This week on the Oakley Podcast, host Megan Cummings welcomes Damoni Gunter an Owner/Operator here at Oakley Trucking. During the episode, Damoni shares his journey and insights in the trucking industry. He discusses his transition to Oakley Trucking, the challenges and rewards of his role, and his aspirations for his future career. The group also talks about the commitment needed to succeed in trucking, the supportive environment at Oakley, finding satisfaction with your career, the importance of trucking in the fabric of the country, and more.
Key topics in today’s conversation include:
- Introduction of Today’s Episode with Damoni Gunter (0:12)
- Update on 2290s from Oakley (1:040)
- Damoni’s Background and Transition to Oakley (5:06)
- Transitioning to Oakley and Truck Purchase (9:08)
- Discussion about Damoni’s New Truck (11:14)
- Truck Trade Process (12:06)
- Challenges of Being an Owner-Operator (14:32)
- Pros and Cons of Hopper Division (17:36)
- Starting out in the Hopper division (21:29)
- Oakley’s high expectations for drivers (23:53)
- The meaning of being a truck driver (27:39)
- Stereotypes about truck drivers (31:58)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (34:47)
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
Damoni Gunter 00:12
I love Oakley, you know, you have that family vibe. I felt like I made a great move by coming here. You know, by my actions, you can see that by making a brand new truck, you know, ad sales, a lot of our dispatch going on a limb like that. And so it’s a different ballgame this way. I felt like I was going into the big leagues because you have stipulations and not everybody can do this. You know you had to be a certain caliber of driver. It’s a different ballgame. And that’s what I wanted to do.
Jeremy Kellett 00:44
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 inside to outside truck drivers that might be interested in joining the Oakley family.
Megan Cummings 01:10
Okay, Damoni gives us a lowdown on Domani Gunter.
Damoni Gunter 01:14
I’m from Washington, DC. I live in Southern Maryland now. And Brandy Weimer. And I get away from home. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, we’re just not staying in a row for about a month or two months at a time. So I’m kind of used to being away from home at this point.
Megan Cummings 01:38
Do you have any family at home? Oh, yeah. Five kids.
Damoni Gunter 01:43
No dogs. No kids get out? Yeah, no.
Megan Cummings 01:47
They’re basically the same thing.
Damoni Gunter 01:50
What’s the difference? But yeah, to do what I do behind me to have kids? Because I’ve been wanting to be home. Like, every weekend. Yeah. So I’m trying to enjoy it while still, you know, saying stuff like that. So at that time, I’m gonna just keep pushing hard. And you know, standing out here trying to make what I can make, right?
Megan Cummings 02:12
Yeah. Is that anywhere in your future plans? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, start building up their college. Right now. Don’t worry about it in the future.
Damoni Gunter 02:22
Yeah. So that’s kind of what I’m planning right now. You know, so it’s time to take a stab at it.
Megan Cummings 02:28
Or you’ve only been here since February. That right? Yeah. And so was your recruiter? Do you remember? Well, I don’t have to ask you if you remember, because I hope you both remember. That was what, three months
Dustin Eagle 02:39
ago? Oh, yeah, we remember for sure. Give us a little bit of background of, you know, what brought you to the trucking world? And where did you start? Kind of just from the beginning? No,
Damoni Gunter 02:50
I guess. So. Basically, I started off doing bodywork stuff like that and trying to make ends meet and, and my uncle No, well, we kind of have a family driver school, Washington, DC. And he said, Hey, man, how about you do what I’m doing, but you do it with the semi trucks. You get your CDL, you train people how to drive trucks and stuff like that. Okay, that’s a good idea. So as soon as he laid it out for me, I went ahead and brought the book and started to study and, you know, the next month, man, I was you. Hey, I was on a ship and I went to Pratt. I started in primary. So
Dustin Eagle 03:33
what you’re just started prom. 2019 2019. And that’s where you were. So you came to Oakley. Yeah, if I remember
Megan Cummings 03:41
Is that how were you when you started driving?
