Denver, Colorado-based HVH Transportation is shuttering operations, effective immediately.Another large fleet has abruptly shuttered operations, joining several others to go under in 2019.
HVH Transportation (No. 231, CCJ Top 250), a truckload fleet based in Denver, Colorado, is ceasing operations effective immediately. A senior executive with HVH knowledgeable of the situation said rising liability insurance premiums were costing the company up to 11% of revenue per month, which caused the company to dip below the minimum liquidity threshold on a loan. The bank then took over and froze the company’s accounts Monday, Aug. 26, and will be putting the company into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidating the business, the official noted.
The executive said the bank will pay the drivers and employees what they are due for the last two weeks of work. He noted that, contrary to reports, drivers were not told they would not be paid. Drivers who submit their settlements and paperwork will be paid for their work, he said.
After reports of the company shutting down began to circulate Wednesday, the company official said fuel card operators froze HVH’s account, despite it being current. The company is looking into pre-funding fuel cards so that loads already dispatched can be delivered, and drivers on the road can return home.
HVH was cash-strapped in 2018, losing $13 million from “poor operational decisions,” the company official said, but a new management team had the company cash-flow neutral by June of this year and cash-flow positive at the time of closing.
HVH, at the time of closing, had a total of 380 drivers – 120 owner-operators, 150 lease-purchase operators and 110 company drivers.
HVH Transportation started in 1977 when Robert L. Holder purchased Thacker Brothers Transportation and renamed it to Holder Valley Holdings Transportation. HVH acquired Star Motor freight in 1993 and later purchased Platte Valley Transportation and Miller Brothers Transportation. Private equity firm HCI Equity Partners purchased HVH in October 2012 and has owned it since.
The HVH official said HCI has been “all-in” with the fleet and have invested a lot in the company along the way.
HVH joins New England Motor Freight, Falcon Transport, LME and others that have abruptly gone out of business this year.
Truckload carrier ShipEX, based in Salt Lake City, mentioned the closure of HVH on its social media channels and reached out to CCJ with a standing offer to help drivers who were blindsided by this and other closure announcements with a ride home, a free meal, or a new driving position by visiting its website at https://www.shipex.com/what-matters/drivers-matter/
