Sakaem Logistics, an entity with ties to the same family that owns Teamsters-staffed car hauler Jack Cooper, ended up acquiring less-than-truckload carrier Standard Forwarding, according to documents and people employed at Standard Forwarding.
Typically, companies like to tout their conquests, communicate go-to-market strategies and explain the ways new ownership will enhance operations. Standard Forwarding Freight, Sakaem Logistics and Jack Cooper have not responded to inquiries from FreightWaves to confirm the change of hands. (Standard Forwarding has been relaunched as Standard Forwarding Freight.)
Sarah Riggs Amico, executive chairperson at Jack Cooper and head of Jack Cooper Investments, led efforts to acquire a portion of defunct Yellow Corp. (OTC: YELLQ) in 2023 and again in 2024 under a new entity, Next Century Inc. Handlers of Yellow rejected the bids, opting instead to liquidate assets.
Jack Cooper appeared to set up an LTL division late last spring as former employees of Yellow announced on LinkedIn that they were now working for the LTL division of Jack Cooper.
In August, FreightWaves reported that Jack Cooper LTL was in talks to acquire Standard Forwarding, an East Moline, Illinois-based union LTL carrier with 14 terminals throughout Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. The 90-year-old company had been owned by DHL Freight since 2011.
A spokesperson for Jack Cooper said at the time that it was “hopeful they can reach an agreement with the company and the union to help save hundreds of jobs as Jack Cooper has demonstrated [it can do] time and time again.”
That deal appeared to be progressing as an Oct. 22 internal Teamsters memo showed a tentative agreement between the union and Jack Cooper, which would replace the current contract that workers had with Standard Forwarding. A month later, an 87-page tentative master freight agreement between Jack Cooper Freight and the Teamsters surfaced.
A Nov. 26 information packet to Standard Forwarding employees introduced Sakaem, which is “owned by the same family that owns Jack Cooper [Investments],” as the new purchaser.
Former LTL employees at Jack Cooper are now working at Standard Forwarding Freight. Tim McKinstry, who was chief operating officer at Jack Cooper LTL is now president at Standard Forwarding Freight. Tim Haitz is chief commercial officer. He was chief commercial officer of LTL at Jack Cooper Investments.
Deal comes at a tough time for Jack Cooper
Jack Cooper is losing its car hauling contract with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), which has triggered Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices of pending layoffs at some of Jack Cooper’s locations.
Ford was believed to be the company’s second-largest customer behind General Motors (NYSE: GM). Jack Cooper’s “valued partnership” with Ford began in 1991.
A statement from the Teamsters blamed Ford for the abrupt termination and said the contract loss “officially threatened the livelihoods of more than 1,400 Teamsters-represented carhaul workers and their families.” However, that number appears to include the entirety of the company’s Teamsters employees, though only certain locations will experience layoffs.
Atlanta- and Kansas City, Missouri-based Jack Cooper restructured under bankruptcy protection in 2019. Standard Forwarding was rumored to be struggling before Jack Cooper’s interest.
Tucker, Georgia-based Sakaem provides car transportation and relocation services to individuals, auto dealers and car rental companies through a network of third-party carriers.