U.S. trucking giant Yellow shuts down operations: WSJ

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Yellow, one of the oldest and biggest U.S. trucking businesses, is shutting down its operations and filing for bankruptcy, reported The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

The company, based in Nashville, Tennessee, sent out notices to customers and employees, saying it is ceasing all operations at midday Sunday. The Teamsters Union said it received Yellow's notification of the intention to file for bankruptcy.

The 99-year-old company has more than 12,000 trucks moving freight across the country for Walmart, Home Depot and many other smaller businesses, said the Journal.

The failure imperils nearly 30,000 jobs, affecting around 22,000 Teamsters members. Hundreds of its non-union employees were laid off Friday after the company stopped taking in new shipments from customers, it said.

It would be the biggest collapse in terms of revenue and jobs for the U.S. trucking industry, though customers say disruptions should be limited. Many shifted their cargoes to rivals in recent weeks, hastening Yellow's demise, said the U.S. daily.

The shutdown would also bring new scrutiny to a COVID-19 rescue loan of 700 million U.S. dollars granted to Yellow by the administration of then President Donald Trump in 2020. The U.S. Treasury now holds about 30 percent of Yellow's shares, which have plunged and ended Friday at 71 cents per share, it said.