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See also:  [[Transportation]]

====== Articles ======


== Truckers are caught on the front lines of California’s EV push ==

By 2024, trucks bought for use in the state’s ports and rail yards must be zero-emission.

Aarian Marshall, wired.com - 5/18/2023, 6:42 AM

If you live in the US, the stuff you buy—that new dining room table, bag of rice, or pair of pants heading to your home right now—may experience the all-electric future of global transportation before you do.

Tens of millions of tons of goods move through California’s ports each year, proceeding from ship to port and beyond on hulking semitrucks. Forty percent of the nation’s containerized imports move through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alone, vital links in a global chain of commerce connecting factories all over the world to American doorsteps.

Yet a new rule passed by California’s air regulator last month demands major changes to that supply chain, in the name of saving Earth’s climate and the lungs of people who live close to ports. By 2035, every California drayage vehicle—large trucks that move goods between ports, rail yards, and distribution centers—must be a zero-emission vehicle. From next year on, any trucking or shipping company that acquires a new truck is required to buy an electric model powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/05/truckers-are-caught-on-the-front-lines-of-californias-ev-push/

== Shared truckload adoption grows in a rising cost environment ==

Ashley Coker Prince - Thu, December 19, 2024 at 8:00 AM PST

The Great Freight Recession has officially come to an end. As the market shifts, shippers should prepare for rising costs in the new year. Now is the time for companies to optimize their operations and onboard new strategic providers to safeguard themselves over the next year.

For mid-market and enterprise shippers, building a Shared Truckload strategy into their 2025 transportation plan could mean the difference between thriving and barely surviving.

“We’ve seen large, sophisticated shippers come to us to incorporate Shared Truckload as part of their overall network strategy,” Flock Freight CFO & COO, Pat Dillon said. “As the market environment is shifting, the need to drive cost-effectiveness without sacrificing speed, service, and resiliency is more important than ever.”

Flock Freight converts the 43% of truckloads moving partially empty in the U.S. into savings for shippers and earnings for carriers through their Shared Truckload (STL) model. Flock leverages their patented machine learning technology to find and fill the empty space in trucks, identifying the best STL combinations.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shared-truckload-adoption-grows-rising-160000108.html




===== 2023 Industry  =====

== Layoffs and bankruptcies pile up in logistics amid shocking downturn ==

We’re seeing too many trucks for too little freight

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Friday, November 17, 2023

Since launching in 2017, FreightWaves’ team of award-winning reporters has covered the good — and bad — news and events in the transportation and logistics industries.

In those years, the freight transportation market has enjoyed prosperous times and periods of pain and misery. The freight market undergoes boom-and-bust cycles, like all commoditized industries.

FreightWaves SONAR correctly predicted the start of a drop in the freight market in March 2022. Since then, the overcapacity spurred by the pandemic has caused freight-hauling rates to drop to 2019 levels — or worse. For the past 18-plus months, there have simply been too many trucks for too little freight.

However, the impact has gone beyond U.S. trucking fleets and freight brokerages. The problems are not confined to the United States or just trucking. Ocean carriers, railroads, air cargo carriers and freight forwarders around the world have been impacted as well.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/layoffs-and-bankruptcies-pile-up-in-logistics-amid-shocking-downturn

== Transportation capacity grows faster in November, prices continue to slide ==

Logistics Managers’ Index falls back into contraction territory

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, December 05, 2023

A November survey of supply chain managers fell back into contraction territory with transportation metrics partly to blame.

The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) produced a reading of 49.4 during the month, which was 7.1 percentage points worse than October and followed three consecutive months of expansion. The data is compiled in a diffusion index where a reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below 50 signals contraction.

The index’s transportation metrics remained uninspiring from a carriers’ perspective during November. Capacity (61.8) increased 5.2 points, utilization (50) fell 10.7 points and pricing (44.2) remained on the decline.

Transportation capacity remained “prevalent across the supply chain” and has been on the rise since April 2022, according to the Tuesday report. When asked about transportation capacity one year from now, respondents returned a reading of 48.2, with downstream participants like retailers expecting a faster rate of contraction (43.8).

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/transportation-capacity-grows-faster-in-november-prices-continue-to-slide










===== 2025 Industry =====

== Multi-modal solutions will be critical in 2025 freight environment ==

Ashley Coker Prince - Mon, December 23, 2024 at 10:45 AM PST

The transportation and logistics industry is in a constant state of flux as the market shifts and the Great Freight Recession comes to an end. Shippers should expect a more expensive pricing environment over the next several months.

Despite these changing conditions, companies can remain competitive by embracing flexibility, efficiency and innovation. When the cost of doing business increases, making moves toward more efficient operating structures becomes more important than ever.

No two companies are the same, and neither are their freight needs. This is especially true in today’s competitive supply chain landscape. Flexibility, cost-effectiveness and reliability are no longer just nice-to-haves – they’re critical to staying ahead. And multi-modal solutions are often the answer.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/multi-modal-solutions-critical-2025-184500462.html

== Carriers clawing back some pricing power ==

Tony Mulvey - Mon, December 23, 2024 at 6:00 AM PST

This week’s FreightWaves Supply Chain Pricing Power Index: 40 (Shippers)

Last week’s FreightWaves Supply Chain Pricing Power Index: 35 (Shippers)

Three-month FreightWaves Supply Chain Pricing Power Index Outlook: 40 (Shippers)

The FreightWaves Supply Chain Pricing Power Index uses the analytics and data in FreightWaves SONAR to analyze the market and estimate the negotiating power for rates between shippers and carriers.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/carriers-clawing-back-pricing-power-140000964.html

== Truckload’s shrinking length of haul ==

Zach Strickland, FW Market Expert & Market Analyst - Sat, January 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM PST

The average length of haul for a truckload has plummeted in recent months, averaging nearly 8% shorter year over year to start 2025. This is a dramatic shift from what was happening this summer, when the load lengths were averaging 7% longer than the previous year. This may not seem like much to the outside observer, but the implications are quite dramatic from a supply chain management and carrier perspective.

The data suggests the shrinking load lengths are being driven by simultaneous growth in demand for loads moving less than 100 miles and shrinking demand for loads moving more than 450 miles.

In the chart above, COTVI (green) represents local truckload tenders that move less than a fourth of a day’s drive. Its annual growth rate averaged around 20% throughout 2024. The COTVI growth rate outperformed all other load lengths. Total tender volume growth averaged around 7% for the entire year.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/truckload-shrinking-length-haul-013000694.html

== 5 trucking storylines to watch in 2025 ==

Colin Campbell - Mon, January 27, 2025 at 3:53 AM PST

The trucking industry is eagerly anticipating a long-awaited rebound in freight rates this year as well as an easier regulatory environment following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

But those are far from the only matters commanding carrier executives’ attention in 2025.

FedEx’s spinoff of its Freight division and a multibillion-dollar acquisition hinted by TFI International are expected to change the face of an industry still absorbing the shock of the largest bankruptcy in trucking history two years ago.

Based on Trucking Dive’s coverage of the industry and executives’ statements in interviews and earnings calls, here are five major storylines to monitor this year.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-trucking-storylines-watch-2025-115300204.html




==== Employment ====

== Hiring trends and what to expect from the driver market in 2025 ==

Ashley Coker Prince - Tue, January 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM PST

The Great Freight Recession has come to an end, and the gradual shift toward higher rates is offering both carriers and drivers a much-needed reprieve for the first time in years. It will likely also spur more drivers to consider leaving their current fleets and entering the job market.

The trucking industry has historically grappled with sky-high turnover rates. In fact, the average driver is on the market about three times per year, according to Tenstreet CEO Tim Crawford. That rate dropped a bit during the freight and wider economic turmoil of 2024, with drivers appearing more hesitant than they have in quite some time.

“Drivers are being more cautious than they have been in a really long time, but we look to see that relax as green shoots develop,” Crawford said.

As the market continues to improve, however, fleets should refocus their efforts on recruiting and retaining quality drivers.

From the drivers’ perspective, frequent fleet changes help them maximize their profits and secure the best benefits possible for their families. Carriers hoping to hire new drivers and retain their workforce during the market shift should make it clear that the best opportunities for drivers exist within their companies.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hiring-trends-expect-driver-market-190000272.html




===== Crime / Fraud  =====

==== 2024  ====

== Top 5 freight fraud stories of 2024 ==

Grace Sharkey - Thu, December 26, 2024 at 12:48 PM PST

This year freight fraud took center stage, exposing cracks in the logistics industry’s defenses and leaving a trail of financial devastation. From coordinated ransom schemes to pandemic relief fraud, 2024 showcased the growing sophistication and reach of bad actors in transportation.

These cases revealed a troubling pattern of exploiting systemic vulnerabilities. Fraudsters used tools like falsified documents, illegal carriers and shell companies to bypass regulations and manipulate financial systems. The industry saw brokers, carriers and investors fall victim to schemes that spanned everything from Ponzi operations to digital freight mismanagement.

Coordinated attacks, such as ransom operations targeting multiple brokers, highlighted the need for stronger safeguards against fraud. Similarly, pandemic-era relief programs intended to stabilize the sector became a breeding ground for financial lies, as fraudsters got their hands on millions meant for legitimate recovery efforts.

These stories serve as a wake-up call for logistics professionals, regulators and investors. They emphasize the importance of improving due diligence, enforcing compliance and adopting technologies like real-time tracking and fraud detection systems.

As the industry reflects on these scandals before the new year, lessons learned must shape the strategies and safeguards of 2025.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-5-freight-fraud-stories-204853602.html






===== LTL Trucking  =====

== US LTL carriers plan expansion despite market uncertainty ==

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor - Jul 24, 2023, 4:55 PM EDT

Some of the largest US less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers are adding capacity despite lower freight volumes, existing excess capacity and economic uncertainty. They are opening new facilities or adding new doors to existing terminals, increasing density and capacity in LTL lanes critical to their customers. 

Estes Express Lines, the fifth-largest US LTL carrier, opened a new 76-door terminal this month in New Orleans with 32,515 square feet of dock space. XPO, the fourth-largest LTL carrier, added 46 doors to its Norcross, Ga., terminal this month, expanding its coverage in the Atlanta metropolitan area. 

https://www.joc.com/article/us-ltl-carriers-plan-expansion-despite-market-uncertainty_20230724.html








===== Theft / Hijacking =====

== Cargo theft, led by food and beverage, is surging across the U.S. ==

Lori Ann LaRocco - SAT, MAR 25 2023 9:51 AM EDT / UPDATED SAT, MAR 25 2023 3:35 PM EDT

Food and beverage coming into port or in a warehouse is No. 1 on the list of products being targeted by freight thieves who are increasing their criminal activity across the national supply chain. It’s a sign of the economic times, and adding further pressure to the high prices faced by consumers during an elevated inflation environment.

“During the financial downturn in 2008, we saw a theft shift towards food and beverage where it stayed in that spot until the end of 2019,” says Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at insurance provider Travelers. “In 2020, we saw the target move to household goods, because we were all at home. In 2021, electronic theft was high due to some shortages as a result of all the working and schooling from home.”

Food inflation has moderated, but remains up almost 10% year over year, according to the latest CPI data from February, released earlier this month. Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices fell for the first time since December 2021 in February, but egg prices, a prime example of what is historically volatile food inflation, remain up 55.4% from a year ago.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/25/cargo-theft-led-by-food-and-beverage-is-surging-across-the-us.html

== Cargo thefts spiked 68% in Q4, led by food and beverage freight ==

Security experts see strategic cargo thefts soaring across US

Noi Mahoney - Thursday, March 21, 2024

When trade operator Mary Sandoval recently sent a truck to pick up a load of avocados from a warehouse in Laredo, Texas, she was appalled when the load and tractor-trailer vanished without a trace almost immediately after leaving the facility.

“The truck showed up to the warehouse, gave the warehouse the load pick up number and then drove off and disappeared,” Sandoval said. “We never heard from them, and don’t know where the avocados went.”

Sandoval, whose name has been changed for this story, spoke to FreightWaves on condition of anonymity. It’s the second time Sandoval’s Texas-based logistics brokerage has been the target of strategic cargo thieves over the past year, leaving the company with over $200,000 in damages that they had to pay out of pocket.

“Cargo theft is everywhere, but not enough people are doing anything about it,” Sandoval said. “I spoke to a woman who has a company in McAllen, Texas, that’s had six loads stolen in one year. She said she can’t pay for any of the lost loads and is afraid she’ll have to shut down.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-thefts-spiked-68-in-q4-led-by-food-and-beverage-freight







===== Trucking =====

== TruckSmarter comes out of stealth with a free load board for truckers ==

Rebecca Bellan - 8:00 AM PDT•September 14, 2022

Technological innovation has caused a rise in e-commerce that is crying out for more truck drivers to deliver our smartphones and Pelotons and pineapples. But the trucking industry, the backbone of all our hedonistic spending, has yet to see the same level of tech advancements needed to create a stable and resilient supply chain.

The industry is incredibly fragmented, with truckers, a large majority of whom are owner-operators, spending hours of their day searching for brokers and shippers who will give them their next gig. And when they find it, they’ll spend almost half their time sitting idly in clogged ports waiting to be loaded or unloaded — a task that is probably as boring as it is detrimental to a trucker’s bottom line, according to Daniel Kao, co-founder and CEO of TruckSmarter, who says truckers largely get paid on a per-mile basis.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/14/trucksmarter-stealth-free-load-board-for-truckers/

== On Trucking ==

January 5, 2023 - Richard Kong

**Introduction**

Last year, I cofounded a trucking startup, went through YC W22, visited truck stops, raised a seed round, and left the startup. Speed running startups, any %.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on my time in trucking with a couple of other founders in the trucking space. It’s, well, interesting.

Building in trucking is incredibly rewarding because you have a real impact on real people (trucking is the number one employer in 35 states).

Building in trucking is also incredibly frustrating. Drivers, owners, brokers, dispatchers, shippers, providers, and others working in the industry all have different opinions on the space. With so much fragmentation, it becomes difficult to truly understand what the customer wants.

