Teamsters Say ANR May Close
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According to a company statement Dec. 21, the Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee ordered a “temporary cessation of picketing at ANR Advance terminals.”
A Teamsters spokesman confirmed that pickets were withdrawn because the company is not expected to remain in business.
Company President Larry R. Jouett could not be reached for comment as of Dec. 22.
ANR Advance, formed by the merger of ANR Freight System and Advance Transportation in 1995, traces its roots to 1917, when Garrett Freightlines of Pocatello, Idaho, was founded.
American Natural Resources, a Detroit-based gas utility, acquired Garrett and two other regional less-than-truckload carriers — Associated Truck Lines and Graves Truck Lines — to form ANR Freight System in the late 1970s. The company was sold to Coastal Corp., a Houston-based oil and gas producer, in 1985.
Under Coastal’s ownership, ANR struggled to make a profit as a regional freight hauler in a market increasingly dominated by nonunion competitors. Revenue peaked in 1988 at $468 million and fell to $208.9 million in 1997.
Teamsters officials say they tried to help the company by giving a 15% wage reduction in return for a share of profits. The profits, however, never materialized.
In the company’s latest contract offer, Teamsters Freight Director Richard Nelson said workers were presented with a proposal that included a five-year wage freeze, reduced health and welfare benefits with higher deductibles, elimination of all existing work rules, reduced overtime and cutbacks in vacation and sick pay benefits.
For the full story, see the Dec. 28 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
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