I believe the term "orphan" was first mentioned by dollar bill zollars a couple years back when YRC went over the cliff the first time.
As much as we want to say it is bull____, one cannot argue the inevitible consequence of forcing the remaining NMFA companies to pay for these companies that are no longer in business. The LTL industry is a pie, 25 years ago that pie was almost 100% union. If one company went down, the burden fell to many other companies that contributed to NMFA. That portion of the pie that is union has been drastically reduced since as the non-union carries like, Fedex Freight, R & L, Saia, Estes continue to increase their portion of the pie. Further analysis tells us that since YRC isn't even paying into NMFA pension currently, therefore the pension is essentially being supported by a company (ABF) that controls less than 12% of the entire LTL pie.
The question reasonable teamsters must ask themselves is: Do we kill ABF by holding true to the rules of the multiemployer pension that shuttered many other freight companies that were union and competed against non-union companies that are not encumbered by such details? Or do push for some sort of legislative solution that lessons the burden on ABF that continues to allow them to stay in business and not get run over by the pension liability once YRC officially defaults?
BTW, the greatest bull____ that ever existed is allowing YRC out of NMFA pension but still allowing them to be called a union company.