Arrow drivers wake to nightmare before Christmas

[Alpha Mare]

Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 – On Tuesday, as many as 1,400 truck drivers for Arrow Trucking Co., based out of Tulsa, OK, have been frantically trying to figure out their next moves as the company unexpectedly announced it was “suspending all operations” that day.

Truckers started calling in to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Land Line after they were awakened with phone calls from their dispatchers alerting them to the grim news that the company was shutting its doors and that their instructions were to turn in their trucks to the nearest Freightliner dealership. However, no instructions were given for drivers of International trucks.

One OOIDA member told Land Line on Tuesday, Dec. 22, that he had a bad feeling this was coming down the pike when his fuel card didn’t work at a truck stop the previous night. As of press time, the company driver, who didn’t want to be named, was stranded at a Freightliner dealership in Roanoke, VA, because he didn’t have enough fuel to make it to his delivery in Maryland.

Stephanie Ortega, who works in the Fleet Services department at Daimler, said she found out when she arrived at work Tuesday morning that Arrow Trucking was shutting its doors and about the company’s plan to help get Arrow’s drivers home.
She was instructed to tell drivers to drop their vehicles off at the nearest Freightliner dealership and to leave their keys with an attendant there or at a truck stop if they are out of fuel.

However, one drawback to the plan is that drivers are on their own to find transportation to a local Greyhound station once they have surrendered their trucks.

http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_Reports/2009/Dec09/122209-arrow-drivers.htm


IOW, don't let the door hit ya ....

[Oceander]

That's pretty sh**ty - I understand that companies go out of business from time to time, and that that's the way it's supposed to work, but you just don't leave hard-working men and women hundreds of miles from home with nothing but their shoe-leather and their wits to get them home, particularly just before Christmas.

[thundley4]

Some of the trucks were carrying shipments?  After the shitty treatment by the company, I'd be tempted to either try and sell whatever I was hauling or just about abandon the truck along the road somewhere , since they abandoned their drivers.

[Chris]

Unless those drivers lay out money from their own pockets, they're effectively stranded.  That really sucks.

It's a huge mess all around.  If Arrow doesn't pay their fuel bill, the company that supplies their fleet services is out that money, not just Arrow.  Those OOIDA members are not Arrow employees... they're individuals that own their own vehicles and have an agreement to drive for Arrow.  If they don't get paid, they're liable for their own fuel costs. 

[Baruch Menachem]

It sounds like all they had money for was the phone calls.   And the dispatcher wages.

As to the contents of the trucks, I think the law on that is that it belongs exclusively to the person who sent the freight, not the company.    So if the driver got into the truck he wouldn't be stealing from Arrow, but from some third party who also trusted arrow.   And got shafted.

[Chris]

If they're owner operators, I would drop the load and get as far away from Arrow as soon as possible.  I assume Daimler Fleet Services will be loaning the money to the drivers for fuel and charging it back to Arrow's account.

[Texacon]

Truckers used to be a pretty 'stick together' kind of group.  I don't think it would be too hard to simply take your stuff out of the truck at any truck stop, lock your keys up inside and find another trucker headed toward your home with the offer of helping him/her drive.

KC

[Chris]

I heard about this the other day.  Arrow is/was a customer of ours as well, but I haven't heard anything from them.  No phone calls, no emails, nothing.  They must have been doing the bulk of their business with DFS.

[littlelamb]

What a awful way to spend Christmas

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Some of the trucks were carrying shipments?  After the shitty treatment by the company, I'd be tempted to either try and sell whatever I was hauling or just about abandon the truck along the road somewhere , since they abandoned their drivers.

Those shipments belong to the customer at the end of the haul. Certainly not the customer's fault.

I understand your sentiment though.

[thundley4]

Those shipments belong to the customer at the end of the haul. Certainly not the customer's fault.

I understand your sentiment though.

And most carriers have insurance on their shipments, so in the end, it would be the insurance company that pays.

[ironhorsedriver]

Amazingly, up until just before Christmas, Arrow was still advertising for drivers on satellite radio.

[JohnnyReb]

I've always been very honest....especially with other peoples money/stuff. But in this case, if I were caught up in this mess far from home right before Christmas, I believe there would be a "tire" sale at the nearest truck stop.