344 Unit Truckload Carrier Suddenly Shuts Down, Leaving Drivers Stranded

HVH transportation, a 344 unit trucking company has abruptly shut down, leaving drivers stranded with their fuel-cards shut off. The Denver, Colorado truckload carrier operated in all contiguous states west of the Appalachian mountains, with the exception of the deep South.  According to Pitchbook, the trucking company had been operating since 1956 and was acquired by HCI Equity Partners, a private equity firm, in October 2012. 

The abrupt shutdown that left drivers stranded over the road is eerily similar to the sudden closure of Falcon Transport, another private equity backed trucking company that abruptly closed earlier this year.

HVH, which has also gone by the name of Thacker Brothers Transportation, had 344 power units and employed 324 drivers. The company's website and social media accounts were still operating as of Wednesday morning. 

HCI Equity Partners has $957 million dollars in assets under management and has made investments in trucking and logistics buy-outs in the past, including investments in Road Runner RRTS, Naumann Hobbs Material Handling, GO2 Logistics, Milan Supply Chain, Southern Ag Carriers.

HCI exited it's investment in Road Runner earlier this year, when the hybrid truckload/LTL carrier recapitalized the company with an investment from Elliott Management. 

2019 has been the worst year of profitability in the trucking industry in over five years. Even the downturn of 2016 was not nearly as painful in terms of operating losses.

According to operating ratios across the industry, the average dry-van truckload carrier has lost money every month in 2019, with the exception of June.

Operating Ratios (OR) measure operating costs in relation to revenues. A high operating ratio is considered a bad thing (a 100 is an operating break-even, anything above one-hundred is a loss and anything below represents operating profit). OR will come before any debt servicing, distribution, or taxes. 

This data is compiled based on financial reports from over 220 truckload fleet profiles, representing over 70,000 trucks, ranging from mid-sized (75 trucks to enterprise 7000 trucks). The operating KPI data is aggregated in partnership with the Truckload Carrier Association's Truckload Indexes and available exclusively on SONAR. 

Eight mid-size and large carriers have shut their doors in 2019 including NEMF, Falcon, and LME.

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