Former Jack Cooper driver launches car hauling startup after Ford contract loss
Former Jack Cooper driver launches car hauling startup after Ford contract loss
Show Caption
Hide Caption
The impact and history of autos in Detroit, The Motor City
Here are some facts about Detroit's auto industry.
McKinley Archie and three business partners started Squirrelly LLC in February.
Squirrelly hauled its first load of Ford Expeditions and F-Series trucks on April 22.
Squirrelly is looking to get a direct contract with Ford or General Motors to haul more vehicles.
Four months ago, McKinley Archie was blindsided by the reality that his six-figure job with a trucking company where he'd worked for about 20 years was coming to a screeching halt.
Archie, 46, had been working at the now-defunct car hauling company Jack Cooper since 2004. He started there as a driver. He drove big rigs loaded with new Ford Motor Co. vehicles out of the automaker's Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships across the nation. He had worked his way up to steward at the Jack Cooper facility that served Louisville Assembly.
Life was good. Then came Jan. 2, the day that Ford — Jack Cooper's second-largest customer behind General Motors — gave a 30-day notice to Jack Cooper that it was terminating its decades-long business with the hauler. Ford did not provide a reason. Archie and about 105 colleagues in Louisville suddenly knew they'd be losing what had been lucrative jobs.
"It wasn't McDonald's wage jobs — those were good jobs," Archie said, noting most of the drivers were earning more than $100,000 a year.
Then, one month later, GM ended its relationship with Jack Cooper after failing to reach a new contract. That put the nearly 100-year-old vehicle hauling company out of business, eliminating about 2,500 jobs nationally. In Michigan, more than 350 jobs ended when Ford and GM severed their contracts with Jack Cooper.
Through it all, Archie put on a brave face to mask his fear about how he'd provide for his family.
"As the steward, my coworkers looked to me for leadership and guidance, so I had to be strong for them on the outside. But internally, I didn't know what I was going to do either," Archie said. "Then, when I saw my mom, she said, 'What's wrong? Your face looks heavy?' I broke a couple tears and said, 'I don't know if I'll have a job.' She reminded me that I'm a child of God. He will take care of me. She said to suck it up, keep moving and it will all work out."
Digging up the seed cash
Archie said he listened to his mother's advice, drew on his faith and started mulling over a plan to survive this setback.
He knew that on Jan. 31, the Jack Cooper trucks had to be empty, so he wasted no time. In early February, he gathered together his lifelong band of "brothers from another mother" and proposed an idea.
"We've been doing business for years, and we sat down and had a roundtable on how we can mitigate these losses," Archie said. "We decided to launch into the car hauling business."
Recent car recalls: Ford F-150, Broncos among over 280,000 vehicles recalled
The group has launched other business endeavors, such as in 2020, when they started bourbon-maker Black Bred Distillery in Louisville. They also run a home renovation business, Knox Construction, in Atlanta.
In February, the group launched Squirrelly LLC. The goal is to haul Ford vehicles from the Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships anywhere in the nation. Archie is the company's cofounder and chief compliance officer. The newly established hauler is based in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where some of the group live.
The business group consists of Archie, two other men and a woman. The three men grew up together and have known each other "from the cradle," Archie said. They went on first dates together and Archie even taught one of them how to drive. They met the woman later through friends. She brings with her an expertise on logistics, he said.
Archie describes the group as "multi-preneurs," meaning that they try to find opportunities across a range of fields. His two male partners have degrees in finance and one is a youth pastor with a master's degree in divinity, Archie said.
They decided on the name Squirrelly 'because we are all over the place. That's our slogan," Archie said.
But they knew it would be no easy feat to start their own car hauling business. Archie said the plan has been to buy lightly used rigs from Jack Cooper. But each one carried a whopping price tag of $260,000. Then there is the cost for insurance on the rigs and for employees. He said they were able to lease some of the trucks to start, which helped get them going. So far, Squirrelly has bought 10 trucks and is scheduled to buy 25 more, he said.
"So it was quite a lot we had to raise, an arduous task for us," Archie said, saying all the capital came from the group's own resources, no outside funding. "We had go into my backyard and dig up all my savings. It's hard to go even to a bank and say give me $3 million to start a dream. Now that we're actually moving cars, maybe we can go back to them and show them proof of concept. But we bootstrapped all of it.'
Looking to make his own deal
Squirrelly moved its first load of Ford vehicles April 22 from Kentucky to Texas. Since then, it has hauled nine loads of the Ford Expedition SUV and F-Series Super Duty pickups from Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships in Texas and 17 loads to dealerships in Michigan. Archie said that's about 120 vehicles.
'It's a great start for us," Archie said. "Of course, we want to get to the point where we're moving 36 loads a day or better. Once we get our own inventory straight from the (automakers), that'll be better."
