YRC CDL Training School

There's not much information about this program on the Internet. Thought I'd shed some light on it for those interested.

First off, during the 4 weeks of training you are not paid. Class time is 7-3:30 M-F. Have to sign a 1 year contract. If you quit after being officially hired you owe them 4 grand.

I had to get my cdl class A permit, hazmat fingerprinting, and DOT physical completed on my own dime before I started class. They did pay for the drug test. Tanker, hazmat, doubles and tripples endorsements had to be completed before the end of the training.

The trainers are awesome! Very laid back atmosphere. They taught me everything I needed to know plus! The guys are very experienced in the industry. A couple of the trainers used to be state examiners, so they know what I needed to know to pass.

Class size is small. 8 in my class and the new class that just started has 5.

The first 3-4 days were videos and lecture. Then we got in the trucks. Day cabs with a pup trailer. Started with straight line backing and moved up to road driving. We spent a lot of time on the pretrip too. All the instructors were very patient with everyone and found a way to teach us individually since everyone learns differently.

The last week of training we got to practice at the actual testing grounds for 2 days to get a feel for everyone. No DMV! 3rd party testing center.

Pay. 47 cents per mile and 17.89 when not driving. ( break downs, delays out of your control, drop and hooking, waiting on your load etc...) The pay is 85% of scale and goes up over 3 years. It's a union outfit. Dues are about 45 a month. 100% paid medical, dental, and vision for spouse and kids.

Start off on extra board until I can hold bids. I was told to expect to be driving teams first 6 months to a year.

After getting cdl I will get paid for orientation and driving for 3-4 weeks with driver trainer. Main reason they started this school was to get some younger drivers in the pool. There current average drivers age is 50-80 with most guys having 15-25 years with the company.

I actually passed my driving tests today! Start orientation next week. Tests were a breeze. Again, the instructors are great!

The training site is in Hammond, IN. The testing facility is in Indiana too. I live in Illinois and was able to test in Indiana and everything transfers to IL DMV 48 hours after passing the skill, driving, and pretrip.

They only give you 2 chances to pass the driving tests.

I hope this helps anyone considering YRC. I'll update as my hiring process continues.

I'm curious how this has been going. I live in Wisconsin YRC's training academy page says that you have to work in Chicago. I see job postings for YRC in Madison and Portage Wisconsin which are much closer to home. Is it possible to complete the program/training and work out of Wisconsin?

Thanks