- Ray LaHood, Anne Ferro, Bill Graves
Name an industry that can get away with leaving a labor force stranded across the United States days before Christmas and hardly get any mainstream media giving it any coverage?
This is the power of controlling media and the trucking industry proved it during December 2009 when Arrow trucking turned off gas cards, bounced paychecks, closed its doors, and left truck drivers stranded.
I decided against a picture of an Arrow Truck for this post but instead I chose this nifty picture of Bill Graves the CEO of the “American Trucking Association” with Ray LaHood & Anne Ferro because they obviously all know each other.
On December 22, 2009 the Christian Science Monitor reported the Arrow closing and the story made its way to Twitter shortly afterwards. In researching the timeline for this post I noted that the editor has made a comment about the original title. It makes me wonder if someone “contacted them” and a correction to the wording was made. Speaking out about human indignities by the trucking industry seems to be monitored very carefully.
Twitter became quickly a buzz on the 22nd with that initial article. Shortly thereafter a second report via Landline eNews article called “ Nightmare before Christmas ” by Clarissa Kell-Holland was also circulating.
Remarks by the truckers on twitter quickly became heated when it became clear that the twitter tags of @RayLaHood who is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and frequently tweeted about job creation during that week & the ATA Twitter tag @TruckingMatters remained silent on the Arrow Issue.
Ellen Voie of @WomeninTrucking tweeted an announcement that Anne Ferro of the FMCSA would speak at the “Salute to Women Behind the Wheel” but said nothing about Arrow. In a private email I was advised she was very much aware of the situation but for whatever reason did not tweet any articles. I still have those dated emails but some of the remarks are not pleasing about Ellen Voie and they were made by one of her members so I will refrain for now.
Meanwhile others like @HDTrucking tweeted “Arrow Drivers get one heck of a lump of coal for Christmas” in between “Retweeting” things for Hubby Evan Lockridge @LockridgeReport who tweeted he would be doing a show on the 23rd about the Stranded Arrow Drivers.
Individual Truckers on Twitter were tweeting: “Hope we never see management from Arrow trucking in management jobs in any other trucking company. #Fail 9:52 PM Dec 22nd, 2009” which was just one of the popular “ReTweets” that went on for days. (This was a retweet I copy & pasted from Jami Jones @Shewhoknowstruck )
On Facebook remarks of disgust that no one knew about the drivers went like this: “…I was talking to some at church, they have no clue what just happened! Sad! Some said they would have just brought the truck home. I ask how? Most of these guys had no money. How you going to buy fuel, pay tolls, cross border without cash? Plus they lost all contact with their company!” were made on the newly created Fan Page called “Stranded Arrow Trucking Drivers-Coordinate Efforts Here” which was made by the Landline Staff on Twitter. (The title has since been changed as well as the mission)
In prior projects on twitter such as @JasonsLaw & the Virginia Rest Area Issue , there had been interference by the Landline Staff on Twitter so I would be lying if I said everyone believed that OOIDA was creating the page for anything more than a membership drive. I have included a link above from my previous post on Jason’s Law but at this time I cannot elaborate further.
That afternoon in fact a well known Canadian Trucker had some mixed signals from comments made by Jami Jones the Senior Editor of Landline and challenged her to call into Daniel Audet’s “Truck Star Radio” to discuss the Fan Page.
At first she declined but when pressed to show that she truly cared to get the word out through ALL mediums, she agreed and convinced the listeners that the OOIDA Fan Page was an effort to help the stranded drivers and not a membership ploy as we had seen in the past.
I was aware that OOIDA Media had also been calling around. I was on home time, I was very sick with a high fever and my truck starter had died so I had to drive to Denton, Texas to go into the shop. I was actually parked in the mechanics bay for the night on the 22nd and was hesitant to become a fan of the page until I was convinced by Daniel Audet that Jami Jones was sincere. At about 9pm CST I became a fan of the page and forwarded it to MANY people.
Dan Little President of the “Owner Operators United” @DDLittle on Twitter had already begun Tweeting & making phone calls on behalf of the Stranded Arrow Drivers.
Dan Little was in close contact through Twitter, Facebook and nightly on “Truck Star Radio” and reported that OOU members were going above the call to assist the Arrow Drivers in getting them home, fed, & get them motels. The OOU board of Directors also offered a 1 year 100% free membership to all Arrow Drivers.
Within a hour of the Qualcomm message that was received by the Arrow Drivers telling them that the company had folded the OOU was contacted and that information was passed on to Bob McCarty and several other national media contacts. According to Dan Little it was Mr. McCarty who contacted CNN who broke the story worldwide.
On the morning of December 23, 2009 I was received an early morning call from @Longhawl a trusted friend from twitter who has dispelled many misinformation campaigns by “The Trolls of Trucking on Twitter”.
