STRAFFORD, Mo. – 68 people in southwest Missouri are now scrambling to find a job after the country’s third-largest trucking company declared bankruptcy.

Yellow Corp. officially filed on Sunday after years of financial struggles according to the Associated Press and Teamsters Union.

“The company’s been on the verge of bankruptcy since like 2008 or 2009,” Teamsters Local 245 President Jeremy Manley said. “But due to the concessions that the union gave and due to the money that the federal government gave during COVID, they were able to keep their doors open and continue moving freight.”

The company received $700 million dollars in COVID funds, but Manley said it’s unclear where that money went.

“The company has consistently mismanaged their money and they’ve ended up in this situation that they’re in,” Manley said.

The bankruptcy also leaves employees in a situation where they’re without work.

“There’s just not a lot of good paying union jobs,” Former Yellow Employee Will Clark said. He worked for the company for 36 years. “You’re just scrambling to find a job. You’re scrambling to find insurance. You just day to day, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The terminal in Strafford closed on July 31, with no warning to employees according to Teamsters Local 245. The union said most of the employees have worked there for over 20 years.

“I’m a couple of years from retirement,” Clark said “I actually figured I’d retire out there. I’ve got to find something to go a couple more years.”

The Strafford terminal was responsible for moving freight all across the state, even into parts of Arkansas, Illinois, and Oklahoma.

“For the most part, these weren’t long haul truck, they’re less than truckloads,” Manley said. “We did have some dedicated larger customers that we would pull up and back in and pick up a whole truckload of stuff. But for the majority, it was one pallet here, one pallet there. It was a very big benefit for a lot of small businesses and a lot of medium-sized businesses.”

Right now, Teamsters Local 245 is focused on getting those like Clark employment.

“We have done everything we can to help them get placed and to offer our services in any way that we possibly can,” Manley said. “The Missouri Career Center brought literature just this morning and dropped off to try to help these folks get placed in a new position.”

Manley said employees from the Strafford terminal have not received any official lay-off papers.