During this week’s episode of the Oakley Podcast, host Jeremy Kellett is joined by Garrett Duch and Jackson McNabb, an End Dump and Hopper Bottom dispatcher who have been at Oakley for under two years, to hear about their jobs, how they got into trucking, what makes a “top-tier” driver, and more.
Key topics in today’s conversation include:
- Oakley Update: the Oklahoma cookout, driver recognition (2:44)
- About Jackson and Garrett (4:56)
- Making a difference (9:59)
- First thing in the morning priorities (12:38)
- Oakley’s customer service department (14:54)
- Giving drivers time off (16:07)
- Week-long ride alongs (17:16)
- Playing change as a dispatcher (24:23)
- What makes a top-tier driver (26:25)
- What it takes to be successful (29:47)
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
Garrett Duch 0:12
I love that idea, knowing that I can make him really happy. Like, I can get him on the loads he needs to be on. I enjoy making his living for him and having him show positive feedback to me, that I’m doing a good job and that he’s enjoying the job.
Jeremy Kellett 0:29
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.
Hi, this is Jeremy Kellett, Director of Recruiting here at Oakley Trucking. I’m your host for this podcast. This is episode 103. On today’s podcast, we are actually going to talk to two of our youngest guys. I say youngest, maybe not youngest, but have been here maybe a year, year and a half. We’re going to talk to those guys. They’re dispatchers here at Oakley Trucking and we’re going to talk to them about some things that I think will be interesting to our listeners, everything from their job responsibilities to what they think about it, were they in trucking before they came here? And how in the world they got so lucky to end up in trucking. So we’re gonna visit with Jackson McNabb and Garrett Duch, hear about and talk about a little bit about dispatch, but first let’s do an Oakley update, sponsored by Arrow Truck Sales.
Keith Wilson at Arrow Truck Sales in Springfield, Missouri is currently offering $1,000 off your first month’s payment when you finance with transport funding, or $1,000 off the truck price if you bring your own financing. They’re also discounting the cost of an extended warranty by $500. Arrow Truck Sales has been a longtime partner with Oakley Trucking and that’s because they specialize in first-time truck buyers, they don’t do any leases, they have the best-used trucks money can buy (because used trucks is all they do, they don’t sell any new trucks), and the biggest reason that Arrow and Oakley are partners is service after the sale. It is very important to us at Oakley that when we refer you to a company, that they are a good company with good people, they do what they say, and they understand our requirements. So give Keith a call at 573-216-6047 for a good used truck and tell him you heard about it on the Oakley podcast.
Now on the Oakley update today I got two quick things. One is we’re doing an Oklahoma cookout. If you guys don’t know this, we do this about every year. We have a big cookout at our terminal at Port 33 Just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And it’s a because there are so many truck drivers coming in and out of there we go over there and we cook for about three days for all the drivers coming in. And now there is just a great, great little deal. We do have a bunch of giveaways we give all kinds of stuff away and but mainly we cook hot dogs hamburgers, and there’s a bunch of us from Oakley there with a big T-shirt set up right there where they come in and out. So I want to invite everybody to come over there. Oakley truck in any truck driver, it’s kind of our Oakley driver appreciation. Instead of the national ones in September, we do our own whenever we want to. So we’re doing this one April the 12th through the 14th is a Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, typically goes from about 10 o’clock to two something like that. And we cook and we have a good time there for a couple of days. So y’all be sure and mark that down and come over there to just outside of Tulsa at Port 33 for the cookout.
And also, I’d like to recognize a guy that has been with us a long time. His name is Steve claustrum. And he’s been with us for 15 years this month, pulls an en da he’s from Antigo, Wisconsin. Just an all-round good guy that takes care of business. He’s got a 2018 international, it’s a black truck. He pulls in dumps. I don’t know if I said that or not. But also, I’ve got a little bit of response. I asked his dispatcher. You know what he thought about he? And I can’t say it on the air. No, I’m just kidding. He said, Austin said I’ve enjoyed dispatching him over the last couple years he’s been pretty easygoing and not hard to get along with a man locks his dark track cars and enjoys watching his son race on race weekends. So Steve Klosterman, we appreciate 15 years you have put in at Oakley truck and you are an asset to the company man we thank you so much for that.
Okay, gentlemen, let’s get started on this episode. For one, I appreciate y’all coming in here hanging out be here and we kind of threw this together here and you know, last-minute but it’s all good. It’s gonna be good stuff. Before we get started, I like for our listeners to know who they’re listening to. So let’s start with Jackson McNabb. Introduce yourself for me.
