The trucking industry has faced economic distress with declining revenues and profits since 2022, which companies have blamed on reduced shipping demand, lower freight rates, and rising costs of labor, fuel, and insurance driven by inflation.

Industry experts have called the downturn the Great Freight Recession, and financial results in the last year have not predicted an end coming soon.

While the downturn is devastating for trucking companies, the lower freight rates have benefited customers.

But as trucking companies go out of business, demand will rise and rates will likely increase based on supply and demand.

Trucking demand declined

Long-haul truckload demand plummeted by 25% in the first half of 2025, with trucking becoming more of a short-haul delivery method for the final leg of freight movement, according to the Long Outbound Tender Volume Index, FreightWaves reported.

Freight companies filed 21 bankruptcy petitions in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 20 filed in the second quarter, Equipment Finance News reported. Fourth-quarter statistics were not available at last check.

Some industry executives, however, believe trucking sector conditions will improve in 2026.

“I think we’re at least in the late stages and maybe starting to come up,” Doug Waggoner, CEO of Echo Global Logistics.

Trucking sector recovery predicted

Waggoner is predicting improvement in the trucking industry, likely after the first quarter of 2026, he told Logistics Management.

“But traditionally, January and February are the slowest months of the year,” Waggoner said.

And that continues to be true.

Multiple national and regional trucking companies continued filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, seeking to reorganize their businesses, restructure debt, and remain in business.

Newkirk Logistics files for bankruptcy

Dallas-based Newkirk Logistics Inc. filed its Subchapter V Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth on Feb. 4, according to Public Access to Court Electronic Records as reported by BankruptcyObserver.

The debtor listed $1 million to $10 million in assets and liabilities in its petition.

Newkirk Logistics operates 83 power units, or trucks, and 94 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration‘s SAFER filing on the company.

The debtor provides interstate shipping of general freight and U.S. mail, according to the filing.

The company has also contracted with DHL eCommerce for shipping in recent years, according to court documents reported by FindLaw.

Newkirk faced an overtime compensation complaint filed in December 2023, according to court documents reported by Justia and multiple other lawsuits over the last five years.

All legal actions are usually subject to an automatic stay while the bankruptcy case proceeds.

A much smaller intermodal and drayage carrier, Tacoma, Wash.-based Bee & G Enterprises LLC, which operates seven trucks with six drivers according to SAFER, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 14.

Bee & G carries general freight, fresh produce, and refrigerated food.

The debtor’s carrier authority is active, but its broker authority has been revoked, FreightWaves reported.

Kansas-based trucking company Mast Trucking files for Chapter 11 protection.

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Mast Trucking files for bankruptcy

And now, Kansas-based trucking company Mast Trucking Inc., which operates 55 trucks with 56 drivers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 10 to reorganize its business and operate as normal, Trucking Dive reported.

An Ohio-based company, also named Mast Trucking, is not affiliated with the Kansas company and did not file for bankruptcy, according to a person answering the company’s phone on Feb. 21.

Customers’ needs and the Kansas company’s drivers are not affected by the bankruptcy proceeding, the company’s President Leroy Mast told Trucking Dive in an email.

The Sublette, Kan., carrier filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, listing $1 million to $10 million in assets and liabilities.

More bankruptcies:

• 73-year-old family diner franchisee files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• More troubled regional airlines file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• Major department store brand liquidates in Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The debtor’s largest creditors include the U.S. Small Business Administration, owed $2 million; Commercial Credit Group Inc., owed over $1 million; Leroy and Aggie Mast, owed $1 million; and Volvo Car Financial Services, owed over $540,000.

Mast Trucking hauls general freight, building materials, grain, feed, hay, and blood plasma, according to SAFER.

Mast Trucking Top 10 creditors:

• U.S. Small Business Administration, $2 million
• Commercial Credit Group Inc., over $1 million
• Leroy and Aggie Mast, $1 million
• Volvo Car Financial Services, over $540,000
• BMO Harris, over $276,000
• Daimler Truck Financial, over $271,000
• Pawnee Leasing Corp., over $145,000
• Balboa Capital Corp., over $96,000
• Flagstaff Financial & Leasing, over $92,000
• Toyota Commercial Finance, over $56,000

Related: Troubled office furniture company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy