Yellow Freight closure thread

The trailer fleet badly needed upgrades, the tractor fleet just needed maintained instead of so quickly upgraded. We used third party at the two terminals I was at and one of them did a good job, had a shop near equipment could go to if needed, the other just had service trucks and did what the could, had a great trailer tech. The two inhouse shops at Columbus and Cincy were awful. We had a brand new trailer that a marker light went out, they spliced a wire from pigtail box up the nose of the trailer and screwed a whole new light in to the top and then stapled the wire to the nose box,instead of figuring out the problem. They would put steel plates over a hole in the floor instead of properly fixing it which of course would get ripped up by someone with forks down going into the trailer. Truck repair at them were almost non-existent and was more we just never saw that truck again.

The system for tracking forklift inventory didn't actually work, you would have to enter them once a week but it didn't save the terminal inventory only the hours on the lift. Tractor and Trailer inventory system didn't work either but that was being upgraded and was more an issue of terminals not using the new system because they never trained on it. They had no system for tracking shop inventory at all.It was left entirely to the local terminals to pick the hotel linehaul stayed at.

 

Well explained. But I respectfully want to push back on the last thing you mentioned. To me, it seems like upper leadership maliciously planned the closure months in advance. They knew if they failed to pay into the benefits, the insurer would stop coverage to the members; thus triggering a strike that would shut down operations. They could then say "the strike was an unforeseen circumstance" when in reality this was probably carefully planned, orchestrated, and executed. They then worked everyone to the exact point where they knew they could legally get out of the WARN act liability.

For them to say they were acting in good faith is laughable. They have done virtually NOTHING in good faith since acquiring the regionals that they dragged down with them. Now do not get me wrong, the Union is EQUALLY as bad. There is no lesser evil in this one. This was a team effort to ensure the conditions existed to where the company was unrecoverable. For those that don't know, most of this was hinged on the Union blocking the company from implementing Phase 2. This required linehaul drivers to perform some dock work and maybe P&D functions. It is a hybrid position that was called Utility Driver and would have affected 800 people. I actually done this when I worked at Reddaway as a linehaul driver about 12 years ago. I had to rest over in Spokane WA and they had nothing for me ready yet. So they had me come in after my 10 hours off and I ended up taking an empty trailer 15 miles across town and grabbed a loaded trailer. This loaded trailer ended up being my front trailer that I had to drop off in Missoula MT on my way back before going back home in Three Forks MT. It really was not a big deal and I got two extra hours of pay.

 

Anyone remember Sonny C.?

 

Yes this year alone some 17 Trucking companies have filed for bankruptcy in the second quarter of 2025, including Xtreme Quality Logistic LLC, Daniel Trucking International Inc, Deliver It, TGS Transportation Inc, Arnold Transportation Services, California Intermodal Associates Inc. (CIA), US Logistics Solutions (USLS), formerly Forward Air Solutions, Tony’s Express, Midwest Transport Inc. (MTI), Starship Logistics LLC, Yellow Corp, Carroll Fulmer, and Davis Express. Sign of the times yet the Finacial markets are ignoring all of this makes me wonder what is really going on.

 

Wow I can't believe some of those that went down. I thought Forward Air was a premier company

 

Carroll Fulmer I used to see everywhere. I am shocked/saddened that so many drivers have to re-home. I keep hearing my coworkers talk about finding a new job. If there ever was a time to find new green pastures, now is NOT that time unless you work for someone who's demise is imminent. It's borderline reckless to go job hunting right now if you are gainfully employed.

 

Big or small,new or well established, nowadays with some of these truck companies any of them could go belly up at any time.
my exulted place of work will be 80 years old next year, and even then we’ve taken steps to ensure it’s survival, unfortunately at some expense of us lowly “foot soldiers”!
Remember, Yellow was almost 100 years old when it’s shut down!

 

Speaking as someone that was on the inside of Yellow - indirectly (I worked for USF Dugan and USF Holland) - they put themselves out of business. Maybe intentionally, honestly. USF was a well run company. At one point in the late 90s it was the most efficient trucking company out there (USF Holland at least). After Yellow bought them out it went right down the pipe, and got worse once we were "absorbed" into Yellow.

Yellow management sucked every dime out of it they could before it went down.

 

Speaking from the outside, it seems funny to me that they could generate so many millions selling off properties yet couldn't find enough money to stay afloat.
In many ways it sounds like a Teamster payback.

 

That was the value behind Yellow was the amount of properties and locations they owned and the number of National Contracts they had. Teamsters put the coffin in the ground at the end but bad management and bad luck is what killed them. Buying two other LTL companies for about 3 billion and financing it with debt just before the biggest financial crash in decades is bad luck. Not integrating those companies and working the debt down was bad management.

The Teamster payback only cost them 22,000 Union Jobs.