Arrow Trucking Files “Unprecedented” Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

The Tulsa World has reported that the United States Bankruptcy Trustee believes the Arrow Trucking bankruptcy case to be unprecedented.

According to the report

Patrick J. Malloy III, bankruptcy trustee in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said Arrow Trucking’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing last Friday is without precedent.

"We don’t have a schedule of assets, a schedule of liabilities and a statement of financial affairs," he said. "Anyone who would be capable of providing that is not available. We’re going to have to reconstruct everything. It could take weeks."

The article further details that

Arrow’s owner Carol Pielsticker, ex-CEO Doug Pielsticker, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Moore and Secretary and General Counsel Joseph Mowry simply disappeared in the wake of the company’s collapse. Before the bankruptcy filing, no Arrow executive or officer appeared in public to comment on the state or prospects of the company or the circumstances of its collapse.

One potentially good sign is that the report states that

the priority of unsecured claims will be wage claims, tax claims and benefit claims,

While I do not practice bankruptcy I am glad to hear that wage claims for the families devastated by this tragedy appear to be first in line. I hope that continues to be the case throughout this bankruptcy proceeding. Our hope is that justice will somehow prevail and the workers, those injured by Arrow whether third party or workers compensation will receive appropriate benefits to help them through this time and into the future.

One concern that I am still curious about is whether Arrow executives are providing the appropriate information to potential employers of Arrow’s former driver employees. As we have indicated before, Federal Regulations have detailed requirements on what a trucking company must obtain before allow a truck driver to drive for their companies. These rules, while they may seem burdensome, provide a shield against unqualified and bad drivers. While these rules aren’t always followed, the good drivers of Arrow deserve the opportunity to be driving as soon as possible as they are paid by the mile.