Bankruptcy of 99-year-old U.S. trucking company concerns 30,000 workers, creditors

NEW YORK, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Yellow Corp., a once-dominant U.S. trucking company, has filed for bankruptcy as it winds down its 99-year-old business, which concerns its 30,000 workers and a handful of heavyweight creditors.

The Nashville-based logistics provider announced on Sunday it had filed for Chapter 11 relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the district of Delaware. "It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business," CEO Darren Hawkins said in a statement.

"Today, it is not common for someone to work at one company for 20, 30, or even 40 years, yet many at Yellow did. For generations, Yellow provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with solid, good-paying jobs and fulfilling careers," noted the top executive.

Yellow said it expects to reach an agreement with its creditors, pending approval from the court, that will allow it to pay certain wages and benefits, as well as some obligations to vendors and suppliers.

The company disclosed a long list of creditors in its court filing, with Amazon (AMZN), Home Depot (HD) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT) among the top 30 with unsecured claims.

"The filing comes more than a week after the trucking company halted operations, putting 30,000 people out of work. It warned in a lawsuit last month it was at risk of running out of the money it needed to continue to operate," said Eyewitness News on Monday in its report of the development.

"As it sought a cash infusion that never came, it struggled with slowing business, an unaffordable debt load and a long-running battle with the Teamsters union, which represented 22,000 of its 30,000 employees, including its drivers and most of its dock workers," added the report.