Arrow Trucking Need Info..

i see you are from the orange state....if u aint got a job already you might try builders....(BTC) thats what everbody keeps tellin me but i aint old enogh or have the exp.

 

U

Not to rain on your parade but until dav turner shakes your hand and darren aka elvis gives you a truck assignment your not approved. They will still be sending drivers home friday at lunch. But good luck.

 

I have got a pre-approvel from arrow. a former arrow trucker told me that if it were arrow or swift to go with arrow is the correct.

 

I have never driven for Swift, but I have driven for Arrow. One question I have for you: How much do you need to make to live? If you can handle $300/wk OR LESS before taxes at best, go with Arrow, but honestly, you'd be lucky to make that considering some of the posts I've seen lately. Did you read the post by longneck731? Have you checked the Swift threads to see how many miles they are getting to run? Why are you limiting yourself to only those two companies?

 

I applied at 17 companies and there are either on a hiring freeze or they are not taking student drivers right now. I have 2 1/2 weeks left to class and I have now been out of work for 4 months and have to get back to work savings is going and going and is almost gone.

I'm not trying to limit my self, I have gotten 8 pre-approvels but like I said they now are saying they are on hold. Was just thinking about may getting the 6months to a year exp. then switch.

 

go with the year it will be much easier i went 6 months and now am goin to have to get "a crap job" at least to get some more exp......with 6 months you aint a newbie but at the same rate you aint exp.

 

definatly try to stay at your first job a year. 6 months is good but that year is like gold. and arrow isnt bad for students. they run you like crazy at first. but man the tarps are shredded. the chains are junk. you gotta pay for your own bungies and wench bar. the trailers are mostly steel with the removable wenches that you have to hold on with a bungee. you have to pay for pre pass your self if you want it. i dont know n e thing about swift but i would avoid them both if possible. i made better at paschall truck lines out of murray ky than arrow and believe me i wasnt makin much there. paschall was tollerable. arrow man im still bitter about that crap lol. every new driver i met at arrow said they were getting good miles. i was makin 40 cents a mile and was told that is why i wasnt getting n e miles but who knows. if something comes up at your first job and you quit give ATLEAST 2 weeeks notice. if you just quit it hurts you. believe me i know. i have done that alot and it has kept me from a few jobs here and there.

get you a map of tulsa ok if you chose arrow cause you are gonna be spending a lot of time there. any time you go threw tulsa you have to do what they call a walk around. you have to see dispatch logs and safty. and if you need a pm might as well get a hotel out of your own pocket cause when i left the average was 5 days in tulsa for a stupid pm. but like i said the fresh drivers werent complaining near as much as the grumpy ### experienced drivers but once you drive for a few years youll be a grouch too good luck

 

yeah meals too. Too many guys don't take care of the tarps like they are supposed to. If you jack it up fix it. It should not be the companies responsibility to fix every drivers lazy mess up. I got pretty crappy tarps. I took them in and showed them and they assigned me new ones. They also changed out all chains to brand spanking new ones....all you have to do is ask and do it in the right way. They even gave me some slick new V-Boards.

I wouldn't say mostly. Exact number is unknown but there are right around 1300 active trucks with 875 alum spreads.

That is not true at all. Not sure when you worked there but it is paid for by Arrow. If you want the one through Ohio you do though. Most others are covered. And if you pay any tolls you get your money back or they can send you money to cover it before hand.

Clearly

That is cool for them. Everyone is given a chance to follow the rules. If not then it gets tough. Everyone is different and some luck I am sure plays a part in it.

Yeah get a map. Tulsa sucks! lol

And I have heard the same thing from other guys about maintainence. Not Preventive Maintainence but if something breaks and they have to order a part. It happens. Three guys came into training today while I was there watching some videos. They were all there for PM and were out of there by 3pm after coming in at 10am. Maybe it depends on what is up. I do hear a lot of the same rumors though...but I think that is all they are. I will update if something happens though.

Stay safe...

 

The ez pass pree pass what ever. I've never used it but the driver pays for the lil box that let's you bypass the scales . I quit 3 weeks ago and I just asked the recruiter I had about it and she said the driver still pays for it. I drove 17118 and in three months I only pulled one aluminum trailer. And out of those only one was a spread.

About the tarps the three times I was in tulsa they told me they didn't have any more tarps to hand out. I did get new straps but even the chains they made a big deal about.

Here is something to laugh about. Three different times I got repairs on the road and all three times had t wait for arrow to put money in their repair account. 2 and 3 days each time lol. The TA looked like an arrow terminal all three times.

 

Yep, I can confirm the issue with the tarps. They were trashed and I could not manage to get my hands on a good one in Dallas. Everytime someone quit, I would ratf*** their truck looking for good parts and equipment. I had one beautiful tarp and one that was trashed. I could not find a good replacement for my trashed one. The chains are another story. My first load from NC to Dallas I had a chain stolen from me while I was sleeping in the T/A outside of Tuscaloosa. So happened that there were four Arrow trucks there waiting near the bays for repairs that night. I'm wondering............... haha

As far as the Pre-Pass, most companies do make the driver pay for that. At least TMC did. I opted to stop at every little scale that was open. Didnt care. If I had bought the Pre-Pass, it would have pretty much been a waste of money.

Oh, and BTW, for you Arrow drivers out there, if you didnt know this, you CAN fuel at Petro (owned by T/A, whom Arrow hates and does not authorize for fuel because T/A wants them to pay their bills). It will NOT be on your fuel stop list, but try it, the card works.

Longneck, 17000 miles in three months is just disgusting. I'll assume you were national, instead of regional? If so, then it's gotten worse there than I thought. Every national driver I chatted with last spring was earning at least $1k per week because they were kept running. Regional has always been, and will most likely always be a losing proposition for them.

I was also told by one driver that the National guys usually get an aluminum split axle and keep it most of the time. I could definitely see why. You want lighter trailers on longer hauls.