My friend “Longhawl” was deeply disturbed by the news of the Arrow closing and more so that the ATA had the nerve to sit quietly and saying nothing and doing nothing. I agreed that the ATA was a despicable example how to represent an industry but the truth about trucking is that this is how truckers are treated and most people could care less. Longhawl told me he was just plain tired of seeing the arrogance that the ATA displayed toward the hardworking American Trucker and he wanted to help. He asked me why no one was attacking the ATA on Twitter outright and I said that retaliation in trucking is very real so most individuals are intimidated, also much of the trucking media sources are controlled.
In fact as I recal the day the ATA came on Twitter they only followed national media contacts and the publishing partners for the major trucking periodicals are very much “connected”.
Longhawl said “Well I don’t work for the Trucking Industry and I am going to say a few things” I said “Okay, I will ReTweet what you say.” I also introduced Longhawl to Mike Rone of “RMR Consultants” who was working on cleaning up a DAC for a woman trucker named @NJKatwoman .
Mike was disturbed that no one had assisted the drivers by notifying truck stops properly, making sure the drivers who were cut off from the outside world suddenly could make their way home with their belongings for the holidays. I spent a few hours on the phone with both Mike & Longhawl that morning while I awaited the repair on my truck. During that time I saw an Arrow driver try to turn in his keys to the Service Desk and the girl had no idea what he was talking about. Then he went to the fuel desk and she had no idea either.
Mike Rone had called Dallas Radio Station KRLD to get them to cover the story and I spoke to the girl at the fuel desk and told her what was going on. While I was speaking to her another girl walked up and said that the day before an Arrow driver was able to fuel up but the card did not go through so they had to pump out the fuel. Still they did not know that the company had gone belly up nor were they aware that the drivers were stranded. How humiliating is this for a driver who is on his way home for the holidays? They had already received one bounced paycheck and via qualcomm the company told them they were unemployed without notice. A message that said in essence “See Ya wouldn’t want to be Ya”.
The OOIDA Fan Page had numerous offers to help the drivers but there was no rhyme or reason to it. There were carriers offering jobs and rides but in practice that meant nothing more than a free link ad. There were no drivers on Facebook because they were out-of- touch. When companies like Swift & Schneider came forth to offer rides home it sounded grand but in practice how would the Arrow drivers know this? Were Schneider’s drivers advised to go track them down? What if they did see an Arrow driver who was stranded and they needed to go to Florida but the Schneider truck was under a load going to Washington? Then what? I mean it looked great on the surface but in reality there was not any sort of practical rescue operation being conducted.
Together, Longhawl & Mike Rone created a forum that went live the morning of December 24, 2009 which aimed to sort out offers for assistance from all over the internet to make it easy for the drivers once they were located but not many people ever found that forum. It was submerged before it took off but it was made to help the drivers and that was all.
We had twitter going crazy despite the lack of mainstream media attention. The ruckus of the Stranded Arrow drivers and our constant circulating of the OOIDA fan page link was everywhere you looked. Within hours if you googled “Arrow Drivers” the 2 lone articles were complimented by thousands of additional items which were actual tweets that were going into Google.
Not many people realize that what you post on Facebook it remains in Facebook but on Twitter it escapes the “Twitoshepre” and into the “World Wide Web” which makes it searchable in Google!
The chatter could not be ignored, this was not just truckers on twitter who had jumped onboard, and the news of the Stranded Arrow Drivers was being circulated by concerned citizens from around the world on Twitter who were OUTRAGED!!!!
On the morning of December 23, 2009 “Fleet Owner” magazine put out an article called “Social Media Comes to the aid of Stranded Arrow Truck Drivers” but here’s the thing, these are all ATA skewed publications and it was sort of a slap in the face with some feeble acknowledgement that said: “Yes, we see you are making an impact but we are still not going to do anything about it.”
I personally monitored those tweets in Google regularly and forwarded the increasing stats to interested parties. There were many familiar faces in those tweets who were not only my followers but even my DOG’s followers!
My Damn Dog was doing more for Arrow Drivers than the FMCSA, Women in Trucking or the American Trucking Association! Merry Effing Christmas Truckers!
Okay, so I’m getting a little pissed… Breathe Breathe…
The tweets were very targeted by utilizing “Hashtags”, we had seen success in several projects by doing this method for the Virginia Rest Areas, Pickens Plan and Dog Rescue.
In the future I will detail this but I did go on “Truck Star Radio” and give a tutorial to people who wanted to help.
This was an enormous success and by the 24th I had been introduced to a group of former Arrow drivers and volunteers on Twitter and Facebook who I invited to join “Truck Star Radio” as much as they wanted to tell their true story.
It was not long until reports began coming back that pledges to give help were being ignored and that the OOIDA page was not being managed properly. Still it was an amazing outpouring of people wanting to help. Still today it is inspiring to see all the people wanting to help truckers and it stands as a testament to the power of social media.
In those beginning hours there was truly more offers for help than there was drivers. That was the problem, how would a stranded driver know that they needed to get on the internet?
As I said in the recent “Blog Talk Radio” broadcast I was deeply moved when I observed former Arrow Driver Brandon White organize efforts while enroute to his new job on the greyhound bus.
