On July 21, 2023, I was on FreightWaves’ What The Truck with Timothy Dooner talking about Yellow. Yellow, a $5B a year, 33,000 employee-strong, 99 year old, publicly traded juggernaut. A motor carrier of a bygone era. In a Kansas court room, Yellow battled for its life.
It had missed a $50M pension payment to Central States Pension Fund; 11,000 families would lose their health insurance as a result. The Teamsters threatened a strike. Yellow begged the Court to block the strike from happening. Because, as Yellow admitted in open court, if a strike occurred, Yellow would be bankrupt by the end of the week.
And yet here we are.
Even a $700M loan from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2020 couldn’t keep Yellow afloat. And One Yellow, the effort to restructure the business entirely, had stalled amid labor disputes. Yes, Yellow would fail, but not on July 21. Yellow would lose in court that day. However, Central States Pension Fund and the Teamsters would make a deal over the weekend that gave Yellow an extension; precious time, but too little too late. Bankruptcy was inevitable.
This episode marks the beginning of the end for Yellow. Even with over $1B in debt, Yellow’s vast real estate holdings remain a goldmine. The story is still being written. But do you want to know why this episode was WTTs most popular in 2023?
One word: Yellow.
Link to the Freightwaves article: Your top 5 WHAT THE TRUCK?!? episodes of the year – FreightWaves
Link to the Youtube video: Life or death: Court decides Yellow’s fate | WHAT THE TRUCK?!? – YouTube
