Laid off from Universal Logistics Holdings.

What Universal Logistics Holdings layoffs have meant for employees

If you worked at Parsec's North Charleston or Austell sites, the reason on record sat with a customer. The North Charleston notice said Parsec's "extensive efforts to negotiate an ongoing business relationship with this customer failed," the Post and Courier reported, and it expected the layoffs to be permanent "as there are no correlating business opportunities at this time." Norfolk Southern's answer was that it was switching contractors at Goer Drive. On that record North Charleston was a lost contract with the work carrying on, not a job Universal decided to stop doing. Georgia's record for Austell lists a permanent closure covering all 179 people at the worksite. Neither that Post and Courier story nor What Now on Austell names a next operator or says whether anyone from Parsec went to work for one.

Contract renewal was a stated risk at Parsec before Universal owned it, in Illinois in 2023, and in 2021 the company went further and named a railroad as a possible employer for its Jacksonville staff, the Jax Daily Record reported. That was a hope in a letter, not a hiring record. If a railroad keeps your yard running under someone new, any openings that operator posts may be worth a look, with pay, seniority and shifts there yours to settle with that employer.

Rail isn't the only part of Universal that leans on a few customers. Its 2025 10-K counts about 50 customer-provided locations run under contractual arrangements, and it puts automotive customers at about 45% of revenue, General Motors alone at about 25% and the top ten customers at about 59%. Those are company-wide revenue numbers, not a forecast for any site, but they show how much of the business sits with a few customers' decisions.

In Detroit, what a notice offered depended on the building. At Huber Street, a letter let workers with enough seniority bump into first shift, FreightWaves reported, while the Georgia Street filing later that year offered transfer rights and no bumping, the Detroit Free Press reported. Both sites were Teamsters Local 299, and union contracts run well past Detroit. The same 10-K counted about 37% of employees as union-represented as of December 31, 2025, and Georgia's record marks 139 of the 179 Austell positions union. If you're under one of those contracts, having your seniority date and any transfer paperwork close at hand could save time if a notice lands. The Free Press doesn't say whether its 352 positions overlap the 677 Crain's Detroit reported, so the two numbers can't safely be added together.

Nashville is the closing Universal described as its own choice. The company's August 2024 8-K said it acted "to best position the Company to execute on its highest priorities," and most of the staff were out the day they were told. The money at Compton is a labor-case record, not a severance schedule. The drivers' backpay came from a private settlement that ended a multi-year dispute with the Teamsters on the eve of trial, NLRB Region 21 said, so it doesn't measure what a Universal layoff pays.

A notice may not carry Universal's name at all. The filer can be Parsec or Logistics Insight Corp., and you could try our WARN tracker under either name. Parsec told South Carolina it gave North Charleston staff information on unemployment insurance, job placement and retraining. For the first of those, you can check our unemployment pages for Florida, Ohio, Georgia and South Carolina, one for each state on Parsec's 2026 notices.

A sourced history of Universal Logistics Holdings layoffs

• February to May 2026, Parsec rail terminal closing notices

  Parsec's notices covered 147 jobs in Jacksonville, 115 in Columbus, 179 in Austell and 39 in North Charleston, all with May 1 dates, in our WARN tracker. It tied Austell to losing a key customer, What Now reported, and North Charleston to the "loss of the entirety" of a contract, per the Post and Courier.

• January 2025, Parsec's Franklin Park, Illinois closing notice

  Parsec told Illinois it would close 10800 South Franklin Ave., with 49 workers and a first layoff date of April 6, per our WARN tracker and the state's report, which marks the site union with bumping rights.

• January 2025, Universal Logistics Intermodal closure notice in Fontana

  A closure notice listed 46 jobs at 15033 Slover Avenue, effective March 22, our WARN tracker and California's report show, after a 42-job layoff notice at that street number in February 2024.

• December 2024, Georgia Street warehouse closing notice in Detroit

  Logistics Insight Corp. planned to close the warehouse, with 352 positions eliminated and layoffs planned from February 18, the Detroit Free Press reported. Its filing said transfer rights under the Teamsters Local 299 contract would be honored, and it said bumping rights don't exist.

• October 2024, Huber Street second-shift layoff date in Detroit

  Notices listed 62 Universal Logistics Insights jobs and 30 Universal Dedicated drivers at 6500 Huber St., effective October 22, with the shift's end "expected to be permanent," FreightWaves reported.

• August 2024, Nashville brokerage shut down

  Universal ended its Universal Capacity Solutions brokerage, telling about 125 employees on August 20 their jobs were ending and terminating about 112 that day, its August 2024 8-K said, with the rest expected out by September 13.

• April 2024, 677 Universal layoffs reported in Detroit

  Universal Logistics planned to lay off 677 in Detroit, Crain's Detroit reported, in a story whose caption named the 1 million-square-foot building at 6836 Georgia St.

• May 2023, possible Parsec closing at Elwood, Illinois

  For the Parsec, Inc. notice in our WARN tracker, Illinois's May report lists 434 workers at 27236 International Port Rd., a June 30 first layoff date and the cause "May lose contract renewal."

• August 2022, Compton settlement with the Teamsters

  The Universal Intermodal companies agreed to reopen a closed Compton drayage business, offer reinstatement to about 66 drivers and pay them millions in backpay, NLRB Region 21 said, and to seek to vacate a judge's 2021 finding of multiple violations.

• February 2021, Parsec letters on Florida East Coast Railway yards

  Parsec told Florida it would shut yard operations in Miami, affecting 59 workers, and Jacksonville, affecting 55, per the Jax Daily Record. The Jacksonville letter said it was "hopeful that many of our impacted employees will become employed by FEC at this location."

What to do if you're laid off from Universal Logistics Holdings

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Universal Logistics Holdings's biggest hubs: Michigan, Georgia, Florida, California. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Universal Logistics Holdings's hub states run: Michigan, Georgia, Florida, California, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.