Hundreds of Minnesotans out of a job after Yellow Corp. declares bankruptcy
Hundreds of Minnesotans have lost their jobs after Yellow Corp., one of the largest less-than-load trucking companies in the country, declared bankruptcy.
The Kansas-based company is liquidating and has chosen not to continue operations.
“It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business,” CEO Darren Hawkins said in a news release Sunday. “For generations, Yellow provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with solid, good-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.”
The company said it had 30,000 employees, both union and non-union.
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“In Minnesota, there’s about 480 union workers that have lost their jobs. That is significant,” said John Hausladen, the president of The Minnesota Trucking Association. “From a market share perspective, Yellow nationally represented about 10 percent of the less-than-truckload market, and that’s probably true for Minnesota as well.”
Minnesota had six locations for Yellow Corp. and its affiliates in Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Owatonna, Jackson, St. Cloud and Duluth.
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, 320 workers were laid off at the Burnsville Yellow Corp. location.
Hausladen said most of the lost jobs were less-than-truckload positions, which meant the workers drove during the day and could be home at night.
“I would say those LTL openings in Minnesota — there’s just going to be a handful,” he said of the job opportunities for laid off truckers. “I can’t quantify it, but it’s not going to equal the amount out there. Now there are other truck driving jobs in the over the road sector. And that would be a big change for some of these drivers where they would potentially have a sleeper berth begun overnight and traveling farther distances.”