The trucking industry’s strength is wavering as this year alone 2,500 drivers have lost their jobs.
Spot market rates have dropped 18% year over year in June. Such a decrease in the spot market played a significant role in drivers’ unemployment.
Furthermore, in 2019 several big trucking companies like New England Motor Freight, have filed for bankruptcy causing job loss in mass quantities.
Starlite Trucking, a 40-year-old trucking company also filed for bankruptcy this year.
At its peak, Starlite had a wide assortment of offerings with 75 employees and 52 trucks. The company offered hoppers, flatbed trailers, refrigerated services, and other equipment.
Increased costs for labour and equipment, along with flat-lined hauling rates, proved too deep of a cut into Starlite’s profits for them to stay in business.
“We tried to provide a healthy work environment for our employees and give them the best wages and benefits we could,” Starlite Trucking CEO Colby Bell said in a statement about the closure. “But in the end, the rates that were available did not support the cost structure needed to compensate our employees appropriately.”
