As Flying J. Inc. works to emerge from bankruptcy, it is selling its insurance branch to Buckner Co., a Salt Lake City-based insurance brokerage firm, for an undisclosed price effective Jan. 1, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“While the trucking industry is down right now, we are confident in the long-term growth of the economy, and we think that trucking will play an important role in that recovery,” Buckner President Terry Buckner said in a statement.
Flying J Insurance gathers about $25 million of insurance premiums annually, and Buckner collected $134 million in premiums last year.
Flying J Insurance has been selling insurance policies to the trucking industry since 1997. Its parent company, Ogden-based Flying J, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last December 2008, due to falling crude oil prices, and difficulty finding credit. The bankruptcy also applied to Flying J’s Big West refining and Longhorn Pipeline subsidiaries, however, Flying J Insurance and other subsidiaries were not included in the filing. In an effort to emerge from bankruptcy, Flying J has been marketing many of its assets to raise money, so it can pay off debts.
Other steps the company has taken include putting its crude-oil refinery in North Salt Lake up for sale; sold its Longhorn subsidiary; put its refinery in Bakersfield, Calif., up for sale; and in July 2009 announced plans to merge its Flying J truck stops with rival Pilot Travel Centers.