JOC Staff | Dec 24, 2009 1:49PM EST
Flatbed carrier Arrow Trucking suspended operations this week, stranding hundreds of drivers around the country on Christmas Eve as the company reportedly tries to get new financing to resume business.
Company drivers learned of the shutdown when the Tulsa, Okla.-based company canceled its fuel credit cards on Tuesday, according to published reports. The company sent workers at its headquarters home Wednesday and by Thursday its phones were not operating and Web site was shut down.
Truckload carrier Schneider National issued a statement Thursday saying its trucks and drivers would offer rides home, “or as close to home as possible,” to an estimated 1,400 drivers who may have been stranded by Arrow’s abrupt action.
Arrow CEO Doug Pielsticker, meanwhile, issued a statement to the Tulsa World newspaper saying the 61-year-old company is trying to resume business.
“The company has been in negotiations with its principal lender. Those negotiations are continuing, but the lender has elected to proceed with securing its collateral. The company is communicating with several interested parties and continues to see a prompt resolution,” Pielsticker said.
One lender, Daimler Financial Services, which has financed Arrow’s Freightliner truck purchases, told drivers to return trucks to Freightliner facilities to get a bus ticket home.