Mass layoffs continue across the freight and logistics industry, with companies in California, Illinois and Michigan recently announcing job reductions and facility closures.
The breakdown of job losses (according to state fillings) are as follows:
- Universal Intermodal Services is laying off 42 truck drivers at its facility in Fontana, California.
- Quad Logistics Services is closing a mail processing and distribution centre in Bolingbrook, Illinois, laying off 74 workers by 4 May.
- Last-mile provider DXS Logistics will no longer operate an Amazon facility in Cypress, California, resulting in 80 job losses, the facility permanently closing by 15 April.
- Ceva Logistics is cutting 80 workers at a distribution facility in Romulus, Michigan.
- Transportation and logistics provider Hillside Logistics announced it is closing a facility in Hillside, Illinois, resulting in 136 layoffs.
- DHL Supply Chain is laying off 161 workers in Joliet, Illinois.
Up to 573 logistics jobs have been lost as the industry struggles to cope with poor wage disparity, higher cost of living (especially in California) and high intra-state economic dichotomy.
A spokesperson for Quad Logistics echoed this sentiment, stating that economic fluctuations have exacerbated the poor margins within the industry.
A Quad spokesperson said: “This is a strategic business decision that reflects several industry trends, including volume contractions in certain print categories like newsweeklies, as well as increases in postal costs, which Quad is offsetting through enhanced co-mail solutions that require centralised volumes for optimal processing.”
