This week on the Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett chats with Ron Forrest, a former newspaper employee turned owner-operator at Oakley Trucking. During this episode, Jeremy and Ron discuss the transition from the newspaper industry to truck driving, experiences as an owner-operator, and Ron’s YouTube channel (Paperboy Trucking). Ron shares his journey, including the challenges and rewards of being an owner-operator, the importance of financial management, the value of mentorship, and more.
Key topics in today’s conversation include:
- Oakley Update: Taking a break on the podcast until January (2:54)
- Ron’s journey in newspapers to becoming an owner-operator (5:09)
- The decision to become a truck driver (10:53)
- Ron’s one year anniversary as an owner-operator (11:52)
- Challenges of being an owner-operator (16:40)
- Challenges of owning and maintaining a truck (22:09)
- Starting and running a YouTube Channel (28:13)
- The referral bonus program at Oakley (32:17)
- Future plans for Ron and the enjoyment of trucking (39:03)
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.
Transcription
Ron Forrest 00:12
Newspapers across the country were headed into bankruptcy and they had told me you know, my position was gonna be gone at the end of the year. So, I just finally got to a point where I was like, Look, I’m not gonna be able to keep working in the newspaper business till I can retire. So I’m gonna have to figure out something else. So I had no idea. You know, two years ago, I was going to end up truck driving. I went out and studied up, got my CDL on my own, and then signed on with Maverick and drove for them for three and a half years, but I’d always had my sights on Oakley, but I finally did it and glad I did. I love it here at Oakley.
Jeremy Kellett 00:53
Welcome to the Oakley podcast, trucking, business and family. This show is brought to you by Oakley trucking headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The purpose of this podcast is to communicate with Oakley owner operators and their families by giving them up to date information concerning Oakley trucking and the trucking industry. From business advice to safety updates to success stories. Also to give an insight to outside truck drivers who might be interested in joining the Oakley family. There’s Jeremy kellett director recruiting here at Oakley trucking and I’m your host for this podcast. This is the Oakley podcast, trucking, business and family. Once again, we’re here to bring you a new episode. Always try to get to some new content and on this episode today we’re going to talk to Mr. Ron Forrest, aka Paperboy Trucker. He’s got his own YouTube channel, we’re going to talk about that. But more than that, I want to talk about his story as a truck driver, how he started out got into trucking, how he made the change from company driver to owner operator, just a great story that always like to, you know, it feels good when I can bring you guys some good, original authentic content that you can hear straight from, from our owner operators AND, and the good thing about our owner operators, they tell it like it is they don’t hold back so there may be some good there may be some bad up in this episode, but we’re gonna find out and pick around the brain a little bit and see what he has to say about it. But first, let’s get started with the Oakley update sponsored by Arrow Truck Sales.
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Jeremy Kellett 02:54
So on today’s update, it’s really not much of an update other than I mentioned it. The last episode we’re gonna take off the whole month of December as far as putting out any new episodes, we’ve got some really good ones and I don’t want you all to think, Oh good. I gotta watch it for the whole month of December because I need you to still continue to watch the Oakley podcast because we’re gonna re-air some really good ones that we think deserve a second run. And I want you all to check those out as we go through December and we’re spending December actually, excuse me, we’re spinning in December, recording some new stuff. We got some really good ideas. We got some stuff lined up that we’re recording that will come out with kind of a fresh look and new stuff coming first of January. So that’s kind of what’s going on here at Oakley trucking now. Other than that, let’s get started with the episode and get right into it and talking to Mr. Ron for with Ron, how you doing this
Ron Forrest 03:45
morning? Doing good.
Jeremy Kellett 03:46
I appreciate you coming over. Yeah, he bets and now we mean investing income telling your story. I mean, it’s, you know, I know a little bit of it, because I’ve watched you some on your YouTube channel. You know, mainly when you started here, watch some of it. But you know, I haven’t watched all of them. It’s hard to keep up with. But, you know, I just like to, I like to give our viewers some good, you know, because people can see themselves in a lot of armor operators and some of the choices they’ve made and some of the challenges they go through. So it’s really good that I’m able to get you up here and talk about your story so far. So let’s get started with who you are. Tell everybody who you are, where you’re from and family.
