Gah. Trucking School Problems.
Topic 10735 | Page 2
I wish there was a companion book on here written from the perspective of someone who is the "home anchor". I think that would be a great resource as well.
We don't have a book on the subject but we do have a category of articles tagged "Trucker Family Matters" and we also have forum topics tagged "Trucker Family Matters with a lot of good stuff for each one.
Team driving is not possible for the reason I can't go OTR with him. I just finished cancer treatment and need to stick close to home to receive follow-up care. The sucky thing is that the follow-up care is only a shot a month, but my oncologist told me it wouldn't be possible to self-administer.
We've been looking at company-sponsored training and there seems to be possibilities with Swift, Knight and maybe Roehl. It seems like a lot of the major companies don't hire out of FL. But it seems like he'd have regional/dedicated opportunities with all of those fairly early on.
How competitive is company-sponsored school? We didn't look at it at all last time thinking that he didn't want to be beholden to a particular company. Also, do you have to live close to a terminal to work there?
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Check the link for Company-Sponsored Training and look up those companies either here or online. They will give a list of states they hire from. You can always call them and ask as well. If they run routes through your state but don't have a terminal they will still hire from that state.
I would say the training is competitive, in that it has to meet a certain minimum standard according to DOT laws. The upside to company sponsored training is in a number of cases they front the cost of the schooling and require a certain amount of time working for them to "repay" the debt. Depending on the company, that can be one or two years tops.
From what I've heard all the companies you listed have really good reputations. I would do as much searching online and on here about each company and choose the one you're most comfortable with. Good luck!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
I don't know if you have a city transit system in your area, but hiring on with one, he would be trained by them for Class B. My area pd me about $23/hr for this. Took care of the driving bug till my home obligations were satisfied, now working towards my trucking career.
Lynette, there are several different county bus systems in the area. This is something he's strongly considering, as city/county positions tend to come with good benefits, which is the most important thing. A lot of job postings say they require experience, but I've heard the online posting don't jive with the needs of the company.
The drama continues. He went to talk to the administration early in the week about a refund. They said they would not refund the money for the class entirely, but he could stick with the CDL B program and get a refund of the difference. He was happy with that result, figuring he could get his B and start working, with the possibility of going for A with a company-sponsored program if he was not satisfied with the job offerings. Due to immigration and my health issues, he's been out of work for a long time and he's anxious to get back to it. He got along much better with the B instructor and things were going well. Then he was informed that he would not be getting any refund at all. When he went to the administration, they told him he could only get a refund if he dropped the B class and they would test him out this week so he could get his CDL B but no certificate. He agreed to that. He went to school today to drop off one of his assignments and to get his skills assessment and was told that they may not have time to test him out and that it's no longer their responsibility anyway.
Also, Swift told him that he has to have been a licensed driver in the US for a year before he came go to school with them. He still has about two months to go. And Swift seems like the only possibility here in SWFL. The other companies don't seem to hire from here (I thought Knight did but it I guess they recently changed that) and Prime is not possible because they are super strict on employment history.
All the time, money and effort and this is where he ends up. After all we'd been through with me fighting cancer, we thought this was going to be a new start. We are both feeling so discouraged.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Amanda- What is GAH? You have this as the title of this thread- "Gah trucking school problems"
Amanda- What is GAH? You have this as the title of this thread- "Gah trucking school problems"
"Gah!" is usually used as an exclamation, usually denoting exasperation or frustration, and sometimes surprise.
Amanda- What is GAH? You have this as the title of this thread- "Gah trucking school problems"
I was thinking it was the abbreviation for the school name.
Ha, I gathered that Scott.
And frustration and exasperation is right.
So he was led to believe that he could test out for Class B at school this week and get a partial refund. Now, he is being told he is no longer a student (they took his student ID) and that all they can do is give him the number of a third party tester he can go to at his own cost. To the tune of $250. No idea how much of his money he can get back.
He put so much time, money and effort into this and we put a lot of other stuff in our lives on hold only for this school, that we thought was an excellent choice, to treat him so badly. I know there are other options but it bites to have wasted our time.
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That two for one at Swift seems interesting.......I'll have to check into that, even though I my heart is set of Prime right now.
Amanda, it's not just a guy/girl thing when it comes to trucking. I'm the one going out there to do this because we need to make more money to realize some life goals that my husband and I have. My husband is the stay at home type that needs the security of a predictable routine on a daily basis. I'm the type of person where that makes my skin crawl. In this case I'm the better suited one for the job, and it's one I'm definitely interested in. I'm super lucky to have a husband that "gets me" and is so supportive. I think you two will be able to make it through this. It sounds unfair from what you've said about his schooling, but definitely have him go the company sponsored route. In a lot of cases, it's paid for with a committment to work for a year or two.
I would suggest breaking time down into chunks. Encourage him to do the company sponsored training and set a 2 year goal to reassess who you both feel about the job. You might find it easier to deal with than you imagined. After two years he'll have good experience and if he needs to make a change to a company that has more home time he can. Also, check out the links on here for Company-Sponsored Training and How To Choose A Company. They are super helpful resources (as is just about everything else on this site). Have him read through the High Road Training Program. It's helping me understand so much and I'm not even in school yet! Also, it might be good for both of you to read Brett's Book. It's a great snapshot into the life of a truck driver, and extremely informative. It will help both of you understand the lifestyle. It will help you be supportive of his difficulties and it should be an eye opener to him about how much time you will be home alone and needing his support in that.
My husband is used to me being gone a lot because I used to tour in the music industry. It really does take a certain person to be gone all the time, but it takes someone even more special to wait at home for them. I wish there was a companion book on here written from the perspective of someone who is the "home anchor". I think that would be a great resource as well.
Bottom line, you can do this. It will be tough, but at the end of the day it will be worth it. Hang in there.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.