Trucking company failures are rising as faltering freight demand exposes operators unprepared for a downturn after last year’s red-hot shipping market, the Wall Street Journal reported. Approximately 640 carriers went out of business in the first half of 2019, up from 175 for the same period last year and more than double the total number of trucker failures in 2018, according to transportation industry data firm Broughton Capital LLC. This week, Denver-based HVH Transportation Inc. abruptly shut down, stranding about 150 drivers and loads out on the road. The closure adds to a 2019 tally that includes Ohio truckload company Falcon Transport Co. and regional less-than-truckload carriers New England Motor Freight Inc. and LME Inc. Former HVH Chief Executive John Kenneally said he is negotiating with the carrier’s bank on steps to help get the drivers’ fuel cards reactivated so that they can deliver their loads and get home. The company has about 380 trucks, including those tied to a related Canadian company, FTI Transportation, which also shut this week, Kenneally said. That company also belonged to HVH’s owner, private-equity firm HCI Equity Partners.
