Celadon closing up shop!

I’m making money right now driving a 10 yr old Cascadia. A truck is merely a tool used to do a job. As long as it’s safe, who cares?

 

There's a little guy that closed his doors suddenly near me. The terminal manager said he saw it coming for awhile.

I heard rumors of him stiffing the tire companies and other places for five figures each.

This was a 35 truck shop.

I guess I wonder why steps aren't / weren't taken for a more organized shut down. Same with the big company.

It's past the point of no return, you don't have to wait until all the life boats are gone to abandon ship.

Hope I never know the reasons first hand.

 

Celadon had ~ $500 million in loans, 30% from Luminus (who owns 50% of Celadon) and 70% from Blue Torch. One of the terms of those loans was something like Celadon maintain $5 million in cash on hand.

Well Celadon is primarily an automotive carrier and GM workers went on strike in October through most of September. Since most invoices are paid 30-90 days, that means right now is when Celadon is feeling the cash crunch.

Anyway, once they break the loan covenant, the loans become due immediately. That means a company that was operating just fine one day can suddenly have to close up shop.

But if the underlying company still is profitable, it might just reorganize under chapter 11. The lenders may lose some of their investment, but the company gets to keep on working and paying back what it can. This is what Celadon is aiming for now...

 

From what i hear, there are 2 creditors, one with a big chunk & one with a small chunk. The bigger chunk is a group of wall street honchos who have no experience in the trucking industry. The smaller one does. The small one tried to negotiate for a bigger share as part of the loan Thursday & the bigger ones refused. So that caused the loan to not happen. Then the arrest of the 2 former executives did not help matters when that came out in the news. Then once social media kicked in & with freightwaves story, several shippers cancelled all the loads. So now they are in a bind with drivers available, but now loads from several of their biggest shippers.

 

Some folks enjoy holding that oblong steering wheel with the cheap plastic feel...

 

Also the 2 creditors are having their own little spat. Luminus wanted a bigger cut from Blue Torch, but they are refusing to sell it to them. That is part of the issue with thursdays meeting i hear.

 

Yeah man, I remember that. I run local for a GREAT company... and never let the tank get below 1/2 even now. Never forgot how those guys got stranded...

 

They haven't been operating just fine for 18 months.

 

I met him and sat in his office and talked with him a good while back in 2001.... he was such a nice guy.

 

I care..

Some of us need a little more than fleet spec, and for some of us this is still a lifestyle not just a job...

If you’re happy, I’m happy for you, too each his own..