Page 23 - ATR 5 2013

Betty Richards has faced hard times with Rich Logistics

but faith and hard work have helped her succeed

By eric francis

Contributing Writer

Rich Logistics was on quite a roll back in 2008. The company’s growth had
doubled over the previous year, despite rising fuel costs that had pushed some
smaller carriers out of the business, and its drivers criss-crossed the country
with trailers full of parts for the automobile industry.
But there was a problem. The economic downturn that began in 2007 had
evolved into an economic nose-dive – and domestic car manufacturers were
among the hardest-hit. Near the end of 2008, the increasingly dire problems
in the auto industry and the impending bankruptcies and bailouts of General
Motors and Chrysler threw the future of Rich Logistics into serious doubt.
Betty Richards, who was helping her husband D.W. Richards run the
company back then, remembers how bad it all suddenly looked as good times
became lean times and then became hard times. She spent a lot of her time
seeking guidance from the one source she knew wouldn’t let her down.
“I guess Jesus was my best friend for about three years there,” said
Richards, who has led Rich Logistics since D.W. died in 2009. “They say when
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arKansas trucKing report | issue 5 2013 23