A major logistics company notified approximately 120 workers and truck drivers on Feb. 24 that it will permanently shutter its cross-dock facility in Coldwater, Michigan, on April 30.
The closure is in response to “the unexpected loss of a fair market bid with Ford Motor Company,” Randy Ryerson, vice president of marketing of Penske, said in a statement to FreightWaves.
He said employees and drivers were notified during an in-person meeting with local management on Monday.
Penske, headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity on Feb. 24, according to Ryerson.
As of press time on Tuesday, the notice wasn’t posted on the state’s website. The WARN Act requires employees to provide 60 days’ notice of a possible plant closure or mass layoff.
In July 2019, Penske laid off 80 drivers and closed its terminal in Fort Wayne, Indiana, because of a “local trucking contract termination.”
The logistics provider has more than 5,000 drivers and around 3,600 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website. Worldwide, Penske has around 18,000 employees and operates approximately 400 locations.
This news comes one day after FreightWaves covered the sudden closure of a terminal and abrupt layoff of 61 truck drivers who worked for Illinois-based Black Horse Carriers Inc. The carrier blamed the layoffs and closure of its Pewaukee, Wisconsin, terminal on a customer’s decision to “discontinue business” with Black Horse.
In related news, Dash Delivery LLC, a last-mile courier for Amazon’s Prime service, is closing its offices in Everett and Seattle, Washington, and laying off 106 workers April 23, according to a notice filed with the state. Amazon has been severing ties in recent weeks with vendors that don’t meet its performance and safety standards.
FreightWaves’ Eric Kulisch contributed to this report.
