Who is to blame for Yellow’s demise?

Art of Supply

On July 30th 2023, Yellow Freight announced that they would cease operations after 99 years in business. Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed just one week later.

It took more than one thing to bring about Yellow’s bankruptcy, one of the largest in the history of the trucking industry: poorly integrated acquisitions, a strained relationship with the Federal government, and an ill-timed fight with the Teamsters union.

The more coverage comes out about Yellow’s recent bankruptcy, the more surprising it is that they made it so close to 100 years in business.

In this episode of Dial P, Kelly Barner looks at Yellow’s past and present for sources of trouble and lessons to learn:

• How the company grew to become so big, creating a number of problems for themselves in the process
• The factors that led directly to their cease in operations - including a high stakes labor negotiation with the Teamsters union
• What to watch for as investors and competitors swoop in to take advantage of the company’s remaining assets

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Dial P for Procurement on AOP