I was included in a circulating email of volunteers but I did not post publically because I did not want to alert “The Trolls” about my involvement which would derail the cooperation that we thought was taking place.
I have included the radio broadcast link and I don’t want to recap everything here but basically at this time I did not know about Donna Creekmore but learned of her shortly afterwards and her list of drivers.
This list was crucial to weed out the scammers who emerged. The other disturbing thing was that people who were disgusted trying to pledge assistance on the OOIDA board. Some people were reporting they went ahead and gave to some of the designated charities but then some drivers were reporting those same charities either ran out of funds or the told the drivers that they did not meet the criteria to get assistance.
One Arrow driver called the number and was told to go to a homeless shelter!
This was a problem for me and others who felt if Donna Creekmore had verified them as drivers and there were people willing to help assist them they should be matched up, end of story.
Again, I won’t get into all the backroom shenanigans FOR NOW but I did receive the exchanges between OOIDA & the Volunteers and it was not surprising to me who the characters were but still it was disappointing that this crisis was turning into a media power struggle.
Another page on Facebook surfaced on the 24th called the “Ex-Arrow Employee’s Page” and it seemed odd that OOIDA had not been in direct contact with these folks and Donna Creekmore as soon as they appeared on the scene to collaborate.
Donna Creekmore was assisted by a woman named Dana to organize help directly to drivers. I personally called both of them to see who they were because it was true that scammers were coming out of the woodwork on the OOIDA page and it seemed like no one was managing it properly. My own followers on twitter were getting too personally involved and I did not want any of them getting ripped off.
Donna Creekmore was actually in the emergency room with her Husband when I spoke to her, she said she was concerned with getting “her drivers” home. To my knowledge no one from OOIDA had contacted her at this time nor were they aware that Dana, Donna, Brandon and other Volunteers had set up a base of operations to help the actual drivers on from the driver list and match with pledges for help from individuals.
On the Monday after Christmas however the emails were flying. Soon after, Dana set up a third page of Volunteer efforts on Facebook for the Arrow drivers. Dana continued assisting drivers with volunteers while Donna Creekmore was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.
It was an amazing weekend! A huge storm had hit Oklahoma & Texas and shut down I-40. Many truckers were stranded and some were attempting to help stranded Arrow drivers when the storm hit.
Despite my attempt to stay in the background I was compelled to post publically after an OOIDA member called me to dispel rumors about repo men being at truck stops. I also called Freightliner and posted on their Facebook page asking for a public announcement. I did not get a response but it sure brought the trolls out.
Private texts to me by other truckers on twitter asked for me to pass along offers of help and jobs to Donna & Dana because they too did not want to stir up the trolls.
It was already too late; in fact the King of Trolls had posted on the OOIDA page Jan 2nd to stay away from any of the “other groups” and wanted to know if anyone had a concrete list. He had been tweeting with Jami Jones who was ensuring that to him that, “…/amazing/ isn’t the word for it. It seems like we spend as much time killing rumors as productive good some days. & we have debunked some requests from alleged Arrow drivers needing help. We didn’t just fall off the turnip truck here” but that was not the truth.
There were problems behind the scenes and Jami Jones blogged “Imagine All the People” where she implied there was social media backstabbing which was sort of crazy because all the people I knew of had been up 24/7 tweeting, donating every last nickel they had and making phone calls to help Arrow Drivers while they were in bad shape themselves.
One woman who is a big fan of @TruckinDogKarma was in the ICU tweeting from her phone and had to have it removed from her by her doctor! She later made phone calls with a partial list and got deeply involved with the missing trucker story when the Mother of that guy poured her heart out to her.
If that were not enough to turn my stomach, on January 5, 2010 the ATA finally remarked on the Arrow driver situation. Like a synchronized swimming event Ellen Voie tweeted “Angels Among Us” which originally had comments on it that have been moderated off but I was sent the copies.
In this article Ellen states she was called by OOIDA to bring home the last Arrow drivers but according to Donna Creekmore there were many drivers who were still not home or had no home to go to.
On this same day OOIDA edited their Mission Statement and Title on the Facebook Fan Page and the ATA Twitter @TruckingMatters account tweets this dumbass remark “Thank you to all the trucking companies working from day 1 to help former Arrow drivers #SupportArrowDrivers #Win “
That was in addition to this tweet right next to it: “TweetsSchneider National encourages former Arrow drivers to apply http://www.schneiderjobs.com #SupportArrowDrivers #trucking”
OY VEY! So those are the Holy Grail of Hope to the American Trucker? Seems to me every day is media day in trucking!
There was huge lesson to be learned in the Arrow Trucking mess and that is people do care about truckers but they are not getting the information they need to help them.
Many people came together who were formerly divided and eventually worked together.
Good can come out of what happened at Arrow in the sense that an awakening should begin to come about that ordinary people can make a difference. You can gather the rest on your own when your eyes begin to clear like mine have.
