Stewart Stiles Truck Line reportedly laid off at least 66 workers this week and shut down a division offering the region’s only time-sensitive freight service. The company’s parent, Greatwide Logistics Service of Irving, Texas, decided the Cornelius, Ore.-based business didn’t fit with its national hauling model, spokesman Blake Lewis told the Oregonian.
Greatwide ships mostly truckloads, notably for Wal-Mart, while Stewart Stiles ran a less-than-truckload operation, Lewis told the Oregonian. Lewis called Stewart Stiles “an island of local pickup and delivery service that we don’t have throughout our system,” but it also provided the area’s only same-day freight service, which was used primarily by manufacturers and retailers with tight inventory systems.
Greatwide, previously known as Transport Industries, bought Stewart Stiles and a sister company, NFC Inc./Nortran, in 2004. Founded in 1955, Stewart Stiles served 4,000 customers, while NFC shipped clothing and other items exclusively for Nordstrom. Greatwide will keep that division open, operating its Cornelius terminal and about 100 employees under the Greatwide brand, Lewis told the Oregonian. The company plans to close a Salem warehouse.
Privately held Greatwide operates 90 terminals and offices in 48 states and employs about 8,000 people. It claims to be Wal-Mart’s largest grocery transporter, with 2,000 trucks serving the world’s biggest retailer. Greatwide plans to offer severance packages and outplacement services to all laid-off workers, Lewis told the Oregonian.
