Arrow driver: carrier's closing feels like 'Armageddon', Christmas plans cancelled
The Trucker Staff
12/22/2009
WYETHEVILLE, Va.-For David Furnier, everything was going well at Arrow Trucking Co. The Houston, Texas, trucker was getting plenty of loads and was receiving his paychecks regularly.
Then he woke up Tuesday without a job and feeling like Armageddon had hit.
Furnier, speaking to The Trucker from a TravelCenters of America truck stop here, said he and other drivers were blindsided by the announcement Tuesday that Arrow was shutting its doors.
"We weren't expecting this to happen," Furnier said by telephone Tuesday afternoon. "We'd heard that the company was going to do a little bit of restructuring, but this is more than restructuring. This is complete annihilation. It feels like today was Armageddon for us as Arrow drivers."
Furnier, who drives a Freightliner tractor, said Arrow drivers under a load were being told to go to a Freightliner dealership and drop the entire tractor trailer with the load and Arrow or somebody "would come get the load and put it on their trailer. They are saying that nobody is getting any money for fuel, but they are getting bus tickets. But it will take drivers three or four days to get home and that's just not fair to us."
Furnier and his wife, who is traveling with him, had planned to be back in Houston to spend Christmas with his wife's children.
But the news Tuesday changed those plans.
Now he and his wife will bobtail to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where his son-in-law is completing a contract, and spend Christmas there.
That's where he'll turn the truck in to a Freightliner dealer since Daimler (Freightliner's parent company) Financial Services owns the truck.
It won't be on Arrow's money, however, since the company has cancelled use of its fuel cards.
"I don't have enough fuel, but I have some money coming from a friend who is going to help me out," Furnier said.
Furnier said he'd not been paid for his last load and wouldn't be paid for his current load, a flatbed of fiber optic cable destined for Dallas.
He's also learned that the paycheck of his driver manager bounced last Friday.
The closing is naturally going to impact Furnier's Christmas and those of other Arrow drivers and employees.
"I have a lot of friends who are really upset. I've called a lot of them in the last 12 hours. They are throwing a hissy fit. They are really upset," said Furnier, who added he would go on the Internet and send out job applications when he got to North Carolina.
Keith Storm, vice president, human resources, for LinkAmerica Express of Tulsa, told The Trucker his company has been recruiting Arrow drivers who are a fit for the dry van carrier and will hold an orientation session at 8 a.m. Wednesday for them.
The carrier has both company drivers and owner-operators and has 850 trucks, with terminals in Georgia, Florida and Texas.
Arrow drivers who are not a fit for LinkAmerica will be matched with companies for which they are a fit, said Storm, adding that they are working "feverishly" to get Wednesday's orientation organized.
"We're doing what we can to reach out to their drivers; we're talking to all we can," he said.
Noting the close-knit "family" that trucking is, Storm said Arrow's closure was "impacting everybody" in Tulsa-area trucking.
Arrow drivers who want to explore job possibilities with LinkAmerica should call (800) 836-0555.
Arrow, which operates some 1,400 trucks throughout the U.S., shut its doors Tuesday morning. Drivers have said the company has stopped payment on their fuel cards, stranding them at truck stops across the country, the Tulsa World reported.
Indeed, the manager of a North Little Rock truck stop told The Trucker this morning that his company had received an e-mail that it could not accept fuel cards from Arrow.
A representative of a Louisiana trucking company e-mailed The Trucker wondering what had happened to the freight being hauled, noting that her company had two trailers with its freight missing in action.
The Arrow Trucking firm headquarters, located at 4230 S. Elwood Avenue in Tulsa, became a scene of confusion and high emotions Tuesday morning, Tulsa 2NEWS reported.
No company officials or managers have so far offered any information to the press, reported the station, and employees said only limited information has been given to the workers and truckers employed by the firm. The carrier had taken down its Web site by early afternoon.
"It's absolutely devastating," said Shirley Hall, an employee of Abertson Towing in Tulsa, one of the companies helping tow trucks from Arrow this morning. "There's no one who doesn't know someone effected [by the closing] whether they've worked on their trucks or whether it involved items they shipped. I think everybody in Tulsa is experiencing their downfall; it's a wake-up call to everybody. It's sad for the industry and a bad deal."
She wasn't certain but thought drivers were unable to get their belongings out of the trucks before they were towed to area dealers such as Freightliner of Tulsa and Frontier International in Tulsa.
"The tow trucks were lined up this morning at the [Arrow] door this morning; it's like the wolves were at the door," Hall told The Trucker.
Employees at Arrow Trucking can call the State Labor Commissioner to file a claim about getting their paychecks, (888) 269-5353.
The following companies are also offering jobs and or help in the wake of Arrow Trucking closing its doors.
-
Kelworth Trucking in Poteau
- Help with getting drivers home
- 1-800-331-3399 x216
-
C Bean Transport in Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Help with getting drivers home and has job openings
- 1-888-646-2177
-
Knight Transportation in Tulsa, Brad Hicks
- Job Opportunities
- 1-800-769-2977
-
Hoffmeier Incorporated in Tulsa
- Creating new positions for mechanics and drivers
- 918-428-6195
-
John Veriha Trucking In Wisconsin
- Looking to hire around 50 positions at various sites across the nation
- 800-333-9291
-
Marten Transport
- Looking to hire over a hundred drivers at various sites across the nation
- 800-393-3337
-
Roehl Transport
- Looking to hire hundreds of drivers at various sites across the nation
- Offering a $1500 signing bonus for highly-experienced drivers
- 800-467-6345
-
Freymiller Inc in OKC
- Looking to hire drivers, mechanics & office personnel
- 800-909-5664 x330
-
Paramount Transportation Systems
- numerous job openings in all states and would really like to help any of the drivers that lost their jobs at Arrow
- (866) 208-5195.
-
Pascall Truck Lines
- approximately 50 job openings in the eastern half of the united states
- 877-774-3533
(article link http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2009/12/22/ArrowdrivercarriersclosingfeelslikeArmageddonChristmasplanscancelled.aspx
)
