Hampton logistics company closes, laying off 63

Hampton-based delivery company Rochambeau Logistics went out of business last week with the intention to file for bankruptcy, laying off 63 employees in the process.

Rochambeau, which had been in operation for little more than a year, provided delivery services for FedEx and served the areas of Newport News, Yorktown and parts of Williamsburg and Gloucester County, according to General Manager Jeff Aldridge, who added that all of its laid-off employees have been able to find new jobs.

Rochambeau notified the state of the layoffs on July 22, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. A letter written by the company president, Alex Chang, stated that, due to “unforeseeable business circumstances,” the company had decided to cease operations as of July 25. The letter states that the company does not plan to reopen but intends to file for bankruptcy proceedings.

The company’s work was performed at a FedEx site at 61 Floyd Thompson Drive in Hampton. Due to the closure, all employees were notified on July 21 that their jobs would end on July 25. With the exception of the general manager, assistant managers and administrators, all other persons were delivery drivers.

“Anything anybody is ordering from companies that’s getting shipped through FedEx, FedEx would load our trucks, and then our drivers would go out and make the deliveries,” Aldridge said.

According to Aldridge, Chang informed him on the night of July 21 that he was filing bankruptcy for all three of his contracts with FedEx and that all employees would be laid off after the close of business on Friday of last week. He said he wasn’t provided with many more details.

“I don’t believe FedEx canceled his contract,” Aldridge said. “They can do that if you’re failing service or … not meeting contractual requirements, but I don’t believe that was the case here. I believe what was happening was one of his other companies that he owned in Georgia was failing. … His financial advisers advised him that the only way to … come out unscathed … would be to file bankruptcy.”

Fortunately, Aldridge says that every employee who was laid off was able to secure a job with other logistics contractors working at the FedEx building.

“They’ve picked up every single driver as an employee starting Saturday,” he said last week.