NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — At the Teamsters Local 480 office, former Yellow employees were lined up Monday morning.
"Today has been heartbreaking," said Lendon Grisham, president and business manager.
The trucking company employs 30,000 workers across the country, including in Middle Tennessee.
"They've got a lot of questions and we don't have a lot of answers," said Grisham.
Donna Baldwin spent 26 years working for the trucking company.
"Most of us got calls yesterday. They're ceasing operations, do not report to work tomorrow," said Baldwin. "Some of us still haven't received that call."
The doors were closed at the Goodlettsville terminal Monday where she worked just last week.
"I'm a single mother. I have a 14-year-old son at home," said Baldwin. "I'm losing my insurance. We found out just today on Aug. 5 is the final day."
The company — which is headquartered in Nashville — has faced years of financial troubles. It comes after Yellow received a $700 million pandemic relief loan from the federal government.
Larry Morgan drove 26 years for the company.
"Where did all the money go?"
The company narrowly averted a union strike last Monday, Grisham said, after the company failed to make their health and welfare contributions in June for all union employees.
"I'm in shock," said Morgan. "I'm in shock. You know, you get up every morning to go to work, and you get up this morning and you ain't got no work."
He is among the 600 employees laid off from Yellow's Middle Tennessee terminals in Goodlettsville and Nashville.
"I am 61, 61 years old," said Morgan. "Can you imagine me going and finding a job at 61 years old? So I've got a challenge in front of me."
It's a challenge thousands of people just like him are now facing.
