All American Xpress

Nope, AAX is under Chapter 11 protection, no one can mess with their equipment and its been that way for more than a month.

Flatbed, accounting is done by the lawyers so AAX basically is on an allowance, required to pay all debtor related expenses first, operating expenses next and benefits and payroll last, that's the way it works in bankruptcy court.

Don't know what Truckens refers to, I've been on board for 7 months and all has pretty much been the same in regard to "rules". Only change has been the return of payroll advances which weren't allowed when I joined. And there sure hasn't been any talk of 'growing pains', they have been downsizing for the past year.

Bad turn of events this week since the message I mentioned at the end of last week - fuel is being doled out as usual but no payroll was met at all. Not last week, and so far, not this week. They were 2 weeks behind and as of Tuesday this week they are 3 weeks behind.
They said Tuesday afternoon they had processed the May 24th payroll and it would be paid but it has not (that would have been our June 1 payday). So we are still owed May 24, June 1, and June 7 (June 14 payroll doesn't pay out until the next Tuesday, June 21st).
I am on a day off at home in Chattanooga heading down to Lakeland for a Friday morning delivery but gave notice today that without a deposit Thursday, I will drop the trailer and clean out my truck. As long as I can pay my bills, I'll stick around - still no one offering coast to coast solo and I'm scouring the net every day for something acceptable for a TN based driver.
Will likely fax apps to Storey Trucking, Marten, and R.E. West when I come home this weekend and bite the bullet and apply to regional work with Kenco, Knight, USXPress and Davis Express (yeah, I know about Knight and USX, but the are big outfits, local to Chattanooga and I can swallow temporarily working for them better than for other outfits who make being based out of Chatt too much of a hardship (Mays, Gordon, FFE, Southern Ref, Swift). Contemplating a return to Acklie and Shaffer but not until I am ready to settle down to a long term employer - right now I just need something reliable for the short term.

 

Payroll was met Thursday, unfortunately is was only for 1 week and not 2 (I was told by the admin that she had submitted May24 and June1, apparently they only approved payout of May 24) so AAX is still 2 weeks in arrears.

Amazed that people still dont get the concept of Chap 11 even while claiming to have personal experience with it. This is not an AAX "payroll glitch" this is a bankruptcy lawyer accounting delay.
Flatbed, I AM the OP and your comment about me getting upset if it happened with a big company is totally irrelevant as they are not in bankruptcy. As an O/O
(I assume) you of all people know full well a company operates with a certain amount of capital to carry it forward. You are on your third delivery before you are paid by the first shipper and that is exactly what is happening here. It has been less than 2 months since the take-over of company finances by the court, payroll began to lag, and supposedly it is now at the point of playing catchup in the next week or two.
I put myself in my own financial hole by taking 2 months off last fall to find this job and then got slammed by 3 weeks unpaid off-duty time when my truck got repo'ed and it took several weeks to put me in a replacement truck. I accept that risk.

AAX is not sinking. It is sunk. Enough of the histrionics already. Any cash held by AAX (which is NONE since previous Pres/VP had stolen funds) is no longer in control by AAX, get over it.
This thread is merely continuing to illustrate the rest of the story : how many drivers can afford to ride out the financial hardship of the transition? how long before Lewis gets his backing in place to fund his new start-up, Runway Transportation? Will Lewis make it out alive and will there be criminal proceedings against the theives he was doing business with? And, if the brokers and shippers continue business as they have, what will the new Runway look like?

Drvrtech77, parking til paid is a noble thought, but with no money in the bank, how exactly does not working help you out? What is the guarantee they will want me back in a truck? Who will pay the $400 it takes for me to go home and then return to FL at a later time (gas and motels). I was ready to leave today but realized I'd spend the next 2 weeks unpaid at the very least while bills are due. Staying in the truck makes sure that even if delayed, I will have 6 or 8 thousand coming my way, not just 4, by the time I do chose to get out (see final comment below).

Anyone want to back up their hubris with a loan, I'll gladly backchannel you an address to mail a check - I'll take $5000 at 20% and will repay 12 x $500 starting August 1. Hurry up to make that easy money cause I already have someone ready to bail me out when I decide I can't float my ship any further.

But in the meantime, I'm gonna run 2 more turns as long as paychecks come at least bi-weekly (meaning if they have paid me again between now and my next return from the West coast, I will run another r/t) and then will park the truck in mid-July for 2 weeks personal time. If this company, what ever it is at that time, is still running and paying drivers, I will probably return if they want me to, otherwise August 1st will be a target date for settling on a new job.

 

Got to the yard this afternoon and didn't like anything that I saw.
First, though I was promised a specific payment by payroll, it didn't come today.
Second, half the office and all the shop staff were gone.
Third, the yard was full of rigs not being used as well as empty trailers.
Fourth, NO loaded trailers sat on the yard.
Fifth, when I asked a dispatcher if they would have a load for me today, he told me to see the manager who had just gone into his office. He was followed by the dispatcher, the other operations guy, and the lead mechanic.
Sixth, several drivers were standing around talking, two had already quit, the third was about to clean out his truck, all were talking about RUMORS, that AAX was shutting down as trucks returned to the yard. NONE advised me to try another west coast run even if offered one. One felt we might be stiffed for our pay (but I still doubt that).

So, a pulled my van around front and began cleaning out my truck. After about 20 minutes I texted the manager who was still inside at the meeting (on a conference call with someone, maybe Lewis, in ATL). I told him "as I told you Monday, since there is no payment on my May 19th load by today, I am heading home". He texted back moments later "OK".
End of story. No questions. No attempt to get me to stay and run loads. No explaination of what's going on. A few minutes later I went inside and gave the dispatcher my truck keys - he took them without surprise and said "Thanks, good luck". No questions. No attempt to get me to stay and run loads. No explaination of what's going on.

So I put it in gear and am back home in Chattanooga.
There are a few more tractors with "RUNWAY" lettering on them in the yard.
Phone lines to AAX are apparently being answered "RUNWAY" (though last week I couldn't even get the main number to ring through).
Can't imagine if he is still pushing RUNWAY that he wouldn't attempt to hold on to a driver, but maybe there is going to be a lag between the shutdown of AAX and him getting his backing for RUNWAY, time will tell.

If I hear any more regarding the shut down or the new outfit, I'll return to post the info.bb.