need to know about arnold trans.

I am in current process of returning to Arnold as a rehire after a 5 year absence..I was one of the ones to be with Arnold til the USX merger and then got suckered into "jumping ship" to the USX side for the lease...that lasted about a year...I now find Arnold has its own lease program with what i can only assume to be the 2009 trucks i originally drove in the "jump ship" move...after reviewing the lease contract online (via recruiter) it seems solid...350/375 per week with a bumper to bumper warrenty (0.9/mile deduction for maintenance account)--no deposit no down and no balloon at the end of 36 months...

MY question is, are there any Arnold drivers currently in the lease program with these trucks? and how do you like/not like it?

I am happy to be returning to Arnold as I never had problems with them when i was there for about 8 months...i just thought the lease with USX was going to be better...

 

Why would you lease? Does that "bumper-to-bumper" warranty require you to have the work done at an ATS shop? If so, are you prepared for 5 days downtime and have your truck worked on by incompetent techs? I have never had a good experience with the GP shop. One PM, they forgot the o-ring on the fuel filter. Another time they falsified a cooling system repair and sent me out as is, causing a road breakdown. I would not let the GP shop change the oil on my Corolla....

 

With 10 yrs experience--unless you've been out of a truck for a while--Arnold's not a good bet. Not a bad company, mind you. I visited Jacksonville HQ in 2012 while tooting around the country with my dogs and car-camping in my car. A young driver told me that ALL of his truck school friends had come over to Arnold after stints with the likes of Swift and others.

(And Arnold allows pets.)

For a guy with 10 years you should look for a smaller outfit or an outfit like Ruan or Groendyke, where drivers make real $$ and turnover happens but matters. The young guy I spoke to was anxious to get a full year in and move on. Consider Hansen and Adkins hauling cars, same area. They will train you for 3--6 weeks there in Jacksonville. Real money. Sleep in motels, not sleeper.

Gets you out of the 'just-in-time' world, too. Instead of 8.5 hrs to make a 9-hour trip, they ASK you when you'll be there. You answer, 'Wednesday or Thursday'. They say, 'Okay, fine.' Just be sure that Wednesday or Thursday you show up with undamaged cars...

 

If you are going to lease, you should lease from a company that has it's act together in many ways or you'll be very sorry. Bottom line. Yes the lease program itself might be good, but... Read between the lines, I dare not say more.

 

C'mon Vito! Dish the details, Bub.... Do we have to wait for TMZ??

 

Southwest freight is short, worked there for nine years, used to be a good company now has "investors" Ten X . USX is still involved just not as much. Run don't walk!

 

When you go to sign lease make sure it is same as you were sent

 

How is Arnold as far as company drivers go?

 

You might get some feedback from current regional drivers. I'm on dedicated now, but I still see many of the same issues. short-hauls,2200mi/wk. the shop is showing some signs of improvement, but I still avoid it. Grand Prairie, that is. You need to make sure you get the weekend all planned b4 your FM bails for the weekend. Night/weekend disp may take a long time to reply to satcom, phone is 30min 0n hold after a few trys calling and getting VM or disconnected.

 

Couldn't agree more. Seeing the same things. Been there 1.5 years and the phones have NEVER worked correctly. WTH? Miles been steadily going down since January, Arnold loosing customers, trailers getting worse, finding MT's still a big problem... it goes on and on and on. What a mess!