Jackson McNabb 5:02
Jackson McNab from Jonesboro, Arkansas originally, I’ve been with Oakley for about a year and two months now. So, yeah, so far so good family. Uh, yes, still in Jonesboro actually. I’ve got a brother in Bentonville, Arkansas, who is a senior in Fayetteville. And then I have an older brother who’s in Jonesboro as well. A sister who’s in Fayetteville as a sophomore, and then actually have four other step-siblings that are mostly in John’s. Big Family. Eight of us in total.
Jeremy Kellett 5:31
But you’re not married?
Jackson McNabb 5:32
No, no. I’ve had a girlfriend for a little over a year as well now too, but we’re taking it slow.
Jeremy Kellett 5:37
So what about hobbies? What do you do outside of Oakley Trucking?
Jackson McNabb 5:43
Oh, all kinds of stuff. Usually it just like this weekend, I’m going back to Jonesborough I’ll head out. You know, I have to work tomorrow. Go see my parents help him. Do whatever he needs to do. But other than that, take it slow. You show up at work in the morning and go home at night. And then sometimes it’s nice to just lay in bed.
Jeremy Kellett 5:58
You’re a Razorback fan. I saw you at a ballgame.
Jackson McNabb 6:03
Yeah, I saw you in Little Rock. They came here. Yeah. So we’ll try to make it up there as much for that as possible. I think the last time we were there. I was in favor a couple of weeks ago when the basketball team was playing Kentucky. So I was sitting there going, I’m gonna go try to get in this game. And I think tickets for golf like $400. So I said I’ll get it next time.
Jeremy Kellett 6:21
Bailed on that one?
Jackson McNabb 6:22
Yeah.
Jeremy Kellett 6:23
What about you, Mr. Garrett Duch?
Garrett Duch 6:24
Name’s Garrett Duch. I’m from Jones Burroughs. I’m Dunsborough as well. I’m originally from Stuttgart. It’s where my family’s from? My family lives in Jonesborough. Still, my mom’s a pediatrician, Dad’s account manager for reskinned packaging. No wife yet, no girlfriend yet.
Jeremy Kellett 6:43
What are you doing on the weekends?
Garrett Duch 6:45
Weekends. I usually just like hanging out with friends do various stuff. I love going on trips, ski trips. love skiing. snow skiing. snow skiing. Yeah. I like the water ski tee. I’m pretty good at that. Jackson sees me.
Jeremy Kellett 7:00
Did you guys know each other before you came?
Jackson McNabb 7:03
Yes. Actually, we went to high school together. We went to college together. I actually got the job through Garrett. Yeah,
Jeremy Kellett 7:08
Really? Okay, so this dude over here got’s it going on.
Garrett Duch 7:12
Yeah. Jonesborough doing.
Jeremy Kellett 7:17
I didn’t know that. I didn’t realize that.
Jackson McNabb 7:18
Yeah, Garrett started in… When’d you start?
Garrett Duch 7:20
Started November… I think it was 2020.
Jackson McNabb 7:26
So he started and I had graduated school and was living in Bentonville at the time. Just, you know, right at the height of, you know, you know, pandemic, so no one was hiring, no one’s doing nothing, you know, applying for all kinds of jobs out there, just trying to make it happen. actually went home to Jonesborough for Christmas. And then I think a couple of days after that, I was driving back to Bentonville, just you know, not knowing what I was going to do. And Garrett called me I was like, Hey, I don’t know if you’re still looking for a job but you know, someone had mentioned that Oakley’s hiring. I said I’ll give it a shot. I think it was within 24 hours got out and was on the phone with me. So I came up here for an interview and I think not long after that two or three weeks I was out in the shop.
Jeremy Kellett 8:05
That’s right. You guys had work in the shop Yeah, yeah the weeks I guess a lot of lessons learned there enjoyed it. Yeah, there is a lot of lessons learned there that plays off and yeah, it really does. He’s some knowledge about it don’t he doesn’t feel like it at the time.
Jackson McNabb 8:18
No. You kind of question that going into it. Once you start dispassion someone you get on the phone with someone and they got this and that going with you know wheel seals and all that kind of stuff then you like actually know what they’re talking about. So definitely very beneficial.
