Jack Cooper Transport Co. is shuttering work sites and terminating jobs, according to mass layoff and closure notices filed in multiple states, after contracts with automakers fell through.
The closures follow Ford Motor Co. and General Motors ending longtime business relationships with the vehicle carrier this year, Jack Cooper spokesperson Jennifer Holdsworth said Monday.
FreightWaves reported Monday the business would end operations, based on a letter to employees from CEO Sarah Amico.
In early January, the transport company told nearly 90 workers based at a suburban Detroit facility in Wayne, Michigan, that the site was closing, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter.
Elsewhere, Kentucky and Ohio WARN letters in early January described scores of workers being laid off due to terminated operations, affecting employees ranging from drivers to mechanics and terminal managers.
On Tuesday, Kansas WARN officials also received a letter, a state Commerce Department workforce director said in an email. The Feb. 10 letter said cuts to over 100 positions were being made as of last Saturday.
The Ford contract, tied to over 1,400 union jobs, involved the automaker shifting the work elsewhere due to costs, the Teamsters previously said. Ford declined to answer questions on the contract but denied that the decision was based on the carrier’s unionized status, saying the automaker follows a sourcing strategy designed to best serve its customers.
Founded in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, for a former GM plant nearby, the company grew through expansions but faced financial turmoil in 2009 as the Riggs family acquired ownership.
In 2019, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but was able to end the proceedings when investment firm Solus Alternative Asset Management pulled through, saving about 2,200 Teamsters jobs, according to the labor group and court documents.
In 2023, Jack Cooper also reportedly sought to acquire Yellow Corp. after the LTL carrier filed for bankruptcy.
Michael Riggs, Jack Cooper’s CEO for over a decade, passed the role on to Amico, his daughter, in October.
Colin Campbell contributed to this report.