Ron Forrest 04:30
Well, you’ve already explained I’m Ron Forrest, and I grew up in eastern Arkansas, Helena, West Helena. I live in Sherwood now. My wife and I have three grown children, two sons that still live in Central Arkansas, and a daughter who’s in Oregon. She’ll be coming in for Christmas. So we’ll be looking forward to that. The two grandkids and yeah, the grandkids here with the boys. Yeah, yeah. So John has, yeah, they live in Jacksonville. So it’s pretty close. And then our middle child, Jace, he’s the one that helps me with the videos. He lives in Little Rock. So shout out to Jay. And then Jenny’s our daughter, she’s, she joined the National Guard, before she even left high school, and has been in the National Guard now for I think,
Jeremy Kellett 05:32
six years. Jennifer Hart is what took her out to Oregon.
Ron Forrest 05:35
She moved. Yes, she’s still in. She had to switch from Arkansas to the Oregon National Guard. But now I think she just wanted to go explore the world, you know, and ended up in Oregon.
Jeremy Kellett 05:46
And yeah, maybe she’ll get that out of her system and come on back home eventually. So, anything you do on weekends, when you get your time off? What do you love to do?
Ron Forrest 05:59
Well, you know, I don’t really have a lot of extra time for lots of hobbies. I do like to fish. Don’t get to do it much anymore. But we keep an old pontoon boat up at Greers ferry lake. So in the summer, we do a lot every chance we get. We go up to the lake and cruise around on the oil pontoon. There’s nothing wrong with Yeah, but I just had some skin cancer removed. Oh, so maybe pay a price. Yeah, they did a pretty good job. I just sent my stitches out,
Jeremy Kellett 06:32
like, a couple weeks ago, too much sun apparel group very well.
Ron Forrest 06:36
It’s probably more from my childhood. You know, back in the day, they used to just send us out in the dangerous sun and say, Come back for supper. Yeah, we didn’t know what sunscreen was. They didn’t have sunscreen. So I don’t know.
Jeremy Kellett 06:48
So when did you start driving a truck? Oh,
Ron Forrest 06:51
Let’s see. It was April of 2019. You know, I worked in the newspaper business for 33 years. And I got to a point where I could see, you know, that I was gonna have to bail out at some point because it was just disappearing slowly. You know. So I made the decision to
Jeremy Kellett 07:09
Do you work at the newspaper here in Little Rock? Yeah,
Ron Forrest 07:12
I started out working in Little Rock at the Arkansas Democrat. If you’ll remember back when we had two statewide newspapers, there was the Arkansas Democrat and then the Arkansas because then. And then I started at the Democrat. I worked at the Gazette for about three years and went back to the Democrat and then they merged, became the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. So I worked there for a majority of my newspaper career, but also worked at a newspaper in Athens, Georgia for nine years.
Jeremy Kellett 07:48
That’s interesting. What made you get into the newspaper? I mean, is that what you always wanted to do?
Ron Forrest 07:53
No, no. I got out of college and bounced around, you know, two or three jobs. It was just trying to find something to sink my teeth into. And I went to an interview. You know, I wasn’t a writer or a reporter or anything. I was in the circulation. Division of the newspaper, you know, the sales, customer service. Distribution. Okay. Yeah. So now I just went to an interview, got hired and spent a long time doing it. It’s
Jeremy Kellett 08:28
It’s been a long time. 33 years. Yeah. So you spent 33 years doing that. And then you saw, I mean, everything’s just going digital technology. You and you got to make a change.
