Capt. Danial Kuntz, Bellaire Harbor Service

One of Capt. Danial Kuntz’s first teachers in life was also one of his first in the river business.

Kuntz, 39, of Martins Ferry, Ohio, went to work for Bellaire Harbor Service in 2006, working alongside of his father, Robert Kuntz.

“It was the exact opposite a lot of people would expect,” Kuntz said of working with his father. “He was a lot harder on me than he would be on anyone else.”

Robert Kuntz believed in learning by doing, Danial Kuntz said, so he would let him do some tasks the incorrect way to find out why that was the case. Then he’d make his son undo it and correct the error.

While his father was “a tough taskmaster,” Danial said those who worked under him learned quickly and never forgot the lessons learned, which has proven valuable in the years since.

Although he grew up with his father in the industry, Kuntz didn’t immediately decide to follow in his footsteps. He spent time working on the loading dock of a local grocery chain, at a factory and doing fire and water restoration for a few years.

“I was always interested in the industry,” he said. “It turns out I was actually good at it.”

He has spent his entire river career at Bellaire, rising from deckhand to also doing some engineering work before earning his pilot’s license about 12 years ago. While he started out doing fleet work, Kuntz is now master of the twin-screw, 3,000-hp. Ms. Nicole, which hauls fracking sand between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. He oversees a crew that includes a pilot, engineer and four deckhands.

Robert Kuntz passed in 2011, but Danial said he continues to use the lessons he taught him every day, even though he said he also takes a “softer touch” with his own crew.

Those lessons include leading by example, not demanding respect but instead earning it and not asking anyone else to do something he wouldn’t personally do.

He said he also tries to model the work ethic his father taught him.

“I’ve held down a full-time job my entire adult life,” he said. “I’ve never been on unemployment.”

He also likes that Bellaire views its employees as family.

“I love not being a number,” he said.

His first priority as a captain is always the safety of the crew, he said, but he also tries to work competently and efficiently and to be a mentor to others, “friendly but professional.”

He said he also appreciates some changes in the industry that have taken place over the years. Work on the river is safer than it has ever been, and the work environment has changed for the better at the same time pay and benefits have improved to stay competitive with other industries, he said.

Kuntz works a two-for-two schedule–two weeks on, two weeks off. He has been married to his wife, Moriah, for five years. He said he likes to spend his time off the boat “tinkering,” which includes rebuilding a 1989 Jeep Wrangler, which he will also use for off-roading fun.

These days, he can’t imagine a career he would love as much as he does working on the river, where he appreciates that the view out his window is different every day, that there are moments of challenge and excitement and that conditions are always changing.

“It’s a sense of freedom, out in the open, in your own little world, doing your own thing,” Kuntz said. “I don’t think there’s another job like it.”

Capt. Danial Kuntz