Speaker 1: 0:32

Welcome back to that's Delivered. I'm your host, trucking Ray, and today I'm joined by Andrew Golding, a trucker that's found on TikTok. He gives a lot of storytelling there. He keeps it real about life on the road. He shares the good, the tough and everything in between, and I know I had to have him on the show. So we're going to talk about how he got into trucking, what's he learned about trucking, his asthmatic experience and why sharing his journey online matters. Andrew, thanks for joining us today on the show. We'll go ahead and talk about why trucking is important for you and what it really looks like. So let's get into it. Andrew, welcome to the show.

Speaker 1: 1:13

I love it, you're out in the truck, how you doing.

Speaker 2: 1:15

I'm good how you doing.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Awesome Having a good day over here. I mean, good weather always makes for a good day. Oh, yeah, most definitely Just kind of talk about what you're doing. I know you're doing a lot there on social media helping truckers out there or anybody that's curious about trucking. How did it all get started with you and trucking? How did you get in the seat?

Speaker 2: 1:37

Oh gosh, I have to go back to 2022. So prior to trucking, I was a contract worker, so I did like Uber, lyft and also medical transport, which is where I made most of my money. Prior to the pandemic, everything was good. Then, when the pandemic hit, everything just pretty much slowed down because I was in charge of taking groups of people from Connecticut, so I had from one end of Connecticut to their different appointments and it was a pretty good gig. I got paid well $1 per mile plus $6 per head, so I had about six or seven people throughout the week, monday through Friday, and definitely was making a decent living doing it. Pandemic hit, that all slowed up. We couldn't multi-load people anymore. It really wasn't worth it making multiple trips. So I got out of that. During that time started a roadside rescue company with my cousin Travis and that was going good, but it still wasn't as much as I was making.

Speaker 2: 2:58

Prior to that, and to take it a step back, prior to contract work and 1099 work, I was also a social worker. So I was a social worker for four years in the geriatric field, so I worked in a couple of nursing homes. I was also a caseworker, so I worked primarily with the elderly facilities I worked at. We had a contract with the VA hospital, so my job was to maintain that contract and make sure that their clients were happy.

Speaker 2: 3:44

And after that, I 2016, I got laid off. There were cuts across the board. I happened to be one of the people cut because, you know, last one hired, first one fired. You know how that goes. Yeah and and uh. After I got laid off, I just my heart wasn't in social work anymore. So I said you know, let's do something different. Started doing uber for five or six years, along with other um gig jobs, and then how I got into trucking was things were slow. I needed to make a pivot. I called one of our local schools in Connecticut. They came to my house and before I knew it that next week I was in class of March of 2022.

Speaker 1: 4:30

You said they came to your house.

Speaker 2: 4:32

Yeah, actually, I literally called them just to inquire. I'll be at your house tomorrow, Did like a quick interview type thing, and I was enrolled in class next week.

Speaker 1: 4:44

Wow, I like that concept, real, personal, like that. Yeah, before someone goes somewhere else, you just go to them and make sure that they make a decision. I like that. I didn't have that one. What was it like possessing or getting your CDL? Was it what you expected?

Speaker 2: 5:10

I didn't know what to expect, to be honest, going to school I did. They had an option of doing a two month course. I guess those people that were somewhat familiar with trucking, maybe in their previous country that they lived in, they had some kind of experience. I had no type of experience whatsoever, so I opted for the five month course. So I did my training, did my classroom field exercises. Training worked on it because I was pretty bad as far as maneuvers Driving I was good but maneuvers it was a problem. So I just, you know, I would go to class. Classes were broken down in three segments, so morning, afternoon and evening. I would literally, when we're out in the field, I would go to the morning, afternoon and evening sessions to get extra practice time in, to kind of get my skills better, and I ultimately passed my test in August of 2022. I ultimately passed my test in August of 2022, and I was on the road with a mega carrier in December of that same year.

Speaker 1: 6:20

Man, that's awesome. Great for those out there looking for a career change or doing something new. You're giving them insight as to you know what goes on behind all that. I mean, do you remember your first time on the road? Maybe a?

Speaker 2: 6:34

solo run. What was going through your head, Gosh? I'll tell you one thing that I'll never forget Uh, my first day with my trainer. Uh, we were out in Colorado and he just threw me to the wolves. He literally put me in the truck and we went down this mountain in the snow, which I later found out was, Gosh, what do you call that? There's a? It might've been, it might've been Monarch Pass.

