Global supply chain company UTI comes calling on Ruttley Freightlines over an unpaid bill
By Brad Gardner | October 18, 2011
The Australian arm of global logistics firm UTI is trying to put Ruttley Freightlines out of business over an unpaid bill stretching back to late 2010.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) received a wind-up application from UTI Australia on October 3 against Ruttley Freightlines, which is trading as Shbdya.
Solicitor Karl Balian, who lodged the application on behalf of UTI, says the matter will be heard in the NSW Supreme Court on November 15.
While declining to disclose the amount of debt Ruttley Freightlines owes UTI, Balian told ATN the company has been chasing the trucking operator since around October 2010.
“My client did some work for them and hasn’t been paid,” he says.
His law firm became involved in the matter around March this year, but Balian says Ruttley Freightlines has not responded to repeated requests to settle the debt.
The phones to the listed addresses of Ruttley Freightlines have been cut. Owner Bob Ruttley has declined requests for an interview, but his business is still operating from an undisclosed location.
“So far we don’t believe we’ve had a response to any of the documents that we’ve served and we’ve served quite a number of documents since we commenced proceedings,” Balian says.
“We have no idea whether anyone’s going to turn up [to court], whether anyone’s going to get paid. No-one has contacted us so I would not know.”
US-based UTI’s Australian head office is located in the inner Sydney suburb of Alexandria. It also has offices in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
Dating back to 1926, UTI claims to have more than 370 offices in over 60 countries providing freight forwarding services, customs brokerage and contract logistics and distribution.
The move to wind-up Ruttley Freightlines comes after Kalae – the holding company for Ruttley’s vehicles – was convicted and fined earlier this year for 84 overloading offences under chain of responsibility law in NSW.
Kalae went into administration in July, with creditors voting in August to wind it up. Other companies run by Ruttley have also racked up unpaid superannuation obligations and a significant tax debt.
