After Yellow Corp sent 30,000 employees to the unemployment line with zero advanced notice, another organization recently treated their previously valued truckers with similar callousness. It appears that Sunset Logistics, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, shocked truckers by shutting down operations without fair warning.
“It was just very demoralizing the way (owner Buddy Gainey) did it. He put ninety drivers out of work with no warning,” Eric Miller, who drove truck for Sunset for two years, reportedly said.
Miller and other former employees were left in the lurch about how to get their final paycheck. Drivers who had accrued expenses were also left wondering how, or if, they would be reimbursed for out-of-pocket costs. This state of uncertainty mirrors what some truckers went through when Yellow announced it was filing for bankruptcy and abruptly shuttered operations. Over-the-road drivers found themselves stuck hundreds of miles away from home, dealing with motel rooms and everyday expenses normally covered by the company.
“I was in shock. I get a phone call in Lincoln, Nebraska, saying that Sunset is closing their doors with no warning,” Miller reportedly said, “I live in Tampa. To abandon us. To not give us a way home. We have all our stuff in the truck. What do we do? He left us out on the street. It’s horrific. He needs to be held accountable or be a man and take care of business.”
The recent wave of closures has not necessarily taken people in the freight transportation sector by surprise. Companies come and go in an industry known for its survival-of-the-fittest leanings. Yellow navigated several financial ups and downs over its 99-year tenure before folding.
According to a Michigan business database, Gainey incorporated Sunset Logistics in 2010. However, the relatively short-lived operation treated its once-valued employees with a similar lack of empathy as Yellow.
“What Buddy Gainey did was atrocious. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen in trucking. Companies shut down, but they do it the right way, especially large companies like this one,” Texas-based Sunset Logistics truck driver David Whetstone reportedly said.
Whetstone’s sentiments may have echoed through the industry before the recent shutdowns. But the recent trend of companies ignoring the financial and human elements of trucker and other employee job losses proves otherwise, in some cases. Reports indicate Sunset may owe truckers back pay and expenses in excess of $3,000. The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has reportedly opened an investigation.
Sources:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/michigan-based-sunset-logistics-abruptly-ceases-operations
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