Driver Orientation

You have probably read about some of the things that makes Osborne different from other carriers, but here’s the biggest one: how we treat YOU!

We know that most people don’t like change: we get it! Our goal is to make your move to Osborne an easy one, and as headache free as possible. This starts with our straight forward pay program, where you will get paid $215 for each day you are in orientation. So if you are a regional or OTR driver, you start earning the same consistent check that you signed up for even before you hit the road.

Please take a look a this information, as this will serve as your guide to our orientation so you know exactly what to expect.

Getting to Osborne

We are conveniently located on the north side of Cincinnati in a suburb called Fairfield.

We are just a few short hours away from the cities we recruit out of, so no trekking across the United States just to get here!

Here’s the distance to our door step from some of our more popular recruiting spots:

Dayton, Ohio: 43 Miles
Toledo, Ohio: 190 Miles
Cleveland, Ohio: 245 Miles
Lexington, Kentucky: 118 Miles
Louisville, Kentucky: 135 Miles
Indianapolis, Indiana: 112 Miles
Fort Wayne, Indiana: 167 Miles
Detroit, Michigan: 251 Miles
Chicago, Illinois: 296 Miles
Rockford, Illinois: 387 Miles
St. Louis, Missouri: 350 Miles

We know you are worrying a lot about changing jobs, and so we try to take the financial risk out of the equation for you on transportation. Here are several ways we can get you here:

Your Vehicle: We encourage drivers who can to bring their own personal vehicle. This allows you the freedom to go run personal errands when you are here and taking a break. If you choose this option, when you arrive, Osborne will reimburse you the maximum amount allowed under the Federal Mileage Reimbursement Rate for that year. For 2018 that is 54.5 cents per mile. And don’t worry, we won’t pay you on short miles! We will pay door to door from your house to our office using Google’s fastest route miles.

Flight: Yes, you read that right, at Osborne we are willing to fly you here if you are over 200 miles away from our terminal. We will pay for your ticket up front, and if available in your area, we will even Uber you to the airport from your house: all on our dime! If you have an airlines rewards account to earn miles, let your recruiter know and we’ll make sure you even earn the miles for the trip: talk about a win, win! We will need to make sure you have conducted the background check and MVR records request forms and that we have received those back before we book the ticket. If Uber is not available, we will ask that you arrange transportation to the airport. We will arrange for transportation from either Cincinnati (CVG) or Dayton (DAY) airport at our expense: this will either be someone from Osborne picking you up, or an Uber.

Uber: If you are within a 200 mile radius of Cincinnati, and Uber or other ride share program is available in your area, we can arrange for an Uber to bring you to orientation. This will be paid up front by Osborne: at no additional cost to you. Even the tip for the driver is handled by us! This will be a private passenger vehicle, so you aren’t having to share a car with anyone other than the Uber driver! Now how many companies bring you from your front door to theirs using a private car service? Again, Osborne is a little different!

Rental Car: If you would like to, you can rent a rental car through any agency you choose. There is a local Enterprise store that you can return an Enterprise car to right around the corner from Osborne. Osborne even has a discount code for Enterprise that we would be happy to provide you. Enterprise does require a major credit card to reserve a rental car, and that will need to be provided by you and paid up front. You will also be responsible for providing your own fuel for the trip. Here’s the good news though: Upon arrival here at Osborne, we will reimburse you 100% of the rental cost and regular fees & taxes (not damage, insurance, smoking charges, etc.), plus we will reimburse you for 100% of your fuel cost. Unfortunately, our pesky accountants & lawyers require you to bring us receipts, and won’t let us pay for a rental car up front, as Osborne cannot assume any liability for you until you actually get here and become an employee. You can visit Enterprise’s website to check on rates.

The Last Resort: We know some drivers don’t want to fly, cannot get a rental car, and sometimes Uber or bringing your own car aren’t an option, so we have to have some other way to get you here. Osborne can arrange for a bus ticket. This will be through a company like Greyhound or Mega Bus depending on your location. If available, we can arrange Uber transportation from your house to the bus station; or, you can find your own way to the bus station. We will have either an Osborne employee or an Uber driver there to pick you up from the Cincinnati bus terminal. We all know buses aren’t the most glamorous, but sometimes, they do serve a purpose.

As you are making arrangements, etc., please remember Cincinnati is in the Eastern Standard Time Zone (EST).

