Hilo’s HT&T Hauling
files for Chapter 11
bankruptcy

The company's attorney blames the
recent spike in the price of fuel

HILO » Trucking firm HT&T Hauling and Repair Services of Hilo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, planning to pay a portion of its debts by selling its leasehold warehouse.

The company had been in financial difficulty for some time, but the recent spike in fuel prices forced the bankruptcy, said company attorney Ted Pettit.

"Fuel costs pushed the company to the edge," he said.

Most of the company's union and nonunion employees, totaling 43, will keep their jobs or have found alternate employment, said Pettit and International Longshore and Warehouse Union business agent Isaac Fiesta.

HT&T was a subsidiary of Brewer Environmental Industries LLC until 2002 when it was bought by TRI-K Investments LLC, headed by Elizabeth and Roger Toledo.

Increasing insurance premiums, workers' compensation costs, temporary disability insurance costs and historically high labor costs were already besetting the company when fuel prices jumped, Pettit said.

The company listed almost $1.9 million in debts in a filing in federal Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu.

The sale of the company's warehouse at 888 Kalanianaole Ave. will bring at least $1.3 million in an agreement already accepted by buyer James W. McCully, the court papers say. If the sale is completed by Nov. 8, the purchase price will rise to $1.45 million because McCully will receive additional tax benefits, Pettit said.

The purchase money will cover the debt of $1.3 million owed to principal lien holder Central Pacific Bank.

After the sale, HT&T will continue to sublease a portion of the warehouse from McCully, Pettit said.

HT&T's union employees took a 5 percent wage cut in March, but gained back 3 1/2 percent at the beginning of this month, Fiesta said.

The union employees also made concessions in vacation and severance benefits, he said.

Eight union employees were laid off, but seven were rehired at higher pay by A&B Fleet Services, a Maui company with a branch in Hilo, Fiesta said.