A year in with Ozark Motor Lines

I drive for them a few years ago. My only complaint was the miles. They didn’t want you to have more than 2,500. But it wasn’t a bad company at all. I wish it was my first company, but it wasn’t.

I’m not sure if this is still the case, but for the newbie with a CDL and no experience, it was 4-weeks OTR OJT. Not bad overall. Great review

 

Let's revive this thread. Going to orientation Monday. My research found a lot of happy drivers on Facebook. Very little info here. Also they have had several pay raises lately including .11 starting Jan 1. I have 22 months experience and was told I would start at .60. That's pretty #### good if true. Supposed to be doing mostly FedEx drop and hook. I'll try to keep y'all updated.

 

I just left Ozark last week. Only reason I left was because I had a baby in April and was wanting to go local. I really enjoyed the company. Maintenance is top notch. APU’s on all trucks that are kept running. No issues with idiling if it’s broken. They have a core base of customers that will keep you moving. FedEx is their #1 customer. So that involves night driving. I ran nights full time so I didn’t have to fight for parking spots everyday. Also to avoid most of the traffic. Post any questions you have and I will try to answer them.

 

Thanks Joey. I'm optimistic about pulling FedEx. Is there much or any wasted time waiting on FedEx? Also, how invasive are the driver facing cameras?

 

You are given an hour window for FedEx pick up. This is your stage time and you must be there at the start of that hour. Longest I waited was 1.5 hours. Memphis FedEx is a crazy disorganized mess. You will go there. A lot lol. You will also go to many smaller FedEx locations where you may be only truck there.

The cameras. I was never ever bothered. A young kid on YouTube said he had a calculator in his hand adding up miles while driving (stupid idea) and he got a call from safety. I never heard anyone say they were called about something on the camera.

 

You will also haul a lot of scrap cardboard bales to International Paper and haul paper rolls out. This is the second biggest customer. Each IP location is different with safety rules so just pay attention at each one. The paper plants are muddy rutted crap holes for the most part. You will get dirty. Carry a pair of boots with you if you don’t already.

I was going to post some pics of the muddy mess I encountered a few weeks ago but I deleted them.

 

Well orientation is done. Because of covid they have paired it down to a single day in class. On Monday I did a pee test and a physical and watched a couple hours worth of videos they sent me. Didn't learn a whole lot today, I guess they assume most of us know how to drive a truck. I live in North Carolina and I told my dispatcher I wanted to be home this weekend. Currently they're sending me to deliver a loaded trailer north of baton rouge and bring another loaded trailer back to the yard in Memphis that ultimately goes to Michigan.
Assigned me a 2017 Cascadia. Obviously they save the new trucks for people who have been here a while. But the truck was cleaned up nice and is in good shape. Not sure I'm too crazy about a APU but I understand how they could save fuel across the whole company.

 

2 weeks in and I'm getting over 500 miles a day and at 60cpm it's looking good. I'm not crazy about staying out a minimum of 10 days but I know there are lots of drivers who do for less. Any questions? I have experienced the shift from days to nights and back that some complained about. And it's a little rough, but nothing a 30 minute nap can't cure.

 

How long is orientation? Do they put you with a trainer or send you right out?

 

Orientation was only 2 days. Day 1 alone at hotel you have to get a physical and drug screen. Day 2 was at the terminal and was about half a day class then a test drive then into a truck. I had about 20 months experience and they sent me right out. But I think there were 1 or 2 new guys and they were going with a trainer, but idk for how long.
So far the customer base is great with 80% preloaded, drop and hook and when I do live load/unload it is usually quick. With a few exceptions, of course.