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USPS trucking contractor Matheson files for bankruptcy

Company plans to reorganize, has 248 trucks, 383 drivers

California-based Matheson hauls mail for USPS. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

A California-based trucking and logistics company, which contracts with the U.S. Postal Service to haul mail, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Family-owned Matheson Postal Services Inc. of Sacramento, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California on May 5. The company’s terminal handling services division, Matheson Flight Extenders, also filed for bankruptcy protection on the same day.

As of publication, Matheson’s attorney, Gregory Nuti, had not responded to FreightWaves’ request seeking comment.

The filing lists both its assets and liabilities as between $10 million and $50 million. The 60-year-old trucking and logistics company states that it has up to 5,000 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.


The company was founded by Robert and Carole Matheson in 1962 and is a transportation and logistics provider for the Postal Service and other commercial carriers. 

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER database, the trucking company has 248 power units and 383 truck drivers. 

In November, Matheson filed an appeal with the Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals (PSBCA). As of publication, a Postal Service spokesperson had not responded to FreightWaves’ request for comment about the company’s appeal.

Recently, Rooney Trucking, headquartered in Polo, Missouri, which also contracted with the Postal Service to haul mail, filed an appeal with the PSBCA. That family-owned carrier, which had 37 drivers and 66 power units, ceased operations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.


Some mail contractors have struggled to stay afloat since the Postal Service announced it was revamping its $6.6 billion contract program with private trucking fleets in 2019. The program, known as Dynamic Route Optimization, changed the way private carriers were paid — switching from contract rates to paying trucking companies on a mileage basis. This led to consolidation among mail hauling companies that could service a larger region and squeezed out some of the smaller private contractors in the industry.

Matheson’s largest unsecured creditor is Porter Freight Funding of Birmingham, Alabama, formerly known as Porter Billing Services, owed more than $1.4 million. The filing also lists Comdata Mastercard Program of Covington, Louisiana, owed more than $162,000, and Penske Truck Leasing of Philadelphia, owed more than $156,000. 

Read more:

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Missouri trucking company shuts down after USPS cuts back mail-hauling contracts

One Comment

  1. DB

    https://denver.craigslist.org/trp/d/arvada-solo-class-driver-dedicated/7500092341.html

    https://denver.craigslist.org/search/trp?query=MATHESON

    https://denver.craigslist.org/trp/d/arvada-solo-class-driver-dedicated/7500092341.html

    I have posted these links as a Miss Liz Hicks from Matheson Postal Service
    responded to my Tenstreet application. I have worked as a Class A Driver
    for 4 decades. I have worked for Matheson Postal Service on 3 different
    relay runs,interstate.
    In Miss Hicks phone conversation with me today on 06/23/2022, she stated there are no available positions
    in the area I applied for.
    She also claims that hackers have broken into the Tenstreet application system ans are
    posting ads for employment by Matheson Postal Service.
    Has there been a breach of privacy on the part of Matheson/Tenstreet against driver applicants private information?

    Contact for Matheson Postal Services
    Liz Hicks
    Corporate Recruiter
    Matheson
    916-504-4787
    [email protected]
    1304663_logo.png

Comments are closed.

Clarissa Hawes

Clarissa has covered all aspects of the trucking industry for 16 years. She is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative and business reporting. Before joining FreightWaves, she wrote for Land Line Magazine and Trucks.com. If you have a news tip or story idea, send her an email to [email protected] or @cage_writer on X, formerly Twitter.