Jeremy Kellett 8:33
Did you guys go to school for supply chain or logistics?
Garrett Duch 8:38
Agriculture business, pretty much generalized. I knew I wanted to do something like this.
Jeremy Kellett 8:45
That’s good, kind of got prepared a little bit. Do they prepare you in college for trucking?
Garrett Duch 8:50
Somewhat. As far as computer programs— He says no, but I think programs.
Jackson McNabb 8:58
Some parts, yes. Some parts, no. I got an economics degree, basically another name for a business degree. So for the market, makes sense to me, but as for transportation, I had no idea about any of it coming into this. It’s all very brand new.
Garrett Duch 9:12
I agree there. Transportation wasn’t the main subject in school, but we do a lot and then computer pretty much all day. So I definitely learned a lot school, figured out how to work Excel and stuff like that, making it fit into the business.
Jackson McNabb 9:28
But actually applying what I do daily, you don’t do any of that in school, so basically it helps with you know time management. I think college more or less these days, especially undergrad, is you go into it and it’s a good test to see if someone has the time management skills, the drive to actually apply themselves to something and finish it, so I think that is a big thing I took away from college. But as for, like I said, working here at Oakley, then np.
Jeremy Kellett 9:59
So this is pretty much y’all’s first job?
Jackson McNabb 10:02
This is my first real job. First full-time job. First “big boy job,” I guess you could say.
Jeremy Kellett 10:08
Well, y’all jumped right in the fire.
Garrett Duch 10:10
Yeah. I mean, I love it. It definitely makes you feel like you’re, you’re making a difference every day you are now it’s much more than just communicating with the driver. That’s probably one of the biggest parts of it. But there’s a lot more to it than just talking to the driver every day.
Jackson McNabb 10:29
Absolutely.
Jeremy Kellett 10:30
You can actually see you have control of making a difference.
Jackson McNabb 10:34
Yeah. I think the big thing to me coming into, I went into it training in dumps for I think two weeks. And one of those weeks Austin Allen, who was training me at Corona. So I was by myself for one of those two weeks. And then we had one dispatcher move. And so they decided to move Trevor to tanks. And then they told me said, you know, you can come over to hoppers with your own board, I think I was three weeks into it. And one of the biggest things that hit me off the bat was, you know, you’re in charge of, you know, that person’s paycheck at the end of the week, you know, at the end of the day, you think about it, and that’s putting food on their table and, you know, paying for, you know, stuff for their kids and their wives and, you know, that’s your livelihood. So it’s a big responsibility to be in charge that and feel like you have a responsibility for that.
Garrett Duch 11:22
I love that idea, knowing that I can make him really happy. Like, I can get him on the loads he needs to be on. I enjoy making his living for him and having him show positive feedback to me, that I’m doing a good job and that he’s enjoying the job.
Jeremy Kellett 11:44
How do you all gauge that?
Jackson McNabb 11:47
They will tell you.
Garrett Duch 11:51
If they get stuck with a load that nobody wants to do or something like that, depending on how much they like you or how good you do there. They’ll respond to that, like, Yeah, I’ll do this for you this time. I got a brow I’m willing to work with you, you know, pretty much the willingness to, you know, do what needs to be done and keep them happy, though. I mean, that’s pretty much the big, big part there.
Jeremy Kellett 12:23
What probably is your biggest responsibility when you come in during the day or in the morning? Give our listeners a little bit of what’s going through your mind and what your first priorities getting done first thing in the morning, Jackson.
Jackson McNabb 12:38
I think a big thing is obviously the customer needs, you know, something done in a specific way. And then the driver, you know, needs miles and which correlates to money. So the big thing is, you know, you, you don’t want to hold them up, you want to get them the miles they need but at the same time picking up when you’re supposed to pick up delivering when you’re supposed to deliver and you know, if you get off or they get held up or something and they end up sitting and they miss a reload the same day, and they’re sitting overnight, which is you know, it’s especially someone’s going home on the weekend. If you have one bad day, then, you know, that messes the whole thing up and you’re sitting there, you know, scrambling for miles at the end of the week. So really, the first thing I do in the morning is during check-ins, you know, you find out where people are, how much hours they got, and you’re scouring that board at the same time. You know, because you’re competing with everyone else in there, like all the other dispatchers trying to find, you know, they’re trying to do the same thing you are. Good loads. You want that, so that’s a big thing. My biggest thing in the morning is making sure that I’m getting as much information as possible and scouring that board and finding stuff that’s going to work for them that they can actually do the way it’s supposed to be done to the customer’s standards and also benefit them in the end.
