Truck line's closure leaves void

Stockton firm's customers cite personal touch

Moore Truck Lines, a family-owned trucking company that specialized in delivering small loads up and down California, has closed in the face of heavyweight competition and rising fuel prices.

Founded April 1, 1947, in Stockton by Frank Moore Sr., the firm at one time operated terminals in Fresno, Yuba City and Stockton carrying general commodities and specializing in "less-than-truckload" deliveries within the state.

"He built it up into a pretty good-size business in the LTL," said Frank Moore Jr., senior general partner, who formally closed the business March 28.

The elder Moore handed over the reins of the company in 2002 and died Feb. 15, 2007.

But changes began earlier, in 1995, with the deregulation of the trucking industry. Large corporate carriers, such as United Parcel Service and FedEx - "FedEx especially," Moore said - ate away at the company's customer base.

"They are pretty efficient and can offer clients things we can't," he said.

It's hard for a small company to compete with services that will carry anything from a single envelope or package to a pallet, a truckload or more, overnight in California or the rest of the United States and offering rapid international delivery as well.

"They've really been hurting all the carriers," Moore said.

The company downsized, closing its terminals in Yuba City and Fresno, but it continued to fill a niche in the industry, serving mostly small businesses with which it had built relationships over the years.

This year's rising fuel prices proved the last straw, Moore said.

"We've been absorbing the increases since the first of the year," he said. And when he began to add surcharges to cover some of the expenses, his clients balked.

"They just could not absorb the increases we needed to cover our costs," Moore said.

After taking a diesel delivery March 20 and paying $3.97 per gallon, he called it quits.

Fuel costs are hitting the entire industry hard, said Julie Sauls, a spokeswoman for the California Trucking Association

"It's tough," she said. "Fuel is surpassing even labor as the biggest expense for the transportation industry."

That's nearly unprecedented. And remaining companies face a profit squeeze.

"While some cope, it's still to a degree," Sauls said. "It's taking away any margin."

Larry Gorham, owner of Cal-Sierra Pipe Inc. in Stockton, said he long relied on Moore Truck's personal, professional service.

"If we just had something that needed to go in a hurry, either a few small pieces of pipe or a valve or a fitting that we needed to get to a customer in a hurry or to get from a supplier in a hurry, they were always there for us," he said. "They are definitely going to leave a vacuum."

Armando Alonzo, a Teamsters union representative with Local 439 in Stockton, echoed those sentiments.

"It's really tough seeing them go," he said. "They were a vital part of our community for a long time."

Moore Truck was a union shop from start to finish and had loyal Teamsters employees, Alonzo said.

"The guys that remained were sad to see it close. It was really hard for them," he said.

And, he noted, "Frank (Moore) closed on good terms with everybody."

Moore said he's in the process of selling the company's remaining trucks and other equipment.

He owns the 2.7-acre site at 3400 Newton Road, along with the office, shop and cross-dock loading facility, which he believes will be attractive to a buyer or lessee.

Moore said he had no regrets about the company.

"It's been good for everybody," he said, saying it provided a good living over the years for employees, the owners and their families.

As far as having to close is concerned, he said, "It's just economics. It's a sign of the times."