At least 2,500 truck drivers have lost their jobs in 2019 as the transportation 'bloodbath' unfolds — here's the full list of bankrupt trucking companies
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Six trucking companies have folded in 2019.
That has left more than 2,500 truck drivers unemployed.
After a hugely profitable year in 2018, this year has seen retailers and manufacturers moving less, according to the Cass Freight Index.
Truck drivers are suffering in 2019 — especially those who own or work at small businesses.
Rates in the spot market, in which retailers and manufacturers buy trucking capacity as they need it rather than through a contract, sank by about 18% year-over-year in June. That has caused truckers like Demetrius Wilburn, a Georgia-based driver, to find themselves unemployed.
Wilburn bought his semitruck four years ago after years of working as a company truck driver. But amid rock-bottom rates, Wilburn wasn't able to make a payment one month — and his truck was repossessed.
"I was only six months away from paying it off," Wilburn told Business Insider. "I'm trying to transition back into law enforcement now — don't want to ever drive trucks again. Definitely not worth it."
The Lexington, Kentucky-based owner-operator Chad Boblett told Business Insider that some truck drivers were seeing a "bloodbath" in just how low rates had become.
Here are the trucking companies that have gone bankrupt in 2019, and how many truckers who are now out of a job. We used the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's company-snapshot tool to measure how many truck drivers worked at each company.
Are you a truck driver who has been suffering in 2019 from low rates? Contact the reporter at rpremack@businessinsider.com.
Starlite Trucking — 28 truck drivers
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