Trucking companies are starting to go under.
Ten freight and freight-dependent businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the same two-week window. The most alarming is Eagle Logistics, a large carrier with 151 trucks and over 240 drivers, which operated a dedicated U.S. Postal Service route. Eagle listed assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of up to $10 million. That’s a catastrophic insolvency. Also on the list are intermodal drayage carriers, livestock haulers, and warehousing providers. The crisis is national: California, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey—the map of distress is spreading.
These bankruptcies tell us that companies can no longer pass on the cost of fuel to their customers, and they can no longer absorb the losses themselves. They are simply shutting their doors.
It’s always a concern when the economic pipelines start seizing up. Playing more financial games isn’t going to prop the faltering real economy up much longer.