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May 12, 2016

TRUCKERS' CLASSIFICATION * USA: Trucking firms into labor dispute

* California - Short-haul trucking industry weighs into legal debate over how to classify workers

--- The nation’s busiest ports are emerging as a key battleground in the legal fight over whether truck drivers should be counted as employees or independent contractors... Several trucking companies operating at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months, citing mounting costs to settle hundreds of legal claims. These operators haul containers from the docks to rail yards and freight depots, a key journey of just a few miles that allows major retailers and manufacturers to quickly move their imported goods to stores and factories across the country... The bankruptcies in the trucking sector come as some higher-profile cases in the debate over employee status are paying out hefty settlements. The $12 billion-a-year port-trucking business, known as drayage, where hundreds of small operators compete on thin margins, the cost to settle similar claims can be overwhelming, analysts say... The turmoil raises questions about the future of short-haul trucking at the nation’s ports. Litigation with drivers and the higher cost of full-time labor could force drayage operators to charge more for their services or it could put them out of business entirely, reducing the overall number of carriers and raising costs for shippers, analysts say... The California Labor Commissioner’s Office last week began offering port-trucking companies “amnesty” from any penalties they’ve incurred for misclassifying drivers if they voluntarily make their drivers full-time employees and provide back pay. The state Department of Industrial Relations said Tuesday that no companies have applied for the program so far... 
(Photo: The trucking industry is bracing for the classification fight to spread to U.S. ports beyond the ports of Los Angeles, shown, and Long Beach)   --  Los Angeles, CAL, USA - The WSJ, by ERICA E. PHILLIPS - May 11, 2016

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Apr 13, 2016

TRUCKING BANKRUPTCIES * USA - Nearly doubled in the first quarter

* Texas - More US trucking bankruptcies expected

-- Trucking bankruptcies in the United States nearly doubled in the first quarter, but the loss was not big enough to put a dent in excess truck capacity, trucking analyst Donald Broughton told members of the Transportation Intermediaries Association... The number of carriers that declared bankruptcy rose from 85 in the first quarter of 2015 to 160 in the last quarter, said Broughton, senior research analyst and managing director at Avondale Partners. Those bankruptcies pulled about 3,500 tractor-trailers off U.S. highways. Broughton does expect bankruptcies to continue to climb through the rest of 2016... Although U.S. inventories remain high, Broughton said low consumer and industrial demand is the real culprit behind the drop in truck tonnage...
San Antonio, TXS, USA - JOC, by William B. Cassidy - Apr 11, 2016

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Mar 21, 2016

DRAYAGE TRUCKING BANKRUPTCY * USA

* California - Premium Transportation port trucking firm files bankruptcy

-- The Rancho Dominguez trucking company, which is also known as Total Transportation Services, lost 11 claims brought before the California Labor Commission regarding independent contractors who said they should be classified as employees, as well as another 14 lawsuits regarding misclassification, according to the filing in Delaware bankruptcy court. Those losses cost the company $4 million or more... Premium Transportation serves the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Traditionally, companies like Premium work with truckers who are considered independent contractors, leasing or buying their own trucks... Independent contractors generally lack the overtime, worker's compensation coverage and other workplace benefits that employees receive... Port truckers are increasingly working with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union to argue that they should be classified as employees, not contractors. They have scored a series of recent wins... The company said it has 22 direct employees, and another 74 workers are employed by an affiliate company, Traffic Sales Consulting Inc. ... Premium has 140 independent operators, or contractors... 
 (Photo: The port of Long Beach, California)   --  Los Angeles, CAL, USA - The Los Angeles Times, by Shan Li - 17 March 2016

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Jul 17, 2010

BANKRUPTCY * USA & Canada - Judge rules Arrow Trucking violated WARN Act


(Video from YouTube, by magicpick76 -24 Dec 2009: Reports say Arrow Trucking based in Tulsa, Oklahoma unexpectedly shut down, leaving around 1,400 drivers without a job... Arrow trucking has a station in Laredo. No trucks, no personnel, nothing, just an empty space... Just three days before Christmas, Arrow Trucking told their drivers where to leave their trucks in the nearest arrow station without any answers. Drivers were confused not knowing what just happened... Arrow trucking faced lawsuits for unpaid bills. The company was sued for almost $500,000...)

OK,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -July 16, 2010: -- Shutting down abruptly and without notice on Dec. 22, 2009, has landed Arrow Trucking in yet another round of legal trouble in its bankruptcy proceedings... Judge Terrence L. Michael, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma ruled July 15 that the motor carrier violated the federal WARN Act when it shut down its offices and discontinued operations without any notice ahead of time. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act – dubbed the WARN Act – requires companies that employ more than 100 people to give employees notice of closure and termination of their employment at least 60 days before closing... The shutdown of now-defunct Arrow Trucking of Tulsa, OK, left more than 1,400 employees and truckers without jobs. When the company ceased operations, many drivers were stranded on the road with no way to get home... By ruling that the employees – including company drivers – can now file “priority claims,” they can file a claim any time up until the case is closed, Malloy told Land Line...


