kind
295. 10:22of the the you know, finishing the
296. 10:24entire process and then you you
297. 10:25literally slid into
298. 10:27the opportunities that you've created
299. 10:29for yourself prior to even buying the
300. 10:31truck, right?
301. 10:32>> Right. I think one of the determined
302. 10:34factor factors was you know, like being
303. 10:37an employee. I I worked so hard I worked
304. 10:40very hard for the past four years
305. 10:43and the numbers just weren't there, you
306. 10:45know, as a as an employee you have a
307. 10:47ceiling
308. 10:48and
309. 10:49you know, no matter how hard I work then
310. 10:51you know, I just every time I reach my
311. 10:54ceiling and I just didn't see any path
312. 10:56going forward. That kind of helped me
313. 10:58make the move into looking into buying
314. 11:00my own truck and also the determination
315. 11:03like you know, you and you want to be
316. 11:05committed. So by looking into getting a
317. 11:09getting a small business loan, I have to
318. 11:11come up with a with a with a business
319. 11:14plan. I have no idea what a business
320. 11:16plan. I mean, I've been an employee all
321. 11:18my all my all my life. I never run my
322. 11:20own business. I didn't have a
323. 11:22entrepreneurship mindset or anything
324. 11:24like that. So I had to learn that like
325. 11:25within a month pretty much. I came up
326. 11:28with a business plan. I I looked around
327. 11:31and I got numbers from solid numbers
328. 11:33from other owner operators. Even my my
329. 11:36my former employer, like he showed me
330. 11:37the books. He told me what it was. And I
331. 11:40came up with a business plan and so you
332. 11:43know, you do have to have your numbers
333. 11:45correct before you you know, to do this.
334. 11:48You don't just want to buy a truck and
335. 11:50just you know, at the end of the day
336. 11:51have surprises and
337. 11:53be have an unexpected things that that
338. 11:56come up.
339. 11:57>> Yeah. What was the challenging part to
340. 11:59all that? What was What was some of the
341. 12:01challenging things that you you had to
342. 12:04overcome?
343. 12:05>> Um one of the things is just putting the
344. 12:07money together. That was one of the most
345. 12:08challenging things is just putting the
346. 12:09money together. That was one and then
347. 12:11find the right equipment to do what I
348. 12:13wanted to do.
349. 12:14Um other than that, you know, the the
350. 12:17relationships and the work, it was
351. 12:19already
352. 12:19Um so that was that was my main thing.
353. 12:22Just coming up with the money and
354. 12:24finding the with the right equipment.
355. 12:26That's the hardest part that I that I
356. 12:28you know, endured during during I
357. 12:30started my business.
358. 12:36>> Yeah. And I there is one thing that
359. 12:38we're forgetting about which is you went
360. 12:40independent right away, which is also a
361. 12:42step that I would recommend to
362. 12:43everybody.
363. 12:44>> Right. Right. So that's the other thing.
364. 12:46I I I I I'm running on the my own
365. 12:48numbers. I have my own authority.
366. 12:50>> Yeah. And that is that was something
367. 12:52that I always I don't recommend to every
368. 12:54owner-operator in our group. I don't
369. 12:56think that's bad for everybody. I was
370. 12:58confident you were going to be able to
371. 12:59do it because of all the prep work you
372. 13:01actually did beforehand.
373. 13:03>> Yeah. I totally forgot about that. Yeah.
374. 13:05>> Yeah. Yeah. But that is that is
375. 13:06definitely a jump that you you you
376. 13:08leaped from
377. 13:10>> Mhm.
378. 13:10>> driver company driver to independent
379. 13:14carrier cuz you literally could add
380. 13:15trucks right now and and become a small
381. 13:17fleet if you wanted to.
382. 13:18>> Mhm.
383. 13:19>> But it was a path that partially was
384. 13:22maybe yes because of all the work that
385. 13:24you've done beforehand.
386. 13:26>> Mhm.
387. 13:27>> And and uh why not? You already had
388. 13:28business lined up, right?
389. 13:30>> Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Uh yeah. I have bu- you
390. 13:33know, I had I had work from even before
391. 13:36I had the truck. So, that helped, too.
392. 13:39Um but yeah, it's like you said, like it
393. 13:42you know, if you if you're not ready to
394. 13:43do this, you can just lease on to
395. 13:45somebody, get the experience, and then,
396. 13:47you know, just start that way. That will
397. 13:49help, too.
