Oklahoma School

Oklahoma has seven schools, but only one has an eight week program. When I put in my zip the America truck training Inc. is the only school the search finds. Has anyone attended the American truck training Inc. in Oklahoma City? Is it worth the six grand? Swift is offering free training from Redlands community college with 26 months at the company. I don't have the break down handy but for 160 hours training is over 4 grand. I don't know if the training Swift is offering would be the same as I would get if I was paying upfront.

Noticed you put altus in your profile, there is a school in fort cobb, ok at caddo kiowa tech center. I think it is 6 weeks and runs about $3500. Don't know much about the swift progran, I went with driver solutions and PAM myself.

Lagging a bit, sry for the double reply lol

Bucket asks:

Has anyone attended the American truck training Inc. in Oklahoma City? Is it worth the six grand?

6,000 bucks is a bit much for your CDL. Of course it depends what they offer: current, not old equipment, how many instructors for each class, how much road time, etc.

Swift's school is about 4-6 weeks, includes hotel (dorm style), no food, for $4,400.

Knight's is $7200 once you break it all down. You run 30,000 Squire miles at a much reduced rate, then upon that completion you get bumped to their normal sliding pay scale. You also sign a promissory note for $4200 that they take small payments out weekly.

Noticed you put altus in your profile, there is a school in fort cobb, ok at caddo kiowa tech center. I think it is 6 weeks and runs about $3500. Don't know much about the swift progran, I went with driver solutions and PAM myself.

I tried to contact driver solutions around Thanksgiving kept getting the wait 15 and call back. Then checked an ad for Pam. Showed hire area east. Where did driver solutions send you? If I may ask. Swift told me they would send me to redlands in El Reno, I pay them back at 150 for 13 months. Then they would give me 150 for the next 13. Makes cdl free after 26 months. I would have to pay room and food. I didn't ask about dot physical, drug test, or fee for cdl permit. I'm guessing I would pay. Redlands has a web site with cost and is shown to be a few hundred higher then Swifts 3900. I'm planning to check into more schools and company's after the holidays. No hurry since I'm not planning to do anything before end of March.

PAM sent me to North Little Rock, AR for school. Takes 3 weeks if you pass everything first time around. After that 1 week in Tontitown then 2 weeks with a trainer. They also have 6 month team requirement. Pay depends on whether or not you get your hazmat done. 0.175 per mile without, but 0.21 if you and your partner have it. I got real lucky on my partner, he runs as far as i do and we make real good money, i would need a solo job paying 0.42 to match it. Solo drivers start at .26 then jump to .32 after completing first year contract if I remember right.

PAM sent me to North Little Rock, AR for school. Takes 3 weeks if you pass everything first time around. After that 1 week in Tontitown then 2 weeks with a trainer. They also have 6 month team requirement. Pay depends on whether or not you get your hazmat done. 0.175 per mile without, but 0.21 if you and your partner have it. I got real lucky on my partner, he runs as far as i do and we make real good money, i would need a solo job paying 0.42 to match it. Solo drivers start at .26 then jump to .32 after completing first year contract if I remember right.

Thanks for the info. Were you able to get Oklahoma cdl? I would like to get HM & tanker. The team would be ok I guess, sounds like both push hard. How about home time? Do both get same or different days? I'm still learning about the log book. How does the 70 hour in 8 days work for a team? Sorry for so many questions, and I have a lot more! :)

Np, when you go test in Arkansas they put your scores on the computer and Oklahoma looks them up, so you will het your license in Oklahoma. You will also need your permit before you go, i also went ahead and did my tanker test before I left. If you are going hazmat , I would also go ahead and turn in your tsa background check before you leave. PAM will reimburse the cost once you go to orientation.

We usually take time off at the same time once a month. After you get some experience you'll be up for a lane and get home every other week or even every week. They have both team and solo lanes. If you need to take seperate time off, the other driver goes solo.

On the 70 hours, we try to drive 10 hours then switch, now some teams like to do a shift that I've talked and agree on like a 5 to 5 each day or something like that. On the weekend we do a rolling reset. So how that works is driver A goes to the sleeper, this starts his 34 hr. reset. Driver B runs his shift then parks the truck. Driver B goes to sleeper, this starts his reset. In 24 hours driver A gets the 34 hour reset and starts driving. Driver B will finish reset in the sleeper while moving. So the truck only stops for 24 hours compared to a solo truck who stops the whole 34. Also dont forget things like 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper, off duty if you go in to eat and such. Hope I explainex that well, now remember I am new, only been out here 3 months. Sure some other guys will have aome input, but ask all the questions you want, I actually enjoy teaming. I make more money and i fortunately have a good partner :).

Np, when you go test in Arkansas they put your scores on the computer and Oklahoma looks them up, so you will het your license in Oklahoma. You will also need your permit before you go, i also went ahead and did my tanker test before I left. If you are going hazmat , I would also go ahead and turn in your tsa background check before you leave. PAM will reimburse the cost once you go to orientation.

We usually take time off at the same time once a month. After you get some experience you'll be up for a lane and get home every other week or even every week. They have both team and solo lanes. If you need to take seperate time off, the other driver goes solo.

On the 70 hours, we try to drive 10 hours then switch, now some teams like to do a shift that I've talked and agree on like a 5 to 5 each day or something like that. On the weekend we do a rolling reset. So how that works is driver A goes to the sleeper, this starts his 34 hr. reset. Driver B runs his shift then parks the truck. Driver B goes to sleeper, this starts his reset. In 24 hours driver A gets the 34 hour reset and starts driving. Driver B will finish reset in the sleeper while moving. So the truck only stops for 24 hours compared to a solo truck who stops the whole 34. Also dont forget things like 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper, off duty if you go in to eat and such. Hope I explainex that well, now remember I am new, only been out here 3 months. Sure some other guys will have aome input, but ask all the questions you want, I actually enjoy teaming. I make more money and i fortunately have a good partner :).

Well here goes more questions! What amenities does pam trucks have? Apu's , inverters, do you eat out or cook? Are the beds comfortable? I would like to team drive. But I don't think anyone would want me as a partner. I say this because I don't want to push very hard. Somewhere around 2000 to 2500 in an eight day week 70 hour. I guess you two are getting 5500-6000 in that time. I did some calculation and it looks like the 70/8 day is actually 9 days with the 34 reset. If you get one day home every seven out, 3 of those 9 day weeks turn into 32 and about 11 of those a year. So if I push hard and average 2500x3=7500x11=82500x.26= about 25000 the first year. Does that sound about right?

HAZMAT:

Hazardous Materials

Explosive, flammable, poisonous or otherwise potentially dangerous cargo. Large amounts of especially hazardous cargo are required to be placarded under HAZMAT regulations

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.