Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion

Yellow Corporation

The Kansas-based less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier that grew from Yellow Transit (1924) into one of the two or three largest US LTL networks by buying Roadway Express (2003) and USF (2005), spent the next twenty years failing to merge what it had bought, survived the 2008–11 crisis on Teamsters concessions and debt-for-equity swaps, borrowed $700m from the US Treasury under the CARES Act in July 2020 (with the government taking ~29.6% of its shares), and stopped operating on 30 Jul 2023 after a run by shippers during a dispute with the Teamsters over its "One Yellow" network plan. It filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 6 Aug 2023. Its ~30,000 jobs vanished within a week; its terminals — the network every rival wanted — sold for ~$1.88bn in the first court-approved round alone (130 properties, Dec 2023); the Treasury was repaid in full with ~$151m of interest in Feb 2024; and the estate then lost the fight over ~$6.5bn of multi-employer pension withdrawal-liability claims, confirmed a liquidating plan on 17 Nov 2025, and spent 2026 settling with the pension funds. Its story turns on density without reliability or capital: Yellow had the terminals and the doors, but not the service, the cost structure, the labour agreement or the balance sheet to use them. It is the counter-case to Old Dominion Freight Line in Chapter 6 of the book.

At a glance

Founded: Roots in Yellow Cab and Yellow Transit, Oklahoma City, 1924 (A. J. Harrell, company history, reported); moved to Kansas City under the Powell family from the 1950s (reported); Yellow Freight System; Yellow Corporation (1990s), Yellow Roadway (2003), YRC Worldwide (2006), Yellow Corporation again (2021)
Headquarters: Overland Park, Kansas for most of its modern history; corporate headquarters moved to Nashville, Tennessee around 2021–22 (reported, verify)
Ownership / structure: Public (Nasdaq: YRCW, later YELL; delisted in bankruptcy, verify date). US Treasury held ~29.6% of shares (15.9m) from the 2020 CARES Act loan (company, reported); hedge fund MFN Partners became the largest private shareholder (reported)
Leadership: Bill Zollars (CEO 1999–2011; Roadway and USF deals); James Welch (CEO 2011–2018; restructuring); Darren Hawkins (CEO 2019–2023; CARES loan, One Yellow, shutdown) (reported, verify exact dates)
Operating companies (2022): YRC Freight (national LTL, the merged Yellow and Roadway networks), Holland, New Penn, Reddaway (regional LTL), plus logistics; renamed and rebranded as one Yellow from Feb 2021
Scale at its peak and at the end: ~$9bn+ revenue in 2006–07 after the acquisitions (reported, verify); ~$5.2bn revenue in 2022 (reported, verify); ~30,000 employees, ~22,000 of them Teamsters (reported); ~12,000 tractors and ~35,000 trailers (FreightWaves, May 2026, reported); ~300+ terminals — the estate counted 325 properties in its sale process (reported, Nov 2025)
Insolvency: Ceased operations 30 Jul 2023; Chapter 11 6 Aug 2023, Delaware (Case No. 23-11069); liquidating plan confirmed 17 Nov 2025 (Shared facts)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Yellow Transit's founding and the post-1980 national LTL network (1924–2002); Roadway (2003); USF (2005); the 2009 Yellow–Roadway integration and the Teamsters concessions (2009–11); the CARES Act loan (2020) and the DoD settlement (2022); One Yellow (2021–23); the Teamsters dispute and shutdown (2023); the terminal auctions (2023–25); the pension ruling and the liquidating plan (2024–26)

9 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1924
Yellow Transit Founding
Founding / network build
2003
Roadway Acquisition
Acquisition or merger
2005
USF Acquisition
Acquisition or merger
2009
Yellow Roadway Integration and Teamsters Concessions
Restructuring or bankruptcy (out-of-court) / labour agreement / network consolidation
2020
CARES Act Treasury Loan
Financing / government support; regulatory or legal action
2021
One Yellow Network Plan
Network build / consolidation; strategy pivot
2023
Teamsters Dispute and Shutdown
Labour agreement or strike / restructuring or bankruptcy
2023
Terminal Auctions
Divestment (in bankruptcy)
2024
Pension Ruling and 2025 Liquidating Plan
Regulatory, customs or legal action / restructuring or bankruptcy

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