Family-owned North American trucking company files for bankruptcy protection

A major family-owned North American trucking company has filed for bankruptcy protection.

On March 27, Ontario-based Pride Group Holdings filed for and obtained Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) protection in Canada. The company also announced plans to file for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Pride Group says that they will continue to operate “business as usual” during the filings, with no anticipated disruption to any services or products.

Pride Group employs approximately 500 people in the U.S. and Canada, according to the company website.

“We have taken these steps to commence the CCAA Proceedings and to seek recognition under the Chapter 15 Cases so that we can maintain our current operations, stabilize our business, establish governance controls and monitoring, and develop a plan to restructure for the benefit of our stakeholders. We believe this is in the best interests of all of our employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders,” the company said in a March 28 news release.

“After the pandemic, the North American trucking industry experienced a significant downturn that negatively impacted transportation asset values and increased delinquencies in the leasing business,” Pride Group said.

Canadian outlet Truck News reports that Pride Group Holdings is facing a $100 million lawsuit from Mitsubishi HC Capital America for defaulting on payments. The outlet says that truck makers including PACCAR, Daimler, and Volvo have also filed claims against Pride Group for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Family-owned Pride Group was founded in 2010 by Sam Johal and Jas Johal in Mississauga, Ontario, from one location as a used truck retailer. The company has grown to operate more than 50 locations in the U.S. and Canada offering a variety of services through a number of business lines, including trucking and logistics, truck repair, freight factoring, used truck sales, and real estate.