As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 5, 2019

Registration No. 333-          

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

YRC WORLDWIDE INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

YRC Worldwide Inc. 2019 Incentive and Equity Award Plan

(Full title of the plans)

James A. Fry

Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

YRC Worldwide Inc.

10990 Roe Avenue

Overland Park, Kansas

Telephone: (913) 696-6100

(Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Dennis M. Myers, P.C.

Wayne E. Williams

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

300 North LaSalle

Chicago, Illinois 60654

(312) 862-2000

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act .   ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

Item 1. Plan Information.

The documents containing the information specified in Part I will be delivered in accordance with Rule 428(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) to participants in the YRC Worldwide Inc. 2019 Incentive and Equity Award Plan (the “Plan”). Such documents are not required to be, and are not, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act. These documents, and the documents incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement pursuant to Item 3 of Part II of the Form S-8, taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act.

Item 2. Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information.

The written statement required by Item 2 of Part I is included in documents delivered to participants in the plans covered by this Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 428(b) of the Securities Act.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The following documents, which have been filed by YRC Worldwide Inc. (the “Company” or the “Registrant”) with the Commission, are incorporated in this Registration Statement by reference:

(a) The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the Commission on February 19, 2019;

(b) The Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2019, filed with the Commission on May 8, 2019;

(c) The Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on March 26, 2019, April 8, 2019, April  29, 2019, May 6, 2019 and May 15, 2019;

(d) The portions of the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed on April  25, 2019 that are incorporated by reference into Part III of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018; and

(e) the description of the number of authorized shares of our capital stock as set forth in Exhibit 3.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2014, and the description of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, contained in the Registration Statement on Form 10 filed with the SEC under the Exchange Act (Commission File No. 0-12255).

Except to the extent that information is deemed furnished and not filed pursuant to securities laws and regulations, all reports and other documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this Registration Statement, but prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents; provided, however, that documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with the rules of the Commission shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement.

Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Not applicable.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) provides that a corporation may indemnify any person, including an officer or director, who was or is, or is threatened to be made, a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of such corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise. The

indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit, or proceeding, provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of such corporation, and, with respect to any criminal actions and proceedings, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. A Delaware corporation may indemnify any person, including an officer or director, who was or is, or is threatened to be made, a party to any threatened, pending, or contemplated action or suit by or in the right of such corporation, under the same conditions, except that such indemnification is limited to expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person, and except that no indemnification is permitted without judicial approval if such person is adjudged to be liable to such corporation. Where an officer or director of a corporation is successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any action, suit, or proceeding referred to above, or any claim, issue, or matter therein, the corporation must indemnify that person against the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) that such officer or director actually and reasonably incurred in connection therewith.

Section 145 of the DGCL further authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation or enterprise, against any liability asserted against him and incurred by him in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would otherwise have the power to indemnify him under Section 145.

The rights provided in Section 145 of the DGCL are not exclusive, and the corporation may also provide for indemnification under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.

Article VIII of the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws provides for indemnification of any person to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, provided that, apart from limited circumstances laid out in Article VIII of the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws, the Company will indemnify such person only if such proceeding was authorized by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company has purchased liability insurance applicable to its directors and certain officers as permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL. The Company also maintains an employed lawyer’s insurance policy for employees (including officers) that are licensed to practice law.

Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability for (i) any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) payments of unlawful dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions under Section 174 of the DGCL, or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.

Article Thirteenth of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, filed by the Company with the Commission on September 16, 2011, as amended to the date hereof (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), provides that, to the full extent that the DGCL permits the limitation or elimination of the liability of directors, a director will not be liable to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, and, to the extent the DGCL is amended to authorize the further elimination or limitation of liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Company, in addition to the limitation on personal liability provided in the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by the amended DGCL.

