Profile For Christy S.

Yes, CFI is free, but with a 1 year commitment. Although we want to stay with a company long term, you never know what can happen and then you owe the remainder of your tuition. Thanks for all your imput!

Well congratulations. CFI would have been free too. However, do what's best for you. Good luck.

Complete change of plans! I have been waiting on WIOA funding (started the process last October!). I went to CFI because I was tired of waiting and needed to get going. Well, I got a call stating that my funding was approved for WIOA and I'm set to start school on Monday! This is great because school will be free and I can stay in Dallas. My husband and I still plan on going to CFI when I'm done with school. I'm going to Continintal Truck driving school in Dallas and I will post about my experience for whoever may come behind me. Btw, I emailed Cortney and told her the change of plans. Hopefully we get to runs teams for them once I'm done!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. My husband is going to come on and we will be teaming. Hopefully that all gets worked out towards the end of my training.

With CFI's paid training they pay for everything. Since you said you want to fly in they would reimburse your ticket up to the cost of the bus ticket. They pay for all your transportation, hotels and meals. At TDDA they pay you cash for you to get food. Eating cheaply will let you save some of that money. They would get you into Joplin to sign your contract and go over it with you. After school they will bus you back to Joplin where you will go through 4 days of orientation. You are paid $100.00 cash for that. Then it's out with a finisher for at least 7500 miles, about three weeks. After that it's back to Joplin to upgrade. You would owe them one year of driving. That one year will fly by. Good luck.

Trapper keepers were awesome in the 80's! I doubt they make them anymore. I'm still on the list for WIOA. I have been waiting since January and finally decided to do the company sponsored school. I'm not making any money sitting around waiting on them. I plan on bringing everything I can possibly think of. I'm excited to get the ball roling!

I knew she would get back to you. When you get to Joplin, you will have a chance to meet her. She is great.

Do they still make trapper keepers? That's something from the way back machine.

They need to verify work history for at least 3 years right now. The notorized letters will be good. I brought a folder with everything they wanted and more. Cover all bases you can think of. It can't hurt.

Are you going through WIOA or CFI's paid training?

Cortney emailed me back this morning, yay! I asked her, in my previous email, about my employment verification for this year because I am a personal driver (self employed). She said to provide tax documents and whatever Square will provide me with. I don't want to keep bothering her but, I won't have tax documents until the end of the year. I drove for Uber/Lyft last year so I have the tax docs from them but the last few months I've only transported one person, NOT through Uber/Lyft, and they paid me through Square. My client is going to provide me with a notarized letter and I will print out screenshots from Square, showing my transaction history for the last few months. Hopefully this is enough! I want to be fully prepared! I've read about some people not even able to use W2's as employment verification, so I am nervous about what I have. My last 3 years look like this.. 2016 - finished up college, was homeschooling my son, and started a nanny job in Aug. 2017 - homeschooling my son and still have the same nanny job. 2018 - homeschooling my son, nanny job ended the end of March, started driving for Uber/Lyft 2019 - started driving for one person and also was active with my local workforce solutions office and am in the WIOA program. I'm trying to get a letter from them as well. My nanny job was on the books, so I have W2's for 2016-2018. Cortney said they will verify my college but I ordered my official transcripts anyway, just to save them time. I'm sure some will say I'm over doing things but I would rather show up with a TrapperKeeper (shows my age) of papers than be sent home to gather more info!

I will, thanks again!

She will get back to you. Also, they have been doing so much training that some things have changed. Just be patient.

Thanks for the info! Cortney told me that I would be arriving on Sunday, the day before class starts. This is why I was curious how the process works. I emailed her a question about employment verification so I will wait to hear back from her. I am planning on flying out instead of driving or taking a bus so I probably need to double check with her about the start date. But, I did ask several times while we were on the phone and she confirmed that I would come out on Sunday, it's also in my email.

If you have any other questions please post them in this thread as I will subscribe to it. Thanks.

Yes, I've read any and everything on CFI here, lol. I'm either driving (6.5 hrs) or flying.

Oops, since you stated you are supposed "to arrive the 24th", everything should be set. Are you traveling by car, flying or by bus? If by bus as I did (ugh, the memories on the grey dog), Cortney will call about 1 week before your start date to confirm you are still coming and give you the bus ticket confirmation number you will need to get your tickets at the bus stop/station you will be leaving you from. If you are flying or by car, hmmm...then I have no clue. Again, don't worry. She should call you next week, but feel free to continue trying to call her before then.

Have you read any of the CFI training diaries from members here who attended either Truck Dynasty or Crowder College? Both Big Scott's and mine you can currently find on page 6 in the CDL training diaries forum.

Thanks for the info! No, I didn't receive anything with attachments. She sent me an email with the hotel and school info and the FAQ's. At the top of the email it had the date I should arrive. I'm assuming I will get more info next week, since I'm about 12 days out. I know she's busy, I'll reach out again at the end of the week or on Monday. Thanks!

I attended CFI's sponsored school at Crowder College. Cortney was my recruiter. Did she send you information about your class starting date, itinerary, etc.? I received an email with attachments showing a copy of the contract with CFI for their sponsored school along with information about what to expect, CFI in general, benefits, etc.. Then I called her to confirm my start date and review the information sent in the email attachments. Once everything was confirmed, Cortney sent information about my travel itinery and bus transportation. You do need to be persistent and keep calling her or leave messages on her voice mail. CFI has quite a number of applicants to their schools, so she is swamped, I am sure. I had to call a couple of times and email her also, but she will return your calls or emails. I did not attend Truck Dynasty, but Big Scott, another member here, did. The instruction at Crowder College was excellent and I assume Truck Dynasty is also. Embrace your time there. For me it was a terrific experience. Good luck.

Hi everyone! I've been looking at every different route to take in order to get my CDL (paying out of pocket, going through WIOA, company sponsored, etc). After months of hitting walls I decided to go through training with CFI. I got my permit last Friday (yay me!), filled out an app with CFI, and talked to the recruiter, Cortney, yesterday morning. She ran my MVR while on the phone with me and said everything looked fine. She then sent me an email with the schools info and hotel info. My question is...now what? I'm assuming she will reach out to me before the 24th, when I'm supposed to arrive. Do you sign anything prior or just show up to the hotel? She did mention that I needed to take a drug test somewhere locally before I go. I had some more questions for her, I called and emailed but haven't heard back. I know she is busy so I'm not worried, just yet : ) Any input would be great! Thanks! Btw, I'm going to Truck Dynasty