Transport firm folds, 250 lose jobs

JONATHAN CAMERON/Manawatu Standard

OUT OF A JOB: When truck driver Amanda Bright had Christmas Eve drinks with workmates, she thought she was going on holiday. She said she wasn't told the company was going into liquidation.

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About 250 people will be looking for jobs in the New Year after a nationwide freight transport firm's collapse.

Rapid Roadfreighters went into liquidation just before Christmas, costing about 15 people in Palmerston North their jobs.

When truck driver Amanda Bright had Christmas Eve drinks and a barbecue with her workmates, she thought she was going on three weeks' holiday. She said she wasn't told the company was going into liquidation.

Mrs Bright found out five days later, when another driver rang her.

Trucks were lined up at the Keith St depot yesterday, but they weren't going anywhere.

Mrs Bright, a driver for the firm for two years, said she loved her job and was shocked to be suddenly unemployed. "The MD didn't even come down and tell us. There were no meetings, no phone calls. We were left in the dark."

Rapid Roadfreighters managing director John Cole couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

The company had more than 200 vehicles and 250 employees throughout New Zealand, according to its website.

The Manawatu Standard understands another driver on leave had no idea the firm was in liquidation until contacted by a union representative yesterday.

Mrs Bright said her weekly pay didn't go through on Wednesday night.

Liquidator Bryan Williams, appointed on December 24, said his first report on the company would be released early next week.

He wouldn't comment before then.

Rapid Roadfreighters had only recently shifted its Palmerston North branch from Kaimanawa St to Keith St.

There had been three restructures in the past year, Mrs Bright said.

She was now looking for other driving positions, but the market was quiet, she said.

DEEP ROOTS

The roots of Rapid Roadfreighters go back more than 100 years.

M Ivory General Carrier was set up in Wellington in 1902 and the business later became Ivory Freight. The company was absorbed into the Rapid Roadfreighters Group in 2004.

Although some staff weren't told the company was in liquidation, they were praised on its website. "Many of our operations staff and management have been involved in the transport industry for decades. We care about our people, and it shows in the quality of our work."

CRITICISM

Failing to tell workers they would have no job to come back to after Christmas is "pretty bloody piss poor", says National Distribution Union regional secretary Sheryl Cadman.

Rapid Roadfreighters, which had about 250 employees nationwide, went into liquidation on December 24 – but at least two Manawatu staff didn't know.

"Clearly, there's been a huge breakdown in communications," Ms Cadman said. "Having staff go off on leave without any notification there was no job to come back to ... it's just appalling."

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