On Sunday, August 13th, Yellow files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after three years of receiving $700 million from the federal government.
“It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business,” CEO Darren Hawkins said in a news release late Sunday. “For generations, Yellow provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with solid, good-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.”
Hawkins said the business intends to fully pay back the federal loan, which was given to the company in 2020 because of what officials at the time said was Yellow’s crucial role in national security as a transportation provider to the Department of Defense.
While a Chapter 11 filing is used to restructure debt while operations continue, Yellow, like other trucking companies in recent years, will liquidate and the U.S. will join other creditors unlikely to recover funds extended to the company. The company said it has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for permission to make payments, including for employee wages and benefits, taxes and certain vendors essential to its businesses.
The company said it has lined up a loan to fund its stay in chapter 11, including selling assets. Yellow owns some 12,000 trucks and dozens of freight terminals across the country.
Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., was one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company had 30,000 employees across the country.
