The Nice Freight Recession, which started in 2022 and continues into 2026, has impacted trucking and logistics corporations with lowered transport demand, decrease freight charges, and rising prices of labor, gasoline, and insurance coverage, which have impacted transport firm revenues and earnings.
The impression has pressured trucking corporations to both file for chapter or shut down operations with out a court docket submitting.
Lengthy-haul truckload demand plummeted by 25% within the first half of 2025, with trucking turning into extra of a short-haul supply methodology for the ultimate leg of freight motion, in response to FreightWaves’ Lengthy Outbound Tender Quantity Index.
Knowledgeable predicts freight trade restoration
Some trade specialists, nonetheless, consider the trucking trade may start to get better in 2026.
Doug Waggoner, CEO of Echo International Logistics, is predicting enchancment within the trucking trade, seemingly after the primary quarter of 2026, he informed Logistics Administration.
“I think we’re at least in the late stages and maybe starting to come up,” Waggoner mentioned. “But traditionally, January and February are the slowest months of the year.”
Dozens of trucking corporations filed for chapter
Chapter submitting totals for the trucking and logistics sector for the primary quarter of 2025 weren’t obtainable, however freight corporations filed 20 chapter petitions within the second quarter and 21 chapter petitions within the third quarter of 2025, Gear Finance Information reported.
Ultimate fourth-quarter statistics haven’t but been launched ultimately verify, however trucking corporations filed 12 petitions in October and 6 in November 2025.
2025 quarterly chapter totals
- Second Quarter 2025, 20 bankruptcies
- Third Quarter 2025, 21 bankruptcies
- Fourth Quarter 2025, 18 bankruptcies (October, November)
My search and overview of a number of chapter alert websites, together with RK Consultants, Pacer Monitor, and BK Knowledge, revealed only some trucking firm chapter filings within the first weeks of 2026.
The most important trucking firm to file for chapter safety in January 2026 thus far was STG Logistics Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 safety on Jan. 12 to restructure about $1.2 billion in debt and search a sale of its property.
Interstate freight firm Bulmaks recordsdata for Chapter 11 chapter safety to reorganize.
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Bulmaks recordsdata for Chapter 11 chapter
And now, long-distance freight service and logistics firm Bulmaks Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety to reorganize its enterprise and proceed working.
The Lake Zurich, Sick.-based trucking firm filed its petition within the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the Northern District of Illinois, battling financial points associated to the Nice Freight Recession.
Bulmaks suffers earnings decline, rising prices
Bulmaks was pressured to file for chapter after dealing with a pointy decline in gross earnings, whereas incurring rising prices for insurance coverage, gasoline, and tools financing for its late-model automobile fleet, RK Consultants reported.
The debtor listed $1 million to $10 million in property and liabilities, together with $2 million in property and $6.7 million in money owed in its Jan. 5 petition, in response to Trucking Dive.
Bulmaks’ largest unsecured collectors embody Daimler Truck Monetary, owed over $642,000; Huntington Financial institution, owed $418,000; and Navitas Credit score Corp., owed $308,000.
The corporate additionally faces a number of lawsuits, together with an alleged breach of contract.
Extra bankruptcies:
- 64-year-old furnishings retailer franchisee recordsdata Chapter 11 chapter
- Golf legend’s iconic model recordsdata for Chapter 11 chapter
- Main well being providers supplier recordsdata for Chapter 11 chapter
The trucking firm ships normal freight, working 170 energy models with about 184 drivers, in response to its SAFER submitting with the Federal Motor Service Security Administration.
Bulmaks, established in 2012, is an unbiased, family-owned service using proprietor operators and firm drivers, hauling freight to 48 states, with a robust presence on the Japanese half of the U.S., in response to its web site.
The corporate makes a speciality of interstate cargo transport and technology-driven logistics providers, working from the Chicago metropolitan space.
Bulmaks’ largest unsecured collectors:
- Daimler Truck Monetary, owed over $642,000
- Huntington Financial institution, owed $418,000
- Navitas Credit score Corp., owed $308,000
Associated: Common sports activities attire retail chain recordsdata Chapter 11 chapter
