Intermodal, Drayage & Chassis

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STG owns roughly 15,000 domestic containers and 32 transloading facilities across North America. Around the World Photos / Shutterstock. com

STG intermodal operations to remain intact amid bankruptcy

By Ari Ashe

A court-supervised restructuring will allow STG Logistics to reduce its debt while keeping freight moving without disruption, according to the fourth-largest asset-based intermodal marketing company in the US.

STG, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on Jan. 12, will reduce funded debt by around $ 952 million, a deleveraging of about 91 %, and secure commitments for up to $ 150 million of new capital, according to the agreement included in the filing.

STG, which maintains a large drayage presence in the Port of New York and New Jersey, among other East Coast ports, expects to emerge from Chapter 11 in about five months.

The new financing will be structured as debtor-inpossession, a form of court-approved bankruptcy that provides cash while STG continues day-to-day operations.

The restructuring will change after STG exits bankruptcy. The financing is known as a debt-for-equity swap, under which the participating lender group will trade its debt claims for ownership of the business upon exiting bankruptcy.

The new ownership group will be private equity firms Antares Capital, Fortress Investment Group and Invesco, which were part of a controversial 2024 financing transaction that triggered litigation by STG’ s minority lenders.

Ohio-based STG owns roughly 15,000 domestic containers, behind J. B. Hunt Transport Services, Hub Group and Schneider National. STG also operates a joint service with CSX Transportation called RailPlus, a door-to-door domestic intermodal product covering nearly 350 lanes across the US.

STG owns 32 warehouses across North America and offers transloading operations for international shippers. The company runs agency-based ocean drayage operations in US ports and inland rail ramps.

STG said the filing will reset its balance sheet and reduce debt obligations, but drayage, domestic intermodal, transloading and warehousing operations will not be affected. Employees and drivers will continue to be paid, as will key vendors, including rail partners such as CSX and Union Pacific Railroad.

STG’ s bankruptcy was anticipated as the company faces multiple lawsuits and lacks the financial resiliency of larger intermodal competitors to navigate a freight recession approaching its fourth year.

S & P Global, the parent company of the Journal of Commerce, lowered STG’ s credit rating in July to CCC, warning that free cash flow would end 2025 at $ 110 million in the red and that STG could run out of money early this year. A CCC rating is considered speculative-grade credit with a high risk of default.

STG has hired Kirkland & Ellis and PJT Partners, firms known for bankruptcy filings, credit analysts at Octus reported in December.

Lawsuits affected

STG’ s bankruptcy will impact two legal disputes involving the company.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin sued STG in December 2023 for worker misclassification, seeking back wages and penalties for more than 300 drivers.

The lawsuit centers on the rules governing who qualifies as an employee versus an independent contractor. Like California’ s AB5, New Jersey applies an“ ABC test” that presumes employee status unless a company can satisfy three“ prongs,” a high bar in drayage and trucking models. Those prongs are that the worker is free from the control of the hiring entity, that the work is performed outside the usual

16 Journal of Commerce | February 2, 2026 www. joc. com