ozark not so good

How long have you been with ozark jasper? Whats your operating area whats the farthest west they've sent you and are you still out 8-10 and home 2?

 

Been on with Ozark since April. Farthest west - Forth Worth and Kansas City, KS. I usually wind up staying out 12 days to get home every other weekend but there are some who go home every 8 no matter what days it falls on.

 

did your recruiter tell ya that they turn in all their trucks @500K miles? THEY DON'T...U'LL GET ONE WITH 500+ ON IT. the insurance is an indemnity plan...not medical insurance...it sux! if you quit or get terminated within 3 mos. they will come after you for their cost of providing the orientation(which they don't pay you for, which is against federal law). You will get the opportunity to sign that agreement in orientation.They consider home-time as "48 hours NOT 2 DAYS". If you do a 34 hr. restart out on the road, they will count that your home time. Only the few drivers who have been their for a while get the new cascadia's. all other drivers get hand-me-down wore out trucks. they buy the cheapest trucks available. even the new cascadia's have "manual" windows and mirrors. They will try to beat you out of your short haul pay or lay over/breakdown pay. They talk about how they love their drivers but by their actions its plain to see thats just recruiting ########. there is no detention pay either. I've been there 3 months now and have just about had enough. their qual comm system is so inconsistant that you cant tell if you're going to pick up a preloaded trlr or to an appointment. They purposely dont put the phone #'s in the qual comm because they dont want their drivers calling the customers and the directions are usually obsolete or just wrong. If ya go to work for them, be sure to have your own gps because you'll not get one in your truck. They are a family owned company and i think they're working hard at keeping as much money in the pockets of the family rather than compensating the drivers that make that money for them. Funny aint it. I could have a building and a fleet of trucks but without drivers i'd have nothing...maybe Ozark and others need to read this.

 

My first truck had over 700k miles on it. One of the older Volvos. They traded it as soon as it started having problems. Their indemnity plan sucks. I'm not paying to be in a medical discount program but if you stick it out to the 1-year mark you can get real medical insurance. From what I was told in class and then signed a binding agreement before being hired, if you quit before your 90-day probationary period, they will keep your final paycheck to cover their losses from bringing you in to start with. They pay for bus ticket, snacks & lunch, motel, and cab. They do tell you up front about the 48-hour rule but I've NEVER had trouble taking the home time I request and its usually always 2 1/2 days. The 34-hour restart thing is untrue. I've had to do one on the road and then still got home when I was scheduled. They traded my Volvo, put me in an '08 Columbia with 450k miles and has a tri-pack. They do buy the base model trucks. They don't tend to give you layover pay unless you make a point to ask but it has happened to me before. I always get my short haul or extra stop pay. There is no detention pay for drivers. Their quallcomm system isn't any different than any other I've ever seen. They send you a preplan, you accept or deny, then deliver it or sit. It's pretty simple. If you don't understand something or have a question by all means, ask dispatch. If you want to know if it's a drop & hook just ask if it doesn't say. They don't want us calling customers but I have called dispatch and gotten numbers before. Their directions come from other drivers and can be wrong or confusing. Not the brightest crayons writing up these directions. As far as I know, most companies don't provide a GPS so not really surprised there. They are a mid-size company and family owned and yes they are cheap. They want to pocket as much of that money as possible as I suspect everybody does. In my 7 months with them my biggest complaints are junky trailers (which I have seen an increase in new trailers) - but there is still a lot of junk being pulled. And my other gripe is load planning. Too much time on small loads & not enough time on the mid-longer runs. Paper log company = paper log planners!

 

My Father has been with them for a couple of years and is not happy, about every 3rd week he gets a good check. Everyone is correct about the sitting and waiting...Fed Ex is a huge deal with them and its mostly night driving.

 

Does anyone know how Ozark handled sleep apnea?

 

Yes they do. they have a new training evaluation program that's paid and paid orientation. give them a call been there 5 years and they have been good to me

 

Reading these posts I see a lot of past drivers complaining. I know each case is different and I'm not saying what happened to you isn't fact. however that said I've been there five years and have found a few things that makes Ozark work. ALLWAYS send a Macro 14 that's tells them when you will arrive and how many hours have left. most drivers use this to tell dispatchers they are going to bed when they still have 2 hrs of drive time left so yep you will sit when you say you cant go for 10 Hrs it puts you at the bottom of the board. I always send with 1 hr left that way I can go to the next shipper and then take a break. I switched to electronic to test them, first timer, I still got 3000 miles on my full week and 2200 on my home time week. I'm now dedicated Mon thru Fri home nightly and off weekend with 2450 miles. yes your insurance at start is a bridge ins and it sucks but after 1 yr you switch to United Healthcare not bad not the best but had to keep it at that level as a company due to Obama Care. the company does care. you are NOT a number. you can go talk to the owner and discuss issues and get a resolution. I like Ozark and if you are thinking of a switch its a great home. as with any company there are bad drivers, dispatchers, and planners. our equipment is new, you will start in an older truck to see your abilities first then move up. remember this every company has a septic tank in their yard, you just need to pick what crap you want to deal with.

 

The older Columbias have manual windows but upgraded round dial gauge packages and dual bunks. The Cascadias have power windows, mirrors and upgraded round dial gauges with 9 dials including air suspension psi which helps you see if you are overweight on drives. Also all aluminum wheels, dual bunks, nice full length shelves/cabinets with 3 12 volt plugs for 12v appliances. Both have Tri Pac APUs, Espar bunk heaters and 1500 watt inverters. Also nice Panasonic CD radios with weather band and aux. ports on all trucks.

The service/support at the shops at the terminals is absolutely excellent. The terminals all have their own Columbia big rig tow and pickup tire road call trucks. Memphis shop runs 24/7 and they are always just a phone call away. They also have accounts with TA and Petro for any service needs away from a Terminal. I have always felt supported and secure if l ever need anything truck or trailer related.

 

By the way l did alot of research here and Ozark was the one that stood out above the rest when l chose my home/company. The title of this thread is not true.