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Bankrupt trucking company abandons Tulsa property

TULSA, Okla. — A federal bankruptcy judge has granted a request from Arrow Trucking's bankruptcy trustee to allow the company to abandon its former corporate offices and training facility in west Tulsa.

The properties had been listed for sale at $3 million by Coldwell Banker Commercial since July.

"We never had an offer," trustee Patrick J. Malloy told the Tulsa World. "Because the mortgage is for both properties, you have to sell them together. The problem with the office space is that it is a huge space. Not that many people would want it."

Malloy said he sought an order from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Dana L. Rasure allowing the company to give up the two properties to the mortgage holder, City National Bank of Phoenix, Ariz., because the mortgage principal and interest — $3,104,260 — exceeds the value of the property and maintenance costs continue to mount.

"You begin to incur risks of the pipes freezing, fire or vandalism," Malloy said. "There's a lot of debt, and there's just no equity."

Tulsa County District Court Judge Rebecca B. Nightingale has approved a mortgage foreclosure motion from City National Bank, court officials said.

Jim Packard, an Oklahoma City property manager, has been appointed as receiver for the Arrow properties and will oversee them until they are sold, court officials said.

Attorney Robert Campbell, who represents City National Bank, said it plans to sell the properties soon.

"Absent other developments, the property is expected to sell at a sheriff's sale within 30 to 45 days," Campbell said.

The sale of Arrow's corporate offices and training center will be the last of the company's real estate to go.

In July, Malloy sold Arrow's 26-acre maintenance facilities to Miller Truck Lines of Stroud for $1.6 million.

The company's saga began in December 2009, when Arrow's lender canceled its fuel credit cards and refused to extend additional operating capital to the 61-year-old Tulsa flatbed carrier.

Arrow executives sent employees at the company's corporate offices home and told drivers to return their trucks to the nearest Kenworth or Freightliner truck dealer.

Many drivers weren't able to do so because they ran out of fuel and had to leave trucks and trailers at truck stops and rest areas from Bakersfield, Calif., to Baltimore.

Arrow's lawyers filed a bankruptcy liquidation petition in Tulsa in January 2010. Arrow's financial records were in disarray, but attorneys listed both the company's assets and liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million. That has since been revised downward.

Malloy has proposed distributing Arrow's assets to 564 former employees who filed wage and employment law violation claims against the estate. He said abandoning Arrow's former corporate offices and training center will help preserve those assets.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .

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