Listen to the Blog Talk Radio called “Truckers Home” with former Arrow Trucking Employee Donna Creekmore that aired May 6, 2010
There were so many individual people to thank it was not possible to remember everyone. If you would like to thank someone please post and let them be recognized.
You really did your homework on this one, and alot of homework it was! The passion that you have for the truth is astounding! Who cares if it stirs thingS up? Maybe with the truth exposed and documentaion to prove it, change will come. Many people needed help here and it seems that some were just pretending they didn’t exist until it became beneficial to them. Help was hindered because of this selfishness and saying it made me sick would be an understatement. Maybe now, with so much of this out in the
open, these selfish people will do the right thing if this ever happens again. And these people say there’s a driver shortage! Ha! Thank goodness for people like you and Donna and others who were able to sift through the crap and actally help those in need! May you allways be blessed!
Thanks Jan:
I’d like to mention that I was a current OOIDA member at the time of the Arrow Closing, in fact my membership just came up for renewal and I will not join again.
In true trucking form OOIDA received an award from the “Truck Writers of North America” and I think it was a New Award… WOW! what an honor for OOIDA to WIN that one!
Sadly, no mention of Donna Creekmore or any other the actual Arrow Drivers who were saving each other with their last few bucks.
Eric Mende called into our Blog Talk Radio program and mentioned Eric Harley who did a show, KUDOS !
I know there were several radio shows but the value of Truck Star Radio is that it is basically “Pirate Radio for Truckers” that no sponsers, no OOIDA, No ATA can control.
No asshole screeners and while it’s extremely informal and gets crazy at times it gives ordinary truckers a voice.
The same with Allen & Donna Smith but their show is not nightly like Daniels, still the shows are archived which holds great value.
Hello and good day to you and yours
Names Jason and I’m not really sure if you will see this or not but thought to give it a try..I came upon your blog bout what all happened after Arrow had shut there doors.
I’m don’t do the Tweets nor blog any but I read yours and found it very interesting.. I was a driver for them but was not one left stranded I was doin workmans comp with them at the time and since June of 08 and since then I’m still struggling to find employment anywhere ( even Wal-mart ) Thus the reason I am writing to you is so that maybe my story maybe heard.
During one of my LIGHT DUTY jobs I was sortin through paperwork invoices and such but it was some that may never see light of day though only lasted a few days I had tried to confront them of the errors of there ways and was takin off of that job and put to workin the gaurd shack and among doin so I thought to be best cause I took it upon myself to try to tell drivers that they are better off goin elsewhere includin those in orientation with them even though they had half of the fleet sittin on stand by and falling short of loads they were still bringin in more drivers this was in august of 09 but I knew the day was comin that arrow was shuttin down and was doin my best to tell each driver I could Though most brushed me off and went bout there day..It didn’t take long though after all that I found out I was steppin on toes and they didn’t like it so they had fired me in September though still on comp,,but was told that if I were caught talkin too any drivers or on Arrow property they would prosecute and any further communications was to be done threw the attorneys mine to there’s and so on.
Sad thing is is that I was prescribed another surgery to my elbow but know it’s just as the damage in my shoulder due to the length of time it has been it’s beyond repair and have to live the rest of my days with the damage from what happened cause of the injury mainly cause of what they ( Doug ) was doin to the insurance account and so on makin it to where the Dr’s where afraid they wouldn’t see payment for there services…I am between a rock and a hard place been that way since the last workmans comp check in the first week of Dec a year to date almost..and I do believe I’m not the only one out there that’s still takin a screwing from them closing down.
I have yet to be able to find employment and due to the injury no longer able to drive truck,,something I have been doin for darn near 16 years.. Among all that I was living in my pickup for 6 months out of this year and not for a friend of mine I would be still, I don’t know if there’s anything your even able to do but I’m far from asking for pity Just not knowing of very many options of what to do I have tried applying for SSD and got denied no surprise was told it would happen,, I have been takin work what ever I can get my hands on to get by but I am runnin on borrowed time and needin to find something…
Hi Jason:
We did speak by phone yesterday and I really wanted your comment here so that other could know about you.
I am sorry you have not had any proper information given to you and it is very sad that those who knew the inside workings of Arrow did little to warn others about what was happening.
Here we are approaching the one year anniversay of this event any many lives are still in disarray as Doug Pielsticker is living in Dallas, recently picked up and put in jail for a bad check which was pretty cool actually!
Our justice system has failed people like you and I hope you can find some method to get your life back on track with some of the information we spoke about on the phone. This is a very difficult situation and my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Please let me know how you make out.
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Cheers,
Desiree
I wanted to include some additional information for others who are looking for workman’s comp help.
With regards to trucking, being on workmans comp can be both tricky and full of tricks so as a driver you must cover yourself.
In Jason’s case, Arrow went belly up just as he became and aware that he would need a second surgery. he did have a lawyer who sought to collect from the surety bond Arrow had. Jason is seeking more information about the terms of his settlement but for future reference I want to share the following information:
I personally have been on workmans comp this year for the first time in my life and I am learning as I go but I am very grateful that I have an excellent lawyer who is not only representing me but educating me on the process.
