Forgotten in Arizona

Valdosta man among those laid off by Arrow

Johnna Pinholster

VALDOSTA — Days before Christmas and more than 2,000 miles from home Daniel Evang learned he was no longer employed by Arrow Trucking.

The driver was preparing to pick up a load in Phoenix, Ariz., when a fellow truck driver informed him that Arrow trucks were being picked up by repossession services.

Evang had left Valdosta on Dec. 18 and was in Phoenix on Dec. 21, when he heard the news that the company, based out of Tulsa, Okla., had suspended operations and the funds on fuel cards.

All this information Evang learned through other drivers and automated messages from the company, he said.

“It’s bad getting laid off, but getting laid off 2,000 miles from home is tough,” Evang said. “I know people that live in their trucks. They could have at least given us a week’s notice.”

Days later, Evang is still searching for answers and has yet to be informed of his future by anyone from Arrow Trucking, he said.

That Monday morning Evang began calling Arrow Trucking to learn more information and was first met with no answer. Then he began getting a message that drivers must turn in their trucks, wherever they were located.

He was then informed that he could take a bus home but that a ticket would only be purchased for him, not for his wife, Peggy, his dog or his belongings.

Faced with leaving his belongings and, quite possibly, his wife, in Phoenix, Evang decided to drive his truck back to Valdosta.

While driving home, Evang was told at a truck stop in Louisiana that various truck stops and gas stations were being told they could make up to $100 for turning in any Arrow trucks they saw.

Wrecking companies, Evang said, were also told they could make money by towing Arrow trucks.

“It’s a total disregard for all 900 people left out there, and I don’t want it to get swept under the rug,” he said.

On the way back to Valdosta, Evang and his wife helped another driver get to Tallahassee. He had turned in his truck and was on his way to Miami.

A friend of the Evangs, who drives for a different company, picked up a family of three in Kentucky. The family members were walking along the interstate in the snow after abandoning an Arrow truck, he said.

It cost more than $500 in fuel to get from Phoenix to Valdosta, and Evang said that without the help of family and the kindness of strangers they wouldn’t have made it.

“It’s sad that it takes a thing like that to pull everybody together,” Peggy Evang said.

The couple made it safely home and are trying to sort through the bits of information gleaned from various sources in an effort to try and figure out exactly what occurred to cause a company to shut down with no notice.

Evang is pessimistic when asked if he believes he will receive his last paycheck or be reimbursed for other out-of-pocket expenses.

His truck now sits in his yard, and Evang is in the process of getting a lien put on the truck as he waits to see what the future of Arrow will be.

Evang has been employed by Arrow Trucking for almost two years.

“There have been no rumors of a layoff,” he said.

Evang feels that the company has suspended operations to get out of paying unemployment.

Evang said he realized the seriousness of the situation as he searched the Internet on Dec. 21 and saw pictures of wreckers towing Arrow trucks out of the home office in Tulsa.

In addition to the unexpected suspension of work, the Evangs began receiving medical bills this year that were not being paid by Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The money for the insurance was being taken out of the paychecks, Evang said, but wasn’t making it to the insurance company.

Evang said he still hasn’t been able to contact anyone with Arrow Trucking to get a better handle on any of the issues that have arisen.

In the meantime — in this economy and at this time of year — the Evangs and their three children are just trying to survive.

“How can a company do this without repercussions?” he asked.

Evang said all he wants is his paycheck.

“An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay,” he said.

Arrow Trucking’s Web site states that it has been in operation for nearly 60 years and is one of the largest flatbed carriers in the nation. It was founded by Jim Pielsticker, whom, the Web site states, passed away in 2001.

The company operates 1,362 trucks and employs more than 1,400 people.

Charles A. Ercole, a partner with the law firm of Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP, filed a class action lawsuit on Dec. 28 on behalf of 1,400 former employees of Arrow Trucking alleging violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, as well as state wage payment laws, for the company’s failure to give 60 days notice prior to closing and for bouncing paychecks prior to closing.

The Valdosta Daily Times attempted to contact Arrow. All calls are greeted by recordings.

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