Small-business truckers are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after a Texas oilfield construction and heavy equipment company filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Jamco Services LLC, doing business as Jam Construction, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas on Wednesday.
In its filing, Jam Construction of Midland, Texas, lists both its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The oilfield services company states that it has up to 199 creditors.
According to its petition, Javier Almodova, president of Jam Construction, maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
As of press time, Almodova did not return FreightWaves’ request seeking comment about the bankruptcy filing.
Four small trucking companies are collectively owed over $241,000
Among the heavy equipment company’s top 20 unsecured creditors — which are last in line for payment in Chapter 11 cases — are four small-business trucking companies: Toro C Services LLC of Odessa, Texas, owed nearly $109,000; Western I&J Trucking of Clovis, New Mexico, owed almost $64,000; Optimus Trucking of Odessa, owed $36,325; and Garcia Trucking of Midland, Texas, owed $32,347.
The heavy equipment construction company, which has 48 employees, also owes an unspecified amount of money to several small trucking companies that it contracted with to haul dirt, sand and gravel.
Oilfield company receives PPP funds
Jam Construction was among the more than 1,260 oilfield services companies in Texas that received loans to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
According to the company’s bankruptcy filing, it received a PPP loan for $772,000 from the FirstCapital Bank of Texas in Midland.
Forgivable loans through the PPP started out with $350 billion in the CARES Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in late March and replenished in April with an additional $320 billion.
Another Texas oilfield services company, Eagle Pressure Controls LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle PCO LLC of Navasota, Texas, recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
Double whammy
An oil glut and slumping sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic have forced several oil and gas companies to file for bankruptcy protection since March.
A price war between OPEC and Russia, which caused oil prices to tank, forced several oil and gas companies into bankruptcy as well. The lack of business and nonpayment from debtors have forced oilfield equipment haulers in the oil patch also to file bankruptcy.
Click for more articles by FreightWaves Senior Editor Clarissa Hawes.
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