Where You'll be Staying: Lodging

You will soon learn that Osborne really does try to do everything they can to take care of all of their drivers. Whether you are starting your job here, or broke down out in Timbuktu, we do not believe in putting driver’s up in a budget, economy motel: you will always be put in a decent, business style hotel.

Locally, Osborne utilizes the Holiday Inn Express Fairfield. While we want you to make friends here, we don’t think you need a roommate: Osborne will provide every new driver with their own individual room. You can check in on Monday night and will check out Thursday morning: all on Osborne’s dime! There is even a free HOT breakfast each morning!

If due to travel issues with available plane or bus trips, we will set you up for a hotel room Sunday night as well. If you are driving here on your own, you can opt to get a hotel room Sunday night for your convenience, however, that will be on your own dime.

Here are some of the very nice amenities at the Holiday Inn Express-Fairfield:

Free Wi-Fi
Indoor Heated Swimming Pool
Complimentary Fitness Center
Daily Housekeeping
Mini-Refrigerator
Microwave

Local Area: Food, Activities & Shopping

Within a short distance of the hotel there are several restaurants that you may wish to visit. While some are within walking distance, please don’t play in traffic:

Gold Star Chili: Cincinnati Style Chili, yes, it’s runny, do not just get a bowl of Chili here, that’s gross! Try a Cheese Coney or a Three-Way: Chili, Spaghetti and Cheese.
Rapid Fire Pizza: Fast-Casual Wood Fired Pizza
Guthrie’s Chicken Fingers: Fried Chicken Fingers, Fries, Coleslaw & Texas Toast
Arby’s: Fast-Food Roast Beef & Other Sandwiches
The Spinning Fork: Sit-Down Italian Restaurant
Frisch’s Big Boy: Diner Style Fare and Salad Bar
Jet’s Pizza: Deep-Dish Style Pizza, ask about the Turbo crust!
Subway: Who doesn’t know what Subway is right?
McDonald’s: No explanation necessary.
Starbucks: Coffee & Light Food

Uber is available in the area for short trips around, so feel free to explore the surrounding areas. If you haven’t used Uber before, download their app from your phone’s app store, or you can visit their website. Here’s some ideas of other Greater Cincinnati adventures:
Jungle Jim’s International Market (2.6mi): Seriously the coolest grocery store you’ve ever seen, and probably the biggest. Hard to believe a grocer is a tourist attraction, but it really is!

Cobb Theatre & Cinebistro (10.2mi): A movie theater that has big leather recliners! In the Cinebistro side, you can order food right from your seat and they will bring it out to you: they do suggest getting there 30 minutes before your movie starts. The food is really good too!

Top Golf (4.6mi): Made famous in Las Vegas and Texas, this is like a driving range on steroids. Light up targets, a really neat scoring system and table side food & drink service. You don’t even have to bring your own clubs, they are sitting right there at every bay. Don’t Golf? No worries: it is still a fun & unique experience.

Full Throttle Indoor Karting (4.7mi): Get the “Need for Speed” out of your system! 40Mph Go-Karts on an indoor slick concrete track: it is an absolute blast! Please be sure to abide by all of their safety rules: we want you going home in one piece!

Cincinnati boasts some really great things to do, so if you have some free time, and want to go explore, we encourage you to check it out! We also have professional sports teams in baseball, football, hockey and soccer, as well as great museums and the world famous Cincinnati Zoo.

Shopping wise, there are plenty of places where you can go and grab some essentials. A few quick ones are:
Walgreens Pharmacy (1.4 Miles): Convenience Store
Walmart Supercenter (6.2 Miles): “Welcome to Walmart”
Kroger (4.3 Miles): Grocery Store
Bass Pro Shops (3.0 Miles): Maybe not essential, but we won’t tell your wife!
Tri-County Mall (4.3 Miles): Indoor Shopping Mall
Liberty Center (10 Miles): Outdoor Shopping Mall with a Cabela’s Across the Street

What to Bring

At Osborne we always want to make sure you are prepared for whatever is coming your way: in that same vein, here is a list of items that you should bring with you to orientation:

Direct Deposit Information for Payroll

Copy of a Voided Check
Or, Bank Routing & Account Numbers

Current Driver’s License

If you have recently moved, keep in mind your CDL is only valid for 30 days from when you move.
Speaking of Driver’s License: Make sure you have a valid Medical Card and that the medical card has been registered with the state your license is in. If you do not have a valid medical card registered with the state, your CDL is invalid and we won’t be able to proceed until that is corrected.

