VANCOUVER, Wash. (Nov. 15, 2002, via truckinginfo.com) — Bankrupt trucking giant Consolidated Freightways has begun auctioning its network of terminals, raising questions about whether a group of investors will be able to revive the company and save thousands of jobs.

The company closed its doors on Labour Day, throwing more than 15,000 people out of work.

On Monday, the trucking company sold terminals in Long Beach, Calif.; Long Island, N.Y.; South Chicago, Ill.; and several other locations, raising $53 million, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

The company, based in Vancouver, Wash., has another round of terminals tentatively scheduled for auction Dec. 9.

The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.), said FedEx Corp. and Crown Enterprises were among the winning bidders on Consolidated terminals in several major cities.

Federal Express bought a terminal in the Chicago area for $10 million, paid $4.55 million for one in Des Plaines, Ill., and $1.6 million for another in Madison, Wis. Crown Enterprises bought a terminal in Hayward, Calif., for $2.9 million, a facility in Bethpage, N.Y., for $4.1 million and one in St. Cloud, Minn., for $600,000.

Roadway Express Corp. purchased a facility in Long Beach, Calif., for $7.63 million.

The most expensive property was a $ 14.75 million terminal in Brooklyn, which was bought by a company called B & H Photo.

Meanwhile, a group of private investors that wants to buy Consolidated Freightways and restart operations said it is still trying to get a meeting with the company’s board of directors and creditors’ committee.

The group had offered $500 million to buy Consolidated, including the portions in the auction, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. The offer expires today. A spokesman, Frank Snell of Fort Worth, Texas, said the group plans to submit a new offer within days.

“There will be some things in the new offer which I think will get (the company’s) attention,” Snell said. He declined to elaborate.

Snell said he was disappointed that the company didn’t show more interest in the group’s proposal. “You would think they would try to figure out how to make it work, as opposed to just trying to kiss it off, so to speak,” he said.