Hagerstown Motor Carriers and Teamsters Pension Plan

Hagerstown Motor Carriers and Teamsters Pension Plan

The Hagerstown Motor Carriers and Teamsters Pension Plan is a multiemployer defined-benefit plan jointly governed by a Board of Trustees drawn from union and contributing employer representatives. It provides retirement benefits to eligible participants and their dependents, covering members of Teamsters Local 992 in the Hagerstown, Maryland region. The plan has operated under critical and endangered status designations under the Pension Protection Act since at least 2010, triggering mandatory rehabilitation plans filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. The plan's asset mix reflects both its distressed status and the constraints imposed by its rehabilitation plan. Known holdings include a commitment to Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VIII, which targets distressed and opportunistic property investments across the United States and Europe. Additionally, the plan holds deferred pension payment obligations from Yellow Corp (formerly YRC Worldwide), the long-troubled less-than-truckload carrier that filed for Chapter 11 protection in August 2023 and ceased operations. These claims, representing unpaid employer contributions, place the plan in the queue of unsecured creditors in the Yellow Corp bankruptcy proceedings in the District of Delaware. The plan is administered and serviced through an office shared with other regional benefit plans at ourbenefitoffice.com. Public filings show oversight by Trustees including Chairman Tom W. Krause, Secretary Tom Ventura, and employer representative Robert Cowie. The Fund participates in industry advocacy through its affiliation with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents over one million transportation and logistics workers across North America. In May 2024, Yellow Corp's bankruptcy estate reached a tentative settlement with multiple Teamsters pension funds, including potentially this Hagerstown plan, over withdrawal liability claims, though specific recovery amounts remain subject to court approval (per court filings, 2024). The plan's structural distinctiveness lies entirely in its status as a distressed multiemployer fund operating under a statutory rehabilitation framework. Unlike healthy single-employer plans that can rebalance into diversified growth portfolios, this plan's investment and contribution strategies are constrained by federal law and ongoing negotiations with distressed contributing employers. Its primary credit exposure is not to commercial borrowers or asset-backed securities but to a bankrupt trucking company whose estate resolution will determine a material portion of the plan's near-term recovery.