Be Prepared - You could be next!

[Flatbed]

Arrow isn't the first nor will it be the last company to go out of business. By the way things are going, this next year is going to be tough on everybody and there will be more companies going out of business, you could be next.

Are you ready if that happens to you tomorrow?

Do you have a way to get home and to get everything in your truck home with you?

Some of us could handle it, there are many who have never considered the possibility and would be at a loss if they were suddenly stranded hundreds or thousands of miles away from home.

Here's a few tips in case you are not already prepared:

Set aside a small fund to purchase a bus ticket home. Go surf the Greyhound website and figure out the furthest point you could possibly be away from home, and save enough money for that ticket.

Don't forget about getting from wherever the truck is to the nearest bus station, cabs are not cheap nowdays.

Have enough set aside to feed yourself for several days while you are getting home.

Go to U-haul or another similar place and buy enough boxes to hold everything you have in your truck. Collapse the boxes and store them flat under your mattress in case you need them. Don't forget the packing tape.

Keep the 800 numbers for Fed-Ex or UPS handy. If the need arises you can have them come to wherever you are with the truck to ship all your things home. Have this money set aside also, of course.

But I am a poor driver with mouths to feed at home and no extra money!?!?

Start small. Take 5 dollars a week and put it in an envelope and don't spend it. It won't take all that many weeks to have your emergency fund and you really won't miss the money. If you can't keep your hands off the cash, buy a pre-paid Visa and load the money onto it each week and do not use it. Be aware that some places are no longer accepting the pre-paid cards for payment.

Stop spending your change and keep it. A coffee can or baby wipe box full of mixed change is more money than you can imagine, truly. I recently cashed in a 3/4 full coffee can, it contained over $600.

If you have a pet with you things will be even more ineresting. Greyhound isn't going to let you take your dog on the bus with you. Wherever you may be stranded, there will be an animal shelter or rescue group relatively near. Contact them and explain your situation. Chances are they will be able to help you find a person to keep your pet while you make your way home and then arrange transportation to reunite you.

Nothing is certain, especially the job market and our current jobs. Do all that you can to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.

Everyone feel free to add any more suggestions

[Malaki86]

That's one good thing about working for a small company that outright owns their equipment. If they do go under, I'm quite sure they'd have the drivers bring the trucks back into our only terminal, which is 20 miles from the house.

A small company in our town shut down a couple of years ago. We ended up with quite a few of their drivers. That company was the same - they owned their equipment. They deadheaded drivers from wherever they were located to get the trucks back to their yard.

Great advice, though. I always try to keep extra money in the bank just for emergencies like that - you never know what's going to happen.

[ronjon619]

Arrow isn't the first nor will it be the last company to go out of business. By the way things are going, this next year is going to be tough on everybody and there will be more companies going out of business, you could be next.

Are you ready if that happens to you tomorrow?

Do you have a way to get home and to get everything in your truck home with you?

Some of us could handle it, there are many who have never considered the possibility and would be at a loss if they were suddenly stranded hundreds or thousands of miles away from home.

Here's a few tips in case you are not already prepared:

Set aside a small fund to purchase a bus ticket home. Go surf the Greyhound website and figure out the furthest point you could possibly be away from home, and save enough money for that ticket.

Don't forget about getting from wherever the truck is to the nearest bus station, cabs are not cheap nowdays.

Have enough set aside to feed yourself for several days while you are getting home.

Go to U-haul or another similar place and buy enough boxes to hold everything you have in your truck. Collapse the boxes and store them flat under your mattress in case you need them. Don't forget the packing tape.

Keep the 800 numbers for Fed-Ex or UPS handy. If the need arises you can have them come to wherever you are with the truck to ship all your things home. Have this money set aside also, of course.

But I am a poor driver with mouths to feed at home and no extra money!?!?

Start small. Take 5 dollars a week and put it in an envelope and don't spend it. It won't take all that many weeks to have your emergency fund and you really won't miss the money. If you can't keep your hands off the cash, buy a pre-paid Visa and load the money onto it each week and do not use it. Be aware that some places are no longer accepting the pre-paid cards for payment.

Stop spending your change and keep it. A coffee can or baby wipe box full of mixed change is more money than you can imagine, truly. I recently cashed in a 3/4 full coffee can, it contained over $600.

If you have a pet with you things will be even more ineresting. Greyhound isn't going to let you take your dog on the bus with you. Wherever you may be stranded, there will be an animal shelter or rescue group relatively near. Contact them and explain your situation. Chances are they will be able to help you find a person to keep your pet while you make your way home and then arrange transportation to reunite you.

Nothing is certain, especially the job market and our current jobs. Do all that you can to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.

Everyone feel free to add any more suggestions

It's not the end of the world. It was a scum bag move by that company, but I would gladly give an Arrow driver a ride if he told me what had happened to him. Maybe if that driver lived on my route I would deliver him to his home. Your checklist is great but a little over the top in my opinion. Your list reminded me of when wildfire season breaks out in So. Cal. All the news outlets with their checklists. Car backed into grage. Valuables in an easy to get to place and so forth.

[Flatbed]

Most people are not able to think rationally in an emergency situation, being stranded could easily cause some to become irrational for a period of time while others would handle it well. Being prepared ahead of time just makes sense and is not 'over the top'.

[Roadhog]

Everyone feel free to add any more suggestions

Two most important things for me, is to keep a month supply of
red hot cinnamon flavored toothpicks in small tin.

Also, always make sure your little black book is with you.
That's what they made that little pocket in your jeans for.

[1catfish]

hey, ronjon i noticed you like asian women too!

[geeshock]

heh, so true, I learned the hard way. My wife was able to pick me up so that was no problem, I have learned since then to travel as light as you can. Moveing can be a PITA if you bring 1/2 your house with you

[Dejanh]

I was stuck at Frankfurt, Germany a year ago because of our plane breaking down. I bought a bus ticket to the next biggest airport which was in Stuttgart, GM and made my way back home that way.

If you cant do something similar in your own country then you should be ashamed of yourself just like those two poor people in that video clip who cried because they were lost it seems, like the whole world came to an end.

Thing about us Americans is that we blow the ***** way out of proportions and make a fly look like a bear. To think that our own countrymen won II World Wars, fought on many fronts and ended communism just 20 years ago,blows my mind. Its amazing to see where we have come in such a short period of time.

We are a panic driven nation and Arrows shutdown shows it clearly just as this post does. I have deadheaded 2000 miles on my own money to make it home for holidays.

I don't care where am at, ill be home for Christmas.

[thebaldeagle655]

Something else to remember to put money aside for is the time you are looking for a job after the company goes under! After Westar reduced our wages by about 1/2, withdrew all benefits and started getting equipment repossessed again I elected to terminate my employment just in case they went under also. It took me 9 weeks before my first unemployment check. Had I not had foresight enough to see this coming and have some cash set aside I would have had to take a minimum wage job just to eat. I hate to see the Arrow situation but in today's economy any company is subject to the same problems.

Good luck all and


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[Windwalker]

Arrow isn't the first to go like that. There was a company called DTI some years ago. I was hearing from other drivers on the CB how their paychecks weren't any good. That was about a month or so before they closed their doors.

No, Arrow certainly is not the first. But, look at the warning signs that started a few months ago. Then, watch to see if you spot any of them where you are working. It could give you a heads-up.

[LBF]

In your escape from the bankrupt truck, save a few more pennies, put those boxes under the Greyhound either as luggage or Bus Parcel Express, way cheaper than the courier companies.