Dry bulk, chemical, and asphalt trucking operator Dillon Logistics Inc. (Burr Ridge, Ill.) permanently shut down on Aug. 31 after 41 years of service, FreightWaves.com reported. The company, doing business as Dillon Transport, operated nine terminals in eight states, including locations in Tampa and Mulberry, Fla.
Dillon was noted by industry sources as a hauler of both dry and molten sulfur from the Port of Tampa to inland locations. The company’s shutdown was described as unexpected, with minimal advance notice reportedly offered to customers or employees. The company’s trucking capacity from the Port of Tampa had not been fully replaced as of Sept. 9, sources believed.
Former employee Cory Siegesmund on Sept. 1 filed a class-action lawsuit with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, claiming that Dillon provided notice of the company’s Aug. 31 shutdown on Sept. 1, an alleged violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The WARN Act requires employers to provide advance notice of at least 60 days prior to “the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or more facilities or operating units within a single site of employment,” according to the suit.
The shutdown came after a planned sale of the company failed to transpire, the plaintiff claimed, describing a Sept. 1 email from Dillon informing the employees of their termination, effective one day earlier on Aug. 31.
A former Dillon executive, speaking to FreightWaves on condition of anonymity, said the decision to shut down was made by the company’s private equity owners.
Texas-based private equity firm Cotton Creek Capital recapitalized Dillon Transport in 2017 to help expand the company, according to a post on Cotton Creek’s website. Dillon Transport founder Jeff Dillon remained a “significant shareholder” following the recapitalization, the post indicated.
In addition to its nine terminals, Dillon operated 400 tractors and 700 trailers, employing 342 drivers in the process, according to the lawsuit. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website put Dillon’s total number of power units at 323 as of Sept. 7, however.
Dillon was founded in 1980.