* Canada - Biz bankruptcies fall

Ottawa,ONT,Canada -Today's Trucking -15 July 2010: -- There were fewer insolvencies in transportation and warehousing in April 2010, according to Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy... The agency reported that the total number of Canadian bankruptcies declined 1.3 per cent in April to 9,068, down from 9,187 in March, and down 21 percent from a year earlier... "A reduction in insolvencies in the transportation and warehousing, construction, manufacturing, and other services -- except public administration -- sectors contributed to this decrease," the agency said... Filings by consumers fell 1.7 per cent to 8,633 that month, while business failures were up 7.9 per cent to 435... For the year, personal bankruptcies were down 21.1 per cent from April 2009 and business filings declined by 17.8 per cent...

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Mar 5, 2010

“Zombie Truckers” * USA - The curse of

Refers to truck operators who are not making their monthly equipment payments and thus should be bankrupt or shut down

New York,NY,USA -Fleet Owner -Mar 5, 2010: ... “Zombie Truckers” are still afflicting motor carriers both large and small by keeping capacity in play that technically shouldn’t be there. The term – coined by Larry Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting and senior consultant with FTR Consulting Group – refers to truck operators who are not making their monthly equipment payments and thus should be bankrupt or shut down, yet remain in operation because the banks do not want to repossess their equipment as its value remains minimal... The irony is that such carriers, with no equity in their equipment and little if any cash in the bank, are driving down freight rates as they keep capacity levels high within the industry and undercut fellow truckers in the marketplace. The issue was addressed head on by G. Tommy Hodges, chairman of the American Trucking Assns. (ATA) and chairman of Tennessee-based Titan Transfer earlier this year... (Photo from bryanbeller.com: PhantomTruck)

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Jan 22, 2010

BANKRUPTCY & FRAUD * USA - Bank sues Arrow Trucking for $12.5M

Bank alleges the flatbed carrier conducted a fraudulent scheme

Ogden,Utah,USA -eTrucker, by Jill Dunn -20 Jan 2009: -- In a lawsuit against Arrow Trucking, a bank alleges the flatbed carrier conducted a fraudulent scheme to overbill the institution and appropriated federal and state tax obligations for its own use... On Jan. 8, Ogden, Utah-based Transportation Alliance Bank sued the family-run trucking company for $12.5 million in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Defendants include Carol Pielsticker, director and chairwoman, and Doug Pielsticker, former chief executive officer and president... When TAB began investigating billing discrepancies in July, unidentified accomplices of Arrow Trucking posed as customers to verify information to the bank. The discrepancies occurred when the carrier would submit an invoice to a customer and then provide the same invoice for a higher amount to TAB, keeping the difference, the plaintiff alleges... The suit also alleges Arrow misappropriated state and federal tax money and withheld for its own use $9 million in Social Security and Medicare taxes...

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Jan 14, 2010

Arrow's Bankruptcy * USA - Truckmakers hunt down missing trucks

Tulsa,OK,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -13 Jan 2010: -- Truckmakers are still busy tracking down hundreds of trucks across the U.S. abandoned by drivers who were unexpectedly laid off just before Christmas by bankrupt flatbed carrier Arrow Trucking Co. ... There's still trucks and trailers scattered across the country that haven't been accounted for... Navistar and Daimler are struggling to retrieve hundreds of pieces of equipment... Of the 125 International trucks and 125 flatbed trailers, Navistar has found 43 trucks and trailers, the World reports. It is offering a $200 reward for tips that lead to the equipment... Daimler has been somewhat more successful. It has tracked down 835 out of 967 trucks, but still has 429 trailers missing... Arrow ceased operations on Dec. 21, without warning. It layed off all 1,400 employees and drivers without notice after its main creditor froze the company's fuel credit cards and operating capital... A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of many of the drivers left stranded...


* Arrow drivers: child support problems, too?

Tulsa,AL,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -January 12, 2010: -- Before Christmas, Tulsa-based Arrow Trucking collapsed, stranding drivers and strewing financial ruin in its wake... Besides losing their jobs and having numerous paychecks bounce, some Arrow drivers claimed that while the company deducted child support payments from their checks, the money was not forwarded on to the state agency in charge of disbursing the funds to the children and families... Jeff Wagner, spokesman for Oklahoma Child Support Services, said his agency has been on high alert since he first heard about the distressing circumstances surrounding the company’s demise... Unfortunately, he said the practice of an employer withholding child support but not forwarding it to the state is becoming more common than one might expect...