Speaker 1: 7:03

Okay.

Speaker 2: 7:04

That, oh my, I thought I was going to die that day, man. I was like there's like no railings, it's snowing, it's icy, and you're going and there's just these curves with this 9% grade and it felt like it went on forever, Like I literally was doing like 29 miles per hour down that hill, down that mountain and yeah, that was my introduction to trucking. Like he just threw me out there.

Speaker 1: 7:30

And so he went to sleep?

Speaker 2: 7:32

Did he go back, go to?

Speaker 1: 7:33

sleep.

Speaker 2: 7:40

Oh no, no, no, no. He was in the passenger seat. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Um and I. I trained with him for four weeks driving across the United States. I'm just learning everything I could. He's a pretty good trainer. Definitely taught me a lot, because I've heard some horror stories with trainers, so I'm glad I had a good one yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:00

We can get bad. Yeah, I've heard stories, wow. So the good, the hard and the unexpected. What has it been your favorite part of your career so far that you want to highlight, to kind of, you know, help people out and say, hey, I want to make this decision. Let's focus on something positive.

Speaker 2: 8:20

You know what One thing trucking will teach you about. You'll definitely learn who you really are when it comes to trucking and the challenges you face and what you're made of as a person, because trucking can be extremely challenging physically, definitely mentally. I don't think a lot of truckers talk about the mental aspect of being out on the road my first time going out alone. I was out for 10 weeks. I went out there for 10 weeks zigzagging the country, definitely scared, nervous at times, but it's something you got to tell yourself. Hey, it's do or die. I would say my favorite moment was getting to the point where I could comfortably back into a spot without being nervous. Just I'm like, oh, wow, okay, I got this. I'm like I'm like one of the guys now. So you know small victories like that.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Nice, I know that feeling. When you have a bad backing day it really makes you kind of second guess yourself. But when you have those good, ones man, yeah, definitely right. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:37

Nice.

Speaker 1: 9:38

On the flip side, what's the most frustrating or challenging part about trucking? Maybe people don't always see. Let's be honest with people. You keep it real right.

Speaker 2: 9:47

You know what, um, when it comes to this trucking thing, uh, patience is a virtue. You have to have patience. I learned that from my social work days, so definitely had that. And you also have to know that just just dealing with people because, um, shippers dealing with people, because shippers dealing with shippers I mean, sometimes those guys are rude to you for no reason you just got to learn how to keep your composure, have a positive attitude. Things are not going to go as planned. Every time in tripping you can say, hey, I plan on getting this, this and this done, and a lot of times that doesn't happen. You've just got to roll with the punches, you got to improvise, you got to pivot and do what you got to do to get the job done.

Speaker 1: 10:34

So if you could go back to you know, give yourself an advice for starting out first year, what would you say?

Speaker 2: 10:42

Don't expect to make a lot of money, would you say, Don't expect to make a lot of money. I think what I've learned, what I've realized, is that when you go to school, they don't tell you about the pitfalls of what you experienced out there, especially in your first couple of years. I think if they did, a lot of people wouldn't sign up. You are not going to make a lot of money in your first year, especially if you're with a mega carrier, because you're new. You got to pay your dues. The pay is low and it can be frustrating at times. Definitely During that time, learn about the industry. Learn about what kind of freight you want to haul.

Speaker 2: 11:31

I knew very quickly that I wanted to get into hazmat. Drive-in's good, you know reefer's good and you know all those other ones, but they all have their seasons. I knew I wanted to do hazmat because, especially when it comes to waste, there's always waste that needs to be transferred and destroyed. So I knew that was a consistent gig. So that's why I got my hazmat endorsements before I even hit the road. I got everything, Went to DMV, took all the tests and got everything.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Wow, let's talk hazmat. You know it's not for everyone. What made you decide to get your hazmat endorsement? I know you mentioned it a little bit there, but, uh, sometimes people say it's not worth it. You know, you gotta pay a little extra, you gotta get the fingerprint done and the background check and, um, what would you say to those individuals to say that it was, it was a good decision?

