Woman Looking Into Trucking - Can You Recommend Or Offer An Opinion On A Good Private School In Northern New Jersey?

Nacho B, I think you just inadvertently gave her some good solid reasons to go with the Paid CDL Training Programs.

BTW, Nacho if a company puts you into a 150 thousand dollar piece of equipment and entrusts you with their customers valuable freight, they will expect a lot from you.

Nacho B, I think you just inadvertently gave her some good solid reasons to go with the Paid CDL Training Programs.

BTW, Nacho if a company puts you into a 150 thousand dollar piece of equipment and entrusts you with their customers valuable freight, they will expect a lot from you.

Exactly! That's what I was trying to convey to her. I think the company sponsored is the way to go ultimately if OTR is where the interest lies.

At prime I paid only $155 up front. They took nothing from me unless I didn't stay the year. But you'll see wherever you go you should stay a year. So what's the big deal? Prime advances $200 per week for food while you have the permit and you pay it back $25 per week. Other things such as TWIC card and sleep apnea test they advance as well. So for a time it does seem like you are not making much. But I gave up my apartment in NJ and live in the truck....think of that savings!!! Each company has different policies and most will give you tuition reimbursement for your school if you paid for it.

I get what nacho said...if you're not paying for it then you can see if you can handle it or not.

As for testing....you get three chances at each part of the test. So pretrip 3 times...backing three...street three. That is standard.

I sucked at backing and failed it the first time. Nailed it the second. The drive test was nuts cause I had driven two trucks and the one I tested on was different. Narrower stick...harder clutch.

I never drove stick either...now I don't want to give it up. You got this! ;)

I wasn't expecting as many women on the road as there are. And my mom asked me if the mechanics are shocked when they see a woman pull in. Nope...they aren't. And they don't treat me like some dumb woman either

Ask away .

Okay, some days I'm a little slow!

Hi Elizabeth, I went to Smith and Solomon in Linden in 2014. Unless their operations have changed , I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. I chose to go with Jersey Tractor in Lyndhurst for my refresher course which starts next Monday.

Whichever you chose, I wish you all the best. You can do it.

Serah

To all of you, thanks so much for your great advice. I take it to heart.

Nacho B - Trucking companies train drivers because most drivers don't want to drive OTR. Ah, that didn't occur to me, but it makes sense. Yes, I would prefer to have the State pay for the training at a private school. I would also get extended unemployment benefits, if necessary, while in school.

I have mixed feelings about driving OTR. On one hand, it's a great opportunity to see this great country. Just driving through an unfamiliar part of New Jersey is an adventure. On the other hand, it would necessitate separation from friends and activities. I was employed by a big law firm for 30 years and worked many evenings, weekends and holidays to do what needed to be done. Still, it wasn't almost every day.

Rainy D. - I'm listening and I'm thinking. Gave up your apartment and lived in a truck? I would give up my apartment and stay with a friend, who would take care of my cat while I was away.

Serah D. - Thanks for report regarding Smith and Solomon. Scratch them! Thank you for your works of encouragement and good luck on your refresher course.

Again, I thank you all for your words of advice. There's much to mull over. I'll read the articles that Rainy linked to. It wouldn't hurt to call the Jersey Tractor in Lyndhurst with questions. I would like to pay a visit to their facility.

One last thing Elizabeth, if you haven't already started the WIOA process, I'd suggest you get on that right away, even before you visit schools. You can just google WIOA and your county name. While it's certainly not anything difficult, it IS a process that takes some time. Maybe each state is different, but here's a quick rundown of my process. Go to an hour and half orientation (my local office had them twice a week). Bring everything, like social security card, letter showing that you're on unemployment etc. Then I had to come back a few days later and take some tests (basic reading comprehension, math skills, etc). Then I met with a career coach that same day and tell her what I was looking for CDL. Then I was assigned 4 different things to attend, such as a resume writing workshop, and job interviewing skills workshop etc. These were one a week, sometimes twice in one week. After all that was complete, I met with career coach again and officially applied for the voucher for free training. (Jumping through those hoops and attending those workshops really weeds out a lot of people that aren't very serious at all. If they cannot come to a handful of workshops, they probably wouldn't be very good at attending any vocational school, ESPECIALLY if they weren't even paying for it). Then I had to visit at least 2 different CDL schools ON THEIR APPROVED LIST and pick one. Meet again with coach, blah blah blah....

All said and done with was a good two months plus before I ever stepped foot into the school for day 1.

Yeah. Quite a few of us live in the trucks. We are home for four days per month...so why pay $1200 for rent, another few hundred for utilities etc? Makes no sense. Now I pay $250 per month for my storage locker and my cat lives on the truck with me ;)

He loves it. We can make the trucks our homes with fridges, TV, I bought a nice plush mattress. Not only am I saving a ton of money on expenses that I'm paying off debt with...but am socking away $1000 per month into my 401k. Sweet deal ;)

God forbid I try to take Goofball off the truck.,.mayhem lol

One other thing, Jersey Tractor in Lyndhurst policy is one on one (instructor/student). Not so at S&S.

One other thing, Jersey Tractor in Lyndhurst policy is one on one (instructor/student). Not so at S&S.

See THAT is important. S&S in Barrington has 3 trucks...one is broken down and they use it for pretrip...one is strictly for testing. So all the other students have ONE truck to share to drive/back.