Texas-based JJ Transport files for bankruptcy days before civil trial

The company filed for bankruptcy just four days before a scheduled wrongful death civil trial in El Paso County, Texas.

A Texas-based transportation company, J.J. & Sons Logistics, operating as JJ Transport, filed for bankruptcy just four days before a scheduled wrongful death civil trial in El Paso County, Texas.

In the filed petition, JJ Transport reported assets of up to $500,000 and liabilities ranging from $100 to $500 million, as reported by Clarissa Hawes (FreightWaves). The company mentioned having up to 49 creditors and expressed the belief that funds would be available for unsecured creditors after covering administrative fees.

According to the FMCSA’s SAFER website, JJ Transport trucks underwent 27 inspections in 24 months, with two units out of service, resulting in an out-of-service rate of 7.4%, lower than the national average of 22.3%. Additionally, the company’s drivers were inspected 53 times during the same period, with only one driver out of service, yielding a rate of 1.9%, below the national average of 6.7%, according to FMCSA data. However, the company’s trucks were involved in five accidents, causing two injuries and affecting three trailers in the last two years.

Regarding the case leading the company to face a wrongful death civil trial, court documents state that the driver, Pedro Rascon Morales, 61 years old, drowned in his tractor-trailer on April 18, 2016, in Harris County, Texas. At that time, Morales was employed by José Murillo, the president of JJ Transport, and his wife, Esmeralda Murillo, who held the position of operations manager in the company.

As reported by FreightWaves, the incident occurred when Morales was assigned to deliver a load from El Paso County to Harris County during record floods on April 17, 2016. Court documents allege that hours before his death, Morales contacted Esmeralda Murillo, who did not interrupt his trip. Morales drove his vehicle to an elevated crossing, where the water quickly submerged his vehicle.

The trial, seeking compensation of over $1 million, originally scheduled to begin in El Paso County, was canceled after the bankruptcy petition was filed in federal court. The lawsuit, filed in December 2017 by Morales’s wife, son, and daughter, had its trial date rescheduled multiple times before JJ Transport declared bankruptcy. A creditors’ meeting is scheduled for February 26.