* Arrow Trucking, Dangerous Loophole, Support for Biofuels

Oakwood,OH,USA -Transport Topics, by George McCray -owner operator -Jan. 11, 2010: -- When the drivers at Arrow Trucking received that message telling them to take their trucks to the nearest dealership, I hope all of them drove their trucks to their homes, unloaded all their gear and then called Arrow and told them to come pick up their truck... One of these days, truckers are going to shut these highways down, with the way these trucking companies, shippers and receivers treat us...


* Arrow bankruptcy may leave creditors stranded

Tulsa,AL,USA -Tulsa World, by D.R. STEWART -14 Jan 2010: -- Arrow Trucking Co.'s bankruptcy filing is incomplete and in disarray, and it could take weeks to find the assets and creditors and determine whether there is money left to distribute to them, court officials say... Patrick J. Malloy III, bankruptcy trustee in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said Arrow Trucking's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing last Friday is without precedent... When Arrow Trucking filed its bankruptcy petition last week, court officials scheduled a meeting of creditors on the third floor courtroom of U.S. Bankruptcy Court... But Malloy said he isn't sure whether he will be able to find the assets, liabilities and all the creditors in the case during the next 25 days... This is not the way a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case is supposed to proceed, lawyers and court officials said...

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Jun 11, 2009

Reorganization Plan * USA - Trucking giant Gainey files one

Trucking giant Gainey Corp. would emerge from bankruptcy, free from crippling debt, with a new investor and creditors getting about 40 cents for every dollar they are owed

Grand Rapids,MI,USA -The Grand Rapids Press, by Chris Knape -June 10, 2009: -- That's the crux of a reorganization plan a committee of creditors and Judge James Gregg will be mulling over in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the coming weeks... Harvey Gainey, founder and chief executive of the trucking company, said he's hopeful the creditors will vote to accept the deal because it projects a larger return for them than simply liquidating Gainey's assets... Attorneys for the creditors declined to comment... Gainey Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, faced with more than $242 million in debt and its lead lender suing the company, seeking its liquidation... Gainey said the reorganization plan, filed last week, should save about 1,700 jobs at the trucking company... (Grand Rapids Press File Photo - A Gainey Trasportation Service Inc. driver watches a prospective driver for the company during the parking portion of a road test in 2002 at the company's facility on Clay Avenue SW)

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May 14, 2009

Trucking Bankruptcies * Canada - Hit record high in '08

There are less trucking firms on the road now than there were a couple of years ago, according to Canadian bankruptcy stats, although evidence of tightening truck capacity remains to be seen

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -13 May 2009: -- ... According to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, there were 591 trucking company bankruptcies recorded in 2008, which was a whopping 47 percent increase from the previous year. In Ontario alone, there were 232 bankruptcies, which represents 40 percent of the national figures... Speaking to Canwest News, Doug Switzer, vice-president of corporate affairs for the Ontario Trucking Association, cited slumping freight volumes and auto-related plant shutdowns for the fleet closures...

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May 6, 2009

TRUCKING BANKRUPTCY * USA - Nearly 500 truckers went under in the first quarter as freight slump continues

Nashville,TENN,USA -Purchasing, by Dave Hannon -28 April 2009: -- According to a quarterly report from market analyst Donald Broughton at Avondale Partners, 480 trucking companies in the U.S. went out of business in the first-quarter of this year. That’s roughly 1% of the capacity exiting the market in a three-month period... But despite the dramatic demise in the carrier base, Broughton says the capacity exiting the market is still not so much that it would tighten supply enough that it will impact trucking rates or prices. As reported by the Associated Press, Broughton estimates that more than 5% of the current trucking capacity would have to exit the market before capacity would match up with demand and prices would stabilize... Earlier this month, for example, Bond Transfer Co. a 61-year-old, family-owned trucking business in Baltimore filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to the Baltimore Sun...

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Sep 24, 2008

Auction's jumble * Canada - Replaces machinery's rumble

Financiers have lost confidence in B.C.'s forestry sector

Chemainus,B.C.,CAN -The Globe and Mail, by BRENNN CLARKE -September 23, 2008: -- In a scene that has become all too familiar in Vancouver Island's struggling forestry sector, the leftover assets of Ted Leroy's once-thriving trucking company rolled off the auction block in Chemainus yesterday... One of Vancouver Island's largest independent logging contractors, with about 500 employees, Ted Leroy Trucking was forced to file for bankruptcy protection last December when the Royal Bank of Canada demanded the company repay $18-million in loans... Retired forestry executive Bob Larter, Madill's vice-president of marketing until the company's demise last spring, said financiers have lost confidence in B.C.'s forestry sector...

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