Ron Forrest 08:37
Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I went to Georgia, was the circulation director at the paper there for nine years. And that company, which owned about 12 newspapers across the country, was headed into bankruptcy. And they had told me, you know, my position was gonna be gone at the end of the year. So we came back here, worked at the Democrat Gazette for a few more years, until, you know, just finally got to a point where I was like, Look, I’m not gonna be able to keep working in the newspaper business till I can retire. So I’m gonna have to figure out something else. So you know, started watching some guys on YouTube videos, seeing what it was like, I had no idea you know, a few years ago, I was going to end up in truck driving, you know, didn’t have any idea but started you know, looking at ads, seemed like there was good money. People are always trying to hire truck drivers and promising good pay. So I started investigating and watching YouTube videos I came across Oakley and Maverick Of course, which both are right you know, a few miles from where I live. Of course, with Oakley you gotta have two years experience and a Trump Maverick you know, they’ll hire you with no experience as a company driver. So I went out and studied up went Got my CDL on my own, and then signed on with Maverick and drove for them about three and a half years, but I’d always had my sights on Oakley, you know, you just have to, I had to get experience which, you know, got the two years experience and then I had to get the gumption to truck. Took me an extra year or so, you know, for Ken out here, you know, I talked to Kent, in recruiting. I talked to him, all the things. He’s our senior recruiter, senior recruiter. So I’d already gotten approved, but I still couldn’t get the bravery, you know, to buy that truck. It took me a while longer. You know, he kept reaching out to me, and I kept saying, I’ll check back with you. But I finally did it. And glad I did. I love it here at Oakley. And
Jeremy Kellett 10:53
would you watch it when he came home and said, I’m gonna be a truck driver?
Ron Forrest 10:56
Man. I think everybody in my family thought I’d just go nuts. Sometimes you still do, I think, you know, it’s worked out. And they you know, the good thing about it is, you know, Oakley and Maverick two were good about getting me home on the weekend. You know, I know a lot of guys. You know, it’s flexible. You can stay out as long as you want. You know, and but
Jeremy Kellett 11:21
At this point, you had two kids growing up? Yeah, it’s probably a little bit easier. Yeah.
Ron Forrest 11:25
Yeah. But I like the routine of getting home on the weekends. You know, it’s hard enough, you know, being gone. So much being married and having family being out on the road. So, you know, if I can get home on the weekends, you know, we make it work. Yeah. Make it work.
Jeremy Kellett 11:44
So you’re coming up on your anniversary? Pretty close. Pretty cool in November, December, December. Okay. Yeah. So a few weeks away. One year anniversary has been an owner operator, how’s that for you?
Ron Forrest 11:57
I’m glad to have made it. I’ve made it. It’s been a learning year, you know, it’s tell
Jeremy Kellett 12:02
about some of the challenges. I know, we’ll back up a minute. Because the big challenge, I think, for a lot of people, is that a company driver is seeing themselves as becoming an owner operator. That I can make that transition from, you know, here I am driving a company truck, and it’s their truck. And if anything goes wrong with it, they have to fix it. And, you know, I’m just doing what, you know what I’m told to do, oh, here’s a company driver, but you kind of have some limitations, you know, you can only go so far, at the next level, maybe become an independent contractor. So how did you decide that this is going to be good for us? Honey, this is gonna be a good fit. How did you come up with the decision to finally do that?
Ron Forrest 12:47
I guess, once I was comfortable enough that I was going to enjoy being a truck driver, you know, the money was okay, I felt good about the future that I was going to be okay, being a truck driver for the long term. I said, Well, you know, miles will get all the way into it and be an owner operator, you know, because that seems to be where the, you know, that’s where the real money’s at. And if I’m gonna do it, I might as well jump in all the way and do it. I’ve met a couple of guys, you know, you know, Robert, that trained me and is still here. You know, he trained me at Maverick, you know, he’s Olestra. I followed him over here from Maverick. So I’ve known him for several years now. And he’s been good because he’s been trucking for a long time. I mean, guys like that are great to have in your back pocket, because they know so much more than I do. You know, so I can talk to them about things and try to get educated because, like, I was just joking with Randolph back there. Randolph in those orientation orientation training. You know, it was kind of weird when I was in orientation. I think we had seven guys in our class. And I was the oldest in the class, but the least experienced one, you know, I was the only one that had just bought a truck, you know, hadn’t even driven it, other than from where I bought it and parked it here in the yard. You know, it was totally green. And everybody else in there, had their own truck, had been an owner operator before, you know, I was the newbie and the least experienced one. So it was kind of a weird situation. And even like, when I was training with Robert Roberts, like 35 years old, and people would see us we’d be in a restaurant eating or something. Yeah, we’re truck drivers and they would think I was the guy training him just because I’m the oldest right? Well,
Jeremy Kellett 14:54
because a lot of people don’t do what you did. Yeah, yeah. Started a career. Yeah. Later. Your age, but I think the key there that a lot of people really need is you had that mentor or Yeah, you know, you had somebody the kind that had done it and you could latch onto that’s a huge help. Yes. And helping you explain things, you know, showing you the ropes at Maverick, then you get to kind of use him as a guinea pig. Oakley and you kind of see him make the trends. Watch him make it and watch him
Ron Forrest 15:26
buy a truck. Yeah. Now he just got an auto truck. Yeah, so he’s all Oh, yeah, he loves loving his new truck, trying to get ready to get a new truck. Whoa, let’s
Jeremy Kellett 15:38
slow down. I’m not ready to slow down a little bit. Someday, maybe
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Jeremy Kellett 16:30
So your first year in what some of the biggest challenges that you face this first year being an owner operator you think?
