Well Graymist it's kind of complicated, but will try to explain as best I can..
It all started about a year ago when the president of Grimshaw retired, he was nearly 70 & had been there since the cat train days. He ran a super tight ship & really gave a damn about all us guys, & he mistakenly thought he could take the 2 VeePs & put them in charge of the company. Needless to say moral went into the toilet in about 6 months, they started losing customers, then terminal managers, etc. Nobody gave a damn anymore, the Veep's were more interested in their 2 hour lunches than getting & keeping customers.
I saw the writing on the wall back at Christmas time & decided to start looking around... It's incredibly expensive to move a truck & a big decision, so I spent several months in the process, but have found a good company with an excellent reputation & have been here for just under 2 months now I really enjoy it!
Also this was the first year since the Mullen buy-out 13 years ago that Grimshaw actually LOST money...the far north is pretty lucrative work...if you have the guts for it!
So back about a month ago one of the VP's got canned & I've heard rumours the other one had one foot out the door.
I sure hope they get things straightened out, it would be a crying shame to see a good company that has been in business since 1946 run into the ground within a year. I understand that some boys from Mullen have gone in & taken over the running of the company, but you know how rumours fly in this industry, so I would take anything you hear with a grain of salt!
As far as Mullen themselves are concerned, I don't really think you have too many worries in that department, I think they are just doing some re-organizing with all the buying of smaller companies they have been doing the last couple of years & it seems to me they are more focused on the oil patch than ever before & I don't think they ever really wanted much to do with the fuel end of it unless it concerned the "patch". I recall when the bought up VLR back years ago, they didn't keep the fuel division long, just wanted the equipment. Could be the same with PeBen Bulk, wanted the running authorities that came with them, not the headaches with fuel.