A Miami-based trucking company and freight brokerage, which also owns a CDL training school, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection recently.
Soler & Soler Hauling Inc. filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 10.
According to its website, Soler & Soler Hauling was founded in 2011 by two brothers, Edisley Soler Negrin, 37, of Miami, who serves as its president, and Elisbel Soler Negrin, 38, who is the vice president of the company. The company’s broker authority was granted in March 2019, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website
The company, which has 22 tractors and 42 drivers, hauls mainly refrigerated freight throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its website states it also hauls general freight, building materials and paper products.
In court filings, Soler & Soler Hauling cited “financial hardship in the past 12 months, with the most recent months being particularly difficult,” as one of the main reasons it was forced to file for bankruptcy protection. The owners listed that “negative cash flow in the past eight months, high fuel prices and a higher than usual cost to keep their fleet active” were also contributing factors.
Soler & Soler Hauling’s trucks had been inspected 44 times, and 13 had been placed out of service for a 29.5% out-of-service rate. That is higher than the industry’s national average of around 22%, according to FMCSA data.
The company’s drivers had been inspected 131 times and nine were placed out of service, resulting in a 6.9% out-of-service rate. The national average for drivers is around 6.6%.
The firm’s trucks have been involved in three crashes with injuries and five towaways over the past 24 months.
In its filing, Soler & Soler Hauling lists both its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The petition states the company has up to 49 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.
Among the trucking company’s top 20 unsecured creditors are Ryder Truck Rental Inc., owed more than $4.5 million for 22 leased trucks; SouthState Bank of Miami, owed $410,000 for a business construction loan; and FC Marketplace LLC of San Francisco, owed $300,000 for a business loan.
The petition states that SouthState Bank has a security interest in all of Soler & Soler Hauling’s real and personal property. Its creditor, FC Marketplace, has a blanket lien on all of the trucking company’s business assets.
Soler & Soler Hauling also owes the U.S. Small Business Administration $58,000 for a business loan and $42,000 for a disaster relief loan it obtained through the SBA, the petition states.
The carrier’s gross revenues from Jan. 1 until its bankruptcy filing date are over $1.7 million. Its petition states the company made around $10.5 million in 2021 and more than $9 million in ’20.
The trucking firm’s bankruptcy attorney, Timothy Kingcade, told FreightWaves earlier this week that the brothers’ for-profit CDL school, Soler & Soler CDL School Corp., also headquartered in Miami, is not part of the Chapter 11 proceedings. The CDL school opened in February 2019.
A status hearing on Soler & Soler Hauling’s Chapter 11 case is scheduled for May 3.
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