Ron Forrest 16:39
Probably the biggest thing is just the difference in the freight, you know, at Maverick and all I’d ever done was flatbed with Maverick, you know, and we never had to worry about the weights. I mean, not like we do Oh yeah. You know, I mean, Colin drabble. Yeah, we knew at Maverick, you know, the shipper knew the weight of the product. And if we just made sure it was loaded properly on the trailer, you know, from center out, it was good. We didn’t do all this scaling in and out and all that very rarely. But here, you know, it’s a big deal. You know, they’re just on the end dump anyway, they’re just dumping product in there. And you got to tell them to stop. You got to, you’re in charge of that, you know, it’s not them. It’s not Oakley, it’s me. You know, I’m the one that’s responsible for the weight. And then the guy pulls me over and, you know, gets checked. And so yeah, that was a big adjustment. That was a big an
Jeremy Kellett 17:41
actually about making sure you’re not over 80 Yeah, you know, I guess you how long would it take you to get good at it? Are you good at I
Ron Forrest 17:49
I don’t even know if I’m, I would say I’m good at. But what’s helped a lot is a couple months ago, I got a spread axle. And finally, you know, for the first many months, I had just a tandem. And that was a lot harder. So I do feel much better about it. Now. Having a spread axle with the tandems, you know, you can only put 34 on the front 34 on the back. And it makes it a little more complicated. I’ve gotten a ticket, you know, overweight over x, actually, my first week out, I got pulled over in Ohio and was about 1000 pounds over on the front, I was under 80,000. That’s what a lot of the shippers don’t understand, you know, when their load is new, they want to just get you up close to 80,000 you’re like, wait a minute now, you know, I gotta be 34 or 34. So, but yeah, so I gotta take it, that was a learning experience. And then they make you pull around for you guys haven’t gone through this. Not everybody does this. But if you’re over axial, you know, they’ll make it come in. So all your paperwork, give you a ticket, pay your ticket and all that and then you have to pull around the back and get your load fixed. You got to get that product moved so that you’re legal. So you
Jeremy Kellett 19:13
either gotta shovel some of the back or slide your fifth wheel or something. Yeah,
Ron Forrest 19:17
yeah. So we ended up luckily, you know, tilting up a few times a little at a time until we got some product to move back. And it was okay and scaled out. It took us a couple of attempts. But yeah, the most challenging thing is just the difference in freight, you know, and the weight. And, yeah, making
Jeremy Kellett 19:41
that adjustment in the job. I mean, just the actual job of pulling a dump driver. Yeah, getting used to it.
Ron Forrest 19:47
Yes, the dump trailer is scary, you know, too at first, you know, I mean, it takes a little time to get comfortable with that because it’s a scary thing. When you first start doing it, you know, you get a full load in there and you’re putting it up in the air to dump it out, it can be kind of scary. Sure. In fact, I had a new referral student. He’s been here maybe a couple months now. But he started out and ended up and then just decided he switched to Hopper because he just wasn’t comfortable with that end, but it doesn’t bother me now. I’m perfectly comfortable with it. It doesn’t scare me. You know, just try to watch, make sure I’m in a good spot. You know, check my tires. Make sure I’m on good ground. And you know, there’s nothing above me and just don’t get in a hurry. Take it easy. You know, this is only going to take a few minutes, but they’re important minutes, you know, pay attention. Watch it, don’t you know, don’t get in a big hurry. Right. But yeah, it’s a lot different than a flatbed.
Jeremy Kellett 20:54
Isn’t it a lot different than just about anything? We try to tell people but it’s hard. You know, it’s hard to explain. So, you know, you learned all you good from Robert, from Kent. But you still came when you came over here?
Ron Forrest 21:08
Oh, no, there’s a wake up call? Oh, yeah. Completely different. Completely different. Yeah. So you just gotta learn and gotta get out there and do it.
Jeremy Kellett 21:17
So, you know, we talked to you in the beginning about stuff coming over your head, but I mean, the biggest thing I think people want to know is I mean, is it worth it? You know, is making the change to become an owner operator? Is it worth it?
Ron Forrest 21:30
Well, that probably depends on the person. I mean, I think, you know, Oakley is the only place I’ve been an owner operator, and I’m totally happy with it. The money’s good. You know, the money Y’all said we could make is true, you know, it’s not inflated. So, you know, if you’re out there looking at Oakley stuff, you know, the money that the recruiters tell you, Jeremy Randolph, everybody, they’ll give you real reachable numbers. And I talked about that on some of my videos to actually go over my pay settlements and give people some numbers from time to time. Good. So it’s, yeah, the money’s there. The difference and you alluded to this a little earlier is the owning the truck part, you know, and keeping the truck running. You know, when I was at Maverick, we were, I was always in a fairly new truck, you know, maybe brand new, maybe a year or two old. I think I had three, three different trucks while I was there. But you know, so I bought a used truck. You know, when I came over here, it had 435,000 miles on it. But when I was in our music, get on it. 535 Yeah. So it’s working pretty hard. But you know, at Maverick you know, and I only live eight miles from here. So I could park at the maverick yard on the weekends, just like a park here. And they have had a shop 24/7 You know, so if there was anything with the truck or the trailer, I could just sign it in and have it worked on over the weekend. I came back out. It’s okay. But over here, you know, you’re responsible for the truck.
Jeremy Kellett 23:27
A lot of things have to be done. Yes. And
Ron Forrest 23:30
That’s probably what I didn’t have a good grasp on is just how much time you put into, you know, getting your truck, keeping your truck running, getting it to the shop this or that. Yeah, yeah, just
Jeremy Kellett 23:47
That’s a big deal when it is, Yeah, because the trucks are your lifeline. Yeah, you
Ron Forrest 23:52
gotta have the truck going. Are you not a truck driver?
Jeremy Kellett 23:54
That’s probably one of the biggest challenges I think I’ve said that before becoming an owner operator is the truck. I feel like you know, Oakleys got everything else. You know, we got the money we got the freight we got the you know, the work we got the access to insurances, you know, physical, all that stuff. We provide liability insurance, we try to make it easy, but that truck is a wildcard. No, no, that’s because, you know, we don’t have any trucks. Right. And we sure I mean, we need you run into
Ron Forrest 24:29
Yeah, I mean, that’s it, you gotta keep the truck running. And I’ve had quite a few little issues with mine and I think we talked about this a little bit earlier, but they actually replaced the short block in my truck a few months ago. And luckily, you know, pack our covered most of that but the what hurt me the most is, you know, I lost a full month of, you know, while the truck was in the shop, you know, so that that was 15 Grand of income that I just so that brings me to the point of you, as an owner operator, you got to be smart with your money. You know, remember the good point, you’re probably gonna be bringing in more money than you’ve ever made most of us anyway. So don’t just go out and start going crazy all over town, you know, blowing your money, you know, put it aside because you’re gonna need it at some point. And luckily, I had because I was out of work for that month while my truck was in the shop. You know, I had money put back so, you know, we basically went to the lake most of the month of August
Jeremy Kellett 25:41
but that’s a good feeling. At least you’re smart with your money. You’re able to set it aside for that because those times because
Ron Forrest 25:47
If I hadn’t, yeah, I’d be calm. Yeah, songs my dad. Hey, I need honor.
