Updated Thursday to add a statement from a Perdue spokesman.
Tim Morris of Island, Kentucky, says he and approximately 30 regional drivers for Perdue Transportation Inc., headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland, were blindsided Monday when they were called in to a meeting and company officials told them without warning to clean out their trucks and hand in their fuel cards and badges.
Morris said he and other PTI private fleet over-the-road drivers who were let go hauled refrigerated loads of mainly chicken and turkey products for Perdue Farms’ facilities out of Cromwell, Kentucky; Washington, Indiana; and Monterey, Tennessee.
“We were told that the company was restructuring and doing away with its Midwest OTR division and the company was going to use outside carriers instead,” Morris told FreightWaves. “We were told the remaining drivers were going to be moved to the company’s short-haul division.”
While it was initially unclear if Perdue drivers in other regions of the country were impacted by the layoffs, the company said no further workforce reductions are planned.
“We are constantly reviewing our business to ensure we are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. A decision like this, affecting our associates and their families, is something we take very seriously, and one that was not made lightly,” a Perdue spokesman said in a statement to FreightWaves. “All affected full-time associates were offered a severance package or can apply for other open positions in the company.”
Morris, who posted a video of PTI drivers cleaning out their rigs after Monday’s meeting, said he worked part time for the motor carrier for approximately three years. While other drivers confirmed the news, Morris said he was able to speak with the media because he didn’t have to sign a nondisclosure agreement to receive severance pay as the full-time drivers did.
“I heard some received severance packages of around eight or so weeks based on the number of years they had worked for the company,” he said.
Perdue Farms is a fourth-generation, family-owned U.S. food and agricultural company, which operates Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness, according to its website.
Its private fleet, PTI, has 476 drivers and 643 power units, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.
“I feel bad for the full-time drivers with families because we were paid well and the company offered good insurance benefits,” Morris said. “I’ll be OK, but I’ll miss the drivers.”
Timothy Dooner of What The Truck?!? contributed to this report.
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