398. 13:50>> It is because the the difference is
399. 13:53when you if you do that jump right away
400. 13:55into an owner independent owner operator
401. 13:57or
402. 13:58you become a carrier, there's a
403. 13:59difference between how you source work
404. 14:01and how normal owner operator with a dry
405. 14:04van or flatbed or any other type of mode
406. 14:06transportation has to go out and now
407. 14:08find work with brokers, find brokers,
408. 14:10learn all that dispatching dispatching
409. 14:12skills, creating relationships. You
410. 14:14don't have to go to load boards to do
411. 14:16that, right? You really just go to a
412. 14:17customer and say, "Hey, I have I have a
413. 14:19job you know, you you work directly with
414. 14:21your cu- customer."
415. 14:22>> Mhm. Yep. I have a truck, and I can move
416. 14:24any material, you know, that's literally
417. 14:27what I do. I I don't have I don't need
418. 14:28dispatch. I don't need brokers.
419. 14:31Um that helps, too. Um not having that.
420. 14:33>> Yes. So, tell me, how is it going so
421. 14:35far? How are you How are you feeling
422. 14:37with with with the business? It's been
423. 14:39months already. So, so I I wanted you
424. 14:41were on vacation cuz I I then I was on
425. 14:44vacation. We were going to do this, and
426. 14:45now we're both back, and I'm excited
427. 14:48that we're doing this because now it's
428. 14:50been few months since since you've been
429. 14:52doing this. So, tell me, how are you
430. 14:54feeling about
431. 14:54>> Yeah, so um one thing I say is like,
432. 14:57"Why didn't I do this sooner?"
433. 14:59Uh is one of them.
434. 15:00Um it just never dawned on me to learn
435. 15:03the business uh from, you know, from
436. 15:06behind the the drive in, you know, just
437. 15:08the business behind the curtain, kind of
438. 15:11picking up the curtain and seeing how
439. 15:12the business run. Why didn't that didn't
440. 15:14pick the interest on me before is like
441. 15:16one of them.
442. 15:17Um and, you know, it's like no no
443. 15:20regrets. I'm really happy doing what I
444. 15:22do. One of the things that I make when I
445. 15:24made the jump is to have the freedom.
446. 15:26Like, and the liberty, you know, it's my
447. 15:28truck. I
448. 15:29run where I want to. I don't have to
449. 15:31take, you know, like, overwork and, you
450. 15:34know, crazy work, crazy hours. I run my
451. 15:37own hours. I'm I have my own freedom and
452. 15:40my liberty to do whatever I want.
453. 15:41>> Yeah. And you also have the freedom to
454. 15:43work as hard as you want, which
455. 15:45>> Yeah.
456. 15:45>> we forget about a lot, right? Cuz I know
457. 15:47you you you do work a lot and you you
458. 15:50also are determined to get
459. 15:52pretty much as much money put away as
460. 15:54possible. I know you're a very
461. 15:56determined person and that is the
462. 15:57opposite side of the freedom, right?
463. 15:59Like, hey, I can work as much as I want
464. 16:01and and make as much money as I as I
465. 16:04want in the week.
466. 16:04>> And then I can take a pause and take a
467. 16:06week a take a weekend off and longer
468. 16:08weekend, right? So, that is the
469. 16:09beautiful thing about it. You really
470. 16:10don't have anybody breathing above your
471. 16:11neck other than your customers.
472. 16:13>> So, yeah, so I I was fortunate to had a
473. 16:16good employer, my last employer. And I'm
474. 16:18fortunate that we can take a lot of time
475. 16:21off. So,
476. 16:23um it wasn't fair to to him
477. 16:25all the time. I was taking like 6 weeks
478. 16:27a year.
479. 16:28Um two two weeks paid and then the rest
480. 16:31of the time, you know, I could afford to
481. 16:34take the time off without pay, but he he
482. 16:36could he he he deserved a good driver
483. 16:39that can take, you know, 2 weeks off a
484. 16:41year. But then again, you know, like, I
485. 16:43just hated to be asking for time off,
486. 16:45you know, now I I don't have to do that.
487. 16:47>> Yeah. Great. Great.
488. 16:49>> I enjoy my family and I'm I'm grateful
489. 16:51to have a
490. 16:52an awesome wife that's supportive in
491. 16:54this journey and she's always, you know,
492. 16:55she's right there next to me on my by my
493. 16:57side and, you know, I'm just grateful to
494. 17:00to have her on my team.
495. 17:01>> Great. That's always great. That is
496. 17:02important. What else What would be your
497. 17:04advice to somebody thinking about maybe
498. 17:07in this, you know, somebody that's in
499. 17:08the spot that you were in the beginning
500. 17:10of the year. Like, what how would you
501. 17:12what would you tell them how to approach
502. 17:14it, what to do, how to educate
503. 17:15themselves? Tell tell me about that a
504. 17:17little bit. So, for anybody listening
505. 17:18that's in the on that boat, we have hot
506. 17:20market. There's a lot of owner drivers
507. 17:22that want to be owner operators. What
508. 17:24what would you tell them right now?
