Overall, Panther ii is a pretty good company. But, before you go spending your own out-of-pocket money to work here, please know what you're getting into. First off, i can't speak for an actual owner-operator, but I'm sure it's pretty much the same.
I work for an owner operator, and fortunately got on with a good one, I've heard bad stories about not getting paid from some people. My owner pays me fine, but Panther ii has some pretty stupid and cheating practices. If you don't have your bills in TripPak by thursday, there's a chance it wont reach them by Monday cut off time. So they say fax it. I faxed my bills, recieved confirmation, and then it wasn't on my check which you have to wait two weeks to get! What a scam! They say they've never recieved it. You can't just call and find out info because you get transferred here and then there, and pretty soon you just keep ending up 5th in line on the phone, using all your cell minutes, and hanging up or leaving endless messages.
Also, you call to get on the hometime board. They say you have priority getting loads headed home. After we were out for three weeks, we decided we needed a break. We asked three times before successfully getting even "put in the system" that we wanted hometime. And then every load we were sent was to an opposite side of the U.S. Then home. While we were at home, our in service percentage went way down. From the 90's to the 60's in 4 days! And they use those percentages to give you loads by. They don't want you going home!
Also, in case you're going to work for an owner... Be prepared for the expenses you will incur. They don't tell you this before you're approved for orientation, (notice I didn't say hireable) They tell you you're approved, but when you get there, they'll redo all paperwork and checks and you might NOT make it. You will have to pay all expenses such as faxes to send in paperwork, showers, no reimbursements for things like companies reimburse you for. You might have to pay your way to orientation... Depends on owner. Be Careful!!! You will not recieve 1st paycheck for probably 3 weeks. You will get paid weekly after the 1st one, but if you spend lots of money getting to orientation and all, you might be dead broke before you get paid. And Canada is a MUST!!! IT costs lots of money to go there (tolls, faxing paperwork) and even though it says NO FORCED DISPATCH, if you turn down loads you're acceptance rate will go down. That is also used to get you loads. Catch 22 situation.
You are told you can train your spouse for free, but you can't let them drive on the road. You have to train in a parking lot... Unless you get an owner with an automatic, that's kinda hard to do... Just be careful in making your decision to work here. Do not go into it in the hole financially. Make sure you have money to hold you over, and don't be behind on your bills going into it. Make copies of everything, try and call about things. They don't volunteer information, probably so everyone doesn't know how to operate effectively and they can rip you off!
It's not all bad, but beware of the bad, and weigh your decision!
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