STG Logistics, the Bensenville cargo hauler that shuttles containers from ports and rail ramps to warehouses nationwide, has filed for a court-supervised Chapter 11 restructuring aimed at slashing its debt load while keeping its trucks rolling and paychecks flowing. Company officials are pitching the move as a way to preserve service and payroll in a weak freight market while a brewing fight with lenders plays out. The filing is the latest signal that STG’s post-pandemic growth spree left it heavily leveraged just as the freight downturn dragged on.
In a Jan. 12 news release, STG Logistics said it entered into a restructuring support agreement with its equity sponsors and a majority of its lenders that would wipe out roughly 91% of its funded debt and make up to $150 million in new capital available. The company added that it filed standard first-day motions asking the court to let it keep paying employee wages and benefits, maintain customer programs, and continue go-forward payments to key vendors. CEO Geoff Anderman called the filing “an important milestone” in strengthening STG during what the company described as a severe freight recession.
How the restructuring will be implemented
The company and certain affiliates have commenced a prearranged Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, according to the law firm advising STG’s special committee. White & Case noted that the restructuring support agreement was negotiated with the requisite majority of funded-debt holders and is designed to cut interest expense and shore up liquidity while STG reorganizes.
Court papers filed in the New Jersey case list STG’s assets and liabilities each in the $1 billion to $10 billion range and show the company has between 10,000 and 25,000 creditors, according to Transport Topics. That reporting also identifies Union Pacific as the largest unsecured creditor, owed more than $13.4 million, and says STG has secured debtor-in-possession financing to help run terminals, drayage, and warehouse operations during the Chapter 11 process.
The 2024 deal that triggered litigation
The Chapter 11 case follows a contentious 2024 recapitalization in which STG agreed to roughly $300 million of debt-and-equity financing that included a below-par exchange. Nonparticipating lenders alleged the deal reshuffled the repayment line to their disadvantage and sued, calling it a “bad-faith scheme.” As Equipment Finance News details, a New York court decision allowed the lenders’ claims to move forward, a development that increased pressure on STG to pursue a court-supervised restructuring, according to The Wall Street Journal.
What this means for local operations
STG Logistics operates dozens of terminals, bonded warehouses and drayage yards across the Chicago region and employs drivers, dockworkers and office staff. The company said day-to-day bookings, pickups and deliveries will continue in the ordinary course. In its customer-facing FAQs and court filing, STG directed stakeholders to its claims agent site, Epiq, for case documents and questions, noting that key financial partners have committed new capital to support operations while the case proceeds…