AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT BLUE BIRD CORPORATION

Fort Valley, Georgia-based Blue Bird Corporation, a manufacturer of Type A, C and D school buses including low-emission and electric models, has announced a major reduction in force.

The reduction in force will affect 115 employees located at the company's Fort Valley manufacturing and assembly plant. According to the company, "they do not expect any more layoffs and the people who are out of work could be eligible for rehire once the economic conditions improve."

The company has claimed that the decision was driven by supply chain disruptions caused by Russia's war in Ukraine and the pandemic.

The company "has implemented a price increase on all model school buses to offset record inflationary pressures and substantially higher costs for raw materials, transportation, and labor. The Company also continues to face supply chain disruptions exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. Blue Bird's 10% price increase took effect on May 10, 2022."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT U.S. XPRESS (05/14/23)

MAY 14, 2023 — LAYOFFS IN PREPARATION FOR A MERGER

The company has acknowledged that it has once again reduced its corporate staff as it prepares to merge with Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. The new layoffs follow 140 layoffs in May and August of 2022.

The company declined to provide an exact count.

According to a company spokesperson, “We did recently make the difficult decision to reduce roles in a few business areas in response to challenging market conditions. Our industry is experiencing a prolonged lack of freight demand that has negatively affected trucking and logistics companies. We are no exception.”

MAY 25, 2022 — Original blog…

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based U. S. Xpress, a provider of long and medium-haul truckload transportation services, contract carriage, and rail services, has announced a reduction in force.

The reduction in force affected 100+ employees at the company's headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Tunnel Hill, Georgia. The affected employees were

According to a company spokesperson. “We’re always looking to make sure that we’re applying the appropriate resources to our number of seated trucks. Another factor we’ve had to take into consideration has been the soft freight market that the whole industry has faced for the last 18 months or so.

Considering the combination of a soft freight market and pressures from customers for reduced rates, we’re focusing on specific priorities and making sure we have the right resources in place to execute them.”

The company's statement...

"In recent months, our truck count and revenue have not grown at the same rate as our headcount. Unfortunately, this means that we made the decision to let some team members go this week. Many of these reductions in staff are within our technology team and the remainder were company-wide across operations and back-office support. No driver, service center, or maintenance roles were impacted. While difficult, his decision reflects our need to right-size our headcount for our truck count growth and is necessary for the health and long-term success of the business."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT RAD POWER BIKES (07/22/22)

JULY 22, 2022 — SECOND WAVE OF LAYOFFS

Rad Power Bikes has laid off 63 employees in a second wave following their previous layoff of 100 employees.

According to a company spokesperson, "To weather this challenging time we are shifting our focus to become a self-sustaining business. This has resulted in a team reduction which was something we worked hard to avoid, but was necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of Rad Power Bikes,"

APRIL 28, 2022 — Original post…

Seattle, Washington-based Rad Power Bikes, a manufacturer of electric bicycles, has announced a restructuring, including transitioning from in-house management of their mobile repair operations to outsourcing repair services to third-party providers of mobile bike repair services, Velofix and Beeline

The planned restructuring of the company's repair options will impact 100 employees located at headquarters and remote locations.

According to a company statement, “Rad Power Bikes is restructuring to bring more focus to our online and retail stores and expanding our footprint with additional retail locations this year. We will be closing the majority of our mobile services business as part of our growth strategy moving forward. As we build future stores, we will expand into the areas covered by our mobile business and beyond. With this adjustment, we will be able to continue offering the best ebikes at the best price, in-store and also online.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?