Damoni Gunter 03:43
2323 days. Oh, so yeah, I went through the training about you know, had to do 50,000 miles and that did that. And, you know, I ordered my new truck and took about four months to get in. And before that I was going to stand at least as soon as my truck came in, you know, just go home and three years paid it off. And I already knew that was a stepping stone. You know that there was something more special as I can encourage you to like college, you know, do my four years and then you pull a reefer over, put a roof over so that’s all you did. To your point. That’s our hope. Yeah. Theory. Yeah, man. For the majority of the time I was. I was trying to get people to have a job going Yeah, coast to coast. So I I definitely took my word. And definitely the majority of my time, okay,
Dustin Eagle 04:36
yeah. What made you start looking around for something different just well,
Damoni Gunter 04:40
It was coming to a point in time where the truck was about to get paid off and I knew I wanted to take that step up in my career and do some more specialization. Gotcha. And so you know, my buddy Sean fields from North Carolina you know, you know shot Yes, sir. Sean pulled you know, he was looking at different companies. He’s My tummy goes out. I would like it at all but you know, you got to shave your beard. shave my beard. I don’t know about that shy you know what this beard they raised me no money he
Megan Cummings 05:14
used to be an owner operator at prime. Okay, yeah
Damoni Gunter 05:18
company lease or lease purchase. So you know, but yeah, after that I filled out the application that he sent mine out my destiny you know real cool guy called Destiny right away it is Roku as the phone that you know it made me feel good about the situation because I was kind of you know there’s a big step going from you know something you’ve been doing for four years and then we’ll work it out for you and then move on and do something different like that. It’s, it’s gonna tell you
Dustin Eagle 05:51
I kind of got excited because it’s funny every day we talked to a guy from Maryland. We’re usually talking to guys down here, Midwest area down in the south, but it always excites me to branch out of that area and talk to someone that’s from Maryland or what you know, different odd states that we don’t ever talk to. I think
Megan Cummings 06:13
off the top of my head there’s one other owner operator that I know that’s Ramiro and that’s it. Wow. Yeah. And
Dustin Eagle 06:19
then you told me you reached out one two months at a time I really got excited. He said no, this passion he wants to work he wants to make money.
Damoni Gunter 06:31
So you
Megan Cummings 06:32
know you pull a hopper pull out a bottle Yeah. Have you ever considered swapping divisions are you kind of happy where you’re at
Damoni Gunter 06:39
destiny knows all about that? Oh, yeah. Well, we
Dustin Eagle 06:42
started out at Hopper Rica’s file remember this, this right to you had automatic Freightliner. That’s the only division he could do, Oakley? Yeah.
Damoni Gunter 06:51
Because initially I was trying to go for an endo. Right. And he asked me what transmission I got. You’re like, oh my, you can’t do that for Hotbot actually, I guess I had to hope for it. You know, so and then make a difference to me. You know, obviously I got in
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Megan Cummings 07:52
Well, we brought DeMonte in today because he’s actually trading trucks in the office at just the right place at the right time. That’s right. I am a ready and willing participant. Do you have what kind of transmission you have in the new truck? Well,
Damoni Gunter 08:05
I got ATSB Heap MLflow Metacat 389 commerce 565 Horses you’re saying a
Dustin Eagle 08:16
a lot or they know all about it though. people that listen to them don’t bow to simple terms. You got a 24 389 Peterbilt. Okay.
Megan Cummings 08:26
All right, I can understand that. So it is okay. So with a new truck is swapping in dumps of possibility.
Damoni Gunter 08:32
My plan is to go to Nomad to establish the initial plan when coming to Oakley but just like Dustin said, I had to pick one. And stick with that for about six months and make the transition. So you know.
Megan Cummings 08:44
So now that now the options open at least get ready for
Damoni Gunter 08:48
this guy to come on. So I’m waiting for that phone call about it when I leave it. Okay, so
Megan Cummings 08:55
Where did you trade your truck? Well,
Damoni Gunter 08:56
I actually sold it at a private sale. I had to drive all the way up to Chicago and sell my truck and then sell it, bring me a flight back home, and go back home for a day. I enjoyed a little bit of home time. I took a flight out of Tennessee and picked up a new truck, drove it straight home, loaded it up, picked up the trailer here and there and now let me know.
Megan Cummings 09:24
Do you think the whole process is pretty easy?
Damoni Gunter 09:28
Yeah, I mean, it can be kind of stressful because it’s like, you know, my, my situation I kind of put down on a truck and, you know, so it is waiting for that truck to sell. I mean, it’s a process, you know. So that is more challenging than just going to a dealer and trading in a truck, you know, instead of going oh, yeah, Chicago or somewhere and then taking a flight back and taking a flight is a process for sure. Yeah.
Dustin Eagle 09:55
So you’re three months into Oakley. You know pulling out Hopper bottom You know, let’s most guys wait a year or two before they buy a new truck, you know, right. What made you feel that comfortable? Saying, Hey, I know I can pay for brand new 2024 Peterbilt, what made you make that decision?
