Legal woes force Illinois trucking company to close, file Chapter 7

Mardon Trucking of Countryside filed for bankruptcy this week

Mardon Trucking Inc. of Countryside, Illinois, shuttered operations and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday. Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

An Illinois trucking company, facing mounting legal problems, shuttered operations and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday.

Mardon Trucking Inc., headquartered in Countryside, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

The trucking company, which once had 18 drivers and the same number of power units, closed its doors nearly a year ago after its authority was revoked by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Prior to the trucking company formally ceasing operations in 2020, Mardon Trucking was flagged for exceeding the vehicle maintenance threshold as part of FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) BASICs it uses to identify carriers with safety problems. 

In its filing, Mardon Trucking lists its assets as up to $50,000 and liabilities as between $500,000 and $1 million. 

The shuttered trucking company states that it has up to 49 creditors. The company maintains that no funds will be available for unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.

Among Mardon’s top 20 unsecured creditors are First Merchants Bank of Darien, Illinois, owed $280,000; U.S. Bank Equipment Finance of Portland, Oregon, owed $188,000; and Crestmark Vendor Finance of Troy, Michigan, owed $160,000. According to court filings, these creditors have filed legal action against the shuttered carrier, including two breach-of-contract lawsuits and one collection case in Illinois and Michigan.

According to the trucking company’s financials, its gross revenues were over $4.7 million in 2018, dropped to $3 million in 2019, but only posted revenue of $400,000 in 2020.

Donco Donev, listed as the president of Mardon Trucking, did not respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment. 

A creditors meeting is scheduled for July 6. 

Got a tip? Contact Clarissa Hawes at chawes@www.freightwaves.com

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Clarissa Hawes

Clarissa has covered all aspects of the trucking industry for 18 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 chawes@firecrown.com or @cage_writer on X, formerly Twitter.