A trucking giant that's been on America's roads for almost a century is on the brink of collapse with 30,000 jobs at risk, report says
- A trucking giant is in danger of shutting down for good, leaving 30,000 unemployed, WSJ reports.
- Yellow Corp. has serviced retail giants for nearly a century.
After 99 years in business, a titan in the trucking industry is reportedly days away from shutting down.
Yellow Corporation, a company that services Walmart, Home Depot, and more, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company laid off hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday, and 30,000 more are in danger of losing their jobs.
The Nashville-based company received a $700 million CARES Act loan from the Trump administration in 2020 – a decision that garnered scrutiny amid objections from the Defense Department. Its potential shutdown would put 22,000 Teamsters out of work.
"Teamsters have kept this company afloat for more than a decade through billions of dollars in wage, pension and work-rule concessions," a union spokesman told The Journal. "Yellow couldn't manage itself, and it wasn't up to Teamsters to do it for them."
The Teamsters told union members that the "likelihood that Yellow will survive is increasingly bleak" in a memo on Friday, per The Journal. Customers have reportedly been leaving the company for its competitors amid talks to sell parts of the business.
The average income of truckers today is half the $110,000 per year they earned in 1980 due in part to the Motor Carrier Act passed the same year. The act deregulated the trucking industry by letting trucking companies to set their own rates.
Representatives for Yellow didn't return Insider's request for comment by deadline.