Citing economic challenges tied to the “coronavirus natural disaster,” Stone Trucking Company said it will shut down and lay off 51 employees in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Company officials cited the coronavirus’ impact on the oil and gas industry as the reason for the closure, as well as the “recent failure of an opportunity to sell the company to allow for continued operations.”
“We were unable to provide more advance notice of this action because these circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable until recently when the full scope of COVID-19’s impact upon our business became clear and the sale of the business fell through,” said Stephen Royce, Stone Trucking’s executive vice president of human resources, according to a WARN notice filed with the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development.
The 75-year old trucking company, known for its green trucks, has 73 drivers and 95 trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.
It’s not clear if the truck drivers were employees, or owner-operators contracted to the company. Officials with Stone Trucking declined to comment to FreightWaves.
Stone Trucking offered flatbed, oversize and heavy haul services. Along with the facility in Tulsa, the company also lists operations in Arkansas and Texas, according to its website.
Stone Trucking’s closure will be finalized by July 3.
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Gary Winf
Feel sorry for the drivers losing their jobs, but the forced closing of the the company, couldn’t have happened to more deserving assholes.