OIX/Ortrans

I have been here over 3 yrs. You have no idea of what this company used to be. It used to be fun to work here. Drivers were truly treated like family. Being here only 6 months you only know it as it is now. (A take off of JB hunt). Talk to some of the old timers and ask them how it used to be. I understand you can only speak of what you know and that is why your opinion is as it is, and mine is as it is.

 

Well I am going to "add-on" to Rookies thread and begin to post my Blog accordingly.

Lets start from the beginning.

A few weeks ago I did some heavy duty research regarding this company. I checked the public motor carrier records, safety ratings etc. Everything looked excellent. Moreover I was totally impressed with their safety rating. I checked the forums and the usual informational outlets. If I came across anything it was positive in nature. It is a pretty amazing feat since this company has been around since 1993. I even came across one of their monthly meetings that was posted on the internet. Needless to say I was very impressed. The proof is in the pudding as they say.

Called the company and talked to their recruiter/safety person. Very polite, knowledgeable and up front. All questions that I asked were directly answered and qualified. First thing I noticed is that they know what they are looking for. The impression I received is that they are looking for self reliant, responsible, experienced professional drivers. I did not have to play 50 questions or have to drag answers out of them. They were very upfront regarding what their expectations were, and what they had to offer. No hidden agenda that i could see. Questions that were asked were answered.

The next step I took was to go to their yard in Kansas City Missouri ( unannounced) and have a look around (recon) and talk to some of the drivers. The facility was clean, orderly and neat. The drivers I met were pretty cool and seemed upbeat and very friendly. They were middle aged like me so I felt pretty comfortable. I didn't hear any whining, moaning or complaining. To me that is a huge plus!! They had a pretty nice washer and dryer on site and a computer for the drivers to use.

The trucks were nice (late model Kenworths). The sleepers were pretty spacious. A closer inspection of the trucks revealed that they have a dead axle on the back. However, there are no traditional dual tires on the tractor unit. The front axle on the tractor appears to be the power, and the rear axle on the back does not have a drive line. They use only one large wide tire (This definitely must provide more surface area to grab and increase efficiency). This appears that this 6x2 configuration was done to increase fuel economy. Personally I think it is genius.


I have my orientation this Monday July 8, 2013. More to come

 

That was today right?

 

I am pretty excited about going to orientation.

 

LurchKCMO, thank you for the info. Please tell me... are ALL the trucks you saw there mid roof? Thank you and keep us posted.

 

All the best to you...

 

Do you still work for them?

 

Yes. Did I meet you this morning

 

The trucks I saw are what was posted on the Ortran website. That was a pleasant surprise. Some carriers will have a few flag ship new trucks that they post on their web site....but you rarely see them on the road. This was not the case. The ones I saw on the Ortran yard were pretty sharp. Once again the proof was in the pudding I pretty much looked at a few of the KW's and they all had mid-roof sleepers.

Hopefully I can get one with the bars on the front. They look cool and accent the tractor well (nudge nudge wink wink).


They also had some "local trucks" that were pretty obvious and did not have the sleepers.