So, below are my thoughts on trucking for future trucking founders.

https://snowingpine.com/2023/01/05/on-trucking

== North Carolina trucking company to shut down after top customer pulls out ==

Over 200 of FreightWorks Transport's employees, including 140 drivers, losing jobs

Clarissa Hawes - Tuesday, March 07, 2023

A North Carolina trucking company notified over 200 drivers, employees and mechanics on Tuesday it is ceasing operations after 11 years after some of its major customers demanded “massive rate and volume concessions.” 

FreightWorks Transport LLC, doing business as FreightWorks Transportation & Logistics, headquartered in Rutherfordton, operated 186 power units with around 140 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website.

In a video message to employees and drivers, Joyce Siqueira, vice president of operations for FreightWorks, said the “most honorable path that we can take for the benefit of our employees, our customers and our other stakeholders is an orderly closing of the company.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/unexpected-economic-headwinds-force-freightworks-transport-to-cease-operations

== The freight market downturn is a year old. When will the market turn around? ==

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Monday, April 03, 2023

It has been a year since I wrote “Why I believe a freight recession is imminent.” The article, published on March 31, 2022, stated my case for why I thought the U.S. trucking market was headed for a significant downturn. 

The information in the article was based on analysis from SONAR, FreightWaves’ high-frequency freight data and price reporting platform. SONAR is the market’s leading freight market analytics and price reporting system. 

At first, there was a great deal of vitriol aimed at the FreightWaves analysis and also disagreement about the health of the freight market. This was most pronounced coming from asset-based truckload carriers that predominantly operate in the contract market. The downturn, they believed, was a spot market phenomenon that wouldn’t impact them. 

Others contested the SONAR data and the FreightWaves staff analysis because they were using lagging indicators and government data. These tools have consistently proved to have little value and do not provide actionable insights that participants can use to manage their business — as SONAR does. Sure, they may provide some level of insight about what happened six months ago, but in the freight business, that might as well be a lifetime ago.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-freight-market-downturn-is-a-year-old-when-will-the-market-turn-around

== Border town boom is realigning the freight market ==

Freight demand shift is lurking threat to future rates

Zach Strickland, FW Market Expert & Market Analyst - Saturday, August 19, 2023

Truckload demand has nearly doubled out of the border town Texas markets of Laredo and McAllen since 2018. Phoenix has experienced a similar developmental boom, becoming a proxy for California’s old warehousing capital in Southern California’s Inland Empire. This shifting demand pattern is changing transportation networks and will subsequently impact future pricing structures. 

Transportation demand patterns continue to show signs of shifting east, even as tender volumes have been increasing once again out of Southern California. The Ontario, California, market, which houses a large portion of warehousing and distribution centers for some of the nation’s largest companies, has lost market share to other areas regarding outbound freight demand. 

The Outbound Tender Market Share indexes measure the percentage of outbound tenders relative to all of the other 135 markets in the U.S. The Ontario market accounted for roughly 4% of all freight tenders in July 2018 but has been averaging around 3.75% over the past month.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/border-town-boom-is-changing-the-freight-market

== Is there relief in sight for trucking companies? ==

A true market shift appears unlikely in the near-term future

Ashley Coker - Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Earlier this month, less-than-truckload giant Yellow filed for bankruptcy, leading to over 30,000 lost jobs and an intense bidding war over the defunct company’s terminals. It also led to a sudden LTL capacity nosedive. 

The market is still depressed, but recent layoffs and closures have fueled enough uncertainty to make some players wonder about changing market tides.

“The LTL industry is unique right now. Rates are increasing and yet carriers are laying off, or in Yellow’s case, closing their doors,” host and founder of the popular Meet Me for Coffee podcast Samantha Jones said. “If I were to try to describe the overall mindset in the trucking industry, I would say it is one of optimism that things are going to improve when the ‘market flips,’ paired with fear that the market flipping may be too far out to save them.” 

That is a very real fear, as more and more carriers are forced out of the market on a near-daily basis.

“It has been brutal for carriers,” Trucker Tools’ Chief Operating Officer Rohit Bezewada said. “They are continuing to face soft volumes, weak spot rates and cost inflation. Many have decided to leave the market.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-there-relief-in-sight-for-trucking-companies

== Carrier Revenge: The freight market’s impending power shift ==

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Fri, December 13, 2024 at 2:39 PM PST

In the ever-evolving landscape of the freight industry, a new phenomenon is emerging that threatens to upend the delicate balance between shippers and carriers. Known as “carrier revenge,” this impending shift in market dynamics promises to reshape how goods are transported across the nation.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/carrier-revenge-freight-market-impending-223952016.html






===== Mephis Towing =====

== Driver stays in truck 33 hours to avoid being towed ==

Melissa Moon -Nov 17, 2023 / 03:57 PM CST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A truck driver who came to Memphis to recover a tractor-trailer stolen from the Chicago area stayed inside the big rig for nearly 34 hours to prevent A1’s Towing and Hauling from taking it.

The owner of MHT Group Inc. said his driver gassed up at the Shelby Express on East Shelby Drive, pulled into a spot, and was in the process of paying for parking through his dispatch when A1’s booted and blocked in the vehicle.

“We got a receipt. We called the gas station. We showed the receipt. We called the towing company, and they said ‘Oh, we booted you ten minutes before you had this receipt,'” said the owner of MHT who did not want to be identified.

He said his company offered to pay A1’s $7,500 to drop the truck, but they were told it wasn’t even close to what it would cost to get the truck back. He said police were called to the lot at least six times but told them they couldn’t interfere because the tow company had sued them.

https://wgntv.com/news/national/driver-stays-in-truck-33-hours-to-avoid-being-towed/

== ‘It needs to be put to a stop’: Trucking company faces penalty after truck towed by A1’s ==

Alex Coleman - Nov 20, 2023 06:00 PM CST / Updated Nov 20, 2023 06:29 PM CST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — There are new complaints from truckers claiming Memphis towing company A1’s Towing and Hauling is illegally towing and booting their trucks and charging them thousands to get their vehicles back.

A Little Rock trucking company is the latest to have issues with the Memphis based towing service.

“I mean, truck parking in Memphis has been a huge problem lately, absolutely,” said Andrew Adams, the owner of BigTrux Transportation.

Adams contacted WREG to say that A1’s Towing is “holding our truck hostage as we speak.”

“He (BigTrux’s driver) told me that our truck had been booted. Some random guy put a boot on our truck. One of them was unmarked, looked like a police car, Impala. They were making it look like a police car,” he said.

Adams agrees his trucker did not pay the parking fee up front. A1’s booted the truck. Adams says at first A1’s wanted $256 to unboot it and then towed the truck.

https://wreg.com/news/local/it-needs-to-be-stopped-trucking-company-faces-penalty-after-truck-towed-by-a1s/

== Council member talks tough on towing, A1’s responds ==

Alex Coleman - Nov 21, 2023 03:47 PM CST / Updated Nov 21, 2023 06:19 PM CST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — City leaders are speaking out about Memphis towing companies suspected of abusing the city’s booting and towing ordinances. 

As WREG has reported, multiple truck drivers accuse Memphis-based A1’s Towing and Hauling of illegally towing their big rigs from area truck stops and charging them thousands of dollars to retrieve their vehicles.

“Things have been tough with the trucking industry as it is, and now we got to deal with these guys demanding insane amounts of money to get them back,” said Andrew Adams, owner of Bigtrux Transportation.

Some truckers claim they’ve had to stay in their vehicles for hours to avoid being towed and they say A1’s Towing has refused to give them an “itemized” invoice for the charges.

“If it’s true, it’s reprehensible and the council will take immediate action,” City Councilman Frank Colvett said. “Nothing less, I think we need to notify the TBI and get the state and the feds involved. Nobody should be forced to stay in their vehicles for 23 hours.”

https://wreg.com/news/local/council-members-talks-tough-on-towing-a1s-responds/

== Memphis suspends A1’s towing and booting permits for 30 days ==

Melissa Moon - Nov 29, 2023 05:49 PM CST / Updated Nov 29, 2023 08:09 PM CST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A1’s Towing and Hauling’s booting and towing permits have been suspended in Memphis for 30 days.

The Transportation Commission took the action Wednesday after receiving several complaints from truck drivers who claimed they were illegally boote and towed by A1’s from area truck stops and charged thousands of dollars to get their semi-trucks back.

After submitting a request to the city, WREG discovered nearly two dozen truckers or trucking companies from around the country had filed official complaints against A1’s with the permits office over the last year.

https://wreg.com/news/local/memphis-suspends-a1s-towing-and-booting-permits-for-30-days/










====== Companies ======

===== ARCBest =====

== ArcBest transitions ahead of potential LTL capacity shake-up ==

Todd Maiden - Fri, July 28, 2023 at 5:46 AM PDT

Transportation and logistics provider ArcBest reported Friday that less-than-truckload shipments from core accounts have increased 10% in the past week.

A potential shutdown at competitor Yellow Corp. (NASDAQ: YELL) is placing more freight in the market. ArcBest said it has renewed its focus on primary accounts, following a period in which it leaned heavily on transactional shipments (dynamic pricing) to keep the network full.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) noted a 6% uptick in volumes over the last few days when it reported second-quarter results on Wednesday.

“ArcBest is uniquely positioned to meet customers’ needs, especially in a market that is rapidly changing,” stated Judy McReynolds, chairman, president and CEO, in a news release. “We serve as trusted advisors — ready to keep customer supply chains moving with a full suite of logistics solutions, including a nationwide network of asset-based LTL capacity.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/arcbest-transitions-ahead-potential-ltl-124641745.html

== ArcBest prudent in approach to new freight opportunities ==

Stock pops 18% on Q3 beat

Todd Maiden - Friday, October 27, 2023

The closure of Yellow Corp. is resulting in better operational performance at ArcBest. The capacity shakeup has led to improved freight selection and highlighted the cost management initiatives the company has pursued.

ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB) reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.31 Friday before the market opened. The number was ahead of a $1.50 consensus estimate but $1.48 lower year over year (y/y). It excluded numerous one-offs like costs from a freight handling pilot, acquisition-related items and noncash impairments on some leases.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/arcbest-prudent-in-approach-to-new-freight-opportunities

== ArcBest’s November tonnage dips further, yields up ==

Carrier unwinds dynamic pricing initiative

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, December 05, 2023

ArcBest saw tonnage fall again in November as it continues to use a favorable less-than-truckload capacity backdrop following Yellow’s shutdown to further unwind dynamic pricing initiatives.

A Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed tonnage in the company’s asset-based segment, which includes LTL carrier ABF Freight, was off 10% year over year (y/y) in November following a 4% decline in October. The carrier had the benefit of negative comps from a year ago (down 3.9% and 3.3% y/y in October and November 2022, respectively.)  

“The company has reduced shipments sourced from the Asset-Based tech-enabled dynamic LTL-rated, market-based pricing program in November 2023 compared to the prior year to optimize operating income and service,” the filing read.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/arcbests-november-tonnage-dips-further-yields-up

== ArcBest, LTL industry short on volume ==

Todd Maiden - Fri, January 31, 2025 at 12:18 PM PST

Financial results across the less-than-truckload industry remain constrained as the industrial economy enters the third year of a downturn. ArcBest has been working to improve profitability by revamping its freight mix and focusing on efficiency and cost-cutting initiatives, but at some point, it needs more volume to bear fruit.

The Fort Smith, Arkansas-based transportation and logistics provider reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.33 on Friday, 28 cents better than the consensus estimate but $1.14 lower year over year.

The adjusted result excluded 9 cents net in one-offs like acquisition-related expenses, costs from technology pilot programs, equipment write-downs, and a lower-than-expected earnout at truck broker MoLo, which was acquired in 2021.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/arcbest-ltl-industry-short-volume-201850566.html




===== BlueGrace =====

== BlueGrace acquires fellow Florida 3PL FreightCenter ==

Todd Maiden - Wed, January 8, 2025 at 7:15 AM PST

BlueGrace Logistics announced it has acquired 3PL peer FreightCenter for an undisclosed sum.

Palm Harbor, Florida-based broker FreightCenter was founded 26 years ago. The non-asset-based transportation provider primarily focuses on less-than-truckload but also connects shippers with a full lineup of truckload, air and ocean freight shipping options.

“We’ve known and respected the team at FreightCenter for over a decade … . This acquisition is the perfect opportunity to enhance the logistics experience for thousands of customers,” said BlueGrace CEO and founder Bobby Harris in a news release. “By integrating our advanced technology, deep industry expertise, and extensive carrier network, we are committed to delivering solutions that meet their unique shipping needs.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bluegrace-acquires-fellow-florida-3pl-151517372.html






===== California Intermodal Associates Inc. (CIA) =====

== California carrier and freight brokerage ceasing operations, blames AB5 ==

Owner cites independent contractor law, state’s ‘hostile operating environment’

Clarissa Hawes - Wednesday, April 17, 2024

A family-owned trucking company and brokerage — California Intermodal Associates Inc. (CIA), headquartered in Commerce, California — is ceasing operations after nearly 25 years, citing the state’s independent contractor law.

CEO Gabriel Chaul said he recently notified customers that he is winding down operations.

“I blame AB5 for the main reasons our company is closing,” Chaul told FreightWaves on Tuesday.

He said all hope that his company would survive faded in March after a federal judge in California rejected trucking and trade associations’ legal challenges to stop enforcement of AB5, a controversial state law that severely restricts the use of independent contractors.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/california-carrier-and-freight-brokerage-ceasing-operations-blames-ab5







===== Cedar Trucking =====

== West Virginia trucking company files for bankruptcy ==

Clarissa Hawes - Fri, December 13, 2024 at 10:50 AM PST

A West Virginia-based trucking company, which hauls coal, logs and wood chips, recently filed for bankruptcy.

Cedar Trucking Co. of Glasgow, West Virginia, filed its Chapter 11 petition Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

In the seven-page bare-bones petition, Cedar Trucking, which seeks to reorganize, lists its assets as between $500,000 and $1 million, and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The trucking company states that it has up to 49 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.

