Has Anyone Went To School At 160 Driving Academy?

I’m wondering if anyone has been to 160 driving academy.. I had a bad experience at the last driving school I went to and was only able to get a CDL permit out of the whole ordeal.

After having this experience I looked into getting paid CDL training for local routes and from my research this could be quite hard.

I’m located in Louisville, KY and 160 driving academy is one school that stood out to me. If anyone has been there please tell me about your experience and how long courses were.

Please and thank you.

What happened at the school you where in? It's unusual for a private school to send you home so fast since you are a paying customer. Was it a community college?

160 bought the school I went to here in Chicago and I hear good things about them. I believe Rob T went to one of their school and is doing fairly well for himself.

Did you look into the LTL companies? You might have to spend half your day on the dock however most of the companies are short on drivers so they may not require that.

I’m wondering if anyone has been to 160 driving academy.. I had a bad experience at the last driving school I went to and was only able to get a CDL permit out of the whole ordeal.

After having this experience I looked into getting paid CDL training for local routes and from my research this could be quite hard.

I’m located in Louisville, KY and 160 driving academy is one school that stood out to me. If anyone has been there please tell me about your experience and how long courses were.

Please and thank you.

If you can get ahold of Kenny Boyd at 160, talk to him. He’s one of the head honchos and a friend of mine. I’m not sure exactly which school he’s instructing at but he also spends a lot of time working at and with their other facilities. Not only is he an a amazing instructor, he’s a good guy who will answer any question you might have.

Dee, here's a montage of the things you told us about your driving school experience...

It’s my 3rd day behind the big rig in at a private school. I’m having a VERY hard time straight backing. Earlier today was evaluation and I failed miserably. They told me that I am now on “academic probation”

Someone please help me out with maybe some words of encouragement... It will be greatly appreciated

Thank you everyone for your replies, you all have helped me out tremendously.

They told me I need to work on my right and left turns and I need to work on straight backing. I’m being re-evaluated tomorrow

I want to thank everyone who has and will comment on this post in the future. I’m actually getting ALOT better at straight backing, so I’m not as worried anymore.

My biggest problem now is making right and left turns while driving. I believe that I need to slow down and calm down when I’m behind the wheel of these big rigs. Re-evaluation is tomorrow, which has made me even more nervous while on the road.

Please keep sending positive Vibes and tips my way. I appreciate you guys/girls SO damn much.

Okay, so none of that is really telling us that your experience was bad because of the school. You were merely having the same problems we all had when learning to drive trucks. It's common problems that we get past by practicing. But now you are saying you want to hear our experiences with another school, and you clearly imply that the other school was your problem, by referring to it as a "bad experience" and an "ordeal."

I’m wondering if anyone has been to 160 driving academy... I had a bad experience at the last driving school I went to and was only able to get a CDL permit out of the whole ordeal.

You've also revealed this to us in another post...

I’m low on cash

I'm assuming you paid your bill for the first school. Did you?

I'm also wondering, how are you going to pay for another school?

I'm still wondering... How is it you are so confident there are local companies willing to hire you after you finish school?

When I completed my private school, each of the companies that I thought would be falling all over themselves to hire me said, "No thanks, we have better candidates to hire from." No local companies would even consider me, and several of the OTR companies that hire inexperienced drivers flatly refused me.

I'm hoping you can understand why I keep returning to those "best practices" I refer to. You are trying to put a square peg in a round hole. You admit yourself...

from my research this could be quite hard.

By taking advantage of the generous offerings from one of the many Paid CDL Training Programs you will find yourself in a situation where the company who is guaranteeing you a job is getting behind you with their investment in your success. They are paying your way which gives them a powerful incentive to get you properly trained and established so you can be a contributing member on their team. They want you to be successful because you will be helping them achieve their goals. They will do everything they can to get you established. After you've taken advantage of their generosity and worked for them for a year you can then go look for that local job you are wanting so badly. It is the best way to accomplish this.

You seem to realize how much trouble you are having now, but you haven't even got to the point of trying to land a job yet. If you think what you are going through now is tough, just wait until all those rejections start rolling in. It is very discouraging. That is coming from a guy who knows. I have been through this before. I have watched so many folks like yourself who are new to this just bomb out completely simply because they won't follow sound advice. Here is what you told me in another conversation...

I respect your opinion sir... I will try going this route because I feel like it is right for me.

Your feelings won't guide you in the right direction when trying to enter one of the most complicated industries around. You have to know what you are up against. That is why I keep harping on making a one year commitment to doing OTR driving. It gives you the experience you are needing and it helps you establish a record. It's not that complicated, but I know people have their reasons for taking your approach.

I'll never forget our friend "Mountain Girl" who simply couldn't go OTR because she was a single mom. She really struggled and got fired a couple of times for very minor incidents. It looked like she wasn't going to make it at all, but she finally stuck it out with a company she wasn't thrilled with and got a year under her belt. I was so happy for her, but it would have been a lot easier for her to have followed our advice. She simply couldn't, and maybe that is your situation - I don't know.

I do know there are a lot easier ways to do this than you have chosen. I am hopefully trying to help you understand that, but at the same time hoping others will learn from our conversation here on this subject. Please don't feel I am singling you out and trying to berate your approach. It is just a very difficult one with very low success rates. I'd prefer to see you make a go of it.

A lot of ltl have dock to drive programs u could try. I just got my license in April and will be starting with reddaway soon

back in 2017 I was hired by Performance Food Group without my CDL. They put me through school out near the terminal at the Moline Illinois school. Overall my experience was great but so much of it really comes down to your individual instructor you have. My instructor got irritated when someone struggled with the same thing after being told how to do it multiple times but he also genuinely wanted to help others learn.

