Century-Old Nashville Trucking Company to Cease Operations
Yellow Corporation notified Teamsters Union of plans to cease operations and declare bankruptcy on July 30th
Yellow Corporation (NASDAQ: YELL), the oldest and one of the largest less-than-truckload (LTL) network operators in the United States, delivered legal notice to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Sunday, July 30th that it is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
The notice follows fraught negotiations between the company and the union over Yellow’s “One Yellow” business-modernization plan, with significant public acrimony seen earlier in July over the company’s requests to defer contributions to certain pension and health and welfare funds and the potential for a strike over the company’s failure to make the payments. Over 80% of the company’s employees were union members.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
Since its origins in 1924, when A.J. Harrell founded the Yellow Cab Transit Co. in Oklahoma City, Yellow Corporation grew along with the expansion of the American interstate highway system in the post-war period to become the largest LTL carrier in the United States, with over 30,000 employees and 12,700 tractors transporting over 14 million annual shipments as of the end of 2022. The company’s subsidiaries include USF Holland, New Penn Motor Express, USF Reddaway, and YRC. In addition to maintaining its principal corporate office in Nashville since 2022, the company also operates one of its 10 largest national service facilities with 213 doors in the city.