Yellow trucking business shuts down after a century

Yellow, one of the oldest and biggest U.S. trucking businesses, 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.

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.

A failure imperils nearly 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. 

Yellow’s financial woes have mounted this year as declining shipping demand across the freight sector has cut into volumes and sent rates falling. Its cash holdings fell to around $100 million in June from $235 million in December.

In its Sunday statement, the Teamsters union said it's working to help "affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries." While there may be some slight disruptions, the analyst anticipates other freight carriers will have some capacity to absorb Yellow's business because of a recent dent in freight volumes.

Trucking and logistics remain highly lucrative careers, with plenty of challenge and opportunities to come in the next years. The employees that were unfortunately laid off, will at least benefit from a high-demand labor market, in which they could use their skills.