• Alvan Motor Freight shuts down

    After 67 years in business, Kalamazoo, MI-based Alvan Motor Freight has shut down, the company announced on its web site this weekend
    July 1, 2008
    2 min read

    After 67 years in business, Kalamazoo, MI-based Alvan Motor Freight has shut down, the company announced on its web site this weekend.

    A family-owned LTL carrier, Alvan will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the release said. President & CEO James Van Zoeren called it “the worst day of my business career. Alvan has had an incredible run but unfortunately all great things come to an end. Given the extremely competitive nature of our business, we wouldn’t be here today had it not been for the fantastic effort of each and every Alvan employee. However, a number of problems outside of our control have overwhelmed us to the point where we were left without a choice.”

    Among the problems the company cited was ongoing economic problems in the Midwest, particularly in the automotive industry, diesel prices and the 87-day strike at American Axle, one of the company’s top customers.

    Freight remaining in the company’s system will be delivered by Central Transport.

    Alvan Motor Freight was founded in 1941 by the Van Zoeren family and currently employs about 525 people with terminals in in Kalamazoo, MI, Romulus, MI, Grand Rapids, MI, Saginaw MI, Jackson, MI, Mesick, MI, Alpena, MI, Cincinnati, OH, Richfield, OH, Columbus, OH, Perrysburg, OH, Fort Wayne, IN, Indianapolis, IN, South Bend, IN, and Chicago, IN.

    View more Fleet Owner management news and other commercial trucking-related articles.

    Voice your opinion!

    To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of FleetOwner, create an account today!

    Sign up for our free eNewsletters

    Latest from Operations

    American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
    interstate highways plan 1947
    What do you know about the roads that make trucking possible? Test your U.S. Interstate System knowledge in this FleetOwner Fleets Explained quiz.
    Patton Logistics Group
    Patton Logistics Group includes Watsontown Trucking (No. 248 on the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire list), Patton Warehousing, and Patton Logistics.
    FleetOwner 500 for-hire carrier adds dozens of trucks, hundreds of trailers, maintenance facilities, and much more warehousing real estate and potential for its Patton Logistics...
    ID 24517292 © Dreammasterphotographer | Dreamstime.com
    continuity during an outage concept
    Do you have a business continuity plan in place? Every hour counts in trucking. Being prepared for disaster recovery can be the difference between keeping customers and losing...