3rd Week Update - Yellow Freight

I posted this in another thread but I wanted to share with others my experience so far - thanks.

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I started with Yellow Freight a few weeks ago and for the past week and a half I have been traveling all over the West Coast. The first week in training, I noticed that there was a form up on the bulletin board for traveling, I signed up Wednesday and on Friday they called me and scheduled a flight or Sunday to Las Vegas. So far it has been a really good experience, I’ve gotten to travel all over the West Coast and everything is paid for. Even the time from when I left my house until I got to the hotel in Las Vegas was paid.

Every day that you work while traveling you make $100 and regardless of if you work or not you also receive $45 a day for food that goes on your check.

Last week I drove a little over 3000 miles and with the task pay, delay, per-diem and food added onto my check I will make about $3000 for that one week.

Overall, I have been extremely impressed with the Linehaul equipment, some of it isn’t pretty, but as far as safety it is very well maintained, you’d be surprised, although I really don’t like the converter dollies, it is generally very safe equipment. I wouldn’t touch the city tractors though with a 10 foot pole, not because they aren’t safe, they’re just really ugly. (I would consider taking a twin-screw city tractor though, they have more torque and are manual).

If you decide to travel with the company, just be aware that all of the terminals are completely different from one another, there’s a lot of animosity and hard feelings. It just depends on what region you are in. I’ve found Reddaway terminals are my favorite, I can build and break my own sets, which is something I enjoy doing, it is sometimes nice though to not have to worry about it if you want to conserve your 70, the people at those terminals are very nice as well.

You are based out of the terminal they fly you to but you might not be back at that terminal for weeks at a time, the hotel they originally set you up with is paid for, for two weeks and you might sleep in at once, the rental car they get for you you might drive once or twice.

I sleep in a different city every night.

Central is your best friend, so you would have to get used to calling them and trading favors every now and then. I had a run for a set of doubles to Hermiston, Oregon, come to find out it needs to go to Spokane, Washington, I had plenty of drive time left, and I asked Central if they just wanted me to take the set to Spokane, they said yes, then come to find out they paid me an extra hour and a half for task pay because of it, so my task pay for that day came out to about $80 on top of 550 miles and the Perdiem and food, and it’s close enough to a $600 day.

Keep a positive attitude at this company and you’ll be fine if you decide to work here, I have found the most difficult part about this job is finding anyone who works here that is not miserable to talk to (a lot of #####ing) but generally almost everyone I meet is pretty decent and nice.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask

P.S. - As someone who used to work at FedEx Freight, and after all the bad things I’ve heard about Yellow, I can honestly say Yellow cares for their linehaul operations much more, at FXF I had to constantly fight with the shop over faulty equipment and safety concerns, it may be 7 cents less an mile but, the health insurance is free, the task pay / work rules make up for the 7 cent difference quickly, and my job is protected, not to mention the equipment is actually maintained and cared for… again, it may be a little ugly but, take a good look at the essentials and you will quickly see that there is nothing to worry about.

I also really appreciate the culture and history of the company.

Some obstacles I’ve encountered have been mostly in regard to logistics, and communication, have thick skin and take charge, this company is different in certain aspects but I don’t look at those as a negative, I feel like they actually value and give a lot of responsibility to the driver, you won’t be just holding a steering wheel here, you should be adaptable/pro-active and you will very quickly be someone who people want to work with and, will look out for you.

Pro-Tip - Central is your best friend, Western Regional Linehaul is evolving and that means there’s a lot of opportunities for growth / relationship building, and feedback (goes both ways). Take the time to breathe when talking to central, they have a lot on their plate, speak to everyone with respect and if you encounter someone who is upset or snippy, it isn’t you, that’s the most important thing to remember. Treat others how you want to be treated, simple stuff.

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If anyone has any questions feel free to shoot.

 

Photos of the hotel room I am in now.

No idea why they put me in an extended stay for 1 night but I’m not complaining.

$339 room.

 

I’m not sure about anyone else is experiences, but the hotels they’ve paid for me to stay in so far have been pretty good hotels.

 

Agreed.