Speaker 2: 12:19

If you don't have. You know any. You know derogatory marks in your background, I don't see why you wouldn't get hazmat. My primary reason for getting hazmat was to separate myself from other drivers. I knew that not every driver has hazmat and there may be companies that pay a little better that are looking for drivers who have hazmat experience. Or even if you don't have the experience, some companies will take a chance on you and they're willing to teach you. So I saw it as a key to separate myself from other drivers. Getting my hazmat also getting my TWIC as well. Not every driver has their TWIC or have the ability to get the TWIC, so I just thought that getting that would separate myself from other drivers.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Tell us about the TWIC.

Speaker 2: 13:14

Oh so the TWIC. It grants you access to all the ports throughout the United States and I've picked up a. Can you hear me?

Speaker 1: 13:32

I lost you there. I can cut that out, no problem.

Speaker 2: 13:35

Can you hear me now?

Speaker 1: 13:37

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:38

All right, sorry about that.

Speaker 1: 13:40

About the.

Speaker 2: 13:41

Twiq. Yeah, so basically Twiq grants you access to all the ports. You just got to get your fingerprints done. They run your background. In about a week they send it to you in the mail. I've done the Tampa ports, jersey port a couple of times. Um and a lot of people don't know that it doubles as a uh, if you're flying out of the country or whatever, um, tsa pre-check, you could also use that as tsa pre-check, so it's like a two-in-one.

Speaker 1: 14:10

There you go encouragement for people out there. Hey you get. The hazmat endorsement has a TSA pre-check, so it's like a two-in-one. There you go. Encouragement for people out there. Hey you get the Hazmat endorsement Sets you apart from the rest of the crowd and also helps you get on the plane faster with the Twix and you can book things for freight forwarders and things like that. I mean that's great.

Speaker 1: 14:25

I mean you got that thick book for the Hazmat. How did you study for that? Everybody gets online and they try to study, for I mean what it was like for you.

Speaker 2: 14:36

So I, I, I did books, I did apps. So there are plenty of apps out there that you can download, from air brakes to to singles, doubles or whatever that you can download the same kind of apps for Hazmat and literally the questions aren't that hard on the test. A lot of the questions you see on practice tests are very similar to the questions you're going to get on the test. So just practice, go over it. Read just to the point where you're confident in. I can walk in and I know I can pass this test.

Speaker 1: 15:11

Nice, all right. So can you walk us through your first hazmat haul, or what was different about it compared to regular loads?

Speaker 2: 15:19

My first hazmat haul was with my first company and I hauled paint, so that would be class three, flammable, and that was from New Jersey to Michigan. I um hauling paint for tesla and uh, it was like tesla and ford or something like that. Yeah, those two companies and uh, it wasn't bad. Um, it was one type of uh, one type of hazmat class, so it was pretty easy. Now the company that I'm with now it's like hazmat on steroids you can haul from one type of hazmat to about four or five, six different types of hazmats that require specialized placarding. You know bulk placarding. That's when you really got to know what types of not every hazmat type can go with each other. You got to know separation, segregation, those types of rules, and so you really just got to study. I don't, I still don't know everything. Every day I'm learning, but it's, you know, something you build on every day.

Speaker 1: 16:30

Nice, that's great, and you got to carry some straps with you, right.

Speaker 2: 16:33

Oh, always, you got to have straps.

Speaker 1: 16:37

Got to have straps man. Explain the straps for people that don't understand that one.

Speaker 2: 16:41

So the type of hazmat that I haul is a dry van hazmat, usually in bulk containers barrels, totes, that type of thing and pretty uh, pretty much. Um. As far as loading, we have a staff that loads the stuff for us. My job is to, while I'm on route, just to make sure that stuff doesn't shift, it stays in place. Um, tightening up the straps, making sure everything's good to go periodically, um, with anything you'll have spills. That's when I have to call in the specialized hazmat cleanup crew. They come in, they do their thing, secure the load, do the cleanup and I'm back on my way. So straps are definitely. Knowing how things are supposed to be stacked properly so you don't have incidents like that is very key.

Speaker 1: 17:29

Nice, Nice, yeah, In case there's a everywhere, an accident or fire and you want to protect the people you're the public and yourself, and also, of course, the dollars of the load and things like that. So that's good, yeah. What's some common misconceptions about hazmat driving? You know those trucks. What do you think people should miss? You know and understand better if they have some misunderstandings.

