Teamsters

UPS said that it is installing air conditioning in 5,000 of its existing delivery vehicles in the hottest regions across the country and also testing air conditioning in the cargo area of its package cars.

Washington is considering a measure that would crack down on unsavory leasing practices in the trucking industry that backers say trap truck drivers into long-term debt and prevent them from becoming profitable owner-operators.

The package from UPS includes $1,800 per year of service at UPS, with a minimum payout of $10,000, with all years of service honored. The company has more than 10,000 full-time drivers with 25 years of service or more.

The Teamsters said earlier today that UPS is preparing to roll out later this month what it called “an illegal plan” to buy out full-time Teamsters-represented UPS employees, labeling it a corporate scheme which directly violated its contract with UPS that represents 340,000 delivery workers.

Workers are demanding improved wages, safety measures, and recognition from the retail giant.

The Teamsters union and its 1.3 million members are withholding their presidential endorsement while Democrats appear to be placing union president Sean O’Brien on hold after he spoke at the Republican National Convention.

White House officials, congressional Democrats and other labor leaders are angry about Teamsters President Sean O’Brien’s prime-time address to the Republican National Convention on July 15.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has won what the union calls “a major victory” in a breach of contract lawsuit against Yellow Corp. Unfortunately for about 24,000 Teamsters who lost their jobs when Yellow ceased operations last August, the victory arrives about nine months too late.

Following the formal ratification of the new five-year contract between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters late last month, a high-level UPS executive provided an overview of the deal, from the company’s perspective, on an analyst call yesterday.

United Parcel Service (UPS), celebrating a new tentative five-year labor contract covering 340,000 members at the Teamsters union, says it expects the new deal will be ratified by rank-and-file workers within two weeks.

Yellow Corp. made it official Monday. It didn’t need a Teamsters’ strike to enter bankruptcy. In its 100th year, Yellow did it completely on its own.

Following a tentative agreement made between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on July 25, the Teamsters said yesterday that Teamsters local unions voted by a nearly unanimous 161-1 vote in favor of endorsing the tentative agreement and recommend its passage by full membership, for the 340,000 full- and part-time UPS Teamsters members.

Yellow, which had $5.24 million revenue in the $58 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) market, told the union it was formally declaring bankruptcy.

While it has yet to be confirmed by the company itself, the future of Nashville-based Yellow Corporation, the third-largest United States less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, with about 8% of the national market, looks bleak, according to various reports. A Wall Street Journal article published this week indicated that Yellow “is preparing to file for bankruptcy,” citing “people familiar with the matter,” adding that it increases the possibility of Yellow shutting down, “as customers abandon it amid a cash crunch and union negotiations.”

As freight transportation, logistics, and supply chain stakeholders (likely) breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday, following the new five-year tentative agreement reached yesterday between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, there has been no shortage of opinions and views on how this agreement, assuming it is ratified by UPS Teamsters members next month, will impact shippers, especially as it relates to pricing.