My experience with workmans comp in trucking has been quite different from the vast majority of drivers I speak to and I will write about this once my case is resolved.
For now though, here is some self-help information which should not be taken as legal advice, it is only to help you locate resources to help yourself.
In the case where the employer has gone bankrupt like in the Arrow case, you should first find out if the carrier was self-insured or who the insurance company was who insured them. Your workmans comp claim is against the insurance company. If the carrier was self-insured they had to carry a surety bond which claims & settlements would be paid in such a case as the Arrow disaster.
In Jason’s case, this might be what happened and there may have been some urgency on behalf of counsel to settle because obviously there are probably many other Arrow people who were on workmans comp at the time of the closing. The problem is that Jason still needs medical care and he does not have a copy of the settlement argeement and has been having difficulty getting a copy from his lawyer.
Every state is different with regards to workmans comp. This makes it difficult for truck drivers whose carriers are in a state other than where they live.
Here is a link for a website called
Workers Compensation Service Center
On this site you can look up the state laws that apply to your carrier’s state. There are also forums where you can ask questions about your particular situation.
For me, having a qualified lawyer who knows the laws for the state where my carrier is located has made a huge difference and it has been worth it so that I could concentrate on getting better. My workmans comp lawyer is located in Tennessee because that is where my employer is. The firm is called Summers & Wyatt in Chattanooga Tennessee and my Attorney is Jeff Rufolo .
Jason is a driver who has been caught in the crosshairs of the disaster at Arrow and he is working on trying to sort out the pieces to this puzzle. I have asked him to stay in touch with me as he tries to communicate with his lawyer to find out more about the settlement agreement that was met from the Arrow surety bond.
If others have information that can help Jason plese email me or him.
He desperatly needs to get back to work but he can no longer drive.
Thanks
Desiree
TruckerDesiree@gmail.com
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I don’t have TV at home and when I drive I listen to an ipod so I didn’t know what was going on. At Schneider National we got a message on the qualcomm to render help to any displaced Arrow drivers and it told us to contact our leaders to fill out the insurance paperwork to have a passenger and the message also told us we could take an Arrow driver home up to 100 miles out of our route. But until February I think I personally didn’t know what happened. I didn’t hear anything about it anywhere else. And I didn’t see any Arrow drivers anywhere.. but I run WI, and IL mostly. Very sad what happened and how little media attention it got. On my ipod I listen to podcasts of talk radio… it was never mentioned. Just my two cents.
Hi Steve:
Thanks for posting, I was told that is was a 50 mile radius but you are a more credible source because I would say. In practice we know that any driver under a load who is under time constraints and perhaps trying to get homes themselves for the holidays may not have taken that qualcomm message to drastically seriously. Truckers are very disconnected from current events and may not see a TV or Newspaper very often. Also, the insurance paperwork will require stopping to fax and stand in lines and fax… , I don’t have to remind you that truckers get paid to drive and nothing else.
If drivers on the road did not fully understand the brevity of the situation why would they act? We don’t just pick people up and go asking people if they need rides.
If anyone wants to see for them selves just Google “Swift offers Arrow Drivers” or click the link I have made.
Same for Schneider “Schneider offers Arrow Drivers”
What they did was swamp Industry Media that Drivers do not see to congratulate themselves for doing nothing.
Your two cents was a wonderful contribution to this puzzle.
Thanks,
Desiree
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Desiree,
Again I would like to say “Thank You”, You did a really nice job on this story. While we all agree Arrow Drivers were the main topic, throughout this mess, I witnessed several different groups / people who tried to make a dollar at the expense of these drivers.
Hopefully those same people failed. I would however like to credit Arrow Trucking for one thing, They managed to pull the entire industry into one cause.
Different associations were scrambling to see how many Arrow Drivers they held as members, and if this would affect the associations bottom line ie., ATA
I serve as President of Owner Operators United Inc or OOU for short, and know for a fact that during all this we had people members and non-members alike working around the clock to try and help.
Daniel Audet the original Florida Kid and radio host of Truckstar Radio went above and beyond the call of duty for these stranded Arrow Drivers, People like yourself and Ms Creekmore worked days straight to help these drivers get home.
OOU lawyers went to work to research what laws , Fed / State laws, were violated by Arrow ie., Fed. Warn Act, this info was then sent onto fed DA’s as well as Okla DA,s
Arrangements were made with a PA law firm to handle a class action against Arrow Trucking Owners.
So you see, Thousands of people nationwide should feel proud and know that because of people like you , 1600 drivers made it home safe, but the work didnt stop there, You, Donna Creekmore and others also worked with other trucking co’s to locate these drivers new jobs. again a success.
