XPO (CCJ Top 250 No. 9) confirmed to CCJ Monday night that is one of the companies that purchased 130 of bankrupt Yellow Corp.'s terminals for a total of almost $1.9 billion, pending bankruptcy court approval Dec. 12
XPO has been provisionally named the new owner of 28 service centers that were previously operated by Yellow.
Among the other bidders, according to The Wall Street Journal, were Estes Express Lines (No. 10), $249 million for 24 terminals; Saia (No. 19), $236 million for 17 properties; and Knight-Swift (No. 5), $51 million for 13 terminals. Previously, Estes and Old Dominion Freight Line were jockeying bids for all of Yellow's terminals. A total of 20 bidders purchased former Yellow properties, the proceeds of which are expected to relive Yellow's debt, including $700 million owed to U.S. Treasury from a CARES Act loan it received in 2020.
The auction of Yellow's trucks, trailers and other equipment is being handled by Ritchie Brothers and Nations Capital.
Yellow in August filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, officially putting to rest years of speculation of its financial demise.
The final straw turned out to be the threat of a July 24 labor strike among the carrier's roughly 22,000 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) members that drove away Yellow customers. Yellow and the union were at odds over a makeover of Yellow's network called One Yellow. The goal was for the company to emerge as a lean "super-regional carrier." Phase 1, integrating the linehaul networks of YRC Freight and Reddaway in the Western region to support both regional and long-haul services, was completed last year with IBT approval. However, IBT threw up a roadblock over Phases 2 and 3, which included the alignment of operations in the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Central regions set to take place this year.
The carrier in June filed a lawsuit against IBT to recoup the damages, and in July said the union shouldered blame for Yellow's precarious financial state.
