Auction houses to liquidate Yellow’s tractors, trailers

A Delaware bankruptcy court approved an order on Friday allowing Yellow Corp.’s estate to sell its rolling stock through auction houses.

The estate entered an agreement with Nations Capital, Ritchie Brothers and IronPlanet on Oct. 16 to facilitate the sale of Yellow’s fleet. The court temporarily withheld approval to give the U.S. Trustee’s office time to file objections.

The court agreed with the Trustee’s office that an affiliate of one of the auction houses needs to certify “disinterestedness” and show that its interests are “conflict-free” to the interests of Yellow’s estate. However, Judge Craig Goldblatt said that the order should move forward as time is a consideration. He advised all parties that they are “proceeding at their own peril” and his decision could be vacated if a conflict arises.

A filing to seal the commission structures of the auction houses was withdrawn on Friday.

The decision opens the door for Yellow’s fleet to be liquidated. The former less-than-truckload carrier operated more than 60,000 units, of which it owned roughly 12,000 tractors and 35,000 trailers.

The disposal companies were chosen as Yellow no longer has the staff to move the equipment, or prep it and market it for sale. Prior filings showed the liquidators will provide free storage of the units, which had been estimated to cost the estate more than $10 million monthly.

The liquidation will include approximately 2,400 tractors and 3,500 trailers Yellow purchased using a portion of a $700 million COVID-relief loan from the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury is a secured creditor to the estate and expected to recoup more than $737 million in outstanding principal and interest as Yellow’s assets are sold.

A previous filing showed that both the Treasury and a committee of unsecured creditors were supportive of the use of liquidators. The process is expected to take six months.

Bids for Yellow’s 174 owned terminals are due by Nov. 9, with an auction to take place at the end of November if needed. Estes Express Lines’ $1.525 billion stalking horse bid was chosen as the base bid for the proceeding.

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