Former drivers for Nashville-based Yellow Freight are still having trouble finding work

When one of the nation’s largest trucking companies declared bankruptcy, it left more than 30,000 people without jobs. A majority of those were union; Nashville-based Yellow Freight was one of only a few union shops in the trucking industry.

Although drivers are in high demand, the job hunt isn’t entirely straightforward for those with “Yellow” on their resume.

Tracy Cullen drove for Yellow for nearly 40 years. In the months before its bankruptcy, he said that the company’s relationship with the Teamsters Union had already soured. Yellow was behind on its payments to employees’ health benefits, and after missing an extended deadline to pay up, the union had threatened to strike.

“At the last 11th hour, lo and behold, they suddenly said, ‘OK, we’ve got the money,’” Cullen said.

But drivers like Cullen will never see the benefits the company promised. Soon after, Yellow announced it was shutting down and, in a statement, said the union was to blame. Yellow Freight did not respond to WPLN’s requests for comment.

Now, Cullen and thousands of other truck drivers have to do something they haven’t done in a while:

“Start beating the street, knocking on doors, trying to get a job,” he said. “You know, and this is Tennessee. It’s going to be hard to get a union job.”

Tennessee, along with 27 other states, has right-to-work laws, which can make it tough for unions to drum up financial support. Yellow was one of a few union shops in the trucking world, which meant once a driver was hired, they had to pay union dues. Right-to-work laws forbid that requirement, and without the mandatory buy-in from workers, it’s a lot harder to organize.

Daniel Cornfield, an expert on unionization at Vanderbilt University, says it can also divide a workforce between union and non-union members.

“That takes the teeth out of the union’s capacity to strike should they reach an impasse in bargaining with the employer, because not all the workers would be expected to honor the picket line,” Cornfield said.

Theoretically, it should be easier for truck drivers to unionize because it’s one of the few jobs in the labor sector that can’t be fully automated or outsourced. There’s also a shortage of drivers, which should give the ones looking for work an edge in the market.

“We would certainly invite Yellow and former drivers and other drivers to apply and seek opportunities with us,” said Anthony Norwood with Saia Freight’s Human Resources.

WPLN News spoke with several trucking companies in Yellow’s market who also said they’re hiring. But former Yellow driver Chris Dowdy said that hasn’t been his experience.

“They don’t want union people in their company,” Dowdy said. “I was told by two companies — straight up by two companies — they said, ‘If you had not worked for Yellow, I would hire you tomorrow.'”

Dowdy spent a month out of work, and even longer without a paycheck. He said he sent out dozens of applications.

“That’s the thing that has been boggling my mind, because back in the day when I came in, like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, you were fired on Friday, you were hired on Monday,” Dowdy said.

While Dowdy was looking for work, his wife, Paula, took on a second job to pay the bills.

“I’m working two jobs still to this day,” she said. “They say when one partner falls, another one picks up. So, I picked up.”

The Dowdys say the layoffs have taken a real toll on drivers; one former employee they know died by suicide after Yellow’s bankruptcy.

“A lot of us guys like myself, we take pride in what we do, and we have pride in taking care of our family and making sure our family’s needs are met,” Dowdy said.

Dowdy was ultimately able to find work that was both within a union and local. He’s now driving for the grocery chain Kroger. But he said he’s one of the lucky ones; many of the drivers he worked with at Yellow are still searching for their next job.