The Oakley Podcast

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett talks with Motive’s Nicole Rich and Gary Johnson about how technology is shaping trucking safety, from in-cab cameras and alerts to driver coaching and data. They discuss earning drivers’ trust through clear communication, recognizing safe driving, reducing distractions such as cell phone use, and educating the public about the challenges truck drive...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Paul and Tina Baker share how they entered trucking, the challenges they faced during their first years as owner-operators, and how joining Oakley helped them build stability and reach their goal of buying a new Peterbilt. They discuss managing money, maintaining a dependable truck, communicating with dispatch, adapting to life on the road, and supporting each othe...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy sits down with Oakley owner-operator Lamont Dawson, who shares how his father inspired his trucking career. Lamont talks about his path from company driver to truck owner, and the lessons he’s learned through costly breakdowns and years on the road. He also discusses choosing the right company, budgeting for repairs, maintaining a truck, and staying safe whe...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett, Anna Belle Burrow, and Corey Huey share what to expect at Oakley Trucking’s October 17 company party, including the America 250 theme, live music, dinner, hotel shuttles, and event schedule. They explain how the fifth annual owner-operator truck show and voting will work, outline the cash prizes and sponsor giveaways, and preview employee, driver, a...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with Wade Thompson, longtime Oakley employee and shop foreman at the Reserve, Louisiana terminal, to spotlight the people and capabilities that keep this location running. Wade shares his journey from Arkansas to Reserve, how his family settled into the community, and what day-to-day operations look like across the shop and three wash bays,...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down at Oakley’s Reserve, Louisiana terminal with owner-operator Kenny Spears from Baton Rouge to talk about his journey in trucking, his family life with his wife Brittany and their six kids, and his path from company driver to owner-operator. Kenny shares how his late father inspired his love for trucking, how a surprise call from Oakley recru...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down at Oakley’s Reserve Terminal in Louisiana with dispatchers Dillon Falgoust and Matt Arceneaux to highlight the people and operations behind the scenes. They share how they started in the shop before moving into dispatch, what they learned about trucking, hours of service, and safety, and how much respect they’ve gained for professional driv...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with long-time shop foreman Toby Bishop to unpack how Oakley’s shop operations are evolving to better serve owner-operators. They cover the design and opening of the new West Shop, the full remodel of the East Shop, and planned upgrades to the wash bay, including floor and lighting improvements. Toby explains Oakley’s work-release and reent...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with OOIDA’s Lewie Pugh to unpack several key issues affecting truckers today, including the Freedom Haulers initiative that helps military veterans transition into civilian trucking by waiving certain CDL tests, and why carriers still need to provide extra training and support so veterans don’t get caught in industry churn. They dig into D...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with Oakley owner-operator Aaron Murphy and recruiter Dustin Eagle to share Aaron’s powerful journey from plumber and screen printer to truck driver, through a prison sentence, and back into trucking with a clear plan and written goals. Aaron talks about running under his own authority, going $75,000 into debt from breakdowns, and why he ul...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with pneumatic operations managers Austin Allen and Bradley Simpson to break down Oakley’s pneumatic division, including straight “dirt” tanks and vacuum pneumatics. They explain how pneumatic tanks work, why customers choose them for dry bulk products going into silos and plants, and how vacuum trailers can both load and unload material, e...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with young dispatchers Kyle Williams and Alden Hazelwood to talk about their paths to Oakley Trucking, starting in the shop, and how that hands-on experience now shapes the way they dispatch. They discuss key topics like the 2290 heavy road use tax reminder, the dangers of road rage and speeding, and why communication between drivers, dispa...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett talks with Oakley owner-operator Eddie Wormsbacher about his path from working in his dad’s kids’ furniture business in Michigan to hauling 160,000 lb heavy loads and eventually becoming a dry bulk owner operator at Oakley Trucking. Eddie shares how the collapse of the family business pushed him into trucking in 2010, his early struggles as a company...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with Hopper Division Operations Managers Bryan Hill and Russell Vallance to break down how Oakley’s Hopper Division works, who it’s right for, and why it’s growing. They explain Oakley’s three dry bulk divisions (hoppers, end dumps, pneumatics), how hopper freight is consistent with many repeat customers (roofing granules, pet food, etc.),...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett explains why Oakley Trucking began buying and renting trucks to its owner operators as a solution to long downtime caused by modern emissions-related breakdowns. He walks through the evolution from pairing drivers to using MHC Leasing and ultimately building Oakley’s own small fleet of rental Kenworths, primarily for owner operators whose trucks are...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with producer Anna Belle Burrow and longtime Oakley team member Corey Huey to look back on how the show started, evolved, and grew into a 100,000-subscriber podcast. They walk through the early days of CDs, basic video shoots, and audio-only recordings launched during COVID as a way to communicate with owner-operators, and how partnering wi...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with Bruce Oakley safety leaders Lee Huff and Phil Butler to explore the often unseen world of terminal safety and compliance. They discuss Lee and Phil’s backgrounds, their responsibilities across multiple terminals, and how they work with regulatory agencies like OSHA, the EPA, the Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Safe F...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits with Michael and Leslie Hopper, a husband-and-wife team at Oakley Trucking, to share their late-career transition into trucking and eventual success as owner-operators. They walk through Michael’s move from multi-unit management and daycare operations and Leslie’s 31-year restaurant career into trucking in their late 40s, starting with carriers...