Jeremy Kellett 13:50
What about you, Garrett?
Garrett Duch 13:51
I would say the first thing when I wake up, heading here to work, I’m thinking about what my guy is gonna do the next day, what he’s got for the day, this day. And I’m thinking now just constantly in my head, how can I maximize the sky’s time make this guy the happiest and the most money I can for that week? Given ASB home or something, thinking of loads that are going to get him home. See how I can work into this slow that takes him right through the house. More works the best for him. Also trying to maximize it for Oakley to make sure Oakley’s being taken care of with the driver as well.
Jeremy Kellett 14:36
Minimizing deadhead, taking care of customers. How big is customer service? I know, and you guys are probably understanding it a little bit more now. It is big to take care of the drivers, but customer service is a very big part too.
Garrett Duch 14:54
It’s a give and take. Sometimes you got to this customer who is very loyal, great customer, always keeping us keeping business with us say that this slug drivers, this load is not going to work for him. He’s got to be home Thursday, here it takes some complete opposite direction we’ll do what we’ll do is we’ll put a truck that can do, even though it might be a little further for him to deadhead, we’re gonna take care of that customer make sure that load is gets picked up on time gets delivered the on the date needs to be delivered. And keeping that driver happy to give or take, pretty much.
Jeremy Kellett 15:34
I know a lot of customers are different. Educating customers on truck drivers is a whole nother podcast episode, helping them to understand what a driver’s life is like in daily life. That’s one of the things, I’ve said this before on other episodes, getting them home every weekend can be a challenge sometimes. I don’t know how you guys do it. I really don’t. We used to not be able to do that years ago, but we didn’t have the freight that you have now, too.
Jackson McNabb 16:07
Getting guys home on the weekends or just even on days that whether it be guy that stays out for four weeks and goes home in the middle of the week for three or four days or guy that goes home every weekend. You know, making sure that you have that in your mind. When he needs to be there, you start looking ahead, you know, when you see this load goes through the house or this photo. Once he delivers, he’ll be able to you know, get there relatively easily, you know when he needs to but the big thing, especially with people that go home every weekend is can I get him home on the weekend? And can I do with you know, good miles for the week. So that is your biggest challenge? Probably the biggest stressor of the job to me is that.
Jeremy Kellett 16:49
How can they help themselves?
Jackson McNabb 16:51
Stay out working.
Garrett Duch 16:54
I love the guys who work, but I also understand. I put myself in their shoes and you realize what they need with the family.
Jackson McNabb 17:02
I go home every single night, too. I can’t imagine being even away for a week at a time.
Jeremy Kellett 17:10
Y’all went away for a week.
Jackson McNabb 17:11
We did.
Jeremy Kellett 17:12
You did a ride-along with somebody?
Jackson McNabb 17:14
We did.
Jeremy Kellett 17:14
How’d that go?
Jackson McNabb 17:16
I think mine went pretty well, actually. I kind of got in with a guy that there was really good. We got along and we stayed at it. He taught me a lot about it. So you know, you go in about how calculated he is about it. You know, he brings Schneider, if you’re listening, shout out Brent. Brent taught me a lot about you know trucking from their point of view, because it’s something you don’t really think about I think I’d been doing it for six months when I ended up going on the truck with him but from you know him send their plan out his days to you know how many gallons of fuel he’s going to need to because you know that a certain date, you know, that fuel is either gonna go on one settlement or the next settlement. And you know, when it comes to deductions, you know, that’s huge, you know, if you end up getting an extra week, or extra day of fuel on one settlement, and that’s another few $100 to pull out of it. So he was very calculated about how much fuel he got when he got fuel the hours to you know, sit in there I didn’t realize how pressing once you get on your 14 you know, once your 14 starts clicking down he said if we don’t make it here by then you know, tomorrow’s jacked up and you know, he taught me a lot about how from a drivers point of view, you know, you think they’re just you know, put them on the load and get there and pick it up and deliver the next day but a lot more there’s way more to it then you know, you would expect from just sitting in the desk compared to the macro the other driving, you know, down the highway every day.
Jeremy Kellett 18:43
How’d your ride along go, Garrett?