509. 17:25>> I'll get I'll say to get as much
510. 17:27information and knowledge as you can.
511. 17:29Just that's a lot of things out there. I
512. 17:31just study the market, study, you know,
513. 17:33take classes or whatever. Learn as much
514. 17:35as you can about the business and
515. 17:37trucking because, you know, it's it's
516. 17:39it's not it's not easy. If it was easy,
517. 17:41anybody could do it.
518. 17:43Uh but yeah, learn as much as you can.
519. 17:46That's my That's one of my advice.
520. 17:49Uh Trucking
521. 17:51>> Yeah, and being in the Trucking Business
522. 17:53Group, right?
523. 17:53>> Yeah, that and uh
524. 17:55you know, like learning from from your
525. 17:57colleagues and a lot of owner operators
526. 17:59down here where I'm at. I have a good
527. 18:02support network, but you know, like
528. 18:04taking the classes in the business
529. 18:06group, that solidified my decision right
530. 18:09there. So, when I started seeing
531. 18:12um the the actual truth, you know, what
532. 18:15to do, what to expect, that did it for
533. 18:17me. That sealed the deal for me.
534. 18:19>> Right there. Yeah, and and our weekly
535. 18:20calls, I know I mean I know you you
536. 18:22know, when we do our weekly progress
537. 18:24calls, I I you were always there. You
538. 18:26were always available. You you always
539. 18:28hopped on, always had questions, always
540. 18:29prepped. And that's how I I would want
541. 18:31everybody to approach it. And that is
542. 18:33that is that is the the the work that
543. 18:36oftentimes new owner operators or maybe
544. 18:39new drivers that are trying to be owner
545. 18:40operators don't realize that they have
546. 18:41actually put a lot of that sweat equity
547. 18:43before they pull the trigger. They just
548. 18:44get that truck and hop in it and I'll
549. 18:46just found a truck and I'm going to And
550. 18:48cuz it's it takes so much time to take
551. 18:50find a truck. I'm going to Yeah, it
552. 18:51does, but that's what exactly is going
553. 18:53to help you stay in business if you buy
554. 18:54the right truck and not rush it.
555. 18:55>> Yeah. Yeah, so um I want to give a shout
556. 18:59out to to Mike McGuffin, the Boston
557. 19:02Trucker, because uh there was a time in
558. 19:04my life when I was just looking for a
559. 19:06career and I started watching his videos
560. 19:09and
561. 19:09I I
562. 19:10I I you know, that I want to get into
563. 19:12the dirt game, hauling dirt. And that
564. 19:15really, you know, opened a path for me
565. 19:17and uh watching him and we we we become
566. 19:20quite a quite acquaintance and uh he's
567. 19:22just a professional. So, you just don't
568. 19:24want to be a sloppy driver out there.
569. 19:26You want to be a professional. You want
570. 19:27to dress the part. You want to keep your
571. 19:29truck clean and uh you know,
572. 19:32you want to be a truck driver, be a
573. 19:33professional truck driver cuz anybody
574. 19:35can be a a truck driver out there. So,
575. 19:38um that's one of the things that, you
576. 19:40know, you you want to be you you want to
577. 19:41be up to par.
578. 19:42>> I agree. Mike is a great guy. We had him
579. 19:45on the show a few weeks
580. 19:46>> yeah.
581. 19:46>> episodes ago. Great, great guy.
582. 19:49I agree with you. Uh what he's doing for
583. 19:51the trucking community and his YouTube
584. 19:53channel is is is great. He and 100%
585. 19:58um more content from him is is just
586. 20:00always always nice to see him and you're
587. 20:03right, very professional and I wish
588. 20:05a lot of drivers would would have that
589. 20:08approach and I I'm glad you you you
590. 20:10mentioned that because I agree with you.
591. 20:11I think it's
592. 20:12right on the money. What's next for you,
593. 20:14Julio?
594. 20:15>> Um nothing, just keep hammering, keep
595. 20:17hustling. Um eventually I'll have to,
596. 20:20you know, grow my business.
597. 20:23Uh probably I might be looking into
598. 20:25probably get a step deck or a flatbed
599. 20:27just to when uh if the dirt game slows
600. 20:30down, you know, probably hop on the on a
601. 20:32flatbed or or a step deck.
602. 20:35Uh but I'm I'm I'm able to run
603. 20:38year-round here. So, when the when
604. 20:40winter comes, we got contracts hauling
605. 20:42salt. So, you know, we we uh we 365
606. 20:45here. That's the plan. That's the goal.
607. 20:47Yeah. Running year-round.
