Assist to Transport Files a 39-Worker WARN Closure Notice in Manitowoc, Wisconsin

A new WARN filing in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, reports that 39 workers will be affected by a closure effective December 31, 2026. The notice, listed under the name Assist to Transport / Student Transportation of America, was filed on October 30, 2026, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development record tracked by Layoff Atlas. That leaves 62 days between the notice date and the effective date — just over the federal WARN Act's standard 60-day notice period.

The filing is the newest official Wisconsin notice in the registry, and it is the largest dated filing on Layoff Atlas's national homepage that had not yet been covered by this series. Larger recent filings already covered include the 634-worker Comcast Technology Center filing in Philadelphia and the 114-worker GEICO filing in Lakeland, Florida, both also effective December 31, 2026.

What the filing says

The details, as recorded from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, are:

• Employer as listed: Assist to Transport / Student Transportation of America
• Location: Manitowoc, Wisconsin
• Workers affected: 39
• Event type: Closure
• Notice date: October 30, 2026
• Effective date: December 31, 2026

The registry lists the employer name exactly as it appears in the filing, with the two names joined by a slash. Grouped company names in the registry do not by themselves establish ownership or a corporate relationship, so this article reports the listing as filed.

The 62-day notice period

The federal WARN Act generally requires covered employers to give 60 days' advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. The 62-day gap here clears that standard by two days. That window is the time workers have to plan: to file for unemployment benefits, to look for new work, to ask about severance or accrued benefits, and to use rapid-response services offered through the state workforce system.

A WARN notice is a report of a planned action, not a confirmation that every listed job has already been lost. Filings are sometimes amended, and some planned reductions are scaled back before the effective date. These are reported plans, not confirmed job losses, and December 31 should be read as the scheduled date, not as an event that has already happened.

December 31 is a crowded date

The Manitowoc closure joins a cluster of filings effective December 31, 2026. In Wisconsin, two other recent filings share that date: M.M.D. in Kenosha, with 148 workers, noticed on October 29, 2026, and UMOS in Milwaukee, with 44 workers, noticed on October 28, 2026. Nationally, the same date appears on the Comcast Technology Center filing in Philadelphia (634 workers), the GEICO filing in Lakeland, Florida (114 workers), the Alaska Airlines filing in Washington (121 workers), and the International Automotive Components Group filing in Cottondale, Alabama (83 workers).

Wisconsin in the national picture

Layoff Atlas records 611 non-cancelled imported notices for Wisconsin, reporting 60,438 workers affected, with 8 notices carrying future effective dates. Over the last 365 days, the state's imported archive contains 55 eligible official filings reporting 4,488 workers. In 2026 so far, Wisconsin has 56 notices reporting 4,437 workers.

Nationally, the current 90-day window shows 654 notices covering 62,051 reported workers, with 26 worker counts unavailable. California (17,995 workers) and Washington (17,225 workers) lead the state ranking by a wide margin, followed by Illinois (3,649), Texas (2,863), and Maryland (2,395). These rankings reflect where WARN notices have been filed and reported in the window, not a complete census of layoffs: coverage and reporting rules vary by state, and missing source coverage is not the same as zero layoffs.

The upcoming calendar is heavy. By effective week, Layoff Atlas currently shows 3,224 workers scheduled for the week of November 4, 6,224 for November 11, 5,939 for November 18, and 9,858 for November 25 — the heaviest of the six weeks shown — followed by 1,795 for December 2 and 1,705 for December 9, a six-week total of 28,745 workers. The Manitowoc filing falls just beyond that window, in the final week of the year.

What workers can do now

For the 39 workers named in the filing, the standard steps apply. Confirm the details with the employer: the exact last day of work, whether any severance package applies, and what happens to health coverage and accrued paid time off. Contact the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development about unemployment insurance — a WARN notice itself is not an unemployment claim, and benefits depend on individual eligibility. Ask whether rapid-response services are available; these state-run sessions, often triggered by a WARN filing, cover benefits, job search help, and retraining. Keep copies of the notice and any separation paperwork.

How to read this filing

Small filings like this one rarely make national news, but they are the bulk of WARN data. Most notices involve dozens of workers, not hundreds or thousands, and most are recorded by state agencies without a press release. A 39-worker closure in Manitowoc, a 148-worker layoff in Kenosha, and a 44-worker layoff in Milwaukee add up to a state total that, over a year, runs into the thousands. The value of a WARN notice is that it makes the plan public while workers still have time to act on it — 62 days, in this case, between the notice and the last day.

Data source: Layoff Atlas