This week on the Oakley Podcast, Jeremy Kellett sits down with Owner-Operator Felipe Sanchez and his dispatcher, Sam Plafcan, to explore what makes a strong driver–dispatcher relationship at Oakley Trucking. Felipe shares his journey from growing up in Panama to moving to New York and Atlanta, working 15 years in warehouses, and finally becoming an owner-operator during the pandemic. Sam discusses...

This week, Veteran owner-operator Scott Erickson joins the Oakley Podcast to share his 44-year journey in trucking, from falling in love with big rigs as a kid to running his own authority, losing everything when a family member stole his wife’s lucrative business, and rebuilding life on a small Kansas farm. He talks about transitioning from reefer to Oakley’s hopper division, why bulk work, thoug...

This week on the Oakley Podcast , Jeremy Kellett sits down with Oakley owner-operator David Platter to talk about his 36-year trucking journey, from starting with a chauffeur’s license and running local loads in Colorado to becoming a successful owner-operator at Oakley. David shares how he and his wife manage the financial side of the business, including his “a third, a third, a third” rule for m...

This week on the Oakley Podcast , Jeremy Kellett talks with recruiter Dustin Eagle and new (and returning) owner-operators Brandon Childress and John Ostransky about Oakley Trucking’s recruiting and orientation process. They cover how referrals and recruiting cards bring in quality owner-operators, why it took John nearly two years to make the move, and why Brandon left Oakley, regretted it, and u...

This week on the Oakley Podcast , Jeremy Kellett talks sits down with Todd Venable, General Manager at MHC Kenworth in Little Rock, to break down the current truck market, from how COVID, fuel prices, interest rates, and freight rates have impacted new and used truck values to why now may be a better time to trade than a year ago. They cover the Kenworth order board and pent-up demand, owner-opera...

This week on the Oakley Podcast , Jeremy Kellett talks with Bryan “Bossman” Martin of 4 State Trucks and Chrome Shop Mafia to talk all things custom rigs, chrome, and the state of the trucking industry. Bryan shares highlights from their massive biennial truck show, including 600+ trucks, a packed convoy, and a popular “social media row” of trucking influencers. They dive into current customizatio...

This week on the Oakley Podcast , Jeremy Kellett takes the Oakley Podcast on the road to the Port 33 terminal in Catoosa, Oklahoma to introduce listeners to dispatchers Bennett Potter and Ray Steuber. They share their backgrounds from Bennett’s path through the Army and graphic design into trucking, to Ray’s move from Wisconsin and prior experience dispatching frack sand, as well as their personal...