Loss of ‘operational funding' leads to layoffs at Tacoma, Seattle shipping firms

Yahoo

4 days ago

Three local logistics operators tied to same parent company recently announced layoffs of workers in Seattle and Tacoma after the loss of 'operational funding.'
MacMillan-Piper, a transloading company that operates six facilities near the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, on July 10 filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with Washington State Employment Security Department.
In its letter to the state, the company cited 'sudden and unforeseeable business circumstances resulting from the loss of operational funding.'
It stated that MacMillan-Piper LLC 'will be permanently ceasing operations effective July 10, 2025.'
Affected locations included two sites in Seattle and three in Tacoma, affecting approximately 92 workers.
The affected positions 'include a variety of warehouse, management, operations and support,' the letter stated, also noting the layoffs were 'permanent, and no bumping or recall rights exist.'
The company in 2023 was acquired by Oakland-based GSC, a third-party logistics provider. At the time, GSC said, 'The combined MacMillan-Piper and GSC Transport fleet will now exceed 100 trucks to further enhance GSC's known transportation reliability.'
GSC also noted that 'the acquisition creates an ideal new network of terminals, yards and chassis strategically located within two miles of both the Seattle and Tacoma ports for GSC.'
Additional WARN letters obtained by The News Tribune from the state after two more filings were announced Tuesday offered more clues as to turmoil behind the scenes with both MacMillan-Piper and GSC.
One WARN filing listed layoffs affecting 10 workers with GSC Transport in Tacoma, along with another filing for GSC Solutions of Tacoma, affecting seven workers, both also going into effect July 10.
Both GSC Solutions' letter and GSC Transport's letter to Washington's Employment Security Department state, 'On July 10, 2025, GSC received confirmation that its primary lender had terminated operational funding. This unexpected and unforeseeable development left the company without viable alternatives.'
It added, 'Efforts to secure other financing or complete a business sale were unsuccessful.'
Given the details from the three notices, it is unclear whether GSC would be taking on any former MacMillan-Piper workers.
Attempts to reach officials with GSC and MacMillan-Piper were unsuccessful.
MacMillan-Piper was founded in 1969 by James MacMillan Piper in Seattle and eventually became the largest transloader and container freight station in the Pacific Northwest, according to his 2009 obituary.
Piper sold the company to his son-in-law and daughter in 1990, who in turn sold it to another family in 2019 before GSC's eventual acquisition.
Industry media site Trucking Dive reported on Tuesday that GSC workers took to LinkedIn with personal announcements of their own layoffs. Those positions, according to the report, included workers in Oakland, California as well as Tacoma and Seattle, and included managerial, planning and client-related posts.
GSC for its part, has been posting on LinkedIn, promoting the benefits of the MacMillan-Piper transload sites in both Seattle and Tacoma. In a post from two weeks ago, GSC wrote, 'Since our acquisition of MacMillan-Piper, Inc. in 2023, our 3PL operations in the Pacific Northwest have exceeded expectations.'
On its website, it noted, 'GSC has invested heavily in the Seattle and Tacoma markets, building an extensive network of facilities and systems that offer comprehensive logistics solutions. Over the last two years, we've handled more than 20,000 containers in the region, including over 12,000 containers last year, with 3,480 deliveries to Puyallup and Spanaway alone.'