Latest news with #Iowa-based
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ruan Transport laying off 144 workers in Arizona after losing contract
Ruan Transport Corp. is laying off 144 workers in Tolleson, Arizona, including 130 truck drivers, along with mechanics and administrative staff. The layoffs will be finalized by the end of August. Des Moines, Iowa-based Ruan Transport has 2,980 trucks and 3,612 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The company provides dedicated fleet management, logistics management and warehousing solutions for customers across the country. Ruan Transport had a contract with Kroger to provide transportation services from the Tolleson distribution center, which is located in the Phoenix area. However, Kroger cancelled that contract, according to the Teamsters union. The Teamsters represents Ruan Transport workers at the Tolleson distribution center. 'For over 26 years, Teamsters Local 104 members at Ruan have safely and reliably delivered products for Kroger. Now, the company is attempting to replace them with Swift, a move that threatens the hard-won standards Teamsters have built over decades,' Lena Melentijevic, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters, told FreightWaves in an email. Officials for The Kroger Co. and Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. did not return requests for comment. Sean M. O'Brien, general president of the Teamsters, and Fred E. Zuckerman, the union's general-secretary treasurer, sent a letter to Kroger leadership on June 6 seeking clarification on Ruan's dismissal. 'Our impression is that Kroger intends to replace Ruan with a 3PL that does not provide reasonable equal wages and conditions of employment similar to those provided for in the Teamsters Local Union 104 collective bargaining agreement currently in effect with Ruan,' O'Brien and Zuckerman wrote in a letter to Kroger shared on Facebook. 'If this unfortunate development should occur, Kroger should expect community standards picketing to occur which truthfully advises the public that Ruan's successor does not conform to the area standards established by Teamsters Local Union 104.' Related: Mass layoffs continue across freight-related companies in the U.S. The post Ruan Transport laying off 144 workers in Arizona after losing contract appeared first on FreightWaves. Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump Targets Brazil Ethanol Market That American Firms Helped Fuel
The Trump administration has blamed tariffs for a slump in ethanol shipments to Brazil. But the loss of what was once the biggest export market for US biofuel is, in part, a problem of America's own making. Brazil has drastically reduced its dependence on US biofuel imports by investing billions of dollars in corn-based ethanol, creating a domestic industry that it later moved to protect through tariffs. The push began in 2017, led by Iowa-based Summit Agricultural Group, whose FS unit installed Brazil's first corn ethanol plant.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Major trucking company declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The trucking industry finished the first half of 2025 still trapped in the Great Freight Recession. Dry van truckload contract rates were unchanged from the same period a year ago, FreightWaves reported, and trucking spot rates, which shippers pay carriers for a one-time shipment, finished the first half below levels from a year ago. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Long-haul truckload demand reportedly plummeted by 25% in the first half of 2025, with trucking becoming more of a short-haul delivery method for the final leg of freight movement. Related: Popular pizza dining chain franchisee files Chapter 11 bankruptcy Overall freight demand had faced an unseasonal decline in April 2025, "likely presaging further deterioration in the coming months," according to Ryder and FreightWaves' State of the Industry Report released on April 23. The decline is unseasonal, since the beginning of the second quarter usually sees demand slowly ramp up in anticipation of summer inventories and produce deliveries, according to the report. As the Great Freight Recession continues, financial distress in the trucking industry remains, as more transportation companies continue to file for bankruptcy protection. Some examples include Palatine, Ill., women-owned and founded trucking company Dolche Truckload Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 protection on June 15 to reorganize its business and restructure its debts. Dolche Truckload, founded and owned by Desi Evans since 2010, operates 70 trucks for interstate shipping to 48 contiguous states, according to its website. Major trucking and logistics company Elite Carriers and four affiliates also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 21 to restructure their debts. Elite Carriers, which was founded in 1999, operates 70 trucks and employs 70 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's SAFER website. The company transports goods from the Midwest to the East Coast and Canada, according to its website. Mount Prospect, Ill., trucking and freight transportation company AZA Transportation Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 14 to reorganize its business. The company's creditors include merchant cash advance lenders, equipment finance companies for their trucks, fuel vendors, and tollway authorities. Three trucking companies that are not affiliated filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 7, 2025, including C&C Freight Network of Braselton, Ga.; Dedham, Mass.-based Best Choice Trucking LLC; and Memphis, Tenn.-based Best Logistics Inc., which all filed petitions to restructure their debts. Finally, nationwide freight hauling company Daniel Trucking International Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its business. Related: Las Vegas casino owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy The Bettendorf, Iowa-based trucking company filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 7, listing $1 million to $10 million in assets and liabilities. More bankruptcy Major iconic food brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular Dairy Queen rival franchisee files Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular vision care chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Daniel Trucking International, founded in 2005, operates 58 trucks, according to its website, and 59 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website. The company ships to 48 contiguous states, operating numerous Freightliner Cascadia models, including refrigerated trucks, Great Dane trailers, and other commercial vehicles. The debtor's largest creditors include Huntington National Bank, owed $1.19 million, and M&T Capital. The debtor indicated in its petition that funds would be available to pay unsecured creditors after paying administrative expenses. Related: Popular vodka and gin brand declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
The Hill
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Kavanaugh objects as Supreme Court turns away California pig welfare law challenge
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a second bite at the apple to review California's law requiring pork sold in the state to come from pigs raised with sufficient living space. Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated he would've taken up the case, but neither he nor the majority explained their reasoning, as is typical. Two years ago, the court upheld the law in response to a challenge from national pork and farmers groups. But those groups conceded certain legal arguments, and the Iowa Pork Producers Association hoped to pick up the mantle. Passed by California voters in 2018, Proposition 12 prohibits pork sold in the state if the breeding pig had less than 24 square feet of usable floor space. Industry groups say the law effectively requires farmers nationwide to comply given California's size, and they've also criticized the standard as arbitrary. The legal challenge concerns a doctrine rooted in the Constitution's command that Congress holds the power to regulate interstate commerce. Known as the dormant Commerce Clause, the doctrine restricts states from impeding that power by discriminating purposefully against out-of-state economic interests. In the previous case, however, the challengers didn't argue that Proposition 12 discriminated against other states. They explicitly conceded the argument before the court, instead advancing more aggressive theories that the justices rejected in a fractured decision. The new case provided the court a second bite at the apple, but they declined it. The Iowa-based group advanced a discrimination claim that revolves around an earlier animal welfare measure that applies to California farmers only. That measure gave the in-state farmers six years to comply, but Proposition 12 gave out-of-state farmers less than six weeks. 'If issues of 'morality' can drive the regulation of out-of-state industry (as was supposedly the case with Proposition 12), why couldn't future regulation be based on minimum wage policies of sister States, or employees' immigration status, or any other hot-button social issue of the day? The Framers prohibited precisely this type of discriminatory and overly onerous out-of-state regulation,' the pork association wrote in its petition. The group is represented by law firms Husch Blackwell and Brick Gentry. California urged the court to turn away the challenge, saying the earlier groups conceded the argument because 'it lacks any merit.' 'Proposition 12 enacts a neutral sales restriction that treats in-state and outof-state farmers the same,' the state wrote in court filings.
Business Journals
30-06-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Owner of St. Louis Post-Dispatch agrees to $9.5M payout, faces 3 new class-action claims
Lee Enterprises, the Iowa-based owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has agreed to pay $9.5 million to subscribers alleging privacy violations and is now facing three invasion-of-privacy lawsuits from current or former employees.