608. 20:49>> I also wanted to I also wanted to bring
609. 20:51up something that I didn't know until
610. 20:54recently that you also came here as an
611. 20:57immigrant when you were how old?
612. 20:58>> Um so, I I moved here when I was 19.
613. 21:02Um I, you know, I immigrated here from
614. 21:05the Dominican Republic.
615. 21:06Um so, when I moved here, my dad was
616. 21:09running uh
617. 21:10a small route delivering uh potato
618. 21:12chips, Cape Cod chips. And uh so I start
619. 21:15I
620. 21:16was hanging out with him all day in the
621. 21:18in the truck. I was helping him. And
622. 21:19that's what picked my interest into
623. 21:21like, you know, being on the road on
624. 21:23your own and uh not having somebody
625. 21:25breathing down your neck. So that's what
626. 21:27started my my career in driving. So I
627. 21:30started as a as a helper of a trucker.
628. 21:33And then eventually they bought another
629. 21:35truck, another box truck, started doing
630. 21:37that. And then uh I just I always try to
631. 21:40you know, better myself. So I got my my
632. 21:43class B license after that on my own.
633. 21:46Uh you know, with help from family and
634. 21:48all that. Um
635. 21:49and then uh I just got my class A
636. 21:51driving uh tractor trailers after that.
637. 21:53And I look, here I am. I got This is
638. 21:56what I wanted to be and I and I made it.
639. 21:58So
640. 21:58>> to you.
641. 21:59>> Mhm, thank you. So you know, nothing's
642. 22:01impossible. Everything Anything's
643. 22:03possible. You just got to you know, have
644. 22:05a have a goal and just you know, just go
645. 22:08for it. Opportunities are there, you
646. 22:10know.
647. 22:10>> Yeah, kudos to you for that cuz you I
648. 22:12I've seen you through the journey and
649. 22:14look at us, two immigrants that came
650. 22:16here. I also came here at when I was 19.
651. 22:19I think our listeners should put in the
652. 22:21comments who has a better American
653. 22:22accent.
654. 22:24>> [laughter]
655. 22:25[gasps]
656. 22:25>> We have battles.
657. 22:27No, you I think I think your your accent
658. 22:29is a lot better than mine.
659. 22:30>> like the East side, so you have this all
660. 22:32>> No, no, I doubt it. You you're from like
661. 22:35the East side, so you have this all all
662. 22:37the whole Boston thing going. I don't I
663. 22:39don't
664. 22:39>> Yeah, I think it rubs from my wife.
665. 22:41She's She's from Cambridge and she can
666. 22:44sound the R's and she just had a Boston
667. 22:46accent, so I think I just I inherited
668. 22:49unfortunately. I mean, all fortunately.
669. 22:51>> We'll We'll We'll see in the comments
670. 22:53what what our listeners think about our
671. 22:55accents. Who has a better American
672. 22:57accent is the question. So yes, feel
673. 22:59free to comment. Julio, you're I'm so
674. 23:02proud of you and congratulations on on
675. 23:04everything that you you you've gone
676. 23:06through and how you uh just have a
677. 23:08positive attitude. I I love having you
678. 23:11in the group and you are definitely a a
679. 23:12big part of our group there and
680. 23:14congratulations again. I'm I'm
681. 23:16>> Hey, thank you, Sebastian. That's why I
682. 23:18started this to to make sure that we
683. 23:20have community like we do and and so
684. 23:22people actually make money with trucks.
685. 23:24That's the whole goal.
686. 23:25>> So, I'm I'm very It's so humble and
687. 23:27honored, you know, for you to say that,
688. 23:30but part of where I'm at here, it
689. 23:32wouldn't be because without you, like
690. 23:34without your help and your guidance and
691. 23:36uh I just, you know, there's no no no no
692. 23:39doubt, like I'm here because of you and
693. 23:40your your guidance. So, I appreciate you
694. 23:43and thank you for for all your help.
695. 23:44>> Thank you. Appreciate it, Julio. It's
696. 23:46You're You're here because of your hard
697. 23:48work and I was a little bit there to
698. 23:50watch you and and and cheer you like a
699. 23:52like a
700. 23:53like a good cheerleader for to make sure
701. 23:55you actually make this work and you did.
702. 23:57So, congratulations. Thank you so much.
703. 23:59I appreciate you taking the time talking
704. 24:01to me today and uh for anybody that's
705. 24:03interested, join us at trucky.com. Our
706. 24:06group there is a link. Click it. We're
707. 24:08there meeting every single week. We have
708. 24:10a a group call and we can help you uh
709. 24:13buy a truck and become an
710. 24:14owner-operator. Julio, thank you so
711. 24:16much. Have a good night and I'll talk to
712. 24:17you soon.
713. 24:18>> Thank you, Sebastian.