Speaker 2: 17:52

I think a lot of drivers from just talking to other drivers, they think that it's hard. The test is hard, like it's this ultimate SAT test type thing. It's not. It really isn't that hard. Does it require some studying? Yes, is it scary? Is it potentially dangerous? Yes, is it scary. Is it potentially dangerous? Yes, got to do your best to do everything within your power to follow the rules. Make sure everything following safety precautions is definitely top priority when you're dealing with hazmat.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Speaking of spills, what do you carry with you?

Speaker 2: 18:45

Gosh, I think the question should be what don't I carry? What don't I carry? It could be anything from corrosives uh batteries bulbs uh it could be uh. Human waste um, it could be a flammable type. Liquids uh jet fuel.

Speaker 1: 19:05

I've hauled a lot of that stuff so, if there's a spill, what do you have that will, um you know, help contain it?

Speaker 2: 19:15

So, um, let's say I've had. My first spill was last year, I think March of last year. Um, thankfully it was non hazmat, it was, uh, pretty much dirty water, but still it still has to be treated the same. Um, I called, called there's a number that we have that were called uh in in the event of a spill. Um, I kind of assessed it. There's nothing I can do really. I don't have the hazmat suit or anything like that to go and, you know, mitigate the issue myself, but, um, I I make sure that the public around me is aware is safe.

Speaker 2: 19:51

I remember one time I did have a spill with that dirty water incident where I didn't know what the liquid was. There happened to be a truck driver that was pretty close to the area that was smoking. I quickly told him hey, I have a spill, I'm hauling hazmat. Some of it is flammable, you can't smoke around here. He quickly got up out of here. Yeah, so what I could do is ensure the safety of the public around me and just wait until that hazmat cleanup crew comes and takes care of the situation.

Speaker 1: 20:25

Nice Great work. Social media storytelling you've been documenting your journey on TikTok and Facebook. That's why I like to reach out to individuals doing those things, because it helps bring awareness. Tiktok is a great platform to do that to educate people. What inspired you to start sharing your story online?

Speaker 2: 20:45

Anyone who's interested in taking that step and getting into the trucking industry. I just want to show them what it's really like, the ups, the downs. You know just what trucking is all about. I mean, you have people out there that you know. Just show the good side of trucking. There's some bad parts too. I mean some frustrating parts too. It's not everything is not. You know hunky dory and just roses all the time. Trucking can be frustrating. So I try to show everyone. You know the good, the bad, the ugly.

Speaker 1: 21:20

Have you had any memorable messages or comments from people that reminded you of why you started out in the first place?

Speaker 2: 21:27

I actually had several messages from people saying, hey, I got into trucking because I saw your video, so that's always uplifting, you know. People say, hey, I just got my CDL. I watched your videos, along with other content creators' videos, and that's always cool to know that you help someone.

Speaker 1: 21:49

Nice. Always cool to know that you help someone, nice. And what kind of feedback do you get when other drivers reach out, you know, or even people thinking about getting into trucking? Do they kind of give you any you know feedback as to? You know how it turned out for them, how school was, or anything Maybe you can speak to that.

Speaker 2: 22:05

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I try to show everyone as much of the trucking aspect as possible. So I've had people reach out to me saying hey, I didn't know this before I saw your video. They ask about how do I get to Hazmat? I tell them I always encourage people to get all your endorsements prior to hitting the road, because that's when you have the most time, especially if you're going to be an OTR regional driver. Get all that stuff done while you're in school. It's the easiest time to do it that's right nice.

Speaker 1: 22:35

So life on the road um, I mean, man, you're doing it. Um, what? What does a typical week look like for you, for listeners out there to hear? You know? This is what it's like for you. You know you're out here making it work, man. What does it look like?

Speaker 2: 22:48

well, what's all? What's cool about my gig now is that I have a dedicated route. I run from the northeast to the south. Pretty much every week I'll grab a freight load from somewhere in the south, I bring it back to the northeast. My terminal is about 45 minutes from where I live, so a lot of times I get to reset at home and do the same thing the next week Nice.

Speaker 1: 23:13

So you have a favorite truck stop or favorite place you'd like to reset and kind of kick back and say, hey, man, this is my spot man, I have several.

