The Great Freight Recession shows no sign of letting up, as trucking company bankruptcy filings in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 surpassed filings in the second quarter.
Freight carriers filed 21 bankruptcy petitions in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 20 filed in the second quarter, Equipment Finance News reported.
5 trucking companies file bankruptcy in a week
- Precision Express, Sept. 23
- L.S. Trucking, Sept. 23
- GMB Transport, Sept. 23
- WBK Transport, Sept. 26,
- Sky Rock Trucking, Sept. 29.
A wave of trucking companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the last week of September, including Precision Express, L.S. Trucking, and GMB Transport on Sept. 23, WBK Transport on Sept. 26, and Sky Rock Trucking on Sept. 29.
David Roush, president of accounting firm KSM Transport Advisors, warned on the company’s website in March 2025 that the Great Freight Recession was alive and well.
And now it’s evident that the trucking downturn is only getting worse since the beginning of the second quarter.
Great Freight Recession has not ended
“News Flash: The three-year-long Great Freight Recession is NOT over. The leading indicators that caused FreightWaves to declare the end of the GFR in November 2024, and the resulting carrier optimism is now in the rearview mirror,” Roush said at the time.
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.
J.B. Hunt closes distribution facility
The freight recession hit one of the nation’s leading trucking companies, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., which filed a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice and closed its facility at the Home Depot Distribution Center in Lithonia, Ga., on Oct. 27, 2025.
J.B. Hunt sent a required 60-day notice to its 74 employees at the facility on Aug. 26, informing them that the facility would be closing, according to a letter sent on the same day to the Technical College System of Georgia, which oversees the state’s WARN notice filings.
In addition to trucking companies, the Great Freight Recession is also impacting major shipping and logistics companies operating worldwide.
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Atlantic Overseas Express files bankruptcy to reorganize
Global freight forwarder Atlantic Overseas Express Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its business and restructure its debt.
The Doral, Fla., based debtor filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 24, listing $500,000 to $1 million in assets and $100,000 to $500,000 in liabilities in its petition, RK Consultants reported.
Atlantic Overseas Express largest unsecured creditors
- U.S. Small Business Administration owed over $514,000.
- Prologis owed over $199,000.
- Onset Capital owed over $181,000.
Atlantic Overseas Express listed almost $700,000 in assets and about $1.3 million in liabilities, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The debtor’s largest unsecured creditors include the U.S. Small Business Administration, owed over $514,000; landlord Prologis, owed over $199,000 in rent; and lender Onset Capital, owed over $181,000.
The debtor, which was founded in 1997, is a fully licensed non-vessel operating common carrier and freight forwarder that meets the minimum security criteria for the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.
More bankruptcy:
- 34-year-old casual dining chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- Major seafood company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
- 55-year-old women’s fashion company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The company operates a 36,000 square-foot warehouse with 11 bay doors in Doral and specializes in project cargo for the oil and energy, water treatment, entertainment, humanitarian relief, and infrastructure and telecom industries.
Atlantic Overseas Express provides multimodal transportation solutions and specializes in cargo requiring specialized inspections and foreign-to-foreign shipments, including in its home markets of Latin America and the Caribbean, according to its website.
Related: Key automobile lender files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