Damoni Gunter 10:16
Well, coming from point out, you know, I had a heavy note that I had to fulfill every week, you know, about 1200 hours a week, right? So you used to so I was used to it, and now you know, Megan half and one now, so you feel pretty cool. Yeah, for sure. For sure. You know, so it was a no brainer. I wanted him to be by the end. So I say yeah, that’s a big thing. That’s why That’s why it really is. That’s why I kind of jumped on it fast because I wanted to wait until that got close to that six months. So I could transition to the nomadic but I had to jump on it. Jump on. Yeah. So
Dustin Eagle 10:58
Who’s your dispatcher here at Oakley? Chase, Chase. Yeah. How’s that going? Oh,
Damoni Gunter 11:02
My Chase is great. Keeps me rolling. And you know, that’s, I can ask. Well, by the dispatcher, you never say that to him? A lot of towns. I mean, it.
Dustin Eagle 11:14
He does a great job for sure. All
Megan Cummings 11:15
right. All right. That’s enough about Chase. So you said you were a company driver, your previous
Damoni Gunter 11:23
but I was always at least I never was a company driver.
Megan Cummings 11:27
Okay. Yeah. So do you think there are the biggest challenges since you’ve swapped to Oakley that you found as far as having your own track?
Damoni Gunter 11:36
Challenges? I can’t. Well, the difference is when I was with prime, if I got into a situation where it was I was down because of the maintenance issue. They can take things out to settle depending on how much it is. So just to have that backup, you know, okay, prime could take it out to settlement. But yeah, Oakley is, you know, you only owe you got to make sure that you put money to the side. For me, it’s simple money for Safa taxes , etc. You have to be more responsible, and you know, that’s it. That’s what it takes to be out operating, you know, putting that money to the side for those days. Do you?
Megan Cummings 12:20
Is there like a witch? This might be a little bit of a personal question. But I feel like everybody that we talked to has a certain number where it’s like, I’m not going to let my maintenance fund or my savings or whatever, get below this number, just because you never know. So if someone had just leased on, they’ve never been an owner operator before and you’re kind of given a lowdown on it, you know, you need to have a savings for this. And if they ask you, okay, what’s a good round number to start at? Or to try and keep it at? Just for Worst case scenario? Well,
Damoni Gunter 12:54
it depends on how old your truck is, you know, you start off at 10 cents a mile from Maine, as you know, from Maine, so up to 20 cents or 30 cents depending on how old it is. You need to put more money into this app for those major repairs as the truck gets older. So you know that’s kind of scary that it goes so you figure it by the mile. Yeah, but bottom out just a preference or you’re gonna say I’m gonna put you know 1000 To the side for you know, it’s just just a preface you know.
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Dustin Eagle 14:17
so far as the hopper goes, Imani Tell me a little bit about the work and some of the pros and then we’ll get into the cons here the
Damoni Gunter 14:26
pros and cons harbor man no hot button. You know coming from reefer I love the Pro was you always rolling is no downtime. See when I was proud it was you know as being bad on priming oh but it’s a lot of waiting around and you know, you might get a load it in the morning time you got a full clock. But Dan when he says hello this is for the next day. You know and then once you pick it up, you know you could get it there tomorrow but they want to take you into it You know, the day after that, right? So it’s a lot of waiting around. And I feel like I can utilize my time or squeeze that lemon water with the Hot Box because someone has done a chase, our guests have lived out fully. So it works out. quite important. This was right. That’s right.
Dustin Eagle 15:18
It’s miles of your time. Yeah, it’s
Damoni Gunter 15:20
a different game, you know, you get paid to empty miles and stuff like that. So it’s good. But flies and cars. Just can’t make any you know, I mean, to be honest with you. Well, we talked
Dustin Eagle 15:36
about there’s got to be a product out there You
Damoni Gunter 15:40
took the words out of my mouth that we talked about DDG
Dustin Eagle 15:47
figured out was coming somewhere and it’s
Damoni Gunter 15:49
I’m gonna be here for about a day. You don’t have to buy it takes about seven hours to get unloaded, you know, so yeah, it can stay about that. But I asked him good luck with it. You know, so far, I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Dustin Eagle 16:04
If you really want to bring somebody in, just give them a loader. For
Damoni Gunter 16:09
sure. My second week, Chase thought, oh, he thought, Oh, you’re on fire. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But I mean, it worked out though. And it took me that long. So wasn’t that bad?
