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Cloverleaf Transportation's Assets Are Auctioned Off

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Michael Levensohn, The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.

Mar. 15--Cloverleaf Transportation was packed up and shipped out yesterday, one piece at a time.

The failed regional trucking company's assets were auctioned off just a week after it delivered its last load.

Cloverleaf had filed for bankruptcy protection in August, months after losing an account with retail giant Target Corp.

The company was doing fairly well last fall, but business fell off after the holidays, said Bruce Rogoff, who was hired to turn Cloverleaf around but instead presided over its dismantling.

"About a month ago, we realized this was going to have to happen," Rogoff said.

Nearly all the employees have found jobs, thanks to a national driver shortage, he added.

Perhaps 100 bargain-hunters filtered in and out of the truck yard on Route 94 yesterday, eyeballing tractors, trailers, spare parts and office equipment. In the main office, numbered yellow auction tags dotted computers, filing cabinets, even a grungy old microwave. Near the rear of the 100-plus herd of trailers stood one with an old "Service Merchandise" logo stenciled on its side.

The 30,000-gallon diesel tank is staying put.

The auction started at noon, and within a couple hours, Joe Aceste of Long Island had picked up two trailers for his business, which delivers supplies to bakeries, including one in Middletown.

Bob Ferrari of Fort Lee, N.J., wasn't so lucky.

"I like to steal stuff," he said. "There aren't really any good deals."

Ferrari, who eventually picked up some truck parts for his towing business, said he heard about the auction from his cousins, who were interested in buying the truck yard.

The complex of six buildings on five acres is owned by Ron Reiss, who started Cloverleaf 30 years ago, then sold it in 1997. In one final act of liquidation, he's offering the property for sale, through McBride Corporate Real Estate, for $1.6 million.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.

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Source: The Times Herald-Record (Middletown, New York)

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