A Wroxeter-based transportation company will be affected by its parent-company developments south of the border.
Indianapolis-based Celadon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at midnight. Celadon acquired Hyndman Transport back in 2013.
Celadon announced in a news release Sunday that it will shut down all of its business operations effective Monday.
Celadon operated a fleet of approximately 3,300 tractors and 10,000 trailers across North America, with nearly 4,000 employees.
"We have diligently explored all possible options to restructure Celadon and keep business operations ongoing, however, a number of legacy and market headwinds made this impossible to achieve," said Paul Svindland, the chief executive officer of Celadon. "Celadon has faced significant costs associated with a multi-year investigation into the actions of former management, including the restatement of financial statements. When combined with the enormous challenges in the industry, and our significant debt obligations, Celadon was unable to address our significant liquidity constraints through asset sales or other restructuring strategies. Therefore, in conjunction with our lenders, we concluded that Celadon had no choice but to cease all operations and proceed with the orderly and safe wind-down of our operations through the Chapter 11 process."
To support the wind-down of operations, Celadon's lenders have agreed to provide incremental debtor-in-possession financing.
A driver at the Wroxeter yard said employees were caught completely off guard with the announcement, noting Hyndman's sale to Celadon in 2013 "didn't change anything."
"It just got worse and worse," the driver said. "It took years to finally fall down because they [Celadon] are such a big outfit. They're the biggest truckload company in the United States to declare bankruptcy, and there's more coming."
The driver, who did not want to give a name, called the sudden bankruptcy announcement "fishy."
"There was a lot of signs along the way, I didn't really believe it, but I had optimism Hyndman would pull through this, but those hopes are gone," the driver said.
Hyndman Chief Financial Officer Jeff Sippel declined to comment.
-With files from Adam Bell