The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with certain of its directors and officers. Under the indemnification agreements, the Company agreed to indemnify each indemnified party, subject to certain limitations, to the maximum extent permitted by Delaware law against all litigation costs, including attorneys fees and expenses, and losses, in connection with any proceeding to which the indemnified party is a party, or is threatened to be made a party, by reason of the fact that the indemnified party is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee, trustee or agent of another entity related to the business of the Company. The indemnification agreements also provide (i) for the advancement of expenses by the Company, subject to certain conditions, (ii) a procedure for determining an indemnified party’s entitlement to indemnification and (iii) for certain remedies for the indemnified party. In addition, the indemnification agreements require the Company to cover the indemnified party under any directors’ and officers’ insurance policy or, with respect to counsel, under any employed lawyers insurance policy, maintained by the Company.

Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

Item 8. Exhibits.

Item 9. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned Company hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective Registration Statement; and

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Company pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned Company hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Company certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Overland Park, State of Kansas, on the 5th day of June, 2019.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know all people by these presents, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Darren D. Hawkins and Stephanie D. Fisher, and each of them, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any amendments to this Registration Statement, or any Registration Statement for the same offering that is to be effective upon filing pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on the 5th day of June, 2019.

Exhibit 5.1

June 5, 2019

YRC Worldwide Inc.

10990 Roe Avenue

Overland Park, Kansas 66211

Re:    Registration Statement on Form S-8

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are providing this letter in our capacity as special counsel to YRC Worldwide Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the filing by the Company of a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) covering the offering by the Company of up to 2,500,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (the “Plan Shares”) pursuant to the YRC Worldwide Inc. 2019 Incentive and Equity Award Plan (the “Plan”).

For purposes of this letter, we have examined such documents, records, certificates, resolutions and other instruments deemed necessary as a basis for this opinion, and we have assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to the originals of all documents submitted to us as copies and the authenticity of the originals of all documents submitted to us as copies.

Based upon and subject to the foregoing qualifications, assumptions and limitations and the further limitations set forth below, we advise you that the Plan Shares are duly authorized and when (i) the Registration Statement related to the Plan Shares becomes effective under the Act and (ii) the Plan Shares have been duly issued pursuant to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan and the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended to date (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), and Amended and Restated Bylaws, the Plan Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

Our opinions expressed above are subject to the qualifications that we express no opinion as to the applicability of, compliance with, or effect of any laws except the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

Beijing    Boston    Dallas    Hong Kong    Houston     London    Los Angeles    Munich    New York    Palo Alto    Paris    San Francisco     Shanghai    Washington, D.C

YRC Worldwide Inc.

June 5, 2019

Page 2

We have relied without independent investigation upon, among other things, an assurance from the Company that the number of shares which the Company is authorized to issue in its Certificate of Incorporation exceeds the number of shares outstanding and the number of shares which the Company is obligated to issue (or had otherwise reserved for issuance) for any purposes other than issuances in connection with the Plan by at least the number of Plan Shares which may be issued in connection with the Plan and we have assumed that such condition will remain true at all future times relevant to this opinion. We have assumed that the Company will cause certificates, if any, representing the Plan Shares issued in the future to be properly executed and delivered and will take all other actions appropriate for the issuances of such Plan Shares. Our opinion assumes that the Registration Statement related to the Plan Shares will become effective under the Act before any Plan Shares covered by such Registration Statement are sold.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission.

We do not find it necessary for the purposes of this opinion, and accordingly we do not purport to cover herein, the application of the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of the various states to the issuance and sale of the Plan Shares.

This opinion is limited to the specific issues addressed herein, and no opinion may be inferred or implied beyond that expressly stated herein. We assume no obligation to revise or supplement this opinion should the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware be changed by legislative action, judicial decision or otherwise.

This opinion is furnished to you in connection with the filing of the Registration Statement, and is not to be used, circulated, quoted or otherwise relied upon for any other purposes.

Exhibit 23.1

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors

YRC Worldwide Inc.:

We consent to the use of our reports with respect to the consolidated financial statements and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, incorporated by reference herein.

Our report on the consolidated financial statements refers to a change to the method of accounting for the recognition of revenue in the 2018 consolidated financial statements due to the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Our report on the consolidated financial statements also refers to a change in the method of accounting for components of net pension benefit costs in 2018 due to the adoption of ASU 2017-07, Compensation—Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost.

/s/ KPMG LLP

Kansas City, Missouri

June 5, 2019