Jim Palmer Trucking, Missoula, Mont., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday, but says they are confident they can bring the company back,
according to the Missoulian newspaper.

The move followed similar bankruptcy filings by the company's subsidiaries, Jim Palmer Equipment and Jim Palmer Equipment II, on Thursday. Together, the three companies were delinquent on between $1.5 million and $2 million in equipment loans and other debts. The culprit? Soaring diesel fuel prices. The fleet's average monthly fuel costs have gone up 12 percent in the last year. The company started losing money at the beginning of the year when fuel shot up over $3.30 a gallon.

Six of the 425 Jim Palmer Trucking employees were laid off earlier in the week, according to the paper. Lonnie Wallace, president of the company, told the paper that the bankruptcy filing will give them some "breathing room" and allow them to reorganize their debt. He is confident that this will allow the company to survive.

A deal announced earlier this year with Canadian firm ActionView International did not go through because of inability to get financing for the merger, according to the paper.

ActionView, which in May announced a letter of intent to acquire Jim Palmer Trucking, issued a statement in response to the reported bankruptcy actions. ActionView International CEO Steven R. Peacock commented, "The financial information we received in our early due diligence on Jim Palmer Trucking does not appear to be consistent with their true financial condition at that time. We have been in communication with both the company and its representatives and will continue to monitor the situation as it develops, especially as it relates to the capital that was loaned to Jim Palmer Trucking as part of the proposed acquisition transaction with ActionView International."

For more details, see the Missoulian article at www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/07/11/news/local/news04.txt.