Trucking Giant Yellow Shuts Down — 22,000 Teamsters Out of Work, RI Impacted

Trucking Giant Yellow Shuts Down — 22,000 Teamsters Out of Work, RI Impacted

Yellow, one of the oldest and biggest U.S. trucking businesses, shut down on Sunday.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is “wrecked by a string of mergers that left it saddled with debt and stalled by a standoff with the Teamsters union.”

The company has a major facility in Cumberland. 

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“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,” reports the WSJ.

The company has been battling with the Teamsters for weeks and recently announced a major lawsuit against the union.

 

 

The company is headquartered in Nashville.

It sent out notices to customers and employees saying it was ceasing all operations at midday Sunday. The company is preparing to file for bankruptcy and is in talks to sell off all or parts of the business according to the WSJ. The company's website provides logins for both union and non-union employees to learn about the closure.

The collapse impacts 30,000 jobs, including around 22,000 Teamsters members. Hundreds of its nonunion employees were laid off Friday after the company stopped taking in new shipments from customers. 

The impact on America's logistic system is expected to be devastating.

According to the New York Times, the company received $700 million in federal subsidies during COVID.