Montana-based brokerage, trucking affiliate file for bankruptcy liquidation

November 7, 2023

Three weeks after a 40-year-old Montana-based trucking company and freight brokerage abruptly ceased operations, Meadow Lark Agency and its affiliate, Meadow Lark Transport, filed for bankruptcy liquidation late Monday.

The companies, headquartered in Billings, Montana, filed for Chapter 7 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana.

In its petition, the Meadow Lark entities list assets of between $10 million and $50 million and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million. The petition states they have up to 5,000 creditors and that no funds will be available to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.

The petition lists assets of nearly $15.4 million in receivables from Meadow Lark Transport.

Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Meadow Lark CEO Amanda Roth provided the following statement to FreightWaves.

“Due to unforeseen events in 2022-2023, which included banking and funding issues, higher costs with lower rates, and last-minute insurance issues, the 2023 economy was not sustainable for a medium-sized company,” Roth said.

According to the petition, Meadow Lark made $60 million in gross revenue from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023. The company posted $103 million in gross revenue in 2022 and $76 million in 2021, according to the filing.

Roth also stated that the company had been targeted by a cyberattack and that a chameleon carrier stole Meadow Lark’s identity.

“It was not our year — we had both [occur] one right after another,” Roth told FreightWaves. “The first was a cyber attack in which we had to rebuild [our] networks. Our name was being used, fake loads, payments going to scams.”

Former employees, trucking companies remain unpaid

Nearly 120 ex-employees are owed about $800,000 while around 1,300 trucking companies are owed almost $2.7 million, according to Meadow Lark’s bankruptcy petition.

On Oct. 12, FreightWaves reported that Meadow Lark Transport had abruptly shuttered operations. At the time, the company had 273 drivers and 337 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.

FMCSA data states the company’s broker authority was involuntarily revoked on Aug. 15 and its contract carrier authority was canceled on Oct. 28.

Since May, motor carriers claim they had been fighting for months to get paid after hauling brokered loads for Meadow Lark.

Meadow Lark’s attorney James A. Patten, of Patten Peterman Bekkedahl of Billings, failed to respond to FreightWaves’ requests for comment.

Among the company’s top secured creditors are OTR Solutions Capital LLC of Roswell, Georgia, owed $21.4 million; The LCF Group Inc. of New Hyde Park, New York, a fast business funding company, owed around $735,000; and Alpine Advance 5 of Middletown, Connecticut, owed $206,375.

Meadow Lark is also facing multiple lawsuits, including a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in Harris County, Texas, and a small claims action filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

This is a developing story.

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