GARY | More than 50 workers will lose steady jobs with good health benefits after ArcelorMittal decided to get out of the trucking business at its East Chicago steel mill.
P.T.O. Services, an Oak Brook, Ill.-based driver leasing firm, notified the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that it plans to lay off 57 workers in Gary. Burnham Trucking, an ArcelorMittal subsidiary in East Chicago, notified the staffing company it was cancelling its contract on May 31.
As a result, P.T.O. Services warned the state it would lay off 47 truck drivers and 10 clerical workers.
The affected truck drivers hauled steel out of ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, including to the I/N Tek and I/N Kote finishing facilties in New Carlisle.
"ArcelorMittal has made the decision to close Burnham Trucking, a subsidiary trucking company which operated 50 leased truck tractors to transport steel products from ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor to customers," spokeswoman Mary Beth Holdford said. "The lease agreement expires in May 2015 and will not be renewed. The decision to consolidate freight partners is part of ArcelorMittal’s continued focus on increasing the efficiency of our facilities and the productivity of our workforce."
The steelmaker had brought trucking in-house about two decades ago after problems with independent contractors, but is now severing ties with Burnham Trucking because it doesn't want to buy new trucks, said Larry Regan, business agent with Teamsters Local 142.
"Burnham Trucking doesn't own a paperclip on its own," he said. "Mittal decided to get out and shut down the transportation portion."
All the displaced workers got bonuses as severance, such as for unused vacation time, Regan said. They were offered transfers to positions outside of Indiana most didn't take, but some of them have already been placed with other firms. The demand for semi-truck drivers is robust.
"You can go to probably any city in this country, open a newspaper, and find trucking jobs," he said. "There's such a demand that they're bringing drivers in from Yugoslavia, Russia and Poland. These days, a CDL is like a college diploma. You can rely on it for a living."
Not all of the laid-off drivers will be able to immediately find work, however, since it's hard to find jobs for 50 people all at once, Regan said.
"It's kind of rough to lose that health insurance," he said. "But imports are killing the steel industry right now."