A shuttered California-based trucking company that once pulled intermodal containers out of the Port of Oakland has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
Flex Intermodal Inc. of Fremont had 25 power units and 30 drivers at the time of its closure, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.
The petition lists Aseem Indora as president of Flex Intermodal. No reason was given as to why Indora filed for Chapter 7. Flex Intermodal is represented by bankruptcy attorney Raymond R. Miller of Hayward, California. As of publication time Monday afternoon, neither Indora nor Miller had responded to FreightWaves’ request for comment.
Flex Intermodal filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California on Friday, more than a year after it ceased operations.
According to the FMCSA, the intermodal company’s authority was involuntarily revoked in August 2023. Its Bodily Injury Property Damage Coverage (BIPD) insurance was canceled the same month. FMCSA granted the intermodal carrier’s operating authority in September 2018.
In its petition, Flex Intermodal lists its assets as up to $50,000 and liabilities as between $500,000 and $1 million. The company, which has up to 49 creditors, maintains that no funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors after administrative fees are paid.
Among the company’s top creditors with the largest priority unsecured claims are the IRS of Philadelphia, owed nearly $38,200; the Employment Development Department in West Sacramento, California, owed more than $31,300; and the Alameda County Tax Collector, owed nearly $2,210.
The largest nonpriority unsecured creditor is the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of General Counsel in Los Angeles, which is owed nearly $2.8 million. Flex Intermodal also owes Hemar Rousso & Heald LLP of Encino, California, nearly $213,000, and Balboa Capital of Costa Mesa, California, is owed more than $210,000.
The petition states that Flex also owes the Port of Oakland more than $108,000 for its unexpired lease, which the now-defunct carrier disputes.
Prior to its closure, the company’s trucks had been inspected 38 times, and 11 had been placed out of service for a 29% out-of-service rate over the preceding 24-month period. That is significantly higher than the industry’s national average of around 22.6%, according to FMCSA.
The company’s drivers had been inspected 56 times, and one was placed out of service over a two-year period, resulting in an 1.8% out-of-service rate. This is much lower than the national average of about 6.7%.
The company, which didn’t operate in 2024, posted gross revenues of nearly $1.2 million in 2023. Its petition states the company made around $1.9 million in 2022.
The petition also lists Indora as the CEO and CFO of another small intermodal carrier, RL Lines Inc. of Newark, California, which shut down in May. FMCSA’s SAFER website showed the company had four power units and the same number of drivers and also hauled intermodal containers. FMCSA granted RL Lines’ common carrier authority in June 2022, but its operating authority was temporarily revoked twice before its authority was involuntarily revoked in May.
The bankruptcy petition states that civil judgments have been entered against Flex Intermodal by four companies in California: Equify Intermodal Inc. and Flexi Van Leasing Inc. in Alameda County Superior Court, and Balboa Capital and Equify Financial in Orange County Superior Court.
A meeting of creditors has been set for Oct. 23.
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