AZA Transportation, a Chicagoland-area trucking company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois last month, according to court filings.
The carrier, which reported having 70 power units as of October, will have the opportunity to reorganize its finances while paying down its debts in order to stay in business through Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. AZA Transportation, owned by President Azamat Sadyrbaev, has $826,458 in liabilities and $403,432 in personal property assets.
Among AZA Transportation's 20 largest creditors is Keystone Equipment Finance, a Connecticut-based firm that offers financing for small- to mid-sized transportation companies to purchase new and used equipment. The firm is owed $82,905 in unsecured claims for loans used to purchase one Freightliner Cascadia and two Volvo trucks.
Additionally, Transportation Alliance Bank has two unsecured claims against the carrier totaling $67,055 for another Freightliner Cascadia as well as two trailers.
AZA Transportation also owes $24,500 to the U.S. Small Business Administration for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan. While that loan is just a piece of the company’s overall debts, it’s worth noting that the SBA ended its hardship accommodation plan for EIDL borrowers earlier this year.
AZA Transportation is the latest in a string of trucking companies conceding to the ongoing pressures of a contracted freight market and tariff challenges.
In April, Davis Express shut down operations after 44 years, and earlier this year, vehicle carrier Jack Cooper called it quits after losing automaker contracts.
“Tariffs on America’s trade partners have the potential to inhibit the recovery from a freight recession that has been acutely felt by America’s small-business truckers, but it is too early to make predictions on specific downstream economic effects,” an Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association spokesperson told Trucking Dive in April.
