CALGARY - Trucking, logistics and oilfield services firm Mullen Group Ltd. says it has temporarily laid off about 1,000 people because of the impact of measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairman and CEO Murray Mullen says the Calgary-based company was outperforming its year-earlier performance until mid-March, when demand for its services turned lower.

He says there's been a sharp decline in the demand for discretionary consumer goods as well as in commodity-based industries but its less-than-truckload and large diameter pipe transport businesses are doing well.

Mullen says the company has established a $5-million family assistance fund to help staff affected by the downturn.

The company reported net income of $4.7 million or four cents per share on revenue of $318 million in the three months ended March 31.

That's down from net income of $11.6 million or 11 cents on revenue of $320 million in the first quarter of 2019.

“The bottom line is that this health crisis is hurting a lot of people,” Mullen said in a statement.

He added: “We will see business decline, perhaps quite significantly in the short-