Heading to arrow monday

[kinglancerin]

Are there any arrow drivers out there that can give me any advice?
or what to look foward to ?

Reson i chose them -

1 dont live in a high freight lane area other companies wont hire me .
(my wife was born and raised here she wont move) <---- damn.

2 I read on here they have a good training program .
(only pulled tanker, reefer, dry van, ) <---- need the training.

3 *according* to my recruiter i can start off sw regional.
(lets see what happens) <---- heard alot of things from recruiters that were not true! , but previous posts ive read new drivers said they were ABLE to.

Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated from any of you.
thanks.. including the old BOL

[jefster]

I applied at Arrow among many other companies. I decided to go elsewhere. Man they are persistant. They just keep calling and calling lol. I decided against them b/c they make you buy bungees, winch bar, hard hat, safety glasses, and camera. All of them things should be company provided in my book. But if your wanting to get into flatbed and you cant get on anywhere else good luck to you.

[kinglancerin]

I asked them about those things , and how much they would cost not very much at all , hard hat was about 5 dollars , winch bar 8, safety goggles 3 etc . you can buy them and bring them yourself if you think it would be cheaper. also they take it out in payments from what i was told. maybe a total of 50 - 70 dollars not to much money considering id rather be safe then sorry. 50 bungees were were around 25 bucks that was the most expensive thing on the list. and u can get them at truck stops or hardware stores if you want to lug them on a bus lol. Thats really not to bad a price seeing a mixer company made us have steel toe rubber boots insulated ones and charged us 95 bucks for them . And like i said id rather come home to my family in one piece and pay for SAFETY gear then not.. But to each there own. Who did you go with by the way jefster.

[jefster]

I drove for maverick for a year 3 years ago, been driving local last 3 years. Maverick provided everything though. I decided to go with Roehl flatbed division this time around. They also provide everything. Hey when you get out on your own maybe I will see you out there, one thing I learned when I drove for maverick is everywhere you load and drop off this is always a variety of other companies loading and unloading at the same places.

[kinglancerin]

Ive been doing local work also lately so i got all the gear mainly that i need but i understand some others may not.
And they all got there pros and cons like anything nowdays so we all just have to make the best of it .. well safe driving maybe ill see ya out there .

[downriverrob]

Are there any arrow drivers out there that can give me any advice?
or what to look foward to ?

Reson i chose them -

1 dont live in a high freight lane area other companies wont hire me .
(my wife was born and raised here she wont move) <---- damn.

2 I read on here they have a good training program .
(only pulled tanker, reefer, dry van, ) <---- need the training.

3 *according* to my recruiter i can start off sw regional.
(lets see what happens) <---- heard alot of things from recruiters that were not true! , but previous posts ive read new drivers said they were ABLE to.

Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated from any of you.
thanks.. including the old BOL

you should really do your homework on this company. jus sayin, i see more arrow trucks sitting empty at truckstops than any other.

[married to the road]

If you have any questions, I may be able to help.

Where do you live?

I can tell you that Arrow has made some changes this year. They have reduced their LOH from 1000+ to more like 500 to 700 miles a run. they are focusing on running the midwest and east coast. Better paying freight and there is more freight to keep drivers moving.

They told us (linehaul), if we go to the west coast to plan on sitting for a day or two for a load. It may be better for the SW regional guys, who i think get %, not mileage.

Training is decent, I'm sure you could do worse... good luck!

[kinglancerin]

Yea thanks married , so have things gotten better or worse in your opinion? heard one rumor arrow was going to be shutting down due to poor safety and is it true alot of trucks are sitting empty everywhere? then again from what others are saying its slow everywhere right now.
how long have u been with them? also should i be worried about job security going with them ? and how have the lower mileage loads been for you is it keeping u busy with more loads just not as many miles per load or?

[married to the road]

Yea thanks married , so have things gotten better or worse in your opinion? heard one rumor arrow was going to be shutting down due to poor safety and is it true alot of trucks are sitting empty everywhere? then again from what others are saying its slow everywhere right now.
how long have u been with them? also should i be worried about job security going with them ? and how have the lower mileage loads been for you is it keeping u busy with more loads just not as many miles per load or?

I liked the longer hauls, but it's not much worse than the way it was before... I hear all kinds of rumors, one popular one is Arrow is going to merge with Melton (or another company), but I don't think they are going to get shut down... I have not had to sit at empty long at all this summer, that is usually more of a problem in the winter, may be different with other drivers... I have been with them for nearly two years... Job security? You may have some slow weeks, but I have never heard about any of Arrow's drivers ever being laid off...You can still get decent miles as long as you can keep turning the loads quickly enough, but it is a lot more loading, unloading and tarping so you have to work harder to get about the same miles/money...HOPE THIS HELPS!!!

[russwasherejr]

i just got back from arrow orientation, if you didnt leave yet, i suggest leaving now..there horrible, there training sucks and that merrel or whatever company was shut down, and they have a CRAPLOAD of accidents every year, there very unsafe. I will never apply with them again, probably one of the biggest unorganized companies i ever seen. Don't waste your time with them guys.

[Walking Eagle]

I can see buying your own personal safty gear, boots, hard hat, vest etc. but to want you to buy stuff to hold their tarps on the trailer ??? What next ?? Buy your own chains, binders, matress for the bunk, drivers seat ????

[Kaji]

The disorganization is why I left in November. It's true that their orientation is pretty basic. There's some things that you can learn from the load securement classes.

If you don't know anything about driving, don't go to Arrow. If you do know how to drive and just need a way into the industry, by all means use Arrow for the experience until you find something better. It's not near the best, but neither is it near the worst. You can make a decent living without being bothered much.

They don't have tripacks and they cut the IdleAire to almost nothing but they won't say anything about you idling all the time either.

Just keep your mouth shut in orientation. The last thing they want to hear is how JBHunt did things different. They sent one guy home just for that.

As for all the wrecks they have, it's not enough to get DOT after them and it just makes you look better for being upright. Yes, they do pay bonuses for that.

[married to the road]

The disorganization is why I left in November. It's true that their orientation is pretty basic. There's some things that you can learn from the load securement classes.

If you don't know anything about driving, don't go to Arrow. If you do know how to drive and just need a way into the industry, by all means use Arrow for the experience until you find something better. It's not near the best, but neither is it near the worst. You can make a decent living without being bothered much.

They don't have tripacks and they cut the IdleAire to almost nothing but they won't say anything about you idling all the time either.

Just keep your mouth shut in orientation. The last thing they want to hear is how JBHunt did things different. They sent one guy home just for that.

As for all the wrecks they have, it's not enough to get DOT after them and it just makes you look better for being upright. Yes, they do pay bonuses for that.

They are starting to get onto drivers about idling now if you get above 40%, even though they still have our idle aire time cut back. 40% is easy right now, but I'm not sure that will be the case in the summer time. They offer a new bonus for the lowest idle % in each fleet, but you are still going to idle if it gets too hot or cold.