Victor Newton began hauling box trucks for Amazon Relay five years ago out of North Carolina. He now mentors over a thousand carriers and creates business strategy content on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok as Bigg Vic TV. We sat down with Vic to talk about how he evaluates Relay loads, why he swears by Post A Truck, and what he’d tell a carrier who’s still only browsing Relay’s load board.
You walked away from a 28-year career as a barber. What made trucking the thing?
Everything I’ve pursued, I needed to be the best at that thing. I was cutting hair since high school. Didn’t even have my license yet, just knew I could do it. Had my own chair, then built my own shop. But I was always doing other things too. Music was my passion. I was a recording artist, produced my own album, had a contract at one point. I had a media company doing video, photo, shooting commercials. The setup I have now for content stems from all of that–I already had the cameras and drones.
2020 hit. Barber shops shut down. I was watching YouTube, saw a video about box truck owner-operators. No CDL needed. That was super appealing. I saw a carrier running 10-15 trucks on Amazon Relay contracts. I thought, if he can do it, I can figure this out. I’d been an entrepreneur since I was 16 years old.
So, what did that first step actually look like?
$13,085. That’s what it took. MC, insurance down, and a truck. My wife said stop talking about it, go ahead and get one. I bought a used truck for $10,000 that had 500,000 miles on it. l told myself, if I make this truck all the way home, there’s no turning back. No choice but to make it happen.
I’d be in the chair, cutting hair, watching Relay’s load board. Looking at a $30 haircut versus a $500 load. It didn’t take long to see where the math was going. I was busy, but it was nothing like the money I could make with Amazon.
“Relay is plug and play for every new truck and driver you add.”
Tell us about your early days with Relay.
Within my first 90 days with Relay, my performance score dropped. I had to seek out a few brokers to run over-the-road freight. I filmed the entire experience, sleeping in my truck. Once I got a whiff of that world–brokers hanging up on me and moving onto the next person–I understood that Relay was still the most consistent freight opportunity. And it’s the most straightforward, best booking experience.
You started on Relay’s load board. What made you explore Relay’s contracts and Post A Truck?
Post A Truck (PAT) is one of the best-kept secrets for me. Even outside of high-volume season, it gets you closer to the loads you actually want. You post your equipment, your availability, your location, and the system matches you automatically when there’s a fit. It’s a great ally when you’re trying to build consistency as an owner.
I ran a lot of contracts myself early on. I ran three to five hundred miles at night and adjusted my sleep schedule around the shift. Amazon Relay’s contracts gave me those steady loads. They freed me up to focus on the business side instead of refreshing the load board every morning.
What’s the biggest milestone that changed how you operated?
The real shift was understanding that Relay’s personalized load board recommendations learn from your patterns. Once I figured out how to study my routes, it mimicked what I was already running. I let the system see my preferences, and the recommendations got sharper.
You’ve hauled with Relay all 5 years of your trucking journey. What’s your favorite feature?
Relay Assistant. You’re able to converse back and forth with AI to negotiate the rate you think a load deserves. It’s such an innovative experience.
What’s the most common advice you give truckers about Amazon Relay?
When carriers are asking, “What kind of money can I make with this number of trucks doing this type of load?” It’s all about where you’re moving, what areas, what percent you’re paying your company’s drivers, full-truck-load or less-than-a-truckload.
So, I’d say study Relay’s opportunities in your area. You’ll find spot loads that always run in your demographics. There’s always another Amazon facility nearby to get you closer to home. I call it the triangle. Figure out the triangle for your area, and you’ve got a repeatable route.
“You can make a lot of money quickly with Relay. But if you’re not business-savvy enough to manage that money well, and if you’re not an on-time person, it’s not for you.”
How do you evaluate which box truck loads you book?
As a business owner, you want to know what’s coming tomorrow. The load board is great for flexibility, but if you’re building a business, you need predictability. I love rest. So, I love daytime Amazon-to-Amazon routes, especially with the content I have to produce, sponsorships, keeping up with brands. If daytime routes are what I need, Post A Truck handles that.
I prefer a two-stop run, pickup and dropoff only between Amazon facilities. It makes it easier to avoid delays and protect my performance score. That’s the main thing, the bow on everything. Protecting that performance score.
What is your peak season booking strategy?
Contracts and PAT are my best friends during high volume times. And I’d say broaden your search filters during sales events and haul outside of your typical domicile. Look at surrounding cities, whichever city paying the most. I’m willing to go couple hours away and stay out there a couple weeks. I move my truck where the money is, where I know it won’t sit.
I also tell all my drivers If they complete all loads on time, they get a bonus. And I promise you, I have to pay it every time. They’re not playing about that bonus.
You attend RelayCon regularly (Amazon’s annual 2-day carrier event). What keeps you coming back?
Events are always about getting insider knowledge. Any time I can put my hands on something, I want to understand how the system actually thinks. I didn’t understand Relay’s performance score that well at first. I thought, “Why are they grading people?” Until RelayCon.
Then I saw the bigger picture. A customer is waiting for that order. If you book a load and your truck breaks down, that delivery doesn’t happen. RelayCon helps you understand how each part connects, so you stop seeing the score as a grade and start seeing it as a tool. Deliver on time, stay prompt, leave early. Then you can book more load opportunities.
At what point did you feel you had wisdom like that to share with the trucking community?
I remember feeling so nervous when I started: “Oh my gosh, I’m going to my first load for Amazon.” But once you get out there and you have proof of concept—you make your first dollar after this huge investment—you see that you can very quickly make money with Relay week over week.
“I wanted people to see how easy running with Relay is so they can make the most of the opportunity.”
I noticed there’s a lot of visual learners in this industry, and they need more hand holding the first time they run a load. So, I created content to show them exactly what it looks like to book on the load board, use the Relay’s driver app, the pallet jack, scan pallets, everything. It came naturally to me because I’d already created content teaching producers how to make beats.
Even though my content walks through Relay’s loads and tools in real time, carriers also need to watch the informational videos in the Relay’s Learning Center to fully prepare themselves. To access contracts and other premiere opportunities, like hostling, take those prep courses. There’s also general courses about how to succeed.
What are your goals for your business?
I’m on my third truck, currently running reefer loads for Amazon Relay. I love the reefer side because it pays well—it’s more of a premium specialty lane vs. dry freight. And I know Amazon’s growing in that space. So, I’ll never buy a dry box truck again, especially since reefer trailer maintenance costs about the same.
My short-term goal was to potentially get a CDL and sleeper cab. The future is all about opening up my options with Relay and broadening my freight choices.
Join Relay
Start your Relay application on desktop or our app on iOS or Android to join Amazon’s freight network. But first, check out Relay’s carrier requirements to make sure hauling for Amazon is the right fit for your business.
Disclaimer: Amazon does not tender loads through any third-party load boards. Any Amazon loads posted on third-party load boards will only be tendered directly to approved and onboarded carriers via the Relay web portal or Relay mobile app. If you are interested in hauling loads for Amazon, sign up and book directly on relay.amazon.com. For more about our efforts against fraud and cargo theft, see our trustworthy transportation page.
