The Oakley Podcast

On this week’s edition of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett talks with drivers Rupert Deal, Tommy Dean, and John Dawson about undergoing the orientation process at Oakley.

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: dry bulk commodities (1:52)
• Recapping orientation (4:16)
• What brought our new drivers to Oakley (9:16)
• Expectations for first month of work (13:52)
• Physicals, safety training, and more (23:58)
• Coming back to work at Oakley because of the people (29:40)

Thank you Rupert, Tommy, and John for sharing your on-boarding and orientation experiences with our listeners.

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com. 

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On this week’s edition of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett speaks with Jon Slaughter, CEO of Healthy Trucking of America. Healthy Trucking of America provides free health and wellness services for drivers. 

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: experiencing unsafe driving situations (1:48)
• What Healthy Trucking of America does to address the unique health concerns for drivers (4:27)
• How to start the process of living healthier (9:17)
• Determining the “why” of why you want to make healthier choices (11:51)
• Success stories of drivers that made small changes that turned into big results (21:02)
• Plans for 2021 (28:52)

Thank you, Jon, for discussing the different ways Healthy Trucking of America can assist drivers in taking care of their wellness.

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

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On this week’s edition of The Oakley Podcast, Mark Steck, heavy duty truck account manager and truck guru, is back on the show for a gearhead conversation with host Jeremy Kellett. They discuss how there’s so much to consider when buying a truck and then maintaining that truck. 

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: trailer washouts (1:44)
• Comparing different engines for running heavy and hard (4:42)
• Automatic transmissions, automated transmissions, and being PTO capable (14:03)
• DEF systems and preventative maintenance (26:11)

Thank you Mark for joining the show for today’s gearhead conversation. 

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

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On this week’s edition of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett is joined by Jeff Amen and Michael Schneider, the vice president and tax manager, respectively, at ATBS, a tax and accounting firm for owner-operator truck drivers. Together they cover a lot of ground related to preparing taxes for 2020, knowing how to avoid tax surprises, and how to maximize deductions. 

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: celebrating owner-operators reaching 1,000,000 safe miles (1:58)
• Background on ATBS (3:58)
• Understanding how the PPP loans impact our owner-operators (9:25)
• What should first-time owner-operators expect when taxes are due? (23:00)
• Depreciation formulas (29:44)
• Updates for the 2020 tax year (41:28)
• Ordinary and necessary day-to-day deductions (49:20)
• What ATBS offers its clients, including audit protection (54:33)

Thank you Jeff and Michael for explaining the ins-and-outs of managing taxes. 

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this week’s episode of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett hangs out with Scott Cowden, operations manager, to compare different divisions at Oakley: hopper bottom, end-dump, and pneumatic. They highlight details from each division to help drivers consider which division might be the best fit for them. 

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: make extra money with driver referrals (1:38)
• Hopper division concentrates in the south and has the lowest expenses and stresses (4:57)
• End-dump gets more pay per mile, requires being able to clean out the trailer (14:13)
• Pneumatic division pays the most but can be expensive to get started and a passport is required for going to Canada (25:19)
• Specifics on vacuum pneumatic (33:00)

Thank you Scott for coming on the show. If you are an owner-operator with Oakley thinking about swapping divisions, you can change jobs and never have to worry about losing seniority or annual bonuses. Please contact us if you are interested in making a change today.

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this week’s episode of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett sits down with Corey Huey and Kent Childers from recruiting and Scott Cowden, operations manager, to discuss the details of Oakley’s referral program. For Oakley, finding new drivers is very important and the referral program rewards owner-operators who can help recruit new members to the team.

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: swapping divisions (1:45)
• Finding the right drivers when there’s a driver shortage (3:16)
• Dealing with a constantly changing freight market (10:42)
• Turning a name and a phone number into a referral bonus (15:58)
• Earn up to $5,150 for a recruit (27:10)

Thank you, Corey, Kent, and Scott for coming on the show to outline the benefits to our owner-operators for sending in leads for new drivers.

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

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On this week’s episode of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett talks with Oakley operations manager Colby Foster to take a look at some of the ways that COVID-19 has changed trucking, both positively and negatively.

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: planning for handling taxes (1:53)
• Truck drivers showed they were the backbone of the economy (5:00)
• Changes that drivers have experienced this year (6:48)
• Adjustments that dispatch has made (12:40)
• Recruiting pipeline changes (26:46)

Thank you Colby for coming on the show and discussing the ways Oakley has adjusted during the pandemic.

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this week’s episode of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett is joined by Oakley recruiter Dustin Eagle to discuss the process of becoming an owner-operator with Oakley. Together they identify mistakes that people have made in the past and point out the best steps to take to succeed as an Oakley owner-operator.

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: pre-trip inspections (1:44)
• Financing for your truck and figuring out a down payment (5:02)
• Picking the right truck for the job (14:10)
• Selecting a good dealership to work with (17:41)
• Don’t spend your last dollar on a truck (27:22)
• Have a good business plan (34:00)
• What makes Oakley a good company for a first-time owner-operator (37:22)

Thank you Dustin for taking us through the five steps that every first-time owner-operator needs to think about. 

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this week’s episode of The Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett sits down with Lieutenant Doug Lafferty of the Arkansas Highway Police to find out what he looks for when dealing with truck drivers as they come across the scale, avoiding CSA violations, and staying safe on the road.

Key topics in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: dashcams play an important role (1:45)
• Introduction to Lieutenant Lafferty (3:03)
• Difference between a DOT officer and a state trooper (5:47)
• A typical day for a DOT officer (9:58)
• Things a DOT officer looks for when deciding to do an inspection (12:33)
• Post-crash investigations and non-commercial involvements in accidents (19:41)
• New rules dealing with the 14-hour clock (24:51)
• Talking tickets and warnings (29:45)
• Advice on being safer on the road (34:56)

Thank you Lieutenant Lafferty for joining us on the show and for keeping our highways safe. 

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

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The Oakley Podcast is back for its first episode of 2021 as host Jeremy Kellett talks with Randy Rymel, safety manager at Oakley. Randy joins the show to talk about pre-trip inspections and about what’s next for him as he moves into retirement. 

Key points in today’s conversation include:

• Need to Know with Vickie Chastain: taking advantage of Oakley fuel discounts (1:47)
• Making sure equipment is road-ready in the pre-trip inspection (4:54)
• Is there a list that drivers should go through? (10:00)
• The three top things that a DOT officer will write you up for (18:37)
• CSA score affects pay (21:09)
• Randy’s plans for retirement (28:19)

Thank you Randy for coming on the show and for all your work over the past 12 years. We hope you enjoy retirement!

Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, check out our show website: podcast.bruceoakley.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.