Ford spokeswoman Ursula Muller declined to comment about Squirrelly hauling Ford vehicles because the automaker has a policy to not comment on supplier contracts.
But Squirrelly is currently transporting the overflow work from other hauling companies because under the Teamsters union contract, haulers must give overflow work to other unionized carriers, Archie said. Late last month, Squirrelly employees voted to join the Teamsters, the union confirmed.
A week later, a second unit of former Jack Cooper haulers rejoined the Teamsters Union. In a media release, Teamsters Local 964 in Ohio said a group of carhaulers in Avon Lake, employed by Fleet Transport Corp., unionized with Local 964. Fleet Transport was launched last month to fill the void in that market left by Jack Cooper's bankruptcy, the release said. Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake builds the F-Series Medium Duty and Super Duty pickups.
Squirrelly has six employees beyond the 10 former Jack Cooper drivers Squirrelly has hired, Archie said.
"My goal is get most of those (drivers) back to work. Cassens Transport took a few of them," Archie said, noting that besides Cassens, other haulers for the Louisville plants include Precision Hauling and RCS Transportation.
'We're the new kid on the block," Archie said. "Before Jack Cooper went out, those carriers were already there.'
Archie said Squirrelly is looking to negotiate a direct contract with the Detroit automakers. In the meantime, he said it feels satisfying to be working again and able to employ others.
"It's a lot of pride to me personally to help my fellow brothers get back to work," Archie said. "I just thank God that He put me in a position to be able to do it. When it was happening and we were losing our jobs, I thought, 'I'll be all right because I'll start my own car hauling company.' Four months later, here we are actually moving vehicles.'
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
The Great Rollback: Are DEI Cuts Driving Black Women To Entrepreneurship?
African American young woman working in a bakery shop, looking at the camera. Since DEI became a flashpoint in public discourse, a parallel revolution led by Black women entrepreneurs asserting independence and purpose has been emerging. This shift represents both a career pivot and a reallocation of talent and capital that has begun to reshape entire industries. Revelio Labs reports that DEI roles in corporate America peaked in early 2023, then declined by approximately 5% by the end of that year and dropped a further 8% into early 2024. Black women are responding by launching over 2.7 million businesses that now generate over $60 billion annually. Between 2017 and 2020, the number of employer firms owned by Black women grew by 18.1%, totaling around 52,374, 37.9% of whom hold advanced degrees. DEI Job Loss Trends in Corporate America Over the past year, leading U.S. corporations—from Amazon and Meta to Ford and Walmart—have drawn headlines for scaling back DEI efforts, often pointing to shifting political climates, legal scrutiny, or executive mandates as key drivers. This rollback has had real-world consequences for minority and women-owned suppliers. For example, programs launched in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement have weakened. The retreat from DEI has especially affected Black female entrepreneurs, who already contend with capital access barriers and disproportionately high lending rejection rates—nearly three times higher than those for white business owners. The message this was sending was that DEI isn't a core investment but an easy target for cutting overhead costs. But what corporations see as a bottom-line win may very well become an existential loss. Corporate America is shortchanging itself, or at least the companies that participate in the DEI rollback are. As seasoned DEI leaders step down from their roles, they're taking with them institutional knowledge, cross-cultural expertise and hard-won strategic ideas. That loss isn't soft but rather shows up in hiring, retention, customer engagement and brand perception. The numbers tell a story that corporate boardrooms are missing. When Glassdoor surveyed job seekers in 2019, 76% said an inclusive culture would sway their decision to join a company. Fast-forward to today, and the appetite for diversity has only grown stronger—84% of employees want DEI initiatives expanded, not scrapped. Nearly two-thirds worry that rolling back these programs would drive people out the door and tank workplace morale. The business case is equally compelling. Gallup found that diverse companies see 22% less turnover, saving serious money on constant hiring and retraining. Boston Consulting Group discovered that diverse leadership teams generate 19% more revenue from innovation alone. Yet as corporations retreat from these proven strategies, they're inadvertently creating a massive opportunity. Happy small business owner working at a flower shop. Enter Black women entrepreneurs. They're launching businesses in healthcare and professional services, delivering culturally attuned products and services with inherently inclusive team cultures. These entrepreneurs are proving that inclusive business models drive sustainable growth—turning what corporate America sees as a cost center into a competitive advantage. For investors, these businesses aren't just socially responsible plays but high-ceiling growth bets. Regardless of the political climate, companies that are ready to compete for top-tier Black talent must reframe DEI as business-critical, not elective, and that means: While the timing of DEI rollbacks and entrepreneurship growth appears connected, experts urge caution in drawing direct causal links. According to Brookings Institution research, 'structural factors, rather than an equitable business environment, seem to be driving growth in business ownership among Black women.' This suggests that persistent barriers, combined with pandemic-era disruptions and now the push against DEI, may better explain the entrepreneurial surge than corporate policy changes alone. As Black women continue to outpace other demographics in business formation, they are expanding their influence across industries and reshaping opportunities for themselves and their communities. Companies easing off on diversity commitments may inadvertently create talent shortages and opportunities for more proactive competitors to step in.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
