News

UPDATE: Amtrak has now ceased trading according to the firm's website.

Falling volumes are being blamed for the collapse of business-to-consumer parcel carrier Amtrak, which went into administration on 22 August, putting 900 jobs at risk.

Although a statement from administrator Ernst & Young says that it is "assessing the financial situation  of the business" and warns about service disruption, several depots told MT that the business had ceased trading as of 26 August. However, MT was unable to confirm this as we went to press.

In addition, rival UK Mail is delivering Amtrak's parcels and "trying to establish a relationship" with its customers. UK Mail chief executive Guy Buswell says: "We have agreed with the administrators that we will try to support them in moving some of the stranded parcels within the network to their onward location."

However, Buswell stresses that UK Mail is not planning to purchase any of the firm's assets. Inevitably, Amtrak's 36 franchisees will be hard hit. John Child, who ran Amtrak's Chippenham, Wilts depot, told MT: "I've been a franchisee since day one; I've been with the company 25 years and it's very disappointing. We were told this morning [26 August] that it's all being wound up." Child says that his depot, which covered the Bath and Swindon areas, will make 15 people redundant  as a result.

Gary Richards runs Riva South, a transport firm which handled the SO and PO postcodes for Amtrak under licence. While the Amtrak work only represents 30% of Riva's business, Richards says that it will still have to make up to 15 people redundant as a result. He stresses that service levels within the network were good, but volume levels had seen a dramatic fall of more than 50% since last November.

Amtrak is actually registered as Netfold, a firm that purchased the assets of Amtrak Express Parcels when that collapsed in January 2007. Sector expert Robin Parr-Davies says: "It was always touch and go whether they could make it work and the economic climate was against them."