Knight-Swift Purchases US Xpress

If Yellow files for bankruptcy and does end up for sale, that's a very real possibility.

The problem they're going to run into is retaining the current workforce without the union perks and benefits.

The problem they're going to run into is retaining the current workforce without the union perks and benefits.

You're right Banks.

Knight buys other companies because they have counted the costs and consider it more efficient than the grand sum of trying to recruit enough drivers, purchase the equipment and real estate needed, and sell the work needed to make a significant increase in revenue. When you purchase a company, much of that is already in place and you hit the ground running.

When purchasing a company like Yellow, it doesn't really compute the same way. You're likely to spend all that capital and lose the labor force.

Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how Yellow works it's way through yet another crisis.

The Yellow/YRC situation has been addressed quite often at our Union meetings. They are in a real bad spot again. The teamsters have loaned them 100’s of million’s over the years to keep them afloat, no more help is coming from the union. The feds have bailed them out a couple times as well.

They have been hurting other Teamster workers and retirees for a long time by failing to pay the full amount due into the health and welfare as well as the pension. Apparently they have contributed less then a quarter since their 1st bailout.

I know my and other ABF terminals are gearing up for a large increase in freight with Yellow most likely going under and UPS strike looming. We are crazy busy as is, yard is full of trailers awaiting appointment and every city trailer including my flatbed is going out and returning full everyday. I don’t know how we’re going to handle more freight

With the Turmoil Yellow is currently going through I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut they are a juicy target...

Knight-Swift is taking over the industry... Wonder who's next?

I'd look for them to purchase a couple of LTL companies. When they bought AAA Cooper they wanted to establish a decent foot print in the LTL market. The opportunity to purchase U.S. Express kind of sidelined their current strategy. It was a deal they didn't want to miss, so they acted on it.

I assume they are still looking into some LTL strategic moves. That would enable them to jump right in with terminals in places where needed to have a nice footprint in the LTL commodities markets.

Some may think it strange to be getting into LTL during a slump in LTL business, but that's how opportunity is captured sometimes. Short sighted investors often miss the things that patient capitalism sees as powerful long term strategies.

Yellow goes under...snatch up the freight, terminals and a score of the drivers....likely enough stuff to spread around...

The Yellow/YRC situation has been addressed quite often at our Union meetings. They are in a real bad spot again. The teamsters have loaned them 100’s of million’s over the years to keep them afloat, no more help is coming from the union. The feds have bailed them out a couple times as well.

They have been hurting other Teamster workers and retirees for a long time by failing to pay the full amount due into the health and welfare as well as the pension. Apparently they have contributed less then a quarter since their 1st bailout.

I know my and other ABF terminals are gearing up for a large increase in freight with Yellow most likely going under and UPS strike looming. We are crazy busy as is, yard is full of trailers awaiting appointment and every city trailer including my flatbed is going out and returning full everyday. I don’t know how we’re going to handle more freight

Yellows customers are so used to their low rates they may faint when they see what other companies charge. Central Transport may pick up a bunch of freight based on that alone. OD has the highest rates from what I hear, not sure how many of Yellows customers will jump to us, I hope a lot do.

As for their drivers, I hate to say it but they may not get along well with a non union company. When my dad was at Con-Way they brought in a lot of former union folks and it caused a bunch of headaches. They are so used to doing things "the union way" they don't want to change.

I couldn't see union folks taking Knights corporate policies real well lol.

But at least from what I've seen, they leave companies intact that they aquire, including pay rates, structure and resources. There's still very little overlap between us and swift in day to day stuff. Granted that was a merger, but it's even less with acquisitions.

I wonder if having a union shop or company in the stable would effect us as company drivers. There's already a lot of grumbling because Bar Nunn, Abalene, varient and usx all have higher starting pay rates than we do on our top end. Of course there's more to the equation than cpm though.

With the Turmoil Yellow is currently going through I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut they are a juicy target...

They are not, for most of the industry. A company just looking at the logistics that can afford to lose money for a bit would be interested.

Yellow goes under...snatch up the freight, terminals and a score of the drivers....likely enough stuff to spread around...

Freight will be gone before a company secures that deal. They'd have to start over again.

Buildings and equipment will be owned by the banks and while they may let it to for cheap, by industry standards, but that will depend on the number of interested parties. Buying this package whole means there's a lot of redundancy that has to be addressed and that can take years.

As for the drivers, if it's purchased as a company they come with pension liabilities. Another thing companies don't want to deal with, unless they already have a system in place. A lot of those drivers may not be interested in working for a non union company and like bobcat said, they'll be a dark cloud wherever they go.

Yellows customers are so used to their low rates they may faint when they see what other companies charge.

A lot of them are already looking for different shippers. They don't want their stuff sitting on a random dock in the event of a shutdown.

OD has the highest rates from what I hear, not sure how many of Yellows customers will jump to us, I hope a lot do.

I've heard FedEx and OD are the most expensive of the bunch. I'm sure that changes based on customer and location. Because of that, I don't expect to see a lot of yellow freight crossing either dock.

From the articles I’ve read it is expected that ABF and T-Force will pick up the majority of the Freight.