Dustin Eagle 16:21
What about pulling a hopper living in Maryland? We don’t see that very often here at Oakley. And I think it’s pretty cool that we actually got somebody up in that area to pull a hopper. Right? And does a great job. But it was a different challenge. I’m sure of our dispatch, because I said hey, we got a new hire this week. He is from Maryland. Erlang. What?
Megan Cummings 16:42
Do we even have any Hopper loads in the northeast corner? Is that unusual? We can
Dustin Eagle 16:47
get you up there. It’s just not as often as most people live but with the money he stays out working. So it’s not really that big of a deal. That’s
Damoni Gunter 16:55
right. So it’s not really not an issue. When it comes to my hometown, we got so frayed up there, you know, and I’m not too far from Ohio. And I you know, so when it’s time I go home, I normally work that you get into Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Pennsylvania so much but like the Carolinas, okay, go down there. Yeah, sometimes the Carolinas. What a lot of times Chasey gets me out there at one court or out of the gate. And you know, I’m not too far from there. So the last two times, I mean, audits house, it’s been working out. Straightforward, Jane and I go straight home. So there’s a man, a dead man. I mean, one time I was in Georgia in a day, you know, the home and stuff, but it happens, you know?
Dustin Eagle 17:43
Oh, yeah, you’re gonna have some dead head a little bit where you live. But the cool thing about Oakley is, you know, you go home on your own. But when it’s time to come back out of the house, we’re gonna pay you from the house to your next load. That’s right. So it kind of equals out. Yeah, in the end. So
Damoni Gunter 17:59
it works out. No, but it works out or so. But just like I said, I’m looking forward to pneumatics and seeing how that goes. But I love Papa Manama, even if I couldn’t go to No, no Madison, I think actually, it was by me one of those fancy vibrators. It covers big money.
Dustin Eagle 18:20
I think it’s a good division to be in starting out coming from if you’ve never done drabble hoppers where you need to start my opinion right there just get your feet wet. You don’t have to invest in any equipment to pull a hopper right and you know you found out real quick have dropped both for you
Megan Cummings 18:41
don’t worry about the downpayment you know for the tank or anything like that. Or for the blower the and you know, get your feet wet or yeah
Damoni Gunter 18:52
I would have done it other way yeah, we’ll just have a laugh or you know
Megan Cummings 18:58
so well they did a lot of loads near home the subdivisions that’s we do a lot in the northeast corner. But yeah, do you have your passport? Oh, yeah. Okay know Perfect. Well, it sounds like a match made in heaven. Yeah,
Damoni Gunter 19:16
there’s really no and I call it so.
Megan Cummings 19:19
Okay, so you came in February and then you said before that you’re driving for five years?
Damoni Gunter 19:25
No, it was going on for five years, about August-September. Be flat he excuse
Megan Cummings 19:31
Okay, do you think you found okay, this is for sure what I want to do this is what I want to retire doing.
Damoni Gunter 19:37
For sure. You see that truck out there? Got a choice now? I got a man date night. Well, you
Megan Cummings 19:45
know you hit the nail on the head. Pretty soon. How old are you? 20 Rico. Have a nice day. You don’t have to worry about knowing what you’re doing for the rest of your life or anything like that. You found something that you enjoy doing?
Damoni Gunter 19:59
Oh yeah. I mean, I love Oakley, you know, get that family is, is, I felt like I made a great move by coming here, you know. And by my actions, you can see that but I’m, again a brand new truck, you know, that says a lot about dispatching going on a limb like so. And it’s different because we’re proud. You know, even if I pay that truck, oh, but let’s say I say, hey, I want to do this no more, give it up, and I just lose my down payment. But this or if you can’t do it, and they hit your credit, and they come after you. So it’s a different ballgame this way.
Dustin Eagle 20:37
I know, we touched on a little bit earlier, but you know, Oakley has got some high expectations of his driver or drivers. And, you know, coming in, what do you think about that? You know, just, you know, we want we want you guys to be professional, right? You know, clean cut, you know, be respectful, and do your job all the same time? And I mean, I don’t think you had a hard time adjusting to that at all, pretty much. But what do you think about Oakleys expectations in the beginning?
