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Yellow Freight Shutdown, Layoffs Reach 30,000 Employees

Yellow Freight trucking terminal located at 3500 Booth Ave, Kansas City, MO 64129. Yellow Freight is expected to file for bankruptcy on Monday, the shutdown will cause approximately 30,000 employees will be out of a job. Photo Credit: Google Maps

Posted July 31, 2023

This is a developing story.

Hundreds of Kansas City truckers woke up without a job as national trucking firm Yellow Freight intends to file for bankruptcy. Nearly 30,000 jobs will be affected in what could shape to be the largest trucking bankruptcy in the U.S.

Yellow employed nearly 1,000 workers in the Kansas City metro. Yellow used to be headquartered in Overland Park until the company decided to move its headquarters to Nashville last year.

The company operates two trucking terminals in the Kansas City metro with one located off U.S. 40 Highway north of the Truman Sports Complex and another in Kansas City, Kansas, on State Avenue.

The shutdown comes just days after a Teamsters strike was averted. According to the union, Yellow failed to pay for employee healthcare benefits in July. Yellow will also be laying off 3,000-4,000 non-union workers who were employed with the company. The union represents the company’s 22,000 unionized workers.

A likely contribution to the collapse of the firm is its failure to repay loans made during the pandemic. The company received a $700 million government loan from the Trump administration during the pandemic in exchange for a 30 percent stake, however, that loan has not yet been paid.

Yellow plans to release a public statement Monday, however, has yet to do so.