Proposal: Up to 32 drivers could lose jobs at Cape Girardeau ABF Freight System

Up to 32 union drivers could lose their job at the Cape Girardeau ABF Freight System service center if a proposal by the trucking company is approved.

Citing a decision to realign operations because of a declining freight volume, company spokesman Danny Loe said the proposed change in operations will go before the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters May 13 in Las Vegas. If approved Cape Girardeau would be one of several service centers where drivers would be eliminated, including Erie, Penn., Springfield, Ill., Fletcher, N.C. and Jackson, Tenn.

Loe said the office clerk, branch manager and drivers who transport goods within the city would remain at the Cape Girardeau location. The 10 drivers with the most seniority of the 32 who could be laid off would have an opportunity to transfer to the company's Memphis, Tenn., location. Most of its drivers in Cape Girardeau transport shipments primarily to the company's headquarters in Little Rock, Ark.

"This is an effort by our company of realigning more than consolidating," Loe said. "By changing those relay points to different areas it allows us to provide better transit times to our customers at a lower cost."

The company reported a first quarter loss of $18.2 million compared to a gain of $8.5 million during the first quarter of 2008. ABF also saw a 22.9 percent decrease in first-quarter 2009 revenue with $339.7 million, compared to $447.5 million in the same time period a year ago.

Since the end of 2008 the company has reduced its workforce by 625 employees and downsized its fleet by 448 trailer and 326 tractors,

Established in 1923, ABF is a less-than-truckload shipper, as it consolidates freight from multiple shippers into one truckload. The company website said handles 17,000 shipments daily from its 280 service centers. Almost 10,000 are employed with the company.

The news comes at a time when the trucking industry is struggling.

Traffic Topics magazine reported that truck tonnage fell 12.2 percent in March compared to the same month in 2008. That's the lowest level since March 2002.

Longtime trucking company Elfrink Transportation suddenly closed Dec. 17, 2008, because of financial troubles. The carrier had been in Cape Girardeau since 1994. Some of its employees were hired at CRH Transportation in St. Louis.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

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