At least 2,500 truck drivers have lost their jobs in 2019 as the transportation ‘bloodbath’ unfolds — here’s the full list of bankrupt trucking companies
Rachel Premack
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The Minnesota-based LME left more than 400 truckers out of a job when it abruptly shuttered on Friday. Workday Minnesota/YouTube
Six trucking companies have folded in 2019.That has left more than 2,500 truck drivers unemployed.After a hugely profitable year in 2018, this year has seen retailers and manufacturers moving less, according to the Cass Freight Index.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Truck drivers are suffering in 2019 — especially those who own or work at small businesses.
Rates in the spot market, in which retailers and manufacturers buy trucking capacity as they need it rather than through a contract, sank by about 18% year-over-year in June. That has caused truckers like Demetrius Wilburn, a Georgia-based driver, to find themselves unemployed.
Wilburn bought his semitruck four years ago after years of working as a company truck driver. But amid rock-bottom rates, Wilburn wasn’t able to make a payment one month — and his truck was repossessed.
“I was only six months away from paying it off,” Wilburn told Business Insider. “I’m trying to transition back into law enforcement now — don’t want to ever drive trucks again. Definitely not worth it.”
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The Lexington, Kentucky-based owner-operator Chad Boblett told Business Insider that some truck drivers were seeing a “bloodbath” in just how low rates had become.
Here are the trucking companies that have gone bankrupt in 2019, and how many truckers who are now out of a job. We used the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s company-snapshot tool to measure how many truck drivers worked at each company.
Are you a truck driver who has been suffering in 2019 from low rates? Contact the reporter atrpremack@businessinsider.com.
Starlite Trucking — 28 truck drivers
David McNew/Getty Images
Starlite Trucking, which was in business for 40 years, announced on July 12 that the company was closing down. The company was based in Ceres, California — about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco — and mostly hauled livestock feed, nuts, and other products for the agricultural region.
CEO Colby Bell said in a statement on Facebook that the rising compliance costs of California regulations gutted the company — particularly as rates have stagnated.
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