Damoni Gunter 21:09
That’s a heated Oh, man, because it kind of it’s a separation, you know, an FFL like, I was going into the big leagues, because you have stimulations Matt, any and everybody could do this, you know, you had to we had a certain caliber a drought or a safe job or had to have certain you know, twit cards, and, you know, hazmat and clean shave and Matt Oh truck, got got work and truck, you know, and, and we just went to dress code, no sweat pants and flip flops and our ties and stuff, no long hair and shave not a lot of people will want to do that. You know, so it kind of separately, forever been a big deal for. So I really appreciated that and said, you know, you know, that kind of pushed me more towards that versus a place like, you know, last or so. Right? You know, so anybody could do that, you know, but this way, it’s a different ballgame. And that’s why I wanted to do some more. So like the
Dustin Eagle 22:11
analogies did, I’ve never heard it kind of stepped up from the Marilee vaguely, as the type of guys we want.
Megan Cummings 22:20
Normally, it’s a lot of grumbling, it’s like, I’m to shave, or I’ve got to, you know, have a five year or newer, and you always hate telling people that and giving them that, you know, within the first couple of minutes of talking to them. So it’s really refreshing to know that some people appreciate that. You know, it’s just that professionalism. That’s right. You got it down, Pat to
Damoni Gunter 22:42
I appreciate it. Appreciate that. And it means a lot going on to these customers and setting that example, you know, oh my these Oakley jobs, it’s tough to, you know, want to keep working with those guys. You know, so that’s great.
Dustin Eagle 22:56
That’s exactly how Yeah, that’s why that was customer emails all the time. saying those exact words to us. Yeah. Yeah, it means a lot to us. And it’s because you guys, you know, take the initiative to do the right thing. Yeah, that’s right.
Jeremy Kellett 23:15
Oakley Trucking is a 100% Owner Operator company. We specialize in Hopper bottom in dump and pneumatic trailers. 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 a competitive mileage base. 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.
Megan Cummings 24:16
You got a couple of years under your belt? More than a few I should say. More of you. What do you think being a truck driver means just to put it just generalize the career in your job? Well,
Damoni Gunter 24:30
Trump Jr, as you know, is as you know, as we know as the backbone of the country, you know, it’s really not appreciated like that these days. But we take that ultimate sacrifice, you know, being away from the family and the memories that you can’t be there for you know, small things like that and but we do what we have to do to make America keep running. And so we take pride and surprise there And so, Bannon, Trump’s reality is patriotic in a way. Oh, yeah. So I’ll take
Dustin Eagle 25:06
the one word that I was gonna say sacrifice, because y’all do sacrifice a lot. That’s why
Megan Cummings 25:12
it gives you an I, like, you know where you said that there’s a real pride in it. I mean, even I don’t work at a desk. I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody. I don’t know how you guys do it. But, you know, just working with you guys, and knowing how much of a sacrifice that you guys have to make, you know, how, you know, we were talking how some people have families, you know, we’ve got drivers that come on the show a lot that we’ll have three or four kids. You know, people don’t realize how big of a job it is. It’s not just driving, picking up and delivering, you know, you’re running the show, basically. Yeah,
Damoni Gunter 25:49
you know, and a lot of people don’t see that. A lot of companies that will see that
Megan Cummings 25:53
until you gotta stop running. Yeah,
Damoni Gunter 25:55
exactly. So that’s another reason why I really appreciate Oakley because you guys value your drivers, you know, compared to you know, companies, it’s just enough, you know, so, you know that, that means that, you know, that hazmat goes a long way, man, that was small thing, it is big for us, you know, just just thank you, man, I just appreciate what you do at that, you know, so
Dustin Eagle 26:22
just knowing your name when you walk in the back. Little things like that.
Damoni Gunter 26:26
I mean, you know, you talk about destiny, and me coming in, you know, I am supposed to Desna since I start to pull those hoppers in, and I got busy on the road as soon as I came in, today, demonic. So, you know, you speak to so many drivers and people today, if we’re able to still know my name, you know, that means a lot.
Megan Cummings 26:51
Because Justin takes a lot of chromogen for his memory.
Dustin Eagle 26:58
Now, as soon as he walked in on the Domani, and got upset, shook his hand, said hi to him. Yeah. You know, stuff like that does mean, for sure. It means a lot to us when y’all come up to us and talk to us. Absolutely.
