Rivals of Consolidated Freightways are eager to take advantage of the trucking giant’s fall.

The historic less-than-truckload carrier closed its doors on labor day, putting more than 15,000 people out of work, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. CF was the third-largest LTL in the nation and, according to published reports, controlled about 15 percent of the domestic long-haul market.
Yellow Corp. released a statement saying it was “ready, willing and able” to serve former CF customers. Yellow CEO Bill Zollars told the Associated Press that the abrupt shutdown of CF “is a sea change for our industry.” Arkansas Best, Roadway and other LTLs are also expected to benefit. These other LTL companies saw their stock prices shoot up Tuesday. Analysts say that truckload carriers will see little, if any, benefit from the situation, but regional carriers could pick up some business.
Some of CF’s biggest customers included Home Depot, the U.S. Postal Service and General Electric.
Meanwhile, CNF Inc. released a statement noting that it is a separate company from the bankrupt Consolidated Freightways. CF was spun off from CNF in 1996. The operations of the companies owned by CNF, including Con-Way Transportation and Menlo Worldwide, were not affected by the bankruptcy announcement.