In The News
Jevic out of business; cites fuel, economy
Jevic Transportation Inc. is discontinuing operations, President and Chief Executive Officer David Gorman said May 19 via a letter posted on the company's website.
"The current high fuel costs, economic downturn, increasing insurance costs and tightening credit markets have made this decision necessary," Gorman wrote. "Jevic will stop providing pickup service effective [May 19]. However, we will continue operating to deliver all freight within our system prior to closing."
Jevic -- a hybrid truckload and less-than-truckload provider with 1,185 power units and 1,230 drivers -- stopped accepting pickup requests after May 16 and the company's Web and EDI pickup functions were disabled.
Jevic, based in Delanco, N.J., was founded in 1981 and grew until the early 1990s. At one time it had facilities in Delanco, Chicago, New England, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C. The company was known for its "Breakbulk-Free†operating model that handled freight less than conventional carriers, with the intent of lowering lost and damaged shipments while still delivering to the entire 48 states.
Jevic says it was the first nationwide LTL carrier to offer what since has become a standard offering in the industry - time-definite and day-definite services, branded “100% Guaranteed,†which provided expedited delivery.
They also offered the Jevic “Heat Fleet,†the largest fleet of heated trailers in the United States, used to protect freezable freight en route to destination in cold winter months.
Jevic was sold in June 2006 by SCS Transportation in a $40 million cash sale to Sun Capital Partners. Bert Trucksess, then chairman and chief executive officer of publicly traded SCS -- which rebranded itself as Saia after its more successful LTL subsidiary -- said Jevic had not achieved acceptable levels of profitability for several years and was not core to the long-term goals of the company.
Since going private, Jevic said it worked diligently to return to strong profitability. In April, Jevic aggressively realigned the organization to improve costs and improve efficiencies; the realignment was going as planned, and freight delivery costs were improving, according to the company.
“Sadly, escalating fuel costs, higher insurance costs, a slowing economy and ultimately a tightening of the credit market were to much for us to overcome," says Pete Robinson, director of marketing and corporate communications. With this action, about 1,500 employees are no longer employed, Robinson said. "It’s a sad day for everyone here in Delanco and around the country,†he said.