CalArk International, Inc. - Mabelvale, Ar.

I carry my laptop with me in my truck. I have 9 different spreadsheets for different things. One of them is the appointment spreadsheet. I log in when i get the preplan time/date, when i accept, the appt time, the time i arrive,,, the drop time and date.. when i arrive and date.. so if any questions i can simply pull the spreadsheet up and show where they gave me a run that was already 3 days late.. as i say... CYA...

 

I drove for CalArk for a year, as a matter of fact...one week before my annual review before they ended the employment relationship. I was sent up to pick up a load in Macungie, PA and then since I had to be in Phila. the next day, I was going to swap around Knoxville TN so that I could make it back legally. When I got to Harrisburg, I was told that it wasn't going to happen. To make a short story fast, their crap was done by the safety department and they do play favorites. They've taken a lot of hits to their safety because of their insistence on making drivers take loads from Little Rock to Laredo. The scale just south of San Antonio should be called Cal-Ark Inn as many trucks as I've seen.

I've made my money with them and it was a pretty good run, but it's the case of a company just running someone through the mill. Just be careful if you go with them

 

Cal-Ark's been getting pulled over a lot more here in Northwest Arkansas...Either by Police or by engines...seen 5 broken C-A's on I-540 in 1 month.


Anyone know if they're trying to skimp on maintenance or something?

 

Nope, no skimping on the maintenance. Variety of factors, but it usually goes down to someone driving one of their trucks without paying attention to them. Another issue is the particular engines that they are using. I do know for a fact that they will be changing out of the current stock that they have because of the maintenance issue, but not soon enough. As far as seeing Cal-Ark being pulled over on the side of the road, that's due to the high number on their scores. It's gotten pretty rough on the road since begining of 2008.

 

My husband has worked for Cal-Ark off and on since he started driving a truck back in 1988 and he has never had any of the problems you have mentioned... My husband said he doesn't ever remember Cal-Ark having a sign on bonus but they do have a referral bonus for their drivers who refer new hires so you may have gotten mixed up on that.. He was also on their dedicated run from Little Rock to Garland until the main customer they hauled loads for closed there plant down there in the DFW area and started shipping from their northern plants by train so Cal-Ark offered all the drivers a choice of staying on the run and not getting many loads or go back OTR.. That was nothing that Cal-Ark had any control over.. It was the drivers choice as to going OTR or not.
My husband has received awards for 1,500,000 safe miles and for 100% on time deliveries while driving for them even though Cal-Ark had to reschedule some of his loads because he ran out of D.O.T. on duty time hrs for delivery.. Cal-Ark isn't perfect but so are no other companies and there will never be.. Cal-Ark can't please all their drivers no matter what they do cause there's always gonna be that one who is gonna be pissed cause he didn't get his or her way.. Cal-Ark will work with their drivers and help them as much as they possibly can within reason. My husband told me one time that there's only one difference between a truck driver and a new puppy and that is that the puppy will quit whining after a couple of weeks.. LOL

 

Cal-Ark keeps their company trucks serviced regularly and perform proper maintenance to fix any problems that are reported to the shop even if they have to send the truck back to the dealers shop to get it taken care of. As far as the lease trucks on the Central Hauling side of Cal-Ark, it is up to them to have this done at their own cost of course so it may be some of them you see sitting. Cal-Ark requires their drivers to do a pre-trip, post trip and midnight inspections to try and keep their trucks running and legal.. If the company trucks are being downed, sitting or broke down then it is most likely due partly to the drivers not doing their inspections properly or they aren't doing them at all other than just entering it into the Qualcomm as being done without ever getting out of the truck to check.. People don't take pride in their work like they used to and it's just all about the money anymore..

 

^^^^ hay @d o g .... we've had a lot of recruiters on here lately, eh? What say you?!?

 

Digging up an 8yr old thread. But I did find it funny that the OP didn't understand why the company fired him for driving 17mph over the speed limit on a suspended license! HA! Oh, he knew he had the failure to appear, of course he did.

 

I don't see how he couldn't have known his license was suspended..usually if a driver fails to appear they would get a warning in the mail... I know NY does that, I had a past (now defunct) company where I got a fix it ticket for "inadequate brakes" on an axle, and the safety director just told me to give him the report and ticket. I was told by the inspecting trooper to get it checked or repaired by a mechanic and send the form in certifying it was taken care of, and the judge would dismiss it. About 9 months after giving the safety manager the documents,and having the shop fix the trailer, I get a notice from NY DMV threatening to suspend my CDL if I didn't pay the fine. I called the court listed on the copy of that ticket that I kept and the clerk informed my the judge doesn't dismiss brake tickets, and the company never responded to the fine letter. Luckily I was able to get the safety guy to take care of it and kept my license.

The very next time I got a fix it ticket in NYS (no wonder I don't care for DOT in this state lol) I followed up on it, got the defect fixed the next day, sent in everything to the court listed on the ticket, and followed up, even contacting the clerk and the ticket was dismissed. it pays to follow up on that stuff. I don't put my trust in other people to handle minor tickets anymore. Most company safety departments now make paying fines and /or tickets, and CDL related stuff the responsibility of the driver. It pays to cover you rear on that stuff. i almost learned that hard way.