Page 13 - ATR 2 2015 web
P. 13
NEwS IN brIEf
hoTfooT geTs Ruling To are familiar with this issue. Turning fees. The most important thing is the
help aRkansas TRuCking down business isn’t an option, but if ruling. We’re not a big carrier that can
CoMpanies the company that refuses to pay is in throw five law firms at someone and
Arkansas trucking company, another state, how much money will it scare them.”
Hotfoot Logistics has collected from an take to go to that state and try to get it
out of state delinquent account after through the court system? TRuCking goes on-deMand
seven long years of litigation. For Hotfoot, the transaction took The same concept that enables peo-
David Lasater, the CEO of Hotfoot place in Little Rock. Driver Pierce had ple to get a taxi, private car or rideshare
Logistics in Little Rock, Ark., has started his trip from Cabot, and the bill from an app on their mobile phone has
perhaps made it easier for Arkansas was sent to and from Little Rock. inspired a Nevada company to extend
trucking companies to collect from “It might cost $10,000 to get the this application to the trucking industry.
out-of-state creditors. All because of an $1,000, and they were using that to
unpaid $5,700 trucking bill. say they can’t afford to come after us,”
The bill was “the perfect amount of Lasater said. “We decided we had to
money. It’s enough that it hurts, but not fight that out. If it was $100,000, every-
enough we can afford to send lawyers body knows you have to go after it. This
after it for years,” Lasater said. is death by a thousand cuts.”
In Nov. 2008, Hotfoot agreed The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled
to a contract with Shipping Points that Hotfoot did have the ability to sue
Marketing and its broker Western an Arizona-based entity in Arkansas
Brokerage of Phoenix to transport pro- because much of the business was
duce from Arizona to Albany, N.Y., and transacted in Arkansas through faxes.
Scranton, Pa. After the Supreme Court issued its rul-
Laseter assigned the job to Justin ing in November, Shipping Points set- Uber and other “sharing economy”
Pierce, a driver with Freight Ambulance tled with Lasater rather than continue applications is the inspiration behind
of Cabot, Ark. Pierce delivered the the court battle. On the Move Systems Corp. (OMVS) to
goods and returned the bill of lad- The Supreme Court also issued a bring a unique, on-demand services to
ing to Lasater, who sent the invoice to ruling that could have a huge effect on the U.S. trucking industry, the company
Phoenix. his fellow Arkansas trucking brokers announced today.
When the broker disbanded later, and carriers conducting business with The Henderson, Nev., company has
Shipping Points said it wasn’t respon- parties outside of Arkansas. begun development on a new program
sible for the balance. However, Shipping “They carried all the water for the designed to save time and money on
Points and Western Brokerage had the entire industry,” said Shannon Newton, trucking by connecting users directly
same billing address, and David Fishgold the president of the Arkansas Trucking with individual service providers.
ran Shipping Points and Louis Fishgold Association. “This was a really big “It’s a revolutionary business
ran Western Brokerage. problem. This is especially important model with the potential to make inter-
Lasater sued both companies and for small carriers that don’t have the state shipping easier and more efficient
the Fishgolds in Arkansas. The case was resources to chase down creditors across than ever before. OMVS is now build-
dismissed originally because of jurisdic- the country.” ing the tools to tap that potential,” said
tion issues, but Lasater doubled down “It would have been a serious OMVS CEO Robert Wilson.
and kept appealing. financial hit,” Lasater said. “We would
Small Arkansas trucking companies have gotten stuck for six years of lawyer
aRkansas TRuCking RepoRT | issue 2 2015 13