Garrett Duch 18:45
I enjoyed it very much. We went up from Box side Arkansas to Kernersville West Virginia is our first ride. And we’re those first two days going up there is about 1000 mile trip up there. When sunup sundown we’re on the road, traveling staying accurate and there’s no stopping. We stopped maybe, I don’t know 30 minutes, we have our 30-minute break. And that’s usually when I get my luncheon. They say after they don’t you know they don’t bid he stopped me. He didn’t stop. He had his bunch I think for the most part and he did stop and get food during this 30-minute break. But we had a great time I enjoyed watching how they dump you know these different places we always send them to up to her and we went over to Marietta, our second load loaded out of there. We always do been doing those loads out of Mariana for a while. So I got to see how that process worked. And I just really enjoyed seeing who know their day-to-day went. I think I pushed his buttons one time when I told him I asked him Can I get up at 6 am and said instead of 530 then we can leave out at 630 he was ready to go I mean he’s early ready to go Very good girl. Yeah. So they wake up early. They stay after. They earn their keep.
Jeremy Kellett 20:07
Good to see some of the facilities. You’re saying these guys, too, and all the different rules that they go through.
Garrett Duch 20:14
Putting his hard hat on is, his vest, got eye protection.
Jeremy Kellett 20:21
We’re all the shippers and receivers pretty nice to you guys?
Jackson McNabb 20:25
Yeah. Yeah, and we never really ran into any problems. Also, we did go out. We went to Peachtree City, Georgia to a CertainTeed plant there on our first load, and you didn’t really see anybody. Obviously, there was a guy there that told you, you know, start unloading, but I think I gave him a hat. I gave him some hats and talking about Georgia. Actually, they appreciated that. But other than that, you know, you don’t do a lot of CB talk over the radio to you know, check-in and out. So, but yeah, everyone was good to us. No, we never went to a facility that was you know, necessarily that bad. And they were all fairly clean and well operated. And, you know, I don’t think I ever ended up sitting very long either. I know some other people had some horror stories about going out about ended up sitting in a place for a few hours. But I think we got, you know, relatively lucky with, with how that went. We were kind of in and out everywhere. We went and stayed moving.
Jeremy Kellett 21:14
Did you try to dispatch yourself?
Jackson McNabb 21:16
The first load, yeah. I said I’m not seeking around Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas. And we do Hoppers, so that first load, I said, I’m going to Georgia.
Garrett Duch 21:29
But it ended up changing. It’ll be always going to change. Last time. We did our Mariette I had a son that Marietta load, then we end up doing a Livingston load Arkansas. I had us going Birmingham to Byhalia Mississippi first is this had changed at the time we were getting there. So a lot of factors that play into that.
Jeremy Kellett 21:50
Yeah, things gotta go like you said, Jackson, earlier. You mess up one day, it’ll mess up a check. But you don’t you back, you know, mess up customer, too. So it sounds like the ride-along is definitely beneficial. We get everybody to do that and have been for a long time and it’s worked out great, even working in the shop.
Jackson McNabb 22:14
There’s a method to the madness behind the shop and a ride-along.
Jeremy Kellett 22:17
Yep, inside the chair, even though it’s just a week. I’m sure the drivers out there listening are going, “Oh, come on now. One week ain’t nothing. Get out here. You don’t know where you’re going,” and all that kind of stuff. It can be can definitely be a challenge.
I want to take a minute to talk about LubeZone. LubeZone has been a sponsor the Oakley podcast for a long time. Good people over there. Jeff and Megan do a great job, and they provide good discounts for Oakley owner-operators, but also just a great place to go. They’ve got 11 locations, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Georgia, they’re primarily along major highway exits, which allows easy access, they can do a lot of stuff there, they got full-service old changes, like tractor and trailer grease, air filters, old analysis, tire checks, do t inspections. I mean, these guys can do it all. And we love doing business with them. I actually had one of our owner-operators, he went to LubeZone, he said, Hi, I’m going in here. And I’m going to find out how their services if they’re fast. And if I get a discount, I said aren’t you let me know when you get out of there. So he called me back and he said, I just want you to know that’s a great place to go. It’s clean. It’s nice, the service was great. He got the full-fledged filters all changed the whole nine yards service. And he also got his $40 discount. And you got to tell him you heard it on the Oakley podcast that you are with Oakley trucking, and they will give you a discount and just great service from those guys, we appreciate them being a sponsor of the Oakley podcast. And if you’re in one of those areas, you look and you go to LubeZone.com. And you see where their locations are. And if you’re close by either go try them out. And let me know how you serve as well as because we’ll give the feedback back to LubeZone. Oh, and check out the rewards program that’s really good to just be sure and check them out and let them know you heard it on the Oakley podcast.
