Yellow, one of the oldest and the nation’s third-largest trucking business, is preparing to file for bankruptcy and is discussing selling off all or parts of the business.
Yellow shut down on Sunday, wrecked by a string of mergers that left it saddled with debt and stalled by a standoff with the Teamsters Union.
What Yellow couldn’t deliver—despite swallowing rivals, getting union concessions, and securing a government bailout—was consistent service for customers or profits for investors, reports the Wall Street Journal.’
Wall Street Journal:
The 99-year-old company is known for its cut-rate prices and has more than 12,000 trucks moving freight across the country for Walmart, Home Depot, and many other smaller businesses. What Yellow couldn’t deliver—despite swallowing rivals, getting union concessions, and securing a government bailout—was consistent service for customers or profits for investors.
It imperils 30,000 jobs, including 22,000 Teamsters members. Hundreds of nonunion members were laid off Friday. That is the day the company stopped taking in new shipments from customers. It ceased all operations on Sunday.
IT LOOKS BLEAK FOR YELLOW
After nine months of stalling negotiations and finally making concessions, the Teamsters told their members that the situation looked bleak.
The U.S. Treasury owns 30% of the stock due to a loan from the Trump administration. This was in 2020 during the pandemic, followed by Bidenomics.
There is also a rice shortage due to India’s ban on the export of rice. The preparedness video below warns it could be more serious than we realize. It might be exaggerated, but it could serve as the canary in the coal mine.
As a customer that traded with Yellow for right at 50 years, I am disappointed. The union imposed a status quo that was fatal. Yellow was cash strapped and hamstrung as a result. The Union worked against the logistical and automation changes necessary to stay viable. I do not blame the union members as much as the unions themselves. The workers I encountered were hard workers.
And, let’s not leave out management on the list of what brings down businesses. I’m sure that the upper level folks got their pockets full before all the foolishness finally brought the company down. Incompetent is a word that comes to mind.
I can hear obama and jarret honking and clapping from here.
The “long march” is finally “paying dividends”.
It’s ok, when our power and digital banking are finally shut off, every politician will never need a job again! 🙂 Nor a house, nor food, etc.
“Unions are great!” Welcome to the unemployment line, go stand next to those other ex-union workers who unioned themselves out of a job. Idiots!
I don’t think you can just only blame the union for the company going belly up…Gas and diesel fuel have gone up, insurance on the trucks probably have gone up, does the company own the land their buildings and trucks? If not has the rent of the building or land gone up? Then their are politicians to blame for not helping to control inflation or taxes…Their are many other reasons why companies go belly up, it’s not just the unions to blame….To let you know I did belong to a union at one time but I don’t today….
Yellow had its own problems for a long time, I agree with that. They lagged the performance of other Truckers. As far as Unions, there’s a reason they only represent 11% of workers these days. They have failed too, turning what should be cooperation for mutual profit into discord that gains nothing.
Put the blame exactly where it belongs- the ☭ demunist party and it’s anti-American policies.