Jevic Transportation Inc., citing high fuel and insurance costs, tightening credit markets and economic downturn, has decided to discontinue operations.
The company said that it will halt pickup service effective Monday, May 19, 2008, but will continue to operate to deliver all freight within its system prior to closing.
“We greatly appreciate the loyalty of our many Jevic customers,” said David H. Gorman, president & CEO of Jevic. “It has been our pleasure to provide solutions to your transportation needs over these many years. We are committed to providing the prompt delivery of your shipments in our system and professional customer service for all your needs during this process.
As of Friday, May 16th, Jevic is not accepting pickup requests and its and EDI pickup functions have been disabled, the company added. However, Jevic will continue to provide customer service and the company website will remain active and updated during this period. The website will be the primary point of contact for tracing and needed documentation, Gorman said.
Jevic Transportation, founded in 1981 by Harry Muhlschlegel and based in Delanco, NJ, was built on a model that forwent the conventional “hub-and-spoke” model of traditional LTL by pre-planning loads that require a similar route--eliminating the necessity for a vast terminal network.
According to the company, its Breakbulk-Free operating model provided an appealing alternative to other major LTL carriers because of its ability to customize service offerings.
Jevic was purchased by Yellow Corp., now known as YRC Worldwide, in July 1999 for about $200 million. In March 2002, Yellow spun off SCS Transportation, the holding company for its regional operating companies, Saia and Jevic.
However, in July 2006, SCS Transportation divested Jevic to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners for $40 million in cash, with the intention of reinvesting the proceeds in its Saia operation.
At the time, Bert Trucksess, SCS chairman & CEO, said that Jevic had “not achieved acceptable levels of profitability for several years” and was not core to the company’s long-term direction, which became comprised solely of LTL carrier Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc.
