Trism, Kennesaw, Ga., has been sold to a Missouri banker who plans to operate the business under the old Tri-State Motor Transit name and move the company headquarters to Joplin, Mo.

Two months ago, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization, continuing to operate as debtor-in-possession until a sale was approved by the Bankruptcy Court. On Feb. 5, Trism sold substantially all its assets and some contracts and leases to Bed Rock Inc. and Tri-State Properties, LLC.
According to the Joplin (Mo.) Globe, the man behind the purchase is Monett, Mo., banker and Purdy, Mo., trucking company owner Glen Garrett, who is taking the company private. The main focus of the company will remain the same: explosives, radioactive and hazardous waste, nuclear fuel and oversized loads. Tri-State owns about 400 trucks, according to the paper, with another 50 owner-operator units.
Tri-State Motor Transit was founded in 1929 to transport explosives to three powder mills in the Joplin/Carthage, Mo., area to support local zinc and lead mining. The company was purchased more than 10 years ago by Georgia-based Trism, formed by a group of investors, who operated Tri-State as a subsidiary. Trism has struggled in recent years, seeking bankruptcy protection in 1999 and emerging in February 2000, and last year selling off and closing divisions and declaring bankruptcy again in December.