Celadon’s drivers represent about 0.3 percent of the latter number, and the company’s experienced drivers are likely to find new work quickly, as truckload carriers in particular claim to be suffering a shortage of qualified drivers. The ATA estimates truckload carriers could use 59,500 additional drivers to move freight in 2019, and expects that number to swell.
The bankruptcy means other big carriers will keep getting bigger as they absorb Celadon’s customers and revenue. The 25 largest US truckload carriers, including Celadon, increased their combined revenue 25 percent between 2012 and 2018, when the combined total reached
$31.9 billion, according to transportation research firm SJ Consulting Group.
“This is the first truckload carrier of this size in my 30 years in the industry to be filing bankruptcy, but I don’t think it’s going to have a material impact,” said Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group. “They had $762 million revenue in 2018, but they’ve been shrinking rapidly.” SJ Consulting conducts its own analysis of public and privately-owned carrier revenue.
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