Copy of Previous 8 Days Logbook

Identification Necessary to Complete your I-9 Form

Call HR if you have any questions.

Personal Supplies

Clothing Personal Care Products/Toiletries (Hotel will have basics like Shampoo & Soap)
Medications or other Medically Required Items
Sleep Apnea Machine if Required

Food & Snacks

Hotel Provides Breakfast each morning after your stay
We provide lunch all three days.
Please bring any other food or snacks that you might wish

Items for the Truck

Tools (Hammer, Vice Grips, Screw Drivers, etc.)
If Flying: Be sure to Check TSA before Packing
Power Inverter: If you wish to have a power inverter installed in your new truck, please bring one along. Our shop will be happy to install it for you. Note: We do ask that all power inverters be installed by the shop, so if you can’t bring it with you and you buy it later, let us know and we’ll put it in.
Bedding for your Truck
Toiletries & Cleaning Products for your Truck

Please do keep in mind that when you head out Friday, we’ll be working off of the home time schedule we’ve agreed to. So if that is every other weekend, make sure you have what you need to get down the road for the following week. With not starting out until Friday, depending on where you live, I would probably plan on arriving back home late Friday, or first thing Saturday.
Bottom line: make sure you have enough socks and underwear to make it back home (if we’ve included the message, their’s usually someone that didn’t!).

Orientation Schedule: Getting Down to Business

You’ve made the best decision you can as a professional truck driver: you’ve decided to join a great company. So what’s next?

Arrival Day: Monday
We have to get some basic items out of the way to convert your conditional offer of employment into an actual job. That will include satisfactory completion of following:

In-Person & Onsite Interview
Motor Vehicle Records Report
Criminal Background Check Report
FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) Report
Road Test & Driving Skills Assessment

Note: This will be conducted in a manual transmission sleeper tractor. Fair warning: this is more than your quick 15 minute trip around the block road test. Applicants must demonstrate they can satisfactorily complete all facets of driving a truck. Some examples include, proper pre-trip, backing, maneuvering, shifting, cornering as well as on-road driving.

Completing a DOT Driver Application (Be sure to have previous employer information)
DOT Previous Employer Safety & Drug Testing Results
DOT Toxicology Screening & Medical Physical

Some of these steps require release forms. In order to expedite that process, if we have made you a conditional offer, we ask that you visit this Mobile Site (only can be accessed via your phone). This form will clear us to obtain your MVR, Background Check & DOT Previous Employer’s Safety Records. If you would like, we can send you over the additional forms to complete so that you can save some time once you arrive. Please give us a call at 513-870-5858 in order to get copies of those forms.

All said and done, this is about a 3-5 hour process.

Now that we hopefully have that all completed, we will take you back to the hotel (unless you drove your own car), and you can get rested up to start orientation!

Tuesday:

Someone from Osborne will be at the hotel between 7:50 & 7:55am to pick you up for orientation. If you drove your own car here, please be here and ready to go at 8am. Here’s a brief overview of what ground we will cover before your day is over on Tuesday:

Employment Paperwork

I-9 Form
Income Tax Withholding Forms
Direct Deposit Information (Remember your cancelled check or account info)
Other Miscellaneous Forms

Review of Employee Handbook & Driver’s Reference Guide

Explanation of Benefits, Time Off, Vacation & Leave Policies
General Company Employment Policies
Company Procedures
Dispatch Process
Trip Planning & Mapping Exercises

DPF Regeneration Procedures & Video

Hours-of-Service Rules & Regulations Review

Omnitracs ELD/AOBRD Training

Meet & Greet with Management Facilities Tour

Offices
Warehouse
Driver’s Lounge
Maintenance Shop

Day one will end around 4pm EST. Someone from Osborne will drop you off at the hotel, unless your brought your own car.

We will provide a pizza lunch on Tuesday. Every driver gets their own Large Pizza with whatever toppings you would like. We will send you a menu for Papa John’s Pizza so that you can put your order in before hand. If you want to start getting some ideas together, go ahead and take a look: Menu.

