Commitments, Contingencies, And Uncertainties

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments, Contingencies, And Uncertainties

Commitments, Contingencies, and Uncertainties

ABF Lawsuit

On November 1, 2010, ABF Freight System, Inc. (“ABF”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas against several parties, including our subsidiaries YRC Inc., New Penn Motor Express, Inc. and USF Holland Inc. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the local Teamster unions party to the National Master Freight Agreement (“NMFA”) alleging violation of the NMFA due to modifications to the NMFA that provided relief to our subsidiaries without providing the same relief to ABF. The complaint sought to have the modifications to the NMFA declared null and void and damages of $750.0 million from the named defendants. We believe the allegations are without merit.

On December 17, 2010, the District Court dismissed the complaint. ABF appealed the dismissal on January 18, 2011 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. On July 6, 2011, the Court of Appeals vacated the District Court’s dismissal of the litigation on jurisdictional grounds and remanded the case back to the District Court for further proceedings. ABF filed an amended complaint on October 12, 2011, containing allegations consistent with the original complaint. Our subsidiaries filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On August 1, 2012, the District Court dismissed ABF's amended complaint without prejudice. ABF has announced its intention to appeal the dismissal. Although we believe we have meritorious defenses to this case, the ultimate outcome of this matter is not determinable. Therefore, we have not recorded any liability.

Bryant Holdings Securities Litigation

On February 7, 2011, a putative class action was filed by Bryant Holdings LLC ("Bryant") in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas on behalf of purchasers of our common stock between April 24, 2008 and November 2, 2009, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking damages under the federal securities laws for statements and/or omissions allegedly made by us and the individual defendants during the Class Period which plaintiffs claimed to be false and misleading.

On April 8, 2011, an individual (Stan Better) and YRC Investors Group, a group of investors (including Bryant) filed competing motions seeking to be named lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Court appointed them as co-lead plaintiffs on August 22, 2011. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on December 20, 2011 making claims similar to Bryant's original complaint. We filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint on December 20, 2011. On September 25, 2012, the Court denied our motion to dismiss. In overruling our motion, the Court ruled that the allegations filed by plaintiffs were sufficient enough to state a claim. The Court's order did not constitute a ruling on the truth of plaintiffs' factual allegations or the ultimate merits of their claims.

The individual defendants are former officers of our Company. No current officers or directors have been named in the lawsuit. Discovery in the case has not yet commenced. Although, we believe we have meritorious defenses to the claims in this case, the ultimate outcome of the case is not determinable at this time. Therefore, we have not recorded any liability for this matter.

Other Legal Matters

We are involved in other litigation or proceedings that arise in ordinary business activities. We insure against these risks to the extent we deem prudent, but no assurance can be given that the nature or amount of such insurance will be sufficient to fully indemnify us against liabilities arising out of pending and future legal proceedings. Many of these insurance policies contain self-insured retentions in amounts we deem prudent. Based on our current assessment of information available as of the date of these financial statements, we believe that our financial statements include adequate provisions for estimated costs and losses that may be incurred within the litigation and proceedings to which we are a party.