- Credits
- 146
Preston trucking Company was sold to Preston CEO, Will Potter, Senior VP Bill Terrell and the Treasurer, whose name eludes me. They bought Preston Trucking Company for $100.00. Potter paid $34.00. The others paid $33.00 each.We weren’t sold to Preston managers; we were “sold” to 3 Yellow VPs. Yes, Preston was days away from not meeting payroll, so, yes- we were saved. But what Preston was, was the Guinea Pig to prove we could do 2Day Service from St Louis to Boston via the Richfield Super Service Center. Service was fantastic- one of our Indy Road Drivers brought freight straight thru from York Pa that I delivered in Indy at 9am the next morning, 600 miles away.
Yellow Corp refinanced everything back to Preston paying for the takeover and bought 600 trailers and the Richfield Center, all with Preston’s name on them, but took over them and covered the name with Yellow within 10 days of Preston closing. The whole thing seemed shady, but could never hold up to a lawsuit finding corruption.
Yes, Yellow Corp owned the Richfield terminal and some equipment, which Preston Trucking leased from them. Before Yellow, nearly all of Preston's trailers and two western Pa. terminals were leased from and owned by O. K. Heilman, a wholly owned subsidiary of Preston Corp. That is normal business procedure to reduce taxable income. Lease costs are fully deductible by the lessee and the equipment cost can be depreciated over time by the lessor.
Preston had no choice but to improve transit times. We could not compete with non-union carriers on price. Our only option for survival was to sell service. The next day and two-day service was achievable but not profitable. We were running short mileage meets and turns with empties and partial loads.
Yellow Corporation is a holding company. Like all holding companies, they create no revenue. The companies they own generate revenue and a portion of that revenue is funneled to the holding company. No different than a realtor who sells a home they don't own but take a percentage of the revenue.
Preston Trucking Company eventually failed like 600+ other trucking companies due to operating costs that exceeded revenues.