Harold Ives Trucking remembered

Howdy all,

As an ex-employee of Harold Ives Trucking, I wanted to post a public thank-you to them for giving me my start in the trucking industry.

When I started trucking, it was as a summer job. I was a college student, and I had three months between the end of the Spring semester and the beginning of the Fall semester to go trucking. I told Harold Ives about this, and they were perfectly happy with that arrangement. Suffice it to say many trucking companies would not have bothered training such a short-term employee. But they did!

I showed up at their yard in North Little Rock, Arkansas with a fresh CDL and trucking school diploma. They hired me, put me through an orientation and put me on the road with a trainer, Freddie.

Freddie taught me everything the school didn't; not only driving, but how to use the Qualcomm, how to deal with shippers and receivers, law enforcement and so on and so forth. When he turned me loose and I got my own truck, the worries I'd had about how to handle myself on the road had evaporated.

Harold Ives gave me a nice Kenworth, they took care of me when I had problems, and they gave me good miles and good runs. I had a great time driving for them, and when I left, it was only because I had to be back in Texas for the start of the Fall semester. I fully intended to go back to Harold Ives the following summer.

Unfortunately, by the time that summer rolled around, Harold Ives Trucking had been bought out by Covenant Transport. I'd left Harold Ives on good term and thus made it into Covenant's system as a driver eligible for re-hire, and Covenant did agree to the same "summer job" terms that I'd had with Harold Ives Trucking. So I hired on with them, and I got a pretty decent dispatcher there. But between my interactions with Covenant's Breakdown, Payroll and Human Resources departments, it was clear from day one that they could have used a lesson or two from Mr. Ives on how to run a company. Since then, I'm out of college; I'm now working in the IT field as a network engineer.

It's sad that Harold Ives Trucking is no longer with us today, but every so often, I still come across that cowboy hat logo on an old trailer somewhere. It makes me remember what to me will always be the good ole' days.

Thank you, Harold Ives Trucking, for giving me my start in the trucking industry!

 

As a follow-up, I also need to point out an omission in my original post:

Thank you, Freddie, for letting me in your truck and showing me the ropes!

 

I remember "Cowboy" as they were called way back when. I never worked for them, but i never heard some of the bad stuff about them that you hear about some of the carriers today.

 

I'm sure they weren't perfect, but they treated me right. Thanks for finding the photo!

 

An old modified Navy saying would work here.
The best job I have had was the one I left or the one I'm going to.

 

Haha! My current job isn't in trucking at all, but I can honestly say I praised Harold Ives even while I still worked there. Drivers (and prospective drivers) I met on the road during that time can attest to that.

 

i worked for ives from 1995 to 2000 and if i had a dollar for every driver that told me he or she had worked for ives i wouldnt have to drive anymore!

 

I think his wife has or had a big brokerage outfit in their hometown and the former home base for Harold Ives Trucking in Stuggart, AR which is also the Duck Hunting Capital of the World. Main business in Stuggart, AR is rice.

 

Wow!! I think I know Tom Tom and yes it was the best company to work for.It was was great,had a suburban to do our store runs and trips to the Golden Coral Buffet or the mall in North Little Rock, AR. ....Wilson warehouse, Potlatch, Megeehee,Ar. Bridgestone Firestone, hanging out at the 76 truck stop in Laverne, TN waiting on a tire load

 

It really sucks when these good small companies are bought out by mega carriers,when I was a kid my older brother drove for a small company base out of PA and was bought out by a mega carrier,I can't remember who bought them but I do remember after that happen my brother was no longer happy.It seems when small companies are bought out by mega carriers there never the same again,it just sad.