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Celadon’s Canadian carrier Hyndman Transport shuts down

Drivers “in shock” and blame the troubles of their U.S. parent company for causing Canada’s largest trucking failure of 2019.

Celadon's Hyndman Transport handled domestic Canadian and U.S. cross-border freight. (Photo credit: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Four days before Celadon Group filed for bankruptcy, its Canadian subsidiary, Hyndman Transport, posted a photo apparently celebrating its latest hires at the trucking company. “Welcome to Hyndman! #HyndmanHires,” the Dec. 5 post read. But this morning, drivers at Hyndman’s headquarters in Ayr, Ontario, learned that the 82-year-old carrier has shut down, effectively immediately.

News of Hyndman’s closure amounted to a formality, with Celedon having announced that all but one of its subsidiaries would cease operating as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. 

“Lots of drivers are in shock,” a Hyndman driver told FreightWaves on the condition that his name is not published. “So far, we are frozen. No new loads and all current drivers on loads are being told to finish them and bring their equipment back to the yard.”

Hyndman Transport hasn’t officially announced the closure. But the shutdown will make Canada’s largest trucking failure of 2019 – the second linked to the demise of a U.S. parent company. Hyndman reportedly had about 300 trucks and handled Canadian and cross-border routes. 


As of Dec. 9, Hyndman had 30 drivers still in the United States. A small staff was working to bring them home, the driver said. 

While Hyndman employees were aware that Celadon’s cascading financial and legal issues posed a risk, few expected the carrier to have such an abrupt closure. 

“This had always been at the back of my mind,” a former driver said. 

Hyndman had garnered a lot of goodwill among drivers and was able to operate largely independently of Celadon until earlier this year. 


“There is a lot of driver loyalty even with Celadon f—ing us. People love Hyndman,” a driver said. 

Current and former drivers reported having steady flows of contracted freight – and that Hyndman itself remained profitable. 

Celadon acquired Hyndman in 2013, saying at the time that the Canadian carrier had $48 million in revenue in 2012.

Drivers are expecting the carrier to be carved up after Hyndman’s shutdown. But Hyndman could prove an attractive acquisition target for several major Canadian carriers including TFI International, Mullen Group and Bison Transport. Bison purchased Celadon’s intermodal assets earlier in 2019.

Relatively few major Canadian carriers have failed in 2019. Last week, a group of trucking companies specializing in winter and ice road transport filed for creditor protection.

Ontario-based FTI filed for bankruptcy protection alongside its U.S. sister carrier HVH in September.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Nate Tabak.


6 Comments

  1. machinery movers

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  2. Matt

    Hi everyone,
    I’m really sorry to hear about everyone impacted by the Celadon bankruptcy. I’m a recruiter for Penske Logistics. We have truck driver and truck maintenance positions available. If anyone is looking, please inbox me or call 1-855-235-7367 to speak with our driver hiring center to learn more. Our jobs are online at: https://penske.jobs/drivers/

  3. Diana

    This crazy this should not be happening it worsen when the truck driver aren’t home and can’t get back without getting help from someone else

  4. Mike

    Dropping like flies… Who is next? Rates are the worst I have ever seen out here, yet the government keeps handing out operating authority like candy as the industry implodes… I know more than a few owner operators, they are all having difficulties, including myself.

    1. Stephen Webster

      3 large companies in Canada are trouble and are looking government help as nobody thinks that can make with out a cash infusion or more cheap truck drivers from a third world country. I know of truck drivers who bought a new truck 19 months ago and are parking the truck and trying to sell the truck for what is owed on the truck.

    2. Lucas Migon

      Since the introduction of the Automatic truck anyone can hold a wheel now. There’s too many companies out there with no brains lowballing just to get the freight. Also last year’s hot market made people to get greedy and buy too much equipment which they cant pay today with these crap rates.

Comments are closed.

Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at [email protected].