CFC files for bankruptcy; will affect Butte

Consolidated Freightways Corp.’s planned filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy will impact Montana terminals, including all nine employees in Billings, officials said Monday.

By the Associated Press

CFC manager Steven Lindgren said he was informed of the impending layoffs Monday and the news was not unexpected. “ It’s a tight market,” he said. “ This is the third time in the truck ing industry that the compa ny I worked for went under.”

Corporate officials in Vancouver, Wash., said approximately 15,500 employ ees would be affected, 80 per cent of them immediately. The company said it planned to file for bankruptcy protec tion Tuesday.

Lindgren said all the ter minals in Montana — includ ing those in Bozeman, Butte, Missoula, Kalispell, Helena, and Great Falls — will close. The Billings terminal, he said, is the largest in the state.
Operations of the compa ny’s CF AirFreight and Canadian Freightways, Ltd., subsidiaries are continuing normally, officials said.

The 73-year-old freight transportation company is the nation’s third largest lessthan-truckload carrier.
Lindgren, 51, has been with CF for 14 years. He said he plans to seek employment elsewhere, and four of his six drivers are eligible for retire ments, having worked from 27 to 32 years for CF, and their pensions are protected.
He said drivers and dock workers averaged $19.84 per hour.
Lindgren said he and other employees were asked to stay away from terminals Tuesday.

There will be a ripple effect, to some extent.
Randy Bell, owner of an interlink carrier, said CF’s closure will cut down on the volume of freight he hauls.
“ With them going down, it’s going to affect us a lot,” Bell said. “ I’ve seen a lot of them come and go, but I’ve never seen any this big close.”

CF was founded in Portland, Ore., in 1929, and is now headquartered in Vancouver. The Billings ter minal was established in 1955.

http://www.mtstandard.com/newslocal/lnews1.html