Wednesday:

Hopefully at this point you are already starting to feel like part of the family! Same routine as yesterday, we’ll pick you up between 7:50 & 7:55am, and we will be off and rolling by 8am. Here’s the course overview for today:

Finish Reviewing the Driver’s Reference Guide

Smith System Classroom Training

This is a big part of what we do here at Osborne, so please pay attention.
There will be a test at the end!

Finish ELD Training

Wednesday’s New Driver Lunch

Something that makes Osborne stand out is the fact that while we have access to great equipment, training, and standards like a bigger company; but, we maintain the small, family owned & operated feel that our driver’s have come to expect.

One of the highlights of Wednesday is our new driver lunch with the upper management team. Our owner and management team truly feel that the idea of fellowship and “breaking bread” with people is one of the best ways to get to know someone, and they are interested in getting to know you as an individual, and to learn about your story and what brought you here to Osborne. This will be our chance to get away from the office, go sit down and share a meal together, and learn more about you, while you learn more about the team here at Osborne.

Not only is it a free meal, but it is also a meal of your choice, so take a look around at some local restaurants and see what you might like to go try!

Day two will end around 3:30 or 4pm.

Thursday:

Day three will begin at 8am as well, with pickups at the hotel between 7:50 & 7:55am. Today we will cover your employee benefits, as well as finish up operation and safety training from Wednesday. And the best part of the day: you get in your new Osborne tractor!

At Osborne you have access to a wide array of employee benefits. We do not believe in a one size fits all approach, and we want you to be able to select the benefits that work for you and your family. Today you will have the option to evaluate those benefits, and make your selections. You will be eligible to receive these benefits on the first of the month following 60 days of employment. Here are some of the steps you’ll take:

Select a Medical Insurance Plan, or Waive Medical
Fill out Forms for Dental & Vision Insurance

Note: Osborne pays 100% of Employee Only Premium

Beneficiary paperwork for Company Paid $50,000 Life Insurance Policy

Note: Beneficiary must be 18 years of age or older. If younger than 18, you’ll need to have to take additional steps outside of Osborne. Please Contact HR if you would like more information.

You will also have the chance to evaluate additional Voluntary insurance products Osborne offers, such as:

Short Term Disability
Long Term Disability
Portable Life Insurance Policies (up to $100,000 with no Medical questions may be available depending on insurer criteria)
Life Insurance may also be available for spouses, children, grandchildren, etc.
Accident & Critical Illness Policies

Operations & Safety Training continues with:

Smith System Hands-On Driving Training
Demonstration Drive Ride & Drive Employee
Driver Field Training
Pre & Post Trip Inspections of Trucks & Trailers
Blind Spot Assessment
Mirror Setting Demonstration
Sliding Tandems & Scaling Loads
Accident Documentation Procedures
Receive Your Company Tractor
Log into Omnitracs
Move into Tractor
Familiarize yourself with your new tractor Final Review, Comments & Questions Meet with Dispatch & Receive your First Load

We will provide lunch on Thursday afternoon. Lunch will be ordered in from Jimmy John’s. You will be sent menu’s before orientation so that you can select what you would like. Please be sure to select a sandwich, chips and a drink. Feel free to check out the Jimmy John’s Menu.

The days reflected on this schedule might change a little bit based on holidays, and other scheduling conflicts, but overall, this gives you a good idea of what a normal orientation schedule is.

Pride in Your Ride Program

We take a tremendous amount of pride in our company, and having our name on the doors, so we thought you might too!

Every driver gets the option to have their name put on the door of their tractor, as a way to show the world that you take pride in your new ride!

Also, for any of our drivers who have served in the Armed Forces we would welcome the opportunity to say thank you for your service and to honor your years of service by putting your branch of service on your tractor. You bravely served your country, and we want the men and women out there on the road to be able to honor your service as well!

And don’t worry, if putting your name on your truck isn’t your thing, we understand and you can opt out of this program: no pressure!

Welcome to the Family

Once you complete orientation and are sent out on your Maiden Voyage at Osborne, you are now officially a part of the Osborne Family of Drivers. Since 1959 this has been a place that great drivers just like you have decided to call home.

We are proud to have a group of safe and professional drivers who are motivated by a genuine desire to do a great job for our customers, and at the same time, provide a reliable and consistent living for them and their families. Welcome to the Family!