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Tennessee reefer carrier closes after nearly 70 years

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A Nashville-based trucking company has shut down for good after 69 years in operation, according to new reports.

According to Freightwaves, refrigerated carrier Howard Baer Inc. ceased operations January 31, 2020, with company leadership citing increasing government regulations as the reason for their exit.

The most recent information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s SAFER website indicates that the company operated 95 trucks and employed 198 truck drivers.

CDLLife has reached out to Howard Baer Inc. for comment but the company did not immediately respond.

Howard Baer Inc. was privately held and founded in 1951. The company provided refrigerated trucking services to 30 states.

Howard Baer is the second major refrigerated carrier to announce a permanent closure in the past couple of weeks. On February 5, reports were released that Florida-based Cold Carriers Logistics and affiliated companies Interide Transport, Gantt Trucking, Blue Sky Logistics, and Sunco Trucking would cease operations in the next few weeks.

Since the ELD Mandate went into effect for most drivers in December 2017, hundreds of trucking companies have gone out of business, citing increased insurance costs, softness in the freight market, government regulations, and difficulty in hiring qualified drivers as reasons for shuttering operations. Some of these companies include including Falcon TransportLME, NEMF, and Celadon.

This is a developing story.

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