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A Nightmare before Christmas |
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Written by David J
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 17:01 |
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On December 22 just 3 days before Christmas, Arrow Trucking of Tulsa OK ceased its operations stranding almost 1400 truck drivers all over the USA. These drivers were sent a message over their satellite link that they were to drive their trucks to the nearest dealer (Freightliner, Navistar and Kenworth) and turn in their truck at the dealership. Some of these drivers were as far as 3000 miles from home. This is the callous disregard that many companies have for their drivers. There has been a lawsuit filed by 3 drivers against Arrow's CEO Doug Pielsticker for violation of the WARN act (Worker Adjustment and Restraining Notification) and unpaid wages for the dating back over 30 days.
The Oklahoma Department of Labor urges it's Oklahoma based drivers to file for unpaid wages with their department, but state that collecting those lost wages may be difficult if not impossible. Many drivers have received paychecks that were bounced back to their banks unpaid over the last month of operation.
The good news from all this is that the trucking community came together during this crisis. The truck dealers where trucks were returned offered bus tickets home for drivers. This doesn't help those drivers who had pets with them, but with the help of Satellite Radio, the news of this horrible event spread nationwide in a matter of hours, the result was many drivers were offered rides by other drivers headed their way, and some other trucking companies offered bus tickets to stranded drivers.
This is not the first time truck drivers have been stranded away from home when their company folded, and it won't be the last. Hopefully some good will come of this current crisis. Like I have said in past articles, fleet owners need to be held accountable to their drivers. Maybe more legislation needs to be passed preventing companies leaving drivers stranded away from home. (Trucking companies do report on drivers DAC reports anytime that a driver quits and abandons a truck away from the terminal.) And what about the bounced paychecks? If you or I bounce a check on a business, they have the option of seeking criminal prosecution and restitution. Why isn't the same standard being applied toward payroll checks? When the paychecks were issued, Arrow Trucking knew they were written on an overdrawn account. How many families are now facing eviction because of they trusted that the payroll checks they received were good? The Oklahoma Department of Labor states that if Arrow Trucking files for bankruptcy, there is very little chance that drivers will ever see their pay. Of course Arrow Trucking is going to file bankruptcy! I hope that the judge in the bankruptcy court forces Doug Pielsticker and the other executives to pay all lost wages to their drivers. I am sure that these executives didn't receive bad paychecks.
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