As long as I've been out here there was always a Matheson rolling the interstate. Tough times out here.
When Matheson shuts down you know it's bad. I remember them...and their subhaulers....running mail from L.A. to Seattle back in the 70s. They were a class act then and one of the better jobs. When we had vans we used to move a few spot loads for them during the holidays season. Never had any problem with the people there or the money. This is a shame.
Occasionally you see a story of a postal mail carrier caught not delivering his route and storing the mail in the garage or dumpster. Now imagine a whole trailer load of mail disappearing and the personal info and checks in that mail disappearing.
Having worked there for 5 years right before the chapter 11 and my dad working through the chapter 11. I can safely say anyone with sense could see this coming down the pipe. The trucks were poorly maintained with a lot of the repair budget going elsewhere. They had a nasty habit of threatening drivers or treating them like ####, for example i actully got written up for reporting a dispatcher who told me to go AROUND road closed signs in wyoming or i would be fired for context. The dispatcher did get fired in the end but he was allowed to stay out dispatcher for over a week before that. They constantly hired out to bottom of the barrel sub contractors who cost more then their own drivers and many of who made the loads late or did #### like the one who drove INTO oncoming traffic on I80 by taking the exit ramp as an onramp. Then there was the huge shift towards growth over profit. And so many many many other issues it was frankly just sad towards the end. I mean hell they went through 43 terminal managers in the 5 years i was there. Half the time i didnt even know who my boss was or who the shop manager was and they blatently ignored stuff like leaving me and my dad without heat or defroster or anything for 2 full weeks during one of the coldest months on record for colorado threatening to can us if we refused to take unsafe trucks, we both got written up for flat out refuseing the truck with no heat or defroster in WINTER by the way. They also had a nasty habit of screwing up your pay then more or less refuseing to fix it unless you went over the heads of 2 or 3 people. I had instances where i didnt get paid for 4+ weeks unless i complained loudly to the regional HR person over the head of the local lady. I dont know what happened exactly but while i was there it was an absolute joke and my dad said it only got worse after i moved on. Only reason i stayed as long ss i did was as a direct favor to my dad who needed the health insurance and as soon as they cut that he left as well.
