Illinois trucking company with 480 drivers suddenly goes out of business

An Illinois trucking and logistics company that contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail and had more than 650 employees, including more than 480 drivers, abruptly ceased operations Thursday, according to sources familiar with the closing. .

Former Truck Drivers for Midwest Transport Inc. (MTI), based in Robinson, Illinois, told FreightWaves that they received phone calls from their regional managers Thursday evening informing them that the company was ceasing operations.

As of publication Friday, MTI had not issued an official statement about what led to the shutdown. However, FreightWaves confirmed with some former senior managers and truck drivers who worked for the mail contractor that the company was winding down operations. They did not want to be named in the article for fear of reprisals.

MTI, founded in 1980, operates key terminals in Greenup, Illinois; Harmony, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; and two terminals in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida, according to its website.

MTI had more than 480 drivers and 428 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.

FMCSA data shows the company’s trucks were inspected 244 times and 65 were taken out of service for a 27 percent outage rate in the previous 24-month period. This is significantly higher than the national industry average of approximately 22%.

MTI drivers were inspected 564 times and 16 were taken out of service over a two-year period, resulting in an out-of-service rate of almost 3%. That’s less than half the national industry average of 7 percent, according to FMCSA.

The trucking company has had 21 injuries and 42 tows in the last 24 months.

According to the SAFER database, MTI was cited for acute/critical violations in two categories: controlled substances/alcohol and driver health.

A check of SAFER shows that MTI’s joint, contract and broker authorities remain active. MTI had two compliance reviews on July 7 and July 25, according to FMCSA data.

As of publication Friday, MTI had not filed notice of its impending closure in Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania or Florida.

A former longtime MTI driver said he was surprised by the news that the company was going out of business, but said drivers had started getting notices in the past few months to make sure their logs were certified after each run and to track their speed and improve their activity. performance over time.

“I don’t know what happened because we had a lot of postal contracts all over the US,” a former MTI driver told FreightWaves. “I (don’t know if) the USPS is just finding out like we are (that) the mail will be sitting on the docks on Monday.”

The story continues

A Postal Service spokesman did not immediately return FreightWaves’ request for comment.

This is a developing story.
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