YRC/Yellow Driving Academy

Finally got my birth certificate. Hazmat threat assessment scheduled for Friday. After that all the prerequisites completed. Can’t wait to start this adventure!

 

My hazmat background check came back in exactly 23 hours! My friend took 60 days. I wonder why mine came back super fast… guess it could have been God’s grace who knows!

 

Yellow recruiter let me know I should know by Wednesday where and what day I will report to school. There is actually a chance I might end up going to South Bend for school instead of Indy. That is okay with me.

Recruiter states that if I do go more than a hour from where I live I will end up getting a rental car option, per diem card of about $340 weekly, and a single occupancy hotel room. The per diem is in addition to $17.50 a hour for 40 hours during school. That’s not bad for someone going through their schooling.

 

I received my welcome aboard letter from Yellow and my student spot has been secured to start at Indy's location on 10/24. I filled out the I-9 and W-2 info today. A couple more weeks to a new career. Now to put in my resignation at my current employer.

 

Day 1:

Started the day at 0730. We all introduced ourselves and everyone seems nice. The instructors are very professional with a sense of humor to keep the class engaged. They went ahead and gave me a hotel room. I did drive home anyway only stopping at the hotel to take a quick shower. I live very close to the hotel. While at the school the first day involved watching videos and tutorials for 8 hours. Some of the videos I watched were a basic introduction to types of trucks, trailers, hours of service, distracted driving, turns, urban driving, shifting, coupling/uncoupling, pre-trip inspection, and I'm sure more than I can't remember off the top of my head.

They gave me a per diem card that I can use for meals and gas. It was preloaded for $320. I decided to eat a salad at Taco Bell to keep it healthy. At the end of the class day, I was pretty tired, with lots of stuff to take in. Not only that I've been a night shifter for years so being awake in the afternoon was SO HARD. I'm sure it will hopefully get easier.

While at the yard you will need to wear a reflective vest. The instructors want you to wear tennis shoes in order to get a feel for the clutch pedal. After CDL school they want me to wear non-skid boots with steel toes.

Other sage advice: DO NOT go to the license branch at all during school to take extra tests (like doubles/triples or tanker) apparently it resets the issue time of the permit is what the instructor said. I also feel Yellow's school is very professional. The instructor was the safety guy at the Indianapolis terminal for Celedon before they went bankrupt.

 

Day 2

I started at 0700 this morning. We had to watch 7 hours worth of videos again today covering operating in adverse weather conditions, upshifting/downshifting, shifting up and down grades, watching out for hazards, what to do in an emergency, evasive maneuvers, making sure loads are correct, more urban driving, night time driving, speed management, and Smith's 7 Keys to Driving Safely. I bet there are other videos I can't remember.

These videos aren't the most enjoyable to watch but I have learned a little bit from them when I can pay attention! Most of us had to get up, stretch, and walk around a little at times or we would fall asleep. Talked to classmates and shot the crap with the instructors. No one is really all that uptight. I did some pre-trips. One of the students got barked at a little for interjecting himself during the pre-trip (the student is a diesel mechanic) while the instructor was talking but other than that no one has been treated badly or whatnot. Years and years and years ago when I was 18 I got to visit Schneider's CDL school and felt Yellow's course is much more professional.

Instead of 8 students, there are 7... so it might help us with slightly more time to practice and drive so that's nice. There are two instructors for our class of 7. The recruiter says usually there are expert drivers that will sometimes help out on the range. Practiced on a log book drawing the lines but Yellow uses ELDs so log books aren't something we will do frequently. At one point the head training boss will come to visit (over all the instructors in the program) to give a pep talk. I memorized the In-Cab Air Brake test. It's mostly word for word you gotta hit all the numbers and phrases that the state examiner wants you to say.

Yellow is one of the largest LTL companies but it honestly doesn't feel like a mega carrier. The class sizes aren't so big that you get crowded out on drive time and range time. I haven't driven yet. The good news about getting my CDL in Indianapolis is that I know the interstate system mostly well. I can anticipate some of the conditions already. The city streets forget about it LOL. I also ate a healthy salad for lunch. I went home again but will nap some then drive back. I like to show the kids the training materials and such that were given to me.

 

Day 3:

I did the straight line back. Did pretty good I thought. Using old 10+ day cab single axle with short pup trailer. I also started basic upshifting and downshifting in the yard. Gotta remember the 10 speed pattern.