[Rev.Vassago]

Wausau trucking company to lay off 340 workers

WAUSAU, Wis. - WH Transportation Co. says it will lay off 340 workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Georgia because of rising fuel costs.

The Wausau-based company says it will end its van freight business after July.

It will focus instead on delivering housing materials for sister companies Wausau Homes and Sterling Building Systems. It also will deliver general flatbed freight for other companies.

Co-owner Tom Schuette says in a statement that the van freight industry can't raise its rates enough to cover rising fuel and other costs.

Schuette says the company will reduce its staff in Wisconsin to 80 people after July. He did not say how many people would be laid off here and how many would be cut elsewhere.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,5897323.story

Another one bites the dust!

[Phantom433a]

Jevic Transportation shutting down
By Chris Mondics

The trucking firm Jevic Transportation Inc., of Delanco, announced today that it was ceasing operations after 27 years, a victim of high diesel and insurance costs as well as the tightened economy.

The 1,500-employee national firm, with about 1,000 in Burlington County, making it one of the county's largest employers, said it would deliver all freight already within its system before closing entirely.

Peter A. Robinson, director of marketing and corporate communications, said the company had been feeling pressure from the economic downturn for months and had been reducing positions for some time.

"When you are a carrier, you see the recession coming before anyone else," he said. "Customers are shipping less."

Tiffany Wlazlowski, spokeswoman for the American Trucking Associations, said that rising fuel costs had placed huge pressures on trucking firms.

"For many motor carriers, fuel is now equal to labor as the highest expense," she said. "The trucking industry spent $112 billion on fuel in 2007, and we're on pace to spend $141.5 billion in 2008."

Since Jan. 1, 2007, diesel fuel prices have risen from $2.67 a gallon to $4.52 today, according to AAA.

In a letter to employees, Jevic's management said it had been seeking "financing or other alternatives that would have enabled it to continue operations. However, it has been unsuccessful, due in part to unforeseeable tightening of the credit markets."

Jevic is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a leveraged buyout and investment fund in Boca Raton, Fla. Officials from Sun Capital Partners did not return calls.

George Meehan, a Jevic driver hired in 2007, said the shutdown was a surprise.

"Nobody seemed to be aware of anything coming up," said Meehan, who had gone on disability in January and was preparing to return to work.

Pat Prior, 56, a supervisor in the pricing department, said employees were given the news at department meetings today morning. Many broke down in tears, she said.

Prior said that employees generally thought that they were well-treated and believed that they were well-paid.

"No one can bad-mouth the company; it was a good company," said Prior, who had worked at Jevic for 17 years.

Citing rising costs, the company told customers in February that it would increase rates 5.9 percent for most business.

Then, in April, Jevic said it would close four of 10 loading facilities across the country in a realignment of operations.

Robinson said there were some signs, such as increased orders for corrugated boxes, that the economy and industry might recover later this year or in 2009, but not apparently soon enough for Jevic to survive.

Jevic was founded by Harry Muhlschlegel and his wife, Karen, in 1981.

The business was referred to as a less-than-truckload carrier, in which single trucks would make deliveries for multiple customers on one route. Though not unique to Jevic, it was a concept that Muhlschlegel built upon.

At one time, the company had loading facilities in Delanco; Chicago; New York; Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Los Angeles; and other cities, and its distinctive blue-and-white trucks could be seen around the nation.

By adding a computer-assisted scheduling system, an innovative approach for loading trailers, and developing an intensely solicitous relationship with customers, the company became one of the nation's fastest-growing LTL carriers by the mid-1990s.

The company said that, for most Jevic employees, today would be their last day of employment, but that a limited number would stay on during the wind-down period.

David H. Gorman, Jevic president and chief executive officer, said that the company's Web site would remain active and would be updated for customers tracking shipments.

In a letter to Jevic customers, Gorman said: "I regret to inform you that Jevic Transportation Inc. will be discontinuing operations. The current high fuel costs, economic downturn, increasing insurance costs, and tightening credit markets have made this decision necessary.

"Jevic will stop providing pickup service effective Monday 5/19/08. However, we will continue operating to deliver all freight within our system prior to closing.

"We greatly appreciate the loyalty of our many Jevic customers," he added.

Besides new business systems, Jevic added other distinctive innovations: Its drivers carried business cards, just like senior managers. It was known for good pay and benefits, and thus had little difficulty filling the ranks of its drivers.

Moreover, it made a point of bending over backward to get new customers, and to keep them in the fold.

Yellow Corp. (now known as YRC Worldwide Inc.) acquired Jevic in 1999 for $200 million, all cash. Later, Yellow Corp. spun off Jevic and other units into a separate company, SCS Transportation Inc. In 2002, SCS sold the assets of Jevic to the affiliate of Sun Capital Partners for $40 million plus $12 million in current income-tax benefits, according to announcements at the time.

[Double R]

Originally Posted by Phantom433a

Jevic Transportation shutting down

OLD NEWS.

[Orangetxguy]

Ummmmm........Jevic is "old" news.....and only one of the bigger outfits to fall....I'm sure there will be more to follow.

[Malaki86]

A company less than 1/2 mile from my company shut down in April. They had about 30 trucks on the road at the time. The sad part - they've been around since 1946.

Things are getting tighter at our company too. They're all over the not idling, but with the heat coming now, there's not much choice.

[Double L]

I'm not too worried about Ee-Jay going under since most of our runs are local or short haul and the drivers get home everynight. Even though most of the fleets are daycab there are a few sleeper trucks in the fleet used for layovers runs or over the road runs.

[GMAN]

There are rumors of other larger carriers who are having problems. I expect to hear of many others who will not be able to continue operations. It isn't just the small carriers who are having problems. The high fuel costs affect everyone who owns a truck regardless of size. Unless shippers and brokers are willing to pay higher rates companies will continue to close their doors. It will be good for carriers in the long run. We are already seeing a shift toward higher rates in some markets. If shippers and brokers want to move their freight they will need to pay higher rates. Carriers can not continue to absorb the high fuel costs. Some are afraid of losing their customers if they raise their rates. If shippers and brokers are unwilling to pay the rates that are needed, walk away. Leave the freight on the docks. There is already a tightening of capacity. I have received several calls over the last several weeks from brokers who complain of not being able to find enough trucks. It will get more difficult unless they start paying higher rates. Some brokers will not be able to stay in business. Without trucks they don't have a business. It takes some of them longer to realize this than others. I had one broker tell me the other day that my rates were higher than market. I got a good chuckle out of that one. This same broker calls me when they have a good paying over-sized load.

[Phantom433a]

Yea Double R, I realize Jevic is "old news", but its not just the little guys being hurt, is it?. There was an O/O that ran wallboard to a company in Prescott, Az and I would sometimes run into him at jobsites in northern Az. All of a sudden I started having more loads going to the company in Prescott. I got to talking to Leroy (unloader) and he told me Bob (O/O) couldn't make it with only their 1 load a week, so he sold his truck to a farmer and he got on with the state. I've been seeing more and more trucks for sale in alot of the smaller towns along my runs. Leroy gets the Freightliner magazine and he says there was an article about how more O/Os are sending in their keys. We've had a few with the company I'm with park their trucks and higher on as company drivers. I asked how our yard fuel price dropped 21 cents in a week and my dispatcher told me that he heard the stock exchange is being investigated for illegal trading of oil. Hopefully something happens soon.