Bear Down Logistics, a provider of last-mile package delivery for Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), is shutting down seven locations after the online retailer pulled its contract. It’s not clear how many facilities the company had, but all indications are that it is going out of business.
On Wednesday, the company filed a notice with the Virginia Employment Commission that it intended to close its Richmond terminal and let go 75 employees by April 13. It also notified the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it would close its Fairfield facility outside Cincinnati, resulting in 105 layoffs.
Contacted by phone, Michael Dipiazza, Bear Down’s vice president of operations, confirmed the Virginia closure and said the company, based in suburban Chicago, is shutting down seven locations. He declined to provide further details.
The Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, in response to an inquiry, said it received a notice this week that Bear Down Logistics was shutting the main office in Mokena, Illinois, and laying off 62 employees.
“We work with thousands of carrier partners around the world to help us deliver packages to Amazon customers, and we have a responsibility to our customers and the communities where we operate to ensure these partners meet our high standards for things like safety and working conditions,” Amazon said in a statement provided to FreightWaves. “Occasionally we need to end a relationship with a partner and when this happens we are committed to helping the impacted employees find opportunities with other delivery service partners or to learn more about the thousands of available roles at Amazon delivery stations and fulfillment centers.”
Amazon has high delivery standards for partners in its Amazon Prime one-day service.
“While you’re not an Amazon employee, Amazon still pulls all the strings. If you work for Bear Down, realize that Amazon frequently changes its mind and you can be gone in just a moment,” an employee in Richmond, Virginia, posted on the Indeed job board in January.
Kansas-based RCX Logistics, also known as RailCrew Xpress, is also citing the loss of its Amazon contract as the reason it will permanently lay off hundreds of delivery drivers in Texas, Alabama and Florida in April.
Bear Down’s owners previously were contractors for FedEx Ground, according to the company’s website.
Under federal law, companies with more than 100 employees are required to file Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notices with states at least 60 days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.
