In 1961, Mose and Dorothy Higginbotham founded the company in Memphis, Tenn., as a regional LTL carrier. Ozark incorporated in 1967. Although adding customers each year, the company remained primarily a local carrier until the early 1980s. It's move into long-haul transport coincided with the deregulation of the U.S. trucking industry. Faced with the vigorous competition in the LTL business that followed deregulation, Ozark’s new owners—sons Steve and Tommy Higginbotham—accepted the offer of an LTL customer wanting a long-distance interstate carrier out of Memphis.