Yellow Freight System, Inc.
By Mike K. Terebecki

The Yellow Transit Freight System, Inc. was founded by A.J. Harrell in Oklahoma City, Ok in 1928. However, in 1921, A.J. first went in with his brother G.C."Cleve" Harrell who had started the Yellow Cab Co. of Oklahoma. Recognizing the need for reliable public transportation, the brothers also started the Yellow Cab Transit Co., a bus line from Oklahoma City to Capitol Hill area, on December  31, 1924.
Within 2 years, the Harrells sold the sucessful bus line and moved into the intercity bus business. This new business also prospered and was the sold to the Pickwick Greyhound Lines in 1929.

            In 1926, A.J. also had opened a consolidated motor freight terminal and purchased two 4 cylinder White trucks for local hauling. Soon after a delivery route was established between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The first cargo consisted of parts and equipment for drilling and pumping oil.

         By 1931, the company showed a profit of $32,290 on revenues of $231,000.
Service had been extended north to Kansas City and south to Dallas and later to Houston. Expansion continued throughout the 1930's with Harrell buying up smaller in-debt carriers and increasing his service area.

       Harrell believed in paying cash for purchases and aquisitions and made many shrewd business deals because of his ability to do so. He also had a good relationship with the Firestone Rubber Co. and got them to produce the first 12-ply tire for the Yellow fleet.

      By the early 1940's, Yellow was operating from Chicago, Louisville, and Evansville, IN to San Antonio, Houston, and Amarillo, TX. About this time, the company had already established a teletype system for transmitting information between terminals.

       Because of the carriers careful attention to preventive maintenance, shippers felt they could expect consistently good service. The net worth of the company increased from $104,158 in 1931 to $1,311,090 at the close of 1943. Yellow had employed 562 people and operated 142 vehicles at this time. Harrells record with Yellow was very impressive but he decided to sell his stock in Yellow transit on November 27, 1944 to Arlington W. Porter, a New York broker. He had entered his sixties and felt less able to manage his many interests.

       The company remained profitable but had problems with the scarcity of parts and equipment caused by the war. In addition post-war inflation began to erode company profits and by 1948, Yellow had a lack of funds to replace an aging road fleet. (Of the 185 power units, 114 were of pre-war vintage.)

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