Profile For Pinky

I went to CDL School over 4 years ago, but the school I went to was good and bad. The instructors were all very knowledgeable and were very easy to work with and you could tell all of them cared about passing on their knowledge. It was paid for by the VA for me but, I'd definitely pay out of pocket looking back.

Now... the negatives. The class size was about 40 students so every seat was full, with some standing and every instructor had 10-15 students. The worst 2 parts, in my opinion were the trucks and the seat time... all the trucks ran but they were Volvo VNL's with manual transmissions that were beat to crap and weren't well maintained. The actual testing truck was an International that they did maintain.

The seat time, when I went, the school still had previous students from prior classes that were coming back to practice before going out with the tester, so the trucks to student ratio, wasn't ideal. In our 4 weeks, i think we went on the road for about 30 minutes twice or 3 times, with 3 other students watching the one driving and the instructor in the passenger seat and we'd rotate at specific points on the route.

Overall, I'm very glad I chose the school I went to and to answer your question, I'd definitely pay for that program again but the most important things I'd consider would be the quality of the instructors and the hands on experience the school offered, regardless of the price. Anyone can tell you to read the Pre-Trip and walk around the truck. The difference though is if the instructors WANT TO be there and actually give you real life situations and experiences to consider as a driver, and not just collect a paycheck and play on their phones.

I'm very familiar with E.W Wylie, I've seen their trucks often and live right by their terminal. I originally started doing flatbed, and perhaps if I was in better shape, i'd consider going back to it.

In terms of getting back into trucking, I've also considered going to tanker, there's a few companies by me that pay well but, I guess at the end of the day I'm leaning more towards trying a different job because I can gain new skills and do something i've never done before.

Very true, on both aspects of every job having stuff I will not like but the other thing I'm considering is even though I can save more easily with going back to driving, I'm wanting to try new things and learn more skills that i could possibly use for a future job. I've only ever done customer service jobs and driving.

I'm still on the fence but I still have some time to consider my options. Thanks for the advice!

I've heard Gemini Transport is a good one, same with PFJ. Me personally, I'd take a look into Sheetz. I've heard they're a really good company to work for in terms of driving, but I'm not sure if there are any local to you.

All of my driving was OTR, except the last 8 months which I was a local driver. I definitely enjoyed it but I'm not sure if I want to live on the road anymore. I've gotten used to sleeping in my own bed and I want to learn new skills. I just don't know what I want to do, hence why I've put a few applications to get back into driving.

Hello, I've been a long time reader of TT but have never made an account. I have 4 years OTR experience but got out of the industry and pursued other jobs, my last was working for the DOT running plow trucks and other heavy equipment. I am now again looking to do something else. I applied to any and every job in my local area that interested me and one that has replied back was a position to go back OTR All-48, with Holland Enterprises, but am not sure if I want to get back into driving again.

I am torn because where I live, I'm not sure if i want to make it a home but I know the BS that comes from OTR, but it would allow me to save up money and move in the near future (2-3 years).