Denver-Based HVH Transportation Company Drivers Left Stranded, Gas Cards Turned Off

DENVER (CBS4)- A sudden shutdown of Denver-based HVH Transportation Company left hundreds of truck drivers stranded around the country. Some of those are in Colorado… waiting.

"It's horribly difficult, I mean you know it takes money to live and we don't have any," driver Robert Thomas said waiting for a bus back home to South Carolina.

The company hired Thomas a little more than a week ago. That included flying him to Denver for training and then the company sent him out on his first… and last… long haul.

"I don't have cell service from Kansas to Denver, so as soon as I hit Denver everyone I went through training with was calling me up going, 'We don't have a job anymore,'" he said.

Thomas and hundreds of other drivers were in the middle of deliveries when HVH Transportation shutdown. He says there was no notice, no instruction and in some cases, drivers were left with no fuel to return home.

CBS4 went to the company headquarters in Denver looking for answers. The offices were empty and the doors locked.

The gates to the truck yard were open and those who could make it back were pulling in.

"I fueled up and a couple of minutes later they said all the fuel cards are canceled, so I thought, I have a full tank of gas, I have 180 gallons, I'm going to go as far as I can," said driver Sam Difabio.

When Difabio finally ran out of fuel, he paid out-of-pocket to get back home and return the truck.

"As of right now I've gone over… about 4,500 miles," he said.

That trip cost him both time and money.

For Thomas losing a paycheck will hurt but an even bigger blow is how the owners handled things.

"Is he sleeping well? Does he not worry about his family?" Thomas asked, "Because I'm worried about mine."

CBS4 was unable to reach HVH Transportation Company officials. The trade publication "Frieghtwaves" quoted the company CEO saying he was working to get drivers back home.