Ronnie Dowdy, Inc.

You are so very right, took em two days just to give me an address to freightliner in Florida that they wanted to send me to. Then 4 days later my truck was ready for pick up I go in and here the company is fighting with Freightliner due to it took 60.00 more for parts they did not fore see..60.00 they had the old parts in hand to show they were messed up and I would have been right back in or dead if it went and I didn't catch it right away! Now this Freightliner saved them the expense of paying for a cab and no they didn't have a van to run people around they took me clear across town to the motel that took EFS they did the best they could do to the get parts to them seeing that Dowdy didn't approve the repairs till after the cut off time on Saturday and they were closed Sunday!
The dispatchers are wonderful but they have no lead way in any decisions it is like they are all in fear of being fired for approving anything so they wait on an answer and your stuck sitting like I said for days! They DO NOT tell you what to expect from them before orientation then they drop a bomb on you! (as stated above) I am very glad to be gone from them...Stay safe out there.

 

They have been out of the chapter 11 mess for quite a few years now.
As for the troubles you 2 seem to have had, sorry about your bad luck.
We have been here nearly 5 years, and no major problems. BUT, we aren't company drivers, either.

Judi Kay

 

Maybe me a Simplyred are just lucky, as this has not been my experience. Nightrider were you lease purchase or a company driver? If you were lease purchase you can't expect to get break down pay. As far as the charge for your physical it would have been 100% reimbursed after 90 days. I don't know about the 91% turnover either, most weeks there are only 2 or 3 drivers in orientation.

Stopintraffic sorry to here about your experience also. I have never had a problem getting repairs made in the yard or on the road. As far as the taxi to the motel it would have been reimbursed if you had turned in a receipt with a p.o.

As far as the bankruptcy it was over in Jan. 2005. If you check our Saferstat score you will see it is satisfactory which is the best you can get. It did go down for a couple of months in 2009 but came back up after a on site audit. It suffered due to drivers not being currant on their logs, not due to crashes or unsafe equipment.

Does the company try and save money? You bet they do it is a small company. Every dollar makes a difference. Do I like every thing about the company? No I don't, however they are better than most companies I've worked for.

 

Well, for my friends above, my husband worked at Ronnie Dowdy for many years only to be treated very poorly, especially by Richie. My husband resigned and went to another company two years ago (Maverick) and is treated with respect. Several months after my husband quit R.D. Richie sent my husband a very racist and nasty e-mail through Face Book (not even on his friends list). Bad enough that we could have sued for harassment. We didn't because we knew we live in the same town and it could cause some problems for our family. Now as of yesterday, Ronnie Dowdy has shut it's doors for good. due to poor management, lack of communication, greed, lies, and the way this company treated their employees. It's called reaping and sewing. I wish the best for the ones who have lost their jobs and pray for a new and better one. As for Ronnie and Richie, they have found out the hard way that God is a righteous judge.

 

I just heard a couple drivers talking about dowdy closing and I thought the were bsing!!!!

 

Only think I could find on the net about Ronnie Dowdy Closing;

http://www.guardonline.com/content/ronnie-dowdy-puts-brakes

The article does confirm the carrier has closed its doors.

 

I seen something about it just now on facebook and Landair is offering to help drivers get home if its true!!!!

 

I had worked for Dowdy of and on since 1988, I find what Sparrow66 says as vary hard to believe. I have always made a good living and been treated faily and NEVER lied to by anyone at Dowdy. When the dession was made to close Ronnie himself called me and explained what was going on. My last paycheck was there and they gave me good referances to all the companies I applied with. If sparrow wants to make acquasations lets see the proof. Ronnie could have done like Arrow and just closed and left drivers stranded all over the country they didn't. They made every effort to get the drivers home!

 

It is obvious that you have a very low opinion of the owners of this company. Who are you to say God's will? God is Merciful, Man is corrupt.

In reality, the recession has forced over 6000 trucking companies small, medium, and Large to face the Truth! Sometimes they must cease to exist due to factors they can not control, like a revenue declining and increased expenses. Sadly, the last thing the "Owner" must accept is defeat. I am optimistic that the drivers who got laid off will find a new place to call home. Most of drivers I have noticed, always looked professional and likable.