A North Carolina trucking company notified over 200 drivers, employees and mechanics on Tuesday it is ceasing operations after 11 years after some of its major customers demanded “massive rate and volume concessions.”
FreightWorks Transport LLC, doing business as FreightWorks Transportation & Logistics, headquartered in Rutherfordton, operated 186 power units with around 140 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.
In a video message to employees and drivers, Joyce Siqueira, vice president of operations for FreightWorks, said the “most honorable path that we can take for the benefit of our employees, our customers and our other stakeholders is an orderly closing of the company.”
Siqueira said the company was unable to see a path forward after a few of its core contract customers abruptly demanded significant rate reductions, amounting to millions of dollars. The death knell occurred when one of FreightWorks’ largest contract customers “pulled a significant percentage of the company’s freight” on Feb. 28.
“This had an immediate and very devastating impact on our ability to make payroll, let alone cover our rent, truck payments and other expenses,” Siqueira said in the video reviewed by FreightWaves. “Several other events that same day compounded these already overwhelming challenges. In an incredibly weak freight market, we are simply unable to replace this lost freight with enough profitable work for us to be sustainable.”
The asset-based truckload carrier was founded with one truck in 2012 after production exceeded sales at the small family owned biodiesel plant, FuelWorks, founded by FreightWorks President and CEO Josh Farmer in North Carolina. The company was hauling mainly perishable items at the time of its closure.
The company had survived previous freight recessions because FreightWorks was largely insulated by its contract customers. Siqueira assured employees and drivers that concessions demanded by its customers “were solely due to market pressures” and had nothing to do with the truckload carrier’s execution and performance.
A former FreightWorks employee also shared the memo sent to employees and drivers — dated for “immediate release on March 10” — but it appears the truckload carrier was forced to cease operations earlier than expected.
Effective immediately, Siqueira said FreightWorks will no longer be picking up loads.
“This is very important to us to make sure that the millions of dollars of our customers’ freight that’s on the road right now, which is mostly perishable goods, is not ruined in the process of our shutting down,” she said.
No trucks will be stranded on road
The company will coordinate with drivers on how they should return equipment — either taking it to a designated drop yard or to their homes for now.
“We will make sure that everyone has the means to get home safe,” Siqueira said. “We are committed to ensuring that every driver is paid for the final delivery.”
Additionally, FreightWorks is asking for drivers’ help. The company will pay a $500 bonus for those who assist it in delivering their loads once the carrier has received a signed bill of lading.
“We didn’t run a trucking company just to move freight,” Siqueira said. “We ran a trucking company to take care of people.”
Watch FWNOW about FreightWorks Transport’s shutdown here:
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Timothy Dooner of What The Truck?!? and James “Rooster” Bowen of Back The Truck Up contributed to this report.
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No trucks will be stranded on road
But what about the Drivers
ELI
Elberta Logistics International is a small, asset based company hiring in this region. We support the truck driving community and would be happy to welcome qualified truck drivers to our team. Drivers seeking employment, please feel free to reach out to us. We will gladly answer questions and provide information about our company as requested.
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Luka
Hey Randy, why don’t you just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and work harder? Quit complaining.
Randy
Hi. I’m a 33 year veteran o/p .
I like many others have seen the good Days trucking.
Just take a close look at what the Socialists have been doing for years is taking history out of the schools they took reading writing and arithmetics out of schools.
Take a very close look at the amount of people that don’t know where their freedom came from.
With the mind set the the GOVERNMENT WILL GIVE ME WHAT I WANT FOR FREE.
The GOVERNMENT has done all of this by giving people a false impression of everything is free,
SORRY TO SAY YOU FREE LOADING WORTHLESS PEOPLE ARE THE CAUSE OF THE END OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Wake up people stand for yourself or die by the DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REGIME ….
Mick McMahon
3PL’S have taken over the Trucking Industry, favoring Shippers heavy over Truckers! Driving little companies out of business! Someday the Truckers will stop being taken advantage over these profit grabbing 3PL’S (BROKERS). Wish the 70’s was back where even small o/o could make a good living for his family w/o big Logistics degrees.
Marko
Its not Bidens fault, believe it or not. There is criminal activity in Chicago and freightwaves started reporting on this, waiting on more articles. Chicago carriers are brining in drivers from europe and dispatching them from europe and they are pushing these drivers 20hrs a day. How? Almost every eastern european carrier has thier own ELD system. Look up ELD ONE here on freightwaves. These guys were following rules and regulations and thats why they failed. Simple. For once, Biden actually doesnt get the blame or maybe he should as this is all allowed to happen under his presidency. We will see
Rob
As a retired Trucking employee for over 30 years starting 70s thru 2000s I seen the industry become inundated with cutthroats and crybaby. It a shame to see what has happened to a great industry.
Dwight L Witmer
You can thank the pretender in chief for the downfall of many companies and this sadly is only the beginning