Topeka business cutting 90 jobs

Topeka business cutting 90 jobs

YRC Worldwide Inc., a major trucking firm based in Overland Park, has decided to close its administrative center in south Topeka, eliminating 90 jobs.

About half of the employees will be transferred to the company's Overland Park offices and the other half will be eliminated or outsourced, said Bill Zollars, chairman, president and chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide, owner of Yellow Transportation and Roadway trucking lines.


"This is a symptom of the weakened economy," Zollars said Monday. "Our industry is tied to the economy and we've seen the economy softened and weakened."

Volumes going through the Topeka office were down 20 percent from a year ago, Zollars said.

The center at 3420 S.W. Van Buren will close by Dec. 31. The employees have been handling billing and bill collection. They were reasonably well-paying clerical jobs, Zollars said.

"Nobody feels more badly about it than I do," Zollars said. "But it is a sign of the times right now."

Zollars said trucking volume has declined as a result of a slowing economy. He blamed part of the slowdown on high fuel prices.

Increased prices have created additional costs to customers wanting to ship goods. The company's fuel surcharge has been 30 percent to 40 percent above base cost, Zollars said.

Zollars said the company has cut about 250 jobs in Overland Park offices over the past year, trying to make operations reflect existing business volumes.

Zollars said he was disappointed the House rejected the $700 billion bailout package. The ripple effect will be significant, affecting retirement savings accounts, availability of credit and job losses, he said.

Without the package, it will become more difficult to borrow money, he said. "The implications are pretty significant if Congress doesn't put together a plan to help out," Zollars said. "If you let it run its course, the ripple effect could get to the point where it will do serious structural damage to the economy. The easy thing to do is look for revenge. They're too focused on revenge."

Because the package failed, investors were in selling mode Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 6.98 percent, the Nasdaq down 9.14 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 8.79 percent.

"We keep searching for a bottom, but can't find one" Zollars said. "We need the market to stabilize."

He said it took awhile for the country to get into its financial mess, and it will take awhile to get out of it.

Bill Moore, president of Teamsters Local 696, said his union represents truckers but not the clerical workers affected by Monday's announcement.

"We hate to see anybody lose a job," Moore said.

He said all truckers are seeing a decline in volume.

"There are not as many packages to ship," Moore said. "The pie got smaller."

YRC Worldwide Inc. is one of the largest transportation service companies with Yellow Transportation, Roadway, Reimer Express, YRC Logistics, New Penn, USF Holland, USF Reddaway, and USF Glen Moore. Headquartered in Overland Park, YRC Worldwide employs approximately 60,000 people.