YRC, Teamsters Agree on Extension

YRC Worldwide and the Teamsters union said they have agreed to provide more time for the company to recapitalize its balance sheet.

The conditional extension is until March to reach an agreement on key timelines and until May to complete a deal, the two said in separate statements over the weekend. The agreement was reached late on New Year’s Eve.

“With the economy and the freight industry still struggling and the company’s lenders hesitant to make any significant concessions given the financial and legal uncertainties created by ABF’s lawsuit, YRC ran out of time to complete any of the significant restructuring elements,” said Teamsters National Freight Division Director Tyson Johnson.

“We pushed the envelope to keep people working to find a solution but given what transpired since Oct. 30 we thought it in our members’ best interests to grant some additional time,” he said in a statement.

A judge last month dismissed a suit by competitor less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System that a labor deal reached last year between YRC and the Teamsters that included pay and pension cuts violated the National Master Freight Agreement.

YRC is ranked No. 4 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.