Yellow
 

I just applied at Yellow...$16.67 an hour to start $22.22 after 24 months. Anyone work there? How is this company? I don't hear too much about them.

Its "union", which can be a good thing....as long as you can get to be full time and join the Teamsters. Educate yourself about this, as its important.

Once you are a Teamster.... you should have excellent Health Insurance, other good benefits, and if you can work long enough you can end up with a very nice pension... 8)

Most any LTL gig is going to pay more for your hours worked than OTR.

I work 40-45hrs/week and I'll earn ~$45k this year. If I wanted to make the big money I could bid line and work nights for ~$65k.

You do earn a bit more and have good bennies at a union LTL. The downside is that it takes longer to build seniority (huge in LTL land) and on the city side of the operation some of the tractors are museum pieces.

You may get laid off during the slow season (Jan-April) until you can build some seniority.

When I started out in doing pick-up/delivery (p/d) in LTL, I was handed the keys to a 10-year old Volvo. She still had some giddy-up-and-go (68mph) but had quasi-power steering--the slower you went, the more muscle needed to turn the durn steering wheel. I think she was designed for line-haul rather than p/d. At the end of some days, I thought my arms would fall off!

After a few months of that I convinced my boss that I needed a newer tractor and now I drive a 3-yr old sterling. Of course the previous occupants made sure it looks like a 5-yr old tractor (trucks can look like museum pieces fairly quickly since most of the time the tractors are used for both city p/d during the day and line-haul at night).

The newer tractors in my barn are semi-automatics--nice for rush hour--but I miss grinding the gears...er...floatin' the gears when I drive one. :lol:

Re: Yellow
 

I've worked there since July , pm me with any specific questions .

There is a guy that I talk to quite a bit during the week. I usually see him 2 or 3 nights a week that drives for Yellow. He told me a while back that he has been with Yellow for 42, or 43 years, cant remember exactly. He loves it. He likes the benefits, pension, and stuff.

Re: Yellow
 

Are you applying for the combo job? The job is not a bad job but even though you are applying to drive you may be on the dock more than you like. I am a combo driver at a breakbulk, so if you have any questions PM me and I may be able to help you. Yellow is top heavy with older workers getting ready to retire so you are getting in at the right time. I moved up 15 numbers in seniority since I started Back at the end of Jan 2007! Are you going to be at the Lancaster breakbulk?

When I started with Conway in 99, they still had city units without power steering and of couse, without air cond. You would need a big downhill to exceed 45 MPH. Some of the union companys (roadway) where still running around with gasoline powered units at that time.

42 years? That's something to be proud of. Wow, he was a greenhorn when Kenny Rogers was still in First Edition.

Back when there was money to be made drivin' truck! :D

Yeah. :lol: I cant remember exactly, but its something around 40 some odd. The Brown Clowns that we run with ever so often have been there for 30-35 years. :shock: That's nuts.

I run with a UPS driver thats been there 39 yrs. I cant even comprehend that, I was 5 when he started!

UPS 31 years. Hard to believe I'm leaving 07/19/07. That will mark my 32nd year. Damn, where has the time gone ?? 1975 was the year I started part-time in the sort loading and unloading in downtown Los Angeles. I was looking forward to pulling the plug, but I keep wondering how I will feel that first late Sunday night/early Monday morning when I DON'T wake up at midnight, shower, grab my bag and head off to the yard for yet another Phoenix/Tucson round. It's starting to kind of weird me out. Worked all my life and now I wonder what the next phase brings. Sorry for acting strange...

Fred....Buy a RV, paint it BROWN, throw a few cardboard boxes in it and hit the road. Leave whenever you like, get there whenever :D

Congrats on 32-years with the same company! :D

That's an amazing accomplishment! :shock: 8)

All the best as you ponder your next life phase.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. Last night as I was returning from Arizona on an impending "holiday weekend" (which I normally hate due to traffic and four wheelers), I thought, you know, "I might actually miss this". Blows me away, always thought I'd be looking forward to hanging it up, now I have all kinds of mixed feelings. This is strange...

Yes it's strange but it's also normal. Going from one life stage to the next is strange because it's new--you haven't been there before.

Remember, once retired, you're only a memory away from that ole diesel hummin' along down the road.

Cheers to good memories! :)

It's in your blood, man. You will always be a clown. :P :lol: 8)

Thank you all. I know I said it before, but you all are right. This is a new stage in my life that I THOUGHT I was prepared for. But, the closer it comes to July, the more strange thoughts keep running through my mind. On CAD, a lot of you are just starting your driving careers, and for that I wish you newbies all the best and I will always be here for you. But, (and please, I hate to sound like a "whiner",)but retirement is something I have not dealt with before, and it's really causing me a lot of anxiety. Thanks for the ideas re: "brown boxes and an RV", but I don't think thats too practical...but just let me hang with all you "active" drivers and maybe we'll think of something..Have a great weekend and drive safe...