International Schools El Paso, TX
Topic 11944 | Page 1
98% of your private, or company sponsored schools will only teach you to pass the CDL test. Depending on class size, and how the program is set up, will determine how much actual time behind the wheel you will get. It could be as little as 8 hours, or as many as 30. The only "requirement" companies look for is 160hrs of total instruction, which is classroom+range+driving.
The company, will then teach you how to operate the truck safely, or, at least they should. Your school wasn't :shysty," that is just how it is in this industry. Your real training/schooling begins when you are out with your trainer.
Swift, Prime, TMC, and Roehl, all have really good programs, that will not only teach you the basics, but pretty much guarantee you a job once you graduate from their schools. They also have good training programs, after you graduate.
Hope this help a little.
Stay safe
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.
98% of your private, or company sponsored schools will only teach you to pass the CDL test. Depending on class size, and how the program is set up, will determine how much actual time behind the wheel you will get. It could be as little as 8 hours, or as many as 30. The only "requirement" companies look for is 160hrs of total instruction, which is classroom+range+driving.
The company, will then teach you how to operate the truck safely, or, at least they should. Your school wasn't :shysty," that is just how it is in this industry. Your real training/schooling begins when you are out with your trainer.
Swift, Prime, TMC, and Roehl, all have really good programs, that will not only teach you the basics, but pretty much guarantee you a job once you graduate from their schools. They also have good training programs, after you graduate.
Hope this help a little.
Stay safe
Thank you for your input DanielSahn, never even thought of that now that you mentioned it that 98% of the schools are just there to get your CDL, and the real training begins with the company you go with. I'm looking around right now for schools in TX that got the PTDI certification, I'm guess part of it is I just want more drive time with a school that has a real thorough program, cause allegedly if it has the PTDI seal of approval the minimum drive time per student will be 44 hours. I think mainly I just want to be damn good at driving a truck before I go with a company, rather than show up, suck at truck driving and get the yee old boot out the door. I'll definitely look into those companies training programs you mentioned. Thank you again for your feedback, much appreciated.
Best Regards,
a_moran224
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
When you talk to the school, ask what their avg class size is, and the length of training. Many of your Community Colleges, or Technical Schools/Colleges that run a CDL program will often times be a lot longer, because they have to meet minimum Department of Education standards. This often times, translates to more time in the truck. Plus, you can get the education grants to help pay for it. I tend to put the colleges in the 2% portion.
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.
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Hi Everyone,
I wanted to write about my experience, but also get your advice. So I got my CDL almost 2 years ago, at this school, was a 4 week program. Long story short I never actually ended up really using my CDL. Your probably wondering ...well what the hell happened? This school is probably like some other private truck schools. Basically, my training experience was in the morning we would practice in the yard straight backing and parallel parking, then in the afternoon we would drive out on the road, 3 students to a truck, 1 hour of drive time. First 2 weeks is classroom stuff. Week 3 and 4 is driving in the yard and on the road. The total amount of drive time I got was a little over 10 hours on the road. I guess what I'm getting at is, can a Truck school legally get away with running a shysty program like that? I'll be honest with you I didn't really feel confident in my abilities partly because of the lack of drive time with this school, but somehow by the grace of God I passed, I got a 75 in case your wondering, but I still think for me personally I failed. So got my CDL, got hired on by Basic Energy Services, and when I got their, everything kinda went out the window, My Boss basically wanted me to float gears and instead of double clutching. I was training for about 3 weeks, with my trainer, I could float gears on lease roads ( oil field dirt roads) no problem, but when I would get on the main roads, I just really kinda sucked floating the first few gears, and the other problem I was having was backing into awkward positions. I'm a noob long story short I was gonna get let go if I couldn't adapt to floating gears , and rather than get fired I quit. That's my story, I don't blame anyone but myself for my decisions. I just wanted advice, if their are any truck schools that are really thorough you might recommend I look into?I'm currently just in school working towards my degree, but I still have my CDL would like to give it another go but with a good program where I will be confident in my abilities.
Best Regards,
a_moran224
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Floating Gears:
An expression used to describe someone who is shifting gears without using the clutch at all. Drivers are taught to "Double Clutch" or press and release the clutch twice for each gear shift. If you're floating gears it means you're simply shifting without using the clutch at all.
Float Gears:
An expression used to describe someone who is shifting gears without using the clutch at all. Drivers are taught to "Double Clutch" or press and release the clutch twice for each gear shift. If you're floating gears it means you're simply shifting without using the clutch at all.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
Double Clutching:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.