Robert Keenan, who is listed as the president of Cedar Trucking, is representing himself pro se in the bankruptcy case. FreightWaves has reached out to Keenan for comment.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/west-virginia-trucking-company-files-185015950.html







===== Convoy =====

==== Closure ====

== Convoy’s shutdown exposes the desperate state of trucking ==

Convoy had raised hundreds of millions of dollars and attracted top-tier talent to fix trucking; instead, it abruptly collapsed after 8 years of trying  

Rachel Premack - Thursday, October 26, 2023

In my earliest days on the trucking beat, it seemed to me that there was a massive showdown brewing. On one side, I saw stodgy freight brokerages headquartered in places like Northwest Arkansas and Cincinnati. Their opponents: Sleek startups, based in Seattle and San Francisco, who pledged to change trucking. They would transform the freight brokerage process from phone calls and fax machines to automated pairing of drivers and loads, thanks to big bucks from genius venture capitalists and tech gods. 

As it turns out, though, the business case for swapping out humans for computers in the freight brokerage world is shaky. It’s also not as easy to fix trucking as a slide deck might make it seem. The recent shutdown of Convoy, a digital freight brokerage established in 2015, shows that. 

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/convoy-shutdown-trucking-startup

== Convoy finds buyer for tech stack, source says ==

Sale confirmed but buyer’s identity is confidential

Mark Solomon - Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Convoy Inc. has found a buyer for its tech stack, which would include the digital freight company’s driver app and automated freight matching and pricing engines, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The source confirmed the deal but declined to identify the buyer, citing confidentiality issues. Dan Lewis, Convoy’s co-founder and CEO, posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday morning that he was working on a deal that will include the company’s “tech/services” and members of the Convoy team.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/convoy-finds-buyer-for-tech-stack-source-says

== Flexport in conversations to buy Convoy’s technology stack ==

Source tells FreightWaves Flexport is interested in Convoy’s technology and a few key employees

Rachel Premack - Friday, October 27, 2023

Flexport is the latest company that’s in talks to buy Convoy’s technology stack, according to a person familiar with ongoing conversations.

Flexport, a San Francisco-based freight forwarding startup, is in talks to purchase the technology assets of Convoy, a Seattle-based truck brokerage startup that shut down last week, the source told FreightWaves on Friday. 

The freight forwarding company would hire a small team of Convoy employees. It’s presently unclear how much of the technology stack Flexport would acquire, but the person familiar with the matter said the company would not acquire any of Convoy’s physical assets, such as its trailer pool.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/flexport-in-conversations-to-buy-convoys-technology-stack










===== Covenant Logistics Group =====

== Covenant Logistics Group optimistic about freight market in 2025 ==

Noi Mahoney - Fri, January 24, 2025 at 11:33 AM PST

Covenant Logistics Group officials said they anticipate improving market conditions across the freight industry over the next several months.

“I think that the environment is getting better. I think optimism is getting better,” Covenant Logistics Chairman and CEO David R. Parker said during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings with analysts on Friday.

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Covenant (NASDAQ: CVLG) reported fourth-quarter results after the market closed Thursday.

The company posted total revenue of $277 million in the quarter, a 1% year-over-year increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

“This is the best that I have felt in two and a half years. Something is happening in the market that we’ve all been waiting on for a long time,” Parker said. “I really believe that come March, that we’re going to say freight is pretty good. And by June or July, somewhere in mid-summer, we’re going to say there’s a lot of freight.”

Total freight revenue increased 5% year-over-year to $251 million during the fourth quarter, with truckload operations increasing 3% year-over-year to $190 million.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/covenant-logistics-group-optimistic-freight-193350941.html



===== Coyote Logistics =====

== Coyote Logistics restructures, lays off unspecified number ==

Rachel Premack - Fri, September 1, 2023 at 7:52 AM PDT

Chicago-based freight brokerage Coyote Logistics laid off an unspecified number of workers Friday morning, the company confirmed to FreightWaves.

“We’re reducing the size of our staff, primarily within corporate services, to improve efficiency and better meet evolving business needs,” a Coyote spokesperson told FreightWaves. “Our people are extremely important to us. These changes are difficult but necessary to make our company more agile and better positioned for the future.”

According to a screenshot of an internal memo viewed by FreightWaves, Coyote is restructuring “to set the business up for long-term stability.” Laid-off individuals will receive a “comprehensive” severance package and outplacement services.

According to LinkedIn data, Coyote’s total head count is down 7% over the past two years and down 2% over the past six months. Transport Topics listed Coyote as the No. 3 freight brokerage firm by revenue in 2023, raking in an estimated $5.2 billion during the most recent 12-month period. C.H. Robinson Worldwide was No. 1 and Total Quality Logistics was No. 2.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coyote-logistics-restructures-lays-off-145235573.html





==== Layoff 2023 ====

== Coyote offers ‘voluntary separation’ program to high-level employees ==

Freight broker implementing fourth round of staff cuts this year

Mark Solomon - Thursday, December 14, 2023

Freight broker Coyote Logistics is looking to again reduce its workforce as it struggles with a dramatic freight downturn that has squeezed revenue across the brokerage sector.

The staff reductions are expected to target those in senior manager and director roles, according to a person familiar with the matter. Affected employees will have the opportunity to accept a severance and leave voluntarily, the person said.

In a statement, Chicago-based Coyote said that to “support current optimization initiatives, a small number of employees are being given the opportunity to pursue voluntary separation.” It did not respond to queries as to how many employees might be affected.

A Coyote spokesman said that “since this is a fully voluntary program, it is each employee’s decision if they wish to stay with the organization.”

The person said, however, that those who don’t take a separation package would eventually be laid off.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/coyote-offers-voluntary-separation-program-to-high-level-employees




===== Elite Transit Solutions =====

== Pennsylvania brokerage lays off nearly 65 employees, sources say ==

Carriers say they haven’t been paid since May; company blames ‘current economic situation’

Clarissa Hawes - Saturday, November 04, 2023

Approximately 65 employees for Pittsburgh-based Elite Transit Solutions were laid off via Microsoft Teams on Friday. This is the second round of job cuts the freight brokerage has experienced over the past month; about 20 employees were let go on Oct. 20 because of the “current economic situation,” according to sources familiar with the layoffs. 

One former employee who was fired on Friday’s call told FreightWaves that Elite Transit Solutions’ CEO Michael D. Johnson didn’t allow workers to submit questions using the chat function and muted their microphones so they weren’t able to ask questions. After the call ended, their computer access was cut.

“We all had questions about when we would get paid for working these last two weeks and if we would get paid for our vacation time we had accrued,” the ex-employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told FreightWaves. “We were told to email human resources if we had any questions, but our [vice president] of HR left a day before we found out our jobs were being eliminated. Who is left to respond to our emails?”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/pennsylvania-brokerage-lays-off-nearly-65-employees-sources-say

== CEO fails to pay employees, carriers after Elite Transit collapse ==

Freight brokerage’s leader says payroll for ex-employees may be ‘released in the next couple of weeks’

Clarissa Hawes - Friday, November 17, 2023

In retrospect, the signs were there that Elite Transit Solutions was in dire financial trouble. However, former employees say that when they raised concerns to CEO Michael D. Johnson about carriers not being paid or suddenly being blocked from posting freight on one of the country’s largest load boards, the entrepreneur “always had an answer for everything.”

While Elite Transit Solutions, headquartered in Pittsburgh, hasn’t officially ceased operations, it appears Johnson is one of a few employees remaining at the freight brokerage. Elite Transit’s general counsel Kushal Dave stated in an email to FreightWaves that “there are still employees” working at the freight brokerage. After initially keeping on a skeleton crew of about 10-12 employees after firing around 65 employees via Microsoft Teams on Nov. 3, he has since laid off the majority of those employees as well. Dave disputes the number of employees who were fired via Teams but failed to provide a different number.

As of publication Friday, Johnson sent out an email to former employees who haven’t received their final paychecks for two weeks’ work and accrued time off, which were due Nov. 10. Johnson’s email, obtained by FreightWaves, said, “At this moment, it is looking like we can get the payroll released in the next couple of weeks. The main variable upcoming is Thanksgiving and Black Friday.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ceo-fails-to-pay-employees-carriers-after-elite-transit-collapse







===== Estes =====

== Estes sets floor to buy Yellow terminals at $1.3B ==

Citadel, MFN Partners to provide $142.5M in bankruptcy financing

Todd Maiden - Thursday, August 17, 2023

Yellow Corp. has chosen a $142.5 million bankruptcy financing package from Citadel and MFN Partners, according to a Thursday status update in a Delaware court. The proceeding also revealed that less-than-truckload carrier Estes Express Lines has set a floor valuation for Yellow’s 166 terminals by providing a $1.3 billion stalking horse bid.

Miami-based hedge fund Citadel will front $100 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing with Boston hedge fund MFN providing the remainder. MFN has also offered a delayed draw of up to $70 million. MFN will hold lender consent rights even though it is providing a smaller percentage of the upfront funds.

MFN’s status as DIP lender provides it final say on the sale of assets. The firm acquired a 42.5% equity stake in Yellow’s stock during July. It will presumably try to maximize cash proceeds from the asset liquidation to settle all claims by creditors, leaving something on the bone for shareholders.

The firm has second-lien position to a term loan and a junior position to the remaining secured creditors.

Yellow’s bankruptcy filing estimated assets at $2.15 billion with liabilities of $2.59 billion.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-chooses-dip-lenders-estes-sets-floor-for-terminals-at-1-3b


===== Flexport =====

== Flexport acquires technology of former digital freight unicorn Convoy ==

Rebecca Bellan - 1 November 2023

Supply chain logistics platform Flexport is acquiring the assets of shuttered digital freight network Convoy, according to a memo Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen sent to staff Wednesday.

Flexport will restore Convoy’s trucking logistics services for customers in the coming weeks, according to the memo, shared by Freight Waves. Petersen said Flexport won’t acquire the business or any of its liabilities, but does plan to retain “a small group of team members from their core product and engineering team.”

Convoy co-founder and CEO Dan Lewis might be one of the team members joining Flexport, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the agreement. Lewis did not respond to TechCrunch to confirm.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Petersen said in his memo that “the purchase price relative to value is modest.” In April last year, Convoy was valued at $3.8 billion after a $260 million Series E round.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/01/flexport-acquires-technology-of-former-digital-freight-unicorn-convoy/





===== Forward Air =====

== Forward Air’s new long-term targets don’t include Omni ==

Company eyes $2.5B in revenue by 2026

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Forward Air announced new financial targets Tuesday and reiterated plans to primarily focus on the premium less-than-truckload market going forward. However, its new forecasts didn’t include freight forwarder Omni Logistics, which it made a bid to merge with in August.

Forward (NASDAQ: FWRD) is forecasting consolidated annual revenue of $2.5 billion by 2026 compared to just under $2 billion last year and implied guidance of $1.67 billion for 2023. That represents nearly a 15% compound annual growth rate over the three-year period from this year’s depressed level. Of that, 80% is expected to be generated by its LTL segment compared to an estimate for a 57% contribution this year.

Management has identified $15 billion in premium LTL opportunities, which include freight associated with events and trade shows as well as the transportation of high-priced medical equipment, both of which are areas of expertise for the expedited service provider. The company will now sell its services directly to shippers in addition to its legacy business, which markets service through freight forwarders.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/forwards-new-long-term-targets-dont-include-omni

== Forward Air plans 5.9% general rate increase ==

Latest bump in line with year-ago rate hike

Todd Maiden - Monday, December 11, 2023

Forward Air said Monday it will implement a 5.9% general rate increase (GRI) on tendered shipments starting Feb. 5. The announcement follows rate hikes from other less-than-truckload carriers, some of which were implemented ahead of schedule this year as Yellow’s exit shrunk the industry’s available capacity.

LTL carriers use GRIs to reset base rates to offset cost inflation and to fund capital investments. The announced increases are the expected averages the rate changes will produce. The rate bumps usually vary by lane, distance and weight class.

Forward’s (NASDAQ: FWRD) GRI was the same amount last year with implementation also on the first Monday in February.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/forward-air-plans-5-9-general-rate-increase

== Forward Air exploring options, may sell company ==

Todd Maiden - Mon, January 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM PST

Forward Air said Monday its board has initiated a strategic review, which potentially includes selling the company or entering a merger agreement. The update comes after months of public criticism from investors, who have called on the company to engage in a sale process following its contested merger with freight forwarder Omni Logistics.

Investors have pointed to “misguided capital allocation” and poor oversight as the reasons for the Greeneville, Tennessee-based trucking company’s current financial troubles. FreightWaves reported in October that the company had retained investment bankers to explore a sale.

Forward’s (NASDAQ: FWRD) problems began shortly after it announced the acquisition of Omni in August 2023. The deal was structured through a series of transactions allowing it to circumvent a vote by shareholders, who likely would have shot down the plan given the large price tag and high debt burden the transaction carried. Investors have also railed against the equity interest ceded to Omni’s private equity stakeholders and raised concerns that the vertical integration would scare off Forward’s legacy wholesale customers.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/forward-air-exploring-options-may-164234859.html





===== Heartland =====

== Heartland books Q3 loss, cuts unprofitable customers and lanes ==

Iowa-based truckload carrier records 102.4% adjusted operating ratio

Todd Maiden - Thursday, October 26, 2023

Heartland Express booked a net loss for the 2023 third-quarter, saying the outcome was the result of a “weak freight environment” as well as “strategic operational changes implemented.”

The North Liberty, Iowa-based truckload carrier has run into difficulty integrating the operations of Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI) and Smith Transport during a freight recession. Heartland (NASDAQ: HTLD) acquired both fleets in a relatively short window last year and, like the rest of the industry, has seen freight fundamentals deteriorate since.

Heartland reported a net loss of 14 cents per share Thursday, which was worse than a consensus EPS estimate of 8 cents and well below the year-ago result of 31 cents. Gains on equipment sales were nearly $6 million lower year over year (y/y), which was a 5 cent headwind. Increased interest expense from debt used to fund the acquisitions was a 4 cent hurdle during the period.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/heartland-books-q3-loss-cuts-unprofitable-customers-and-lanes

== Losses at Heartland Express continue to mount ==

TL carrier says it will take ‘meaningful’ market turn to improve results

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Truckload carrier Heartland Express reported a third-quarter net loss on Tuesday as it continues “to be hampered by a challenging freight environment.”

A $9.3 million net loss (12 cents per share) marked a fifth consecutive quarter in the red for the North Liberty, Iowa-based company when excluding one-time gains from real estate sales. Analysts were calling for just a 1-cent loss.

