Trucking Giant Yellow to End Operations, Putting 30,000 Jobs at Risk

Yellow, one of the oldest and largest U.S. trucking companies, is ending operations.

The Details: According to The Wall Street Journal (Center bias), the company notified customers and employees over the weekend that it will file for bankruptcy. Yellow employs roughly 30,000 people, including 22,000 Teamsters union workers. Yellow's downfall reportedly quickened as customers shifted cargo to rivals in anticipation of the collapse. 

For Context: Yellow's collapse will be the biggest trucking failure in U.S. history. The company is the country's third-largest "less-than-truckload" carrier, behind FedEx and Old Dominion, and received a $700 million COVID-19 rescue loan in 2020. The Teamsters had been in negotiations for a new contract with Yellow for months, and Yellow sued the union in June for "unjustifiably blocking" essential company restructuring plans. The union called the lawsuit "baseless."

How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum covered the news as a top story Monday. Most highlighted both the projected job losses and industry voices who said they don't expect supply chain disruptions.