Yellow Corporation (NASDAQ:YELL) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it failed to reorganize and refinance over a billion dollars in debt.
In a statement, the company said the move will result in the loss of 30,000 American jobs.
Nashville, Tennessee-based Yellow, formerly called YRC Worldwide, is one of the US’s largest trucking firms. It filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court, listing assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion and more than 100,000 creditors, according to a report on Reuters. Customers include retailers Walmart and Home Depot, as well as Uber Freight.
Last week, the company said it would cease operations immediately as it prepared to file for bankruptcy. That's after narrowly averting a threatened strike by 22,000 Teamsters-represented workers.
The company said in June that the Teamsters union was blocking restructuring and modernization efforts, which it said were critical for Yellow's survival and ability to refinance about $1.3 billion of debt due to be repaid by 2024.
“It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business,” Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins said in a statement.
“Today, it is not common for someone to work at one company for 20, 30, or even 40 years, yet many at Yellow did. For generations, Yellow provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with solid, good-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.”
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com