Advice On A Specific Trucking School
Topic 3307 | Page 1
Emmanuel, the thing you need to take into consideration is that a lot of these companies look at how many hours of training the school gives you. The ones I've talked to want at least 160. I'm not sure what you mean by the different packages, but make sure you get enough training from them to actually get hired.
Welcome aboard Emmanuel!
Rico is correct....and you mentioned it yourself....a lot of those short, inexpensive schools won't be enough to get you hired by most companies. Programs like those are usually for people who are in special circumstances. For instance, maybe they already have a Class B and the company they work for is willing to pay for their Class A so they can upgrade to the bigger trucks. Or maybe they already have a job lined up or experience at their company and they just need to get a Class A as quickly and inexpensively as possible.
But for your situation, the most important thing is finding a company that will hire students from the school you're going to attend.
Now there's two avenues you can take.
1) Company-Sponsored Training programs will train you and then hire you upon successfully completing their program. They require little or no money up front and will allow you to either make payments on your tuition once you start driving or they'll wave the tuition altogether if you'll work for them for a specified amount of time. So if you can't afford a private school, this is an awesome way to go.
2) If you want to attend a private school, apply for pre-hires with trucking companies and verify which private schools in your area they will hire from. We have an excellent article that will help you Understand Pre-Hires so have a look at that. So before you even commit to a private school like you're considering you can find out which trucking companies would be willing to hire from there. You can also ask the school for a list of major companies that hire their students. Call a few of those companies yourself from home and verify this. And make sure you explain exactly what program you're considering. They'll be able to tell you whether or not they'd be willing to hire you based upon the school you choose to attend.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Emmanuel,
If you're not working and collecting unemployment or if your income is low, you should be eligible for Workforce Investment Act (WIA). It's a Federal program administered through state employment offices for job training. It fully paid for my CDL including all the tests and endorsements.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.New Reply:
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Choosing A Truck Driving School
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Hi everyone,I'm Emmanuel,few weeks ago I had some questions about what. Trucking school to choose or go,we'll my reality right now is the follow:
I'm not working since two month,but I went to 3 diferential schools to check and ask some questions,two of them ,one is 2600 the other is 3000$,but what I really can afford now is ,( sorry to mention it,but I have to) EZ-WHEELS ,in secacus,they have diferential pakagesfrom 400$ to 2575$,I'm planing to go with the 800$ one,but the thing is there's not enought hours of practice for that price( and some of you might said,what else can you expect my friend) ,the thing is I need to get my cdl at least,then finde a company that take recent cdl grad, and get experience with them.
Why this whole history,well I went direct to MVC,my self and I pass,general knowledge,air brakes,combination veh,tankers,passenger,and doubles and triples, and all the schools still charge me like if I'm starting from ZERO with them.
Any advice from all of you,that are on the road for years,and are ahead from me,PLEASE ARE WELLCOME!THANKS IN ADNVANCE.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Doubles:
Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.