Week 1 everybody sits in a room that has a guy doing a video chat more or less reading you the CDL manual to prepare for your permit test. Everybody does it even if you have your permit you just won't be sent off to the DMV to test like the others.

Week 2 we started learning pretrip and backing. Every day started with every student doing an in cab pretrip for the rest of the students the remainder of school. After we all had a turn we'd start taking turns backing. When we weren't backing we were expected to watch others or practice pretrip. After you got straight line backing down you learned the 2 other maneuvers my state required. Offset driverside and parallel driverside. We also bobtailed to a dying industrial park to practice shifting. We could get up to 8th gear then back to 6th and back to 8th before coming to a stop and doing it all over again.

Week 3 was more or less the same except we now went out on the public roads to work on shifting.

Week 4 was more of the same except now we practiced driving the actual test route. Of the 3 of us that started together 2 passed everything, the other student stalled the truck pulling out of the test site so he had to retake that part. He ended up passing the driving test the 2nd attempt.

Keep in mind this was a couple years ago but you could go the self pay option of around $4500 or sign on with a carrier that covered your expenses. A couple they partnered with were Swift, Schneider, US Express, May, and USA Truck. A classmate was offered a spot with USA truck but they required a contract that stated he would work there for a year or he'd be on the hook for $11,000! Overall I was very pleased with my experience but again it boils down to your instructor.

Hi bobcat,

They literally told me since I didn’t pass their evaluation test they’re letting me go.. I paid $4,885 up front and I think this is bizarre. They also kicked another student out for having the same issue with straight backing. Everyone that didn’t get kicked out had past experience. Me and the other guy that got kicked out we’re also the youngest guys there.

I feel like they really singled us out. I will be talking with there cooperate office on Monday to at least TRY to get a full refund.

What happened at the school you where in? It's unusual for a private school to send you home so fast since you are a paying customer. Was it a community college?

160 bought the school I went to here in Chicago and I hear good things about them. I believe Rob T went to one of their school and is doing fairly well for himself.

Did you look into the LTL companies? You might have to spend half your day on the dock however most of the companies are short on drivers so they may not require that.

They literally told me since I didn’t pass their evaluation test they’re letting me go.. I paid $4,885 up front and I think this is bizarre. They also kicked another student out for having the same issue with straight backing. Everyone that didn’t get kicked out had past experience. Me and the other guy that got kicked out we’re also the youngest guys there.

I feel like they really singled us out.

What do you think they singled you out for?

I don't think it is because they just don't like young people who can't go backwards. I'm sorry you lost your money, but when trying to get into this career it really helps when you can properly identify the problem. Perhaps there is something else you want to tell us about?

There is literally nothing else to tell you about. What I said is exactly what happened. I’m really frustrated about the whole situation.

Sincerely,

Dee

They literally told me since I didn’t pass their evaluation test they’re letting me go.. I paid $4,885 up front and I think this is bizarre. They also kicked another student out for having the same issue with straight backing. Everyone that didn’t get kicked out had past experience. Me and the other guy that got kicked out we’re also the youngest guys there.

I feel like they really singled us out.

What do you think they singled you out for?

I don't think it is because they just don't like young people who can't go backwards. I'm sorry you lost your money, but when trying to get into this career it really helps when you can properly identify the problem. Perhaps there is something else you want to tell us about?

They literally told me since I didn’t pass their evaluation test they’re letting me go.

I wish you could tell us more Dee. Trucking is all about performance. That is why they are evaluating you. They are testing you to see if you are learning and making progress. You knew each evaluation was coming up. You told us about them. Why do you think you weren't making progress?

It's not easy becoming a trucker. There are no participation trophies given. It is very competitive.Truck driving school is no different. If we are not progressing we generally realize it. We don't expect to get our CDL just because we paid our fee. We pay attention and we make extra effort if it is obvious that we are lagging behind the others in our class.

Truck driving schools are kind of unique in that each person gets a limited time in the truck. There are always more students than there are trucks available. We spend certain amounts of time in classroom, behind the wheel, and simply in observation. What were you doing during the times when others were driving and you were waiting for your next turn at the wheel? I think if you can honestly answer that question, you may find the reason you got let go from the school.

I'm making a huge assumption here, but I do know how all this stuff works. We are in the unfortunate position of not being able to hear from your school. We only have what you have told us, and we have basically tried to go by that alone. We have tried to encourage you and teach you, but you have still come up short. When others are passing their evaluations and we are not, we can't lay the blame on the school. They are obviously doing something right or the others would not be progressing like they are. When we believe our success at trucking is determined by finding just the right school or company to start with, we take a delusional approach ignoring the essence of what makes for success in this career. To be successful at trucking you’ve got to take a good hard look in the mirror and determine you will prove your value as a new driver. That is really what the school was looking for. They wanted to see you were really determined to make this happen.

Again, I ask...

What were you doing during the times when others were driving and you were waiting for your next turn at the wheel?

That was the time when I learned the most at truck driving school. I learned by observation. I was paying strict attention to everything that was going on. I paid close attention to what the other students were doing and I paid close attention to the advice the instructor was giving. When someone else was doing their straight backing, I was watching closely how they did it. I watched how they turned the wheel or how they didn't turn it. I was a sponge.

Would you describe yourself as a sponge? Were you attentive and not distracted with your phone or other students? Were you aware that you needed ro show progress? If you were, why didn't you ask for some specific help from your instructors?

I always feel some empathy for you guys when I see you failing at this. I spend a lot of my time trying to help people understand this career. As you can see, I still have a lot of questions about your experience. I know you can do this. It bothers me when I see guys not understanding how or why they failed. Trucking is all about individual responsibility. I think that is where you have got to focus at this point. You need to recognize where you went wrong. If you can only point to the school or the instructors, you will never make further progress.