Lower gains on the sale of used equipment were a 1-cent headwind (assuming a normalized tax rate) versus the year-ago quarter.

Revenue was 11.9% lower year over year to $260 million. Weak demand, underutilization of equipment and unfavorable rates weighed on the period.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/losses-at-heartland-express-continue-to-mount







===== JB Hunt =====

== J.B. Hunt keeps its 11-year-old debt rating from Moody’s ==

John Kingston - Wed, March 12, 2025 at 12:59 PM PDT

About 11 years after Moody’s first placed a Baa1 rating on J.B. Hunt’s publicly traded debt, the ratings agency this week affirmed that rating.

It’s been a remarkable run of stability for the trucking and intermodal giant (NASDAQ: JBHT). The Baa1 rating – three notches above the dividing line between investment-grade and non-investment-grade debt – dates back to 2014.

Baa1 is equivalent to the BBB rating of S&P Global Ratings. S&P has had a BBB rating on J.B. Hunt since 2012, though last summer it changed the outlook on the company to “stable” from “positive.”

Moody’s already had a stable outlook on J.B. Hunt, and it retained that outlook in the affirmation of the Baa1 rating. A stable outlook at both ratings agencies means conditions are not likely to result in an upgrade or downgrade of the company anytime in the near future.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/j-b-hunt-keeps-11-195916808.html

== J.B. Hunt Says Most Customers ‘Waiting for the Dust to Settle’ on Tariffs ==

Glenn Taylor - Thu, April 17, 2025 at 5:55 AM PDT

With uncertainty in global trade set to compound the struggles already endured by many logistics companies amid a nearly three-year freight recession, the pressure is on for transportation and trucking provider J.B. Hunt.

As J.B. Hunt’s customers currently plan for multiple “what-if” scenarios in the wake of President Donald Trump’s spate of tariffs, “most of them are waiting for the dust to settle on their short- and long-term business strategies,” said Spencer Frazier, executive vice president of sales and marketing, in an earnings call.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/j-b-hunt-says-most-125505784.html







===== Kal Freight =====

== Kal Freight’s bankruptcy reveals massive fraud accusations ==

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Sun, December 15, 2024 at 10:51 AM PST

In a stunning turn of events, California-based trucking company Kal Freight Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, unveiling a web of fraudulent activities that have sent shockwaves through the industry. The company faces serious allegations of financial misconduct and asset mismanagement.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kal-freight-bankruptcy-reveals-massive-185147114.html





===== Knight-Swift =====

==== Board ====

== Knight-Swift adds LTL veteran to board as it targets Northeast expansion ==

Todd Maiden - Fri, March 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM PDT

Knight-Swift Transportation announced Friday that Doug Col, former chief financial officer at less-than-truckload carrier Saia, joined its board of directors effective Thursday.

Col retired from Saia in May after 10 years of service. He joined in 2014 as vice president and treasurer and was tapped to be CFO in 2020.

Col joins Knight-Swift (NYSE: KNX) as it looks to add a major presence in the Northeast – the last significant hole in what will become a national LTL footprint.

He was with Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) when it kicked off a Northeast expansion campaign in 2017 that eventually added more than 20 terminals. He also helped the carrier navigate a $1 billion capex budget last year that included $550 million in real estate acquisitions, including a 28-terminal, $236 million portfolio from bankrupt carrier Yellow Corp. (OTC: YELLQ).

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/knight-swift-adds-ltl-veteran-151950897.html



==== Salary ====

== Knight-Swift executives take pay cut amid cost reduction efforts ==

Company announces 20% cut to CEO, CFO base salaries

Todd Maiden - Friday, August 25, 2023

Following a tough second quarter, Knight-Swift Transportation announced Friday after the market closed that its two top executives would take a 20% voluntary cut to their base pay for the remainder of the year.  

The nation’s largest truckload carrier missed second-quarter expectations and cut its full-year earnings-per-share guidance by 36% at the midpoint of the range. Knight-Swift’s (NYSE: KNX) new outlook included near-term earnings dilution from the acquisition of carrier U.S. Xpress, which hadn’t been baked into prior guidance.

Other headwinds to the revised outlook included further weakness in TL and intermodal rates as well as lower gains on equipment sales due to declining used truck values. The company has also drastically curtailed its third-party insurance offering to small operators due to losses from unfavorable claims development.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/knight-swift-executives-take-pay-cut-amid-cost-reduction-efforts






===== Matheson =====

== Postal contractor Matheson Trucking shuttering operations after 60 years ==

Matheson blames ‘recent changes to our business and drastic losses in contracts’ for closure

Clarissa Hawes - Friday, December 08, 2023

Postal Service contractor Matheson Trucking and wholly owned subsidiaries Matheson Flight Extenders (MFE) and Matheson Postal Services (MPS) of Sacramento are winding down operations after six decades in business.

Over the past five months, the Matheson entities have laid off nearly 3,500 workers, a source familiar with the situation told FreightWaves.

“It’s kind of sad to see that a 60-year-old company that made its bread and butter moving U.S. mail is closing its doors,” the source said.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website, Matheson Postal Services has 191 power units and 325 truck drivers.  

The news comes after MFE, a mail processing, transportation and logistics contractor, filed its latest Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice on Monday with the Missouri Office of Workforce Development that it plans to close its Kansas City facility, eliminating 40 jobs. The company also filed a WARN notice on Dec. 1 that it is slashing 60 jobs at its facility near Denver International Airport and eliminating 92 jobs in Grapevine, Texas. The letters list Jan. 31 as the timeline for the closures.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/postal-contractor-matheson-trucking-shuttering-operations-after-60-years






===== Mighty Move Transport =====

== Major trucking company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy ==

Kirk O’Neil - 30 January 2025

The Great Freight Recession has wreaked havoc on trucking, shipping, and logistics companies since about May 2022, with thousands of companies filing for bankruptcy, going out of business, or both.

About 88,000 trucking companies and 8,000 freight brokerage companies went out of business in 2023, according to Freight Caviar.

The trucking business did not improve much in 2024 as data from the Federal Motor Carriers Association shows that the industry had a net loss of about 10,000 motor carriers in the first half of 2024, TruckInfo.net reported.

Statistics from the remainder of the year have not yet been revealed.

Among the companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 was defunct Illinois shipping company Mighty Move Transportation, which operated with 70 power units and 75 drivers.

The trucking company on Oct. 24 filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, facing two breach of contract lawsuits.

About a week later, Miami, Fla.-based Star Transportation PA and five affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 1 to reorganize their businesses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/major-trucking-company-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy/ar-AA1y7Xue




===== Newsome Trucking =====

== Georgia-based trucking company files for bankruptcy ==

Newsome Trucking has 60 truck drivers, seeks to reorganize

Clarissa Hawes - Friday, February 02, 2024

A 25-year-old Georgia-based trucking company, which has 60 drivers and 33 power units, recently filed for bankruptcy protection. 

Newsome Trucking of Jasper, Georgia, filed its petition Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. 

In its Chapter 11 petition, Newsome Trucking listed its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The company, which seeks to reorganize, states that it has up to 49 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/georgia-based-trucking-company-files-for-bankruptcy









===== Old Dominion =====

== Old Dominion says Yellow freight redistribution not settled ==

LTL carrier beats Q3 expectations

Todd Maiden - Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Carrying excess capacity through the downcycle allowed Old Dominion Freight Line to minimize impacts to service as it onboarded Yellow’s abandoned shipments.

The less-than-truckload carrier beat third-quarter expectations Wednesday, posting earnings per share of $3.09. The result was 18 cents above consensus but 27 cents lower year over year (y/y).

“Investing ahead of the curve” remains the company’s strategy. It views the incremental cost of holding latent capacity, which allows it to be proactive when market inflections occur, as necessary to avoid the negative impacts some carriers experience when they are forced to scramble to respond to market upswings.

Old Dominion (NASDAQ: ODFL) has invested $2 billion in real estate over the past decade, which has allowed it to grow door capacity by 50%.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/old-dominion-says-yellow-freight-redistribution-not-finished









===== Radiant =====

== Former Yellow Logistics employees open new Radiant office ==

Overland Park, Kansas, operation set up in short order

Todd Maiden - Thursday, August 17, 2023

Radiant Logistics announced it has opened a new brokerage office in Overland Park, Kansas. The managers of the new operation were formerly with Yellow Logistics until its Aug. 1 closure.

Radiant Road and Rail, the brokerage arm of Radiant (NYSE: RLGT), focuses on truckload, less-than-truckload, intermodal, drayage and transloading services. The unit was founded 85 years ago and operated as Clipper Exxpress until last year.

Steve McCleary will head the customer and carrier teams while Ryan Stroup will lead field sales. Both helped expand Yellow’s truck brokerage unit, which was launched in 2017.

“With the abrupt closure of Yellow, we were able to move quickly to stand up an operation in Overland Park, while attracting quite a few very passionate and talented people looking to minimize service disruption for their customers,” Stroup said. “Radiant offered a robust, technology-enabled operating platform and a solid financial footing from which we can continue to service our customers.”

He said the new office was fully functional within two weeks from first contact.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/former-yellow-logistics-employees-open-new-radiant-office



===== SAIA =====

== Saia holds on to Yellow’s freight ==

Shipments up 18% year over year through Q4

Todd Maiden - Monday, December 04, 2023

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia appears to be holding the volume influx it received following the shutdown of Yellow.

The company reported a 9.2% year-over-year (y/y) increase in tonnage per day during November, which followed a 7.8% increase in October. The acceleration was in part due to softer comparisons to last year. Saia recorded y/y tonnage declines of 3% and 7.1%, respectively, in October and November of 2022.

Saia’s (NASDAQ: SAIA) 2023 fourth-quarter tonnage increases were driven by high-teens growth in daily shipments, which were partially offset by weight per shipment declines of more than 8%.

October had some impact from a cyberattack at Estes, however, some of the carriers that saw a bump in volumes due to the event said that the freight had flowed back to Estes by the end of the month.

Saia’s current growth rates imply tonnage will be down by roughly 5% in the fourth quarter, which is a little bit better than normal seasonality.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/saia-holds-on-to-yellows-freight





===== Schneider =====

== Schneider acquires another dedicated carrier ==

Deal adds 500 trucks, 1,900 trailers to fleet

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, August 01, 2023

Schneider National announced Tuesday after the market closed it has acquired dedicated carrier M&M Transport Services for an undisclosed sum.

Massachusetts-based M&M Transport operates a fleet of 500 trucks and 1,900 trailers out of 12 locations in the Northeast, Midwest and Southwest. The company’s account list includes Fortune 500 retail and manufacturing companies.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings.

Schneider (NYSE: SNDR) said the deal puts its dedicated segment close to 6,500 trucks and $1.5 billion in annual revenue. The unit generated $1.2 billion in revenue (excluding fuel surcharges) with nearly 5,900 trucks last year.

“This is an exciting opportunity to leverage the best of both companies and use our complementary capabilities to deliver enhanced value to our customers and stakeholders,” said Mark Rourke, Schneider president and CEO.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/schneider-acquires-another-dedicated-carrier





===== SELCS / SEL Supply Chain Solutions =====

== ‘Fraud, theft and abuse’ force Texas freight brokerage to shut down ==

Theft of load of gaming machines just one of SELSCS’ unlucky breaks this year

Clarissa Hawes - Friday, October 27, 2023

After 26 years in the transportation industry, with the past 12 years at the helm of the logistics company he founded and bootstrapped in 2011, Dennis Martin says he is winding down operations.

In an exclusive interview with FreightWaves, Martin, CEO of SEL Supply Chain Solutions (SELSCS) of Fort Worth, Texas, said his year started off with a $700,000 load of video poker machines being stolen in Las Vegas and “everything went downhill from there.”

“I would describe this year as being the year of fraud, theft and abuse, starting out with that $700,000 load stolen, then insurance goes up and costs go up,” Martin said. “After a solid year in 2022, where we generated $64 million in gross revenue, we lost 40% of our business this year for whatever reason.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fraud-theft-and-abuse-force-texas-freight-brokerage-to-shut-down


===== Surge Transportation =====

== Freight broker Surge Transportation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy ==

John Paul Hampstead - Tue, July 25, 2023 at 7:03 AM PDT

Surge Transportation, a digital freight brokerage founded in 2016 by Omar Singh and based in Jacksonville, Florida, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Central District of Florida, according to filings. Sixteen of its top 20 creditors are factoring companies that pay small carriers.

Officials at Surge told FreightWaves that the company is working with a financial sponsor and hopes to get its bankruptcy plan approved at a hearing on Thursday.

Over the past seven years, Surge grew to a workforce of more than 100 people and earned gross revenues of approximately $150 million in 2022. The bootstrapped 3PL built automated load-matching and pricing technology similar to its venture-funded competitors Uber Freight and Convoy and offered a suite of direct integrations into transportation management systems.

Since the beginning of last year, the freight market has experienced a significant downturn. The fading of pandemic-era stimulus programs cooled the goods economy, and when combined with the abundant capacity that had built up, sent transportation prices through the floor.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/breaking-freight-broker-surge-transportation-140354468.html






===== Tony's Express =====

== 70-year-old California trucking company, freight brokerage closes abruptly ==

Tony’s Express had over 200 employees, drivers, and warehouse and dockworkers

Clarissa Hawes - Tuesday, April 02, 2024

A 70-year-old California-based less-than-truckload carrier ceased operations Thursday, leaving over 200 truck drivers, warehouse workers and office personnel without jobs, paychecks and paid time off (PTO).

The formerly family-owned company, Tony’s Express, headquartered in Fontana, had 87 drivers and 42 power units at the time of its closure, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website. The company also had around 10 linehaul drivers, who were owner-operators.

John Ohle, CEO of Tony’s Express, sent a text message Thursday, which was obtained by FreightWaves, to his employees that the company was closing its doors that day and could not cover the previous week’s payroll or workers’ PTO. Their medical coverage ended Saturday.

“The current market just didn’t support our ability to operate and be a profitable company, and the cost of fuel in California made it very difficult,” Ohle told FreightWaves. “We were in very serious discussions with two different companies about coming in and partnering or taking over Tony’s, and those fell apart at the very end, and literally, it was a last-minute decision.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/70-year-old-california-trucking-company-freight-brokerage-closes-abruptly


===== XPO =====

== XPO to ramp up capacity to fill Yellow void ==

Shipments jump 9% in July

Todd Maiden - Friday, August 04, 2023

Less-than-truckload carrier XPO is benefiting from an industrywide capacity shake-up. The company said it may ramp up planned terminal and equipment additions to meet the higher level of demand.

