Schneider Says I Owe Them $2k After Being Termed From CDL Training In A Week And A Half

This is why I gave you the advice to contact an attorney. They can probably tell pretty quick if you have a valid issue or not. Worst case they listen and tell you you still owe. Best case maybe due to them not giving you warnings leading up to dismissal you owe 0. I'm sure as hell not qualified to say either way.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I guess I couldn't fathom that them firing me before training was over still left me on the hook.

"You're fired. Now give us 2k" sounds like such a racket lmao

As far as the instructors go, there were over 30 of us and 5 instructors. During the actual "driving tests" I didn't do anything huge, just a lot of little problems (or so I assume, I wasn't given specific feedback and there was no pleading my case). On top of being evaluated with such huge stakes after so little time, this all feels like a kick in the teeth. Like "You weren't perfect instantly so go home and send us 2k."

Thank you again, and I guess I'll just ignore it for now. Wouldn't be the first collection letter I've gotten, won't be the last.

There is a very important detail being missed here about Schneider’s cdl program. Unless they have changed it since I’ve been the way it works is you go to a private cdl school that they approve of to get your cdl. Then you go through their orientation program.

So that 2k is them paying for your cdl. Which you got. No racket being ran. I was not allowed to my 160 hour certificate from the school i went to until they got confirmation from Schneider that I paid.

So that may very well keep you from getting hired anywhere else. As far as anything else goes there are always two sides to the story. Unfortunately we won’t get Schneider’s.

Hi Christine,

What a bummer for you, I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. Schneider as a corporate entity, like most huge companies, has no heart. However, there are many “individuals” at Schneider who do care. You may want to start calling into Schneider, perhaps starting with the Inhuman Resources dept., and plead your case for forgiveness of your debt. Just explain your situation to them like you did here. Specifically ASK for debt forgiveness because of your financial situation. You may have to talk to 20 people before you find the right one, but don’t give up.

If all else fails, do what Anne suggested and make a small payment every month. $20 per month seems too high. I’d go more like $5 per month. And I’d be tempted to pay that in pennys. Make sure you get a receipt.

Advising her to contact an attorney is probably not an option for her, unless it’s on a pro bono basis. If she cannot afford to pay $2000 to Schneider, attorney fees are not affordable either. Christine needs to be proactive with Schneider. The squeaky wheel gets greased. Just pester the heck out of them and see if they will waive the $2000 just to get rid of the hassle.

I think most would at least listen to the facts and give her a quick idea if she has a case or not. Or their paralegal would.

Certainly she'd have to pay to fight it but it'd give her a quick idea if she has any case as I think most employment attorneys work on a contingency basis.

For example Schneider did something wrong, still presses the "debt" and then they get both the debt removed and some fee or penalty or whatever the legal term is assessed against Schneider.

Given how large Schneider is I think it's unlikely they'd do something so dumb as surely they've had their own attorneys vet their contracts and probably briefed HR on what's permissible but if some lower level person goofed she could at least get the debt dismissed.

Advising her to contact an attorney is probably not an option for her, unless it’s on a pro bono basis. If she cannot afford to pay $2000 to Schneider, attorney fees are not affordable either. Christine needs to be proactive with Schneider. The squeaky wheel gets greased. Just pester the heck out of them and see if they will waive the $2000 just to get rid of the hassle.

Unfortunately you're probably stuck paying the bill. We've had members of our forum go to another program, CRST, and are still held responsible financially regardless of why they're sent home. Roehl is another one that has sent people home for not passing their CDL test the 1st or 2nd time.

Atleast with Schneider and Roehl they only send it to collections. CRST legally prevents other carriers from hiring you until the debt is paid.

As Bruce said, if I can't give Schneider 2K, I can't give it to a lawyer either. And I don't have any lawyer friends/relatives to call upon to help me.

Bird-One, looking at their job listings, they have two forms of "Company Paid CDL Training". There's "Company-sponsored CDL" and the "CDL Apprenticeship" program. Sounds like you were in the first one, and I was in the second one. Looking back, maybe the first one might have been a better choice, but hindsight is 20/20 and all.

They paid for me to run a rental car down to Indianapolis from the Chicago area to be trained at the Schneider Terminal on Shadeland Ave. I think they only have training facilities there, PA, and WI, but don't hold me to it. I did NOT receive a CDL by any technical definition of the term, and there was no training prior to me walking into their doors. So that's not a factor either.

But again, thanks for all the input. I think I'm just going to pretend it doesn't exist for now and move on with getting my CDL some other kind of way. If it becomes a problem later, I'll handle it then.

You need to get this taken care of Monday. Ignoring this with your head in the sand is not the way to handle it.

This will follow you via your credit report (which does matter), your DAC Report, any company background check, and on any trucking application you fill out in the future.

You should still have a copy of your contract in your email. I went through the CAT program in Indy as well in Nov/Dec. If you read what you signed it’s very cut and dry unfortunately. That was one of my main concerns with going into the CAT program, I hated the fact that I could be kicked out and still have to pay. The contract was crystal clear though. I had two people in my class in the same boat, failed the company road test (not CDL) and both are going through the same thing. One from my class that was just fired recently after being solo on the road for a bit is also required to pay it back.

Strongly recommend you go back and read what you signed.