Jeremy Kellett 25:54
Yeah. Yeah, hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Yes. Yes, good. Oakley Trucking is a 100% Owner Operator company. We specialize in Hopper, bottom and dump and pneumatic drivers. We provide the trailer free of charge and you provide the truck. We have a large customer base that reaches the whole United States as well as parts of Canada. Our owner operators live anywhere from Texas to North Carolina to Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and everywhere in between and we get them home weekends. We take it seriously when you join Oakley trucking because we need you to be successful. Oakley offers great benefits and competitive mileage pay. So you know that when your wheels are turning, you’re generating money. No matter if you’re loaded or empty. We understand that you want to make a good living and that you make our living. We only take on independent contractors and to be honest with you, we are very particular on who we lease on. You must have a good driving record, good work history and a clean dependable truck. So if you’re interested in Oakley trucking or just want some more information, you can go to Oakley trucking.com. Listen to our weekly podcast, the Oakley podcast and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Let’s talk about this YouTube channel. Okay. said okay. And now the reason I want to talk to you about it is because a lot of people are hesitant to do it. We’ve got a couple of guys here at Oakley u which are called paperboy truckers. And then we’ll get a couple other guys that do it too. You know, I think that at first I didn’t realize I could do it. You know? And what good is it doing? I mean, we actually, you know, me and Annabelle and Cory, we encourage our owner operators to come through to do it. And we don’t have any control on what you put out. You know, that’s strictly, you know, you put out good, you put out bad, whatever, but we, we like it because it’s real. Yeah, you know, and people can get an idea of what’s going on here. And you’ve got some really good ones I’ve watched. Of course, I can’t watch them all. But, you know, just the part I like is the port dump and, you know, the port load and the weights, like you’re talking about the real stuff that that people need to know, on how to operate it end up I think is really beneficial to people thinking about coming over here, but had to get started in this you take what made you do that?
Ron Forrest 28:16
Man, I had no idea I was going to get into doing videos when I started driving. But after I’ve been at Maverick for a year or so. And to you know, Maverick had two or three guys over there that I had watched to get me to Maverick, you know, and they had all quit making videos, you know, one of them retired, one of them I think got injured and left. And you know, all of a sudden it was like this gap of no videos. And I was like, man, maybe I could do that, you know, so I bought a used GoPro off of eBay. And just basic equipment got started and luckily my son Jace kind of jumped in to help me because the first few videos you know, I bring them back and we he was helping me with, um, you know, had to get a different computer that had better video graphics, you know, you have you’ve learned, you guys probably know because y’all are experts at this, but we know anything about making videos. So we had to get software, you know, for the process and the video. So it was definitely a learning experience. But Jase, you know, I made the first few videos, I brought them back and he’d be like, No, Dad. This ain’t gonna work, you know? So he’s like, just go out there and film what you do, you know? So he kind of got me into what I’m doing now, you know, so I just try to show people what I’m doing. I mean, I can’t show everything of course you know, it’s just impossible. But I just tried to give people a good idea of what’s, you know, I try to show the trips, I’m going the jobs I’m getting, where I’m going, I try to show the shipper or the customer if I can, you know, not everybody wants to doing that and try to be okay with that. And just give them a good idea. And some real numbers about pay and things. So they can, you know, if they’re interested in Oakley or back then Maverick, you know, they’ve got good information. So,
Jeremy Kellett 30:32
Let’s help you make a decision. Yeah.
Ron Forrest 30:33
I mean, that’s, if it hadn’t been for me finding those guys at Maverick that were doing YouTube videos at the time, I probably would not have gotten into this, you know, because, you know, just looking at online ads for truck drivers or in the newspaper ads or something. If I hadn’t had videos to go really see a God doing it and talking about it. I don’t know if I’d ever jumped into it.
Jeremy Kellett 31:03
You’re, I mean, you’re doing one every couple days.
