New Jersey trucking company files for Chapter 11

July 31, 2024

A New Jersey-based trucking company, cited numerous times for safety violations for both its drivers and equipment, recently filed for Chapter 11.

Fastline Cargo, doing business as FLC, of Cinnaminson, filed its petition on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

In the petition, FLC, which seeks to reorganize, lists both its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The trucking company states that it has up to 99 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.

As of publication Wednesday, FLC’s bankruptcy attorney, Ellen M. McDowell, has not responded to FreightWaves’ request seeking comment.

FLC, which hauls general freight, has 41 drivers and 54 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website, and its authority was granted in May 2017.

FMCSA data shows the company’s trucks had been inspected 64 times, and 20 had been placed out of service for a 31% out-of-service rate over the preceding 24-month period. That is significantly higher than the industry’s national average of around 21%.

FLC’s drivers had been inspected 112 times, and 15 were placed out of service over a two-year period, resulting in a 13.4% out-of-service rate. That is nearly double the industry’s national average of 6%, according to FMCSA.

Of the trucking company’s 112 driver inspections, 29 were related to hours-of-service (HOS) violations, which FMCSA flagged as acute/critical violations on SAFER.

FLC had a compliance review in January. The petition lists FMCSA as a creditor.

In the past two years, FLC’s trucks had been involved in four injury crashes and three tow-aways.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Andrew B. Altenburg Jr. will hear the trucking company’s first-day motion Thursday, which seeks authorization to pay pre-petition wages amounting to nearly $80,000 to employees for the weeks ending July 20 and 26, as well as payroll taxes and workers’ compensation insurance, according to court filings.

“If the payroll is not made, the business will effectively have to close,” according to the motion. The company requests that the court allow FLC to use its cash collateral to make payroll due Friday.

Amanjot Kaur is the trucking firm’s CEO, owning 51% of the company, and Amritraj Singh is listed as COO, owning 49% of FLC, the petition states.

Among the 20 largest unsecured creditors are Fulton Bank of East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, owed over $2.2 million; Libertas Funding of Greenwich, Connecticut, owed more than $492,000; and Santander Bank of Boston, owed $208,000.

FLC’s list of creditors with priority unsecured claims include Motive of San Francisco, owed more than $89,000; Jagjit Singh of Burlington, New Jersey, owed $30,000; and the FMCSA of Baltimore, owed nearly $16,000.

The carrier’s gross revenues from Jan. 1 until its bankruptcy filing date are nearly $4.4 million. Its petition states the company made around $12.6 million in 2023 and about $12 million in ’22.

FLC states that its accounts receivable amounts to about $850,000 over the past 90 days.

The company is also seeking the bankruptcy court’s approval to enter into a post-petition financing agreement with factoring company RTS Financial Services, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. In May 2023, FLC and RTS entered into a pre-petition factoring agreement. According to court filings, FLC owes RTS more than $881,000 in secured collateral.

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