What else do you guys you think about when you’re in here dispatching?
Jackson McNabb 24:19
I think just like Garrett was talking about, playing change. I try to schedule my day out from you know, from check-ins and planning to do and workflow. Like, that’s another thing, you know, think about when you do this, you know, when when I thought of dispatching before I came here, I thought you know, so when you call 911 They’re like this, the dispatcher you know, we’re gonna send someone out there, or on a trucking company side, you just think tha the planes all put together and all you got to do is call the people but, you know, here the models kind of set up to where, you know, you’re the planner, the dispatcher, but you also handle expenses and invoices and their paychecks and stuff. So you have to look at all that you have to look at all of that and you have to stay on top of that and you have to see schedule yourself, but you can have your loads planned out all your guys planned out. So this is gonna work perfect loads, canceled plant shut down, or plants add loads and you know, you’re sitting there and you have to have a high-stress tolerance for it because you have to just be willing to say, All right, well, you know, you got to, you know, start over on this guy here, you know, get a new plane. And sometimes, you know, you think about getting him home with miles. You have the perfect plan to have him do that Thursday, come along, and something like snap your fingers. Close your truck. Yeah, it’s a load happens on monkeys all the time with those hoppers and dumps five for those monsters over there. Yeah. So you got to be on your toes, you got to be, you know, strict in your schedule, you have to be, you know, time management as big as make sure you’re staying on top of your stuff. But you also have to be willing to change.
Jeremy Kellett 25:50
I think we always have, you guys can tell me if I’m wrong, but you always have out of your group of trucks. How many y’all dispatch? 40?
Jackson McNabb 26:00
No, I’m at 26 right now.
Garrett Duch 26:02
I’m about to be 30.
Jackson McNabb 26:03
The highest I was at was 30.
Jeremy Kellett 26:05
Okay, so out of that group of trucks. You always got a few top-tier guys. I mean, in the did when I was dispatching, I just had those few top-tier guys that does get it done. What makes them different from the rest of the group?
Jackson McNabb 26:25
It’s their work ethic. They drive from seven to seven and that’s fine, that gets the job done. You plan for those guys accordingly. There are some guys that will drive till three in the morning, as soon as that break is up. Or if they got to do a split break or something, you know, they don’t waste any time. As soon as that break is up, they are up and they will get after it. You know, you sit there and you expect them to be someplace and then obviously the next day come in, they’re ahead of where you think they are. I mean, the people you don’t worry about you put them on a plan. You tell them what it is they say okay, and you just know they’re gonna go in there and get it. I don’t know what it is. You know, what that intangible I guess in a person is but you know, some people have it? They’re very beneficial to your board.
Jeremy Kellett 27:14
What do you think, Garrett?
Garrett Duch 27:15
I think it’s work ethic to those guys that aren’t thinking about when they’re going to be off that weekend and making plans every weekend. They’re planning on, I’m going to work and make the most money I can every week and maybe three weeks down the road, take that week off and be home then. Just utilizing their time here at Oakley, making sure they get the most out of what they’re doing. They’re gonna work. It’s definitely all work ethic for sure. Now saying that the guys are going home, their work ethic is not good.
Jackson McNabb 27:48
I have some guys that you know go home every weekend they have great work ethic. When they get out there, they get after it. So not putting those guys down because they are the people we’re talking about. You don’t have to stay out every single weekend to be one of those people.
Jeremy Kellett 28:02
Right. Top-tier people also what to go home.
Jackson McNabb 28:05
Top-tier people have been here for longer than I’ve been alive and they go home every weekend, but they paid their dues they’ve they’ve worked really hard for a long time to be able to do that.
Jeremy Kellett 28:20
I understand, and I say that to give our listeners to chance to hear what dispatch has to say about that because it’s true. I mean, I don’t care is ever by every dispatcher in this building. They have a board of drivers owner-operators and they got you have top tier guys. It’s not because, like a lot of people will think, it’s not because of favoritism, it’s because you’re coming in in the morning and that guy’s already—
Jackson McNabb 28:46
Mm-hmm. They’re moving before I sit there my chair.
Jeremy Kellett 28:49
You wake up and that’s the guy you think of as, oh man, I don’t have him a load yet.