Ron Forrest 31:07
Man. Yeah, we usually put out three to five videos a week, you know, I try not to make them too long. But I try to keep them somewhat, you know, the content somewhat relative, but you have to chop them up at some point, you know, but I pretty much just go through the week and try to film what I’m doing. And then I get home and I have to kind of, you know, I’ll spend two or three hours going through the footage, kind of putting it together. And I’ll make you know, like, video one, video two, video three, use these pieces, you know, kind of construct it for him. And then I’ll just take it to him. He builds the videos and uploads. So if I had to do all of that myself, I probably wouldn’t. It takes too much time. And it’s like a part time job for Jace, you know, because he, I give him I mean, I pay him for some of the percentage of whatever I make from YouTube, which is not a lot, or any referral bonuses I get. So it’s like a part time job. That’s good. Yeah. It’s a partnership.
Jeremy Kellett 32:17
So referral bonuses. That’s, that’s, I mean, I know you were doing this before. I’m assuming you get referral bonuses at Maverick, but over here, you know, we got a pretty substantial referral bonus that we pay out. And I know it’s helped you by doing these videos, because you send us guys, you know, and then we do the work and try to get them least on who makes it, who doesn’t. And then all of a sudden, you get a bonus. Without it, I mean, you’re still in contact with a lot of these guys that talk to you, don’t you? I mean, you know, a lot of people hit you up, don’t you? Yeah,
Ron Forrest 32:56
yeah. In fact, just this past week. Three or four guys, you know that I’m talking to. I’ve either already given them over to recruiting or they’re already scheduled to start. I know, there’s, I think there’s two of them. They’re scheduled to start in January.
Jeremy Kellett 33:17
How much money you might offer this year? You write that down?
Ron Forrest 33:22
It’s not as much as you might think, you know, because I think the textile. Yeah, it takes time. And it took time at Maverick to know, because people want to see that, you know, they might start checking you out, and they want to follow you for a while before they believe this guy? No, there was information here. Is it real? Is it credible? But I think I’ve had maybe three or four that have paid out at this point, I still have a few more, I think that are in the pipeline that will start in the next month or two, but it’s starting to pick up a little bit. And for you guys that have used me as your referral. Thank you very much. Yeah, I greatly appreciate it. It does help a lot.
Jeremy Kellett 34:05
It helps us to. I guess one disclaimer here is that’s not why you’re doing it. No, I mean, that’s, uh, and you’re not embellishing anything, which is obvious when you can watch your stuff. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s not
Ron Forrest 34:25
I’m not doing it to be a cheerleader. For Oakley, I just want to show what we’re doing. And if they’re interested, you know, they’ve got some good information. If it helps them come to Oakley make a decision. Great. But yeah, I didn’t have any idea. When I started making videos that we’d still be making videos, you know, because it’s been almost three years now that we’ve been doing the videos like that. And I know my son Jace. I’m sure he didn’t know when he first jumped in and started helping me that he would be Having to do this every week? All this time is
Jeremy Kellett 35:04
no one here. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Jace, we appreciate you Jake’s doing that for sure. It turned out great. I mean, and I think hitting that three years, I mean, that’s hard to do to keep it going. We’ve learned that, you know, I’ve learned that and doing this podcast, to have it running for three years is a challenge, you know, to come up with stuff it is,
Ron Forrest 35:25
and, you know, you kind of learn what people want. I mean, you can’t make everybody happy. But you know, I get comments from people, some guys want to just see me, like, they’re retired truck drivers, and they want to just see the road footage, you know, they just like watching because they really think they’re driving a truck, you know, they’re reminiscing, but then I get I get guys that, like, I used to put the camera on the dash, and pointed at me and talk about things not found out people don’t people, they don’t want to see me they want to see out there. So doing, you know, just little stuff like that you learn. But yes, it’s been a fun experience.
Jeremy Kellett 36:09
So a couple more things here. And I’ll let you go. What do you think an owner operator needs to be successful? What’s one or two things that he’s gonna have to do to be a successful owner operator? And not fail? Well,
Ron Forrest 36:27
I don’t know if I’m qualified yet to explain all that. First, I’m not sure I’m successful. Yeah.
