Yellow Corporation, which employs 86 people in Neenah and 261 statewide, announced it was permanently closing.
Investors had widely speculated the company was headed for bankruptcy in the midst of a business downturn and more than $700 million in debt resulting from a Covid-19 pandemic loan the company had secured U.S. government in 2020.
Yellow, based in Nashville, Tennessee, was one of the largest less than truckload carriers in the United States. According to the Associated Press, the company averaged 49,000 shipments per day in 2022 but was down to 15,000 per day by this spring.
In the mass layoff notice Yellow filed with the state of Wisconsin, the company intends to layoff 30,000 employees nationally. The freight company had affiliates including USF Holland LLC in Neenah, YRC Freight, USF Reddaway Inc., and New Penn Motor Express LLC.Â
The company had been in contract negotiations with the Teamsters Union and union officials blamed company officials for mismanagement.
Total company debt was listed at $1.5 billion earlier this year almost half of which was owed to the federal government.
