While speculation throughout the industry rises over Yellow Corp.’s ultimate fate and some question which shippers and intermediaries have already stopped working with the company, one outfit has made it public that it won’t be placing loads with the less-than-truckload carrier.
On Wednesday, a representative with transportation management provider Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER) confirmed to FreightWaves it has made the decision to temporarily stop tendering freight to the company.
“To mitigate the impact on our customers and their logistics, we’re temporarily suspending tenders where Uber Freight holds the contract with Yellow and rapidly diverting capacity across our network to maintain the flow of goods,” the spokesperson stated. “We are continuing to monitor the situation and will make adjustments as needed.”
The Teamsters union announced Tuesday that workers at operating companies YRC Freight and Holland could strike as soon as Monday if the carrier doesn’t catch up on contribution payments to health and pension plans managed by Central State Funds.
In a delinquency notice to plan participants, Central States’ board of trustees said Monday the carrier had withheld a required payment on Saturday and that it planned to withhold the Aug. 15 payment as well. The group said payments for both months total $50 million.
In June, Yellow made a request to Central States to defer payments, apparently to no avail.
A Tuesday evening statement from Yellow said the company had advised Central States it would defer payments for June and July “to preserve liquidity as it worked to obtain meetings with the [Teamsters] as well as secure additional financing.
“The company intends to repay the funds with interest immediately upon securing additional financing and has asked the funds to discuss acceptable terms.”
Yellow and the Teamsters have been unable to agree to terms on a second phase of operational changes, which the carrier maintains are required for its survival.
A representative from Yellow was not immediately available for comment.
More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden
- Teamsters issue strike notice at Yellow
- J.B. Hunt still working through bottom of cycle
- Yellow says it’s not paying even as potential strike looms
