Perkins Specialized Transportation (don't ever think about leasing with any company)

I drove for Perkins from 02/08 til 02/09 their downfall IMO was they were a one trick pony as far as freight goes. Furniture be it office or household. So when economy and housing market hit the fan they were caught with their pants down. They had no other freight to haul. In the yr I was with them I made really good money. Had no problems with them. I feel bad for the drivers out there going through this. Good luck to all of them and the office staff also, hopefully they will all land on their feet.

 

You are correct. Perkins is/was being liquidated by the bank. So the bank wouldn't leave drivers stranded. It would be counter-productive to their purpose. So I doubt you'll find any drivers stranded WITH their Perkins truck.
From what I hear, less than half of the drivers took Hiner's insulting offer. Most that did, were the handful of employee drivers and the newest lease purchase people. Maybe a handful took the offer just to bide the time while they found something else.
Hiner, from what I understand, only bought Perkins freight book(contracts). But I've already heard rumors that some of those customers are considering leaving since most of the seasoned staff and drivers that serviced those accounts went elsewhere. So Andy's cush deal with Paul James may turn out to be unstable real soon!

 

Yes, Perkins used to have accounts with Kimball, Steelcase, and Haworth. But they also had accounts with MasterBrands, Kewaunee, Fischer Scientific, Dick's Sporting Goods, Scholarcraft, Macy's, and others. Perkins also had the tradeshow contracts for Ford, Lincoln/Mercury, Mary Kay, and did a few museum exhibits and theater sets.
That's just some of the variety of freight I've hauled with Perkins in my 4 1/2 year tenure there. And I gotta admit, I loved the freight and the places they took me! Most of them loads paid pretty decent too.

But when we went from 5% broker loads (that got chopped down to $.87cpm, with fsc) to 50%+ of broker loads. Times got real rough!

 

Perkins just merged with hiner transportation out of Indiana

 

I sure hope you're right because that may make Hiner liable for Perkins. But I doubt you're entirely accurate.

Especially after talking to the Perkins brass myself as they were taking my truck.

 

2/17/2012
Drivers report major changes at Perkins Specialized Transportation
By Clarissa Kell-Holland, staff writer
For several weeks now, the trucking industry has been abuzz with rumors about whether Perkins Specialized Transportation Inc., of Noblesville, IN, is suspending operations or merging with another trucking company in late February.

While Perkins’ Chairman and owner James “Andy” Card told Land Line earlier this week that there “isn’t anything to discuss at the time,” drivers are reporting they were routed into the office and told the company was merging with another carrier, Hiner Transport LLC, based in Huntington, IN.

Drivers were given an employee handbook for Hiner, which has about 196 power units and 205 drivers.

Some of the drivers had lease-purchase agreements through Card Leasing, another Perkins’ company. About a week ago, those drivers were given a week to come up with the principal amount owed on their trucks or surrender them. One driver was told this was because Hiner Transport doesn’t offer a lease-purchase program.

On Thursday, Feb. 16, one driver told Land Line the company quit dispatching him, turned his fuel card off, and repossessed his truck. He had been paying nearly $400 per week on his truck for more than four years.

While the Perkins’ lease-purchase agreement outlines what happens if the driver defaults, the agreement doesn’t state what happens when the driver has fulfilled the terms of the contract, but the carrier and leasing company both close their doors.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website shows that Perkins’ insurance policy is scheduled to be canceled on Feb. 29. The company had 203 power units and 189 drivers, according to FMCSA’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records site.

One driver said that some of the drivers are transitioning over to Hiner, while others are still weighing their options.

Copyright © 2012


http://m.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=22734

 

and that is entirely correct. What you're missing, is that Perkins was nearly entirely lease purchase operators with maybe 5-6 company drivers and a few O/Os. Hiner doesn't have a lease purchase program.
So they repossess your lease purchase truck and as a consolation prize they offer you a company driver job at 35cpm that goes mostly to the northeast.

 

Also, the article doesn't mention that Hiner did not assume Perkins debts, so far as we know. So it wasn't a typical merger.

 

the number of power units and drivers are overstated. at end of operations there were less than 60 drivers. the above numbers was at about the height of operations approx 3 years ago. since the recession the number had decreased steadily. lease purchase drivers would come to work and in only months of being there would be thousands of dollars in the hole.i was there 7 1/2 years. when i left i was 10 seniority.

 

Perkins are crooks as I have said in the past, now we see as I said and some of those whom claimed otherwise now see.