yellow owns some 12000 trucks and dozens of freight terminals across the country the collapse of one of america’s largest trucking companies is reverberating across the economy from domestic shipping and realestate markets to wall street yellow was a 52 billion business as recently as last year when it moved around 50000 shipments a day in a trucking network that made it a fundamental part of the supply chains of hundreds of us companies the rapid winddown of its business last month capped by the shutdown of all operations and a bankruptcy filing in recent days is leaving behind a trail of winners and losers as the 99yearold trucker disappears from the highways here is a look at the impact of yellow’s downfall the most immediate winners are yellow’s competitors in the lessthantruckload sector known as ltl a segment of the trucking industry that acts as a kind of circulatory system for the goods economy by having trucks carry cargo for multiple customers on the same trailer in fastpaced distribution networks operators ranging from big carriers such as abf freight old dominion freight line and tforce freight to smaller regional operators have seen a surge in business since midjuly when yellow’s tailspin accelerated and customers began abandoning the company experts say various truckers in yellow’s markets have seen from 2000 to 3000 added shipments each day in recent weeks a welcome infusion in a us freight market that has been turning downward this year abf freight a unit of arcbest and one of yellow’s main rivals saw daily shipments surge at a doubledigit pace starting in midjuly as shipping customers fled yellow “that is a great opportunity for us” said judy mcreynolds arcbest’s chief executive on a july 28 earnings conference call yellow’s departure provides more than just a boost in shipments for its competitors since the carrier was a lowprice leader in trucking industry experts say they expect prices to rise with yellow’s rates now off the table for many shipping customers “those guys now being gone that is going to help the industry overall” alain bédard chief executive of tforce freight parent tfi international said on an aug 1 earnings conference call even trucking companies outside yellow’s immediate market are likely to benefit as big retailers and manufacturers reset their supply chains and look for new shipping strategies to minimize costs big truckload carriers such as knightswift transportation werner enterprises and schneider national—companies that haul the biggest loads for retailers and manufacturers from ports to distribution centers to stores—can expect more shipments “clearly if there were to be a disruption as a result of yellow i think that could be felt in all types of transportation including in the truckload world as there is space there to absorb that” said david jackson chief executive of knightswift transportation the largest truckload carrier in the us and owner of ltl business aaa cooper on a july 20 investor conference call other big winners include investors in yellow’s publicly traded competitors including abf freight parent arcbest old dominion freight line saia xpo and tfi international shares in those companies have surged since the spring despite a downturn in freight demand and declining earnings arcbest shares are up about 34 since june 23 even though the company reported a 63 drop in operating profit in its trucking business in the second quarter from last year “since midjune when reports first surfaced about yellow’s liquidity concerns our pureplay ltl coverage universe is up 39 on average vs just a 5 move in the sp 500” citi analyst chris wetherbee wrote in an aug 2 investment report that suggested yellow’s woes would likely help boost earnings this year at other carriers those and other trucking companies may also pick up some of yellow’s sprawling real estate holdings including the dozens of truck terminals the carrier has accumulated around the us to move freight many of them are in prime locations near population centers and will hit the market at a time when building new trucking facilities faces pushback in communities “any opportunity to pick up properties along the way we would have great interest in that” said jackson lastly apollo global management is also likely to be a winner even though the assetmanagement giant is one of yellow’s biggest lenders and has hundreds of millions of dollars tied up with the business apollo was moving to provide debtorinposition for yellow’s bankruptcy which would put the business in position to recover its money through the sale of yellow’s assets apollo already signaled its collateral rights over the trucker when yellow sold a single freight terminal in southern california for 80 million earlier this summer as yellow’s finances were eroding and used the money to pay down the apollo debt workers and customers lose the most the clearest losers in yellow’s demise are the company’s workers who were laid off dismissed and locked out of closed terminals and offices last month as the trucker wound down its business the loss of some 30000 jobs is the largest at a single company since boeing at the end of 2020 announced it would cut its workforce by around 30000 jobs according to challenger gray  christmas an outplacement services firm yellow’s shutdown puts a range of workers from accounting and technology staffers to truck drivers dispatchers and cargo handlers looking for work in a softening labor market that has been particularly hard on transportation and warehouse workers trucking companies which added 180000 jobs during the pandemic have kept hiring flat this year as consumer spending has pivoted from goods to services and shipping demand has sagged “good drivers will find jobs there’s no doubt about that” said mike regan chief relationship officer at tranzact technologies which advises retailers and manufactures on freight transport “but there will certainly be some attrition” other losers include yellow’s customers who are likely to see higher freight rates now that yellow’s trucks and its low prices are off the market “one key change businesses should expect is higher delivery costs” said charles haverfield ceo of us packaging and wrapping “this is particularly true if no relationships have been built with carriers to secure discounted prices or if switching to a smaller firm where customers can’t benefit from the same economies of scale as yellow’s size and capacity” regan said many carriers had pushed back signing shipping contracts with customers for the fall until yellow’s outcome was clear now he said trucking companies are seeking “stunning” general rate increases among yellow’s customers is the federal government which loses a major provider of transport services under contracts with the department of defense and the general services administration the government’s procurement arm yellow’s competitors have said they have the capacity to handle the shipments but experts say few may be willing to haul the goods at yellow’s prices the losers also may include american taxpayers the treasury department as a condition of a 700 million covid aid loan in 2020 took a 30 stake in the trucker treasury’s equity could be wiped out yellow said it would pay back the loan but some lawmakers and analysts have said taxpayers could lose money whether the federal government recovers the money it lent would likely depend on how much yellow raises by selling real estate and other assets in bankruptcy