Story by: John Paul Hampstead, Director, Passport Research @ FreightWaves.com

This morning, Celadon Group (OTC: CGIP) executives told its employees that the company filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 and will shut down the operations of its over-the-road fleet. The official announcement came after a chaotic weekend of credit, customer, and driver issues when word got out about Celadon’s impending Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Employees were instructed to come to a meeting at the corporate headquarters in Indianapolis to be held this morning. But then in the middle of the night, fleet-wide messages went out to drivers’ telematics devices:

Competitors of the troubled carriers started aggressively posting offers for assistance and interest in hiring as news broke over the weekend. For many, a new career will start off on a sad note, but many were optimistic about the opportunities and new beginnings.

For office and professional staff at company headquarters, the struggle will be bigger to find equivalent opportunities. Many of the employees had spent decades working at the company and will be forced to look in other industries. Celadon was the largest trucking company based in Indiana, with no equivalent competitor in the area. As such, finding an employer or group of employers that can absorb the size of the truckload administrative workforce will be difficult.

Story continues HERE @ freightwaves.com

The original  story first appeared @ freightwaves.com

This is a developing story. FreightWaves will have more news on the Celadon shutdown on FreightWaves.com and FreightWaves TV. Download the FreightWaves TV app for iPhones or Android. FreightWaves TV is also streaming on AppleTV and Roku.

Related article: Biggest bankruptcy in trucking history expected by mid-week

Related article: Rival carriers rush to assist stranded Celadon drivers

Source and credits: freightwaves.com / John Paul Hampstead /  iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski