Drop in business shuts down Jarrett Trucking

By Jimmy Espy

Correspondent

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. - Mike Jarrett started his family owned trucking company 21 years ago with one truck.

At its height, Jarrett Trucking of Summerville, operating out of the town's industrial park, employed more than 40 people and had 35 trucks on the road hauling freight all over the country.

That all came to an end last week when the company closed its doors due to three years of declining business.

"It's been very tough," Mr. Jarrett said. "I've been in the trucking business for 35 years and started this business in the industrial park 21 years ago. Closing it has been a hard decision."

But after pouring more and more money into the business without any upswing, the time came to shut things down, he said.

"My wife Cathy and I kept hoping things would get better, but then, about every six months, we would have to put more money into the business," he said. "We kept thinking, 'It has to get better,' and that we would outlast the downturn, but finally we just couldn't put any more money into it."

Mr. Jarrett didn't blame any specific sector of the economy for the company's struggles, but he acknowledged that shipping for larger customers such as Mohawk Carpets and Metal Container Corp. of Rome, Ga., (now Ball Corp.) had declined in recent years.

Jarrett Trucking was one of Chattooga County's largest private employers, and the county's unemployment rate consistently has been among the state's highest as downturns in the carpet and textile industries took jobs away from its two largest private employers - Mohawk Carpets at plants in Lyerly and Summerville and Mount Vernon Mills in Trion, Ga.

Chattooga County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Tidmore said the loss of Jarrett Trucking is a blow to the county.

"We've had some smaller businesses go out, but this is the first time we've lost one of our bigger, homegrown employers," he said. "We've been fortunate not to have more shut down, as has happened in nearby counties like Floyd, Walker and DeKalb County in Alabama."

Mr. Tidmore added that there had been some positive signs for the local economy in recent weeks, pointing to new hires made by Best Manufacturing, Mohawk and Mount Vernon.

Mr. Jarrett agreed business was beginning to pick up, but he said that for his company it was too little, too late.

Upcoming Events