YRC laying off nearly 50 in Strafford

YRC Inc. is preparing to downsize its Strafford trucking facility, including releasing more than two-thirds of its 70 current employees, according to documents obtained by Springfield Business Journal.

YRC Inc.’s Strafford employees met on Feb. 22 to learn about the company’s plans for a change of operations, which includes closing the distribution center on State Highway OO and turning it into a significantly smaller, satellite terminal, according to a company employee. The move means 49 positions would be eliminated in Strafford, he said.

Overland Park, Kan.-based YRC, formed by a 2008 merger of Yellow Transportation Inc. and Roadway Express Inc., employs 59,000 companywide, and operates 430 service centers, according to www.yrc.com.

Springfield Business Journal obtained the change of operation details through the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ message board at www.teamstersonline.com. Among the documents posted is correspondence from YRC’s Vice President of Labor Relations Lamar Beinhower to trucking union officials indicating that Strafford’s distribution center is the most severely affected of the 40 centers in the Central Region.

Strafford center manager Jeff Stark declined to comment on the changes, referring calls to YRC’s corporate office. Tracy Memoli, vice president at YRC’s New York-based public relations firm Linden Alschuler & Kaplan Public Relations, said via e-mail that YRC declined to comment.

Read SBJ's March 1 issue for more on this story.