Transloading Company MacMillan-Piper 'Ceasing Operations'
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Three Washington state logistics operators tied to parent company GSC Logistics Inc. recently announced layoffs of workers in Seattle and Tacoma after the loss of “operational funding.”
MacMillan-Piper, a transloading company that operates six facilities near the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, on July 10 filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with Washington State Employment Security Department.
In its letter to the state, the company cited “sudden and unforeseeable business circumstances resulting from the loss of operational funding.”
It stated that MacMillan-Piper “will be permanently ceasing operations effective July 10, 2025.”
Affected locations included two sites in Seattle and three in Tacoma, affecting approximately 92 workers.
Since expanding to Savannah in 2024, GSC has delivered 536% volume growth and is on track for 35,000 containers in 2025—bringing trusted performance, visibility, and scalable solutions to the Southeast. Learn more: — GSC (@Go_GSC)
The affected positions “include a variety of warehouse, management, operations and support,” the letter stated, also noting the layoffs were “permanent, and no bumping or recall rights exist.”
GSC also noted that “the acquisition creates an ideal new network of terminals, yards and chassis strategically located within two miles of both the Seattle and Tacoma ports for GSC.”
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Additional WARN letters obtained by The News Tribune from the state after two more filings were announced July 15 offered more clues as to turmoil behind the scenes with both MacMillan-Piper and GSC.
One WARN filing listed layoffs affecting 10 workers with GSC Transport in Tacoma, along with another filing for GSC Solutions of Tacoma, affecting seven workers, both also going into effect July 10.
Both GSC Solutions’ letter and GSC Transport’s letter to Washington’s Employment Security Department state, “On July 10, 2025, GSC received confirmation that its primary lender had terminated operational funding. This unexpected and unforeseeable development left the company without viable alternatives.”
It added, “Efforts to secure other financing or complete a business sale were unsuccessful.”
Given the details from the three notices, it is unclear whether GSC would be taking on any former MacMillan-Piper workers.
Attempts to reach officials with GSC and MacMillan-Piper were unsuccessful.
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MacMillan-Piper was founded in 1969 by James MacMillan Piper in Seattle and eventually became the largest transloader and container freight station in the Pacific Northwest, according to his 2009 obituary.
Piper sold the company to his son-in-law and daughter in 1990, who in turn sold it to another family in 2019 before GSC’s eventual acquisition.
On its website, it noted, “GSC has invested heavily in the Seattle and Tacoma markets, building an extensive network of facilities and systems that offer comprehensive logistics solutions. Over the last two years, we’ve handled more than 20,000 containers in the region, including over 12,000 containers last year, with 3,480 deliveries to Puyallup and Spanaway alone.”