Jeremy Kellett 36:35
Well, you have in your first year, so but
Ron Forrest 36:39
I’ll tell you, that’s one thing, you know, when you end up delivering a load, or picking up a load, a lot of times there’s other Oakley drivers there, and you get a chance to talk to them. Like I talked to a guy just last week, that when I was in Michigan, his name was Robert, he’s from Auburn when he’s been driving for like, eight or nine years for Oakley. And, you know, it’s good talking to guys like that, because you can always learn something, you know, they’ve been here a wall. And he told me because you’ll talk to some people, and they’ll tell you, you know, they’re trying to tell you to get a new truck, you know. And then other guys will say, Man, that truck is just a workhorse, you know, you don’t need a new truck. Just get you an old truck, and keep it real. So it just depends, you know, but what’s gonna be what’s
Jeremy Kellett 37:30
like you hit on it, I mean, the truck is it makes you successful. It can be part of your failure if you’re not careful.
Ron Forrest 37:36
Yeah, you got to take care of your truck. That’s number one, I guess. But just, you know, the same safety and responsibility as a truck driver, because there’s a lot of crazy stuff out there on the roads, it’s getting worse every day. Just try to drive safely. And
Jeremy Kellett 37:56
some of them, if you had all the people that were driving around you in full boilers and cars and pickups, and you could tell them one thing, what would you tell? Do you think they don’t know?
Ron Forrest 38:10
I would say, Look, I have space between me and the car in front of me. Because I’m 80,000 pounds here, I can’t just stop. Like you can, you know, and I can’t speed up like you can. So don’t don’t in front of me. And take my space. You know, I’ll try to do that. You know, they teach you that when you’re getting your CDL y’all teach us that back here when we’re in training. You know, I’m trying to leave space, but cars always just want to jump in there any little space and take it away from me, you know, so? Yeah, leave us some space. We’re good.
Jeremy Kellett 38:50
That’s good. Because I just continued, you have to continue.
Ron Forrest 38:53
There’s a gap there. They’re gonna happen there. Yeah, that’s frustrating. Yeah. What’s,
Jeremy Kellett 38:59
What’s the future looking like for Ron for the worse?
Ron Forrest 39:03
Oh, man. I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe I’ll be the director of recruiting. No, I’m just kidding. Man. I think I’d just be happy to. As long as I can stay healthy and drive. I’ll just drive until I don’t want to drive anymore. I guess until I’m, yeah, if I’m healthy. I could do this for a lot of yours.
Jeremy Kellett 39:30
Do you enjoy it? Yeah,
Ron Forrest 39:31
I do. Yeah,
Jeremy Kellett 39:33
there you go.
Ron Forrest 39:34
I do. Yeah. So.
Jeremy Kellett 39:35
Hi. Thank you Kylin up here with me this morning. Yeah, it’s all good. You know, that’s there you go. Ron force. I mean, you know from working in newspapers for 33 years to decide and drive a truck later in life.
Ron Forrest 39:53
I can do it. Anybody can do it.
Jeremy Kellett 39:55
Anybody can. I think you’re more exceptional than what Thank you. You’re doing a good job. I know you’ve done a great job for Oakley this past year. Thank you. And we appreciate you for sure. So, yeah, check him out. Check out YouTube, go on YouTube and search the Piper boy and watch some of his videos. You know, it’s just good, honest, authentic material that you can get an idea of, you know, his life and what he does at Oakley trucking and really give you some good information about it going on here. So, I appreciate everybody watching the Oakley podcast, you know, every week. I mean, you guys have just been awesome. Awesome to us. Of course, we always want you to help us spread the word about the Oakley podcast with subscribe and comment and lock in. You know, the thumbs up Annabelle tells me to do all that stuff. You know, you got to do all that. Check us out on all the other social media platforms. Facebook’s really good. Man. It’s just you know, we’ve got some good stuff out there that we try to put out really good, honest material to everybody out there looking and watching it. So we appreciate everything you do. We will be getting back with you first of the year. I enjoy our repairs through December. Please check them out and watch them. And we’ll we’re looking forward to talking to you for the first year. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening to this episode with Oakley podcast, trucking, business and family. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate or review the show in the podcast platform of your choice and share it with a friend. We love hearing from our audience. So if you’ve got a question, comment or just want to say hello, head over to our website, the Oakley podcast.com and click the leave a comment button. We’ll get you a response soon and may even share some of the best ones here on the show. We’ll be back with a fresh episode very soon. Thanks for listening.