In closing I would just like to say once again
————-THANK YOU————-
Sincerely
Dan Little
Owner Operators United Inc
Dear Dan:
It has been a pleasure to have you visit my site. I did not know much about you before the Arrow event and it truly did bring many unlikey folks together. It just goes to show how much we can achieve if we work together. I know you had even tweeted your home phone number for anyone to call you day or night that needed help.
That says a lot about you.
Thank You,
Desiree
Very nice article, I had just joined facebook a few days before this happened and you are correct about the stuff that went on but to name everything that happened you would have to write a 1000 page book.
I could see the disorganization and took it upon myself to get a few drivers home. I’ll tell you about one driver stuck in FL, I had called about a driver in Tampa and was told he was ‘took’ care of. I reposted that we could give a ride (hubby n I team) while in Reddick FL and I was told about a guy needing a ride in Tampa, I was furious, we were in Tampa that morning, (I sleep days) so I called him, told him I would drive the 100 miles back to get him and he said he was fine that he had a room for the night, no my mission was to get him home as ‘someone’ dropped the ball.
Long story short, I finished my driving shift and stayed up for another 8 hours on facebook and phone and got him home. My hubby was very understanding thru all of this. You can go back on my posts on facebook for details but I didn’t and still don’t have any money but just by using facebook and willing volunteers we got him home.
I also spoke with a fuel desk clerk in FL at the T/A and she faxed my list of help for Arrow drivers to all the T/A’s in FL to post for any drivers that needed help to call or web sites.
This was truly a mess that still hasn’t received any national news just local. I also called a news agency that only wanted a local story and I said it ‘NEEDS TO GO NATIONAL” and he said he had no control over that, I also wrote a top name in national news and of course, never heard back.
I totally agree that a lot of hands in the pot really screwed a lot of drivers so I’m proud that the very little I did actually did get a few drivers home and hope all the scammers and glory getters get a chunk of coal for Xmas this year.
Oh and I feel I must mention that “Truckers Voice” also scammed my friends that helped the Tampa driver.
Through all the bad will come something good and I did make some wonderful friends since this happened and even though I did very little on this large scale screw up I did meet and make some wonderful friends.
Dear Sheri:
Thanks for posting! The faxing of the list to all the TA’s is GREAT! This is what the Jackasses who sit at Desk’s should have been doing instead of picking out award gowns to wear!
I experienced some of the same thing with Media who wanted to cover the story only if I could find a driver from their area.
The deal with “Truckers Voice” on Facebook I also heard about and I am glad you posted that here.
“Trucker’s Voice” is a scam artist and unfortunately others who initially helped in the Arrow Project succumbed to “I’m Famous” Disease and had to be put out of their misery …. and ours……
Thanks a Bunch Sheri! You Are Wonderful!
Yes of course you have done your homework on this Des. Thank you.
What really grinds my tail is the fact that we are now in May 2010 and STILL the trucking industry as a whole has ignored the entire Arrow fiasco. It seems the only time the trucking industry sticks it’s wee lil head out of it’s hole is to take credit for something they did not do. I am not now, nor will I ever be, in the trucking industry but I appreciate all truckers for the sacrifices they make for us.
The FMCSA has done nothing true to form. From what I have witnessed they only come out when it’s time to screw the truckers again then they retreat to their hole.
I have watched Ellen Voie take credit for things that I personally did. That’s ok with me because I didn’t do it for recognition, I didn’t do it to earn a buck, I didn’t do it to climb to the top. I did it because….it was the right thing to do!
Those that are still scamming, still lying, still benefiting from the sorrow of the Arrow truckers, karma will catch up to them..And I’m not talking about the dog. The truth will always bite you in the tail.
Truckers are hard working Americans that get treated poorly, taken advantage of and due to the nature of the beast they are easy targets for black hearted people.
I could care less about the scammers out there, professional and private. Their day will come, as for me…God forbid there’s another trucking crisis like Arrow but if there is, I will be there doing what the trucking industry should do…Taking care of truckers. When I lay my head down I can do it with a clear conscious, more than can be said for many, many people.
Keep up the good fight Des, you don’t get credit for the things you do but I know how much you do for the industry as a whole and I thank you.
Roll on…..
Dear Tracy:
You are one of the biggest Heroes to me in the Arrow Project because you were so ill and you did so much despite everything. I know you got very much involved with the John Eishens Issue when his Mother was worried sick.
Thankfully he was fine but at the time we had to evauluate what we knew.
He had very little experience driving, It was Winter, He had no money, He had no phone, No one had heard from him for several weeks.
I don’t know all the persons involed in contacting Qualcomm to get the last Satelitte Coordinates from the truck but I remember how mortified we all were when we heard that it was in Montana!
Who knew what we would find?
I think Eric Mende, Mike Rone, Daniel Audet, Yourself, Dana and maybe a few more went all out to locate him and keep in quiet until it could be confirmed only to have OOIDA come running in ike Hyenas.
The guy turned out to be fine but it was certainly a nail biter.
I know you also donated money to help and match donations up to others like the guy in the homeless shelter and you went above and beyond the call of duty on many occasions.
