Knowledge About Schools After Asking Drivers

And in case you didn't get the hint, let me be clear, no tolerance for use of the word enslavement.

Thank you for being straightforward. I'm not being sarcastic. I am not one those people who reads body language well.

OK I have looked through a few of your documents. Most recently about the schools. One of the mentioned the minimum amount of hours you get is 32.

Does that mean someone shelled out 4k and recieved under 160 hours? What I am understanding is you get 160 hours to have people hire you or the school has companies hiring from it. Is the 160 something you are guaranteed to get?

So wait. Do you spend 160 hours in the school? Is it them counting the driving time, observation time and all that as one?

I am looking for schools now. I have made some calls. I understand I will have to drive like 2 hours to one.

I have just wrote too many questions. I hope it could be made sense of.

I hope it could be made sense of.

Not really. Still not quite sure what your question is. In a nutshell: Most Companies will require that you have attended a Legitimate Driving School. That normally entails 160 hours of Classroom and Range Training. After completion of said Driving School, most Companies will require that you spend a certain amount of time with one of their Trainers or Mentors out on the road. This phase usually entails 200 hours or so of Behind the Wheel Training, and learning how Shippers and Receivers operate, how dispatch operates via Qualcomm , Peoplenet, etc. Fueling, paperwork, Transflo, the list goes on. After the successful completion of the above, you will be issued your own Tractor and begin to operate as a Solo Driver. The rate of pay during your On Road Training varies by company. Don't expect much more than $500-$600 per week GROSS during that period. I think a realistic expectation for your 1st year, is an income of $35,000-45,000. Again, that is gross income,( before taxes and other deductions).

Good Luck!

Art, most schools are 160 hours. That usually means four weeks of school at forty hours each week. That total of 160 hours includes classroom time, driving time, riding in the back of the truck while others drive, and just standing around watching others screw up a backing maneuver.

As long as yo get a certificate from the school showing 160 hours under their tutelage you are good to go. Nobody actually gets 160 hour of drive time. But the insurance companies like to see that number of 160 for some reason. There are no minimum standards on hours set by the regulating bodies, but 160 seems to be what most folks want to see.

Yes that's what I meant old school.

As for the pay. After attaining the cdl I want to get the Hazmat endorsement. How long do I need to be driving before an. Employer thinks about hiring me to haul something gasoline.

A friend of mine said that pays well. Even if it's local.

You will need to research fuel transportation companies local to you simply because the required experience level may vary for each one. That said, I suspect none of them want less than 1 year of safe driving experience in order to be considered.

Art, keep in mind that this business is totally performance based. And therein lies the secret to making good money at this.

It is a fallacy to believe that the best way to make good money at this career is to haul something that will result in some really big consequences if there is an accident. I have a good friend who hauls gasoline. I am making considerably more money than him hauling aluminum extrusions. Focus on how well you do this job, not on how dangerous your cargo is.

Alright. Thank you for the information.

Something else - I am calling / finding info about private schools around me. Is there a website where I can check if they are certified or not?

Like CSA for companies?

Art wrote:

Alright. Thank you for the information.

Something else - I am calling / finding info about private schools around me. Is there a website where I can check if they are certified or not?

Like CSA for companies?

Art, as far as I know there is no such website or official list of certified schools. Your research requires asking the right questions; total number of instructional hours, what companies recruit from their graduate pool, and do they have direct relationships with trucking companies; if so which ones.

I think you may already have these links, if not here they are:

Truck Driving School Listings

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Article Category: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Truck Driving School"

Art, there is no real certification that makes one school better than another. The only certifications come from organizations that the schools pay money for. You will want to take a look at these things

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Article Category: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Truck Driving School"

.That will clue you in on how to determine which school you want to attend. The certifications that schools tout are really nothing more than something they paid for to an organization that they joined.

Sorry about that, I failed to take a look at what G-town posted,