Megan Cummings 27:15
That’s the best part about when drivers come in, and they stop and make sure that they see you before they leave. You know, I know we were talking about it earlier. But I think the biggest thing that I’ve noticed since I’ve started sitting in on the podcast is all the drivers that we talked to everybody, no one ever fails to mention how Oakley is a family. And I know that gets thrown around a lot. You know, we’re one big happy family, you know, but it’s easy for us in the office to say because we see each other every day. But when you know people like DeMonte gunner who only get in the office every once a while because they live in Maryland, you know, and you can still and you’ve only been on for two months. And you can still say that confidently. I think that means a lot to us that you feel that way. Yeah.
Damoni Gunter 28:04
For sure. You know, you guys’ connection in the office kind of langurs down to the driver. So when we come in, we feel every bit of that feels like home from a long way from well, so.
Megan Cummings 28:20
Okay. Domani so we were talking about what trucking means to you. I feel like you’ve been on the road long enough to know, obviously, there’s stereotypes about truck drivers, and some of them might not be great. What do you think if you could tell just the person driving next to you in a Honda Accord? Something about truck drivers? Or would it be don’t
Damoni Gunter 28:48
cut himself you know, you gotta watch out for it is our day, you know, because, but they just don’t want to stand because everybody’s living in their own world. You know, so I’ve been on that side of the fence so I can relate, you know, and he got teenagers out there and people that has gone through the labs and you know, they not paying attention until what it chokes rabbit on what they do once Hill until everything stops and then they realize, Oh, my and I know Milton is still no more let’s go I know. So, you know what, if there’s one thing that you say to him, it just, you know, it is me, he’ll be safe around us and make sure you know you might attain that distance and you know that’s a matter that is from time to time, you know? They they look hard or
Megan Cummings 29:43
you know, you’re sitting a little high up for me. I always wonder we got to contemplate Oh yeah, so alone On that same train of thought, if you weren’t driving, do you know what you would? What you’d rather be doing? Not what you’d rather be doing. But is there something that you always thought you were going to be when you were a kid? You
Damoni Gunter 30:11
know, as we grow up, you know, you get into sports, stuff like that. Oh, it is baseball, football, basketball, we always dreamed, you know, playing video games and stuff. We always say hey, man, I want to be this guy when I grow up, you know, and then reality hits you. Yeah. Oh, but you SaaS dad. Am I am I am. I kind of wanted to be a pilot. Know that asset minus chugging. You haven’t? Didn’t work out. I was gonna go for that. You know, I like flying and stuff like that. But he says, Dad, I was willing to answer the car. It’s gonna stuff like before, like I said, I was doing body work. And you know, stuff. agilely badass, you love that. And then I ride dirt bikes and stuff like that, too. So
Megan Cummings 31:01
you do in your free time.
Damoni Gunter 31:03
Free time, you know, go and deer over at him. And go down to Florida with my trainer that tells me everything I know. For the most part, Shelby? Well, whenever we get to town, we kind of try to meet up and go down Chrome and chat to get a little dirty. Back to work. So
Dustin Eagle 31:23
lucky for us. You became a truck driver. Yeah. All right.
Megan Cummings 31:28
Got that whole pilot thing? Yeah. Well, good. That’s been really nice having you on the show.
Dustin Eagle 31:37
Now. Just thanks for stopping by and talking to us. Yeah. Appreciate congrats on the new graduation. Thank you. I saw a picture a while ago, saying yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, it looks really good. Yeah.
Megan Cummings 31:48
Did you get your picture made with it? So I can brag to you.
Damoni Gunter 31:52
She took the pic for Facebook. Yeah. And that
Dustin Eagle 31:59
was quit. Hey, Ashley. Like
Damoni Gunter 32:02
you already posted it already? Oh, okay. Okay, I’ll
Megan Cummings 32:05
share it. So all your friends are kids?
Damoni Gunter 32:07
Oh, yeah. No, I’m probably gonna have a joker smile on that because I heard the good news. We ran right out of the pitcher. Oh, smash by smiling so hot.
Dustin Eagle 32:18
Good luck moving forward at Oakley and
Megan Cummings 32:20
we’re very happy to have you
Damoni Gunter 32:23
I appreciate dad. And I’m honored to be here and I appreciate you guys giving me the opportunity, sir.
Dustin Eagle 32:29
I’ll give you that call. And pretty much go take a happy dream. You’re ready. Okay. Okay.
Megan Cummings 32:37
Well, thanks for sitting down with us. DeMonte. We really enjoyed it. Thank you.
Jeremy Kellett 32:39
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Oakley podcast: trucking, business, and family. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate or review the show on 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, theoakleypodcast.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.