A Tennessee truck stop that received a federal grant to install electrification equipment to reduce truck idling had declared bankruptcy and was closed earlier this month.
The TR Auto Truck Plaza on Interstate 40 in Dandridge was closed and seized by a bank Oct. 3 after an auction failed to solicit a single bid, according to news reports.
In June 2010 the business received an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant of $424,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and administered through the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The grant was received days after the truck stop owners had filed for bankruptcy and a month after a bank had sued the owners for failing to repay a $2 million loan, news reports said.
A state tax lien was filed July 2010 against the business. It was reported the state didn’t learn of the bankruptcy until October 2010.
The grant covered the cost to install EnviroDock electrification units in 30 parking spaces, including 20 E-Dock units for heating and cooling and 10 PowrDock pedestals for electricity only, according to the EnviroDock website. The installation was announced last July.