Some of the people who gave tried to attach strings to cram their crazy bullshit down our throats but we made it through.
I have this to say to those people.
If you want to give … GIVE without attaching your Politics/Religion or Narcissistic Infantile Issues to the Gift.
If you cannot do that, PLEASE… Keep your friggin Money and your alleged “Gifts”
Thanks Des but I don’t think people realize that along with everything else you did to help, you also gave cash.
QUOTE- I have this to say to those people.
If you want to give … GIVE without attaching your Politics/Religion or Narcissistic Infantile Issues to the Gift.
If you cannot do that, PLEASE… Keep your friggin Money and your alleged “Gifts”
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
It was an honor to host the show and share with others the efforts of so many. As a member of OOU, I’d like to say thank you to Dan Little for doing all that you did, including the OOU board of directors and other members who helped in so many ways. During our Blog Talk Radio Show OOU was not mentioned, as I am sure that there were many others who also gave gallant efforts during the Arrow Shutdown that were not mentioned.
I’d like to take a moment to thank each and everyone of you and to apologize if I or any of our guests overlooked all that so many of you did during the crisis.
I know that there’s “someone” bigger than all of us who sees it all!!
Please, if you had a part during the Arrow shutdown, post it here. By posting it will confirm the fact that SO MANY people came together during this time of chaos to help one another.
Thank you to everyone and God Bless you all.
Thanks to You Allen & Donna:
You gave me a chance to tell my story and it has opened the doors for lots of little guys to have the confidence to tell theirs & find out people do care.
Love,
Desiree
Desiree,
I want to say a little something. First, thank you for posting your story on AskTheTrucker and sharing with so many some of the dark secrets existing within the world of CDL training. Your story has encouraged many others to expect more and better, not to accept what comes or settle for what is given to them.
Another thank you for taking the time to write this very detailed post. I don’t think people realize how difficult it is to drive for many hours during the day and then to continuously, on a daily basis, maintain the drive,passion and stamina to:
blog, post, tweet, FaceBook, research, and network; desiring that others stay up to date and involved with the many trucking issues and discussions going on today.
Many many thanks to all our friends, supporters and wonderful people who continue do what is right in life: Jan, Steve, Dan, Sheri, TracyLynn, Daniel, Sean, Karma ( woof), Jenn, and to everyone who stands up for what they believe in and is willing to help another in need, even if that means sacrificing their own comforts.
We are all quite a network and it keeps on growing!! I look forward to reading more replies to this Blog post.
You guys all rock!!
Great article Desiree! thanks for the mention, for myself and the many others who stepped up willing to do whatever it took to help the drivers during the crisis and in the weeks since. Thank God we had leadership to look to that selflessly guided our efforts during that initial period when the drivers were actually stranded at truckstops and roadsides across the U.S. and Canada. The legal side of this will, no doubt, take a long time to sort out and for these Arrow Drivers may be a dark cloud they have become all too familiar with. But, I hope the truth and justice that prevailed will again reign in the absolute crime of what happened to these drivers and reveal the dark side of trucking and how we can all pull together and walk of away from this further joined and united. Let’s not ever forget the voice of reason and leadership we found in Dan Little from the OOU and how that may have turned the tide when it came to the seizure of the Arrow trucks.
Dear Daniel:
Thanks for all that you do! Not many people realize that value of Truck Star Radio but we know very well you have inspired many Sirius/XM Versions of your nightly topics, albeit “Toned Down” to appease the Masters.
Hopefully Trucker will begin to see that there is MONEY to be made of their Despair so these Organizations stand to gain more from dragging problems on than solving them.
Disenfranchised Confused and Disengaged Truckers are a money maker for these organizations, very sad
[…] My Arrow Trucking Story « TruckerDesiree […]
Hey Everwun,
I jest wanted tew say how much gud karma luf @TracyLynnP she haf such a big heart.
Wun other friend of my mama, he wurked tew fer maksing so much tweeters fer Arrow Drivers mor than anywun paws down.
That wuz @Sean_Kinney & this is were he rites.
http://seankinney1968.wordpress.com/
My mama say tew me “Sean sent Retweets for Arrow Drivers all through the day & everyday more than any other person. He is not a trucker, just a great human being.”
There wuz so much gud peeples & anipals on tweeters who care.
*tail wags*
@TruckinDogKarma
Hi Karma,
From one dog lover to another – thanks. Truthfully, I wish I could have done more. The lack of corporate ethics are destroying this country and destroying the middle class. If an individual had acted this way they would have gone to jail.
Cheers,
Sean
Desiree once again you have written a fair and insightful entry. I am just amazed at how helpful you and so many others were while we were just trying to stay afloat when Arrow bottomed out on us. Call you soon and one of these days I hope to run across you out here. Much love!
