Less-than-truckload carrier Tony’s Express of Fontana, California, has filed for bankruptcy protection, nearly three months after it abruptly ceased operations by notifying around 200 truck drivers, warehouse employees and office personnel via text message that they now not had jobs.
John H. Ohle, president and sole shareholder of Tony’s Express, bought the corporate in May 2023 from brothers Anthony “Tony” Raluy and George Raluy. Their father began the business in 1954.
Lower than a 12 months after acquiring Tony’s Express, Ohle shuttered operations of the 70-year-old carrier by sending employees a text message on March 28. The message, which was obtained by FreightWaves, notified employees that the corporate was closing its doors that day and couldn’t cover the previous week’s payroll or employees’ paid day without work.
“The present market just didn’t support our ability to operate and be a profitable company, and the fee of fuel in California made it very difficult,” Ohle told FreightWaves just a few days after the closure. “We were in very serious discussions with two different corporations about coming in and partnering or taking on Tony’s, and people fell apart on the very end, and literally, it was a last-minute decision.”
Drivers and employees did receive their final paychecks on April 29 but told FreighWaves that fees for health and life insurance, which they now not had, were deducted from their pay.
Read related story: 70-year-old California trucking company, freight brokerage closes abruptly
Tony’s Express filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition Friday within the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The corporate is filing its petition under subchapter V, which provides a path for small businesses in search of to reorganize.
As of publication time, Ohle and his bankruptcy attorney, Eve H. Karasik, had not responded to FreightWaves’ request in search of comment.
The filing for Tony’s Express lists each its assets and liabilities as as much as $10 million. The corporate states that it has as much as 199 creditors and that funds might be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
The corporate’s top three creditors with unsecured claims are situated in California, including Y Trucking of Fontana, which is owed $700,000. The corporate’s address utilized in the filing is identical one for Tony’s Express. Royal Hawaiian Express of Fullerton is owed greater than $560,000, and Centerline Drivers LLC of Santa Ana is owed nearly $354,000.
In response to its petition, Tony’s Express is disputing all of its 20 largest unsecured creditors’ claims.
![Tony's Express trailers](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/27/Tonys_Express_trailers-600x400.jpg)
Ohle plans to restart Tony’s as ‘rental’ truck trailer business
On Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Vincent P. Zurzolo granted Tony’s Express’ motion to increase the deadline to submit its schedules of assets and liabilities in addition to the corporate’s statement of monetary affairs (SOFA) with the court.
In his motion to the judge in search of a deadline extension, Ohle stated that he needed more time to file the schedules and SOFA because he “has been addressing several critical issues, including preparing the initial filing [and] negotiating DIP [debtor-in-possession] financing with eCapital.”
Ohle added that he can also be “working on plans to restart [Tony’s Express] with a ‘rental’ business model for its fleet of over 250 trucktrailers.”
The corporate has limited personnel, and Ohle is the just one “handling bankruptcy matters alongside other commitments.” The motion also says Ohle’s “financial situation is complex, including a $1 million projected loss for 2023 and $4.5 million [to] $5 million in unsecured liabilities, which requires careful evaluation and reporting.”
Zurzolo has set a creditors’ meeting for July 12, and the proof of claims deadline is scheduled for Aug. 29. A standing conference with the subchapter V trustee is ready for Aug. 15, and Ohle must file a standing report with the court by Aug. 1.
Name change
After shuttering Tony’s Express, Ohle recently modified the intrastate carrier’s name to that of one other business formerly owned by the Raluys — Economy Packaging Inc. — and has moved the business from Fontana to Pomona, California.
Founded in 1971 by the Raluys, the brothers describe Economy Packaging as a packaging and household products storage facility, in accordance with the business entity search on the California secretary of state’s database.
Nonetheless, the Raluys didn’t update Economy Packaging’s business filing so as to add Ohle’s name as the brand new owner or list him an officer of the corporate — its last filing update was in September 2021, although Anthony Raluy did update Tony’s Express’ business filing so as to add Ohle as CEO, CFO and secretary of Tony’s Express in April 2023.
The identical month that Ohle acquired Tony’s Express in May 2023, he used the carrier’s DOT number to open a small trucking firm and brokerage in Joliet, Illinois. Nonetheless, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER website shows that its common carrier operating authority was involuntarily revoked on May 7, 2024.
The corporate’s surety bond coverage for its brokerage was canceled Saturday, the day after Tony’s Express filed for bankruptcy. In response to FMCSA data, Tony’s is “not authorized to operate as [a] property broker.”
Read related article: Former Tony’s Express employees, drivers say mismanagement sank company
While Economy Packaging has an energetic DOT number, the corporate dismissed its application for property brokerage authority in September 2003 based on FMCSA data.
The brand new address for Tony’s Express, doing business as Economy Packaging, is listed as the identical one utilized by one other warehouse, transportation and distribution company that’s headquartered in Pomona.
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