Teamsters reveal TP Freight’s sudden shutdown

Teamsters reveal TP Freight’s sudden shutdown

Thu, August 20, 2026 at 3:26 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Teamsters-staffed less-than-truckload carrier TP Freight Lines has suspended operations. The company "abruptly notified" employees on Aug. 4 "not to report to work until further notice," a press release from the union said. Calls to the company's main phone switchboard are currently going unanswered.

The Teamsters Joint Council 37 said the company failed to make payroll on Aug. 5 and that it was behind on its health care premiums, leaving workers "without health insurance for more than a month." The company was also delinquent on retirement account contributions, according to the union.

Founded in 1922, Portland, Oregon-based TP Freight specialized in LTL and expedited freight shipments across the Pacific Northwest, with national coverage provided through interline partnerships. Its Facebook page touts service along the "Oregon Coast, Southern Washington and the entire I-5 corridor to the Southern Oregon boundaries."

The company's website lists seven terminals, but a June 2025 Facebook post shows it sold a facility in Tillamook, Oregon to a local food producer. The post also showed LTL operations at that facility were sold to Z-10/Team Shippers. The Teamsters press release said TP Freight was sold to Mohamed Hegab around the same time.

"It is not clear if Hegab has any experience running a trucking company, and he is claimed to be faculty at the California State University – Northridge," the press release stated.

The union said TP Freight's largest customer was the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.

TP Freight's drivers and dockworkers were represented by the Teamsters.

"The workers and union put forth good faith efforts to make T.P. Freight successful," the statement read. "The more than 100-year labor-management relationship is evidence of that. Unfortunately, the workers and union efforts were not enough to overcome the financial and operational mismanagement at T.P. Freight."

Teamsters Joint Council 37 did not respond to a request for additional information.

Other regional LTL carriers have closed in recent months.

California-based Mountain Valley Express confirmed to FreightWaves it closed its 13-terminal network last month. Illinois-based Standard Forwarding Freight shuttered operations at its 14 terminals at the end of 2025.

However, national carriers saw improved financial results during the second quarter.

Of the four public carriers reporting results on a calendar quarter, operating margins improved by 90 to 340 basis points year over year (excluding real estate gains). The group is actively using technology to improve operations and remove costs. The lower cost structures, along with contractual rate increases, are driving margin improvement. Most public carriers are guiding to further y/y improvement in the third quarter.

Why it matters? As the industry enters a growth phase following an extended downturn, large national LTL carriers are delivering solid performance. Conversely, regional operators that lack the resources to invest in necessary technology and infrastructure are increasingly forced to exit the market.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

The post Teamsters reveal TP Freight's sudden shutdown appeared first on FreightWaves.