Speaker 2: 23:22

uh, rayfiend, rayfiend, virginia, exit 205 off of the 81. That, uh, that uh. Petro, there it's like I think it has 715 parking spots. It's one of the largest truck stops in the country. Another favorite of mine is Cookville, tennessee, exit 288 off of the 40. That's another favorite of mine. I think they just renovated that one, so it's about a year or so that that they renovated and that one's pretty nice. Oh, what other ones. Carlisle, pa, the Petra over there. I like to reset over there A lot of times. There's plenty of like restaurants and and stores and everything to go to in that area, so that's one of the reasons I like to stop there. So I have quite a few, quite a few. Yeah, uh, iron skillet yep, they got the iron skillet there too. Yeah, you know, you know, yeah, definitely so we're trying to encompass it all.

Speaker 1: 24:30

We're trying to help individuals. Um, you mentioned a few things about how hard trucking can be on your mental health and your physical health. How do you stay mentally and physically healthy while out?

Speaker 2: 24:39

on the road uh, talking to other drivers. Um, there's a discord platform that I talked to that I use and I you talk to other drivers. Just you know, talking to other drivers on on the phone, um, family's important, keeping in touch with family, um, that's. That's pretty much how I kind of stay, even keeled. It's always good to talk to somebody, man, because life can get lonely here on the road. A lot of people don't understand some of the challenges that truck drivers go through, so it's definitely good to talk to someone.

Speaker 1: 25:13

Yeah, yeah, for real, and a lot of people are listening to podcasts. So all the listeners out there, if you like what you hear and like what we're talking about, man, share it with another trucker out there. Like what we're talking about? I mean, share it with another trucker out there. So we're trying to help people because podcasting is a nice way where you can listen to things while you're out on the road and still get educated and encouraged. So positive message is important, awesome.

Speaker 2: 25:33

Oh, yeah, most definitely.

Speaker 2: 25:45

So looking ahead, where do you see yourself? You know trucking five years from now, or looking to stay in a driver's seat, or maybe mentoring dispatch or something else At some point. I am looking to get into brokering. At this point I'm just trying to learn more of the driver's side of it so that way, once I do get into brokering, I know what drivers are going through. A lot of times you have people that get into trucking and they've never been a driver. They don't know what drivers go through. So there's that disconnect. Some people just look at drivers as robots Okay, drive from here to there. So just trying to get that understanding from the driver's point of view and then taking that experience that I've learned and putting that into brokering. But yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:24

You got to have a you know something else to keep your mind occupied, and, I think, the broker carrier I think that's all a great industry as well. A lot of great people in there doing great things. A lot of systems that are being advanced. The technology in it is insane If you can get your hands on it and those TMS systems, or even if it's AI-assisted, you know a platform that helps out and that's great. So, yeah, a good thing to look forward to in the future. I think I encourage you to follow your dreams and keep doing stuff you're passionate about, because I think that's going to make not just working, but make every day enjoyable.

Speaker 1: 26:58

So, thank you so much for sharing that your insights. I think it's going to be encouraging for a lot of people out there that are driving truck or trying to figure out what they want to do if they want to drive truck. So thank you so much. I appreciate you having me man yeah, so yeah, let's wrap it up before we close out. What's one thing you wish for everyone, especially people out there in the industry, to understand about trucking?

Speaker 2: 27:26

Truck drivers are people too, man, a lot of people. They see these big trucks on the road and they cut us off all the time. Our job is to keep ourselves safe along with others around us. So just people who aren't familiar with trucks four-wheelers just have some courtesy for truck drivers out there. Don't cut us off, you know. Don't give us the middle finger, don't curse us out. We're people too.

Speaker 1: 27:53

All right. So where can people follow you or get some of that great TikTok story and just hear about how things are going with you and your journey with trucking? Where can they reach out to you?

Speaker 2: 28:06

On all platforms at Drew the Trucker, so at Drew dot the dot trucker, on all platforms.

Speaker 1: 28:14

Nice, that's really good man. Thank you, andrew again for being here and sharing your stories, your tips, your real talk that you share and always, you know I say trucking isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle. Share and always, you know, I say trucking isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle. And for you know, if you're giving people a window into that life, I think that's going to be really inspirational for people and a lot of honesty and heart that you're putting into this. So, for everyone listening, make sure you check out Andrew on TikTok and Facebook. I'll drop the link here in the show notes. Keep showing your love to the people out there. Andrew, I appreciate you moving the freight and telling the truth about it.

Speaker 2: 28:48

I appreciate it, man have a good one.

Speaker 1: 28:49

Yeah, you as well. Until next time. Keep it safe out there, keep it steady and, as always, that's Delivered.