Evan MacKinnon vows to restore MTI as "premier flatbed TL carrier"

[Dave in London]

What really sucks is MacKinnon was gaining ground, at least with me. Their payments were at the point right now where I have nothing over 60 (a week after the news).
As far as ear to the ground and listening for hardship, rumours about MacKinnon's instability have been going around for years. We've heard the same about Challenger...is Dan next? If we listened to rumours and hearsay, there probably isn't anyone on this board that is going bankrupt tomorrow, and we wouldn't extend anybody credit.
Look at MacKinnons equifax and D&B on the link. There sure is a lot worse out there.
Somebody said something about shippers using 'scummy brokers'. I don't think MacKinnon would have fit that category before the news. First, they weren't a broker by mainline business, and second, they definitely didn't rate as scummy.
The sad thing is, I'm not sure what I am learning from this misadventure. Their DSO was below average but improving, and there were no imminent warnings immediately prior. They were long established, and in most people's minds, reputable. What did i miss?

 

[ralphthetrucker]

Somebody said something about shippers using 'scummy brokers'.

That was me!

Hauled a load for them once and it took 75 days to get paid!

People on this site have been complaining about their close to 100 day terms going back to '08! You use what ever adjective you choose to...I was being nice in my estimation.

http://www.insidetransport.com/payment-terms-credit-history/431-mackinnon-transport-inc.html

http://www.insidetransport.com/bad-payer/7370-mackinnon.html

 

[GSTRUCKS]

Something stinks here...

We are owed just under $3000 from these guys for 1 load (We have done 1 load in the last 5 years) and I think it is a crime that these guys are allowed to not be responsible for paying their bills, yet they can continue to operate... PERIOD. At best, history tells us we will get pennies on the dollar for money owed to us. To say on the day the NOI was announced that there was already a buyer for the van division to Contrans tells me that some people knew about this WELL in advance. Is it not an EX-Contrans manager that is the present Ops Manager at Mackinnon now? Why not send someone in to work with the company you plan to buy out and not have to worry about having to pay their bills owing, and have someone in place familiar with their operations to make it an almost overnight transition of ownership. Odd how right after the article saying Contrans was planned to buy the van division in the same article as the NOI announcement in Truck News there were several articles that came out right after with officials of each company denying the purchase, saying that they were only “interested” so it didn’t look so official (Does this not sound like insider trading to anyone?!?!). In my opinion these guys have spend far too much time trying to look like amazing people with their little side projects and OTA meetings that they really did lose sight of why they are there in the first place… making money in trucking, or at least not losing enough to file a NOI. This past couple of years have been tough for everyone; big, small, we all have the same fuel to purchase and the same miles to run. Are we all so blind to see through the smoke and mirrors that this is a scam. How about you sell some equipment, down size etc. to get the cash flow back up to a level where they can manage. If they really do care about becoming a premier company in this industry you would have been able to build the company up again from a recession would you not? How similar this is when we had the same thoughts about all this when Mackinnon bought up Walker assets a little while back. As a member of the OTA, we take pride in this industry just as much as everyone else, yet the previous Chairman (Chairwoman) and the current Vice Chairman of the OTA have run into these issues. What does that tell us as an industry?!?! I truly believe it should not be considered our “Bad Luck” to carry the burden of their mis-management as our bad debt. I wish everyone all the best in this industry, but I can’t just sit here and feel good about what is happening here. This may be a rant, but really at this point what else can we do?...

 

[alx]

Rant

I see the basis for your rant and it is solid.

How many other carriers are there with few thousand dollars owing. I speculate that the amount due to unsecured carriers will be a large portion of the debt.
Unfortunately, most of the affected carriers will just write it off seeing that few have the time to chase it.

Knowing full well that if they even see a penny they will be lucky, forget the 10 cents on the dollar.

I recall reading somewhere a few years ago a similar situation involving Robert Transport and another carrier. The amounts were considerable and Robert was arguing that they should be placed before the secured creditors, seeing that the monies owed to them were held in trust as per Ontario's regulation.

Does anyone know what the outcome of that case was?

 

[allfreight]

I went to court to protest the Longbow bankruptcy as an unsecured carrier owed money. Presented that due to the fact that they should have had a trust account and didn't, we should have priority over secured debts as our money should have been in a seperate account. The judge was empathetic but said not within their power to enforce anything. Left with nothing but a bad taste.