Im part of the way thru training at O&S.
The title statement is what my trainer told me when I went out on my check ride. They are all about driver safety and doing things the proper way. My entire training will consist of aprox. two weeks of local training--city driving and a lot of backing experience. then Ill be handed off to an over the road trainer for a minimum of 10,000 miles------thats a minimum and will be extended if necessary. After 10K Ill be evaluated of course, if they think I need more polishing Then they will extend training. If Im not worth the effort--Im dismissed.

Im totally sold on the company so far (thats why I chose them), as trucking companies go I guess they are only medium in size, having aprox. 400 drivers, some being leasees, some O/O and company.
their beginning pay is above most, they are a very friendly, family type business. But, If youre careless or just a bad driver in general--they will send you packing.
They only accept two to three new drivers a month right now. So far I havent encountered anything that the recruiter lied about-----he told me the truth about everything so far. And, another thing I like about them, if they accept your application and call you for training----they initially have every intention of hiring you---youre not one of 100 or so that goes thru a weeding out process before you even see a truck.

Ill add more to this as time goes by and will pass on the bad as well as the good.

Just a quick update--
After 10 days training Im even more sold on this company than before---
As I mentioned, they are really dedicated to safety and safe driving practices. So far, I have seen a road trainee dismissed after 3 weeks on the road. That person was dismissed for repeated unsafe driving practices and a careless attitude. I have also seen another student dismissed after two weeks of the local training--he was dismissed for attitude and inability to follow directions.

Speaking of training,, I feel that it is reasonable and a fine training tool. So far I have gotten more backing experience in 10 days than I could have gotten in a month on the road.
Several companies I checked out let drivers become trainers after 6 months experience-----with O&S, you have to have 1000000 verifiable miles.
Trainees over the road do all the driving, the trainer is ALWAYS in the second seat---awake!, no team driving.

Did you apply to O&S with driving experience, or are they training you from the ground up? I am seriously considering a career in OTR, but I'm discouraged by all the negative reports about entry-level companies (Swift, CRE, PAM, etc). O&S seems to have a good reputation, they're near my home, and if I can apply for training with them, it may be my best option.

I have near a million miles of accident-free commercial driving experience in passenger transportation (charter buses), but I'm looking for my "final" career move into something that pays better and gives me alone time on the road -- meaning I'd like to find the right trucking company to call home for the next twenty years until retirement shows up. I like what you say about O&S's commitment to safety, as I am a strong believer in safe driving practices, and want a company that respects it.

So what more can you tell me about O&S? My other consideration is IWX, also nearby, but I don't know if they'll train from the ground up either.

Thanks for sharing.

Unfortunately, Im no longer with O&S, I had a family emergency that requires my being home for sometime-------however,
After working for them I am still convinced they are one of the best out there.
They are updating their fleet of trucks starting this fall with 35 or so new cascadias (freight liners) and will continue to replace them till they have about 200 new ones.
They have a "trainee" program for recently graduated students. To my knowledge they wont "send" anyone to driving school. Their training consists of both local driving (aprox 2 weeks) followed by a minimum of 10000 miles with a trainer. Each of their trainers has over 1 M miles, and each trainer is required to be in the second seat At All Times--------no sleeping trainer!!

I was able to leave them on good terms and I hope to go back to them at some point.

They start out their trainees at more per mile than anyone else I was able to find.

Good People there--------but--------they are looking for good trainees, if you have a good to perfect driving record then by all means go talk to them-----------if you dont, youll be wasting your time, they wont hire you.

They also have about the best lease/purchase program around-----------------but, you need to be smart enough to make an intelligent decision about what truck to lease. They have good trucks in their program but there are some not so nice--------

There are some other companies in springfield that have lotsful of shiny new trucks and shiney promises to new drivers------------but beware,,,, all that glitters is not gold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I liked what I read about IWX, but they hire only drivers with experience. They referred me to Trailiner, so I visited them, but I'll also visit O&S. From what I've read about Roehl, they're like IWX and will hire only experienced drivers.

As much as is possible, I want to find a reputable company with whom I can get my training, and then stick around awhile, preferably a long while. Thus, I am trying to gather as much information as possible about each potential company so I can make a good decision. Who better to ask than those of you who are already in the know?

Thanks for the input. I have O&S on my list, and will see what they say. Perhaps I'll still contact Roehl, just in case they'll make an exception.

I think you would like O&S just fine. It was back in 1996 when I worked for them as a company driver then an O/O's driver and I had no gripes with anyone there. I was injured unloading a trailer do to the customers defective pallet jack and the company stood by me 100 % and thats a sign of loyalty that is hard to find in a lot of trucking companies.
It sounds like they have changed a little bit to be even better. When I worked there the old timers used to call them Outlaws and Scallywags because they major part of the trucks were O/O trucks, very few company trucks. If you live in Springfield I would say try them out and see if you can get on hand.