On its second-quarter call with analysts Friday, the company said demand troughed in March, improved in April and May but ticked lower in June. However, by the start of July, volumes were up year over year (y/y), and that was before shippers started moving freight away from Yellow Corp. (NASDAQ: YELL) en masse.

XPO was handling 3,000 more shipments, a high-single-digit increase, by the end of July than it was in the beginning of the month. Troubles at Yellow accelerated on July 18 when its union workforce said it would strike over missed payments that would leave some employees without insurance. By Sunday, it had ceased all operations.

For the full month of July, XPO’s shipments were up 9% y/y and tonnage increased 4%. Both growth rates were 700 basis points better than the change rates logged in the second quarter (shipments up 2% and tonnage down 3%). Compared to June, both metrics were 3% higher, which was 600 bps ahead of normal seasonal changes.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/xpo-to-ramp-up-capacity-to-fill-yellow-void

== XPO beats Q2 expectations, July volumes pop ==

Todd Maiden - Fri, August 4, 2023 at 5:23 AM PDT

Less-than-truckload carrier XPO beat analysts’ expectations for the second quarter and volumes saw a big move in July as one competitor shut down.

XPO (NYSE: XPO) reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 71 cents, 10 cents better than the consensus estimate but 43 cents lower year over year (y/y). The result excluded transaction costs from the spinoff of a brokerage unit as well as restructuring costs.

Less-than-truckload revenue fell 8% y/y to $1.14 billion as tonnage per day was down 3%, which was partially offset by a 1% increase in yield (excluding fuel surcharges). The tonnage change was the result of a 2% increase in shipments offset by a 5% decline in weight per shipment.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/xpo-beats-q2-expectations-july-122335789.html

== Trucking firm XPO to buy bankrupt Yellow's service centers for $870 mln ==

Reuters - December 5, 20236:57 AM PST

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Trucking company XPO Inc (XPO.N) won a bid to buy 28 service centers of bankrupt Yellow Corp for $870 million in a closely watched auction of the nearly 100-year-old firm's assets.

XPO shares were down 3.8% in morning trade amid weakness in broader markets.

Yellow, formerly known as YRC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August after blaming the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union for its demise.

The company was one of the nation's largest so-called less-than-truckload carriers in the U.S. and owned about 12,000 trucks and 35,000 trailers and its customers included Walmart (WMT.N) and Home Depot (HD.N).

XPO expects the deal, which is subject to court approval, to add to core profit in 2024 and adjusted profit per share from continuing operations from 2025, according to a filing on Tuesday.

The deal will add "significant footprint in areas where XPO was previously capacity constrained, the path towards the company's 2027 goals," said Jonathan Chappell, analyst at Evercore ISI.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/trucking-firm-xpo-buy-bankrupt-yellows-service-centers-870-mln-2023-12-05/

== First wave of Yellow terminals will go for $1.9B; sale process ongoing ==

XPO to walk with 28 properties valued at $870M

Todd Maiden - Monday, December 04, 2023

Several large less-than-truckload carriers as well as some real estate investors were named as winning bidders of defunct Yellow’s portfolio of terminals. In total, an auction that started last Tuesday netted nearly $1.9 billion in commitments for 130 of Yellow’s owned properties, according to a Monday evening filing in a Delaware court.

XPO’s (NYSE: XPO) $870 million bid for 28 properties — two of which are leased — was the largest winning bid.

Estes, which started the process with a $1.525 billion stalking horse bid that set the price floor for the auction, will walk with 24 terminals at a total purchase price of nearly $250 million.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/first-wave-of-yellow-terminals-to-go-for-1-9b-sale-process-ongoing

== XPO’s November shipment increase needed to fill 28 new terminals ==

LTL carrier’s $870M bid for 28 terminals largest allocation at Yellow auction

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, December 05, 2023

Less-than-truckload carrier XPO reported shipments were up again in November but that lower shipment weights dragged down tonnage.

The Tuesday report showed the year-over-year (y/y) progression in metrics was more muted during November than what was previously reported for October. October shipments were up 6% y/y while November shipments increased 3.8%. A roughly 4% decline in weight per shipment in each month resulted in tons per day in the network up 2.5% in October but down slightly in November.

XPO (NYSE: XPO) does have a tougher comparison to the 2022 fourth quarter than most of its other publicly traded peers. Its shipments and tonnage were slightly positive in the year-ago quarter, when the rest of the industry was recording high-single-digit declines.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/xpos-november-shipment-increase-needed-to-fill-28-new-terminals

===== Yellow =====

== Yellow sees 12% drop in Q1 LTL tonnage ==

Published May 4, 2023 - Colin Campbell

Dive Brief:

    Yellow Corp. reported a 12% YoY drop in LTL tonnage per day in Q1, “without the typical early spring acceleration in demand that we are accustomed to seeing in March,” CEO Darren Hawkins said on an earnings call Wednesday.
    The drop was driven by a 13.3% decrease in LTL shipments per workday. The results were in line with Yellow’s expectations, Hawkins said, given a slow economy and negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters over the company’s network overhaul.
    “In the near term, demand continues to be relatively flat, due in part to ongoing destocking,” Hawkins said.

Overall freight demand continued to struggle in the quarter, dashing hopes of a Q2 bounceback and instead fulfilling analysts’ more recent projections of ongoing uncertainty about when the market will turn.

Yellow saw LTL tonnage per workday dive 17.2% YoY in January, increase 1.3% in February, then drop 16.9% in March, CFO Dan Olivier told investors and analysts on the call.

Preliminary results show April LTL tonnage per workday down about 16% YoY, the CFO said.

“I would expect that the second quarter in total would be below [the] historical 6% sequential increase,” he said.

https://www.transportdive.com/news/yellow-tonnage-drops-12-percent-Q1-demand-decline/649403/

== Yellow running out of options, sues union for $137M ==

Company says it could be out of cash by mid-July

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. announced Tuesday that it has filed a $137 million breach of contract lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for blocking proposed changes to modernize how the carrier operates.  

Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL) said the union doesn’t have the authority to stop a proposed change of operations, which the company views as the linchpin to its survival. Yellow alleges that union interference has harmed the company to the tune of $137.3 million (“and counting”) in lost adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as well as at least $1.5 billion for a loss in enterprise value that the company “is sustaining and will sustain.”

Yellow’s enterprise value — market capitalization plus net debt — consists mostly of its debt. Yellow’s market cap has plummeted since the end of 2021 as its share price has fallen from more than $14 to roughly $1.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-running-out-of-options-sues-union-for-137m

== Yellow is a zombie company — it’s time to let it go ==

Yellow has been on the brink of bankruptcy on four different occasions in the past two decades

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Thursday, June 29, 2023

Yellow’s days are numbered. 

As the largest less-than-truckload (LTL) unionized carrier and the second-largest trucking company affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (UPS is the largest), Yellow has suffered from financial mediocrity that has led to the inevitable outcome. 

The Teamsters leadership is largely responsible for its own demise, forcing an operational structure that has made it impossible for Yellow to compete against higher-quality operators delivering more consistent and reliable service offerings. A lack of flexibility in staffing levels and operations that would allow unionized carriers to respond to freight market volatility means these carriers are always at a disadvantage to their non-unionized competitors.  

While Yellow’s current executive management is highly competent, the task of turning the largest unionized LTL carrier from the die that was cast decades ago has been a nearly impossible task. Yellow has faced bankruptcy several times over the past two decades because it was saddled with too much debt and operational complexities after an acquisition binge that was instigated in the early 2000s.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-is-a-zombie-company-its-time-to-let-it-go

== Why Teamsters is willing to sacrifice 22,000 union trucking jobs ==

Unionized LTL carriers’ market share dropped from 42% in 2002 to 22% in 2022

Rachel Premack - Thursday, July 06, 2023

Last month, Teamsters claimed Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL), one of the largest trucking companies in the United States, told the union that Yellow would be out of cash by August. To avoid demise, Yellow’s executive team said Teamsters, which represents some 22,000 Yellow employees, must permit operational changes the union previously approved. 

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien’s response? Go ahead and shut down.

“It is not left for the Teamsters to save this company; we have given enough,” O’Brien said in a June 12 video statement. “What happens next is out of our control.”

Twelve days later, O’Brien tweeted a picture of a gravestone: Yellow, 1924 to 2023.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/why-teamsters-is-willing-to-sacrifice-22000-union-trucking-jobs

== Yellow faces bankruptcy: Who is in line to benefit? ==

Yahoo Finance - Wed, July 5, 2023 at 8:19 AM PDT

Yellow Corporation is facing potential bankruptcy. Ken Hoexter, BofA Securities Senior Transportation Analyst, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the state of the freight transportation industry and which companies could benefit from Yellow's bankruptcy.

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/yellow-faces-bankruptcy-line-benefit-151918000.html

== Trucking CEO suing Teamsters urges negotiations ‘immediately’: ‘Trucking truly moves America’ ==

Yellow Corporation truckers call for industry ‘modernization,’ wage increases from Teamsters

Kristen Altus - Published July 3, 2023 9:43am EDT

Amid a busy travel and shipping summer season, one trucking company CEO claims he’s fighting to keep his business alive.

"When you look at a company that's doing around 13 million shipments a year today, our employees are out there picking up and delivering over 90,000 shipments, that's important," Yellow Corporation CEO Darren Hawkins said on "Mornings with Maria" Monday.

"The presence that Yellow has in the marketplace is extremely important, and there's no reason for us not to be there. Our customers want us here, our employees want us here," he continued. "And bottom line, we're servicing the American economy on a daily basis, trucking truly moves America."

Last week, the Yellow Corporation filed a more than $137 million lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest trucking unions in the U.S. and Canada.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trucking-ceo-suing-teamsters-urges-negotiations-immediately-trucking-truly-moves-america

== Yellow truck drivers sound off on troubled fleet, Teamsters ==

Some drivers estimate their pension payout is $1,000 less per month after company’s decade-plus pension reduction

Rachel Premack - Friday, July 14, 2023

Larry Stewart is a unionized truck driver — just like his father and grandfather before him. He knew, when he became a truck driver 36 years ago, that it wouldn’t be an easy way to make a living. 

“You sacrifice your life,” said Stewart, who lives in Edwardsville, Illinois, some 30 miles outside St. Louis. “The money was good for the family, the kids and the wife, but they didn’t see me a whole lot.”

Union trucking jobs aren’t easy to come by, but Stewart managed to get one when he started at Holland in 1999. Holland was acquired by Yellow in 2005, when Yellow bought Holland’s parent company US Freightways. Stewart’s job began changing shortly after that. 

Stewart expected to retire in his late 50s or early 60s and enjoy similar pension benefits to his father and grandfather. That plan would be delayed.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-truck-drivers-sound-off-on-troubled-fleet-teamsters

== Yellow Sees ‘Freight Diversions’ Amid Cash Crunch: Cowen ==

Glenn Taylor - Tue, July 11, 2023 at 1:26 PM PDT

Trucking giant Yellow Corp. might have gotten a second wind ahead of possible bankruptcy concerns, but shippers might be taking their business elsewhere.

In a July 7 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the less-than-truckload (LTL) company said its lenders, which include the U.S. Treasury Department, among others, have eased some of the financial hurdles required to shed some of its $1.3 billion in debt due next year.

Yellow’s debtors will allow the trucking firm to waive its minimum EBITDA compliance targets. The U.S. Treasury will waive this target for one financial quarter and term lenders will waive it for two. The trucking firm can also defer some of its health welfare and pension payments for July and August.

Under the new agreement, the carrier can’t allow its liquidity—which dropped to $167.5 million as of March 31, from $276.9 million the year prior—to fall below $35 million.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/yellow-sees-freight-diversions-amid-202653013.html

== Uber Freight temporarily suspends loads to Yellow ==

Logistics provider halts shipments to carrier ahead of potential Monday strike

Todd Maiden - Wednesday, July 19, 2023

While speculation throughout the industry rises over Yellow Corp.’s ultimate fate and some question which shippers and intermediaries have already stopped working with the company, one outfit has made it public that it won’t be placing loads with the less-than-truckload carrier.

On Wednesday, a representative with transportation management provider Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER) confirmed to FreightWaves it has made the decision to temporarily stop tendering freight to the company.

“To mitigate the impact on our customers and their logistics, we’re temporarily suspending tenders where Uber Freight holds the contract with Yellow and rapidly diverting capacity across our network to maintain the flow of goods,” the spokesperson stated. “We are continuing to monitor the situation and will make adjustments as needed.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-freight-temporarily-suspends-loads-to-yellow

== The State of Freight: 5 takeaways on Yellow’s fate and a UPS strike ==

Fuller: LTL network can mostly absorb a Yellow shutdown, but capacity would tighten fast if Teamsters strike UPS

John Kingston - Thursday, July 20, 2023

With two big Teamsters-related issues grabbing the trucking headlines, it was no surprise that the focus of the State of Freight webinar for July was on Yellow Corp. and UPS. 

Here’s are five takeaways from the more than one-hour chat Thursday between FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller and Director of Freight Market Intelligence Zach Strickland.  (You can register for it and view the archive at https://www.freightwaves.com/event/webinar-the-state-of-freight-what-to-expect-for-the-second-half-of-2023).

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-state-of-freight-5-takeaways-on-yellows-fate-and-a-ups-strike

== Yellow Truck Headed for Bankruptcy, 22,000 Union Jobs Go Poof, What It Means ==

Kiss Yellow trucking goodbye. Let’s discuss what that means.

July 19, 2023 6:45 am - Mish Talk

It’s far too late to save Yellow. The Teamsters Union would rather have the company go broke than make any union concessions.

Craig Fuller, founder/CEO of FreightWaves, American Shipper, and CEO of FLYING Magazine explains in a series of Tweets and articles.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/yellow-truck-headed-for-bankruptcy-22000-union-jobs-go-poof-what-it-means/

== LTL rates bounce as Yellow struggles with union ==

Dramatic shift in rate trend appearing in June

Zach Strickland, FW Market Expert & Market Analyst - Saturday, July 22, 2023

Less-than-truckload rates reversed course in June after trending lower this spring, according to FreightWaves’ transportation invoice database. The move comes as the nation’s third-largest LTL provider struggles with coming to an agreement with the Teamsters over operational restructuring and the upcoming labor contract. 

