CF closing affected my whole family. My ex was a transport operator, his brother was a mechanic and their father was a retired linehaul driver so we were a CF family. I worked 2 weeks into the shutdown and had enough. As my last official act I composed the following. I thought long and hard about it and said what the heck, what are they gonna do, fire me..
This was sent to every email recipient in the CF system on 9/13/02 at 2:40PM EDT:
As my last official act before departing CF, I would like to thank each and every one of you for the memorable experiences over the past 14 years. Many years from now when we see an old CF trailer parked at a construction site or some other piece of CF history, we will get that choking lump in our throats and a knot in our stomach and remember when....
CF was "THE Premier Service Carrier", the days before Network 2000 and the famous EXCEL program.
We all have our favorite CF story, those who made us laugh, those who made us mad, those of us that are gone. No matter what, we will have one common bond
WE ARE A FAMILY, THE CF FAMILY.
Just as in life, you have your favorites and your not so favorites. Some you are closer to than others. Some you would like to choke and others choke you up. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, others make you mad,....and so on.
No matter where we each end up or what we do, let's try to always remember our CF family and what a really great time we had.
A special thank you to the Board of Directors and those of you directly responsible for the sad state this company is in.
I hope each and every day you remember that your actions or lack of, caused the disruption of nearly 20,000 lives. I hope you an honestly look in the mirror and face yourselves each and every day. You have done a great disservice to the hard working, dedicated people in this company and also to the valued customers that now must find other carriers to move OUR freight.
I am walking out of here for the last time. I go proudly, with my head held high and sorrow in my heart. Every day I have come into this place and did my best, right up to the very end.
Sincerely
MEH
CHR