Home Depot Says It Can Manage Despite Yellow Trucking’s Shutdown

Home Depot’s supply chain is large and diverse enough to weather disruptions including the recent shutdown of trucking company Yellow, one of its carriers, the big box retailer told Kiplinger. 

“As a regular course of business, we always have plans in place for potential disruptions to any of our partners,” a Home Depot spokesperson said. “We have a large and diverse supply chain with a number of partners, so we’re accustomed to being flexible and agile when there are disruptions.” 

Even during the pandemic when there were significant disruptions, the company was able to move “unprecedented volumes,” she added.

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Yellow, the nation’s third-largest, less-than-truckload carrier by revenue, did not respond to Kiplinger's requests for comment. The company formerly known as YRC Worldwide, has nearly 30,000 employees, 317 terminals and 17.5 million shipments annually.

Teamsters notified of bankruptcy filing

Walmart, another Yellow customer, declined to comment to Kiplinger’s request for information on the situation.

On July 31, the  International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has 22,000 members at Yellow, said that it had been notified that Yellow is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.

The news comes days after the Teamsters called off a strike, which was expected to begin on July 31. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled against Yellow’s request for an injunction to stop the Teamsters from striking over delinquent benefits contributions, the Teamsters said in a statement.

“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising," the union’s General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. "Yellow Corp. has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government."

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