The directional shift comes as truckload contract rates continue what has largely been a 12-month decline with no signs of hitting a floor. While it is not clear how much influence the recent Yellow struggles have had on the LTL rate swing, it is a trend worth noting nonetheless. 

LTL rates have been increasingly volatile since last fall. This pattern existed in late 2019 as the trucking market was softening. This is due to the fact that rates become more polarized when the market softens as less efficient carriers get more aggressive while stronger operators will maintain rates thanks to better service levels.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ltl-rates-bounce-as-yellow-struggles-with-union

== Stephens says Yellow is burning up to $10M a day ==

Employees and analysts uncertain about Yellow's future

Rachel Premack - Wednesday, July 26, 2023

A Wednesday note to investors from Stephens, a financial services company, estimates that Yellow may soon breach a key requirement on its cash reserves. 

Based on a July 10 liquidity disclosure, Stephens estimated that Yellow was burning $4 million in cash each week in the second quarter of 2023. In that same filing, Yellow disclosed that it had roughly $100 million in cash as of the end of June. 

Jack Atkins and Grant Smith, respectively a research analyst and associate both at Stephens covering the freight and logistics sectors, wrote in the note that Yellow’s cash flow has been severely limited as customers have diverted freight. However, Atkins and Smith wrote that it’s unlikely Yellow was able to “adjust its expense structure that rapidly,” so the trucking carrier still had some $70 million in cash expenses last week while revenue was some 35% below plan. 

Stephens estimated that Yellow likely burned $20 million to $25 million in cash last week. 

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stephens-says-yellow-is-burning-up-to-10m-a-day





==== Employees ====

== Former employees speak about what lies ahead of laid-off Yellow workers ==

Lena Blietz and WBAY news staff - Aug. 18, 2023 at 3:55 PM PDT

NEENAH, Wis. (WBAY) - After the trucking company Yellow Corporation laid off thousands of employees across the country, Action 2 news talked to two former local employees about what they had been willing to give up over the years - and the one thing that they and their union refused to concede.

“It’s tough, it’s devastating,” said Todd Schwartz, a former Yellow Corporation Employee.

After 26 years of working with Yellow Corporation in Neenah, Todd Schwartz and his former colleague Dan Getsfried are among the 30,000 employees the trucking company suddenly terminated this month.

“You go from a normal, everyday job for all those years to less than 24 hours notice ‘don’t report for work,” Schwartz explained.

The men say over the past decade, Yellow Corporation pushed for a 15 percent pay cut, reducing pension contributions and vacation time. Then the company received $730 million in federal loans three years ago during the pandemic.

“The wages weren’t our most important thing, we wanted insurance and we wanted our pension taken care of,” Schwartz said.

The Teamsters Union representing Yellow employees was pushing for the company to reopen contract negotiations.

“Die-hard union, die-hard union,” exclaimed Dan Getsfried, also a former Yellow Corporation Employee.

https://www.wbay.com/2023/08/18/former-employees-speak-about-what-lies-ahead-laid-off-yellow-workers/

== Trucker Yellow paid managers millions just before bankruptcy ==

Jonathan Randles and Amelia Pollard - Thu, September 14, 2023 at 2:32 PM PDT

Just weeks before closing its doors and dismissing thousands of employees, Yellow Corp. doled out millions of dollars in bonuses to executives so they wouldn’t leave the trucking firm during its chaotic unraveling, court papers show.

Yellow paid bonuses totaling about $4.6 million to eight current and two former executives in the weeks before the company went bankrupt with plans to liquidate, according to corporate disclosures in Delaware bankruptcy court. The figure is higher than it would have been had Yellow managed to avoid a sudden bankruptcy filing, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Of the bonuses disbursed, nearly $2 million paid on July 14 were approved by Yellow’s board in June — when the company was in trouble, but before it was considering filing for bankruptcy, according to the person. Yellow’s public feud with a union representing much of its workforce escalated days later when a strike notice prompted the company’s customers to take their business elsewhere, Yellow has said.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trucker-yellow-paid-executives-millions-163632436.html









==== Yellow Bankruptcy ====

== Yellow is ceasing ‘regular operations’ on Friday ==

LTL carrier’s chief commercial officer blames Teamsters for financial fracas

Rachel Premack - Friday, July 28, 2023

Yellow, the third-largest less-than-truckload company that’s in the midst of financial chaos, said in a memo to laid-off, nonunion employees viewed by FreightWaves that the company is “shutting down regular operations” on Friday.

All locations will be closed and/or lay off some number of employees. As the memo stated:

**“We regret to inform you that your employment with Yellow Corporation, or one of its subsidiaries, (collectively referred to as the ‘Company’) will permanently terminate on July 28, 2023, or within 14 days after (the ‘Separation Date’). The Company is shutting down its regular operations on July 28, 2023, closing and/or laying off employees at all of its locations, including yours (the ‘Shut Down’).”**

The company on Friday morning laid off an unknown number of office employees, most of which were nonunion. It said in a memo to the laid-off employees that it was unable to alert them previously of this closing of business “because the Shut Down was not reasonably foreseeable.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-lays-off-portions-of-at-least-3-major-corporate-teams

== After $700 Million U.S. Bailout, Trucking Firm Is Shutting Down ==

Alan Rappeport - Updated Sat, July 29, 2023 at 11:36 AM PDT

WASHINGTON — Yellow, the beleaguered trucking company that received a $700 million pandemic loan from the federal government, notified staff Friday that it is shutting down and laying off employees at all of its locations.

The move comes before an expected bankruptcy filing by Yellow in the coming days. The closure of the company would mean the loss of approximately 30,000 jobs and mark the end of a business that just three years ago was deemed so critical to the nation’s supply chains that it warranted a federal bailout.

“The company is shutting down its regular operations on July 28, 2023, closing and/or laying off employees at all of its locations, including yours,” the company said in a memo to staff that was reviewed by The New York Times.

https://news.yahoo.com/700-million-u-bailout-trucking-141942250.html

== YRC Freight employees in Sioux Falls told Friday is their last day; Company to file for bankruptcy ==

Max Remington - Jul 27, 2023 5:29 PM

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — YRC Freight in Sioux Falls is shutting down.

It comes as the company is planning on filing for bankruptcy and will cease operations following final union negotiations, according to an employee familiar with the matter.

YRC Freight’s approximately 150 employees in town were recently told Friday will be their last day on the job.

https://kelo.com/2023/07/27/yrc-freight-employees-in-sioux-falls-told-friday-is-their-last-day-company-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

== Yellow exec tells sales staff company will file bankruptcy Monday ==

Rachel Premack - Wed, July 26, 2023 at 12:31 PM PDT

Yellow’s senior vice president of sales informed her staff on Wednesday that their last day would be Friday and the less-than-truckload carrier will file bankruptcy on Monday, according to three employees who attended the video call.

Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL) is the third-largest LTL company and employs some 30,000 workers, including around 22,000 Teamsters members. The trucking company had an operating revenue of $5.245 billion in 2022.

The sales employees were approved to tell customers of the bankruptcy plans and to take paid time off for the rest of the week.

In a meeting later Wednesday, according to a video of the meeting viewed by FreightWaves and two employees present, the senior vice president told employees to backtrack on the bankruptcy statement. She said to “correct” any customers that were previously told there would be a bankruptcy and to share the following statement:

“Yellow’s talks with the IBT are ongoing. As previously stated, and in keeping with fiduciary responsibility of the company’s executives, the company continues to prepare for a range of contingencies.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-exec-tells-sales-staff-193104120.html

== 99-year-old trucking company closing, impacting nearly 755 NC locations ==

145 of the jobs are located in Kernersville in Forsyth County.

Teyah Glenn, CBS News - 10:01 PM EDT August 4, 2023 / Updated 10:36 PM EDT August 4, 2023

NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Yellow Corp. has halted operations Sunday and will lay off all 30,000 of its workers. 

It's a 99-year-old trucking company that was once a dominant player in its field. 

Not to mention it has nine locations in Triad. Those locations shut down on Sunday, according to state records.

Yellow, formerly known as YRC, was one of the largest transporter of goods across the country.

CBS News reported that the company is more than $ 1 billion dollars in debt and plans to file for bankruptcy.

The unionized company has been in a battle with the Teamsters Union, which represents about 22,000 drivers and dock workers at the company, according to CBS reports. Just a week ago the union canceled a threatened strike prompted by the company failing to contribute to its pension and health insurance plans, CBS reported. 

https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/yellow-yrc-freight-trucking-company-closing-impacting-750-nc-locations-including-forsyth-county/83-b8b5a114-d7e1-49bc-b338-7aaf02d14df0

== Teamsters union pushes for US bankruptcy reform after Yellow's collapse ==

Dietrich Knauth - August 8, 20232:51 PM PDT

NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday called for changes to U.S. bankruptcy laws following the Chapter 11 filing of freight trucking company Yellow Corp (YELL.O), saying that workers must not be "left behind" when big businesses fail.

The Teamsters union said 22,000 of its members were out of work despite making significant concessions on wages and pension benefits in labor negotiations with the nearly 100-year-old company, which filed for bankruptcy on Sunday.

Yellow has blamed the Teamsters' opposition to its internal reorganization efforts for its collapse. But the Teamsters said its members had sacrificed more than $5 billion in wage and benefit concessions since 2009 to keep Yellow moving.

The union warned that the bankruptcy could mean they will not receive bargained-for retirement benefits or severance pay.

"Corporate bankruptcy legislation in the U.S. is a joke," Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien said in a statement. "Hardworking people routinely get left behind in this process when they should be at the front of the line to be paid and protected for the sacrifices they make to American employers."

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teamsters-union-pushes-us-bankruptcy-reform-after-yellows-collapse-2023-08-08/

== Yellow’s exit ‘reshuffling’ the LTL deck ==

Less-than-truckload rivals are adapting—in their pricing and other strategies—to take on thousands of shipments that the former No. 6 FleetOwner 500 carrier stopped taking in late July.

Scott Achelpohl - Aug. 15, 2023

In the wake of the third-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier folding its operations, the LTL market has undergone a radical capacity shift. “We are seeing a reshuffling of the deck of freight,” an LTL expert told FleetOwner after Yellow Corp., which was No. 6 on the 2023 for-hire FleetOwner 500, filed for bankruptcy.

“Carriers are using the Yellow collapse as an opportunity to not only take advantage of the supply-side shock to lift rates but to optimize the freight they’re moving,” Kevin Day, president of LTL at AFS Logistics, explained. “They have this influx of volume looking for a home, and they’re evaluating it against their existing volumes. If there’s something from former Yellow customers that fits their network better, they’re looking to purge over-length, lightweight, and less desirable freight.”

https://www.fleetowner.com/operations/article/21271740/yellows-exit-from-market-reshapes-truckings-ltl-landscape

== Wall Street ramps up looting of Yellow freight as Apollo pulls out of bankruptcy deal ==

Alex Findijs - 18 August 2023

Two weeks after the bankruptcy declaration by Yellow, Wall Street is accelerating its efforts to loot the company for all its worth. Major Wall Street firms are vying for control over how Yellow’s estimated $2 billion in assets will be sold off.

The nearly 100-year-old freight company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month after years of struggling to pay off its $1.6 billion in debt. Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm with nearly $600 billion in managed assets, seemed to be in pole position to operate as the lead financier of Yellow’s debtor-in-possession bankruptcy. By issuing a loan to keep the company in operation during its liquidation, Apollo could take control over how Yellow’s assets were sold and ensure that its $500 million loan to Yellow is satisfied first.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/19/yell-a19.html

== Bankrupt Yellow sees Old Dominion top Estes Express as lead stalking horse bidder ==

Russell Gray, Managing Editor, Kansas City Business Journal - Aug 22, 2023

Old Dominion's stalking horse bid of $1.5 billion for Yellow's real estate assets bests that of Estes Express, which came in at $1.3 billion. That bid would more than cover the approximately $1.3 billion in Yellow debt that matures next year.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2023/08/22/yellow-bankrupt-old-dominion-estes-stalking-horse.html

== Yellow’s Shutdown Opens Up LTL Market for Competitors ==

'There’s Enough Capacity in the LTL Space to Absorb the Yellow Business'

The Yellow Corp. shutdown is having a downstream effect on the less-than-truckload space as freight volumes flow toward competitors.

Connor D. Wolf, Staff Reporter - August 24, 2023 1:01 PM, EDT

The Nashville, Tenn.-based transportation holding company ceased operations on July 30 after nearly a century in business. It declared bankruptcy about a week later. The company was highly focused on the LTL segment through subsidiaries like YRC Freight. Its freight volumes have already started shifting to competitors, with assets expected to follow.

“There’s enough capacity in the LTL space to absorb the Yellow business,” said Kevin Day, president of the less-than-truckload business at AFS Logistics. “A lot of that has to do with just the slow progress that this all unfolded. It’s not this abrupt event that happened over a weekend.” 

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/yellow-ltl-competitors

== Why Teamsters allowed 22,000 union jobs to vanish ==

As Americans report warm, fuzzy feelings toward labor unions, it’s unclear how America’s 2 million truck drivers will be affected

Rachel Premack - Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Yellow, the third-largest trucking company in the less-than-truckload sector, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 7. Now its former competitors are in a bidding war for its terminals and trucks.

The company’s collapse put some 30,000 employees out of work, including 22,000 Teamsters members. That’s an uncomfortable reality for those celebrating what appears to be a comeback for organized labor: the Teamsters’ ratification of a “lucrative” contract for its 340,000 members at UPS; the historic strike among Hollywood writers and actors; and hard-line leadership at the United Auto Workers who are seeking new labor agreements with a 40% pay increase. A 2022 Gallup survey found that U.S. approval of labor unions has hit its highest point since 1965.

