{"id":573,"date":"2019-12-09T21:09:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T21:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/?p=573"},"modified":"2019-12-09T21:47:27","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T21:47:27","slug":"teddys-truckers-offering-support-to-celadon-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/other-news\/2019\/12\/09\/teddys-truckers-offering-support-to-celadon-drivers\/573\/","title":{"rendered":"Teddy’s Trucker’s Offering Support to Celadon Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Al Muskewitz
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When a trucking company closes its doors the timing, regardless of the rumors, is sudden and the impact, especially if it\u2019s a big company, is far-reaching. No time is a good time for the employees affected, but it\u2019s particularly devastating during the holidays.
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Drivers are stranded in out of the way places and, in many cases, left to their own devices to get back home. To say nothing of the uncertainty it places on the families.
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The announcement of Celadon\u2019s bankruptcy came suddenly, and the trucking community answered the call.
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A lot of groups and individuals surfaced to render some kind of assistance and support to some 3,000 drivers impacted by the largest truckload bankruptcy in history. One developing non-profit organization, Teddy\u2019s Trucker\u2019s Association, has stepped up with an effort to bring all those systems together in one consolidated social media location.
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The group\u2019s founder, Bridgette Reinsmith, created a Celadon Closure Assistance and Jobs Facebook page to \u201cconnect Celadon drivers and support staff \u2026 to assistance and job opportunities.\u201d
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Celadon has nearly 3,000 trucks in its fleet, which dominates the I-35 corridor from Laredo to the Midwest, with heavy emphasis in the automotive sector. It has 2,500 drivers, works with 380 owner-operators and has some 1,300 administrative employees, most of whom work at the company\u2019s Indianapolis, Ind., headquarters.
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Reinsmith said she\u2019s been \u201cfloored\u201d by the response the Closure Assistance page has received. In the first 48 hours of its launch, the page drew nearly 1,300 members, many of them drivers offering transportation to their stranded brothers, carriers offering to hire the displaced drivers or give them rides home, and drivers simply telling their stories.
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Celadon has been buying bus tickets home for drivers who can get their trucks to a terminal, but that\u2019s not always possible. Teddy\u2019s Trucker\u2019s had been able to connect people when fuel cards were suspended and has started a GoFundMe page to help get drivers home. One page poster from Alabama has offered plane tickets and storage facilities to stranded drivers. Another from Colorado offered help with fuel.
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\u201cIt\u2019s brought me to tears at times,\u201d Reinsmith said of the response. \u201cIt definitely warms my heart knowing this trucking community has absolutely come together to support these drivers in this time of need and hopefully we can support the rest of their employees in the same way.
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\u201cThey didn\u2019t just have employees in the U.S., they\u2019re in Canada and, from what I understand, Mexico as well. We\u2019ve been working to try and connect drivers who have been in Texas to get them home in Canada. Not just them, them and their pets. It absolutely is logistics and people willing to translate and do it out of the kindness of their hearts, not for any other reason.\u201d
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Richard Campbell of Campbell\u2019s 24-Hour Towing & Recovery and the I-65 Truck Repair Center in Cullman, Ala., was offering the plane tickets and storage availability. His son, Tyler, said his father was moved by the drivers\u2019 plight, particularly with it occurring so close to the Christmas holiday.
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\u201cWe have helped these drivers for many years on the side of the road in many situations,” Richard said. “It only seems right to continue on doing so until they get home with their family for the holidays.”
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It was Reinsmith\u2019s vision to launch Teddy\u2019s Trucker\u2019s Association early in 2020 to help drivers and their families in any time of need, but the Celadon situation accelerated their mission and exposure.
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\u201cIt wasn\u2019t about us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was all about the driver \u2026 There might be companies, might be organizations, that will help some; we\u2019re just trying to fill in the gaps.\u201d
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The association takes its name from the Red Sovine\u2019s 1976 heart-tugger \u201cTeddy Bear.\u201d
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When it takes flight Teddy\u2019s Trucker\u2019s Association will be a membership-based organization, which will help fund initiatives going forward. The Facebook page is an outlet for information related to the current situation.
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It\u2019s a moving world. Reinsmith has been working to create the association for the past three years. It had been incorporated in Colorado, she was speaking from Georgia and plans are to set up a permanent base in Florida, where the majority of its board members are at this time. Her husband drives for Hadley Transit of Burns, Kan., and she is currently working on her CDL.
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Their work will continue after the fallout from Celadon subsides.
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\u201cThat\u2019s the thing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how many are not making it to the terminals; we just don\u2019t know. It\u2019s kind of a wait and see now how many don\u2019t make it to the terminals, what\u2019s needed after the fact.\u00a0
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\u201cIf people want to donate to the GoFundMe we can certainly try to help people with Christmas. That would be an amazing thing.\u201d
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Al Muskewitz is Editor-in-Chief of Wright Media Corp.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Richard Campbell of Cullman, Ala., has helped many Celadon drivers over the years stranded with mechanical difficulties. He thought it was only right to help them now stuck by the company’s closing. He let them know he is there for them through the Celadon Closure Assistance and Jobs Facebook page. (Courtesy photo).<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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