This Gen X CEO has only worked at one company for 35 years—she says job-hopping Gen Z are not putting enough energy and time into their current gigs
Gen Zers are avid job-hoppers, with the generation firmly believing it's the best way to secure pay raises and promotions. But the CEO of college-readiness test company ACT thinks it could backfire. Just like General Motors' Mary Barra, Janet Godwin has spent her entire career at a single company—and she tells Fortune young people would be better off putting more time in their current gigs for long-term success. For many high school students, the memory of taking the ACT or SAT might feel like a fever dream: waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning, heading to a local high school, and sitting in a room full of strangers—with nothing but a No. 2 pencil and test booklet (or, more recently, a computer screen) to focus on for the next three hours. While at the time it may have felt a waste of precious time better spent sleeping in or hanging out with friends, in reality the test has opened doors for millions of students to pursue their dream schools and careers. For ACT test takers over the past 35 years, you may have Janet Godwin to thank. Odds are you have never heard of the Midwestern Gen Xer, but she has devoted her career to education. After joining ACT in 1990 helping to write test questions, Godwin was named CEO in 2020 and became part of an exclusive group of leaders, including General Motors' Mary Barra, Walmart's Doug McMillon, and Nike's Elliott Hill, to have spent their entire careers working their way up the same ladder. 'I came in thinking I'd be here for a couple of years, and here I am, 35 years later,' she tells Fortune. And while proponents of job-hopping might view Godwin's path as complacent, she sees it as resourceful. In fact, she recalls some of the best advice she ever received as a young employee was to quit focusing on what's next in your career—and instead put your energy into what's present. Traditionally, workers have dedicated their careers to a job and company they enjoy and settling down to steadily climb the ranks. But as the cost of living increased, wages stagnated, and people took to delaying retirement (making it harder for younger workers to progress into senior roles), professionals today aren't waiting for their boss to promote them. Instead, many Gen Zers in particular have taken matters into their own hands and job-hop—with 56% of Gen Z finding it acceptable to change jobs every two to three years. But it could backfire. Godwin's boss once told her, 'If you're so busy thinking about what you're going to do next, I guarantee you you're not putting enough energy and time into what you're doing today.' 'You need to make sure what you're doing today is running the best,' Godwin recalled. 'You need to learn and mature in your current job before you have your eyes set on something else.' Now, looking back on her own career, the 59-year-old agrees. 'There's some truth to maturing with what you have, and not just constantly grasping for the next thing on the ladder,' Godwin says. 'Because you might not have built the skills yet to be really ready for that next thing on the ladder.' It's a message echoed by chief executives across the business world. Sarah Walker, Cisco's U.K. CEO, said young people need to not expect a raise or new job title every year: 'You just need to be patient in the journey.' 'Don't take your current job for granted,' Walmart's McMillion added in an interview with Stratechery last year. 'The next job doesn't come if you don't do the one you've got well.' Like many Gen Z grads, Godwin wasn't sure where to take her career after obtaining her bachelor's and master's in English from the Universities of Oklahoma and Iowa, respectively. Her dream job was to one day be a novelist, but she instead reasoned that it would be better to use her writing skills to earn a living wage. While she never expected to stay at the same company her entire career, she says simply being curious and seeking out new challenges is far more useful than trying to map out one's future résumé at a young age. 'Don't be afraid to learn new things, and don't be too rigid on what your path is,' Godwin says. 'That's what I mean about being curious. Because if you think you know where you're going to be 10 years from now, you probably don't.' At ACT, Godwin said she took on a new role every two to three years, a round robin that helped her gain experience in nearly every department and was invaluable by the time she was tapped to lead the entire company during one of the company's biggest existential crises: the COVID-19 pandemic. Overnight, the company's future looked all but dim as testing centers shut their doors and online testing was seemingly far down the pipeline. But after years of writing questions for students to answer, she found that being willing to ask questions was key to getting through the tough challenges. 'If you think you know it all and have all the answers, you don't. One of the strongest leadership skills is the ability to ask for help, to know 'Man, I don't know everything,'' Godwin says. 'I might have a CEO title, but I guarantee you I do not know everything.' This story was originally featured on
Wall Street Journal
3 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
A Desert Oasis for Youth Sports Was Built on a Financial Mirage
MESA, Ariz.—When David Belfort sought a new home for the youth soccer club he runs, he found the perfect spot in his backyard: a sprawling facility lavishly equipped for every sport imaginable. The venue, now called Arizona Athletic Grounds, is a $250 million monument to America's youth-sports frenzy. It spans 280 acres where General Motors once tested cars under the desert sun.