For former Yellow employees, the much-ballyhooed comeback of unions, strikes and workers doesn’t quite apply.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/why-teamsters-allowed-22000-union-jobs-to-vanish

== Teamsters want Senate investigation into Yellow’s bankruptcy ==

Call is part of union’s request for broader bankruptcy reform

Todd Maiden - Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The Teamsters union on Tuesday called on the U.S. Senate to investigate Yellow’s bankruptcy as part of a broader investigation the lawmaking body’s judiciary committee is conducting on “corporate manipulation of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”

Chapter 11 filings are more and more being used as a path to liquidate assets instead of attempting to restructure operations and outstanding obligations.

“Yellow is trying to fast track liquidation,” said Fred Zuckerman, Teamsters general secretary-treasurer, in a statement. “We haven’t had bankruptcy reform in this country for nearly two decades. We need to take this opportunity to right the wrongs at Yellow and prevent them from happening again.”

He said that more than 22,000 union employees are out of work even though they conceded to more than $5 billion in wages and benefits concessions over the past 14 years to keep Yellow in business.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/teamsters-want-senate-investigation-into-yellows-bankruptcy

== Estes’ $1.525B stalking horse bid for Yellow’s terminals wins out ==

Bid sets floor for auction process

Todd Maiden - Thursday, September 21, 2023

An order was entered in a Delaware bankruptcy court Thursday naming less-than-truckload carrier Estes Express Lines’ $1.525 billion stalking horse bid as the winning offer of Yellow Corp.’s portfolio of owned terminals.

Bid protections for Estes were also approved, including a $7.5 million breakup fee and expense reimbursement up to $1.6 million.

Yellow filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 6 after failing to reach terms with its union workers on a proposed change of operations it said was vital to its survival.

Last week Estes submitted the bid, which eclipsed a $1.5 billion offer from rival LTL carrier Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL). Estes’ proposal also came with lower bid protections. The carrier kicked off the bidding with an initial offer of $1.3 billion.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/estes-1-525b-stalking-horse-bid-for-yellows-terminals-wins-out

== Auction houses to liquidate Yellow’s tractors, trailers ==

Court approves use of liquidators to unwind carrier’s estate

Todd Maiden - Friday, October 27, 2023

A Delaware bankruptcy court approved an order on Friday allowing Yellow Corp.’s estate to sell its rolling stock through auction houses.

The estate entered an agreement with Nations Capital, Ritchie Brothers and IronPlanet on Oct. 16 to facilitate the sale of Yellow’s fleet. The court temporarily withheld approval to give the U.S. Trustee’s office time to file objections.

The court agreed with the Trustee’s office that an affiliate of one of the auction houses needs to certify “disinterestedness” and show that its interests are “conflict-free” to the interests of Yellow’s estate. However, Judge Craig Goldblatt said that the order should move forward as time is a consideration. He advised all parties that they are “proceeding at their own peril” and his decision could be vacated if a conflict arises.

A filing to seal the commission structures of the auction houses was withdrawn on Friday.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/auction-houses-to-liquidate-yellows-tractors-trailers

== Yellow Trucking Hits Hitch With Lease Transfers, New Bidder Revealed ==

November 1, 2023 - Bianca Barragán, Southern California

Trucking company Yellow Corp.’s road to offloading 178 leases across the U.S. and Canada as part of its bankruptcy process might be getting bumpy.

For each property where Yellow is hoping to transfer its leases to other tenants, Yellow has provided an estimate of the balance that would need to be paid “to be free and clear of its legal responsibilities as a tenant,” CoStar reported.

But so far, one landlord has come forward contesting Yellow’s estimate of what it owes. Yellow says it owes $31K in unpaid rent for a space in Salt Lake City, while its landlord says it owes $2M, most of it in the form of unpaid building maintenance. Similar disputes could come from any of Yellow’s other landlords, CoStar reported.

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/industrial/yellow-trucking-leases-transfer-new-bidder-121441

== Pressure grows on US Treasury to salvage trucking giant Yellow ==

Jarrett Renshaw - Wed, November 8, 2023 at 2:01 PM PST

4
Jarrett Renshaw
Wed, November 8, 2023 at 2:01 PM PST·2 min read

(This Nov. 8 story has been corrected to say million instead of billion in paragraph 2, and to remove the reference to workers being fired in paragraph 9)

By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters) - Congressional pressure is growing on the U.S. Treasury to help salvage trucking giant Yellow from bankruptcy, from Republicans and Democrats alike, letters viewed by Reuters show.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley is the latest lawmaker to ask Treasury, in a letter on Thursday, to extend the terms of a controversial $700 million pandemic loan granted by the Trump administration to Yellow.

It follows separate letters sent by Republican Senator Roger Marshall and Democrats Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey last month. Earlier this week, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey sent letters.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pressure-grows-us-treasury-salvage-220145037.html

== Control of US LTL capacity in 2024 hangs on sale of Yellow terminals ==

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor - Nov 27, 2023, 5:14 PM EST

The biggest sale of trucking assets in US history is scheduled for Tuesday, but there is little clarity about who will buy the terminals formerly operated by bankrupt trucking company Yellow. 

The defunct less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, once the third-largest US LTL provider, is scheduled to auction off 174 of the terminals and other properties it owns Tuesday – that is if an auction is necessary, according to documents filed with the US Bankruptcy Court of Delaware in September. 

https://www.joc.com/article/control-us-ltl-capacity-2024-hangs-sale-yellow-terminals_20231127.html

== Bidder Emerges to Save Yellow, but She Needs Uncle Sam ==

Industry exec Sarah Riggs Amico has a plan to resurrect a leaner version of bankrupt trucking firm

Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff - Posted Nov 29, 2023 9:30 AM CST

Pressure from Congress has been increasingly directed toward the US Treasury in recent weeks to help rescue trucking giant Yellow Corp. after the firm filed for bankruptcy over the summer and shuttered operations. Now, as Yellow's assets are prepped for sale and its former drivers struggle to find work elsewhere, a glimmer of hope has emerged: Per the New York Times, an executive in the trucking industry has cobbled together a plan to get Yellow on its feet again, with ex-employees in the mix and a hoped-for collaboration with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters workers union.

Sarah Riggs Amico, who serves as executive chair for her family's car-hauling company, Jack Cooper, is hoping her scheme can resurrect Yellow and bring back customers who may have already defected to other trucking companies that are better run. "Restructuring Yellow provides an opportunity to bring back tens of thousands of fair-wage, union truck-driving jobs while bolstering America's supply chain," Riggs Amico, a Democratic 2020 Senate candidate in Georgia, tells the Times. "Who wouldn't find that a worthy effort?"

Worthy or not, one entity that might not be on board is the Treasury Department, which, for Riggs Amico's plan to work, would have to agree to let Yellow postpone repayment of its $700 million rescue loan. Aside from legal roadblocks that might stymie such a deal, Treasury may simply want to get its hands on the money owed to it, which would be expedited to next year if Yellow sells off some of its terminals and other assets for cash.

https://www.newser.com/story/343227/yellow-corp-may-be-able-to-keep-trucking-after-all.html

== Yellow’s Fate Remains Unclear After Rescue Bid ==

Glenn Taylor - Thu, November 30, 2023 at 1:17 PM PST

Ahead of Friday’s expected reveal of the winning bidder for Yellow Corp.’s roughly 170 terminals, the future of the defunct trucking company and its assets remains very much up in the air.

Yellow held the auction for its terminals Tuesday, two months after accepting a stalking horse bid of $1.525 billion from rival less-than-truckload (LTL) firm Estes Express Lines. At the time, the Estes bid set a floor price for the Yellow terminals, outpacing a prior $1.5 billion offer from Old Dominion Freight Line.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/yellow-fate-remains-unclear-rescue-211726808.html

== Yellow terminals: Mapping trucking firms’ winning real estate bids ==

XPO, Estes, Saia and Knight-Swift’s pending property acquisitions show which markets the carriers are targeting for growth.

December 5, 2023 - Colin Campbell, David Taube and Julia Himmel

Successful bidders are slated to pay a whopping $1.88 billion for 128 of bankrupt Yellow Corp.’s trucking terminals at auction — revealing which markets they view as strong investment opportunities.

Trucking carriers and other companies will scoop up properties across much of the country. Yellow will sell three or more terminals in Arizona, California, Georgia, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Some locations saw soaring valuations and back-up bids indicating immense interest. Estes Express Lines, which initially valued the full network at $1.525 billion, bid $33 million on a single Indiana terminal: 2530 S. Tibbs Ave. in Indianapolis. The property drew a back-up bid of $31.1 million from ArcBest Corp.’s real estate arm.

https://www.truckingdive.com/news/yellow-terminals-map-auction-winners/701631/

== Bankrupt trucker Yellow repays $700 million Covid loan, Teamsters blast ‘failed executives’ ==

Dan Mangan - Mon, Feb 5 20246:54 PM EST / Updated Tue, Feb 6 20243:56 PM EST

Bankrupt trucking company Yellow has fully repaid a controversial $700 million Covid loan to the U.S. Treasury Department, plus more than $151 million in interest, the company said Monday.

The announcement came nearly two months after a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware approved Yellow’s request to sell most of its shipping centers and real estate for nearly $1.9 billion.

Meanwhile, unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case, including employee pension funds, are seeking billions of dollars in payouts from what remains of the company.

“The money Yellow boasts that it’s repaid the federal government is but a fraction of the $5 billion that hardworking Teamsters gave back to this mismanaged company in wage and pension concessions for more than a decade, money that the workers to this day have not seen,” a spokeswoman for the Teamsters labor union, which represented Yellow workers, told CNBC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/05/bankrupt-trucker-yellow-repays-700-million-covid-loan.html

== Delaware bankruptcy court says Yellow owes pensions, stock drops 90% ==

Todd Maiden - Fri, Sep 13, 2024, 3:46 PM PDT

A Delaware bankruptcy court provided some clarity late Friday regarding $6.5 billion in withdrawal liability claims against Yellow Corp. The total amount the bankrupt less-than-truckload company will actually pay, however, remains to be decided. The mere fact that the estate will have to make good on some portion of the claims sent Yellow’s stock spiraling.

Shares of Yellow (OTC: YELLQ) fell 90% on Friday to 50 cents per share as stockholders realized their bet that the company’s asset value would exceed amounts owed to creditors may not come to fruition.

MFN Partners, which acquired a more than 40% equity stake in Yellow in the day’s leading up to a bankruptcy filing last summer, is the largest holder. However, the Boston-based private equity firm provided the company with bankruptcy financing during its liquidation, the interest and fees from which have helped offset its equity exposure.

The U.S. Treasury holds a 30% stake in Yellow. The equity was issued as part of a collateral package for a $700 million Covid-relief loan it provided to the company in 2020.

Multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs) to which Yellow once contributed claim the carrier’s abrupt shutdown a year ago means it’s now on the hook for its allocable share of unfunded vested benefits. However, Yellow has said that the plans are fully funded now, following a 2021 pension fund bailout package (the American Rescue Plan Act). Yellow contends its exposure is a fraction of the amounts claimed, if anything.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/delaware-court-says-yellow-owes-224644952.html

== Bankrupt Trucker Yellow Loses Ruling Over $6.5 Billion in Pension Debts ==

Steven Church - Tue, Sep 17, 2024, 9:26 AM PDT

(Bloomberg) -- Bankrupt trucker Yellow Corp. and its hedge fund owners lost a key court ruling over $6.5 billion in debt that pension funds claim the defunct company owes them, likely wiping out most recovery for shareholders.

US Bankruptcy Judge Craig T. Goldblatt sided with pension funds over how to calculate the penalty Yellow must pay for canceling workers’ retirement plans when the company shut down last year. The ruling, issued last week, means there is little chance the company will have any cash left for shareholders like hedge fund MFN Partners after Yellow finishes selling its real estate portfolio and paying the pension penalty.

Goldblatt didn’t set a payment amount, but the ruling means the 11 pension funds involved have the upper hand in how that debt is calculated. Yellow last year sold its trucking terminals for $1.9 billion, enough to cover all of Yellow’s secured debt but not pension claims.

Shares, which had been trading above $5 most of this year, plunged a record 88% on Sept. 13, when the ruling was released. Shares were trading at 70 cents Tuesday.

The pension funds alleged Yellow is required to pay a “withdrawal liability” for canceling the retirement benefit. The funds asked Goldblatt to rule that billions of dollars in federal grant money they received from the US last year should be ignored when that liability is calculated. Yellow asked the judge to do the opposite.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bankrupt-trucker-yellow-loses-ruling-162658149.html

== Bankrupt Trucker Yellow Loses Ruling Over $6.5 Billion in Pension Debts ==

    Funds have upper hand on retirement penalty’s calculation
    Ruling sent shares plunging a record 88% on Sept. 13

Steven Church - September 17, 2024 at 12:26 PM EDT

Bankrupt trucker Yellow Corp. and its hedge fund owners lost a key court ruling over $6.5 billion in debt that pension funds claim the defunct company owes them, likely wiping out most recovery for shareholders.

US Bankruptcy Judge Craig T. Goldblatt sided with pension funds over how to calculate the penalty Yellow must pay for canceling workers’ retirement plans when the company shut down last year. The ruling, issued last week, means there is little chance the company will have any cash left for shareholders like hedge fund MFN Partners after Yellow finishes selling its real estate portfolio and paying the pension penalty.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-17/trucker-yellow-loses-ruling-over-6-5-billion-in-pension-debts

== Could Yellow’s Bankruptcy Make Room for Amazon to Take Trucking Market Share? ==

Glenn Taylor - Tue, February 25, 2025 at 5:50 AM PST

Since Yellow filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in summer 2023, trucking companies have scampered to fill the void left in the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector. But this industry, like many others before it, may be in for some disruption if Amazon decides to make a concerted push into the space—as one investment bank suggests.

A Friday research note from J.P. Morgan warned LTL players that Amazon could take away market share in the sector if it decided to enter the field as a “for-hire” competitor.

“The most obvious risk for LTL stocks is if this service launches for external users at some point in 2026 as it is pretty much impossible to put that disruptive idea back in the box,” J.P. Morgan’s Brian Ossenbeck said in his note.

