118-year-old transportation company files for bankruptcy

Belgian logistics and transport group Ziegler, a 118‑year‑old company employing more than 3,200 people across 16 countries, has filed for bankruptcy protection in Brussels, underscoring the mounting pressure on legacy transportation providers from debt, high fuel costs and a volatile freight market.

Ziegler’s bankruptcy filing

Ziegler filed for bankruptcy protection in the Brussels Commercial Court on June 1, bringing its core entities under court supervision while it seeks a path forward. The proceedings cover four subsidiaries—Ziegler SA, Intertrans, Dornach and Universal Express—which collectively span bus services and cargo transportation operations across Europe. A French subsidiary had already been declared bankrupt in March 2026, resulting in the loss of around 1,500 jobs, signalling the depth of the group’s distress before the latest filing.

Founded in 1908 as a bus company, Ziegler had grown into a diversified transportation and logistics network, with operations in 16 countries and a workforce exceeding 3,200 employees. The company’s long history and geographic reach made it a notable mid‑tier player in the European transport ecosystem, providing both passenger services and freight solutions that connected regional and cross‑border routes. The move into bankruptcy protection now raises questions about service continuity, employee livelihoods and the treatment of creditors across multiple jurisdictions.

Pressures behind the collapse

While detailed financials from the filing have not yet been widely reported, several macro headwinds frame the timing of Ziegler’s bankruptcy. Fuel costs in both road and air transport have remained elevated amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflict, pushing diesel and jet fuel to multi‑year highs and compressing margins for operators that cannot fully pass through cost increases to customers. At the same time, Europe’s freight and passenger markets have been dealing with weaker post‑pandemic demand in some lanes, overcapacity in others, and highly competitive pricing from both low‑cost rivals and asset‑light logistics platforms.

Legacy carriers such as Ziegler typically operate capital‑intensive fleets and extensive terminal networks, which magnify the impact of any downturn or rate squeeze. Debt and lease obligations accumulated during prior expansion cycles can become unsustainable when volumes soften or pricing power erodes. Recent freight downturns and rate volatility have already pushed a range of transportation and logistics firms into restructuring or liquidation in the U.S. and Europe, highlighting how fragile balance sheets can quickly translate into insolvency once lenders lose confidence.

Implications for creditors, employees and counterparties

The Brussels Commercial Court’s bankruptcy protection will govern how Ziegler’s Belgian entities and related subsidiaries manage their assets, contracts and liabilities in the coming months. Creditors will be watching closely to see whether the process moves toward a going‑concern sale, a piecemeal asset disposal, or a court‑supervised reorganization that preserves some or all of the operating network. Given the multinational footprint, cross‑border insolvency coordination will likely be a theme, particularly where local subsidiaries face separate proceedings, as seen with the already insolvent French unit.

For employees, the situation is already severe. The French bankruptcy cost approximately 1,500 jobs, and the broader protection process now affects more than 3,200 workers across 16 countries. In markets where Ziegler provides critical regional bus or cargo capacity, shippers and public authorities may need to arrange contingency coverage, either through rival operators or temporary public interventions. Trade creditors and small subcontractors—often highly dependent on a single large client—face heightened risk of payment delays or losses if unsecured claims are impaired, a recurring pattern in recent logistics bankruptcies.

What this means for transport, credit and collections

Ziegler’s bankruptcy adds to a growing list of transport and logistics failures over the past several years, including high‑profile U.S. and European restructurings driven by freight recessions, aggressive leveraged buyouts and persistent cost inflation. For credit and collections professionals, several themes stand out:

• Heightened counterparty risk in transport and logistics: Shippers, lenders and trade creditors must reassess exposure to mid‑sized carriers with thin margins, high leverage or heavy exposure to fuel and labor costs.

• Importance of early‑warning indicators: Persistent payment delays, covenant breaches, emergency funding rounds or sudden asset sales in this sector increasingly signal deeper structural issues rather than temporary liquidity hiccups.

• Complexity of cross‑border recoveries: With operations in 16 countries and separate proceedings for some units, claim recovery will hinge on local insolvency regimes, intercompany structures and the treatment of secured versus unsecured creditors.

• Operational risk for lenders and asset‑based financiers: Equipment financiers, leasing companies and banks financing vehicles, depots or working capital must consider how quickly collateral can be redeployed in a stressed market, especially where specialized fleets are involved.

For collection agencies and legal service providers, Ziegler’s case may generate new portfolios of unpaid trade receivables, employee claims and cross‑border contract disputes as the process unfolds. It also underscores why credit teams increasingly rely on dynamic financial and operational monitoring—rather than purely historic financial statements—when setting terms with transportation counterparties exposed to fuel and volume volatility.