Truckers Owed Hundreds Of Thousands After Glass Fabricator, Affiliates File Bankruptcy

Several trucking and logistics companies are collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after a 101-year-old specialty glass fabricator and its subsidiaries ceased operations and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in mid-July.

The managing entity, Consolidated Glass Holdings Inc., lists the assets for all of the companies as between $100,000 and $500,000 and its liabilities as between $50 million and $100 million. After administrative fees are paid, no funds will be available for unsecured creditors of CGH and its subsidiaries, Neil Minihane, chief restructuring officer for CGH, stated in bankruptcy filings. 

CGH and its affiliates were acquired by CGH CAM Holdings, which included members of CGH's senior management team, and investment firm Czech Asset Management LP and its affiliates, in June 2020.

According to the bankruptcy filings for CGH and its subsidiaries, SJC Onshore Direct Lending Fund III-4, managed by Czech Asset Management, is listed as the only secured creditor and claims it is owed more than $85 million.

J.E. Berkowitz

In its petition, Pennsylvania-based J.E Berkowitz (JEB) has up to 999 creditors. The former family-owned company, which was founded in 1920, sold its shares to CGH, the investment arm of private equity firm Grey Mountain Partners, in 2016, prior to the 2020 acquisition by CGH senior management and Czech Asset Management.

Among the glass fabricator's top 20 unsecured creditors are several trucking and logistics companies, including R & R Express Inc. of Cleveland, owed more than $62,000; Epes Logistics Services of Greensboro, North Carolina, owed nearly $25,000; and Xpedite Services of Sapulpa, Ohio, owed nearly $11,000.

Other unsecured creditors include three leasing companies: Miller Truck Leasing of Lumberton, New Jersey, owed nearly $750,200; Penske Truck Leasing of Philadelphia, owed nearly $23,000; and Nets Trailer Leasing of NJ, headquartered in Burlington, New Jersey, owed about $9,500.

Eight months after CGH changed ownership, the company announced it was furloughing approximately 200 employees at JEB, headquartered in Pedricktown, New Jersey, in February. 

In a statement, CGH officials stated that delays and disruptions to its workforce due to the COVID-19 global pandemic took a significant toll, forcing the company "to suspend manufacturing operations at JEB." 

Columbia Commercial Building Products 

Also in February, CGH announced it was "winding down operations" at its subsidiary, Columbia Commercial Building Products, in Rockwall, Texas.

JEB and Columbia Commercial Building Products were part of CGH's architectural division.

Among its list of 83 unsecured creditors are Bedrock Logistics of Dallas, owed nearly $54,000; Wright Express Fleet Services of Carol Stream, Illinois, owed more than $16,000; and Estes Freight Lines of Richmond, Virginia, owed nearly $7,400. 

Shaw Glass Holdings

In its Chapter 7 petition, Shaw Glass Holdings, doing business as Solar Seal Massachusetts, states that it has more than 850 unsecured creditors. Among the top 20 are several trucking and logistics firms, including Nationwide Logistics of Cincinnati, owed more than $13,150; Combined Transport of Central Point, Oregon, owed nearly $13,000; and Epes Logistics Service of Greensboro, owed nearly $5,800. 

The company also lists such large carriers as ABF Freight Systems of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, FedEx Freight of Pittsburgh and UPS Supply Chain Solutions of Chicago among its unsecured creditors. However, the amounts were not included in its bankruptcy filings. 

Former employees file suit, alleging WARN Act violations

In late March, former employees filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against JEB, Consolidated Glass Holdings and Czech Asset Management. The complaint states that the companies failed to provide workers at their Pedricktown glassmaking facility with its more than 100 full-time employees with at least 60 days' notice of a pending closure as required proper by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and New Jersey's Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act. 

Former JEB employees stated they were at first furloughed in early February and permanently lost their jobs a little over a month later. 

A creditors' meeting for CGH and its subsidiaries is scheduled for Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware.

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