In the wake of the note’s release, Old Dominion (9 percent), Saia (9 percent), XPO (5.5 percent), ArcBest (5 percent), TFI International (7 percent) and Knight-Swift (3 percent) all saw stock prices fall substantially late last week.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/could-yellow-bankruptcy-room-amazon-135026544.html

== Yellow settles WARN claims from nonunion employees for $12.3M ==

Todd Maiden - Sat, March 1, 2025 at 7:06 AM PST

Yellow Corp. revealed at a January hearing that it had come to terms with nonunion employees regarding a failure to provide 60 days’ notice ahead of mass layoffs in 2023. Friday filings in a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware showed the settlement amounts.

The defunct less-than-truckload carrier has settled Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims from two separate plaintiff classes for a total of $12.3 million.

The Moore class, a group of approximately 3,200 nonunion employees so named for the lead plaintiff, will receive payments totaling $8.75 million. The agreement requires the parties to release one another from further legal action pertaining to the WARN Act. However, the releases do not cover other employee claims alleging missed payments for health coverage, paid time off and commissions.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-settles-warn-claims-nonunion-150631041.html

== Yellow’s 325-door California terminal fetches $55M ==

Todd Maiden - Wed, March 19, 2025 at 8:44 AM PDT

In dribs and drabs, bankrupt Yellow Corp.’s handlers continue to liquidate assets. A Tuesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware showed the estate will fetch $55 million for terminating a lease on a 325-door property in Bloomington, California.

The filing said the offer represents the “highest or otherwise best value for the Lease” after Yellow (OTC: YELLQ) marketed the property for 20 months through its broker CBRE and its bankruptcy adviser Ducera.

The landlord is listed as NATMI LPF Bloomington L.P. The group called on the court in September to compel Yellow to provide adequate insurance at the Bloomington facility as well as other terminals it was leasing to the carrier.

A Monday hearing in the Delaware court revealed Yellow had $550 million in cash, a more than $200 million increase from what was listed on its latest monthly operating report for January. Those funds will be distributed to the company’s remaining creditors, who include former employees due paid time off and commissions.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-325-door-california-terminal-154421359.html

== Yellow, Creditors Agree on Bankruptcy Plan, Key Shareholder Holds Out ==

Glenn Taylor - Tue, April 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM PDT

Yellow appears to have most of its latest bankruptcy plan squared away. The former trucking firm’s estate submitted an amended Chapter 11 plan to a U.S. bankruptcy court Friday.

But while that deal has the support of Yellow’s creditors’ committee, it still does not have the backing of the firm’s largest shareholder.

The joint Chapter 11 plan, filed in Delaware, details a settlement structure that would substantially reduce the billions in claim amounts asserted against Yellow’s estate by multiple pension funds. It also establishes that unsecured creditors will recover within a range of 12 to 17 percent of their original claims. The range is narrowed from the prior plan, which would have recovered the lenders anywhere from none of the claims to 26 percent.

The pension funds’ liability claims now add up to $3.3 billion, with the firms expected to see a recovery between 12 percent and 16 percent. These claims include those from Yellow’s largest pension provider, Central States Pension Fund, which now shows $1.7 billion in withdrawal liability and contribution claims. This number is a substantial cut for Yellow—down from the $5.8 billion Central States originally claimed, with $4.8 billion tied to the withdrawal liability.

Claims from 10 other pension funds account for more than $1.6 billion of the $3.3 billion claims pool. Yellow’s estate got a significant reprieve with the new plan, as the prior claims across all the pension funds totaled roughly $7.5 billion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-creditors-agree-bankruptcy-plan-172112671.html

== Yellow’s new bankruptcy plan revealed, next steps still uncertain ==

A U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware said it would delay a ruling to give Yellow's creditors and shareholder MFN Partners more time to negotiate a final resolution. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Todd Maiden - Mon, March 31, 2025 at 12:13 PM PDT

An amended Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan outlining final distributions to Yellow Corp.’s creditors was submitted to a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware on Friday. As with the prior plan, the latest iteration would make former employees whole for their priority claims of unpaid time off and commissions due. The current version is backed by Yellow and the defunct estate’s committee of unsecured creditors but may not have the support of a key party in interest.

Classes for secured, priority, employee PTO and convenience claims totaling as much as $706 million would see a full recovery under the proposed plan. Payout ratios for general unsecured claims were narrowed to 12% to 17% versus prior scenarios that provided 0% to 26% recovery. Claims and interests held by debtors against other debtors would be deemed impaired and not eligible for a recovery.

Employee claims against Yellow (OTC: YELLQ) totaling $30 million to $40 million for “unpaid vacation or paid time off pay, sick pay, or sales commissions” remain unimpaired and subject to 100% recovery. This class of claims doesn’t include individual employee claims or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-bankruptcy-plan-revealed-next-191333371.html

== Yellow Corp. loses pension claims appeal ==

Todd Maiden - Wed, September 17, 2025 at 12:37 PM PDT

An effort from defunct Yellow Corp. and its majority shareholder MFN Partners to overturn a ruling requiring it to pay pension withdrawal liabilities was shot down in a federal appeals court on Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled with a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, saying the fact that various pension funds Yellow once contributed to received federal bailout money doesn’t absolve the former less-than-truckload carrier from liabilities tied to its abrupt shutdown and exit from those plans.

Employers party to multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs) are required to pay their allocable share of unfunded vested benefits when exiting a plan.

Withdrawal liability claims attached to Yellow once totaled more than $6.5 billion, roughly $4.8 billion of which were held by Central States Pension Fund. Yellow argued that the plans are now fully funded following a 2021 pension fund bailout package and that it owes little to nothing to the plans that covered roughly 22,000 of its union employees.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellow-corp-loses-pension-claims-193724688.html



==== Yellow Strike ====


== Trucking firm Yellow averts strike by drafting agreement ==

Jenny Goldsberry, Social Media Producer - July 23, 2023 08:32 PM

Trucking company Yellow Corp. came to an agreement with its drivers Sunday, narrowly avoiding a strike.

The Central States Health and Welfare Fund agreed with the Teamsters to extend drivers' health care benefits and pensions to the tune of $50 million. Originally, benefits were set to expire Sunday.

“Our members at YRC Freight and Holland cannot work without health care, and the Teamsters worked tirelessly to ensure an immediate strike at Yellow could be averted,” Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. “These discussions were not easy, but Central States has made meaningful movement under pressure from the union. We are seeking a real resolution, but let this solution today serve as a profound reminder that our members can only endure so many sacrifices. Teamsters at Yellow simply work too hard and have already given so much.”

The Teamsters, representing 22,000 Yellow Corp. drivers, gave Central States 30 days to pay what it owes in pension accruals and benefits but Central States agreed it would make the payment within the next two weeks.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/yellow-averts-strike-agreement

== “The bottom line is everyone is tired of corporate America getting all of the money”: Michigan Yellow freight workers speak out on pension cuts ==

Work at Yellow? Tell us what you think about the pension crisis and the last-minute deal with the Teamsters to block a strike. All submissions will be kept anonymous.

Our reporters - 24 July 2023

Workers at freight trucking company Yellow are furious over the ongoing refusal of the company to pay its pension obligations in the Midwest and South. On July 15, claiming they were on the verge of bankruptcy, Yellow officials refused to pay a contractually obligated $50 million into the Teamsters’ Central States Pension Funds. Yellow retirees are already paid at a three-quarters reduced rate.

The Teamsters bureaucracy declared it would call a strike by Monday, but on Sunday afternoon it reversed itself, announcing a “deal” giving the company another 30 days to pay what it owes. But given the fact that the company already unilaterally decided not to pay on July 15, there is no reason to assume it will do so under the new deadline. While the company claims it has no money to pay its pension obligations, all of its remaining cash is being diverted to paying its major creditors. This includes the notorious corporate raiding firm Apollo Global Management, which has half a trillion dollars in assets. The US government is also a major debt holder after issuing Yellow a $700 million pandemic aid loan.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/25/yell-j25.html

== Teamsters demand Yellow’s previous $11-per-hour offer ==

Cash-strapped LTL carrier seeking agreement to sell to lenders

Todd Maiden - Tuesday, July 25, 2023

A Tuesday letter from Teamsters leadership to local unions representing all of Yellow Corp.’s network said emergency negotiations that began on Sunday haven’t yielded an agreement. The union says its “bottom-line proposal” seeks the $11-per-hour wages and benefits hike previously offered by the company.

A July 12 letter from Yellow’s (NASDAQ: YELL) CEO to the Teamsters general president said the less-than-truckload carrier was willing to raise total compensation by $11 per hour over a five-year term if the union would acquiesce to its proposed change of operations. Yellow’s efforts to implement those changes, which it says are required for its survival, had been rejected by the union.

Yellow has also said that its lenders want to see full implementation of a company overhaul dubbed “One Yellow,” which includes the proposed operational changes, before restructuring its bloated debt load, $1.3 billion of which comes due next year. The carrier is in dire need of a financial reset and has said it will be out of cash at some point this month.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/teamsters-at-yellow-demand-prior-11-per-hour-offer






====== Employment ======

==== Jobs ====

== Truck transportation jobs plummet in August ==

Biggest drop by far since the pandemic likely due to end-of-July layoffs from the closing of Yellow

John Kingston - Friday, September 01, 2023

Truck transportation jobs plummeted in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the likelihood that the demise of Yellow Corp. was largely responsible for sending the employment total down by 36,700 employees.

To put that drop in perspective, in the past 10 years the only month with a larger decline was April 2020, when the economy took the full blow from the start of the pandemic. Truck transportation jobs on a seasonal basis that month dropped 84,500 jobs from March. 

Since then, there have only been six months in which truck transportation jobs declined, four of them this year. And those job losses totaled just 16,900 jobs, less than half of those lost in August alone.

The only other month with higher job loss than August was due to a Teamsters strike in April 1994.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-transportation-jobs-plummet-in-august







==== Shortage ====

== The perpetual truck driver shortage is not real ==

Number of trucking carriers has increased 45% since July 2019

Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves - Tuesday, September 05, 2023

The seemingly perpetual marketwide truck driver shortage is not real, nor is it marketwide. While specific fleets can and do have driver shortages — i.e., unseated trucks — the trucking market quickly corrects. 

There also are periods of capacity shortages, but those get addressed very quickly by the market. 

With no barriers to entry, almost anyone can create a trucking company. That is exactly what has happened over the past four years.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-perpetual-truck-driver-shortage-is-not-real









====== Port ======

== China shipowners group says US port fee proposal breaks WTO rules, US law ==

Thu, March 13, 2025 at 10:33 AM PDT - Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The China Shipowners' Association opposes a U.S. proposal to slap hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration aims to partially pay for an American shipbuilding comeback with those fees, according to a draft executive order seen by Reuters.

The CSA's members include China's COSCO Shipping, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by the fees proposed by the U.S. trade representative as part of that agency's investigation into China's growing domination of global shipping.

In a comment filed on the USTR site, CSA called the agency's proposed actions discriminatory and said they violate World Trade Organization rules as well as WTO dispute settlement rulings.

The USTR's move also violates the 2003 Sino-U.S. Maritime Agreement, CSA said, adding that it violates U.S. laws and rules.

The proposals exceed the statutory authority of the USTR, infringe on the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission, violate the standards for agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act and violate the Export Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the group said.

Global shipping executives have warned that the proposal could spark chaos in supply chains and backfire on the United States by heaping $30 billion in annual costs on American consumers and doubling the cost of shipping U.S. exports.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-shipowners-group-says-us-173348013.html


====== Technology ======


===== Tracking =====

== Project44’s latest lawsuit in intellectual property dispute targets SMC3 ==

John Kingston - Fri, January 3, 2025 at 11:14 AM PST

An earlier dispute between project44 and MyCarrier has been extended to bring in SMC3, as the provider of freight visibility now accuses SMC3 of theft of intellectual property.

The lawsuit by project44 (p44) was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Project44’s lawsuits against MyCarrier and SMC3 may be separate pieces of litigation, but they are effectively linked in describing the sequence of events that led to their filings.


According to the lawsuit, MyCarrier had a five-year agreement with p44 that enabled MyCarrier to offer p44’s functionality through the MyCarrier transportation management system. It was signed in 2023.

The deal would allow MyCarrier “to offer the [p44’s] features to its customers, who are typically small to medium shippers of goods without their own TMS platforms of logistics departments.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/project44-latest-lawsuit-intellectual-property-191421351.html



===== Electronic Security =====

== Truck-to-truck worm could infect – and disrupt – entire US commercial fleet ==

The device that makes it possible is required in all American big rigs, and has poor security

Jessica Lyons - Fri 22 Mar 2024 00:03 UTC

Vulnerabilities in common Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) required in US commercial trucks could be present in over 14 million medium- and heavy-duty rigs, according to boffins at Colorado State University.

In a paper presented at the 2024 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, associate professor Jeremy Daily and systems engineering graduate students Jake Jepson and Rik Chatterjee demonstrated how ELDs can be accessed over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections to take control of a truck, manipulate data, and spread malware between vehicles.

"These findings highlight an urgent need to improve the security posture in ELD systems," the trio wrote [PDF].

The authors did not specify brands or models of ELDs that are vulnerable to the security flaws they highlight in the paper. But they do note there's not too much diversity of products on the market. While there are some 880 devices registered, "only a few tens of distinct ELD models" have hit the road in commercial trucks.

A federal mandate requires most heavy-duty trucks to be equipped with ELDs, which track driving hours. These systems also log data on engine operation, vehicle movement and distances driven – but they aren't required to have tested safety controls built in.

And according to the researchers, they can be wirelessly manipulated by another car on the road to, for example, force a truck to pull over.

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/boffins_tucktotruck_worm/

== Truck-To-Truck Worm Could Infect Entire US Fleet ==

Posted by BeauHD on Saturday March 23, 2024 03:00AM

Jessica Lyons reports via The Register:

<blockquote>
Vulnerabilities in common Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) required in US commercial trucks could be present in over 14 million medium- and heavy-duty rigs, according to boffins at Colorado State University. In a paper presented at the 2024 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, associate professor Jeremy Daily and systems engineering graduate students Jake Jepson and Rik Chatterjee demonstrated how ELDs can be accessed over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections to take control of a truck, manipulate data, and spread malware between vehicles. "These findings highlight an urgent need to improve the security posture in ELD systems," the trio wrote [PDF].
</blockquote>

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/03/22/2153200/truck-to-truck-worm-could-infect-entire-us-fleet