Trailer sales and leasing company files for bankruptcy protection

K & L Trailer Sales and Leasing Inc. (K & L Sales) of Knoxville, Tennessee, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Family-owned K & L Trailer Sales and Leasing Inc. (K & L Sales) of Knoxville, Tennessee, filed for bankruptcy protection. Photo: Melinda Gimpel/Upsplash

K & L Trailer Sales and Leasing Inc. (K & L Sales) of Knoxville, Tennessee, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The family-owned business, opened in 1994, employs 23 people. The company sells new and used trailers, including dry van, reefer, flatbed and tankers, among others.

K & L Sales also sells parts and operates a trailer repair shop.

In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, it lists assets between $1 million and $10 million. The trailer sales and leasing company lists liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million. It lists up to 49 creditors in its bankruptcy filing.

The trailer sales leasing company has filed a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight to access its cash collateral to continue operating. 

However, in the filing, K & L claims it has a “reasonable possibility for successful reorganization and believes that its operations will have positive cash flow” if allowed to use its prepetition cash collateral. 

Kris Fellhoelter, president of K & L Sales, did not respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment about the bankruptcy filing. Neither did the company’s attorney, Maurice K. Guinn of Gentry, Tipton and McLemore PC of Knoxville.
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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.