Private Equity Group Abruptly Shutters Logistics Company With 500 Drivers, 19 Terminals
Texas-based trucking company US Logistics Solutions Inc. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation, leaving the fate of a 289K SF industrial building and 19 terminals up in the air.
Private equity firm Ten Oaks Group acquired US Logistics Solutions, formerly Forward Air Solutions, in 2021. Truck drivers, office personnel and warehouse and dockworkers learned of their immediate layoffs when Ten Oaks Group closed operations late Thursday, FreightWaves reported.
US Logistics Solutions had 864 direct employees, 305 contractors/temporary employees and 57 owner/operators, Ten Oaks Group said in a statement. US Logistics Solutions issued a press release Monday morning saying it had filed for bankruptcy on Friday and would immediately liquidate.
The pool distribution and final-mile solutions company was headquartered in a 289K SF building in Humble, Texas, north of Houston. At the time of that lease in 2018, the group was planning a 132K SF expansion.
Logistics companies are one of the drivers of Houston’s booming industrial market. Industrial real estate demand surged during the pandemic due to the increase in e-commerce, resulting in a record 32.4M SF of industrial deliveries in Houston last year.
US Logistics Solutions also operated 19 terminals, mainly in the eastern half of the country, according to FreightWaves. The company employed 500 drivers and 732 tractors or power units, per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website.
The company’s website is now gone, but over the past year, it advertised jobs on LinkedIn in Nashville, Tennessee; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Grapevine, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Decatur, Georgia; San Antonio; and Indianapolis.
“Due to the abrupt decision by our private ownership group to close our doors at the same time business was surging, I am completely devastated and heartbroken for the 2000+professionals I’ve had the pleasure of working with,” former USLS president Eric Culberson wrote on LinkedIn. “The timing of this closure did not give me the chance to thank my team for their commitment and support to our customers and to each other.”
The company implemented “numerous strategic initiatives aimed at stabilizing and revitalizing the company” over the past several months, according to its press release, but was no longer able to receive the necessary funding from its lender to continue operations.
This is at least the third Texas-based trucking company to liquidate this year, according to TheStreet.
In a similar situation, Grand Prairie, Texas-based Arnold Transportation Services shut down operations days before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 30, TheStreet reported. Ontario-based Pride Group Holdings had acquired the company in early 2022.
CORRECTION, JUNE 25, 11:17 A.M. CT: This article has been edited to include updated information regarding the number of USLS employees impacted by the layoffs.