Jackson McNabb 28:55
He’ll call me in about five minutes. I’ll say, give me a minute. Let me get my cup of coffee before I stressing about that.
Jeremy Kellett 29:05
That’s good stuff, man. It’s good. Well, you guys glad you’re in the trucking business?
Garrett Duch 29:09
Yeah, I’m enjoying it.
Jeremy Kellett 29:10
It’s different, isn’t it?
Jackson McNabb 29:11
It is. Like I said, I didn’t know anything about trucking industry when I came into it but it’s very rewarding and the people make it even better, especially here locally I mean, it’s been you know, it’s been great you know the people from the people above me to the people I work with you know, every day has been awesome. So we got some good owner-operators we did we got good people in the office got good owner-operators.
Jeremy Kellett 29:37
I know you guys had some notes. What did we miss? What do you got to add to this? Let’s go down that and see what you got.
Jackson McNabb 29:47
Communication. I guess we did touch on that, what it takes to be successful. There’s communication with the customer and with the driver that you communicate with one you communicate with the other and then you gotta put the two together to make plan come together. So, I think that’s the rewarding part is when you get in from both sides and make something happen.
Garrett Duch 30:07
I think staying organized is a big part of working here in what we do.
Jeremy Kellett 30:12
Are you talking about you staying organized or the driver or us?
Garrett Duch 30:15
Us staying organized. We got to keep over the FMCSA standards. They got a twit car coming. Do they got where they got a physical they need to we got to update that with the state before they’re even able to get on the road. Want to do that when you know when they’re ready, like Friday or something. So hopefully that Monday, they’re ready to roll again. You gotta have them waiting around on that stuff’s being updated.
Jeremy Kellett 30:40
I know I think a lot of them don’t realize that just those, and I’ve said this before, just take care of your business, take care of your stuff and it makes things so much simpler. Don’t wait to the last day to get a physical, don’t wait to the last day to get your truck inspected, trailer inspected, or have all this stuff done.
Jackson McNabb 31:02
They say, put me on a load and I’ll get it later. I say, I literally cannot put you on this load. The computer will not let me put it on. There’s nothing we can do. So we have to get this done. You do not want it to end up locking you up. You want to get it done before that just so you don’t get stuck somewhere.
Jeremy Kellett 31:20
That doesn’t happen with your top-tier guys.
Jackson McNabb 31:21
No, it doesn’t.
Garrett Duch 31:25
They already know when it’s coming due or they are asking me.
Jackson McNabb 31:28
I had a guy yesterday call me. He said he’s just coming through the yard said I’m gonna stop and get a truck inspection. I was like, you don’t need a truck inspection yet. Sure enough, I get on there and he’s got a truck inspection coming up. I was like, you know more than I do. That’s good. I haven’t checked it.
Jeremy Kellett 31:43
That’s the way you want it. Absolutely. Any good stories or anything y’all want to add?
Garrett Duch 31:50
I remember when my driver Glen Moore had sent me a picture. They met sledge they do this clay barge sledge, Mississippi to Rosedale. I do that for about a week, every month. And he sent me a picture of one day, just them all huddled around a bonfire and having a good time. I love seeing that. It’s, you know, they’re having a great time and they’re enjoying work and doing the work they’re doing. And they’re all talking and kind of like a camaraderie, you know what I’m saying?
Jeremy Kellett 32:22
Yeah, there’s a lot of that here. I’ve seen that too over the years. They make good friends here. They really do the stick with each other. You see it all the time, especially the guys that come through orientation. They become friends and they stay connected.
Jackson McNabb 32:38
They stay talking every day.
Jeremy Kellett 32:40
They sure do. Anything else y’all want to add? That cover it? That’s really good.
Jackson McNabb 32:47
I hope we don’t get scrapped.
Jeremy Kellett 32:50
Nah, y’all are good. Once again, I appreciate you guys joining me during this episode. It’s always good to hear from dispatch and like what’s happening every day. It is good to sit down and talk with you. It’s good stuff to get it out there. No, no, I twist your arm get you in here. It was good. I enjoyed talking. And once again, I appreciate everybody listening to the weekly podcast. Be sure and subscribe, comment block, and keep watching every Wednesday we come out with a new one. And we really appreciate feedback. Give us some feedback on what you want to hear. And we’ll be glad to do that. Once again, we appreciate it. We’ll talk to you next week.
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