Several trucking and logistics companies are collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after an Indiana-based household goods brokerage shuttered operations and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in mid-April.
Guardian International Inc., doing business as Guardian Freight, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Indiana on April 14.
Although incorporated in Maryland, the household goods company’s principal office was in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In its filing, Guardian Freight lists its assets as between $50,000 and $100,000 and its liabilities as between $500,000 and $1 million.
The shuttered brokerage 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.
According to Guardian Freight’s financials, its gross revenues were approximately $164,000 in 2020, a 92% drop from the nearly $2 million in revenue it posted in 2019.
According to a document filed with the Indiana secretary of state’s office, Sabah Abu Qiyas is the company’s president and Tonya Watson served as vice president and office manager before it ceased operations.
Legal woes
According to court documents filed in Marion County, Indiana, Superior Court, Guardian Freight was ordered to pay Indianapolis-based FitzMark Inc. nearly $20,500 in October. In a separate judgment, the court ordered the shuttered brokerage to pay SunteckTTS, which is now part of Dallas-based MODE Transportation (MODE), more than $14,200 for unpaid transportation services in December.
The company’s largest unsecured creditor is Cincinnati-based Loth Logistics LLC. Guardian Freight was ordered to pay Loth more than $247,000 in October in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Court filings state that Guardian Freight contracted with Loth to arrange the transportation of hundreds of shipments of goods but failed to pay the brokerage.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revoked Guardian Freight’s household goods broker authority in May 2020.
FreightWaves reached out to Guardian Freight for a comment, but neither the phone number nor the company’s website was working.
Other unsecured creditors listed in Guardian Freight’s bankruptcy petition include North & South Logistics, owed $55,000, PD&S Freight Solutions, owed nearly $57,000, and Watco Supply Chain Services, owed more than $72,400.
A creditor’s meeting is scheduled for May 20.
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