I wanted to share this message I got on Facebook this morning from Darryl Hayward.PLEASE READ:
“Hello
My story begins a couple of days before the Arrow shutdown, I was a security guard at Las Vegas and I noticed their trucks beginning to pile up in the yard, 1 or 2 at a time, by the 24th I knew something was very wrong but I didnt know where to turn to, finally I looked on Facebook and saw the pages that were set up to help stranded drivers, but see theres a part of this story I have shared with only a few people, and it has to do with finding driver’s belongings, and having them returned, which was one hell of a process, I spent 3 restless weeks finding the drivers. One driver in particular thought he lost 2 army patches, a 7th Cavalry patch and also an MIA/POW patch, but I found them and when he found out that a security guard had kindly held onto them, he was very happy, I sent them back to him and suddenly it was like this burden had been lifted off my shoulders. Somehow I feel theres more to this story but dont know who else to share it with”
I want to say thanks to Darryl for sharing his story with me. If you look here on this site a guy named Darrin Crandall reached out for help on this blog & there were countless others who found me on Facebook searching for help & a way to share their stories that were buried by the Industry Machine.
Everybody has a story & they deserve to be heard.
Desiree
OOIDA is nothing more than a front for an Insurance Company.
Another one of these who make a Non-Profit & do the bare minimum to make fools of truckers.
Do a little homework & think about it? How long have they been around? How many members do they have? Hoow many CDL holders are there? How many lobbyists do they have? What are their Administrative/Payrolls by comparison? How many times have they come in after the fact & claimed credit for things they had nothing to do with?
Read this on ClassADrivers and start researching these trucking related charities & non-profits.
Truckers, you need to wake up!
http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classadrivers.com%2Fforum%2Farchive%2Findex.php%2Ft-39132.html
In my 20 years as a driver I have never seen such a cold and thoughtless actions as those by Arrow trucking. But I have seen mass disregard and abuse of drivers by the federal goverment, trucking companies, and the media. The real shame is that even in the light of all the attention put upon these abuses the problems are still ignored, and swept under the rug. The even bigger tragedy to me is that we have the power to wake them up, get them by the neckties and command their attention. But we have no oragization, and sadly not common focus as drivers to do it. Wherever you are on a set day and time stop, park as safely, and as legally possible, and turn off the engine and don’t move until all issues are addressed. It might be painful but if 80 to 90% of the drivers did it. You can’t sweep that under the rug.
[…] My Arrow Trucking Story « TruckerDesiree […]
You have done it again! Superb post.
My Arrow Experience
I was one of the fortunate ones. On Dec. 21 I got fuel in Mathews, Mo, almost $400 in fuel. Imagine my horror when I recieved a phone call from another driver and his girlfriend telling me that their dispatcher had told them to take the truck to the closest yard and find a way home. I called Donna Creekmore at the office and she confirmed it. I had gotten fuel and had no way to pay for it. I called my step dad back in Texas and had him make a phone call, 30 minutes later i was talking to fox news. If that makes me a whistle blower…oh well…I spent the night crying and talking to my husband
The next morning Ty, the TA manager had the local constable come down. He gave me a ticket and told me to eigther pay it or show up for court on January12, 2010. I found another arrow driver at the TA, the manager bought us breakfast and filled our travel mugs before we left. I was actually embarrased. Mean while drivers were walking by giving us money, almost demanding that we take it “because it’s probably the only paycheck you’ll get for awhile”. I loaded the other driver up, unhooked from my load and headed toward the house. We stopped at all the truck stops along the way looking for more stranded arrow drivers. Offers to buy us lunch or dinner came from a minimum of 5 drivers per stop. The CB stayed off because i couldnt take all the questions from other drivers. I eventually got the other driver home and met up w/ my mother in law ( also a truck driver) in Louisiana. I made it home on Dec. 23. On Dec. 24 I got a call from Ty, the manager of the Mathews TA. She wanted to let me know that the TA had payed the ticket for me, and have a very merry Christmas. yes, i cried like a baby. lol. I am still in contact with Donna Creekmore and my Dispatcher, Kery Nickless, who didnt consider us “drivers” on her board…she counts us as her brothers and sisters..
Thanks for sharing your story. Your dispatcher sounds like a keeper and I hope she was able to get another job.
Still there are those who may have been involved in helping that later turned out to be frauds themselves.
Many people feel that executives at Arrow had to have known something was going on but thought they would be spared. The perception was that those who were “in the know” perhaps should not be trusted to be hired back into this industry. This is why I made the remark in the first paragraph about the climate on twitter.
It proved to be true in a few cases where old habits to play both sides at the expense of the drivers became apparent, and sadly this manipulation for personal gain helped to derail a bigger story on the drivers.
I myself had to back away when those who looked like heroes at first turned out to be con-artisits looking for a cash cow and this was very dissapointing to a lot of people.
Thank you for posting and Good Luck!
[…] My Arrow Trucking Story May 2010 32 comments 5 […]
We have still not heard anything or anyone on this arrow bs or weather or not if they were goning to be lieable for anything as far as arrow drivers.we were able to pay for a tire and fuel but wasnt able to have christmas it still all makes me sick