Arrow Trucking Company shut down and NAFTA

From a newsgroup I'm on:

Below is a post from another group on the subject of the Arrow Trucking
Company shut down. I couldn't believe how truckers are being treated.
Perhaps some of you that are familiar with trucking can comment on what this
person said. If all this is true.. then why in the world would anyone want
to be a trucker without towing their private vehicle behind their truck with
a full tank of gas and money to get home should they suddenly find
themselves unemployed?

I didn't realize things were so bad for truckers. My prayers are with them.
I know some on this group are truckers, former truckers or else their
spouse is a trucker. How has it been for you.. especially since NAFTA took
effect?



Hi, I started driving trucks my sophomore year in high school, it was a
great summer job for a kid hauling Produce from the fields to the processing
plants.

I was treated well, never worried about money and was happy to work those
100+ hours a week while I was on summer break from school, and skipped a
week of school here and there to work. My FIRST 4 1/2 months I made TAKE
HOME of almost $28k! In 1980!

Fast Forward to the last 10 of the 28 years I drove truck before becoming
ill 3000 miles from home and getting stranded. THE LAST 12 months I drove I
made less than $17,000! BEFORE EXPENSES! And I could not get full pay from
ANY OF THE COMPANIES I worked for over the last 10 years. ACCORDING TO THEIR
FIGURES one Company says they owe me $6800, one said I had no wages due for
7 weeks work and they would not reimburse my expenses such as tolls, etc.

The Last company stranded me 3000 miles from home, and had CUT MY HEALTH
INSURANCE WITHOUT NOTIFYING ME so I had no health insurance IN MY HOME STATE
OF RESIDENCE! Nor would they provide me transportation home (turns out there
is still a law on the books that an employer cannot fire someone more than
50 miles from "home" without providing transportation "home" or to where
they were hired out of but THEY HAVE REMOVED ALL ENFORCEMENT! Thank you Bill
Clinton for NAFTA!)

And I was one of the drivers with the BEST record for safety, 28 years and
over 3,000,000 miles without a chargeable accident! AND TRUCKING COMPANIES
will treat you like garbage and put a steering wheel holder out of Somalia
in the seat, rob him as well, but he cannot complain.

The biggest Blessing of getting deathly ill, DMV TOOK MY CDL FOR MEDICAL
REASONS AND I AM FREE OF TRUCKING!

IT is now a form of slavery, low wages if they are paid at all, lousy
benefits, and you can be dumped on the side of the road anywhere for any
reason at any time.

One of the trucks I was driving for a HUGE 3000 truck trucking company was
REPOSSESSED when I took it in for service they would only allow me to take
my suitcase, not my tools, refrigerator, or "emergency supplies" as they
were "part of the truck".

OH... and Arrow Trucking they had a much better reputation than the
companies that are "offering to help" the drivers by offering them jobs. I
read "Prime, INC" is trying to "help". Well, I HAD THEIR head of SAFETY
ARRESTED FOR Fraud about 13 years ago, when in writing they offered me a job
and I FLEW FROM ALASKA TO MISSOURI, upon arrival not only did they not hire
drivers but they wanted me to "rent to own a truck" for 2 times what I could
have bought one at the dealership.

So, I feel really sorry for those former Arrow Drivers that are being
helped". I really pray for the Truck drivers, please offer them kindness
when you see them on the road, or any where else, they deserve it! It is
common for "truckers" to work 100 plus hour weeks, most of it unpaid and
take home less money then the kid flipping burgers that is home every night!
OVER HALF OF ALL TRUCK DRIVERS NOW LIVE FULL TIME IN THE TRUCK! If they lose
the job for whatever reason they are INSTANTLY homeless!

Without Truckers this country will come to it's knees, and they are working
at killing off the truckers. More and more by the day. God help us all.

Michael