Trucking company plans to buy bankrupt NEMF’s affiliate fleets
A Virginia-based trucking company has agreed to purchase millions of dollars worth of equipment from a trucking company that abruptly declared bankruptcy earlier this year.
On Thursday, April 25, it was reported that Estes Express Lines has bid to purchase tractors, trailers, and other trucking equipment from the now-bankrupt New England Motor Freight (NEMF) affiliate companies Eastern Freight Ways Inc. and Carrier Industries Inc.
Estes Express Lines would pay $15 million for NEMF’s assets as a means to expand their flatbed and dedicated divisions, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Estes Express Lines, a Virginia-based freight carrier, has agreed to buy New England Motor Freight’s fleet of semi-tractors, trailers and other equipment out of bankruptcy for $15 million https://t.co/s4i5phlutW
— WSJ Pro Bankruptcy (@WSJBankruptcy) April 25, 2019
Prior to the purchase, Estes Express operates more than 6,700 tractors and 30,000 trailers.
A court will rule on May 16, 2019, on whether the proposed purchase is approved.
In February 2019, NEMF shocked the trucking industry when it suddenly announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company blamed the truck driver shortage, the cost of equipment, and the increasing cost of regulations and tolls for their declining margins.
Hundreds of NEMF workers across the country were laid off as a result of the bankruptcy.
In 2018, NEMF ranked as the 17th-largest LTL carrier in the U.S. with revenue over $400 million.