Livermore's Terrill Transportation Closes Amid U.S. Freight Woes

LIVERMORE, CA — A barebones warehouse crew is all that remains of Terrill Transportation Inc.'s approximately 50 employees. After 29 years, the family owned Livermore-based company is ceasing operations amid uncertainty in the trucking and freight industry.

Alex Terrill — one of two sons of the father-and-sons company — told Patch Thursday that all Terrill truck drivers have been referred to other companies in the area. A few warehouse workers have been retained to help ensure customer product sitting in Terrill's 75,000-square-foot logistics center on Patterson Pass Road is safely returned.

"It was a lot of little things that equalled a lot," Terrill said of the decision to shut down. But he also pointed to an overall slow down at ports, which greatly impacted Terrill's bottom line.

"It's been really slow," he said.

Terrill is not the only company hit by tough times in recent months. Several big U.S.-based freight companies have shuttered, including Stanislaus County's Timmerman Starlite Trucking, which closed its doors in Ceres, Calif., last month. Timmerman officials cited rising costs associated with business expenses, environmental regulations and wages for its demise.

But the increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made goods is hurting some logistics companies. In 2018, the freight market hit record levels as customers stocked up before tariffs took effect. Companies hired drivers and added trucks to meet demand.

But by November, the Danish logistics giant Maersk warned during its during its third quarter 2018 earnings call with investors that the high number of containerized imports coming into the U.S. was going to fall off in January due to the tariffs.

During its first-quarter earnings call in April, the Arkansas-based transport services company JB Hunt said tariffs were one of several factors that caused its weak first-quarter results. Particular weakness in the West Coast market was highlighted by JB Hunt Executive Vice President Terrence Matthews.

It's not only trucking companies that are being affected. Railroad volumes declined 2.4 percent in the first five months of 2019, compared to the same period last year, according to the Association of American Railroads.

As for the Terrill family, there was a palpable sadness Thursday. When asked when TTI will officially close its doors at the Livermore center, there was uncertainty.

"I'm not sure," Alex said. "We don't have a date."