Celadon bankruptcy strands truck drivers

INDIANAPOLIS — Thousands of truck drivers suddenly found themselves jobless — many of them stranded mid-route — after Celadon Group abruptly filed for Chapter 11 protection this week and halted operations — just days after two former executives were charged with securities fraud.

Indianapolis-based Celadon is one of the biggest truckload carriers in North America, with nearly 4,000 employees and a fleet of roughly 3,300 tractors and 10,000 trailers. Its clients include major corporations like Walmart, Honda Motor Co., Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris International.

Celadon brought in more than $1 billion in revenue as recently as 2015, but the company has been struggling amid an industry downturn and a massive accounting scandal, which prosecutors say cost shareholders more than $60 million.

The filing is the largest trucking bankruptcy in history; the company cited $427 million in assets and $391 million in debts as of Dec. 2.

“So every company driver and owner operator lost our jobs today without being notified about the closing of the doors of this mega company,” one driver, Roderick Orr, posted on Facebook on Monday. “A lot of people I know are stuck all around the country trying to get home and look for another job. Please pray we all bounce back.”

The U.S. has been grappling with a massive shortage of truckers; an additional 51,000 are needed to meet demand for big companies like Amazon and Walmart as the shipping wars heat up, according to the American Trucking Associations.